In Nanfeng Harbor, Duan Hongxiao stood on the deck of the flagship Sanlin, looking at the fleet that began to set sail with black smoke in the harbor.

This was not only the first time he had led such a large fleet to fight, but it was actually the first large-scale operation of the Nanhai State Fleet in the last two decades.

Previously, the sea power in Nanhai Prefecture was scattered in the hands of various feudal towns, and it was impossible to concentrate such a huge force.

Nine of them are ironclad ships with iron-clad hulls and impressive protection capabilities, each with a tonnage of more than 3,000 tons.

There were also thirteen cruisers of smaller tonnage, although they were made of wood and wooden husks, but still laid ironclad.

A total of twenty-two steam warships together formed this powerful escort fleet.

In particular, the nine ironclad ships, although the tonnage is large and small, and the age of the ships is also old and new, but they all have strong protection capabilities and huge tonnage, and four of them are relatively new ironclad ships, and they are fully equipped with breech-loading rifled guns.

The four ironclad ships, including the 6,000-ton Sanlin, which were equipped with rear-loading guns, were the core combat strength of this escort fleet.

Thirteen cruisers are relatively weaker, limited by tonnage and cost, the protection ability is slightly poor, and the firepower is relatively weak, except for a few relatively cutting-edge cruisers with some rear-loading rifled guns, most of them still use front-loading rifled guns or smoothbore guns.

To put it simply, this is a mixed fleet of ships of different ages, speeds, and firepower.

Now, Duan Hongxiao was going to lead this slightly mixed fleet to intercept the enemy army.

A reconnaissance ship that was patrolling overseas this morning returned to report that it had spotted an enemy fleet in Shayang Bay, and the preliminary estimate was that there were two of them.

You don't have to guess to know that these damn northern feudal towns have sent fleets to try to break into Shayang Bay to attack their own transport fleets.

There are only two warships, which are obviously not going to Nanfeng Port or Luohai Port, and if this force wants to attack Nanfeng Port or Luohai Port, even if there is no fleet, they can be wiped out with the many artillery pieces on the land batteries alone.

This is not the first time that the enemy has sent warships to sneak up on transport ships, and they have been discovered at least three times, and I am afraid that there are many more that have not been discovered.

After all, they can take advantage of the night to enter and exit the Shayangwan Strait, and it is difficult for the Nanhai Prefecture fleet to completely block this strait that is more than 30 kilometers wide, not to mention that the other end of the strait is still the territory of Ningyu Prefecture, and people can completely enter and exit along the coastline, and even get the cover of Ningyu Prefecture.

However, since you have broken into Shayang Bay, then don't expect to go back alive.

For this reason, Duan Hongxiao is preparing to do his best this time and fight with a knife to kill chickens.

In any case, these two enemy ships must be found and killed, so as to give the northern feudal towns a great deterrent, and let them know that Shayang Bay is not a sea area where they can come and go whenever they want.

This is the territory of the South China Sea State Fleet!

After the fleet successfully left the port, the fleet quickly dispersed to search.

And Duan Hongxiao led the four main ironclad ships, including the Sanlin, to keep up in the center, flanked by the same four relatively cutting-edge cruisers, which were the main formation in the escort fleet, the first fleet.

The eight cutting-edge warships in the first squadron are all equipped with rear-loading guns, and at the same time, they have reached a speed of more than 14 knots, and they are used to intercept the main fleet.

Only the other warships that scattered out to search were slightly inferior in speed and firepower, and were not suitable for large-scale mobile interception operations.

In order to give better play to the combat effectiveness of this fleet, Duan Hongxiao and a large number of other naval officers formulated relevant tactics based on their exploration over the past six months or more.

One of the core tactics they formulated was to use the range advantage of the breech-loading rifled gun to extend the engagement distance to more than 1,000 meters.

And to open the distance, then the ability to maneuver is very important, some warships in the early years of service even if the protection ability is stronger, but the speed is not good, it is useless.

This is also the reason why there are obviously nine ironclad ships, but only four ironclad ships have been incorporated into the first fleet, and the other five are either relatively old and cannot keep up with the speed.

In the entire Nanhai State fleet, the essence is in the escort fleet, and in the escort fleet, the main battleships are concentrated in the first fleet.

As for the other two detachments, it seems that there are also large-tonnage ironclad ships, and there are quite a few of them, but in fact they are all old ships, and their speed cannot keep up, and their firepower is not good.

After the fleet went to sea, Duan Hongxiao had been paying attention to the reports of the peripheral ships, but Shayang Bay was actually quite large, and it was not easy to search.

It wasn't until the morning of the second day after going to sea that Duan Hongxiao received a report that there was a suspected enemy fleet fifty nautical miles to the northeast.

At around ten o'clock in the morning, Duan Hongxiao once again got a report from the outpost fleet, confirming that the small fleet that was discovered was the enemy fleet that had secretly broken into Shayang Bay a few days ago.

At this time, Duan Hongxiao began to give orders continuously, and he asked the second and third fleets to gather their forces to prevent the ships from being attacked by the enemy, and at the same time, the two were outflanked left and right.

At about one o'clock in the afternoon, as the fleet outflanked left and right, the first squadron also began to use its high speed to pursue the operation.

It is unrealistic to expect to take more than 20 warships to kill together, the ships of the second and third fleets are too slow, and the four ships of the other side are here to play the assault war, and they are not slow, according to the observation of the outpost fleet, the enemy fleet has also discovered its own side, and now it is moving forward with full horses, and the speed has reached more than fourteen knots, which is already the same as the speed of the new warships in the first fleet.

If you are not careful, it is estimated that someone will escape.

But Duan Hongxiao has another advantage, that is, the enemy fleet is in the northeast!

No matter how fast you run, you can still run to land......

Because there is only one entrance and exit of Shayang Bay, that is, the Shayang Bay Strait, and this strait is in the south......

No matter which direction the enemy fleet runs from, it actually has to make a big circle before it can go south and leave Shayang Bay.

If it is a battleship of the second or third fleet, it is estimated that it will be slipped away by the enemy because of its slow speed.

Then the first squadron will not have this problem, their speed is about the same as that of the other side, and it is estimated that they will not be able to catch up in a straight line, but if the enemy fleet wants to bypass them and go south, this is not very likely.

The enemy fleet seemed to know this, especially after seeing the First Squadron catching up, they knew that they could not escape the First Squadron by virtue of their speed alone.