This naval battle came to an end with the escape of the second ship Zhijing. In this naval battle, the French lost a lot of money. They lost ten ships including the cruiser Renaudburg, the cruiser Volda, and the cruiser Primorgue.
There were many warships. The total tonnage of these warships was more than 13,000 tons. As for the loss of more than 800 personnel, this loss was not unserious.
As for the second Chinese ship Zhijing that participated in the war, although it escaped unscathed, it was not without losses. Both ships suffered considerable losses in this naval battle. The Zhiyuan lost three 150mm secondary main guns and 8
75 mm gun, 57 mm secondary gun, and the twin 254 mm main battery on the rear deck were stuck due to too many bullets. Despite emergency repairs by the ship's personnel, the rear main battery was still stuck.
, in urgent need of repair.
Compared with the Zhiyuan, the Jingyuan is much better. At least its main guns are intact, but there are still some losses. Two 150mm secondary main guns and six 75mm 57mm secondary guns are also considerable losses.
Of course, except for the main guns, the appearance of both warships looked pitted everywhere, and even the armor plates had fallen off in some places. But in the end, they had won, and their spirits were different. Now they can be considered elite.
However, on the way back, the small fleet had a dispute.
"You said there's no way to fix it?"
Leifer looked at Liu Buchan and looked at him in surprise.
Facing Leifer's piercing eyes, Liu Buchan lowered his head. "Yes, the largest shipyard in our country can only accommodate ships of 5,000 tons, and it is a shipyard run by the British in Shanghai."
Faced with Liu Buchan's answer, Leifer, who had just made great contributions in the breakout battle, couldn't help but ask. "So how many ships can your largest shipyard currently accommodate for repairs?"
"There is a shipyard in Lushun in northern my country that can accommodate 4,000 tons."
"Liu, I remember that your two Saxon-improved ships are returning to China, right?"
"I can't go back now."
"If you can return to China, where will you go for maintenance?"
Liu Buchan, who was so irritated, could only sigh secretly. Among the many things done by the navy, he had forgotten this. He was really unqualified as an assistant.
However, now that there is a lack of maintenance dock, the second ship Zhijing can only drag its injured body and carry out simple repairs.
It can be said that Guba failed to complete the task, but with the help of the Qing people themselves, he actually achieved more than half of it.
The naval battle between China and France in the South China Sea has come to an end, but this is not a battle without spectators.
The gunboat HMS Leopard of the British Far East Fleet happened to witness this battle with his own eyes, and of course it was the right time for him to do so. However, Captain Bird described the performance of both sides in this naval battle in detail in his report, and finally he made a concluding comment.
Dear General David, both sides performed wonderfully in this naval battle. General Guba showed his excellent planning ability. It can be said that this battle to ambush two Venice-class cruisers met his expectations at the beginning.
He completely led two Qing warships into the trap, but unfortunately, his net was too worn and the prey escaped.
After praising General Gupa, Captain Byrd changed the topic. Compared with General Gupa's ability, the Qing people actually performed well this time, but compared with the experienced Vice Admiral, they lacked experience.
There are some shortcomings. Of course, this wonderful naval battle, the encirclement and counter-encirclement and suppression battles are very exciting.
However, what impressed me most about this naval battle was the two Venice-class armored cruisers. Their performance in the naval battle was amazing. It was the perfect combination of firepower, protection and speed. I have reason to believe that the empire will also need to face it in the future.
Regarding this situation, as the results of this naval battle are known to all countries, I believe that a wave of large-scale construction of armored cruisers will definitely come. Then at this time, the empire's maritime trade lines will face a more complicated situation.
Captain Bird's report, Commander of the British Empire's Far East Fleet, General David, was handed over directly to the Admiralty in London without changing a word. This made many people in the Admiralty interested in it. A Colonel named Fisher
The proofreader paid the most attention to it.
Of course, this is not the focus. The current focus is still the Sino-French war in the Far East.
The fleet encircled and suppressed the Zhijing 2nd Ship and failed, causing considerable losses to himself. As the fleet commander and the person in charge of this plan, General Guba submitted his resignation to Paris immediately. In his resignation, Guba placed all the responsibilities on
to yourself.
The Admiralty in Paris was not unreasonable. It immediately rejected Gupa's resignation and asked him to continue his efforts to bring China to its knees as soon as possible. To this end, the Admiralty also deployed the first-class cruiser Acosta based on the battle report he provided.
, six large cruisers, including the first-class cruiser Petrescu, supported General Gubo in the Far East.
These six large cruisers are not comparable to the ships under Gupo. These six cruisers are all large tonnage cruisers of five to six thousand tons. Considering the speed of the two Venice-class ships up to 18.56 knots, these six large cruisers are all
It can run at a speed of more than 16 knots, and the Acosta can even run at a speed of 17.5 knots.
As for why there is no large cruiser that can compete with the speed of the Venice class, it is because no country has thought of building cruisers so fast before. After all, the cost of increasing the speed by one knot is not low at all. Of course, except for these six
In addition to the cruiser, France has also dispatched three liaison ships, all of which are the latest models and have just entered service. They can all run at a speed of 19 knots.
It can be said that in order to deal with the two Venice-class patrol ships, the French Navy selected elite soldiers and strong generals. Although the French Navy is preparing to reinforce the Far East Fleet, this will also take time. It will basically take a month for these ships to arrive in the Far East.
However, in the face of the defeat in the naval battle, the French side was certainly unwilling to accept it. However, the navy was temporarily unable to invade the north and could only consider looking for opportunities on land.
For this reason, as the top commander of the French Route Army in Bei Qi, General Miller certainly had the responsibility to restore France's honor. So in early June 1884, more than 3,000 French troops launched a surprise attack on the Qing troops stationed in Bei Qi near Lang Son.
The Qing army launched an attack. Although they had repeatedly raised their vigilance, the Qing army stationed in Beili was still no match for the French army. Under the attack of the French army, the more than three thousand Qing army could not resist for long before they collapsed.
Flee into the country.
After solving the Qing army in Beili, the French army then launched an attack on Lang Son. Pan Dingxin, the governor of Guangxi, retreated without a fight. Half a month later, the French army invaded Zhennanguan. Due to insufficient troops and supply difficulties, the French army burned
The checkpoint retreated back to Wenyuan and Lang Son.
The continuous victories of the French army on land were enough to cover up the defeat at sea. For a while, the French became arrogant again. Of course, they did not forget the Italians hiding behind the Qing Dynasty.
