In the telescope, it was still blue, and there was no shadow of the Second Fleet yet.

"Why hasn't it arrived yet?" Putting down the binoculars, Li He asked Yan Fu, who was standing next to him.

"The new warships of the Tsarist Russian fleet were wiped out in Vladivostok as soon as possible, and the fleets in Europe are all genus = belong to the old warships, and this speed is probably not as good as our Zhenyuan Dingyuan back then, so it is estimated that it was dragged down by the speed." Yan Fu thought for a while and said.

It should be like this, after all, the speed is uneven, so the fast Beiyang sailors should have arrived a long time ago. I really don't know what this tsar thinks, how he drove all the warships in 1875, and he is not afraid of sinking in the middle of the way. Li He thought depressedly.

Finally, after half an hour, a black cloud appeared in the distant sky, and after a while, the watchtower on the mast finally reported the situation of the fleet.

"Discovery of the Second Fleet, 10 knots."

No wonder it is so slow, the speed of ten knots, which is absolutely not seen in the current warships in Liaodong, the only explanation is that it is a drag on Tsarist Russia.

It seems that this allowed Tsarist Russia to participate in the bombardment of Tokyo, yes, it is considered that after all, this needs fast-moving warships, and if this Tsarist Russian warship goes, it will only be a matter of delay.

"Commander William, look at the speed of this Tsarist Russia"

"Li, needless to say, I know that the Tsarist fleet is simply not capable of operating with us." It is worthy of being born in the old navy, William saw the situation from the speed of the voyage at once, and there was no doubt that the Tsarist fleet was kicked out of the sequence of bombardment of Tokyo, of course, it was very suitable to use this to cover and attract the combined fleet.

An hour later, the Second Fleet, which had finally arrived two hours later than scheduled, met with the First Fleet at the surface.

The officers and men of the Navy can see at a glance that the First Fleet is all new-type warships, while the Second Fleet is embarrassed to mention it, which is too embarrassing.

"Give an order, let the commander of the Tsarist fleet come to the Hongzhang, and have a battle plan to deploy." Seeing the Russian flagship, Li He gave an order to the chief officer beside him.

After the commander of the Tsarist fleet boarded the Hongzhang, the huge fleet began to move again, and more than 40 warships, divided into two lines, began to sail on the sea and headed for the Tsushima Strait.

Tokyo, Japan, in the Prime Minister's Office, Ito Hirobumi stood motionless in front of the map, from the time he learned about the attack targets of the two major combined fleets in Liaodong, Ito Hirobumi felt a lot of pressure, just two hours ago, he had received the news that the fleets of Weihai and Lushun had already set off, according to the observation of intelligence officers, it was as high as more than 40 warships, and the current combined fleet, only about 20, this strength, is really too great.

Not to mention anything else, judging from the battleships, Japan now has three, the other side, nine, this three-to-one ratio, even if Amaterasu is alive, I am afraid that it will not be able to win in a battle with such a huge fleet.

"Your Excellency, the commander of the Combined Fleet, Sukehiro Ito, has sent an urgent telegram that he has sent a patrol fleet within thirty nautical miles of Vladivostok, and if the enemy fleet is discovered, it will take the opportunity to attack and crush it under the cover of fire from the shore defense batteries. ：

Inoue on the side said after taking a step forward.

There is no way to do anything, even if Ito Yuheng is a god-like existence of the United Fleet and the Japanese Navy, but he is also very clear about his current strength, and he has no qualifications, so he can only follow Ito Hirobumi's order not to fight a decisive battle in the Tsushima Strait and Liaodong, but to retreat to Vladivostok and keep this port, so that the return route of the hundreds of thousands of troops behind him can be guaranteed.

Nodding slightly, Ito Hirofumi let out a faint breath, and now, he could only pray for God's blessing that the combined fleet could enter the huge Liaodong fleet under the cover of the shore defense battery. Otherwise, Japan's disaster will be even more serious.

In the Tsushima Strait, at dusk, the sun has already appeared in the west, and in two hours, it will be dark.

Inside the Commander Tower. Lee and William were nervously drawing on the map.

After three hours of negotiation and bargaining, the commander of the Tsarist Russian fleet finally agreed to the suggestion of Li He and William, that is, not to attack Vladivostok for the time being, but according to the plan, the Tsarist Russian fleet and the Second Fleet, as well as the two German cruisers, continue to pass through the Tsushima Strait, and then return again after going around the vicinity of Vladivostok, while the First Fleet, that is, the main force of the Beiyang Naval Division and the main force of the German fleet, will turn around and head to Tokyo at a distance of 15 nautical miles from the Tsushima Strait.

"William, I think this time the battleships will be less bringing, and the warships below the eighteenth knot will set off with the Second Fleet, after all, it is to be fast. If the speed is too low, it is easy to cause exposure. After drawing a few times on the map, Li He said again to William, who was standing beside him.

It makes sense, for things that make sense, William will agree, so after thinking for a while, William said: "Your suggestion is good, I think you can just take a few fast-moving warships to carry out the mission." ”

"Okay." Li He nodded, and the two began to select battleships from their respective warships.

In the end, Li He brought the battleship Hongzhang, the armored cruiser Ruojing, and two torpedo cruisers, while William led three battleships and four armored cruisers. Carrying out this mission, as for the others, shortly after departure, will be Lushun, and will not pass through the Tsushima Strait with the Second Fleet.

"Report, has arrived in the Tsushima Strait, the first squad of the Second Fleet, is entering."

So quickly, Li He and William, who were in front of the map, nodded, and when the two walked out, they saw that in the distance, the Tsushima Strait was faintly visible, and a torpedo cruiser and two armored cruisers as the vanguard were slowly entering the Tsushima Strait area.

When the time came to part ways, after looking at the Second Fleet in the distance, Li He turned around: "William, how about we also go." ”

"Okay, you are the commander-in-chief of the joint command this time, you come to give this order, and my expeditionary fleet will obey your orders."

"Command, First Fleet, accelerate, break away from the Second Fleet." Nodding slightly, Li Hemeng became serious and began to give orders to the adjutant beside him.

The First Fleet, which was sailing quietly, began to slowly accelerate after seeing the signal, and under the leadership of the Hung Zhang, the flagship of the First Fleet, it broke away from the Second Fleet, which was still heading for the Tsushima Strait, and began to head southwest.