The Chinese fleet coming from the northwest was a tailwind, and after discovering the Russian and American fleet, it immediately adjusted its direction and turned due east, with the aim of intercepting the Russian and American fleets sailing in the northeast direction. Such an act is close to war!

From the binoculars, the downwind Chinese fleet approached rapidly, from the mast to the sail to the hull, the figure from blurred to clear, making the breath of the people on the battleship Queen Anne heavy.

Six battleships of the third rank! Seeing the tall mast and the sails that almost obscured the sky, the Russian naval officers immediately recognized the type of ship of their opponents. These were six battleships of the third rank with 80 cannons, and the Russian Eastern Fleet was now able to come up with only three ships of the same class. The opponent has a double numerical advantage, and ...... There were also several smoke rising from the Chinese fleet. Even Colonel Nevelskoy felt breathless.

"Your Excellency, I would like to ...... It's hard for us to escape, we have to fight! ”

The Russian fleet did not even have a single steam sailing ship, which meant that the Russian fleet was bound to be slower than the other side, especially in the case of a light wind, no wind, and a headwind. It is very difficult to escape.

"You can also retreat to Naha and resist with the help of the ten coastal batteries and naval forts there." Colonel Nevelskoy thought for a moment and gave the second option. For more than two years, the Russian Eastern Fleet and the Ryukyu Governor's Office have been reinforcing Naha's defenses, and the former commercial port has now been transformed into a fortress. Moreover, there are many stones in the Ryukyus, and there is no shortage of labor, which is very beneficial for the construction of fortress forts in a short period of time. Ten forts and a fortress of coastal defense have been erected.

"But we can't hold the entire Ryukyu Island." Wrangel shook his head. "The Ryukyuan people don't support us. They are either pro-Chinese or pro-Japanese, and they will rebel against us at the first opportunity. However, our troops are too small to control the entire Ryukyu Island, so we can only retreat near the Naha fortress. When the time comes, the French officers will command the two armies to take down the fortress tomorrow, and the Eastern Fleet will be finished. ”

There are three ports on the island of Ryukyu Oshima, but only the port of Naha is fortified, and the other two ports are all undefended. With the support of the Ryukyuan, it was easy for the Chinese and Japanese armies to land there. Then it didn't take much effort to compress the Russian army into the fortress of Naha Port. In Wrangel's view, the Chinese and Japanese officers may not know how to lay down a fortress, but for the French fellow Marshal Vauban at all, Naha's fortress is simply vulnerable, or it will be defeated in less than two months, and then the fleet in Naha Harbor will have only a dead end.

"Then there is only a fight!" Wrangel's determination is below, "The Russian Navy is not afraid of any enemy, and even less of the Chinese who have just learned to sail!" Colonel, pass on my orders, all ready for battle. Advance in a column and turn to the southwest...... Let the Chinese chase us! ”

Daming helm platform. Xue Dingyue is also talking to Xie Lide, whose face is always flat. Lieutenant Colonel Aspen discusses tactics against the enemy.

"The Americans have already flown the flag to show neutrality, great, this battle is a sure victory!"

"What? The Russian fleet is turning course? No, no, no, they won't run away, because they won't run away. ”

"To Naha? Go there and wait to die? It's not the Russian bears' style, I think they're leading us to chase and then look for an opportunity to turn again...... The Russians do not have steam engines on their ships, so they will definitely have the upper hand and die will not let them out. ”

"I estimate that they will turn again near Ryukyu Oshima, and may use Ryukyu Oshima as a cover to turn northeast again to gain the upper hand."

Although Lieutenant Colonel Aspen is not a good person, he does have real skills - there are not many good people here in Emperor Zhu, but there are really a lot of people who have skills! I saw him draw a few lines on a chart with a pencil, and he clearly depicted the possible course of the Russian fleet. In fact, it is to make a circle around the island of Ryukyu, make a bend from the southwest corner of the island, and turn back to the northeast along the coastline of the island near the Pacific Ocean. Then turn south again in the northeast corner of the island.

"Are they trying to grab the T-square?" Looking at the route map drawn by Aspen, Xue Dingyue's brows furrowed slightly.

"Of course, it's the T-shaped position, this is their only chance, seize the T-shaped position, and then concentrate on bombarding the Daming. As long as this Daming ship is defeated, they will be able to advance and retreat freely. ”

In the end, the Ming Navy is a newcomer in the Naval Club of the World Realm, and the disruptive war is definitely not the opponent of the century-old Navy Russia. Therefore, once the unified command is lost, the Russian fleet, which is inferior in terms of strength, will have a chance to win, or at least retreat safely. However, this set of wishful thinking cannot be concealed from Aspen - in fact, the Russians have not many options, except to disband the fleet and flee for their lives and hide in the port of Naha to die.

"You can form two columns, six ironclad ships form an interception column, take a shortcut and go directly to the northern tip of the Ryukyu Island to intercept the Russian fleet, and the rest of the ships will only form a pursuit column and chase after the Russians!"

After a little thought, Asben came up with a way to deal with it: "I guess the Russians have never seen the ironclad ships, this is our chance to annihilate the Russian fleet, maybe the commander of the Russian fleet will besiege the six lone ironclad ships, so as to give the ironclad ships a chance to fire closely, and then use blasting bombs to kill them!" ”

In addition to ironclads, the Hochsky blaster is another killer feature of the Ming Navy. First of all, the Hodchsky shell is not round, but conical, and has a strong armor-piercing ability. Secondly, the nitrate starch in this shell is quite a fierce explosive, and a 32-pound Hodchsky shell can sink it if it explodes inside the battleship, and if it is a 68-pound shell, it will almost certainly sink a third-class battleship!

"Now it's up to Lao Maozi to see if he is clever enough!" Xue Dingyue rubbed his hands. He, the commander of the South Ocean Fleet, has been promoted quite a lot, but his title is not high, there is only one earl! In contrast, almost all the division commanders of the army are Hou Ye. Their navy has been playing soy sauce and running transportation all these years, at most they are catching a few pirates, and they really have no chance of meritorious service! This time, no matter what, you have to call a marquis.

As Aspen had expected, the Russian fleet, which had made a turn on the sea, headed for the southwest corner of the island of the Ryukyus. Although it took a lot of time for the Chinese fleet to catch up with the Russian fleet only four or five nautical miles away, in this era, the range of artillery was only a little more than a nautical mile, so the Russian fleet was relatively safe.

"Your Excellency, the enemy has divided its forces."

Colonel Nevelskoy, who had been holding a telescope to observe the movement of the Ming fleet, was silent for a moment, and then said: "This is ...... What kind of ship is this? Why is there no sails, is it a battleship powered entirely by steam? ”

"No sails?" Wrangel also picked up the binoculars and looked over, and saw six black coffin-like objects floating on the surface of the sea, forming a separate formation. It is true that the six "coffins" do not have sails, but they do have chimneys, and they are still spewing black smoke.

Wrangel said: "It's really completely propelled by a steam engine, but it's so slow, only 6 knots at most, maybe even slower." Colonel, what do you say these six steamships are for? ”

"Transporting troops, huh?" Nevelskoy frowned, "Their cabin looks huge, it must be able to hold a lot of people, look at the direction...... It should be the northeastern part of the Ryukyu Oshima Island, where there is no defense, and they can land as much as they want. ”

"Let them be." Wrangel shook his head with a wry smile, "We're just a little bit of people, and we can't take care of Ryukyu...... Keeping the fleet comes first. ”

He looked at Nevelskoy: "Colonel, give the order to disband the formation and retreat if it is not clear before it gets dark, and the place of rendezvous again is Hawaii." Matthew. Brigadier General Perry has promised to let us take refuge in Hawaii. ”

Hawaii at this time was not a U.S. territory or colony, but a nominally independent semi-colony. Britain, France, the United States, and Russia are all sparing no effort to fight for the archipelago. The United States, on the other hand, was even more determined to win, and repeatedly rejected Britain's proposal for permanent independence of Hawaii. This time Matthew. Perry's invitation to the Russian fleet to go to Hawaii at a time of bad luck clearly had ulterior motives. (To be continued......)