After the expeditionary fleet set out from Cam Ranh Bay, the weather encountered was not good, either continuous drizzle or fog and confusion, which made the visibility on the sea extremely poor. Generally speaking, in clear weather, people's normal vision can reach 4-5000 meters, but in these days, the visibility is not even 1000 meters, which makes the naval commander of the expeditionary force, Admiral Phillips, also worried, because this kind of weather is the most suitable for surprise operations, not to mention that there are many islands and reefs in this area, and it is also very suitable for surprise operations, which is also the mode of war adopted by the People's Army Navy that Phillips is most worried about.

The distance from Cam Ranh Bay to the port of Kaohsiung in Taiwan is about 1,600 kilometers, and under normal circumstances, the fleet will need 3-4 days to sail to arrive, but due to the climate, the fleet can only reduce its speed, so it will take at least 5 or 6 days to sail along the way. A longer voyage time means more time to be raided.

Of course, Phillips is not the kind of person who complains, and the bad climate and environment are an objective fact, but they can still be compensated for by human efforts. Phillips strengthened the vigilance and reconnaissance forces around the fleet in order to detect the enemy in advance.

However, the fleet sailed on the sea for 5 days and 5 nights, but all of them were uneventful, although several ships of suspected enemy ships were discovered, but some were confirmed to be passing merchant ships, and some disappeared for no reason, and in the early morning of the 6th day, the sun jumped out of the sea, sweeping away the rainy and foggy weather, and the visibility on the sea surface increased greatly, and at this time the fleet was only less than 150 kilometers away from the port of Kaohsiung in Taiwan, if the fleet sailed at full speed, by about 10 o'clock at noon, it could reach Kaohsiung.

The weather was good, and Phillips was in a good mood, and when he got up early in the morning, he went to the bridge to breathe. It's late August, and although it's still hot, it's much cooler than it was a month ago, and it's early morning, so it's cool and comfortable on the bridge.

At this time, the adjutant went up to the bridge with a document in his hand, and said: "Your Excellency, the reconnaissance time of the Venter River and the Eden River has ended, according to the plan, they should be replaced by the Tooth Cod and the Flying Fish, whether to send the Tooth Cod and the Flying Fish to exchange for the Venter River and the Eden River." ”

Phillips said: "Of course, although the weather is good now, but the vigilance must not be relaxed, and we must not relax when we are still the last distance from Kaohsiung." ”

The adjutant agreed, gave the order to Phillips to sign, and went down the bridge to pass the order. Phillips smoked another bag of cigarettes on the bridge before stepping off the bridge and into the headquarters.

At this time, the officers and soldiers who changed shifts were also handed over one after another, and the captain of the battleship Edward VII, Rear Admiral Williams, also took over the command of the whole ship from the first mate. Seeing Phillips returning, Williams greeted him and said, "Your Excellency, the weather is good today!"

Phillips nodded and said, "yes, it's finally time for good weather." ”

Williams said: "But I think East China will be disappointed with this weather, because they have lost the opportunity to attack us. ”

Phillips shook his head and said: "Your Excellency Captain, I don't think so, bad weather is not good for us, and it is also not good for the fleet of East China, and in good weather, it is also able to launch surprise operations, so it cannot be considered that the fleet of East China ** has lost the opportunity to attack us, and we cannot take it lightly, at least before we reach Kaohsiung, we must not say that we are not worry-free." ”

Williams knew what the commander meant, although the size of the expeditionary force fleet was huge, but in the eyes of the British, the fleets of France, the Netherlands and Russia could only be regarded as a number, and the only one that could really be used was the British fleet. However, although the number of the British fleet is also close to 60, there are still a large number of transport ships in the expeditionary fleet, which will drag down the combat effectiveness of the British fleet, but it cannot be left out, on the one hand, a long expedition requires a lot of supplies, and on the other hand, there is also an army. After the fleet arrives in Kaohsiung, the fleets of France, the Netherlands, and Russia, as well as the army's troop transports and material ships, will stay in Kaohsiung, so that the British fleet can also travel lightly, even if it encounters the surprise attack of the East China ** fleet, it is not worried, because with the strength and quality of the British fleet, it can completely deal with the surprise attack of the East China ** fleet, so the success or failure of this expedition lies in whether the expeditionary fleet can reach Kaohsiung safely.

While the two were talking, an adjutant came to Phillips' side and said, "Your Excellency, the Venter has sent back a telegram to find a suspected enemy warship. ”

Phillips nodded, and didn't pay much attention to it, because he would find suspected enemy warships almost every day in the past few days, and he had long been accustomed to it, so he just routinely replied to the Venter River, asking him to confirm the enemy warship.

Fifteen minutes later, however, the Edward VII received another telegram from the Venter, confirming that the discovery was of a warship, and it seemed to be a destroyer, presumably a reconnaissance ship of the People's Army fleet, although it was not certain whether there were any other warships behind the destroyer.

Receiving this news, Phillips could not help but lift his spirits, this was the first time that the expeditionary force fleet confirmed the discovery of a KPA warship. Therefore, Phillips immediately ordered a reply, asking the Venter River to move forward to reconnoitre, to determine if there were any other KPA warships in the rear, and to contact the Edward VII at least every 15 minutes to report the reconnaissance. At the same time, two other destroyers closer to the Venter were ordered to rush to support and assist the Venter.

After the order was issued, Phillips immediately marked the location of the Venter River on the chart, and took a ruler pen to calculate on the chart, now the Venter River is about 70 kilometers away from the fleet, and according to the report of the Venter River, the enemy ship found is about 82 kilometers away from the fleet, if this enemy ship is really a reconnaissance ship of the KPA fleet, then the distance between the KPA fleet and the expeditionary fleet should be between 100 and 150 kilometers, which is exactly the same as the distance from the expeditionary force fleet to Kaohsiung.

At this point, Phillips put down his ruler pen and frowned, at this time the staff officers were all around Phillips, Phillips could see the range on the chart very clearly, everyone was an expert, of course they knew what this meant? It was difficult for the East China side to judge that the expeditionary force fleet was going to stop at Kaohsiung Port, so it planned to launch a surprise attack when the expeditionary force fleet was stationed in Kaohsiung Port, or after the British fleet left, attack Kaohsiung Harbor, and first annihilate the fleet of the French, Dutch, and Russian armies.

Of course, these are just speculations, because the follow-up fleet of the KPA has not yet been discovered, and perhaps only this one warship. Further judgments can only be made when new information comes back, but the atmosphere in the command is very solemn.

Fifteen minutes later, the Venter sent back a telegram that found nothing new, and although the crowd relaxed a little, the atmosphere did not ease in the slightest, and someone had remarked the chart.

In the 30th minute, the Venter River sent another telegram, and there were still no new discoveries. Many staff officers were a little out of breath and whispered. But Phillips remained silent, filled his pipe with shredded tobacco, and smoked. Because the speed of the Vent River was 30 knots, it was normal to advance about 25 kilometers in 30 minutes, and not to find the enemy fleet.

In the 40th minute, the Venter sent back a telegram again, finding 4 masts, but it was not yet possible to judge the distance and the type of ship. But this news is still a shot of stimulant to the staff officers, after all, the discovery of the mast means that there are warships, at least there are warships of the People's Army.

In the 46th minute, the Venter continued to send back telegrams, and 3 masts were found again, confirming a total of 7 masts. Moreover, another destroyer, the Violet, had already arrived at the location of the Venter, and the two warships coordinated to reconnoiter the enemy.

In the 55th minute, the Venter continued to send back telegrams, this time confirming the presence of 5 warships, suspected battleships.

In the 58th minute, the Violet also sent a telegram back, confirming that one of the warships was suspected to be the Shikishima-class battleship of the former Japanese Navy, because this battleship was built by Britain for Japan, and it was based on the Majestic-class battleship for improvement, and the two types of warships were very similar in appearance, so the British first identified this battleship.

In the 63rd minute and 65th minute, the Wente River and the Violet sent a telegram back, and this time it was finally confirmed, a total of 6 battleships were found, in addition to the suspected Shikishima-class battleships, there are 3 suspected Bolotiruo class, and the appearance of the other two is obviously different from the mainstream battleships of this era, and the guns are knapsack-type high and low, which is in line with the characteristics of the two new cadre-class battleships in East China. In addition, a number of warships were found, at least 20 or more, and the number of large warships exceeded 10, so it is also certain that it was a fleet of considerable size. The position of this fleet is about 60 kilometers west of Kaohsiung, that is, the southern entrance to the Taiwan Strait, about 120 kilometers from the expeditionary fleet.

By this time, it had been determined that this was indeed the fleet of East China, and it was very likely to be the main fleet, because it was determined that there were 6 battleships in it, and the evacuation fleet sent by the People's Army only had 5 battleships. Now before the expeditionary fleet, it is how to choose the next move. Whether to meet this fleet, or according to the original plan, still stationed in Kaohsiung Port.

Of course, now the expeditionary fleet still has time, because the distance of 120 km will take at least 4-5 hours. Phillips looked at his watch, and the current time was 7:27 in the morning, which meant that the fleet would not meet until about 12 o'clock, so the expeditionary force still had plenty of time to discuss the next move.

Phillips thought for a moment and ordered to inform the army commander of the Far Eastern Expeditionary Force, Admiral Beauchamp of France, and the naval commanders of France, the Netherlands and Russia, to rush to the Edward VII for consultation.