On the foredeck of the battleship Mikasa, a group of Combined Fleet operational staff officers gathered around an enlarged chart for a lively discussion about which route the Lucian Expeditionary Fleet would choose, where it would join the First Pacific Fleet that had escaped Arthur, and when it would cross the Tsushima Strait, all of which the officers were concerned about, and each of them had a different opinion and was eager to share with their colleagues—and, more importantly, approval. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Heihachiro Togo followed the discussion of the staff officers on the bridge, but he remained silent, did not say a word, and could not see a special expression on his face, so that the people next to him could not guess what he was thinking.

However, the two officers standing next to him wasted no time in guessing - the chief of staff of the Combined Fleet, Tomosaburo Kato, and the captain of the "Mikasa", Tsukasa Gengo Hayasaki, were well aware of the character of their commander, and in private he would behave like an ordinary man, and would be annoyed by the nonsense of a writer from a country, but in public, he always had a calm and unquiet demeanor, which made people think that even if a shell exploded next to him, he would be indifferent.

He may be thinking about a very important issue, but he may also be thinking about nothing - it is pointless to speculate on his thoughts.

Yuzaburo Kato and Gengo Hayasaki didn't want to waste their time doing something that would never come to fruition.

Nor did they want to evaluate the activities of the staff officers. It was good for boosting the morale and motivation of the officers, but Heihachiro Togo had already decided that the naval decisive battle between the Combined Fleet and the Lucia Fleet would be held in the Tsushima Strait, so it still had little practical value.

In fact, of all the discussions of the staff officers, only one thing of value was how to find the Lucia fleet at sea, which was not easy to pinpoint even if everyone knew that it would pass through the Tsushima Strait.

The problem lies in the reconnaissance force of the combined fleet: on the one hand, the fleet has lost several cruisers, and it is necessary to divide a detachment of the fleet consisting of armored cruisers and destroyers on the alert to Vladivostok, and there are not many warships that can be sent out to search for the Lucia expeditionary fleet; On the other hand, the question of how to conduct maritime communications for the timely transmission of information remains a technical ...... Troublesome.

"Trouble" is a discounted word. Yuzaburo Kato and Gengo Hayasaki both know the gravity of the situation: only ten warships have been equipped with Rice-made radio equipment, but three have not yet been debugged for antennas, and the receiving and transmitting devices of the other two have not been working properly.

Almost every senior officer who was aware of the situation had a bad feeling that even if the cruiser on a reconnaissance mission could find the traces of the Lucia expeditionary fleet, it would not necessarily be able to send information, or that it did, but the "Mikasa" could not receive it.

Although its radio equipment is still in working order, there is no guarantee that it will always be in good condition.

It's a frustrating and irritating issue, and what's worse, it's completely unsolvable. The two Daisa, along with Heihachiro Togo and other senior officers of the Combined Fleet, had to pin some hopes on the traditional approach: a search network of thousands of fishing boats, relying on signal flags and lights rather than unreliable electrical equipment to relay information, and the number of boats compensated for the delays caused by poor means of communication.

As long as the Lucians decided to venture through the Tsushima Strait during the day, they could not hide their tracks, and then, the last thing that needed to be solved was how to find them at night and in bad weather conditions with very low visibility, and even to pass on information.

So far, it is still inconclusive.

Of course, as long as the Lucians are found, it is a simple, easy job to eliminate them, as easy as eating.

There is no doubt about this, and despite the setbacks of one kind and another after the outbreak of war, the officers still believed that they could win the final battle. After all, while the Lucians seemed to have a slight numerical advantage, with thirteen ironclads compared to nine in the Combined Fleet, the reality was quite the opposite.

The advantages of the combined fleet are obvious.

First, the three Lucian ironclads, the "Petropaprovsk", "Sevastopol" and "Poltava" of the 1st Pacific Fleet, were still trapped in the Arthur fortress, and even if they broke through, they would not necessarily be able to join the expeditionary fleet - the communications problems that plagued the combined fleet also plagued the Lucian Navy;

Secondly, the other three ironclad ships of the 1st Pacific Fleet, the "Borodino", "Alexander III" and "Eagle", which had participated in the Battle of Guam and then had been hiding in Cam Ranh Bay, according to intelligence, their ammunition consumption was not replenished, and the damaged hulls were not properly repaired;

Thirdly, and most importantly, five of the seven ironclads of the Lucia Expeditionary Fleet were only used to make up the numbers - the three "Admiral Ushakov"-class ironclads had a displacement of less than 5,000 tons, a caliber of 10 inches of main guns, and 10 inches of waterline armor, which looked more like mobile target ships capable of carrying out limited counterattacks, while the "Alexander II" and "Nicholas I" were also shore defense ironclads, although the displacement reached 9,500 tons, But with only two twelve-inch main guns and four nine-inch secondary guns, they were still vulnerable;

Finally, after a long voyage of 18,000 nautical miles, the warships and sailors of the Lucia Expeditionary Fleet had all been in high intensity for a long time, and had become extremely tired, and had to be maintained and rested, unable to withstand a fierce exchange of fire at sea.

In the face of such a terrible situation, if the Lucians can still win, then there is only one thing: God exists, it is the Lucians, who serve in the expeditionary fleet.

But that's not possible.

God would not have served in the expeditionary fleet, could not have been Lucia, and in the end, in fact, he did not exist at all.

Yuzaburo Kato and Gengo Hayasaki were both traditional Japanese, and even though they had a British naval education, they did not believe in God.

And they are sure, so are their commanders.

Of course, there are those who believe in God - completely inadvertently, and Gengo Hayasaki finds a person who should not be there on a transport boat approaching the Mikasa.

He hadn't really seen this guy, but he had seen his pictures, and, at a time like this, who else could there be but that somewhat mentally normal writer of the United States, who else could be a Westerner who could be running around on a military base in Japan and who was not a soldier?

Gengo Hayasaki quietly pulled the corner of Yuzaburo Kato's clothes and said in his ear: "That writer from the United States came here." ”

"What?" Yuzaburo Kato was taken aback, and when he followed Gengo Hayasaki's instructions to find the columnist that all the officers of the Japanese army had shunned, his facial muscles began to twitch involuntarily. "What is he doing here?"

"I don't know." Wasaki Gengo said while secretly glancing at Heihachiro Togo, "Is he planning to do an interview with General Togo?" ”

"At a time like this?"

"Do you think he intends to accompany us in the battle that is going to take place?"

"I hope not." Yuzaburo Kato became worried: if that plague-like man really planned to take part in the battle on the Mikasa, then the outcome of the naval battle might have to be rewritten - think about what he did to the fools in the army!

"Can you stop him from boarding the ship?" He asked.

"I don't think that's possible." Gengo Hayasaki said, "Since he came here, he must have received special approval from the Admiralty." ”

"The Admiralty is really going to get us in trouble......"

Yuzaburo Kato smiled wryly, and looked at the ominous traffic boat with Gengo Hayasaki. It had come to the side of the battleship. Several sailors began to lower the gangway, and then, a figure they all knew quickly walked by.

"That guy ......" Gengo Hayasaki furrowed his eyebrows, "...... Is Ogasawara Nagai Shaosa? ”

"That's right, it's him." Yuzaburo Kato said with certainty, his eyes fixed on Ogasawara Nagasei. He greeted the writer warmly, first with a wide-angle bow, then a handshake, and finally a hug, as if the two of them were friends who had not seen each other for many years.

Yuzaburo Kato began to have a bad premonition. He turned to Gengo Hayasaki. "I heard that Ogasawara Nagao took the initiative to apply for a transfer to 'Mikasa'?"

Gengo Hayasaki nodded and said, "Yes." In order to transfer to the Mikasa, he even used his family connections. ”

"I hope that Mikoku guy is not what he is here for......" Yuzaburo Kato paused, feeling that his speculation had turned into a terrible fact: Ogasawara Nagashi was walking towards the bridge with the Mikoku man, and he was giving him what was obviously a very detailed introduction along the way.

Gengo Hayasaki felt exactly the same as Yuzaburo Kato, but he didn't say anything, just watched the plague god approach him little by little.

Then he disappeared for a while, and then he was on the bridge.

Ogasawara is still with him.

"Admiral Togo" - Ogasawara Nagaoi began to introduce. Hearing his call, Heihachiro Togo turned around, but still maintained a calm and composed expression - "Kato Daisa, Hayasaki Daisa, this is the most popular Western columnist in the Empire, Mr. Cox. ”

"I know, I've read Mr. Cox's article." Heihachiro Togo said, very calm, not at all like the man who was angry a few hours ago and was trying to lecture some nonsensical author.

His attitude did not exceed the expectations of Yuzaburo Kato and Gengo Hayasaki.

Nor did Cox expect it - at least on the surface, he always maintained an optimism that anyone who was Japanese would like his writings.

However, in front of Heihachiro Togo, he still maintained a little modesty. "I hope you like my article, General."

Heihachiro Togo ignored his words, it was like a thorn that had to be avoided.

"Mr. Cox, I want to know, what are you here for?" He asked.

"I hope to take part in the decisive naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy and the Russian Navy," the columnist said, "and it will be the largest battleship exchange ever seen in the Far East, which should not be missed." And, I have a little piece of advice. ”

"What advice?" Heihachiro Togo showed a deferential expression.

"I request that the Z-flag be raised before the battle begins."

"Can you tell me why?"

"It means one thing," said Cox, puffing out his chest and exclaiming, "the rise and fall of the Imperial Kingdom is a battle here." (To be continued, if you want to know what will happen next, please log in to the www.qidian.com, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!) (To be continued.) )