In fact, the Russians didn't really want to strike first, and when the light signal that pierced the dense fog came, Essen was really startled. ―

Dewa Shigeto guessed correctly, a head-to-head battle with the Japanese fleet was indeed something that Essen had been trying to avoid as much as possible. Although Essen was able to take risks to go to Tokyo Bay to rob because of his strong ships, it has always been Essen's goal to be able to escape with his whole body.

So when he found out that he was hit by the Japanese fleet, Essen's first reaction was: "You can't be cowardly, hurry up." "After all, what is the size and strength of the Japanese fleet on the other side, it is completely unclear in this environment, and now it is thick fog, and it is still very advantageous to run away.

However, now the two sides are moving in opposite directions, although there is a certain angle between the course of the two fleets, but it is impossible to turn around and escape at this time, and the turning and turning turn will not only affect the speed, but also in the process of turning they are lambs to the slaughter.

Therefore, Essen made a decision to keep the current course and directly staggered with the Japanese fleet, so that even if the Japanese turned to chase after him, this foggy weather, when they completed the turn, they probably would not be able to see themselves.

Since the two sides are going to stagger, then the last artillery battle at this distance will definitely not be able to dodge, so it is necessary to give the Japanese a dismount, and if the Japanese who can fight fall into chaos, then it will also be conducive to getting out of themselves. Essen then ordered the first shot, and due to the angle between the two sides, the rear main turret of the Izmail also had enough angle to fire, and then the four 254mm guns on the Russian flagship were the first to roar.

However, it was purely accidental that the Russians landed so close to the Japanese ships in the first round of shelling, and in this foggy weather, except for firing at the vague shadow of the ship, other means of observation and ranging were not so reliable, and the Russian fleet not only did not slow down, but increased its speed in order to disengage as much as possible. So the accuracy of the shelling can be imagined.

The first round of shooting of the Izmail was completely blind, but the landing point was so close to the flagship of Izuha Shigeto, which scared the opposite side of the unknown truth into a cold sweat.

The tonnage of his 9 second-class cruisers is about the same as the 3 armored cruisers on the opposite side, and the enemy's armored cruisers are equipped with 254 mm naval guns and 203 mm naval guns, and their own artillery power is also weak.

However, as with the problems faced by Essen, the Japanese could not escape from this kind of distance encounter. And although the enemy on the opposite side is strong and cannonous, but Izuba Chongyuan still decided to fight, he has the secret weapon of the Imperial Navy in his hand, and at this climate and this distance, he can also surprise lightning strikes with the advantage of speed.

Moreover, as an officer of the Combined Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Empire, and under the influence of the British Royal Navy's idea of "fighting when you see the enemy", Shigehara Idewa resolutely decided to attack the Russians in the face of the obvious disparity in strength between the two sides, rather than taking advantage of the speed advantage to disengage.

"Right rudder 20, inform the whole fleet, return fire!" Looks getting closer. The 6 Russian ** ships that slowly revealed their full figures in the fog shouted hoarsely.

At such a close distance, it is pure tricks to turn left and insert into the course of the Russians, not only will their fleet have to make a sharp turn to the left, and there is no power to fight back in the process of sharp turn, but even if the turn is completed, it is estimated that everyone will collide together, so Dewa Shigeyuan still decided to turn right and fight a return battle with the Russians.

Nine cruisers of the second rank, guided by the flagship Izumi, began to fine-tune their course, turning to the right for better angles of fire. At this time, the Russians' shells, which had a slight advantage in firing angles at the beginning, had already smashed their heads and faces, and for a time the sound of artillery resounded throughout the Tsushima Strait

However, the level of training of the Russian gunners was really not very good. Coupled with the thick fog, although they fired desperately, they did not have any results at all. Because black gunpowder was still used as the propellant, the front of the Russian fleet was filled with gunsmoke, and the black cloud was difficult to dissipate for a while, which affected the Russians' accuracy even more.

The course has been adjusted. When the two sides approached 3000 meters, the Japanese fleet opened fire. Although the caliber of naval guns was inferior to that of the Russians, the number of medium-caliber rapid-fire guns did not lag behind, and 44 150-mm naval guns and 6 120-mm naval guns immediately returned fire.

Approaching this distance, both sides can see their opponents more clearly. Seeing that there was nothing more than a protective cruiser on the other side, and that he had been worried about the Japanese armored cruiser in sight, Essen's mind began to change when he wanted to shoot a few shots and run away.

"Haha, these yellow-skinned monkeys also want to challenge the fleet of the Russian Empire with a few broken ships? Their naval guns probably won't be able to tickle us! Essen's self-confidence burst for a while: "Slow down, let's send those yellow-skinned monkeys' broken ships to the bottom of the sea!" ”

Essen's judgment was correct, the 260 mm guns on the Naniwa and Takachiho were also replaced with 150 mm naval guns in the 1899 refit, and the largest caliber naval guns among the nine Japanese protective cruisers at this time were the 203 mm guns on the Takasago, Chitose and Kasaki, and they really did not have the ability to penetrate the main armor belt of Essen's armored cruisers, but the secret weapon in the hands of the Japanese did not necessarily have to penetrate the armor of the Russians.

"The Urayan fleet has slowed down!" Yamaji Kazuzen shouted loudly that the Russians had not achieved a hit before, but the accuracy of the shelling would inevitably improve after slowing down, and Yamaji was also nervous when he thought of the Russians' stormy projection ability.

At this time, Dewa Shigeyuan was much calmer: "It seems that the people of Lu Guo want to eat us with the advantage of the performance of the battleship, how can it be so easy!" ”

When the Russians slowed down and their own hits increased, so did the Japanese, who had the advantage in firepower, but the gunners wasted this opportunity. Those who wasted their chances were bound to be punished, and soon, the more trained Japanese let the forward deck of the Izmail, which had the head of the ship, be shot at the forefront, and for a time the flames soared into the sky.

"Hit! The battleship of the Lu people is on fire! Yamaji Yizen shouted excitedly.

"It seems that we are the first to set a record, and we really deserve to be the warriors of His Majesty the Emperor, keep up the good work! I'm going to take credit for them when I go back! "Izuha Shigeto was equally excited.

However, Essen on the other side was not so happy at this time: "Damn! Why did the yellow-skinned monkeys hit us first? What are the gunners doing?! Quickly put out the fire on the deck, and then beat me back! ”

But it's useless to get angry, the Russians suffered a big loss here due to the lack of training level, after the end of the Russo-Japanese War, the chief of staff of the Second Fleet of the Japanese Combined Fleet, Tetsutaro Sato, counted the number of wartime jù, and the results obtained proved that the hit rate of the Russian fleet in the Battle of the Yellow Sea was only 26% of that of the Japanese fleet, and in the Battle of Tsushima after that, the hit rate of the Russians was even more miserable.

But soon the bad news came back, the fire on the bow deck was difficult to extinguish for a while, the fire was raging, not only the fire extinguishing work was difficult, but also seriously affected the aiming and firing of the bow main gun, and the Izmail was as eye-catching as a torch at this time, more shells fell around her, splashing countless columns of water, and soon, the swollen part of the Izmail was hit by 2 shells.

Now Essen lost his previous calmness, a single shell caused a fire in the bow that was difficult to contain, and the two shells hit by the swollen part did not penetrate the armor, but the same fire and poisonous smoke caused the aim and fire of the swollen secondary gun to be difficult.

This is precisely the effect of the Japanese secret weapon - Shimose gunpowder, this kind of high explosive named by the research engineer Masayoshi Shimose uses picric acid as the main ingredient, and when it explodes, it can produce a high temperature of thousands of degrees, and it will produce a "flowing fire" phenomenon that flows around like gasoline on fire, and the yellow smoke produced by the explosion contains toxic components.

Even if this highly sensitive explosive could not penetrate the armor, the fire and toxic smoke produced would severely affect the ship's observation, command, and operations, and even a battleship like the Izmail would not be able to withstand such a blow all the time.

However, the Russian fleet was not a paper paste in the end, and the firepower advantage of 8 254 mm, 16 203 mm, and 44 152 mm naval guns that the six armored cruisers could engage was finally brought into play after their own shells were fired.

First of all, the flagship Izumi was swollen with two 152-mm shells, but the Russians also did not penetrate the huge armor belt of the Izumi, causing only minor damage.

However, the Chitose, which was following the Izumi, suffered, and a 152-mm shell directly blew out a 150-mm secondary gun on the swollen ear platform, killing all 12 crew members. And that's not all, as a 152-millimeter shot hit the base of Chitose No. 1 chimney, causing not only a large hole to be opened in the base of the chimney, but also to set fire to the lifeboats parked on the deck.

The temperature of the black smoke emitted from the boiler after burning from the hole was extremely high, and the fire brigade who rushed over with a water gun could not get close at all, so they could only spray water jets from the water cannon far away to the place where the fire started.

But the smoke gushing out of the chimney pierced by the shells covered the entire hull of the Chitose since the first chimney, and all the sailors on the deck were not only choked by the smoke, they couldn't even open their eyes, but the whole deck couldn't stay at all under the high temperature. As a last resort, the Chitose had no choice but to turn off the boiler connected to the front chimney, so the Chitose plummeted and left the queue.

Since the two sides were returning to the sea, the enemy firepower was basically the first few warships, and the performance advantage of the Russians, the Izmail and Kimborn, was too obvious, so that the Japanese had an advantage in gunpowder and shells to be neutralized. The Chitose was wounded and broke away, and the Kasaki, which had been replaced later, was immediately attacked by the Russians.

The situation of the Japanese fleet became precarious for a while. (To be continued......) R527