The Rise of the Empire

　　 Unlike in history, this time, the Beiyang Fleet completed its transformation ahead of schedule. The 9 warships of the fleet became 4 combat teams, which cooperated with each other in a fish-scale formation. Yang Yonglin's fast fleet is on the left wing of the fleet, ready to step forward to intercept the Japanese fleet!

　　 "Tell Yang Yonglin to act! The old man will take care of the team's affairs!" Following Ding Ruchang's order, a series of semaphores were sent on the Dingyuan. And then, the Beiyang Express Fleet that received the order rushed towards the opponent like a sharp arrow under the leadership of Kaiyuan!

　　Almost at the same time, the Japanese fleet had already formed a linear formation, preparing to cut diagonally in front of the Beiyang Fleet. The four fast cruisers headed by the Kasuga rushed to the Beiyang right flank! The two sides are like two boxers. The fleet, dominated by fast warships, takes the lead in the action and strikes a fierce blow!

The two fast fleets staggered across the sea, and the distance between the two sides was once narrowed to about 5 kilometers, but neither of them paid attention to their opponents, but rushed towards the established target. For this phenomenon, Beiyang understood that , The main fleet will lead its opponents into chaotic battles, the fast fleet has a greater role in blocking and dividing opponents, while the Japanese act with speculative ideas! Neither the fast-fleet commander Hirachi Hangzo nor Togo Heihachiro, who has experienced the combat effectiveness of the Mainz, are not willing to touch this mold prematurely!

　　 "They want to stop us!" The fast fleet sailed to the weaker ship on the main flank of the Beiyang Fleet as planned. Then, the cruiser Songdao at the head of the team will first face the three fast cruisers under Yang Yonglin! The Japanese fleet is dominated by warships engaged in side-string warfare, and when the three northern cruisers are about to cross the front of the Japanese fleet, Ito Youhen suddenly has a crisis of consciousness!

　　 To be honest, the theoretical speed of the Sanjing ship headed by the Matsushima is not bad. Even considering the actual speed, the speed of the Sanjing ship is faster than the two Zhiyuan! However, the speed of the old ships behind the team is too slow, and the maximum theoretical speed is just over 13 knots! After more than ten years, these warships can run at 11 knots. According to the principle that the speed of the fleet is determined by the slowest ship, it is very good that the Japanese fleet can maintain a speed of 11 knots, and this speed can't escape at all!

　　 The Japanese fleet that incorporated old ships into its fleet in order to add more strength can only swallow this bitter fruit! Right now Ito Youhei has only two options. One is to accelerate his maneuver and pass through before the opponent blocks it. The other is to turn the fleet and aim the firepower of the entire fleet's sidestrings at these three cruisers!

　　 After a short period of thought, Ito Youhei chose to accelerate his maneuver, risking to split the entire fleet into two parts to avoid the deadly interception of the opponent! After all, if you let the opponent be at the head of your team, then a Matsushima will face the brutal side firepower of three cruisers! According to the lessons of the Toshima naval battle, Matsushima can be broken into parts in more than 20 minutes! Ito Youhei is very clear about the protection standards of the Matsushima!

　　 And if the fleet turns, it is very likely that the main force of the Beiyang Fleet will be bitten by the Beiyang Fleet before the turn is completed in the second half! The team will still be split into two parts. Instead of doing this, it is better to separate as soon as possible, and then liberate the maneuverability of the front warship!

　　 Soon, Ito's order was transmitted to other battleships through signal flags. The faster battleships headed by Matsushima, and Itsukushima, Hashidate, Takachiho, and Chiyoda began to speed up the sailing! Gradually separated from the other 5 slow warships behind!

　　 "The Japanese fleet is going to escape! Admiral Ding can only catch the second half!" Hipper saw that the Japanese fleet was accelerating and was about to pass through the front of his own fleet, and immediately realized the seriousness of the problem! The core tactics of the Beiyang Fleet is to suppress the formation of the Japanese fleet, so that they cannot smoothly exert their sidestring firepower. In the current situation, at least half of the Japanese warships can avoid the fatal collision of the Beiyang main fleet!

　　 "Kaiyuan go first, stop Songdo! Let Zhiyuan and Jingyuan catch up quickly!" Yang Yonglin decisively issued an order that might put his warship into desperation! Block five opponents with one battleship! If you make a mistake, you will fall into a situation where you will never recover!

　　 After a short hesitation, Mainz began to accelerate. More than 20 boilers delivered sufficient high-temperature and high-pressure steam to the engine room. The warship began to accelerate, gradually increasing from 15 knots to 19 knots! Kaiyuan stands in front of the wolves like an angry lion! What is there to fear even if the enemy is widowed?

　　 When the Kaiyuan successfully blocked the ship sideways in front of the Japanese fleet, the Matsushima had just entered the intensive side firing range of the Kaiyuan! When the two sides gathered for about 3500 meters, the sidestring guns of Kaiyuan made a deafening roar! More than a dozen rapid-fire guns of various calibers fired dense barrage, and the Matsushima was completely enveloped in extreme events!

　　 A series of dazzling red light spots sprayed out from the steel behemoth in the distance, and then a dense explosion sounded from all around! A series of water columns enveloped the Matsushima, and violent explosions and flames rolled over Matsushima's hull like a rolling fire storm.

The Matsushima’s main gun fell silent after firing one round. This powerful 320MM heavy gun took about 15 minutes to fire one round, so all it can rely on is the side-string 4.7-inch rapid-fire guns. , Matsushima tried his best to counterattack, and Itsukushima, in second place, immediately aimed its muzzle at the target. The sparse rain of bullets from 7 rapid-fire guns could not stop this terrifying behemoth. Although other warships are doing their best to shoot because of the distance ~ www.readwn.com~, they are of no use other than exploding expensive artillery shells into a column of water!

Because of artillery in this era, when the Kaiyuan was on the only way to the Japanese fleet, only the two protective cruisers Matsushima and Itsukushima could fight with it, and the Japanese Navy had already proved it with tears and blood. How weak are the 2 second-class dome cruisers in the face of Kaiyuan!

　　 Countless high-explosive bombs penetrated the fragile hull of the Matsushima without any hindrance. The scorching flames and deadly shrapnel were like death's sickle, reaping everything in the ship's body! The seemingly powerful sidestring rapid-fire guns of the Matsushima are as fragile as paper under such a deadly blow. They are not adequately armored for protection, and there is no armored compartment between the gun galleries, and even a 6-inch shell was reported at the same time In the case of the two artillery groups, a Japanese officer after the war commented that there is no essential difference between the Matsushima’s side-string artillery gallery and the battleship of the Sailing Age!

　　 Under the concentrated blow of the Kaiyuan, the hull of the Matsushima was surrounded by fire within only ten minutes of the exchange of fire. The six rapid-fire guns on the side string lost four in a violent confrontation! The Matsushima's dome armor also failed to complete its mission. Two 6-inch armor-piercing projectiles penetrated the connecting part of the dome armor and poured into the boiler compartment with a large amount of debris and flames, cutting off several important steam pipes!

　　 But fortunately, the Japanese fleet is dominant. When the Matsushima retired from the battle to save itself, the other two Sanjing ships came up! However, in general, the Japanese navy is at a disadvantage on this local battlefield. Takachiho and Chiyoda are entangled by the two Zhiyuan-class cruisers behind, and the two Sanjing ships facing Mainz are just repeating the previous process!

　　 The second is even more~~~~~, the war opens, ask for collection, ask for recommendation, ask for click!