The first person to exchange fire with the enemy was Captain Hermansky who was stationed at the east entrance of the strait. The Svetlana commanded by him, as well as two other main battleships and four frigates, happened to be blocked at the narrowest point of the strait, where the strait was The width is only a mere three kilometers.
Amami Oshima is not an island. Its main island is composed of two parts. The main island in the north, Amami Oshima, accounts for 70% of the total area, and the long and narrow Luma Island in the south accounts for about 15% of the total area. These two islands The strait between the big islands is the burial place chosen by Xiao Letian for the Russian fleet.
The strait runs east-west. The west entrance is wide and has gentle currents, which is suitable for large fleets to enter and exit. The east entrance of the strait is narrow and has many rocks and rapid currents. It is the best defensive place in terms of military tactics.
At its narrowest point, the strait is three kilometers wide, and the width that can safely sail a boat is only more than a thousand meters. The rest of the strait has many rocks and undercurrents that are extremely dangerous.
Stefanski sent Hermanski to defend this place with a small number of warships, which was correct in terms of military tactics. Seven large warships could hold on to the sea outlet for more than a thousand meters for a long time.
The officers had conducted tactical deductions before. Even if the powerful Zhiyuan wanted to attack here, if Hermansky chose to defend, he could buy five to six hours for the army.
Hermansky did faithfully carry out the commander-in-chief's orders. He not only firmly guarded the strait, but also coordinated other troops to launch an artillery attack on Luma Island. The Cape Fort was blown up by this fleet.
Hermansky's vigilant eyes never left the eastern Pacific Ocean throughout the night. As a cautious commander, he did not dare to underestimate the ironclad ship in the slightest. If the Zhiyuan appeared in front of him, he would rather The tragic feeling of not being able to survive, even if she sheds the last drop of blood, she will keep it out.
The fleet shrank and shrank again, and finally the squadron was all hiding in the strait, just behind the narrowest entrance, with all the cannons facing the sea vigilantly.
All night long, the sound of artillery fire and the sound of killing were faintly heard from Tangwan Mountain. The flames lit up half of the sky. As a soldier, Hermansky also hoped to participate, but he knew very well that his mission was also very important and wanted the overall situation. Victory requires personal sacrifice.
After countless officers and soldiers begged to join the war, Hermansky always said calmly, "Not everyone can get the greatest credit in the war. Those who are unknown make actually greater contributions... If I had the right to choose, I would rather I hope we won’t go into battle until the end of the war..."
"Because this is the flank of the battlefield. If we lose this place, we will lose half of the battlefield initiative! I am willing to give up those military achievements for the final victory in the future! Don't worry, the empire will not forget our efforts..."
Under the comfort of the commander, thousands of naval soldiers finally stabilized their mentality and began to endure the long night! But no one expected that at this moment, a strange fleet was taking advantage of the cover of night, extinguishing all the lights and quietly approaching the strait.
Tonight it was cloudy, moonless, and starless, and the entire sea was pitch black. People could not even see clearly the boundary between the sea level and the sky. The waves were crashing against each other, and the battleship was rocking gently like a baby's cradle.
This kind of night with extremely low visibility is a test for the eyes of the lookout. They stare at the empty sea with wide eyes. After a long time, their eyes become sore and they can only rub them hard.
In this case, the tired lookout can easily have some hallucinations, as if the two lookouts now seem to find many black shadows appearing on the sea.
The black shadow slowly swims in the sea, much like returnees migrating collectively to spawn, or groups of salmon.
"What is that? Did my eyes get blurred?"
"Let me see...it's nothing. Is it the shadow caused by the waves?"
Little did they know that there were more than two thousand fishing boats and small cargo ships approaching them cautiously at this moment, and the sailors manning these ships were the most famous water ghosts in Ryukyu, among which the majority of them were Chinese-headed water ghosts.
Death warrior! This is a group of dead warriors! Before they set off, they swore an oath in front of the Kunigami Water Ghost Statue, or else they would succeed! Either come back alive with news of victory, or die on this sea.
These civilian ships were procured by the military from the private sector and were cannon fodder on the battlefield. Their only purpose was to sink the ship in the eastern estuary of the strait, and use the huge cement structures on the ship to form an artificial structure under the deep sea. Reef.
There are huge cement structures half a man's height placed on the fishing boats and merchant ships. This kind of cement block looks like an ancient horse nail. It is composed of four pillars. No matter how you throw it on the ground, there will always be three pillars to support it. A plane with a pillar pointing straight up.
The cement blocks are connected with iron chains or even brown ropes as thick as an arm. When they sink to the bottom of the sea, these ropes will entangle all the cement blocks into a whole.
That's not all. There are a lot of stones and sand in the cabin of each ship. The waterline of the ship weighed down by the heavy sand and gravel is extremely low, and the speed of the ship cannot be driven at all on the sea.
Time passed minute by minute, and the ship's boss and the sailors did not dare to make a sound. They only used gestures to communicate with each other. When they could clearly see the lights on the opposite battleship, when they could see the people walking back and forth. After the figures of the Russian soldiers, thick brown ropes began to be thrown to each other, and soon the boats were firmly tied together.
"What's the sound? There's movement on the sea...fire crossbows! Check carefully!"
More than a dozen sailors took out the crossbows that were common in medieval Europe from the warehouse, installed the rockets, ignited the cotton yarn soaked in kerosene on the arrowheads, and gave the order to throw ten rockets into the sky at a 45-degree angle.
There was no way for these sneak attack fleets to hide. Hundreds of sailors on the fleet shouted in unison, "Oh God! There are enemies sneak attacks... There are enemies sneak attacks a thousand meters away. Why are there so many!"
Hermansky opened the door to the captain's room and rushed out of the deck. At this moment, hundreds of rockets rose into the sky, and everyone could clearly see the densely packed small boats on the sea.
No one could guess what these boats were going to do, but everyone knew it was definitely up to no good!
The Ryukyu water ghosts whose identities were exposed no longer had to hide anything. The boss of the ship tore off his shirt and let the cold sea breeze blow on his burning chest.
"Manfan! Crash into it! I have to complete the Prime Minister's mission even if I die... Crash into it!"
"All ships throw mooring ropes! Connect as one! Block the strait! Block these bandits here..."
Hermansky also shouted, and the captain yelled in a hoarse voice, "Fire...all warships fire freely! We must not let them get close to us, fire immediately..."
Boom boom boom... The artillerymen who had been prepared long ago pulled the traction rope, and the large-caliber rifled cannon sprayed flames, blasting white waves into the sky in the Chinese fleet.
