Alchemy Greater China

Shame!

Li Hongzhang sighed secretly.

To use an inappropriate analogy, Li Hongzhang is now a bit like the American table tennis team of later generations, seeing the players of the Chinese table tennis team lazily practicing the ball, just pushing and blocking, without looping or hanging... ...So there is a feeling that the big ping-pong country is nothing more than this.

Of course, this superficial perception is just an illusion, but the fault is that Li Hongzhang himself does not know it.

Then again, even if Li Hongzhang knew, he wouldn't care too much, because today, his main target is Liu Kunyi's six gunboats, the last possessions of the Nanyang Navy!

The reason why Li Hongzhang did not go to bombard the port of Shanghai was because he already regarded Shanghai as something in his pocket, and it was best not to destroy it. To annihilate the last ships of the Nanyang Navy, it is appropriate to choose to come from the vast and boundless East China Sea.

One, this place is vast and the sea is deep, so it is easy to kill people.

Second, Li Hongzhang is also unwilling to give others the excuse of "Chinese beat Chinese".

He still wanted face, although he indeed besieged Shanghai with the British and forced Liu Kunyi to fight, but who did it in the end?

On the vast sea, as long as he does not admit it, the name of the executioner who buried the Nanyang Navy may not be assigned to him. After the war is over, and through deliberate publicity, this indecent name can easily be revealed. Fell on the head of the British.

In fact, there is no need to be accused of this crime. When the six gunboats of the Nanyang Navy appeared in Li Hongzhang's field of vision at around nine o'clock, the other party raised a clear signal and proposed to challenge Fremantle's Far East Fleet. will!

Regarding this wish, Li Hongzhang and his subordinates were dumbfounded and felt quite ridiculous: Please, now we have the advantage, who would take the risk of playing heads-up with you?Do not surrender.A volley of main guns killed you. This Liu Kunyi, knowing that he will lose, deliberately ran out to make a joke?

But what Li Hongzhang and others didn't expect was that such a funny request was actually agreed by Ferriment.

Although Li Hongzhang was surprised.But he was also happy to watch the show, so he waved the flag and ordered the formation of the Beiyang Fleet to disperse, so that he could watch the one-on-one battle between the Nanyang Navy and the British warships.

At ten o'clock, the Nanyang Navy dispatched three gunboats with the highest integrity, and Fremantle also dispatched two main battleships.On a wide sea area, the two sides slowly walked within the range of the enemy like ancient knights, then raised the barrels and fired openly!

The process of the artillery battle did not surprise Li Hongzhang at all, because the warships of Fremantle far surpassed the three "Doubi" gunboats dispatched by Liu Kunyi in terms of range and power, and the actual battle progressed smoothly.The advantage of this equipment is not surprising.

After only firing three rounds, one of Liu Kunyi's gunboats seemed to be hit by a shell from the British warship's secondary guns.Sparks exploded all over the sky, and the ship that was shot was in a panic, and everyone was thrown off their feet.

At that time, Li Hongzhang stroked his beard and said, "Tsk tsk, fighting foreigners one-on-one is really looking for abuse! Everyone, tell me. If it were me in Beiyang Zhenyuan fighting the British, who would be the first to be shot?"

Lin Taizeng, the leader of the Zhenyuan ship behind Li Hongzhang, was silent for a while, and then said with a flattering smile: "We have the blessing of the Qing Dragon Luck, and the one shot must be the British warship!"

Li Hongzhang didn't seem to hear Lin Taizeng's hesitation, and he was still holding the binoculars.Looking up and laughing.

It's a pity that the sharp laughter mocking the defeat of the national gunboat did not last long, but in the distance, the Nanyang gunboat seemed to be "running away" after being shot, and its speed increased by [-]% at once, and its stern raised a strange The splash of water pushed the whole ship to flee in the opposite direction at high speed!

Moreover, not only the gunboat that was shot was fleeing, but the two Nanyang gunboats beside them also suddenly turned their bows, one left and one right, drawing arcs to cover their companions, and also fled away from the battlefield.

The so-called heads-up turned into a big escape in the blink of an eye!

This turn of events really caught people off guard. Li Hongzhang on the Zhenyuan was a little dumbfounded, his laughter stopped, and he leaned on the railing and said anxiously: "Why did you escape? And you escaped so fast? Hmph, single-handedly single-handedly, I think It's Liu Kunyi's cover, they want to take the opportunity to escape... Ah, that's right, this bastard is really planning to run away at the touch of a button, come here, pass on my general order, all the Beiyang Navy has it, hurry up Go and intercept the Nanyang Navy's gunboat!"

No wonder Li Hongzhang suddenly lost his composure. It turns out that while he was speaking, he was surprised to find that the three gunboats left by Liu Kunyi who did not participate in the "head-to-head" had left the battlefield far away at some point, and at this moment, they also turned around. The bow of the ship formed a [-]-degree angle with the other three fleeing warships, and was running away with full power in the opposite direction of the Far East Fleet! !

Today's sea surface is roughly arranged from north to south: the Beiyang, the British Far East Fleet, and the deserters of the Nanyang Navy divided into two groups!

The situation has changed drastically, no wonder Li Hongzhang lost his composure after discovering Liu Kunyi's "true intention"!

This cunning Liu Kunyi came out to fight righteously, it turned out that he had planned to escape a long time ago!

"Chase, chase me! Never let him escape!"

Li Hongzhang yelled on the Zhenyuan, knowing in his heart that if Liu Kunyi was allowed to flee to the south, then the whole situation would have many changes.

For example, Liu Kunyi could spread rumors, saying that he was defeated by Li Hongzhang and the British fleet and fled.

He can even say that Li Hongzhang is a traitor who colluded with the foreign powers and betrayed the interests of the Qing Dynasty!

Because Li Hongzhang had a criminal record before, if Liu Kunyi went to the south to do this, the rumors would be extremely damaging!

However, Li Hongzhang was called Gui Ming, but it was not realistic for him to let his Beiyang Navy quickly catch up with the Nanyang Navy gunboat that fled in two ways.

There are two reasons.

First, most of the Beiyang Navy's gunboats are not fast enough, and it is absolutely difficult to catch up with the Nanyang gunboats in a state of "running away";

Second, there is a Far Eastern Fleet sandwiched between the Beiyang Navy and the Nanyang Navy... If they want to chase, the British Far Eastern Fleet should go first!

"Hurry up and make the semaphore, and ask the British to catch up with full momentum!" After Li Hongzhang understood the situation, he shouted at Lin Taizeng with veins.

Lin Taizeng's fat face trembled, and he let out a quick nod.Turned around and ran away.

After the semaphore was sent, Freeman was very cooperative. In fact, before the semaphore from the Zhenyuan came, the British general had already ordered the two battleships to go up.Responsible for chasing the escaped Nanyang Navy.

Not only that, the entire formation of the British Far East Fleet also suddenly moved. They spread out their formations, their bows cut through the turbulent sea water, and quickly increased their speed.

Regardless of the fact that the ships of the Far East Fleet are just used goods eliminated by the British Royal Navy, the advanced level of the engines inside is not comparable to that of the Beiyang Navy!

Therefore, Li Hongzhang only watched for a few minutes.When he realized that he was getting farther and farther away, his old face changed color: My good guy, the ships of the Far East Fleet are so fast, if... If they don't play frontal bombardment with Beiyang and separate a fleet to go around my flank, I will How should Fang respond?

It has to be said that the butterfly wings that Long Hao fanned in this era finally revealed a bit of power.Because of his age, Li Zhongtang, who had not boarded a ship for a long time to participate in actual naval battles.Today, a fatal weakness of the Beiyang Navy was discovered on the Zhenyuan.

And this weakness, on the original historical trajectory, will become the key to the destruction of Beiyang in the Sino-Japanese naval battle in the Yellow Sea next year!

The ships of the Beiyang Navy put more emphasis on artillery fire than speed. On the contrary, the navy formed by Japan emphasizes speed and light artillery fire, and Japan's so-called "light" artillery fire does not completely abandon shipboard turrets.Instead, the slow-firing large-caliber main guns are replaced by high-frequency small-caliber secondary guns, and the old ironclad battleships are replaced by fast cruisers.

History books often say that the Yoshino's artillery is unfavorable, just because of its fast legs, but in fact, the Yoshino's construction and naval combat concept are at least five years ahead of the Beiyang Navy!

therefore.In the Sino-Japanese War of [-]-[-], Beiyang seemed like a loser, but it was not wronged.

The exposed weakness of the Beiyang Navy flashed through Li Hongzhang's head. After all, he was old and could not hold too many things in his head. Multithreading would make him dizzy and his temples hurt. Therefore, Li Hongzhang immediately Still focused on chasing the Nanyang navy.

It was almost eleven o'clock in the morning, and the twelve ships of the Beiyang Navy began to burn their boilers desperately. The black smoke rumbled like an old cow pulling a wrecked cart, and followed behind the Far East Fleet and the Nanyang Navy in front. .

However, there is always a gap in speed, and the distance between the two is naturally getting farther and farther. After 27 minutes, the last ship of the Far East Fleet disappeared below the sea level. , complexion sallow, somewhat discouraged.

Are our gunboats really outdated?

Can't even compare to the warships eliminated by the British?

The Nanyang Navy is also lucky. The latest gunboat purchased from Europe can run so fast after being shot!

The gap in equipment was like a natural gap that could not be crossed, causing the morale of all officers and soldiers in Beiyang to drop for a while, but at this moment, there was a slight sound of cannonballs in front of them!

"Catch up!"

Li Hongzhang cheered up: "We must have caught up, everyone, the British must have caught up with the gunboats of the Nanyang Navy! If we don't catch up, there will be no sound of gunfire!"

At about [-]:[-], the twelve ships of the Beiyang Navy finally arrived at the scene of the incident, but what caught their eyes... was an extremely shocking scene!

In the sea, two warships of the Far East Fleet flying the British flag are sinking!

Yes, sinking, the deck is almost sinking below the sea water, the ship is on fire, and there are countless heads of British sailors dotted around the ship, sinking and floating on the wide sea!

Seeing this scene, Li Hongzhang and his friends were stunned: What, what is going on here?We were blinded, how could the chasing party be sunk instead! ?What did the Nanyang Navy do?

Just when it was difficult to tell the truth from the fake, a warning signal was sent from Fremantle's flagship.

After translating, Lin Tai ran all the way tremblingly and reported to the anxious Li Zhongtang: "My lord..."

"What did the other party say, report it quickly, it's still too old, who is it?"

Li Hongzhang was extremely impatient.

"Yes! The British told us to be careful, saying that there are underwater, there are...submarines!"

"Saba what? Fuck, what is a submarine?"

Although Li Hongzhang knew English, he was quite unfamiliar with the word submarine.

What is a submarine.Lin Taizeng didn't know either, so he couldn't answer Li Hongzhang at all. Poor him, he could only keep wiping sweat on his fat face.

Fortunately, Li Hongzhang knew what the submarine was right away...but he saw a white line suddenly lit up in the sea in the distance, and the speed was extremely fast.It disappeared in a flash, and then, a small destroyer of the Far East Fleet burst into the sky, and the smoke burst into bloom. fell into the sea.

"Then, that's a torpedo!?" Li Hongzhang opened his eyes wide.He asked uncertainly in horror.

"Yes Yes!"

Lin Taizeng swallowed, and replied hesitantly.

Lin Taizeng's hesitation did not mean that he was not skilled in skills. As Shen Baozhen's nephew and Lin Zexu's grandnephew, he was not able to become the leader of the Zhenyuan ship because of nepotism. He still has two talents in naval battles.

only.The torpedo came from a strange direction, the direction where the white line appeared.There is no shadow of half a ship at all... God, where did this torpedo launch from?Made it out of thin air?

Not only Lin Tai was at a loss, but the belts on other Beiyang gunboats also seemed to have seen a ghost, rubbing their eyes vigorously, almost suspecting that the torpedo was thrown by a sea god!

Superstition is bad.So the mystery will be solved soon.

About 10 minutes later, a small battleship with the Austro-Hungarian flag and a tonnage of about [-] tons emerged from the sea level and appeared seven or eight nautical miles away from the flagship of Fremantle!

The appearance of the Austro-Hungarian warships, after Li Hongzhang asked, he was naturally horrified and inexplicable.Feeling worried, wondering what kind of medicine the other party is selling in the gourd?

Because Master Zhongtang understands that the Austro-Hungarian Empire has recently stirred up wind and rain in Europe, and it can be called the number one thorn, but it is the army. What a formed fleet, in terms of overall strength, it seems to be inferior to the Beiyang Navy!

Why would such a large European country with an army as its main force suddenly appear in the East China Sea with a small ship that seems unable to change the situation of the battle when the battle in Europe is in full swing?

And why did its appearance cause the British Far East Fleet to be wary? No, all British warships stopped chasing the Nanyang Navy, stayed where they were, and watched the movement of the Austro-Hungarian warship with great vigilance.

Li Hongzhang was eager to know the answer, so regardless of the possible danger ahead, he waved his hand and ordered the Beiyang Navy to approach the Far East Fleet cautiously.

When he thought about it, he and Fremantle joined together, and there were so many battleships between the two, so it would be safer.

Moreover, after getting closer, Li Hongzhang would also find an opportunity to ask Fremantle himself, what was weird about that Austro-Hungarian warship, and what factors prevented the Far East Fleet from advancing?

Also, what is a submarine?

Hiss, is it related to this Austro-Hungarian warship that suddenly appeared?

Could this warship be some secret weapon called 'submarine'?

The weird torpedo was launched by it?

At 33:[-], the flagships met, and Li Hongzhang and Fremantle exchanged information.

Li Hongzhang finally knew that the so-called submarine is a terrifying ship that can dive into the seabed and launch torpedoes at enemy gunboats!

The warships of the Far East Fleet just now were attacked by submarines and sunk in the process of chasing the Nanyang Navy.

Fuck me, a wretched battleship hiding on the bottom of the sea and attacking with torpedoes?

Li Hongzhang and his friends were so frightened that their first thought was to run back.

It's better to stay away from this kind of terrifying thing that can't be seen, can't be hit, and will threaten the life of your gunboat at any time!

If I knew this earlier, why should I join in with enthusiasm?

Li Hongzhang smiled bitterly: My speed in Beiyang is already slow, if we fight later, we must be the first batch of cannon fodder to sacrifice to that submarine!

For the first time, Li Hongzhang regretted his decision to board Zhenyuan and come to Shanghai...

However, regretting that he didn't buy the medicine, it was too late to run away, so Li Hongzhang could only bite the bullet and ask Yu Feilimante.

Freemante replied: Don't be alarmed, the submarine seems to have a certain limit. According to my estimation, the number of torpedoes it carries is limited. Otherwise, the Austro-Hungarian warship on the opposite side would not show up to negotiate with our side!Because, if the opponent has enough torpedoes, wouldn't it be enough to just destroy all of the opponent's torpedoes?Why bother to show your true body to negotiate with our side?

Li Hongzhang asked: General, can you be sure that the opponent does not carry many torpedoes?In addition, um, um... what's going on with the negotiation?

Freemante replied: Master Li, I'm not sure whether the other party still has the ability to destroy us, but it's worth the gamble!As for the negotiations, the warship from the Austro-Hungarian Empire came over with a semaphore. Its purpose was to protect the Nanyang Navy and Liu Kunyi, and asked to enter Shanghai Port to join the upcoming benefit distribution meeting in Shanghai!

Li Hongzhang breathed a sigh of relief, but immediately refused: "I can't agree!"If the Austro-Hungarian Empire joins in, our plan will be ruined!

Of course, Li Hongzhang hadn't finished what he was saying: Letting Liu Kunyi go like this, it's a pity that the success fell short!

For Li Hongzhang's suggestion, Freemant deeply agreed: as the general of the British Navy, of course he also wanted to strive for the best interests of his country.

It's not his style to scare him off with just an unknown number of subs! (To be continued..)