After nightfall, the sea fog on the sea gradually became thicker and thicker, and the visibility gradually decreased. In the hazy fog on both sides of Lushunkou, four beams of light kept wandering on the sea outside Lushunkou.

In the waterways in Lushun Port, eight minecraft boats were working hard to remove mines. The officers and soldiers of the Beiyang Fleet on the minecraft carefully inserted safety pins for the mines floating in the waterway, and then salvaged them from the water. Several people worked together to pull them to the deck of the minecraft. After the deck was filled with the dangerous mines that had been lifted, special ships would come to collect mines in the port.

Before we knew it, the orderly mine clearance of mine boats has been in progress for more than an hour. Eight minecraft boats started construction at the same time. Under the thick fog with low visibility, the mine removal work is obviously not as fast as expected. An hour is fleeting. However, the Beiyang Fleet's minecraft has only eliminated nearly thirty, less than one-tenth of the number of mines in this mine array.

If it goes well, it will take at least one day and one night to clear these mines. However, will the Russian Pacific Fleet on the opposite side remain unmoved? The Russian fleet will send warships to block the mine removal pace, which is Yan Fu’s most worried issue now.

At this moment, the sentry towers on both sides of Lushunkou suddenly emitted a rapid alarm, which was the alarm of the enemy's attack!

Yan Fu raised his telescope, and under the illumination of four powerful searchlights, the masts of several Russian Pacific Fleet warships appeared in the distance. On the masts, the blue Saint Andre cross on the white background could be blurred.

Yan Fu's pupils shrank, and the cruiser headed by him with the cross flag of the Russian Navy St. Andre turned out to be the Haichou!

Fang Boqian actually brought enemy ships to stop the Beiyang Fleet from removing mines!

Yan Fu's right hand holding the telescope trembled for a moment. He felt that Fang Boqian might also look at him in the bridge of Haichou!

Because the fog on the sea tonight was very high, when the Russian warships were found on the sentry towers on both sides of Lushunkou, the Russian warships were already very close to the minefields covered with waterways.

Before the rushing alarm sound on the mail tower was blown, Yan Fu clearly saw two balls of fire flashing at the muzzle of two 150mm 40-fold Krupp rapid-fire cannons on the bow of the Haichou ship. Then he heard two roars. The two shells accurately landed around the eight minecraft boats. The destructive power after the shell exploded also overturned several Beiyang officers and soldiers who were busy on the deck.

Seeing that Fang Boqian had ignored his robes, Yan Fu took the lead in firing a mine-burning boat that carried out the mine removal work!

"Fire for me now!" Yan Fu immediately ordered. He knew that this was just the first round of test shots. After the test shot was completed, Fang Boqian would immediately calculate the shooting elements and adjust the angle of the muzzle. For an experienced captain like Fang Boqian, as long as one round of volleys, the second round of volleys would accurately hit the enemy ship.

The enemy ship in Fang Boqian's eyes at this time was the Beiyang Fleet!

"Boom..." Three sounds were heard in unison, and the triple main gun on the Longwei fired the first round of volley shells. However, the fifteen degrees southeast of the first round of shells only stirred countless splashes on the right side of the bow of the Haichou.

The gun officer on the Longwei immediately calculated the shooting elements and ordered: the ballistics are fifteen degrees southeast, the elevation angle drops by five degrees, and the direction of the muzzle is immediately adjusted, the loader is loaded, the shooter is ready! Let it go!

With the order of the gunman, the triple-turn main gun on the Longwei erupted another fireball, and the huge recoil shocked the entire turret. After the smoke on the turret was gone, the gunman did not notice that the HaiChou had major damage, but a mast was hit by the shell and broke it in half.

The gunman ordered the loader to load again and wait for the order to fire the gun in the bridge.

After Ye Zugui saw the second round of volleys, Fang Boqian's Haichuang actually cleverly avoided and hid behind another Russian warship. Ye Zugui cursed fiercely: "Fang Boqian is very familiar with the shooting frequency and method of the Longwei. The key is that even the gunner on the Longwei was produced by Fang Boqian!"

At this time, the shells at the Lushunkou were coming and going. Because the waterways in Lushun Port were narrow, they could only accommodate two 10,000-ton battleships, which were side by side, and the bows of the ships fought against the outside world. Moreover, due to the distance between the enemy ships, the cruisers of other Beiyang Fleet were beyond the reach.

Although the fire range of all cruisers led by Fang Boqian cannot pose a threat to the Dragon Wei and Dragon Soul in the waterway.

However, the target of Fang Boqian's cruiser formation has never been the two main battleships in Lushun Port. Their goal is to cut off the mine-burning boats that remove mines from the waterway ahead.

Now both Yan Fu and Fang Boqian know that the factor that determines the outcome of this sea battle is that one is to remove the mines first, and who can hold on to the mine formation. The face-to-face confrontation between the two armies at sea is a later story. Only when the Beiyang Fleet can safely pass through this strict mine network can it be possible to fight the Pacific Fleet above the Yellow Sea.

At this moment, the Beiyang Fleet seemed to have been restraining the dragon in action, and its combat power was less than one-tenth of that. Only after entering the sea can the dragon exert its due power.

Fang Boqian, who had calculated the shooting of the Yuan Dynasty, led the Russian cruiser fleet to continuously tilt the artillery fire around the Beiyang Fleet's minecraft boats. After only half an hour, two minecraft boats in the Beiyang Fleet sank and one seriously injured!

However, the remaining five minecraft were still unmoved and continued to work on their mine clearance on the sea that was blasting like rain.

Helplessly, the three-way main guns on the Beiyang Fleet that are truly working at such a long distance are now narrow in the Lushun waterway, and the two battleships can only fire side by side. The four triple main guns can only use two of the bow and two of the stern at the stern cannot play a role due to angle problems.

At this moment, Yan Fu saw through the telescope that several more Russian warships entered the battle.

The sea fog on the sea surface became thicker and thicker, and the sea fog seriously affected the range of the main guns on the Dragon Wei and Dragon Xiao. After nearly an hour of fierce fighting, only three Russian cruisers were slightly injured and one Russian cruiser was seriously injured.

However, after the injured Russian cruiser retreated, the Russian destroyer with fast speed and small tonnage immediately joined the battle.

The battle situation is becoming increasingly unfavorable to the Beiyang Fleet. The torpedo boat in front of the Longwei was shaking and turbulent under the bomb rain of the Russian Pacific Fleet. Due to the blockage of heavy fog, the two main guns on the bow of the Longwei and Longxiao were unable to accurately locate the Russian warships in the heavy fog.

"Bang" Another minecraft ship of the Beiyang Fleet was shot. Another shell hit the bridge of the minecraft. Under two shells, the minecraft immediately lost its ability to move, and water vapor surged out of the exploded boiler.

Yan Fu stood in the bridge command room, his hands slightly white because he held the iron podium too hard. He had been silently paying attention to the situation of the battle.

Due to the obstruction of heavy fog at sea, the two triple main guns on the Dragon Wei and Dragon Xiao cannot play their due role at all. Although the 340mm main gun is powerful, it only has six, and cannot form a wall of bullets with the original twelve main guns.

However, the Russian fleet has at least five cruisers and three destroyers. The 150 mm and 40-distance Krupp rapid-fire guns on these ships form a firepower network. Although they cannot hit two battleships of the Beiyang Fleet, the Russian rapid-fire guns form a firepower network but can completely cover the minecraft that demines in front of the mine array.

"Captain Ye, let the minecraft be retreated! If we continue to fight like this, our minecraft will be exhausted!" Yan Fu shook his head, as if he had a headache. Then, he handed over the order to retreat to Ye Zugui.

"Yes! Chief of Staff!" Ye Zugui had already wanted to retreat. Those mined boats were simply a living target under the firepower net of the Russian fleet! Once Yan Fu's approval, Ye Zugui immediately ordered several torpedo boats in front of the formation to return to the formation.

"What should I do next? The commander has not given us much time!" Ye Zugui asked anxiously. Tonight's breakthrough operation was completely failed due to the obstruction of the sea fog, so I could only make a long-term plan.

"Let's make plans until the fog in Shanghai clears up early! Let the soldiers have a good rest and break through tomorrow morning!" Yan Fu said, "In addition, please call Zhu Lianjie over and I have another task to him!"

Soon, Wang Meng, the battalion commander of the first battalion of the Marine Corps, ran in, and dragged his left arm that had been injured, and stood attentively: "Report to the Chief of Staff, Wang Meng, the battalion commander of the first battalion of the Marine Corps, reported!"

"Where is your captain? Why is it that you are here if it is not Jet Zhu? " Yan Fu asked.

"Report to the Chief of Staff, Captain Zhu of the Marine Corps is no longer there, and now I have the highest rank, so I will temporarily take over the position of Captain!" Wang Meng said with a loud voice.

"Where is your captain? Could it be?" Yan Fu was nervous. Even Lianjie had an accident, right? But he had obviously not received any news about Lianjie's injury?

"Tell me quickly, what's going on?" Yan Fu asked.

"Report to Chief of Staff Yan. The captain heard that the commander was in danger in Wafangdian, so he personally led the 400 troops to form a reinforcement battalion and rushed to Wa Hotel overnight!" Wang Meng revealed the truth.

"Nonsense! It's simply nonsense! Zhu Lianjie is simply arrogant and leads troops to do missions without saying hello to the commander in the army. When he comes back, I must deal with it with military law!" Yan Fu said word by word.

"Chief of Staff, the captain did this for..."

"Okay, needless to say, no matter what the reason is, I will definitely hold him accountable when he comes back! This is the latest combat mission of your Marine Corps. Please see if there are any difficulties. If there are any difficulties, you can raise them with me!" Yan Fu said.

Wang Meng glanced at the combat mission, but only pondered for a moment, and immediately replied: "The mission must be completed before the sun comes out in the morning!"

Yan Fu's not-so-short body was also half a head short in front of a giant like Wang Meng. Yan Fu said heavily: "This mission is extremely dangerous, I hope you are ready!"

"I will never let down the Chief of Staff's expectations, haha!" Wang Meng laughed heartily.

"Then go and prepare!" Yan Fu waved his hand.

Wang Meng performed a solemn military salute and walked out of the bridge. However, a loud and majestic singing came from the direction where Wang Meng's back disappeared: I have a precious sword, generously joining the army, attacking the oars, and the great wind, winning the battlefield, and the spirit is running through the long rainbow, and many strange husbands in ancient and modern times. They break the yellow dust and Yan Ran's efforts, and their blood is still red.

It is the Beiyang Navy’s military song!
Chapter completed!