On the bridge, Zhu Guohui lowered his head and recorded the enemy situation he had just identified in a notebook. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 According to the regulations of the Ming Royal Navy, the warship's communications officer is also a complex lookout observer, and all the lookout posts on the warship will report to him through the ship's telephone.

"Commander, there are about 60 enemy ships! These included 16 capital ships (the lookout post also considered two Nelson-class armored cruisers and two Brute-class armored cruisers as capital ships), nine of which were in horizontal formations, and the other seven capital ships formed two columns in horizontal formations. To the right and left of the two capital ship columns were two cruiser detachments. Behind the capital ship column there were two more cruiser columns. In addition, there were columns of steam galleons hoisted at the end. ”

On the chart table on the side, the navigator and the gunnery officer had already used a model of a small wooden ship to lay out the formation of the British Eastern Fleet according to Zhu Guohui's description.

"It's complicated!" Yu Guibei looked at the nautical chart and shook his head slightly.

Although his fleet can't play with the formation of the British Eastern Fleet, he has done this when he is working on the map, so he knows what the other party is thinking. The nine capital ships that were discharged from the transverse formation must have been the core of the entire fleet, these were all large ships with diagonal open batteries, and the main guns were all 16-inch, of which the Empress of India class had 6 16-inch cannons, and the ravage class and the Victory class were both 4 16-inch cannons. 9 capital ships should have 42 16-inch cannons, although the 16-inch cannons of this era are definitely not the same thing as the naval guns of the First World War and the Second World War. But if these 42 16-inch guns were bombarded at close range, it would still be very numbing to the scalp. And these nine British capital ships all have ramming angles, which can not only be bombarded with artillery. You can also use the bow of the ship to ram. The ironclad ships of the Ming Dynasty may be able to withstand the bombardment of 16-inch armor-piercing shells. But it is absolutely impossible to resist the collision of a capital ship of 10,000 tons or even 14,000 tons!

However, the speed of the British capital ships is not very fast, and the flexibility of the horizontal team is poor, so it is very difficult to hit the opponent, even if the opponent's speed is slower, it is not easy to hit, after all, the distance of the current artillery battle is generally 7000 meters to 3000 meters, but it is not 500 meters in the era of sail battleships.

Therefore, the British will deploy several columns on both sides of the horizontal formation. The purpose is to intercept and outflank the opponent's column, making it difficult for the enemy to maneuver flexibly. It even forms a pincer attack! However, it is very troublesome to command a horizontal formation and multiple columns at the same time. If you're not careful, it's going to be a scuffle. And the simple columns of the Ming Navy were very easy to maintain.

"We can't let them surround us!" Yu Guibei whispered an order, and his tone was very calm, "The armed merchant ship detachment retreated to the northeast at full speed. The rest of the detachment followed closely with the 1st Battleship Detachment! Turning 90 degrees to the right, we walked around the British. ”

"Admiral, the enemy has divided into two teams and begun to turn." In the command tower of the Empress of India, the voice of the communications staff officer of the British Eastern Fleet rang out. "Their armed merchant ship detachment retreated to the northeast, and the rest of the ships turned right about 90 degrees in a single column."

Arthur. Hood glanced at Aspen.

"There can be an ambush, in the depths of the South China Sea." Asben said lightly, "Orientals like this kind of trick. Their armed merchant ships may be trying to lure some of our ships over. ”

"Let the gunboat detachment chase after it." Arthur. Hood thought for a moment. The division of troops was also chosen. "Just chase them, it's better to follow them to find the Chinese ambush." I need to determine where they are. ”

Ambushes aren't scary, but if you do, Arthur. Hood didn't come either. However, not knowing when the enemy's ambush will come out is a headache.

"The 4th Panzer Cruiser Detachment and the 7th Cruiser Detachment converged and were unified by the commander of the 4th Panzer Cruiser Detachment, Andrew Brown. Major General White commanded, using speed to intercept the Chinese and seize the T-shaped battle position. ”

Arthur. Hood continued to give orders. He is not Ding Ruchang, and the British Eastern Fleet is not a Beiyang Naval Division, they can play regardless of column or horizontal formation!

"The rest of the detachments maintained their original formation and turned en masse." Arthur. Hood then ordered. It is not easy for a large formation composed of a horizontal formation and several columns to collectively turn on the sea! Although the training level of the Ming Navy is not bad, it is still impossible to complete such a complex tactical coordination.

On the Yongli opposite, Zhu Guohui had already reported the changes and division of the British fleet to Yu Beigui and Enomoto Takeyang.

"The British wanted to rush ahead of us with four armored cruisers and ten fast cruisers to grab a T-shaped position!" "These fourteen ships must be very fast, and once we let them succeed, we will have to keep turning right." ”

The T-shaped position cannot be snatched by the British, otherwise the hundreds of main and secondary guns of the fourteen cruisers will bombard together, which is enough for the Yongli to drink a pot! Therefore, the Yongli, which has no advantage in speed, can only lead the formation to turn right again, and then the British ships will follow up with the advantage of speed and grab the T-position, as long as the Ming fleet is forced to turn again. The Ming ship formation will advance against the horizontal formation of the British fleet, and when the Ming ship formation continues to move forward or turn right again, it will be bombarded by the 42 16-inch cannons in the bow of the 9 British capital ships, and if it wants to turn left to break through, then Arthur. Hood will definitely send one or two more detachments to intercept it.

"The Fourth Cruiser Detachment and the Fifth Cruiser Detachment went up at full speed, under the unified command of Liu Yaxing, and the British could not be allowed to grab the T-shaped position in any case." Yu Guibei immediately made an adjustment, using 10 Wuchang-class protective cruisers to block the British's 14 fast cruisers.

As a result, the Chinese and British fleets on the battlefield were now divided into six groups, of which sixteen British steam galleons chased the twenty-four Chinese transports out of the main battlefield and moved northeastward. The main forces of the British fleet continued to maintain their original formation and turned on the sea. And the main forces of the Chinese fleet turned right in columns, trying to detour to the side of the British ship formation. In addition, both sides sent detachments of cruisers with high speed to try to seize the lead.

"The Ming Navy, fight to the death and never retreat!"

A new flag was hung on the Yongli, which was a decisive signal to the ten "Wuchang" class! They must use their own casualties to seize a favorable position for the main fleet!

Suddenly this moment.

The ten Wuchang-class ships broke away from the formation like wild horses, and the bow of the flying scissor type broke through the waves, drawing white water traces on the sea surface.

"Report, 10,000 meters away!"

"9000 meters!"

"8000 meters!"

"7000 meters ......"

The sound of the navigator reporting the distance one after another made the atmosphere in the command tower of the Wuchang tense, after all, there were 14 cruisers in the distance, including 4 5,600-ton Orlando class, which was the latest armored cruiser of the British, and it was driven from Europe with 3 "Indian Queen" class. The Daming Navy does not know the performance of this armored cruiser yet, but seeing its speed and size, it should know that it is very difficult to deal with.

With the voice, everyone's eyes turned to the face of Major General Liu Yaxing, who was holding a pipe.

"20 degrees on the right side."

When the bows of the flagships of the two sides were less than 7,000 meters apart, Liu Yaxing finally gave the order to deflect the course, so that the formation and the British ship formation from the left front formed two straight lines in the shape of a figure of eight - this is because the maximum speed of the fourteen cruisers of the British is 17 knots, while the maximum speed of Liu Yaxing's 10 cruisers is 16.5 knots, half a knot slower than the other side. Therefore, there is no way to grab the T-position. Of course, the British, who were half a quarter ahead, could not grab the T-position.

Seeing the 10 Chinese cruisers turn, the 14 cruisers of the British, as if they had a tacit understanding, also slightly adjusted their course in order to keep the two fleets parallel at a distance of 6,000 to 5,000 meters, and then bombard each other with artillery.

At 6:20, when the two teams of cruisers of China and Britain approached about 5,000 meters, two 9-inch shells that were hailed as the prelude to the battle between China and Britain first burst out of the front and rear main guns of the armored cruiser Orlando. (To be continued......)