In the South China Sea, 22.3 degrees north latitude and 117 degrees east longitude, Japan's West Sea Fleet gradually slowed down.

The ship "Sun" is the flagship of the Japanese West Sea Fleet. On the deck of the ship stood a young general, who was the supreme military commander of Japan's West Sea Fleet, Rear Admiral Ito Muzosen.

The main force of Japan's Combined Fleet is fighting fiercely with Russia in the northeastern battlefield of our country, and it is unable to take into account the war in the South China Sea for the time being.

However, under domestic pressure, the Japanese military temporarily formed a West Sea Fleet to go to the South China Sea.

The Western Sea Fleet consisted of the flagship "Sun" and the remaining fourteen ships. The composition and configuration of the West Sea Fleet followed the scale of the Japanese Combined Fleet during the Sino-Japanese First Sino-Japanese Naval War.

Two battle formations for the Main Fleet:

The first battle group consisted of the "Sun" ships, the "Yokohama" ships, and the "Osaka" ships.

"Sun" ship: displacement 4278 tons, draft 6.05 meters, horsepower 5400 horsepower, speed 17.5 knots. 1 320mm caliber gun, 12 rapid-fire guns of 120mm caliber, 16 rapid-fire guns of 6-pounder caliber. 4 torpedoes with 360mm caliber launch tubes. The crew is 355 people. This room was renovated from one of the "Three Scenic Ships" designed by French designer Louis-Emilebertin. Captain: Honji Tojo.

The ship "Yokohama" has a displacement of 4,278 tons, a draft of 6.05 meters, a horsepower of 5,400 horsepower, and a speed of 17.5 knots. 1 320mm gun, 11 120mm rapid-fire guns, 5 6-pounder rapid-fire guns, 11 3-pounder rapid-fire guns, 6 1-pounder rapid-fire guns, 4 torpedoes with 360mm tubes. Crew 355 people, Captain: Kokei Yamamoto.

The ship "Osaka" has a displacement of 2,439 tons, a draft of 4.27 meters, a horsepower of 5,678 horsepower, and a speed of 19 knots. 1 rapid-fire gun of 120mm caliber, 14 rapid-fire guns of 47mm caliber, 8 machine guns, and 3 torpedoes of 360mm caliber launch tubes. It is a type of warship with a defensive armor belt in the center. Crew 306 people, Captain: Yoshiko Oshima.

The cruiser "Mt. Fuji" in the second battle group, the cruiser "Asayama", the ship "Akita".

The cruiser "Mount Fuji" has a displacement of 4,278 tons, a draft of 6.05 meters, a horsepower of 5,400 horsepower, a speed of 17.5 knots, 1 320mm caliber gun, 11 rapid-fire guns of 120mm caliber, 5 6-pounder rapid-fire guns, 11 3-pounder rapid-fire guns, 6 1-pounder rapid-fire guns, and 4 torpedoes with 360mm caliber launch tubes. Crew 355 people, captain: Koizumi Futako.

"Chaoshan" cruiser, displacement of 3777 tons, draft of 5.5 meters, horsepower of 3650 horsepower, speed of 13 knots, 4 guns of 240mm caliber, 2 rapid-fire guns of 170mm, 6 rapid-fire guns of 80mm, 1 machine gun, 2 torpedoes of 360mm caliber launch tubes, crew of 345 people, captain: Arai Yukan.

The ship "Akita" has a displacement of 2,284 tons, a draft of 5.3 meters, a horsepower of 2,515 horsepower, a speed of 13.5 knots, 3 guns of 170mm caliber, 6 rapid-fire guns of 150mm caliber, 4 rapid-fire guns of 1-pounder caliber, and 4 torpedoes of 360mm caliber launch tubes. Captain: Murakami Yamano.

On the left side of the main fleet, two ships are arranged: a cruiser "Kobe" of more than 4,000 tons, and a gunboat of the Maya class "Kaneshiro".

The "Kobe" ship, with a displacement of 4,100 tons, a draft of 5.93 meters, a horsepower of 4,300 horsepower, a speed of 15 knots, 4 rapid-fire guns of 120mm caliber, a crew of 350 people, captain: Shiro Abe.

The gunboat "Jincheng" has a displacement of 622 tons, a draft of 2.95 meters, a horsepower of 963 horsepower, a speed of 10.25 knots, a rapid-fire gun of 120mm caliber, 1 8.2-pounder gun, 1 4.7-pounder gun, a crew of 126 people, and the captain: Matsui Haruyama.

The West Sea Fleet's mobile attack battle group consisted of four cruisers: "Nakano," "Flying Eagle," "Ancient Ingot Knife," and "Ancient Castle."

The cruiser "Nakano" has a displacement of 4,267 tons, a draft of 5.18 meters, a horsepower of 15,968 horsepower, a speed of 23 knots, 4 rapid-fire guns of 152mm caliber, 8 rapid-fire guns of 120mm caliber, 22 rapid-fire guns of 47mm caliber, 5 torpedoes of 360mm caliber, crew of 385 people, captain: Zishan Fifty-three.

"Flying Eagle" cruiser, displacement of 3,709 tons, draft of 6.1 meters, horsepower 7,604 horsepower, speed of 19 knots, 2 260mm caliber guns, 6 150mm caliber guns, 2 6-pounder guns, 10 quadruple guns, 4 machine guns, 4 torpedoes with 380mm caliber launch tubes, crew of 352 people, captain: Tanaka Guitani.

The cruiser "Ancient Ingot Knife" has a displacement of 3,709 tons, a draft of 6.1 meters, a horsepower of 7,604 horsepower, a speed of 19 knots, 2 260mm guns, 6 150mm guns, 2 6-pounder guns, 10 quadruple guns, 4 machine guns, 4 torpedoes with 380mm tubes, a crew of 352 people, captain: Ichiro Kameda.

The cruiser "Kasbah" has a displacement of 3,150 tons, a draft of 5.32 meters, a horsepower of 8,516 horsepower, a speed of 19 knots, 4 rapid-fire guns of 152mm caliber, 6 rapid-fire guns of 120mm caliber, 8 rapid-fire guns of 47mm caliber, 4 torpedoes of 360mm caliber launch tubes, crew of 314 people, captain: Noshige Miura.

Before the temporary formation of the West Sea Fleet, Ito served in the General Staff Headquarters, the base camp of the Russo-Japanese War.

Due to the tense war in the northeast of the Japanese Combined Fleet, Admiral Ito Yuhiro, the base camp of the Japanese Navy, ordered his son Ito Xiangzen to organize the West Sea Fleet.

Ito was worthy of being the elite of Japan's navy, and within a short period of time, a West Sea Fleet with considerable combat effectiveness was temporarily formed.

Although the current composition of the West Sea Fleet is not a world-class fleet, its combat effectiveness can be called a first-class fleet in Asia.

Ito Xiangzen looked at this beautiful blue sea and blue sky, sighed lightly, and the battleship group stopped sailing.

After receiving the combat mission, Ito Xiangshan learned that his opponent was actually Chen Fangzheng, his classmate in the UK.

When he was in England, Ito Xiangzen especially admired Chen Fangzheng, and the Chen Fangzheng he knew was very different from the Chinese he had heard.

In the eyes of Ito Xiangshan, this middle-class person is silent and silent, but he is strong-willed. In many simulated naval battle exercises, Chen Fangzheng got the best results.

Although Chen Fangzheng was cold but not extreme, Ito Xiangshan soon became good friends with the Chinese naval officer.

They did not shy away from making the most frank discussion of the Sino-Japanese First Sino-Japanese Naval War.

Ito believes that the Japanese side won the naval battle with sufficient preparations, and the reason why the Beiyang Naval Division was defeated was not because their commanders were not excellent, nor was it completely because the ships of the Beiyang Naval Division were old.

Instead, it was defeated by the leaders of the Qing government, the stronghold of military command. They were complacent, war-feared and conservative, and completely blindly sought peace, and in the end, the elite of the Beiyang Navy Division fell helplessly in the boundless sea.

Ito Xiangshan said to Chen Fangzheng: "Listening to my father, General Liu Buyun was one of the naval generals he admired the most, and when he was studying in Britain, my father thought that there was a generation of Chinese naval elites like Liu Buyun, which was the helplessness of Japanese soldiers. However, the conservatism of the Qing Dynasty completely destroyed the elite of their generation.

General Chen, we are all soldiers, and one day, maybe we will meet on the battlefield, which I extremely do not want to see. However, Chen Fangzheng, if we really meet on the battlefield, I hope that we can each show our real strength and have a good fight. ”

Ito stood on the deck of the ship, the sea breeze blowing his heroic naval uniform, and also brought him to the memories of years ago.