The heavy patrol detachment of the home fleet was also four, about ten kilometers behind the main detachment.

At 11:10 a.m., the "Zizhou," the leader of the heavy patrol detachment, also responded by the light signal after receiving the light signal of the "Longxing."

At this time, the 5th Cruiser Squadron was about twenty kilometers southeast of the heavy cruiser detachment.

In other words, the main detachment was in front of the left of the Fifth Cruiser Squadron, and the distance was just over 10 kilometers.

Obscured by overcast clouds, the lookouts of the 5th cruiser detachment saw only the lights emitted by the "Zizhou" and did not find the main force that was closer.

The key is that the lookout accurately judged that the battleship on the opposite side was emitting a light language.

To whom is the lantern spoken?

Although the lookout did not fully see clearly, he could roughly read that the battleship was replying to orders, with common words such as "orders received" and "ready to be executed". Because the lantern language is only used for internal communication in the fleet, there is no such thing as encryption.

The language of the lights of the navies of various countries is basically the same.

According to the battle report that was later revealed, Lieutenant General Takeo, the commander of the battle team who was in charge of the "Myoko" at the time, made an accurate judgment and ordered the lookout to pay attention to the nearby waters and report the suspicious target as soon as he found it, but he did not inform Lieutenant General Takaji of this crucial judgment.

The reason was simple: it was just his concern, and as a team commander, he couldn't tell his superiors about his worries as a discovery.

In addition, his relationship with Gao Si is very bad, and it is simply incompatible.

Now, it's a big game.

Takaji received a report that the Myoko had spotted an enemy ship, but it was tentatively judged to be a lone cruiser at a distance of 20 kilometers.

How would you feel when you got this investigation report?

Not to mention Takatera, if it were Takano, it would have been assumed that it was a cruiser carrying out reconnaissance patrols on the periphery, and it was inferred that the main formation was behind the cruiser.

That is, the main detachments of the native fleet are farther away!

Interestingly, Takaji did not reply to Takeo's report and did not give Takeo new orders.

At half past eleven, after waiting for about ten minutes and deciding that Takaji would not adjust, Takeo made a very bold decision to break the deadlock.

Accelerate towards that enemy ship.

Obviously, Takeo must have gotten the situation wrong.

Since the lookout had never spotted the capital ship of the home fleet, Takeo assumed that the battleship on the other side was firing a light at him. To put it simply, the lookout on the battleship saw the "Myoko", but did not recognize it, so he sent a message of inquiry.

From Takeo's point of view, he must have known that it would not be long before the battleship of the Liangxia Navy would conclude that it was an enemy ship that had been discovered.

Crucially, it wasn't necessarily a cruiser of the home fleet.

Perhaps, just a patrol ship.

It was precisely because of this that Takeo felt that he should seize the opportunity to approach quickly.

This reckless move is tantamount to sounding the battle horn.

At 11:40, the lookout of the "Myoko" reported that there was not one, but four enemy ships ahead, and most likely cruisers.

At this time, the distance between the two leading ships had been shortened to thirteen kilometers.

For the Myoko, this distance is still a bit far.

Although eight-inch armor-piercing shells could penetrate the armor of heavy cruisers, it was difficult to accurately measure the distance to enemy ships in night artillery battles.

Critically, the four heavy cruisers on the opposite side were under the clouds, and there was no way to maintain visual contact all the time.

The other side clearly did not intend to give the 5th cruiser detachment more chances.

Three minutes later, the first salvo was fired by four heavy cruisers led by the "Zizhou", which officially kicked off the battle.

It must be admitted that the lookout of the narrow navy is indeed very powerful.

Only a few rounds of shelling were carried out, and at about 11:45 a.m., the lookout of the "Myoko" concluded that they were four heavy cruisers of the "Zizhou" class, based on the sound of the shells as they flew, the distribution of the muzzle flashes of the enemy ships, and the number of shells that fell each time.

Actually, it was enough to judge that it was a heavy cruiser.

The home fleet had only one detachment of heavy cruisers, which belonged to four ships of the "Zizhou" class.

At this time, Takeo didn't dare to mess around.

Although there are only nine main guns of the "Zizhou" class, one less than the "Myoko" class, when it comes to combat effectiveness, it is actually much stronger than the "Myoko" class.

Also, the 200 mm armor-piercing bullets fired by the other side pose a lethal threat.

Before 11:50 a.m., Takeo gave the order to turn left and asked his staff officers to assign targets for engagement.

At this time, the distance between the two sides has been shortened to about ten kilometers.

If anything, in a few minutes, the lookout of the "Myoko" will be able to see the main detachment in front on the left. It's not because the distance is shortened, but if the "Longxing" doesn't turn again, it will sail out of the cloudy area in a few minutes, exposed to the bright moonlight.

At that time, Gui Boyong was hesitating whether to turn around.

The main thing is that the clouds drift too slowly, so to stay under the clouds, you need to make a right turn, and then you have to sail to the northeast, that is, in the direction of the Fifth Cruiser Squadron. After the distance was shortened, it was possible to be spotted by the 5th cruiser squadron at any time.

Or, or not to turn, and to fire directly at the second main team more than ten kilometers away?

After Takeo ordered to fire on the four "Zizhou" class ships of the heavy patrol detachment, Gui Boyong did not have a headache.

The heavy cruisers of the Narrow Navy have obviously not yet discovered the main detachment.

Don't forget, Gui Boyong was worried about whether the four rapid assault heavy cruisers would attack with heavy torpedoes after approaching.

At about 11:53 a.m., that is, after receiving a telegram from the "Zizhou", Gui Boyong ordered a right turn.

There is no objection to this turn.

The enemy's actions invariably showed that none of the enemy ships, including the four heavy cruisers that had come out, had discovered the four "Longxing" class battleships hidden under the clouds.

At that time, the only threat was actually the four light cruisers that turned south after entering the Asahihi.

Affected by the previous maneuver, none of the lookouts on the battleship, including the "Longxing", saw the four light cruisers.

In order to maintain concealment, Gui Boyong did not give orders to the light patrol detachment behind.

However, there was no need to send a telegram at that time, because the decisive battle would begin in a few minutes.

Before twelve o'clock, or eleven fifty-eight to be exact, after completing the U-turn to the right, Gui Boyong ordered the Red Blood Battle Flag to be raised.

Engagement tactics?

It had been distributed an hour earlier.

Besides, the four battleships of the second main force were still lined up in columns, rushing forward, so the first few salvos must have been aimed at the enemy's lead ship.

As expected, it should be the flagship of the second main team, the "Imuro".

In the absence of a combat state, there is no reason for other ships to act as lead ships.

At twelve o'clock sharp, the "Longxing" broke the radio silence and gave the order to open fire.

Subsequently, the communications staff officer sent out a series of orders.

In the next half minute, the four battleships, which had already lined up, led by the flagship, fired the first salvo in turn.

The first fleet decisive battle of this war, to be precise, the battle of the capital ship duel stage began.

At this time, it was already the early morning of the 28th. d