It must be said that the god of luck once again favored the Imperial Navy.

Although it is commonly said that the Asahi Sea is to the west of the Strait and the Guia Ocean is to the east of the Strait, strictly speaking, the Watchman Strait actually runs northwest to southeast.

At the time of entering the battlefield, the home fleet was in the northwest direction, and the second main force that had been killed from the strait was in the southeast direction.

This orientation directly determines the situation in battle.

Don't forget, it's the depths of winter, and it's a north wind day and night.

To the northwest of the strait, there was a dense cloud drifting from the north, and the home fleet was just below the clouds, not being seen by the moonlight.

On the contrary, the second main team in the southeast direction was directly exposed to the bright moonlight.

It was precisely for this reason that when the lookout on the "Longxing" discovered the "Imur" and made an accurate judgment based on the tall and twisted tower mast, the lookout on the "Imuro" had a black eye, and had not yet seen the "Longxing" hidden under the clouds.

It was 10:40 a.m., and the distance between the two sides was about 18 kilometers.

The ability to detect and identify enemy ships at such a distance is not only a vantage point, but also related to the range of search, that is, the lookout of the "Longxing" only needs to keep an eye on the strait.

Subsequently, Gui Boyong issued a crucial and influential order.

Led by the "Longxing", the four battleships turned left in turn, and after a 260-degree turn, they returned to a straight line.

Why turn left instead of right?

In the battle report submitted later, Gui Boyong gave three reasons.

First, the distance was still too far, and the three battleships in the rear did not find the enemy ships, so it was necessary to buy a little time for the three battleships by turning, so that they could prepare for battle, keep up with the pace of the flagship, and ensure that they were in the best condition when they met the enemy.

Second, the lookout only speculated that the enemy ship was of the "Imuro" class and did not give a positive judgment, so the possibility that it was another warship could not be ruled out. When passing through a narrow strait, heavy cruisers should be allowed to go out to find the way, and not let the battleships, which act as the main forces, rush to the front.

Thirdly, the clouds coming from the north can only remain hidden underneath the clouds if they turn to the left.

Obviously, this last point is the most important.

With the situation at that time, Gui Boyong obviously wanted to hide under the clouds, quietly approach the enemy, and then fire at the enemy ship at a close enough distance.

To put it simply, it is to rely on surprise attacks to achieve a decisive victory in the first few rounds of volleys.

Judging from the tactical arrangements made at that time, that is, the allocation of combat targets in advance, Gui Boyong did plan to use a surprise attack to end the battle after several rounds of artillery bombardment, at least to break the enemy's fighting spirit and reduce his own losses as much as possible.

If you could, you might be able to avoid losses.

Fundamentally, Gui Boyong is preserving strength.

To put it mildly, it is the fear of damage to the capital ship.

This turn of events has had two effects.

Because of the increased distance, the lookout of the "Longxing" only intermittently observed the enemy ship for the next 10 minutes or so, and failed to maintain continuous visual contact with the enemy ship. The same was true of the lookouts on the three battleships that followed, none of whom were able to keep an eye on the enemy ships.

In addition, the lookout did not spot the heavy cruisers that rushed in front of the battleship!

After the second main force entered the strait, Takaji issued an order for the four heavy cruisers that followed the action to speed up to catch up. As a result, at the time of sailing to the west side of the strait, that is, by the time of discovery by the home fleet, four heavy cruisers outnumbered just four battleships.

The heavy cruisers were not so conspicuous, and the attention of the lookouts was all on the four battleships, not on the four heavy cruisers.

Crucially, there were also several disengagements during this period, which also had an impact on the search process.

In just over ten minutes, four heavy cruisers and four light cruisers overtook the main force from the left and right flanks, and then searched to the north and south. Towards the side of the Home Fleet came four heavy cruisers, and four light cruisers went to the south of the Home Fleet.

It was not until eleven o'clock, when the course turned to 230 degrees, that the lookout of the "Longxing" saw the four battleships that appeared in the east and were sailing northwest of the strait at a speed of nearly 30 knots.

The large and misshapen bridge and the three main gun turrets stacked in the bow in a zigzag shape are the distinguishing features of the heavy cruisers.

At that time, Gui Boyong was confused.

What kind of ** array is this?

On the whole, the four battleships of the Home Fleet were lined up and were sailing in a south-westerly direction at a speed of about twenty knots to shorten the distance as quickly as possible. As long as there were no accidents, the four battleships would certainly turn again after more than ten minutes, when the distance had been reduced to about fifteen kilometers, slightly to the right to be exact, in order to obtain the most favorable angle of fire.

The four battleships of the 2nd main force were still sailing in a northwesterly direction, with no intention of turning around, and not even making adjustments to the formation.

Four battleships remained in columns.

Even if the distance was to be shortened, the four battleships should be lined up so that after being shelled, they could return fire with the main guns in front.

Lined up in columns, the battleships behind were blocked, and only the leading ships could fire back.

The four heavy cruisers were sailing at full speed, but the course was directed to the rear of the home fleet, not to the four battleships of the home fleet. It looked like four battleships assisting in the frontal assault, preparing to outflank the home fleet from the rear and annihilate it.

But the problem is, it was only four heavy cruisers.

Who gave those captains the guts to make them think that they could bargain in front of the "Longxing" class with an eight-inch naval gun?

At close range, the "Longxing" could take out a heavy cruiser with one shot.

Besides, the "Longxing" class has not only 400-mm main guns, but also a large number of secondary guns and anti-aircraft guns.

Against heavy cruisers, whose protection is not outstanding, the power of the secondary guns is more than enough.

Of course, Gui Boyong did not dare to be careless, because the Sajii Navy had always regarded heavy cruisers as second-class capital ships, and also equipped all heavy cruisers with heavy torpedoes. You must know that the commander of the heavy cruiser squadron is generally a lieutenant general, only half a rank shorter than the commander of the main squadron, and the commander of the aviation squadron is only a major general. Lan Yun only received the rank of lieutenant general after serving as the commander of the mobile fleet.

To make these heavy cruisers approach, maybe the ship will capsize in the gutter.

To this end, Gui Boyong gave an order to speed up the heavy cruiser detachment behind and flank the enemy ships that had circled behind the main detachment.

Because it has not yet been exposed, Gui Boyong specifically told the communications staff officer not to use the radio.

Well, only traffic lights can be used.

Before the advent of radio, night communications could only rely on light signals, which gave rise to a light language similar to the flag language.

Apparently, when giving the order, Gui Boyong forgot a crucial point so that the commander of the heavy cruiser detachment did not have to reply.

Fatally, the communications officer also ignored this when he gave the order.

Now, it's fun. d