The distance between the sky and the sea was indeed Tang Jian’s Beiyang Fleet, while the Longwei took the lead, with more than 20 other warships of all sizes.*eng.com**

Lovstowski put down the telescope in his hand and asked Fang Boqian jokingly: "Is this the terrifying Beiyang fleet you mentioned?"

Fang Boqian also looked at the Beiyang Fleet in the distance with surprise. Although the leader was two Longwei-class battleships, one Mikasa battleship, and not enough cruisers, not to mention destroyers and other small warships. After a closer look, he found that in addition to three 10,000-ton battleships, the fleet had only twenty other warships of all sizes.

With such a small amount of troops, Tang Jian dared to come directly to the gate of Weihaiwei to fight the Russian Pacific Fleet to a decisive battle? This surprised Fang Boqian a little.

You should know that at this time, the Russian Pacific Fleet had five battleships in Weihaiwei Port, two of which were 10,000-ton monarchy, three of which were 8,000-ton iron-clad ships, and four of which were relatively new, which were on par with the Haiqi. Although the other dozen cruisers were slightly worse in speed and armor, in terms of speed and armor than the Haiqi ships of the same class, there were nearly 50 warships of all sizes, and the total tonnage was almost twice that of the Beiyang Fleet at this time. No wonder Lovstowsky had this fearless tone.

In terms of speed and firepower of a single ship, the Beiyang Fleet is better than the Russian Pacific Fleet. However, in terms of total tonnage and firepower, the Beiyang Fleet is almost a little bit different at this time. During naval battles, sometimes the advantage of the number of warships tonnage can make up for other shortcomings.

Just like the current Russian Pacific Fleet and Beiyang Fleet, if the two armies really want to fight against this Yellow Sea, with the strength of the Beiyang Fleet at this time, the chances of victory are very small. If they fall into the siege of the Russian Pacific Fleet, they may be wiped out.

Lovstowski sneered: "Haha, this Tang Jian may have been driven crazy! It's really overestimated that he wants to fight the great Pacific Fleet with such a small warship!"

Fang Boqian frowned slightly. After following Tang Jian for so many years, Fang Boqian still has a little understanding of Tang Jian’s principles of behavior. No matter what he does, he is confident and rarely does risky things. In his words, it is: know yourself and your enemy and win every battle.

Just like Tang Jian led the emerging Beiyang Fleet to wipe out the Japanese Joint Fleet at that time, he finally took action after he had mastered the Japanese army's intelligence and strictly compared the firepower advantages of the two sides.

At this time, Tang Jian brought such a small tonnage to fight the Russian Pacific Fleet. Didn’t he understand the death? With Tang Jian’s style, this matter is far from as simple as what he saw before him.

Fang Boqian advised: "This may be Tang Jian's trap. When I followed him before, he would never make such a low-level mistake, and would not be so stupid that he came to his door!"

"Are you saying 'maybe'?" Lovstowski raised his head and said proudly: "I tell you, Fang, at this time, Werte's army will immediately reach the front line of the Yangtze River. Most of the Beiyang Fleet's troops were dragged onto the Yangtze River. It would be nice that Tang Jian could use such a little force. Do you think he is really fighting with me? I think he is delaying time with me. As long as the Pacific Fleet does not go south and enter the Yangtze River, the deadlock controlled by the Beiyang Fleet will not be opened. Therefore, Tang Jian has to take risks. In your Chinese words, he will be: trying to block the car with a mantis arm! Haha!"

Fang Boqian did not argue. For the first time, he felt that what Lovstowsky said was a little reasonable. It is very likely that the battle situation on the Yangtze River defense line is now in a deadlock. Tang Jian did not want the Russian Pacific Fleet to go south, so he would rather risk the danger of insufficient troops than go north to stop the Russian Pacific Fleet from moving south.

However, Fang Boqian always had a vague worry in his heart, and he felt that this matter was not as simple as he imagined.

But he just couldn't realize the reason, so he had to say to Lofstsky: "His Excellency Lofstsky, I think it's better to wait and see what if this is a trap?"

Luofstsky looked at the Beiyang Fleet getting closer and closer, and his heart became more and more excited. At this time, all the Russian Pacific Fleets in Weihaiwei Port were already setting fires and ready to fight!

"Fang, you don't have to be so timid!" Lovstowski glanced at Fang Boqian, pointed to the distance and said, "Look, the Beiyang Fleet you mentioned is only so small tonnage, how can you fight the great Pacific Fleet to the decisive battle?"

"I think it's better to wait and see. Anyway, we are not afraid of the Beiyang Fleet at this time. So let's see what they are going to do. If there is really only such a little force, it's not too late to go out to fight!" Fang Boqian advised.

To be on the safe side, Lovstowski agreed with the suggestion and said, "Okay then! Just listen to you once!"

"Send the order, all the shore artillery of the turrets are ready to fight, and all the combat ships of the Pacific Fleet will only set fire to stand by!" Lovstowski ordered.

Fang Boqian looked at the Beiyang Fleet on the distant sea with thoughtfulness and said in his heart: "Tang Jian, what do you want to do?"

...

"Commander, look at the Russian Pacific Fleet is still unmoved!" Cheng Biguang handed the telescope to Tang Jian.

In the command room of the Longwei Bridge, Tang Jian put down the pencils that were constantly scribing on the drawings, took the telescope handed over by Cheng Biguang and looked towards the direction of Weihaiwei.

The shore artillery on both sides of Weihaiwei was solemnly waiting. Although large pieces of smoke pillars were ripped out in the port of Weihaiwei, according to Tang Jian's experience, the smoke pillars of this size were just the Pacific Fleet preparing for a fire, rather than really preparing to increase its horsepower to fight.

Tang Jian smiled slightly and said, "I didn't expect that the Russian Pacific Commander was slightly better than a canvass. He could still keep calm at this time!"

"Then next..." Cheng Biguang asked.

"It's better to implement the first plan according to the plan!" Tang Jian put down his telescope, and Feng Qingyundan gave an order, as if Lovstowsky had done so had already been expected by Tang Jian.

Cheng Biguang nodded and came to the radio reception room, and soon conveyed Tang Jian’s latest order.

Soon, a small combat formation was immediately separated from the Beiyang Fleet's original formation. According to Tang Jian's name, this small combat formation was named "First Battleship Squadron", including a battleship Longxiao, two cruisers: Hairong, Hailian, and three destroyers: Haitu, Haiqing, and Haihua. In addition, three torpedo boats and four gunboats were equipped.

As soon as the first battleship squadron separated from its own formation, it rushed straight towards the north entrance of Weihaiwei. Tang Jian's fleet's original formation slowly reduced its speed in the sea outside Weihaiwei.

At this time, the captain of the Long Xiao was Lu Wenjing. Lu Wenjing was originally a leader of the Fujian Navy and was proficient in English. He was demoted on the charge of "retreat first" in the Battle of Majiang. Later, he was appreciated by Li Hongzhang, so he left him in the Beiyang Fleet.

During the years when Tang Jian rebuilt the Beiyang Navy, Tang Jian also fully assessed him and found that Li Hongzhang's vision was still so vicious. As Li Hongzhang said, Lu Wenjing was a "no talent". Therefore, after Ye Zugui was fully responsible for the defense of the Yangtze River, Tang Jian immediately promoted Lu Wenjing to the captain of the Longwei and was awarded the rank of major general.

When Lu Wenjing's first battleship squadron sailed to about 10,000 meters away from the coastal artillery of Weihaiwei, Lu Wenjing ordered the fleet to immediately fill the right rudder, and then the first battleship squadron began to slowly transform from a column into a horizontal line, and all the naval guns on the warship began to point uniformly at the turrets on the Weihaiwei.

The Russian soldiers on the coastal artillery outside Weihaiwei were already ready. Before Lu Wenjing's first battleship squadron launched a formal attack, the shore artillery on Weihaiwei had already roared.

After a sharp sound of breaking through the air, countless waves burst out in front of the Beiyang Fleet's first battleship squadron, and some waves even hit the deck of the warship.

Captain Long Xiao Lu Wenjing immediately ordered the firing!

Lu Wenjing did not immediately order the artillery fire before, because all the warships in the entire First Battleship Squadron have not completed the steering. Only by completing the steering can all warships face the enemy with the side of the ship. Only in this way can the guns on one side of the warship exert their maximum power. In this way, the angle of the main guns on the bow and stern of the ship can also be reached, and the hull can face the enemy with the strongest firepower of a warship!

Just after the first battleship squadron turned, the Weihai Guard Cannon Position launched the first round of test firing.

At the same time, the gunners of the first battleship squadron headed by the Dragon Soul have also prepared to shoot the elements.

Under the shelling order of Lu Wenjing at this time, all the artillery of the Beiyang Fleet's First Battleship Squadron emitted an angry tongue at almost the same time.

"Boom!" The Weihai Guard Cannon position on the opposite side suddenly shone with fire and rocks rolling. However, many shells still landed directly in the sea water or shallows in front of the Weihai Guard Coast, causing a large splash of water.

The second round of volleys of the first battleship squadron was not ready, and the Weihai Guards on the shore fired countless shells again. This time the Russian artillery was a little accurate, at least two shells were hit on the Longxiao.

However, this small-caliber shore cannon cannot do anything to the thick-skinned Dragon Soul. You should know that the main armor of the Dragon Soul is 226 mm and the upper layer is 163 mm. Therefore, small-caliber shells such as this are not armor-piercing shells can only leave a little white bullet mark on the Dragon Soul armor.

Lu Wenjing picked up the phone and asked, "Did the shooting command post calculate the shooting elements?"

After observing the bounce point of the first round of volleys, the shooting command post immediately replied: "I need another volley! After another correction of the aiming direction of the main gun, you can immediately fire the target!"

Lu Wenjing immediately ordered to fire again!

"Boom!" The three or two main cannons on the Dragon Soul roared, and the entire Dragon Soul was shocked.
Chapter completed!