Chapter 7 Chapter 7 Naval battle broke out: The sixth largest fleet in the world repeatedly made low-level mistakes

Monday, September 17, sunny.It was an ordinary day, and in Beijing, the capital of the Qing Dynasty, everything was business as usual.Those who should go to the court continue to go to the court, those who should go to the restaurant continue to go to the restaurant, and those who should visit the brothel continue to visit the brothel. Thousands of miles away, there is a world of difference. Dingyuan Voyage Log: Sunrise at 5:42, breeze, 39°30' north latitude, 123°35' east longitude, in the Dadonggou sea area outside the Yalu River estuary. Ding Ruchang had a premonition that in an invisible corner of the sea, the Japanese combined fleet was heading towards the Beiyang Fleet. According to Li Hongzhang's "ship protection" strategy, Ding Ruchang believed that he must bring the fleet back to Lushun Naval Port safely as soon as possible. At 9:15, the Beiyang Fleet began its daily sea formation and shooting training as usual. At 10:30, the training ended, and the masters in the kitchens of the warships began to cook.

Ding Ruchang planned that after the officers and men of the fleet had lunch, the whole fleet would weigh anchor at 12 o'clock and return to Lushun. The sea is still calm. At 11 o'clock, the observers on the Beiyang warship suddenly discovered the situation: there was billowing soot on the sea in the southwest!Observe carefully, a huge fleet is approaching rapidly, but the American flag - the Stars and Stripes is flying on it. The observers immediately reported the situation to Ding Ruchang, and Ding Ruchang understood: the Japanese are coming! As a "neutral country", it is absolutely impossible for the United States to send such a large fleet to the theater at this time.It can only be Japanese, it must be Japanese!

Ding Ruchang wrote in his logbook that day: "At 11 o'clock, the enemy ship was discovered." Ding Ruchang ordered: All ships fire up!Ready to fight! At this time, the distance between the two sides is 27 nautical miles (50 kilometers). According to the opposite speed, the two fleets still have nearly two hours of voyage to enter the range.According to the work and rest schedule of the Beiyang Fleet, 11:55 will be the unified meal time, and the kitchen is ready to send the meals to the dining room. Ding Ruchang is obviously planning to have a full meal after the naval battle.All this comes from a secret in his heart - tension.

At 11:30, Yuheng Ito hung up the signal on the Matsushima: Eat! After 35 minutes, the officers and men of the United Fleet finished their meal.Ito Yuheng ordered: making an exception to allow soldiers to smoke to calm their minds. After eating and sucking enough, Matsushima played the semaphore "ready to fight", and the warships of the United Fleet quickly changed from the American flag to the Japanese navy flag! The soldiers on the Beiyang Fleet are still hungry and preparing for combat.When the artillery arrived at the battle position, the gunners nervously carried the shells, checked the warheads, and installed the fuzes; the engineers isolated the engine room, and used forced ventilation to reserve full firepower and steam.The fire extinguisher and water pipes have been connected and are ready to fight the fire at any time.The rest of the soldiers spread fine sand on the deck to prevent slipping during combat.

Although they were hungry, the soldiers were very enthusiastic about fighting.Not only are they very enthusiastic, but they all have the belief that they must win, and they have strong confidence in defeating the Japanese. There is reason for this confidence. If you want to become a sailor in the Beiyang Fleet, you can use one sentence to describe it - it is not easy.Let's put it this way, not only is it more difficult than today's college entrance examination, it is even more difficult than the national civil service examination and judicial examination.For today's battle, they have gone through many barriers and prepared for many years.

First of all, in terms of the source of students, the sailors are all from fishermen’s families along the coast of Jiaodong. As we all know, Shandong soldiers have been very powerful since ancient times, and fishermen’s children are familiar with the sea since childhood and grew up in wind and waves, so they are suitable for sailors. More importantly, everyone is from the same place, and the fellow villagers have a deep bond. Once one person is injured or killed in battle, the others will fight for their lives. This is the benefit of recruiting fellow villagers. Secondly, in terms of conditions, you must be at least 16 years old, and all physical indicators meet the standards. I won’t go into details about the physical indicators. Anyway, you must be strong, have good teeth, good appetite, and all parts have no other problems.In addition, there must be no record of crime or hooliganism. You smashed the neighbor's window when you were young, and followed a beautiful woman on the street. Sorry, all of them are not eligible.

Then you need to be educated. Although you don't need to be rich and rich, you must go to school and be able to read and write.This is the basic condition for receiving a special education in the future. When all these conditions are met, you need to do another job - to find a guarantor to guarantee.Once the military discipline is not observed in the future, the guarantor will also be implicated. Once you meet these criteria, you can start the interview.During the interview process, the next batch will naturally be selected, and those that are not pleasing to the eye are not acceptable.So, is it possible to officially become a sailor after passing the interview?no.

Your status is still "third-class brave training", and you have to take an exam to become a soldier. How do you take the exam?For theory and operation, first study on a training ship for one year as a brave trainer, and then take the English passing test and the professional test of warship operation. English is a must, because the Beiyang Fleet is a fleet that completely adopts Western-style teaching, and all teaching, training, and battle commands are usually in English.Therefore, you must have a certain foundation in English in order to learn professional English well. Well, if you are good enough, you can pass these levels.Is it possible to happily become an official sailor?Don't worry, not yet.Your level is "Second Class Bravery". After studying for half a year and taking the re-examination, you can only become a sailor if you can achieve excellence in the actual operation of warships.

After officially becoming a sailor, he is eligible to serve on a warship, and his monthly salary is a very high four taels of silver.But your level is still very low: third class. A third class sailor is the lowest ranking sailor on a warship.How to become a second class sailor?Don't worry, in addition to excellent knowledge, excellent skills, passing various exams, and no record of making mistakes, one more condition you need is luck. This luck is that when there is a vacancy for the second-class sailor, you will have the opportunity to take the promotion test and hope to become a second-class sailor.Similarly, if you want to become a first-class sailor, you have to wait for the original first-class sailor to have a vacancy before you can take the first-class sailor exam.

Such a setting is actually quite reasonable.Sailors are a technical service. Such a mechanism can ensure that the sailor group is not updated very frequently, and it also ensures that many people have been doing the same job for several years or even ten years, and their proficiency in operations can reach the level of conditioned reflex.Because the usual training has reached a level of mechanical flow, once there is an opportunity for actual combat, the sailors will also cherish the opportunity to fight. After a first-class sailor has served for a certain number of years, he will undergo theoretical and practical assessments (really live to the end of the test), and may be promoted to the class of non-commissioned officers such as boatswain and gunner.But this is also the highest level they can reach.If you want to become a captain-level officer, you need to take another path. We have introduced this path before, that is, like Fang Boqian and Liu Buchan, you will be admitted to special naval academies such as Fuzhou Shipping Academy and Tianjin Naval Academy. After receiving four years of professional English teaching, and then going abroad for further study, and passing through multiple assessments and selections, there is hope of becoming a captain.

The suffering of the Qing Dynasty began at sea, and the navy became the army that the country placed high hopes on. The fleet was a magic weapon to soothe the soul of the empire. People are included in the official establishment of the central government.The imperial court even directly used the navy's military flag as the national flag. In order to support the development of the navy, it basically asked for money for money, for people to find people, and for policies to set policies.The purpose is to one day be able to resist foreigners, protect the country, and revive the glory of the empire! In order to express their determination to fight to the death with the Japanese and their belief in victory, the soldiers on all warships automatically dismantled the lifeboats.The two fleets are already approaching rapidly. When the battle is about to start, let's introduce the lineups of both sides. Powerful Beiyang Fleet! The main warships of the Beiyang Fleet can be summed up in one sentence, which is easy to remember. They are: "Six towns, eight distant lands and one well-off, super brave, Yang Wei and Cao Jiang". The so-called "six towns" refers to the six old gunboats in the Beiyang Fleet, Zhenzhong, Zhendong, Zhennan, Zhenxi, Zhenbei, and Zhenbian. They did not go to sea to fight.And "Bayuan" refers to the eight absolute main battleships-Dingyuan, Zhenyuan, Jingyuan, Laiyuan, Jiyuan, Zhiyuan, Jingyuan, and Pingyuan.They are warships purchased from foreign countries with money from the local government, and are named after places. For example, the ones paid by Baoding Prefecture are called Dingyuan, the ones paid by Zhenjiang are called Zhenyuan, and Zhiyuan and Jingyuan are donated from Taiwan. Chaoyong and Yangwei are old-fashioned ramming cruisers (crashing and sinking the opponent's warship), only a little newer than "Six Towns", and follow them into battle. Kangji is a training ship and cannot be used for combat.Caojiang is an old wooden ship used for transportation. It has been captured by the Japanese in the Asan Bay naval battle. At this time, there were still three small warships in the Beiyang Fleet-Guangjia, Guangyi and Guangbing.As mentioned above, they originally belonged to the Guangdong Fleet, and they came here before the war to practice. Guangyi had been lost in the naval battle of Yashan Bay, Guangjia followed in the battle, and Guangbing followed Pingyuan and the torpedo boats of the Beiyang Fleet remained. In Dadong Port, they leave the port to join the fleet after the battle begins! In this way, let's do the math with our fingers. The warships participating in the battle of the Beiyang Fleet are "Bayuan", Chaoyong, Yangwei, Guangjia, and Guangbing, a total of 12 warships!There are also torpedo boats. Needless to say, the core of the absolute main force of these 12 warships is Dingyuan and Zhenyuan. Dingyuan and Zhenyuan are warships of the same class produced in Germany. They were ordered and purchased by the Qing Dynasty with a huge sum of money. Except for the thickness of steel plates in some places, there is no difference in weapons and equipment between the two sides.Let's take Dingyuan as an example. It is the largest ironclad ship in Asia.The captain is close to 100 meters long, Liu Xiang can almost hurdle on it, and the width is 18 meters, Lin Dan can play badminton on it.When it sails in the water, its draft reaches six meters!And its weight (displacement) has reached an astonishing 7000 tons or more (7335 tons). Briefly explain this 7,000-ton concept.Until 2000, China's navy did not have a major warship with a displacement exceeding this figure. The so-called ironclad ships are actually water bunkers.The whole ship is tightly wrapped by steel armor from head to tail, from top to bottom, and the thickest part reaches 14 inches (35 centimeters). You really can’t penetrate it with ordinary caliber shells. You can hit it with one shot.” "Bang Dang" and slipped away, at most it was a scratch accident. And the weapons on the Dingyuan ship are absolutely at the level of "cannons open and bomb his mother". The most powerful naval guns are the four super-large caliber main guns, with a maximum range of five kilometers.In other words, within a radius of ten miles, Dingyuan is alone in the water! So what are the specific parameters of the caliber? 305 mm.Because it is a super-large gun, each gun needs six people to serve it, forming a gun squad. They are: a gunner, responsible for pulling the rope to shoot; a revolving hand, responsible for rotating the gun base; ; One pusher, responsible for pushing the shells into the barrel; two bomb carriers, responsible for handling the shells. It can be seen that the most prominent features of Dingyuan and Zhenyuan are: solid armor and strong firepower.One word to describe their wartime state is - vigorous. Of course, apart from these, Dingyuan and Zhenyuan are warships that pay special attention to humanity.There are fully functional living areas on warships, including military hospitals, bathrooms, bars and restaurants, and more.Everyone on the ship drinks pure water, which is guaranteed by 20 fresh water furnaces. Commanding Dingyuan and Zhenyuan are also the Big Three of the Beiyang Fleet.Since Dingyuan is the flagship, Ding Ruchang is usually on this ship, and the captain of Dingyuan is Liu Buchan, the right-wing commander, and the left-wing commander Lin Taizeng (the grandnephew of Lin Zexu) is the captain of Zhenyuan.It can be said that the stars are shining, and the three heroes gather together. As the commander of the Beiyang Fleet, Ding Ruchang was the only senior officer who did not enter the Fuzhou Shipbuilding School for naval professional studies. A person who did not understand the navy served as the supreme commander. All this was because of a secret from Li Hongzhang. Before becoming the commander of the Beiyang Fleet, Ding Ruchang had been serving in the army, specializing in cavalry, and his highest official position was the division commander (chief soldier) of the Huai Army cavalry.When the imperial court was about to abolish his cavalry unit one year, Ding Ruchang was laid off, wandered around his hometown in Anhui for three years, and finally came to join his fellow villager and old superior-Li Hongzhang. At that time, Li Hongzhang was forming the Beiyang Fleet, and the commander of the fleet had also been appointed.Li Hongzhang is going to let Ding Ruchang join the Beiyang Fleet, transfer him at the same level, and be a mid-level officer or something. In fact, Li Hongzhang didn't have much impression of Ding Ruchang. After meeting Ding Ruchang, Li Hongzhang believed that Ding Ruchang was a person who could be reused. The biggest feature of Ding Ruchang is not his outstanding professional ability, nor is he brave and good at fighting like other generals. The biggest feature of Ding Ruchang is: he is not good at words, but he is very honest, very obedient, loyal to the leader, and he can fight wherever he wants. I can be naked (no scheming), and execute the leader's orders meticulously. This is enough.Li Hongzhang changed his mind. He felt that he should change to someone more reliable to him as the commander of the Beiyang Fleet, and this person was Ding Ruchang. Although Li Hongzhang wholeheartedly wanted to recommend Ding Ruchang, it was quite difficult for Ding Ruchang to become the commander of the fleet.Ding Ruchang was born in the army, not to mention entering a professional naval academy, he has never even seen a warship, and it is said that he also suffers from seasickness. However, under the strong recommendation of Li Hongzhang, the court finally changed Ding Ruchang to be the commander of the Beiyang Fleet.This means that if the leader says you can do it, you can do it, and whether you can do it or not is not up to you. And Li Hongzhang's secret is: use Ding Ruchang as the commander of the Beiyang Fleet. This is a safe candidate. As long as Ding Ruchang is there, any order from the imperial court to the Beiyang Fleet must be executed through Li Hongzhang. With Ding Ruchang, Li Hongzhang can rest assured. Because Ding Ruchang is in charge of the powerful Beiyang Fleet for him. At the same time, Ding Ruchang not only took charge of the Beiyang Fleet, but also took charge of real naval generals such as Liu Buchan and Lin Taizeng, and they were all non-Huai. Ding Ruchang knew the secret of the leadership very well. He wanted to stand up to the scolding of Li Hongzhang's political opponents (speech officials) in the court and the dissatisfaction of his subordinates in his position. As a result, several factions formed among the senior officers of the Beiyang Fleet. First of all, Ding Ruchang, as the only Anhui native, is aloof and belongs to the airborne leader. Then there is Fang Boqian, who is bookish and aloof, maverick, proud of his talents, faithfully safeguarding his own interests, and has a normal relationship with everyone else, a characteristic character of his own school. Next, a large number of other Fujianese military officers formed the "Fujian Party". The soldier Liu Buchan has a strong personality.Therefore, the "Fujian Party" has Liu Buchan as the core, is closely united around Lao Liu, and belongs to the most powerful officer group in the Beiyang Fleet. In addition, there are a small number of generals from Guangdong, such as Deng Shichang, who belong to the "Guangdong Gang" with a small number of people. In the eyes of generals like Liu Buchan who had studied the navy since they were teenagers and had stayed abroad, Ding Ruchang was undoubtedly the most inappropriate candidate for the commander of the Beiyang Fleet.Liu Buchan and others usually do not respect Ding Ruchang, and have always doubted Ding Ruchang's commanding ability.Ding Ruchang knew this deeply. Now, not only is the time for the Beiyang Fleet to prove its strength, it is also the time for Ding Ruchang to prove his ability! For the sake of Leader Li, for yourself, let's fight to the death!Take these Japanese soldiers to sacrifice the flag, I will prove myself with facts! Fast Combined Fleet! In 1885, when Dingyuan and Zhenyuan were launched into service in the Beiyang Fleet, they shocked the whole of Japan.This situation has been mentioned earlier. Mutsuhito in the Tokyo Imperial Palace discovered that there is not a single warship in the Japanese Navy whose guns can penetrate the thick armor of these two giants.Shocked, Muhito took out 1/10 of his royal family's expenses, and other Japanese officials also contributed 1/10 of their salaries-building warships! The French shipbuilding expert hired with high salary to deal with Dingyuan and Zhenyuan has arrived. The Frenchman has lived in Japan for four years, and his daily job is to draw blueprints. Three warships.These three warships are tailor-made to deal with Dingyuan and Zhenyuan. As long as we compare their weapons and equipment, we can discover this secret of the Japanese. The three warships each installed a huge main gun with a diameter of 320 mm on the bow, which has exceeded the 305 mm diameter of Dingyuan and Zhenyuan.Obviously, the Japanese have high hopes for this kind of cannon. In the event of a naval battle, they hope to use it to penetrate the hulls of Dingyuan and Zhenyuan. Since the offensive weapons are so powerful, the defensive devices must also be strong?wrong.Because of cost, Japanese warships were like their cars - the steel plates were thin. The weight (displacement) of these three warships is only half of that of Dingyuan and Zhenyuan (4278 tons). In a naval battle, it is like a man walking into battle with a broadsword in his hand and wearing no armor himself.What the Japanese need is to gamble!It's better to be broken than to be whole, as long as I can defeat you, everyone will die together! The three warships are named after the three most famous landscapes in Japan (Matsushima, Itsukushima Shrine, and Amanohashidate).And Matsushima is the flagship of the United Fleet, the car of Yuto Ito! In addition to the "Sanjing Ship", there are five warships in the main force of the United Fleet, none of which weigh more than 4,200 tons (thin steel plate). One of the members that needs special introduction is the Xijing Maru. In Japan's postal system, there is a large wooden boat used to deliver letters and sacks.Because the ship was very big, it was spotted by the Admiralty. The ship was painted, and a gun was installed on it, so it became a member of the main force of the United Fleet. It was actually a wooden ship, and even the Japanese called it in private. - Camouflaged cruiser. The special feature of Xijing Maru is that there is a special character sitting on it. We will introduce this character later. In addition to the main force, the United Fleet also has a vanguard.Due to its outstanding performance in the naval battle of Asan Bay, it has now added a fast Takachiho (same level as Naniwa), so that the vanguard has become four battleships.Including the eight ships of the main force, the combined fleet has a total of 12 warships. Now, we need to compare the lineups of the two sides.In order to let everyone see more clearly, we need to be familiar with a formula: A = Beiyang Fleet, B = United Fleet. Compared-- A: 12 warships (other torpedo boats participated in the battle); B: 12 ​​warships (no torpedo boats participated in the battle). A: The total weight of the warship (displacement), 34,496 tons; B: The total weight of the warship, 40,849 tons. A: The total number of people participating in the war, more than 2,000 people; B: The total number of people participating in the war, more than 3,500 people. A: Average speed, 15.1 knots; B: Average speed, 16.4 knots (including 19.4 knots for the vanguard). A: 24 heavy guns with a caliber of 20 cm or more; B: 11 heavy guns with a caliber of 20 cm or more. Let's sum it up, everyone must have seen a lot of clues. Party A has a strong gun.Since the main idea of ​​the fleet is to pursue the thickness of the armor plate and the caliber of the shell, the defense capability is outstanding, and the lethality of a single shell is also very strong, but the weakness lies in the sacrifice of the speed of the ship and the speed of the gun.In addition, apart from the "super face project" Dingyuan and Zhenyuan with astonishing displacements, the displacements of the other "Yuan" main warships that accounted for the main part lagged behind by a large margin (in the range of 2100-2900 tons), which caused A Although Fang has two giants, the total displacement is behind. The situation of Party B is just the opposite. Although it does not have the super giant ships like Dingyuan and Zhenyuan of Party A, its main warships are all average. They are fast cruisers with a large hull, with a displacement ranging from 3000 to 4000 tons and less heavy artillery. , most of the rest are equipped with rapid-fire guns, but the steel plates of warships are generally thinner, and it is characterized by fast ships and fast guns.Due to the one-sided pursuit of speed and gun speed, the attack capability is outstanding when it is conducive to rapid combat, but the weakness is that the strength of the warship and the caliber of the shells are sacrificed. Once the situation is unfavorable, it may be eaten by the opponent. Now let's sum it up in one sentence: the two sides are evenly matched in terms of weapons and equipment, and each has its own advantages and disadvantages!They are really the nephews of the grandfather's family, each has its own advantages, and each has its own stunned. An astonishing phenomenon has occurred: the warships of the Beiyang Fleet are strong and powerful (big), while the warships of the United Fleet are fast and fast (small), with the strongest shield against the fastest spear, it is simply natural The nemesis is not that enemies do not get together. And the situation has become clear, the weapon factor is not the most important and the most critical, the most critical are the next two factors: formation and on-the-spot command! Before introducing the formations of the two sides, we must first understand a theory that dominated world naval warfare at that time, and this theory was the theory of fleet integration.The theory is actually quite complicated, but to put it simply, it can be introduced in one sentence, that is: when fighting at sea, the warships in the fleet must never be separated, and everyone must closely follow the flagship as the center. Around our fleet, we must maintain a whole, fight together, and die together. Someone may ask, what is there to say?Theory generally cannot be equated with practice, but the problem is the two words behind this theory - authority.Every navie in the world basically abides by it.The navy is a new military branch. The first large-scale naval battle of steam armored warships in history (Italian-Austrian naval battle) was launched more than 20 years ago in the Sino-Japanese War. Everyone is in the stage of learning lessons and accumulating experience. Authority, unless the person is ignorant or fearless, is generally unwilling to break it, and breaking it will take huge risks. Ito Youheng didn't seem to believe this evil. When the combined fleet was divided into the vanguard and the main force, he was already taking risks to break this authority.And Yuto Ito not only broke the unity of the fleet in the fleet arrangement, but also clearly stipulated that once the battle occurs, the vanguard can act independently from the main force.You fast legs just rush forward desperately, rush out and talk about it, don't care about the destination, what you care about is how fast you can run! After splitting the fleet into two pieces, Ito Yuhiro began to form the formation.Rather than saying that Yuto Ito was arranging formations, it is better to say that he did not arrange formations at all. He ordered the four warships of the vanguard and the eight warships of the main force to rush towards the battle zone end to end, that is, It is said that this is the simplest formation of the word "1" - this is the "long snake formation" in the ancient art of war, an attack formation that has always been extremely risky. Too simple, and simple doesn't mean bad. Before the war, Ding Ruchang issued three battle orders: 1. In action, sister ships, or sub-divisions of pairs of ships, shall as far as possible remain together, and support one another in attack and defense. 2. A ruling principle should be to keep bows on to the enemy. 3. All ships must, as a general rule, follow the motions of the Admira. English is dazzled, or translate: 1. Sister ships or two warships in the same squad should act together and cooperate with each other in combat or defense. 2. The bow of the ship must always face the enemy ship. 3. All ships must follow the flagship movement. After the translation, it can be analyzed.Obviously, Ding Ruchang's first and third battle orders are derived from the authoritative theory of "fleet integration".In addition, he also took care of the actual situation of the Beiyang Fleet. Since most of the naval guns of the Beiyang Fleet are large-caliber recoil guns, most of these guns are installed on the bow of the ship, and the second battle order for the bow of the ship to face the enemy is to exert the power of the cannon. After issuing these three battle orders, Ding Ruchang began to deploy.The order is to place Dingyuan and Zhenyuan in the center, and the ships are arranged on both sides, forming a "curved line" formation to meet the enemy. The so-called "bending" is not intentional to confuse the opponent.This is still due to Ding Ruchang's defense considerations. Ding Ruchang ordered that when the warships form a row, the five slightly stronger warships will advance slightly and meet the enemy first. , the word "one" becomes a ladder and so on. Every strong ship protects the weak ships around it when facing the enemy, so as to achieve the purpose of protecting the weak with the strong. With the word "one" against the word "1", this is another pair of natural nemesis and destined opponents.It seemed simple and clear, but something unexpected happened next. The factor that triggers unexpected situations is simple, that is - time. Before discovering the enemy ships, the Beiyang Fleet advanced in a two-way column, led by Dingyuan and Zhenyuan respectively, each leading four warships to sail forward, and the weakest ships with the slowest speed were at the tail of the formation.Now, the strongest Dingyuan and Zhenyuan do not move, but the weakest ships with the slowest speed have to travel the farthest distance to form a row.In a very short period of time, the Beiyang Fleet did not completely successfully change its formation, but finally formed a "people" formation starting with Dingyuan, and the two wings of the "one" were not fully stretched and straightened. It can be seen more clearly through a picture.The picture below is a schematic diagram of the engagement of the Beiyang Fleet and the United Fleet. This is a kind of wild goose formation in the ancient art of war, which can be used for both offense and defense.Use the pointed tip of the word "person" - the powerful Dingyuan and Zhenyuan to attack the enemy, and they can protect the safety of the two wings and the rear and prevent the enemy from outflanking.In the fierce moment of battle, the two wings can also be suddenly deployed to surprise the opponent, playing the effect of "surprise soldiers". Of course, this is theoretical. This is not the formation originally envisioned by Ding Ruchang, but a new formation formed during the formation process due to the rush of time, but the Beiyang Fleet does not have much time to complete the formation, and Ding Ruchang does not have much time to do it. Without adjustment, the word "人" is "人", and the wild geese are not arranged in the word "一", so the effect should be good if they are arranged in the word "person". The reason why there is no time is simple: the lead ship of the vanguard, Yoshino, has entered within five kilometers of Dingyuan, which is already the range of Dingyuan. Ding Ruchang sent an order: All gunners aim at Yoshino! aim!Follow my orders and wait for the opportunity to fire! I have been waiting for this moment for a long time. Over the years, Qing and Japan have engaged in an arms race, and those who buy ships buy ships, and those who buy guns buy guns because they know that a doomed naval battle is inevitable. This is my fate, and it is also the fate of Yuheng Ito.It is the fate of Li Hongzhang, Kawayama Shiki, the Qing people, and the Japanese. And when this step really comes, weapons are the best endorsement, and iron fist is the ultimate means. Fighting with life, this is a road of no return.The only choice is to put on the armor, hold the weapon tightly, show your fangs, and rush to the battlefield!What military strength comparison, what authoritative theory, what formation layout, everything is for the final result that speaks with strength. fire!Boom his mother! At around 12:50 noon, the Dadonggou naval battle in the Yellow Sea officially started. Although it was within range, the first shot fired by Dingyuan missed the target due to the distance, causing a huge jet of water beside Yoshino.The Dingyuan gunner immediately corrected, aimed, and fired a second shot! This shot was hit right—pretty accurate. The shell exploded on the deck after passing through the Yoshino hull, and the deck of Yoshino suddenly burst into flames.Captain Yoshino Kawahara looked at Yoshino who was pierced through the hull, and felt very uncomfortable. It seems that the mighty Dingyuan really deserved his reputation. This shell declared the Beiyang Fleet-a triumphant start! However, Yoshino did not flinch. While fighting the fire, Kawahara asked the gunners to aim at a fixed distance.And this time the aiming was also very good. In the warships of the United Fleet and the Beiyang Fleet, the "sextant aiming method" commonly used at that time was used for long-distance aiming. Sextant aiming is an older aiming method before the advent of advanced collimators.The specific method is to first send an observer to stand on a very high command and observation platform, hold a sextant to measure the distance horizontally, and after getting the relative distance, send a message to the gunner. The gunner corrects the height angle of the gun barrel according to the distance.Obviously, this relatively primitive method is also subject to the interference of smog on the battlefield, and the accuracy is difficult to guarantee (scientific data: when using a sextant to aim at a distance of 4000 meters from the enemy, the error is about 170 meters). The only one of the two fleets that did not use a sextant to aim, but a more advanced method of aiming, was Yoshino. As mentioned above, Yoshino is a warship that has just been launched for half a year. During the construction process, it absorbed many advanced technologies in the world at that time, one of which was to turn the sextant into a mirror sight. The so-called mirror sight is an aiming instrument that is similar to a telescope. When using it, as long as the eyepiece is focused on the target, it can quickly display the target distance. It was none other than Ding Ruchang who was standing on the podium in Dingyuan to direct the order that He Yuan wanted to target. Ding Ruchang didn't know that there was such an advanced aiming instrument on the Yoshino, and he didn't know that the danger was approaching him. "Fire"!Heyuan wanted to stop drinking one by one, and a 120mm shell flew towards Ding Ruchang.If Ding Ruchang is shot, the Beiyang Fleet will lose its coach, and the consequences will be disastrous! There was still an error in the mirror sight. The shell did not hit Ding Ruchang, nor did it hit the command platform, but exploded aside.Ding Ruchang luckily escaped. And even if it explodes next to it, the power of the shell cannot be underestimated. Ding Ruchang was swept up into the air by the huge impact and fell heavily to the deck. His left leg was crushed by falling debris and he could not move.Almost at the same moment as it landed, a terrifying fire burst into the sky, and the flames burned against the deck and Ding Ruchang's body. This was a strange and terrifying fire, as if a layer of oil had been poured on the fire point in advance.This secret will be revealed in the course of the ensuing battle.Although Ding Ruchang escaped the shells, he was about to be engulfed in flames! In desperation, the soldiers next to him cut Ding Ruchang's clothes with a knife, and then rescued Ding Ruchang from the flames.At this time, Ding Ruchang was seriously injured and unable to stand. The soldiers wanted to carry Ding Ruchang away and leave the dangerous area, but Ding Ruchang resolutely refused to leave the deck. He said: I will sit here to supervise the battle and inspire the soldiers! In many books in the past, the injury of Ding Ruchang is another process.That is, when Dingyuan fired the first shot, it collapsed the command and observation platform (bridge) that had been in disrepair for a long time, causing Ding Ruchang to fall off the deck.This statement was once widely circulated, because it is evidence of the chaos and decay of the management of the Beiyang Fleet.It is indeed a wonder of the world to fire a cannon without hitting the enemy, but injuring his own coach. But there are still many people who doubt it, including me. After finding the model of the Dingyuan ship, according to the position and distance of the main gun and the bridge before Dingyuan, it was found that this statement could not be established.If Dingyuan's cannonballs can collapse its own bridge, there is only one possibility: no one can stand on the bridge at all, and it will collapse if it stands on it, and Ding Ruchang and other personnel have been standing on the bridge.In fact, Dingyuan's bridge is very strong, with wooden and steel skins, and insects can't bite into it. When Dingyuan was ordered from Germany, the Qing Dynasty sent people to supervise the whole process, and the Germans did not cut corners. After synthesizing Chinese and foreign historical materials, we restored the above process. As the coach, Ding Ruchang's courage is commendable, and his bravery also greatly inspired the soldiers on the Dingyuan ship.However, there is another problem that Ding Ruchang is not aware of.This is a serious negligence, and it can even be said to be a fatal mistake, which will bring extremely serious consequences to the subsequent command. Let's turn our attention to Yoshino again.After injuring Ding Ruchang, the situation was extremely favorable to the United Fleet again, but Kawara Kaname did not take advantage of the victory to fight, and continued to fire at Dingyuan, which was already on fire, but followed the deployment arranged in advance by Ito Yuheng: lead the vanguard The fleet warship turned sharply to the left, and rushed at full speed into the "herringbone" formation of the Beiyang Fleet! In the last naval battle of Asan Bay, the vanguard's turn was to lure Jiyuan out of the narrow Asan Bay channel in order to exert the power of rapid-fire guns, so why is this turn now—is it a turn? Addictive? This is exactly the tactical arrangement of Ito Youheng before the war: After the vanguard bypasses the Dingyuan and other warships in front, they can implement the Japanese army's favorite trick-outflank.The tactics of outflanking are just fatal to the Beiyang Fleet: the "herringbone" formation of the Beiyang Fleet is a weak ship such as super brave and arrogant, which has basically no resistance to resistance. Under the attack of artillery fire, it is most likely to be sunk! You protect the weak with the strong, and I will fight the weak with the strong!Soldiers must destroy their intentions! This is Ito Yuheng's calculation. The calculation can be said to be seamless, but the reality is another situation. Ito Yuheng was betting again, because he had to take great risks when turning. During the turning process, not only could he not aim and fire at the opponent, but one side of the warship was also exposed to the Beiyang Fleet's muzzle. During the process, the four warships of the vanguard were only beaten. So Yuto Ito implemented his next step: lead the main team, and cover forward! In order to cover the smooth turn of the four warships, Yuheng Ito led the main force to rush up, and his Matsushima rushed to the forefront. 伊东佑亨并没有放弃攻击定远，他率松岛号冲向前还有另外一个秘密：松岛号上有专门为击沉定远设计的杀手性武器——320毫米口径大炮！在受到吉野的攻击后，定远舰上已经燃起大火，火焰一时还没有被扑灭，伊东佑亨决定抓住这个绝佳的战机，以巨炮击穿定远的装甲，打破“定远不沉”的神话！ 在甲午海战之前，定远和镇远曾经几次访问日本，巨大舰体刺激了天皇睦仁，也引起了日本军民的恐慌，从那个时候起，击沉定远就成了日本每一位海军士兵的梦想。军中流传一首歌《请问定远沉了吗》（这首歌在日本一直流行到了二战期间），而根据一些史料记载，在日本的学校里，还流行一项特殊的游戏。 这项游戏就是“捕捉定远”的课间游戏。由日本小学生一队扮演日本舰队，另一队扮演清国舰队，围捕定远和镇远。由此看来，定远和镇远是当之无愧的日本国民的梦魇，从建造“三景舰”开始，日本一直在为击沉定远、镇远做各项准备，现在这个任务交给了伊东佑亨。 在伊东佑亨看来，只有击沉清国的海上巨无霸，才是联合舰队真正的胜利！ 此时的定远仍然在救那恐怖的大火，舰体已经暴露在巨炮之下！ 旗舰危矣！ 伊东佑亨得意了，他没想到击沉定远的这个馅饼会砸到自己的头上，千载难逢的良机，一定要抓住。不是每个人都有机会见到定远的，更别说去征服它，亲手去毁灭一个得不到的庞然大物，除了胜利的喜悦，一定还有一种邪恶的快感。 所谓螳螂捕蝉，黄雀在后，一双眼睛背后总有另外一双眼睛盯着。经验告诉我们，每当一个人洋洋得意的时候，也是危险临近的时候。伊东佑亨的注意力完全放在定远上，却没注意在定远身后不远的另一艘军舰上还站着一个人，一个对他充满仇恨火焰的人。 镇远舰舰长林泰曾已经注意他很久了。 作为定远的同级姊妹舰，镇远一直很低调，默默地陪伴在旗舰的周围。This time is no exception.海战开始后，林泰曾指挥镇远一直伏在定远的身后，它没有开炮，也没有鸣笛，由于一直很安静，以至大家都忽视了它的存在。 一个人不停地擦拭手中的战刀，却迟迟不肯动手，那只有一个目的——为了最后的荣耀，为了致命的一击！ 林泰曾一直睁着一双警惕的眼睛，当然，这双眼睛前面还有一个玻璃物件——望远镜。伊东佑亨的身影就一直出现在林泰曾的望远镜里，如果精度再高一点，日本人嘴角有没有饭粒、脸上有没有麻子应该也能看清楚。 斩首！擒敌先擒王！ 但是，用大炮去轰一个人还是比较有难度的。这也是林泰曾尽管一直想实施斩首行动却迟迟没有开炮的原因。此时的林泰曾发觉了伊东佑亨准备用320毫米大炮偷袭定远的企图。必须先护旗舰！林泰曾立即命令前主炮炮手瞄准松岛大炮炮塔，抢先一步，发炮！ 305毫米主炮炮弹径直朝松岛大炮飞去，这一发炮弹造成的结果是松岛大炮旋转装置被击碎。 没了旋转装置，也就再无法有效瞄准，松岛这门标志性的大炮基本报废。 看着变成废铁的大炮，伊东佑亨满鼻子的汗，暗暗叫苦，刚才的洋洋得意变成了垂头丧气。这门专门为对付定远、镇远定制的大炮一直被寄予厚望，连皇宫里的睦仁都经常念叨，也是伊东佑亨的杀手锏。可惜大炮未响，它已失灵，辛辛苦苦修造几年的东西到了战场，连个表演的机会都没有。 然而，就在松岛中炮的同时，先锋队也成功地完成转弯了，在冲过北洋舰队“人”字的箭头后，开足马力朝“人”字的阵脚冲去，那里有北洋舰队最弱的两艘军舰——超勇和扬威。 其实对于伊东佑亨来说，他刚才的举动是用松岛主动为先锋队挡住炮火，掩护先锋队成功转弯才是真正的目的，偷袭定远只是一时心动，想顺手牵羊。却没想到半路杀出一个更会放冷箭的林泰曾，自己砍人不成，最厉害的刀却被打飞了。 掩护任务完成，伊东佑亨立即在松岛挂出“随我左转！”的信号旗。看来，在先锋队朝北洋舰队的阵头冲过去之后，伊东佑亨也要让主力队冲过去。 所有的军舰都向前冲，以此扰乱对方的阵形。very good.但伊东佑亨真正的用心并不在于破阵。 在海战中，军舰编队的阵形虽然比较重要，但它的重要性要比陆战中弱很多。陆战是大兵团作战，人与人对面交锋，随便拉出来都是几万或几十万大军，规模大一点的还有上百万，当然要排个出场顺序，安排站位，讲究阵法，而海战不会有人挤人的问题，大家都在船上，靠的是中远距离的炮战。如此视野开阔之地，空气新鲜，温度湿度适宜，正是杀人取命、惊风起浪的好时机，兄弟还需要排什么阵形，架起大炮轰就是。 在双方武器、兵力差不多的情况下，要想取胜就只有一个诀窍了，那就是：局部优势。也就是俗话说的以强击弱，以多打少。所谓一张嘴的斗不过三张嘴的，两条腿的跑不过四条腿的，说的就是这个道理。 而要想取得局部优势，就要找到对方的薄弱环节，然后派出精干力量，进行一种类似田忌赛马的游戏。 在伊东佑亨看来，定远、镇远就是北洋舰队最强的上等马，现在是不能碰的。而作为下等马的弱舰都在阵脚，所以就必须冒险向阵脚冲去。 随着这个谜底的揭开，伊东佑亨真正的算计也完全暴露了。这正是这位仁兄的得意之作：先锋队和主力队所有的军舰都暂避强大的定远和镇远，冲过北洋阵前，利用局部优势，围歼北洋舰队阵脚弱舰，然后实施各个歼灭，最后合力攻向定远、镇远的方针！ 心机不可谓不深，算计不可谓不好。一旦让这些军舰冲过阵头，北洋舰队将阵脚大乱，情况极为不利。 但是，伊东佑亨图谋的实现也没那么容易的。此人倒霉的事还没有到来。 还是那个原因：转弯有危险，行动须谨慎。 虽然海战一开始在定远上最出风头的是丁汝昌，但刘步蟾才是真正指挥定远的人。刚才他在忙着指挥救火，现在大火基本被扑灭，松岛又傻乎乎地在面前转弯，不抓住这个战机，简直对不起观众朋友们！ 在林泰曾打得兴起时，刘步蟾也在为给松岛添上一炮作准备。虽然架退炮准备的时间长了一点，发炮的速度慢了一点，但只要兄弟们配合，还是可以做到对敌连续打击的，很不幸，伊东佑亨又将迎接他的下一炮。 这一炮击中了松岛舷侧，具体位置是舷侧速射炮区第7号炮位，炮位旁的炮长、装弹手等战斗一线人员，以及传令兵等战斗服务人员全部飞向天空，而炮位也被炸得个粉碎。 在短短的瞬间，松岛的主炮和速射炮都遭到了毁灭性的打击，基本丧失战斗力，作为联合舰队的旗舰，这个损失是比较严重的。 而对于北洋舰队来说，取得这个成绩是很不容易的。 尽管定远和镇远各有一炮击中松岛，但它们不是只打了两炮就完事，实际情况比表面看上去的要复杂。 在陆战中，我们熟悉的一句话是“双方大战三百回合，一刀将敌人砍下马来”，而在海上精准打炮，击中敌舰，更是不容易。 第一个因素是双方始终在动，属于运动中打移动靶，原本瞄得好好的，等一炮过去，人家可能已在50米开外。 而由于距离较远，炮手一般无法通过炮管进行直瞄，瞄准过程就是我们前面已经介绍过的“六分仪瞄准法”，不仅无法保证瞄得很准，即使瞄准了，从瞄准到发炮的时间差又让这种准变成了不准。 为了解决这个问题，指挥平台上观测兵的经验十分重要，必须根据实际情况，进行一定的预判：提前判断对方的军舰会朝哪个方向移动。 在导弹出现以前，打炮就是如此的不容易。 战机的出现！ 伊东佑亨偷袭不成反被轰，斩首定远的妄想破灭了。但这也更加坚定了他要冲进去的决心。 形成局部优势、以强打弱的计划如此完美。但伊东佑亨也犯下了一个和丁汝昌在战前犯下的同样的错误。 那就是没有考虑到时间问题。 先锋队能够顺利大转弯，一是军舰只有四艘，更重要的是航速很快。而在航速上，主力舰队的军舰都是老爷级别的，并不比北洋军舰快，一支航速慢的舰队完成集体转弯，这一定会留下时间空当。 而这个空当，就是给整个北洋舰队绝佳的战机！ 丁汝昌虽然受伤失去了对全舰队的指挥，但是我们一定还记得他在战前发过的一条战令：舰首始终对敌。 按照这条战令，当伊东佑亨的舰队纷纷左转时，北洋舰队立即相向右转，正面拦截！ 在双方舰队的相对转向中，一个对北洋舰队极为有利的情况出现了：虽然松岛等前面几艘军舰成功地溜了过去，但主力队队尾的弱舰却正好被堵在正前方，而它们面对的是定远和镇远！ 伊东佑亨的计划竟然间接帮助了北洋舰队，此人挖空心思、处心积虑地想寻找局部优势，以最强对最弱的局部优势却给北洋舰队送上门来了！ 机关算尽太聪明，伊东佑亨真该学点中国成语啊。 好吧，不要让这些软柿子开溜，迅速开打！ 最先作出反应的是刘步蟾，因为他最早意识到这个对北洋舰队极为有利的局面。他指挥定远迅速朝被拦在最近的前方敌舰比睿发炮。比睿舰长姓名比较奇怪，叫樱井规矩之左右，感觉随时像带着一队人马似的，不过现在的他是真真正正的孤军，我们简称樱井。 见到定远要攻击自己，樱井倒是很有自知之明，他想出了一招：跑。 樱井的自知之明是有缘由的。 比睿的服役时间已经有漫长的18年了。18岁的姑娘一枝花，但18年的军舰却是老太太，腿脚不灵（航速下降），身子单薄，定远这样级别的军舰一两发主炮就可以将它炸个底朝天。更重要的是比睿没什么战斗力。 在定远坚固的装甲面前，比睿发出的炮弹即使能够有幸命中定远，也就像一把大刀砍在悟空兄的铁头上，大家看看碰撞出来的火花，仅此而已。 由于既不能打，又不能守，樱井只好指挥着比睿在海面上大幅度转舵行驶，一会儿扭个秧歌，一会儿百米冲刺，躲避刘步蟾指挥发来的炮火。炮弹在比睿的前后左右爆炸，水柱冲天，硝烟弥漫，舰上的日军东倒西歪，折手断腿，哭爹喊娘。 对于这些转得晕头转向的人来说，还不如中一炮来个痛快的。 是时候把比睿炸个底朝天，送日兵去海底喂鱼了！刘步蟾指挥定远对比睿紧追不舍，炮手也在不断瞄准。所有人都明白，如果能够击沉比睿，这不仅将是对北洋舰队军心一个极大的鼓舞，甚至有可能奠定胜局！因为海战和陆战尽管有很多的不同，但有一条是相同的：最有利的战法就是消灭敌人，最有利的战争形势就是不断消耗敌人有生力量！ 然而，有一个人加入战局，让情况变得复杂起来。 这个人是林永升。 继刘步蟾之后，一旁的林永升也发现了这个战机，作为经远舰的舰长，林永升决定去给刘步蟾帮忙。于是，林永升命令经远全速冲向比睿，和定远形成前后夹击。 正在扭秧歌的比睿躲得开定远的炮，躲不开经远的炮，躲得开前炮，躲不开后炮。终于，在经远炮火的打击下，比睿舰上的主炮全部被摧毁，已经毫无还手之力，无路可逃！ 樱井终于绝望了，命令比睿开足马力，撞向经远，同归于尽吧！临死还要拉个垫背的！ 在“天皇万岁！”的口号声中，比睿冲向经远！ 但是，不是你想撞就能撞得上的。在定远的掩护下，林永升指挥经远轻巧地避开了比睿。然后，刘步蟾和林永升分别指挥定远和经远再次调整好军舰位置，转动炮架，瞄准比睿——这一次，一定要击沉比睿！ 比睿已经彻底不能反抗了，只有等死，唯一的动作就是“天皇万岁”的呼喊声更加响亮，樱井已经放弃抵抗，等待自己去喂鱼的那一刻。 然而，就在此时，让比睿号上的日军感到惊奇的一幕出现了：定远和经远并没有发炮！他们似乎在等待什么，海面上顿时陷入一片奇怪的安静！ 原因说起来好笑，在于——大家都求胜心切。 在定远和经远合力围追堵截比睿的时候，旁边北洋舰队的军舰也发现了击沉比睿的绝佳战机，又见这里打得热闹，于是它们也纷纷朝比睿开来，结果就是——它们包围了比睿。 包围了比睿，接下来就是大伙一齐发炮，把这艘敌舰炸个稀烂了。 但这只在理论上可行，实战中不是这样的。这又是来源于海战与陆战不同的特殊情况。 海上发炮的命中率要比陆地上更难以保证，因为双方都是一个动物（正在动的物），由于是己方几条的军舰包围着一条敌舰，北洋各军舰都不敢发炮了：万一炮弹没有击中比睿，就会飞过去误伤对面己方的军舰！ 刘步蟾十分恼怒，简直哭笑不得。本来他有击沉比睿的绝好时机，然后林永升率领经远过来热心帮忙了。帮忙就帮忙吧，两艘军舰还是比较好一起打的，而令人没想到的是，帮忙的人越来越多，大家围成了一个圈圈儿，这下可好了，谁也开不了炮。 这种境地让比睿得到了喘息的机会，暂时侥幸逃过一命。 比睿又要逃了，这么多人拿它没办法，这个局面简直是一个三岁的顽童捉弄了所有人。林永升升起了怒火，他发现一个问题：比睿已经被炸得不成样子了，舰上的炮座全部炸飞了，成了光头军舰。好吧，既然我们不能炮击你，那就有一招——活捉。 经远舰上的炮火停止了，携带步枪的狙击手全部跑步上甲板，经远全速开向比睿，等双方距离进入步枪射程，就用枪歼灭比睿号上的日军，然后俘获这艘船！ 但经远靠近比睿时，接下来发生的一幕又是所有人想不到的。 只听见比睿舰上发出一声声“哒哒哒”的炮响，大海上腾起浓密的烟雾，所有人都不知道发生了什么。 烟雾散去，林永升等惊奇地发现：他再也找不到那些狙击手了，甲板上所有的清兵全部消失，一个不剩下，而甲板上没有留下他们的尸体。 他们已经灰飞烟灭了。 林永升观察得没错，比睿舰上的炮座全部被打烂，所以它是没有机会还手的。但问题出在速射炮，在比睿的舷侧还有两门改装的小型速射炮。当樱井看到林永升试图俘虏比睿时，他已经命人悄悄地填装好了速射炮，而在接近步枪的射程之内，小口径速射炮杀伤力的威力相当于——重型机关枪。 林永升彻底怒了，他远远没想到比睿正是在诱敌深入。他命令向比睿发射鱼雷！而发射的鱼雷竟也未击中！ 娘的，难道就拿这一条破舰没有办法吗？ 比睿虽然接连逃脱，但是，只能说明它命大，在大家看来，这艘军舰迟早是要被击沉的，只是时间问题，而这时候，又找了一条可以陪伴比睿的军舰——赤城号。 赤城是联合舰队里航速最慢的一艘军舰（最大航速10.5节），在大伙混战的过程中，它不幸掉队了，一艘军舰孤零零地航行在海面上，四顾茫然，独自往前开。 来远舰舰长邱宝仁发现了这只掉队的孤雁，当然不会放弃这个绝好的机会。拦住赤城的去路，先发一炮，这一炮将赤城舰长坂元八郎太当场炸得粉碎。接下来的炮弹击中了军舰上一个要害部件——负责为炮弹输送带提供动力的蒸汽管道。 这条管道被打穿了。 管道破了的后果不只是漏漏气这么简单，而是没有推力向炮位输送炮弹，如果强行输送，就必须要停止使用军舰上的鼓风机（让气漏得少一点），但如果停止使用鼓风机，蒸汽动力又会减弱，军舰的航速将大大降低，基本变成蜗牛。也就是说：赤城要么选择强行发炮战斗，要么选择先保命逃跑。而在比它强大得多的来远舰面前，逃跑也不是那么容易的。 比睿和赤城看上去都在劫难逃了。而有一个人的出现却让这两艘军舰化险为夷，把它们从死亡线上拉了回来，他可以说是整个战场上最疯狂的人。 当联合舰队出征时，日本海军军令部部长桦山资纪决定要前往战场亲自观战。领导身先士卒，鼓舞士气，自然是好事，但从安全的角度着想，伊东佑亨还是拒绝了。不料桦山资纪却强烈要求前往战场，伊东佑亨只好同意了。他准备把这位固执的领导请到自己的旗舰松岛号上。 “我只是来观战，我上西京丸就好了。”桦山资纪说。 听了这句话，伊东佑亨惊呆了，这是万万不可答应的。伊东佑亨没想到这位大人物竟然疯狂到连自己的命都不要了。 我们前面介绍过，西京丸是一艘木船，以前用来运邮包麻袋的，跟军舰八竿子也打不着。在一般人看来，桦山资纪实在是脑子进水。 伊东佑亨只好请求桦山资纪一定要远离战场，千万不要靠近或者进入战场。这是要掉脑袋的，很危险！ 就是在西京丸上的桦山资纪发现了比睿和赤城的危险情况。心急如焚的部长大人忙令人用远距离信号通知旗舰上的伊东佑亨：比睿、赤城危险！ 伊东佑亨的松岛号此时已经冲过去了，他原本是不打算理会没冲过去的这些军舰的，因为松岛也是好不容易才冲过去，还几乎遭受了毁灭性的打击。 不过领导发话了，也不得不听。伊东佑亨只好率领松岛等舰全速调头回援，不顾一切地朝定远、经远、来远开炮，吸引住北洋舰队的炮火。 正是趁着这个空当，比睿、赤城总算得到了逃生机会，迅速驾驶军舰逃出战场。 桦山资纪总算可以长出一口气了，但接下来的事情总算让他明白了一个词：引火烧身。 因为刘步蟾和林泰曾同时注意到了西京丸。 大家虽然不知道桦山资纪就在这艘船上，但西京丸船体宽大，桅杆很高，像一艘巨大的“巡洋舰”，感觉一定有大鱼在这艘船上。于是在压住松岛方向的炮火后，定远和镇远同时朝西京丸扑去！ 桦山资纪的反应只能用一个词来形容：大惊失色。 这就是引火烧身的结果。不出意外的话，前邮政运输船很快要变成桦山资纪的尸体运输船了。 西京丸舵机中炮，然后是后部水线中炮，船舱开始进水，桦山资纪只好打出“舵坏了”信号，一边命令士兵舀水，一边令舵手使用备用的人力舵力，一二三，嘿哟！舀水！一二三，嘿哟！转舵！想逃离战场，可是进水的问题还没处理完，又一发炮弹飞来，甲板上燃起大火。 真是水深火热啊，部长大人，我们同情你！ 对于北洋舰队来说，机会又一次垂青了他们，他们将钓得一条大鱼。桦山资纪已经无路可逃，歼灭桦山资纪的人即将出场！ 这个人是个生力军，在海战爆发后，他并没有出现在战场上，而是和平远舰、广丙舰留在大东港内，此时平远和广丙出港参加战斗（至此北洋舰队的参战军舰也变成12艘），于是他率领北洋舰队鱼雷艇队跟随出港。这个人是个著名的海归，曾经在美国留学9年。他就是任北洋舰队鱼雷艇队队长、福龙号鱼雷艇艇长的蔡廷干。