The South China Sea has been a transportation hub since ancient times. Businessmen from all over the world came to Quanzhou and Guangzhou to buy porcelain, tea, silk and other unique Chinese commodities, which were then exported to the world.
Of course, with the development of the times, the means of transportation of merchants have also kept pace with the times. From the initial galleys and sailboats to the modern light and dark ships, the transportation artery of the South China Sea has become more prosperous.
On the South China Sea close to the coastline of Vietnam, a large fleet of freighters is sailing slowly on the sea in a long queue. The weather is not very good today. A large number of clouds block the sunlight, making the scenery in the distance not so clear.
Yes, this is the fleet departing from Saigon, and their destination is Beiqi.
The leader of the long fleet was the French fleet's wooden-hulled cruiser Volda.
As the captain and commander of the escort fleet, Major Barrow is observing the surrounding sea surface with a telescope.
"Why haven't these Italians come yet?"
The first mate who was doing the same thing next to him couldn't help but complain.
Faced with the first mate's complaints, Major Barrow put down his telescope and said, "Don't worry. If you want to hunt, you need to have enough patience."
"But this is our third time. If the Qing people still don't come, then the cost will be high."
Yes, organizing so many ships to run back and forth continuously with full loads requires a lot of manpower and material resources, and it all costs money. And in order to complete the show, they actually transported supplies, but they were not military supplies.
, just some worthless goods. This will cost more, after all, it requires manpower to move it up and down.
"This is not an issue that we should be concerned about. This is what General Gupo is considering. We only need to worry about when the Qing fleet will arrive."
Faced with the first mate's excessive worries, Major Barrow corrected him.
In fact, they did not know that on the sea thirty nautical miles outside their fleet, two Venice-class patrol ships were sailing at sea.
How could Liu Buchan, the nominal commander of the fleet, not know about France's actions in the border area of North Vietnam?
It was decided after discussion that the French could not continue to deliver supplies to North Vietnam under any circumstances.
Of course, in order to prevent possible accidents, they did not rush to the route immediately, but waited for the French fleet to set off before rushing to the route.
Two hours later, the fleet discovered smoke from ships sailing on the east side.
"There's a boat on the east side!"
On the observation deck, the sharp-eyed sailor immediately reported his discovery.
"Let the Viper go check the situation."
Major Barrow, the commander of the escort fleet, immediately issued the order. The Viper is a gunboat made of iron and wood. It is mainly responsible for escort and offshore operations. It has a displacement of 471 tons and is equipped with 9 guns of various types.
The maximum speed is 10.14 knots.
When the messenger on the Volda sent Major Barrow's order to the Viper in a semaphore, the gunboat immediately left the formation and rushed to the east side where the ship was found.
This situation of sudden intrusion by ships has happened many times before, so this time the Viper was just making a routine inquiry and planned to let the intruding ships leave quickly.
It's just that this time it's destined to be different.
After a while, not only the figure that broke into the ship could be seen from the observation deck, but also other people on the ship could see its figure. Although the specific figure of the ship could not be seen clearly due to the distance and weather, everyone was there.
A thought flashed through my mind, the ship was coming so fast.
"There are two ships coming."
At this time, the sailors on the observation deck finally used their binoculars to find that there were two incoming ships, and everyone immediately increased their vigilance.
"Command, all ships prepare for battle."
Since there are two ships and the speed is so fast, in Major Barrow's heart, the incoming ship is most likely the target he wants to wait for, so he first issues an order for each ship to prepare for battle.
Following his words, each ship in the escort fleet immediately rang the battle bell, and the sailors rushed to their fighting positions.
It didn't take long for Major Barrow to prove that he was very foresighted. The Viper sent a signal. The incoming ships were the Zhiyuan and Jingyuan that Italy had sold to the Qing Dynasty. Because they were flying the Qing Dynasty flag, they had been
The officers and soldiers on the Viper saw clearly.
"Let the cargo ship leave immediately according to the scheduled plan, and let the Baswal immediately contact General Guba and tell him that the prey has taken the bait."
In fact, there was no need for him to notify the Basval. This liaison ship also saw the Viper's semaphore and immediately turned its bow and evacuated to the rear.
Because he only knew one mission, he needed to inform General Guba who was hanging behind him of the news as soon as the Qing Dynasty's patrol arrived.
After issuing this series of orders, Major Barrow immediately issued another order. "Have other ships move closer to me immediately to meet the incoming enemy ships."
That's right, Major Barrow wants to use his weak fleet to entangle the incoming enemy and create an opportunity for General Gubo behind him to surround him.
In the eyes of Liu Buchan and the two captains Gomes and Leifer, the response of the French fleet to the surprise attack was too fast, which made them feel a little unusual.
"The French reacted too quickly."
After putting down the telescope looking at the French fleet, Liu Buchan expressed his doubts to Captain Leifer beside him.
"I saw it too, but now is not the time to worry about the enemy's reaction. Now we need to decide whether to fight or not?"
Leifer, who had the same idea, was now more concerned about the approaching French escort warships.
This question stumped Liu Buchan. Although he had served on a British warship before, he had never experienced a naval battle, so this made him undecided.
"What do you think?"
In the end, Liu Buchan handed over this question to the person next to him. After spending so much time with Leifer, Liu Buchan admired his ability very much, so if he didn’t understand or couldn’t make up his mind, he just asked directly and the other party would always give a reasonable answer.
solution.
"We must fight now, otherwise the French will be too arrogant."
Looking at the approaching French warships, their combined tonnage was even inferior to that of the Zhiyuan under his own seat. If he didn't fight, he wouldn't be giving the opponent a chance to show off his power.
"Then let's fight."
As Liu Buchan made his decision, the messenger immediately sent his order to the Jingyuan behind him, and then two patrol ships loaded with more than 7,000 tons immediately went up to meet it.
As the two parties get closer, each other can clearly see each other's every move.
"Damn it, these Italians are so shameless, they dare to collude with the pagans."
Major Barrow, who saw clearly the crew members on the other side's ship through his binoculars, cursed fiercely. However, in his heart, he was worried about the coming battle. The enemy was not weak and could bully the Chinese, but
He was an Italian, and the following battle left a shadow in his heart. Although the Italian army was looked down upon, the navy still had a certain strength.
"Tell all ships to brace themselves, we are fighting the Italians."
Following Major Barrow's order, a flurry of greetings to the Italians rang out from each ship.
Major Barrow, on the other hand, stared intently at the opponent's warship, hearing the sound of observers constantly reporting in his ears.
"Distance 8000 meters."
"Distance 6000 meters."
"5000 meters away."
"4800."
"Order all ships to open fire."
Following Major Barrow's order, each ship of the small fleet fired angry artillery fire at the two incoming warships.
Among them, the Zhiyuan ship received most of the firepower. In this round of shooting, the Zhiyuan ship erupted three explosions at the bow and the side of the hull, which caused a stir on the French warship.
Cheers. But they were happy a little too early. When the smoke cleared, the hull with the paint blown off was revealed. The Venice-class armor with an average of 129 mm withstood the 140-160 mm firepower of the French warships.
"Get ready to continue shooting immediately."
Not satisfied with the results, Major Barrow continued to issue orders. However, the firing speed of naval guns is now very impressive. Even a 140mm naval gun basically takes more than one minute.
While the French ship was loading, the two loading patrols were still approaching.
"4000 meters."
Amid another notification from the observer, the French warship continued to fire, but there was no difference in the result. Not without difference, a 57mm naval gun on the Zhiyuan was hit, and several sailors on duty fell in a pool of blood.
"3500 meters."
"3000 meters."
After withstanding several rounds of artillery fire from French warships, the second ship Zhijing finally opened fire. The 254mm main gun and 150mm secondary gun they equipped jointly aimed at their first prey, the cruiser Fort Reno. The reason for choosing this ship
Quite simply, it looks bigger and has more firepower.
Up to 8 254 mm and 16 150 mm naval guns gave this wooden-hulled cruiser a stormy baptism. Such powerful firepower was simply not something the Fort Reno could withstand. Its captain, Chambers, and first officer
Kebazer was killed on the spot, his hull was penetrated, his ammunition was detonated, and his body fell to the ground on the deck, which looked like a tragic scene.
At this time, everyone could tell that the cruiser USS Fort Reno was hopeless. Even its surviving officers and soldiers could see this and chose to jump into the sea to escape.
The firepower of the second ship Zhijing shocked the French present. They did not expect the enemy's firepower to be so fierce.
Although they are two 7,000-ton cruisers, one 1,800-ton cruiser should not be scrapped in one round.
In fact, what does this mean? You must know that the 254mm naval guns on the Zhijing II ship have a caliber of 30 times. These 8 guns alone cost 97,000 pounds. They are not the 18-24 times the ventriloquist 140 and 160 mm guns on the French warships.
What naval guns can match.
The tactic used by the second ship Zhijing this time was to rely on its own advantages in all aspects to treat its own warship as an armored ship and fire at the opponent's head. Let these small French warships have a taste of the feeling of artillery riding in the face.
Then the second ship Zhijing called other warships in turn, including the gunboat Ludin, the gunboat Viper, and the cruiser Volda. In just over half an hour, five of the seven escorting warships had been sunk or sunk.
The battle was so severe that they lost their combat effectiveness. The remaining two gunboats struggled even more under its lustful power.
Just when the second ship Zhijing was planning to deal with the two small gunboats and then pursue the transport ship, the observer suddenly discovered that something was wrong. A large number of smoke pillars appeared in the north, east and south. At a glance, it was clear that many ships were coming.
.
If you can come here at this time, you must have bad intentions.
Yes, General Guba finally led his fleet to complete the encirclement, but by the time he arrived, most of the warships he had left as bait had been wiped out.
As for the second ship Zhijing, whether it is escaping or using other tactics, it will take a fight.
There is nothing to say next, just prepare for the next battle.
