The British fleets shrank their defenses, and the two fists that had been stretched out were now retracted and turned into a shrunken turtle.

Chen Shaoyi was very happy to see the British Navy defending with all its might, which proved that his tactics were successful.

However, he is still calculating, the Chinese Navy is still in a weak position in terms of the number of main battle warships, but it has already grasped the initiative on the battlefield, and once it finds an opportunity, it can conduct a decisive battle in the fleet.

The two detachments of the Chinese Navy are still circling the British fleet at a distance of 5,000 meters, as if Taiji is spinning, and at the first opportunity, the Chinese fleet will suddenly attack and besiege a British ship with lightning speed, causing a huge advantage in local firepower, severely damaging or sinking the encircled British ships, and weakening the overall strength of the British fleet.

At 2:48 p.m., the cruiser "Perth" at the rear of the British ship's left flank formation was besieged by five ships of the Chinese Navy's Second Fleet: Zhenyuan, Laiyuan, Jingyuan, Haidai, and Haihuan.

Five minutes later, the Perth caught fire, and a 305-mm armor-piercing projectile from the Zhenyuan ironclad hit the port side waterline directly, causing fatal penetrating damage.

In just two minutes, more than 1,000 tons of seawater were poured in, and the cruiser "Perth," which was less than 4,000 tons in total, quickly toppled and sank at a speed that could be seen.

When three British ironclad ships arrived to reinforce them, the Chinese fleet quickly accelerated out of the battle, not giving the British navy a chance to fight a decisive battle.

The commander of the British fleet, Klaus, was so angry that he coughed up blood, and even his lungs were coughed out, which was very terrifying.

Carter ordered someone to fetch the only box of small anti-inflammatory pills, Klaus looked at it, and finally gritted his teeth and refused.

Death does not take Chinese medicine, unless revenge, this is Klaus's final decision, and it is also his last bit of dignity.

Carter shook his head helplessly. Knowing that Klaus's stubborn temper came up, it was useless to persuade him.

The two sides were consumed like this, and the situation was clearly very unfavorable for the British Navy.

is obviously the number one in the world, but blindly passively beaten, the British army is very aggrieved, and the fighting spirit is getting lower and lower.

If Li Weiguo were standing here, he would definitely think with emotion of the Sino-Japanese naval battle in history, where the Beiyang Naval Division was obviously the first in Asia, but it could not defeat the Japanese Navy.

The top generals of the British fleet had realized that they were going to suffer a big loss. But nothing could be done, and the warships built by the Chinese Navy surpassed the British in terms of speed, armor and firepower.

Who would have imagined that ten years ago, China was still trying to learn shipbuilding technology from the UK, and ten years later it would surpass the UK.

The British Navy, which has always regarded itself as a teacher and regarded China as a student, is really humiliating at this moment.

"It's going to be the other way around paying tuition to China!"

"Let the cruiser formation withdraw from the battle, and if it goes on like this, it won't have to wait until it gets dark!"

Hear Carthus's persuasion. Klaus was also entangled in his heart.

It was not that he was unaware of the danger of the cruiser formation, but if the cruiser formation was withdrawn, it would be no problem to escape at the speed of the British cruisers. But that's it. There are only seven slow-moving ironclads left, and how to deal with the Chinese fleet with six ironclads and four cruisers, the latter of which is obviously in danger of total annihilation.

Whether to abandon seven ironclads or ten cruisers. Or both, stay and fight to the death.

Klaus was furious in his heart, his body was now terminally ill, and if he could not win this naval battle, he would have to die of illness if he was not hanged by a court-martial.

Since even his own life is gone. So what do you care!

"Where's the nearest island?"

Carthus was stunned for a moment, immediately took the chart, judged the direction, and then replied.

"About forty-five nautical miles to the southeast, there is a Scarborough Shoal!"

"What's the structure around?"

"Scarborough Shoal is a C-shaped atoll, including a hundred-square-kilometer Hubo inside, surrounded by many reefs, with an average water depth of about one meter."

Klaus's eyes lit up, and he suddenly said, "Great, God won't destroy us, let's go to Scarborough Shoal!" ”

Carter quickly understood, "You're not going to hide in Scarborough Shoal, are you?" That's not going to work, once the exit is blocked by the Chinese fleet, we will really be wiped out. ”

Klaus pointed to the Chinese fleet in the distance and said, "You see that they are advancing lightly, and there are no supply ships and auxiliary ships to follow, so I guess they don't carry much radium, so they can't block the exit." We just need to hide inside and wait until the evening to immediately break through. ”

Carter worried: "But breaking through is inevitable and fierce battles, we are not good at night battles!" ”

Klaus snorted coldly: "We're not good at it, is the Chinese Navy good at it?" There may be losses in the night breakout, but can it be worse than now? ”

Indeed, now is the worst situation.

Let's take one step at a time!

Carthus agreed, and smiled bitterly in his heart, the dignified British Imperial Navy was reduced to the point of taking one step at a time, and it was really shameless to say it.

Soon, the British fleet began to move purposefully to the southeast.

The Chinese Navy quickly noticed the situation and quickly reported it to the fleet commander, Chen Shaoyi.

"What does Klaus want to do? Want to run? ”

"If we can't beat us, of course we're going to run! Do you have to give us experience? ”

Li Weijun smiled, at this point, he had completely convinced Chen Shaoyi in his heart. If he had been in command of this naval battle, I am afraid that it would not have had this effect.

"Order the first and second detachments to deal with it carefully and bite the enemy steadily! I'd like to see what else Klaus can do! Chen Shaoyi hadn't guessed Klaus's true intentions, and just continued to bite the enemy step by step.

In this way, the British fleet fought and retreated, and unknowingly approached the waters near Scarborough Shoal.

It was only at this time that Chen Shaoyi understood a little, and suddenly said in surprise: "Klaus doesn't want to hide in the lagoon, right?" ”

Li Weijun was also taken aback, and hurriedly ordered the staff officer to get a chart of Huangyan Dao.

"You look at the structure of Scarborough Shoal, with three atolls and a lagoon in the middle, about 100 square kilometers, with the only exit in the southeast, up to 380 meters wide and 9 to 11 meters deep, which can completely pass through large warships. As long as a few ironclad ships are used to guard the exit, it will be impossible to open a single man. ”

Chen Shaoyi frowned suddenly, but then laughed and said, "This Scarborough Shoal Island seems to be conducive to defense, but if Klaus goes in, he is looking for death." All we have to do is block the exit and lay out the radium, and we'll trap them. ”

Li Weijun was puzzled: "If this is the case, then why did Klaus choose like this?" If he fights us to the death, he will not be able to save the entire fleet, but at least half of the ships will remain. Why kill yourself? ”

Chen Shaoyi was also puzzled, but he glanced at the sky and suddenly smiled: "Klaus is very smart, hiding in the lagoon can protect his fleet for a short time, and when it is night, he will break through with all his strength, if we intercept it with all our might, the result will inevitably be a defeat for both sides." ”

True, fighting at night, the range of the guns of the warships of the Chinese Navy will no longer be dominant. Everyone is a black one, and they can only shoot within the visual range of their respective artillery. When breaking through, the fast speed of the Chinese Navy warships was useless, because the 380-meter-wide exit had to be blocked. No matter how fast you are, it's useless.

Li Weijun was suddenly shocked: "Then what should we do?" Could it be that you just watched the duck fly to your beak again? ”

"Of course it won't fly!" Chen Shaoyi smiled confidently and said, "You forgot that we still have a killer feature!" ”

"You mean submarines and fish-ray boats!"

"That's right! Since Klaus wants to die, let's let him die more violently! ”

Chen Shaoyi and Li Weijun immediately looked at each other and laughed.

Submarines and fish and radium boats are the killer weapons of the Chinese Navy. Originally, it could have been slowly invested and R&D, but with the in-depth collision of the interests of China and the United Kingdom, Li Weiguo had to invest several times more funds and manpower in R&D. With the fastest speed to build up naval power, the Chinese Navy can now compete head-on with the British Navy in five years, and it can be said that the equipment of the Chinese Navy is currently spent with money.

This time, the Chinese fleet went south to protect overseas Chinese and encountered the British Asian fleet, which was a naval battle that determined China's national fortunes, so the fish and radium boats and submarines as killer weapons naturally had to be carried south.

It's just that the speed of the submarine is slow, and the fish and radium boat cannot sail in the deep sea, so it can only be transported with the help of large transport ships.

At this moment, Chen Shaoyi did not have submarines and fish and radium boats around him, but if the British fleet hid in Scarborough Shoal and waited for dark, then the transport ships far behind would arrive in time.

Thinking that he could attack the British fleet with submarines and fish and radium boats at night, Chen Shaoyi was not in a hurry, and deliberately ordered the ships to slow down and sit back and watch the British fleet retreat into the lagoon of Huangyan Island step by step.

"Block the entrance immediately!"

As soon as the British fleet entered the lagoon, Klaus ordered seven ironclad ships to form two horizontal formations and arrange them crosswise, sealing the exit to the lagoon.

The Chinese fleet did not come closer, only occasionally shelled the sea five or six thousand meters away, and there was no intention of storming.

It didn't take long for the two sides to seem to have a tacit understanding in an instant, and the Chinese fleet quickly stopped attacking, and the British fleet had no intention of rushing out.

The British fleet sailed into the lagoon, where the water was shallow, self-stranded, and could not be sunk by Chinese naval guns.

At present, China's military industry ranks first in the world in industrial technology in the manufacture of large-caliber main guns, but it can only ensure the normal service life of 150 rounds of each 305-mm main gun.

Both sides were waiting for the sunset to get dark, as if the days were like years.

In the evening, the Chinese Navy's overseas Chinese fleet sailed all the way from Manila, and soon searched and found the main fleet of the Chinese Navy, so they rushed to converge.

In this way, the main lineup of the 99th Fleet of the Chinese Navy is all in place. The Nine Great Ironclad Ships and the Nine Sea Dome Armored Patrol Ships instantly surpassed the British Asian Fleet in terms of quantity, and there was nothing to say about the quality, even if the two sides fought a decisive battle of the fleet, they would also beat the British fleet.

Chen Shaoyi and Li Weijun met with Deng Zhilong on the Dingyuan ship, showed Deng Zhilong the orders of the Admiralty and the Military Command Department, formally took over the fleet strength in Deng Zhilong's hands, and jointly organized the Pacific Fleet of the Chinese Shence Army Navy.

Since the transport ship had not yet arrived, Chen Shaoyi was worried that Klaus would break through in advance, so he deliberately led the main force of the Pacific Fleet to launch an attack. Nine ironclad ships, nine dome cruisers, powerful combat deterrence, soon fell into the eyes of Klaus.

"Damn it!"

Klaus did plan to take advantage of the fact that the visibility was about to reach within 3,000 meters in the evening, which was within the range of the British naval guns, which was the best way to break through, because he was worried that the night would be long and the dreams would be too much, and as a result, he saw that the Chinese Navy's four oceanic fleets had met, and the capital ships reached nine ironclad ships and nine cruisers, while the British Asian Fleet only had seven ironclad ships and nine cruisers, and there were two fewer ironclad ships in number, and the combat effectiveness was even more widened, because Klaus knew very well that the British Navy's cruisers had no armor protection, Once it fights against the Chinese Navy's Dome cruisers, it will definitely die.

"Wait until the second half of the night to break through!"

Klaus sighed, now he can only continue to wait for it to get darker, and then break through when he can't see his fingers, hoping that the Chinese navy will be asleep by then.

It may seem like a slim hope, but at least it's a hope.

Finding that the British fleet that was about to move suddenly settled down, Chen Shaoyi suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

If the British fleet breaks through at this time, the visibility of the two sides is within 3,000 meters, and the 10,000-meter range of the Chinese naval guns cannot give full play to the advantage, and it will fight with the British fleet within 3,000 meters.

It is better to temporarily deter the enemy, and wait for the arrival of the submarine and the Fish Ray Boat before making a move, so that your own losses will be lower.

At nine o'clock in the evening, the sun finally set completely in the tropics, and the entire sea area of Qizhou Ocean was dark, with occasional starlight, but it was obscured by clouds.

The sea breeze is howling, it is the time of high tide, and the tide is surging and rattling.

If you act at this time, you can often drown out the roar of the motor.

Klaus is obviously a famous admiral of the British Navy, and in addition to his failure in China, he is still very influential in the international community, and he knows the tides of the ocean well.

He immediately seized the opportunity and quietly ordered the ships of the British fleet to move slowly in the direction of the exit.

The night obscured the Victorian livery, the sea breeze and the sound of the tides drowned out the roar of the motors, and everything was going on in secret.

The British Navy was cautious, and its nervous heart was raised to its throat, for fear that the Chinese Navy would suddenly come out and hit them in an ambush.

The seven British ironclads did not take the lead, but let the five cruisers open the way, in fact, they planned to sacrifice these five cruisers, because Klaus knew very well that the Chinese Navy would definitely deploy radium near the exit, and there would be encounters, so he had to leave the ironclads to deal with it.

With a loud bang, the Neptune cruiser "Neptune" touched radium.

A huge hole was instantly blasted open by water radium in a certain part below the bow waterline, stirring up a huge wave more than ten meters high, and the fire light generated in an instant was particularly eye-catching in the dark night. (To be continued.) )