Years of the Republic of China 1913

"What's going on? What's going on?" Seeing the flames rising from the transport fleet, Yatsushiro Rokuro suddenly hung his heart in the air, and hurriedly shouted to his subordinates.

In the era before radio was fully applied, the communication between fleets relied on semaphore and lights. In order to ensure the success of night raids, frigates and transport fleets implemented blackouts, and the only way to communicate with the flagship was to contact speedboats.At this time, Yatsushiro Rokuro's night attack no longer prevented the opponent from discovering it. In order to find out what happened to the transport fleet as soon as possible, Yatsushiro Rokuro immediately ordered the use of lights to communicate.

A few minutes later, the news came from the mouth of Jiaozhou Bay. According to the reply from the transport fleet, after they entered the sea, two transport ships encountered mines. One of them was slightly injured and the other was seriously injured. Fortunately, it was the seriously injured one The power is not damaged, and it can barely sail, but it is not optimistic in terms of the degree of damage. It is recommended to retreat immediately for emergency repairs.

"Mine!" Yatsushiro Rokuro gritted his teeth. Prince Higashifushimiya Yiren and Chief of Staff Suzuki Kantaro looked at each other, full of wonder, because the Second Fleet did not find the Chinese laying mines in Jiaozhou Bay during the day-to-day battle. Where did the torpedoes come from?

But now it was too late for them to think about the answer. At the same time that the Second Fleet's transport fleet hit the mines, the Qing* Island Fortress discovered Ri's actions, and the cannons that blocked the seaports of the Fortress began to roar. The accuracy is extremely low, but in the narrow strait, the transport fleet lacking sea attack means needs to face the double blow of mines and artillery fire, and the firepower of frigates alone cannot compete with the fort.

"Your Excellency. The transport fleet requests to retreat!" As the artillery fire on the shore became more and more fierce, Yatsushiro Rokuro, who was far away on the flagship, couldn't help but clenched his fists. At this moment, the staff officer brought the latest contact information and sent it to the commander. report.

"Your Excellency, Commander, let them withdraw." As the chief of staff, Suzuki Kantaro suggested.

"No! Give me the order. Go ahead!" After thinking for a while, Yatsushiro Rokuro shook his head and said.

"Continue to move forward? Your Excellency, the transport fleet is under attack from the fortress on the shore. And there are still Chinese mines on the surface of the sea. If we continue to move forward..." Suzuki Kantaro turned pale when he heard that, and quickly dissuaded him.

Raise your hand.Stopping Suzuki Kantaro's persuasion, Yatsushiro Rokuro pointed to Jiaozhou Bay and said, "Look, can the transport fleet be completely withdrawn in this situation? Even if it is withdrawn, I am afraid that there will be a lot of losses. That's right, the Chinese people quietly deployed Fortunately, they discovered our actions, but the small Jiaozhou Bay is [-] nautical miles from east to west and [-] nautical miles from north to south. This distance is not too much for the transport fleet, and it is night now , Although the artillery fire from the opponent's fortress is fierce, the accuracy will never be too high, as long as the transport fleet rushes through this distance with the fastest speed, our plan will still succeed!"

"But your Excellency, this will bring huge losses to the transport fleet!" Suzuki Kantaro thought Yatsushiro Rokuro was crazy, although what he said might happen.But that would be a huge risk, especially as the Army would suffer immeasurable losses.

"I've decided!"

"Good sir! But... what about the severely damaged ships? I still suggest that they be withdrawn immediately."

"No, convey my order, let the damaged ship move forward at full speed, and try to run aground as far as possible in the target sea area!" Yatsushiro Rokuro rejected Suzuki Kantaro's opinion again, insisting on going his own way.

The helpless Suzuki Kantaro could only look for help to Prince Higashifushimiya Yiren, the deputy commander.I hope he can stand up and stop Yatsushiro Rokuro's hotheaded move.But to his disappointment, instead of saying a word, the noble prince turned his head to the other side like a normal person.

"A madman, an idiot! You will all regret it!" the angry Suzuki Kantaro cursed in his heart.

Due to Yashiro Rokuro's order, the frigate and the transport fleet did not turn around and retreat. Instead, they canceled the blackout and turned on the headlights, increasing their horsepower and rushing in at full speed. \\..\\The further you go, the denser the sea mines are, and the cannons on the shore are fired more violently. Not long after, a [-]-ton transport ship was hit by a fortress artillery on the bridge. Amidst the sound of the explosion, the superstructure of the entire ship was blown to pieces, and countless limbs and broken arms could be clearly seen flying in the air from the burst of flames. Thousands of troops on board suffered heavy casualties. The deck of this transport ship was covered with The soldiers who jumped into the sea and escaped crying.

Just a few minutes later, the rudder of another transport ship was damaged. It lost its power and steering and was unable to avoid the floating mines. With a dull bang, a huge hole was blown open by the mines at the waterline. , the entire ship tilted to one side at a strange angle, and 10 minutes later, the transport ship sank to the bottom of the sea together with more than 800 army officers and soldiers on it...

"Hachimanmaru was severely injured... It is difficult to move towards the goal...."

"The Green Leaf Maru was sunk, and all the members were crushed..."

"Kawauchi Maru's power has been severely damaged, and the speed has dropped to six knots..."

Bad news came one after another, and Yatsushiro Rokuro's face became more and more ugly. In just ten minutes, his transport fleet suffered huge losses. One ship was sunk, the third ship was severely damaged, and the second ship was lightly damaged.

"Your Mightiness!"

Looking back, I saw that it was Chief of Staff Suzuki Kantaro again, Yatsushiro Rokuro waved his hand and said: "No need to say any more, now the situation is only forward! Forward! Keep going! The result of the retreat is the annihilation of the transport fleet. Our Japanese navy is unrivaled!"

"Hi!" Suzuki Kantaro nodded, and as the chief of staff, he continued to perform his duties: "However, Your Excellency, I suggest that the main force of the Second Fleet bombard Qingdao immediately to reduce the pressure on the transport fleet." The situation is different, but Suzuki Kantaro is an excellent general and qualified chief of staff. At this time, he must make a correct judgment based on the situation in front of him for the commander's reference.

"Yes! You are right, thank you for reminding me, Suzuki-kun." Yatsushiro Rokuro reacted suddenly, and bowed to Suzuki Kantaro gratefully.

"Pass my order, the entire fleet launches an offensive battle, the target - Qingdao Island!"

The Japanese Second Fleet, which suffered a loss, was like a lunatic who had just woken up from sleep. Under the order of Yatsushiro Rokuro, all the main ships started suppressive bombardment towards the Qing* Island Fortress together.This time, Yatsushiro Rokuro was no longer cautious. He commanded the fleet to sail to only two nautical miles away from the fortress, so the battleship fired all its guns and bombarded Qingdao Island like a madman.

It has to be said that Suzuki Kantaro's suggestion is correct. The artillery suppression of the Japanese Second Fleet has had a certain effect, greatly reducing the pressure on the battered transport fleet.Taking advantage of this opportunity, the transport fleet continued to rush forward under the cover of the frigate under the threat of mines. After half an hour, the fleet that lost almost half of the transport ships finally rushed to the west of Maodao, dragging several transport ships with many scars. It ran aground near Mao Island and began transporting troops ashore.

"Little Japan has started to land on Maodao?" Wu Peifu received the report, and the transportation fleet of Japan's Second Fleet paid a huge loss and finally rushed halfway through.

"Commander, what the hell, these little Japanese are not afraid of death at all, and they can still rush so much in this situation." The person who said this was Sun Chuanfang, the deputy commander of the Qingdao Fortress, who was very confident that the Japanese transport fleet For those who stayed in Jiaozhou Bay, he did not expect that Ri himself would be so crazy. In order to cover the transport ship rushing in, the frigate even protected each other, using the hull to resist the bombardment of the fortress, and even triggered the mine before the transport ship. Sun Chuanfang was so shocked that he couldn't believe what he saw.

"How much did the Japanese transport fleet lose?" Wu Peifu asked emphatically.

"Because it is dark now, the specific data has not yet come out, but I only saw five transport ships and one frigate rushing past." Sun Chuanfang replied.

"Hehe, that's not bad." Wu Peifu smiled. The Japanese transport fleet has a total of twelve transport ships, plus three frigates, and less than half of it has passed, and this half has also been severely damaged. I am afraid that the combat effectiveness Still have to subtract a lot.

Wu Peifu, who lacks a navy, used fishing boats to mine mines in Jiaozhou Bay as early as daytime, and he kept a hand of mines deliberately not at the seaport, but seven or eight nautical miles away from the seaport.In this way, not only can the opponent not be noticed, but more importantly, these mines can still gradually drift towards the seaport along the current, and the goal can also be achieved.

As expected, his move paid off. The failure of the Japanese Second Fleet's night attack was due to these mines. When the first explosion sounded, the prepared fortress opened fire soon. Being able to drive the Japanese back is a victory. Who would have thought that the discovered Japanese navy would rush in regardless of losses like taking the wrong medicine.As a result, Wu Peifu was overjoyed, and concentrated artillery fire on the transport fleet for a while.If it weren't for night vision and the main force of the Second Fleet shelling the Qingdao Fortress like crazy to cover the transport fleet, I am afraid that all of Japan's own transport ships would have sunk in Jiaozhou Bay.

"Want to land? Huh..." According to the news, the Japanese navy, which was stranded on the beach at Maodao, couldn't wait to start landing. Wu Peifu didn't panic when he found out, but smiled coldly.Because he had already prepared, how could it be so easy for Ri himself to gain a firm foothold on the shore?

The battered transport fleet landed immediately after being stranded on the beach. Of course, this landing was not a battle, but an escape.The Japanese army, who was frightened in the transport ship, was eager to go ashore as soon as possible. No matter what, it was better than being beaten alive on the ship.

After this night attack, Kamio Mitsuomi’s Eighteenth Division suffered heavy losses before seeing what the enemy looked like. Thousands of officers and soldiers sank into the sea along with the sunken ship and became dinner for sea fish. If it was not luck Well, as the head of the division, Kamio Mitsuomi may not escape bad luck. When his feet finally set foot on solid land, Kamio Mitsuomi was so excited that he almost cried out.