After receiving the telegram from the 527 ship, Sa Zhenbing immediately ordered the fleet to maneuver towards the position of the Japanese army, of course, this position is not the position in the report, but according to the current distance between the two sides, and the course of the Japanese army, and according to this distance and the speed of both sides, if everything is normal, then the two sides will be in formal contact in two hours. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

In addition to ordering the fleet to maneuver towards the new coordinates, Sa Zhenbing also ordered the first and second fleets to maneuver separately, in which the first fleet acted as the main attack, moving towards the calculated position, and the second fleet acted as a surprise force, bypassing behind the Japanese fleet, and finally before the battle, the first and second fleets appeared on the battlefield at a 60-degree angle.

Once this angle is formed, it means that the Japanese Navy will be completely passive, and it also means that they will face a two-sided attack, and this angle attack will be more lethal than the two-sided attack, because no matter how you dodge, you will always expose your weakness to one side.

Although it is ambitious, but Sa Zhenbing's heart is also worried, from the strength of the fleet comparison, the imperial warships are all new ships in the last five years, and the Japanese Navy only has a few new ships in recent years, most of the others are old ships, and even the Akitsuzu and Yoshino in the First Sino-Japanese period are still among them, and there are many warships in the same period, accounting for almost a quarter of the number.

Although the Japanese Navy has done a good job in the maintenance of these warships, after all, they are old ships from decades ago, and their power, defense capabilities, firepower and other aspects are not as good as those of recent years.

Sa Zhenbing is not worried about equipment, he is most worried about people, after all, there were not many people who participated in the First Sino-Japanese Naval Battle back then, and the current group of people are basically newcomers, although they are well-trained, but the battlefield experience is almost zero, just relying on daily training exercises, it is far from being able to achieve the effect of actual combat training.

In those years, the Beiyang Fleet suffered a loss in equipment and logistics, and although the quality of personnel was not as good as that of Japan, in fact, it was not much worse, and as for the kind of thing about drying clothes on the barrels, now it seems that it can only be hehe, visiting warships of other countries, will they show such a bad side to the opponent?

In fact, this was done on purpose back then, and as for the reason, it was very simple, that is, to make Japan feel that the Beiyang Navy was not good, so as to increase the overall suppression of the Qing Dynasty, force the imperial court to buy new ships, and increase the strength of the Beiyang Fleet. But what everyone didn't expect was that instead of increasing the naval budget, the Japanese side seized this opportunity and established its position as the supremacy of the Asian seas in one fell swoop in the First Sino-Japanese Naval War.

And this matter is also full of tears, many surviving naval officers and soldiers in those years are cursing every time they mention this matter, if the Empress Dowager Cixi can eat a little less, not so luxurious, the money saved from this aspect alone is enough for the Beiyang Navy to destroy the Japanese Navy several times.

Although the equipment is now up and the personnel training is better than back then, no one can say that there is such a thing as experience.

Togo Heihachiro stood on the bridge of the flagship Shikishima battleship, looking up at the sea in the distance, and the calm sea made Togo Heihachiro always have a bad premonition.

Heihachiro Togo was born in Kagoshima, what is Kagoshima's status in the Japanese naval world? Just one sentence can be known that the Japanese Navy currently has a total of eleven admirals, including a few who have died of illness, and among the eleven admirals, except for Prince Arisugawanomiya Weihito, who belongs to the imperial family, the other ten admirals are all from Kagoshima.

It is not an exaggeration to say that the Japanese Navy is currently under the control of the Kagoshima people, and in history, Togo Heihachiro was promoted to general after the Russo-Japanese Naval War, but because of the sudden appearance of the Chinese Empire, the Russo-Japanese War did not break out, which also led to the fate of Togo Heihachiro being changed.

In 1907, thanks to the performance of Heihachiro Togo during the Eight-Nation Alliance, the operation of his hometown in Kagoshima, and his own operation, he was finally promoted to the rank of Admiral of the Japanese Navy and served as the commander of the Combined Fleet three years later.

The battleship Shikishima was the newest flagship of the Combined Fleet, with a displacement of 14,850 tons, a length, width and height of 133.5/23/8.29, armed with four 305-mm twin main guns, 14 152-mm secondary guns, 20 12-pounder guns, six 3-pounder guns and six 2.5-pounder guns.

Equipped with two reciprocating steam engines, a maximum output of 14,500 horsepower, and a speed of 18 knots, the battleship Shikishima represented the highest level of technology in the Japanese naval industry, which had improved greatly in naval shipbuilding compared to a few years earlier.

However, when facing the battleships of the Chinese Empire, the battleship Shikishima was still powerless, and the battleship Shikishima did not adopt an overlapping design, which led to its firepower being far weaker than the battleships of the Chinese Empire, and the speed was inferior to the opponent.

To be honest, accepting this mission, Togo Heihachiro is still very apprehensive in his heart, and from the moment he left the port, Togo Heihachiro has always had a feeling that he can't go back, that feeling is very wonderful, it has never happened, in the words of a woman, it is called the sixth sense (who said he had a sixth sense at this time).

Looking at the slow troop carriers, Togo Heihachiro hated to hang a rope in front of each of their transport ships, and then let the warships pull them to run quickly, so that these infantry could land as soon as possible, with these infantry, they could not fight at all, once they encountered a large-scale enemy fleet, the losses would be extremely heavy.

"Your Excellency, Commander, something suspicious has been detected at two o'clock and five o'clock, suspecting that it is a large fleet that is rapidly approaching our fleet."

Togo Heihachiro sighed fiercely in his heart, he was really afraid of something, not to mention what kind of civilian transport fleet, this year can make the naval lookout say that it is a large fleet, except for warships, no other ships can do it. And the other side is divided into two ways, obviously trying to surround them and fight.

Heihachiro Togo quickly took out his binoculars and looked in the direction of two o'clock and five o'clock, in the distance, he could only see a faint trace of black smoke rising, the size of the local fleet at two o'clock was larger than there at five o'clock, but even so, he didn't dare to be careless, the Chinese Empire obviously knew their plans, and also knew their sailing routes.

"Yaga, how did they know our route? The bastards. Togo Heihachiro cursed violently, but he didn't scold the navy, because the combined fleet only knew the route after departure, and they couldn't spread the news after departure, it must have been the army bastards who leaked the news.

Although Heihachiro Togo had already expected that the Chinese might have known the news a long time ago, otherwise it would not have been possible to arrange a fleet to wait for them here, and judging from the distance, the Chinese fleet would have left the port earlier than them because the distance was longer. Therefore, they could only get the information before they set off, and it was also premeditated, a large-scale naval battle, and it was impossible to fight without any preparation.

But now instead of dwelling on the question of who leaked secrets, the top priority at the moment is to find a way to get out of the pursuit of the other side and ensure the safety of the transport ship.

"How far are we from Okinawa?" Heihachiro Togo asked.

"Report to the Commander, about ninety nautical miles."

"Ninety nautical miles...... "Togo Heihachiro frowned tightly, "Damn, there are still ninety nautical miles." ”

Ninety nautical miles is not far, but at the current speed of the fleet, it will take at least six hours to reach Okinawa even if it is moving at full speed. At present, it will only take four hours to catch up at the latest, or even less.

Then in this case, Togo Heihachiro only has one choice left, and he must do it, whether this naval battle is fought or not, he must do it.

"Order the fleet, immediately turn around and go to Okinawa at full speed." Heihachiro Togo immediately made a decision, and then ordered: "Closely observe the situation of the enemy fleet and report to me at all times." ”

"Hey!"

The combined fleet slowly began to turn and rush towards Okinawa, if it was the naval fleet itself, this distance would only take less than four hours at most, but with dozens of transport ships as a towing oil bottle, the speed could not be fast at all, and it was difficult to guarantee even thirteen knots, because more than a dozen of the transport ships were old wooden cargo ships, and their speed was very slow, very slow, even if they fought hard, they were only about eleven or twelve knots, which was an old ship twenty years ago.

Taking advantage of the turn of the combined fleet, the distance between the two sides began to be slightly closer, although this distance is negligible, but on the battlefield it is a race against time, and if you can take the opportunity to close the distance, it may save ten minutes or even more time in the back.

And Togo Heihachiro is also depressed, it's not that he's cowardly, but he must protect those infantry masters, only after confirming that the infantry is safe, he dares to give it a go, otherwise, he is fighting with people in full swing, and when the time comes, people will send a few fast ships to sneak attack the transport ship will be embarrassing.

And those transports only need to take a single shot, or eat a torpedo, and it is not only one transport ship that is unlucky, but also hundreds or thousands of infantry on board.

So, Heihachiro Togo had to run.

"Report, the Japanese fleet has turned, and it seems that it wants to flee to the Ryukyus."

"Want to run? Hmph, no way. Order the frigate formation, go around at full speed from both sides, place minefields in front of the Japanese fleet, and force them to turn. Sa Zhenbing, who received the news, smiled old-fashionedly, anyway, it's all here, and it's useless to worry, as long as you don't make mistakes in commanding.

ps: Thank you for the support of the purple sweet potato tree! Thank you for the monthly ticket support of General Qiang Qin, Wang Dao Tianxia, Crown Prince Zhiliang, and Xuanyuan Black Emperor! (To be continued.) )