While the Fifth Fleet and the Sixth Fleet of the Northeast Navy were intercepting the large fast armored cruisers, fast protection cruisers, destroyers, and torpedo boats of Britain, France, and Germany, fierce naval battles broke out between the First Fleet and the Second Fleet and the Russian detachment on the right, and the Third Fleet and the Fourth Fleet on the left against the fleets of Italy, Austria-Hungary, and Japan.

At a little more than 11 o'clock in the morning of June 17, the battleship formations of the First Fleet and the Second Fleet, another round of artillery salvos, fell between the battleships of the Russian Navy, which was already the 21st salvo of the battleship formations of the First Fleet and the Second Fleet, and the battleship formations of the two fleets were composed of 8 city-class all-steel battleships, but these city-class all-steel battleships still used the old shell loaders after the transformation, but before and after the transformation, The rate of fire of the main gun has been nearly doubled, and the rate of fire of a salvo can be maintained for 2 or 3 minutes.

The current rate of fire of the main guns of these city-class all-steel battleships is still very slow compared to the 13 dreadnought battleships equipped with new shell loaders, but it is much faster than the main guns of the Russian Navy battleships on the opposite side, and the battleships of the two sides began to bombard each other after being 8,000 meters apart, and the battleships of the First Fleet and the Second Fleet have completed 21 salvos, while the battleships of the Russian Navy have just completed 13 salvos.

This time, the Russian Navy drew most of its maritime forces into this expedition, and the warships joining the joint expeditionary fleet of the Eight-Nation Alliance Navy included 15 Peresvet-class all-steel battleships with a standard displacement of 12,600 tons, 4 Borodino-class all-steel battleships with a standard displacement of 13,500 tons, 10 large fast armored cruisers, 16 fast protection cruisers, 16 destroyers and 32 torpedo boats.

However, there were 2 Peresvet-class all-steel battleships, as well as 1 hapless fast-deft cruiser, which had just broken out in the naval battle. It was sunk by the giant armor-piercing shells of 7 provincial super dreadnought battleships of the Northeast Navy.

Therefore, only 17 Russian battleships were left with 16 city-class all-steel battleships against the First Fleet and the Second Fleet, and they were not in a weak position in terms of numbers. However, in terms of rate of fire, as well as in the percentage of hits. It is much worse than the Northeast Navy.

A huge bullet mark can be seen on the hull of the Russian Navy's flagship Borodino-class all-steel battleship Askald, where the turret of a twin 40 times caliber 152 mm secondary gun has completely disappeared, leaving only blood stains on the side of the turret, and even the two 75 mm naval guns next to it were also destroyed, which is the scar left by the Ascald when it was hit by a 305 mm shell, but this is also considered the luck of the Askald, it did not hit an important part, otherwise the flagship of the Russian Navy should be replaced.

1 shell fired from the 21st salvo of the main guns of the battleship formations of the First and Second Fleets. It fell in the sea less than 30 meters to the right of the Ascald, and the splash hit the observation window in the bridge of the Ascald, so that Makarov, the commander of the Russian naval fleet standing by the observation window, broke out in a cold sweat.

But that's it, at a distance of less than 30 meters, the impact of the explosion of the shell under water. Still let the Ascald, with a displacement of 13,500 tons, shake violently a few times, and Makarov grabbed the handrail by the observation window to maintain the balance of his body.

Then Makarov, who had a very bad face, asked Rostislavich, the captain of the Askald: "What about the losses now?" ”

Rostislavich looked out. Another battleship of his own side was hit by the main guns of the battleship of the Northeast Navy, and said helplessly: "Your Excellency, commander, at present we already have four Peresvet-class all-steel battleships Oleg, Aurora, Monomakh, and Donskoy. As well as 1 Borodino-class all-steel battleship Svetlana, 5 battleships were sunk. And it seems that the Peresvet-class all-steel battleship Pauling will not last long, and I just saw the Paullin, which was already seriously damaged. In this round of salvo fire from the main guns of the Northeast Navy, two more 305-mm shells were hit, and I think ......"

Before Rostislavich's words were finished, a huge explosion sounded in the bridge, Makarov and Rostislavich turned their heads to look out the observation window, and then both of them shook their heads helplessly, and smiled relatively bitterly, it was the Paullin that Rostislavich just mentioned, there was a violent explosion, and the fragments from the explosion flew hundreds of meters away, and the Paullin was also blown into two in such a violent explosion, and the two hulls with thick smoke and fire were sinking rapidly into the sea.

Rostislavich said in a regretful tone: "Commander, it seems that our losses have reached 6 all-steel battleships, plus the 2 lost at the beginning of the war, at present we only have 11 all-steel battleships left, and 3 large fast armored cruisers, 6 fast protection cruisers, 4 destroyers, and 10 torpedo boats, which have also been sunk by the warships of the Northeast Navy in the battle." ”

The battleships of the First Fleet and the Second Fleet of the Northeast Navy and the battleships of the Russian Navy detachment carried out the main artillery bombardment, and the other warships on both sides were not idle, and the commander of the Russian Navy Fleet Makarov wanted to let his large fast armored cruisers, fast protection cruisers, destroyers, and torpedo boats attack the battleship lines of the First Fleet and the Second Fleet from the flanks, but of course the other warships of the First Fleet and the Second Fleet could not sit idly by, so the warships of the two sides except the battleships also broke out into a fierce battle. And it was made into a pot of porridge.

The First Fleet and the Second Fleet together have 8 large fast armored cruisers of the throttle class, 24 anti-aircraft fast protection cruisers, 16 destroyers of the driving class, and 32 mine-class torpedo boats, which are the same as the configuration of the other 4 main fleets of the Northeast Navy, but the 2 fleets faced the detachment of the Russian Navy, and did not let these warships follow the 16 all-steel battleships to the sea area on the right, but left 6 anti-aircraft fast protection cruisers and 4 destroyers of the driving class. Followed the 13 dreadnoughts to prevent any accidents from happening to the 13 dreadnoughts. For example, in the joint expeditionary fleet of the Eight-Nation Alliance, those submarines that have not yet appeared.

However, the warships of the First Fleet and the Second Fleet, except for the battleships. In the face of the Russian Navy's warships of the same type, it is only slightly weak in terms of numbers, but in terms of combat effectiveness, whether it is the comprehensive performance of the warships or the training of personnel, the Northeast Navy completely occupies an advantage, and the warships of the two sides, except for the battleships, are also relatively large losses of the Russian Navy in the battle.

The confrontation between all-steel battleships is even more obvious, and now not a single of the 16 city-class all-steel battleships of the First Fleet and the Second Fleet of the Northeast Navy has been sunk. Even the two seriously injured battleships, the Cullen and the White City, did not completely lose their combat effectiveness, but just in case, these two battleships have withdrawn from the battle line, so that the comparison of the battleships of the two sides is 14 to 11, and the advantages of the first fleet and the second fleet are becoming more and more obvious.

The commander of the Russian naval fleet, Makarov, heard about the losses and frowned, according to the current situation in the naval battle. If it continues, the situation of its own fleet will definitely get worse and worse, and will the navy of the Russian Empire, which has been rebuilt with limited clothing, suffer another heavy blow here?

Makarov couldn't help but think of the tragic self-sinking operation three years ago. Because the Governor-General of the Far East, Alekseev, decided to surrender to the Dingbei Army, which besieged us in Vladivostok, and was trapped in the port of Vladivostok, the remnants of the warships of the First Pacific Fleet. For the sake of the honor of the Russian Navy, all self-sinking was carried out.

Makarov looked at the dozens of Russian warships that had opened the watertight doors. In the desolate whistle, it slowly disappeared into the sea. After more than three years of development, the Russian Navy finally regained a certain scale and became a decisive force in the world again, and also took advantage of the opportunity of the eight-nation alliance to send most of the forces to Asia.

However, now this rhythm is not like the rhythm of revenge, but there is a possibility of heavy losses, and it is not an exaggeration to say that there is a danger of annihilation, how long has the war started, and its Russian Navy has already lost 8 all-steel battleships, and if it continues like this, even if the joint expeditionary fleet of the Eight-Nation Alliance Navy achieves the final victory, how much strength can be left of its Russian Navy.

Makarov gritted his teeth and said to Rostislavich: "We can't fight like this anymore, if we continue to fight, how many warships will be left in our Russian Navy, and the warships here are the majority of our entire Russian Navy!" ”

Rostislavich nodded solemnly, it is true, not to mention anything else, as far as the all-steel battleships are concerned, in addition to the ones that are fighting here, there are only 2 Borodino-class all-steel battleships left in Russia, and the current losses have broken the Russian Navy, if it continues to fight, the losses are inevitable, and it will not be less, then the navy that Russia has invested heavily in recent years and worked hard to develop, but once it returns to the pre-liberation period, they will win in this naval battle, Nor could they give an account to Russia itself, to Tsar Nicholas II.

Rostislavich hesitated and asked: "Commander, what do you mean?" ”

The gaze in Makarov's eyes became more and more determined: "We are ready to evacuate, we can't bury the essence of the Russian Navy here!" ”

Rostislavich already had a premonition in his heart that Commander Makarov might make such a choice, but Rostislavich said with concerns: "Commander, we are violating the Eight-Nation Alliance by doing this, you must know that on land, the Dingbei Army is attacking our territory, and we Russia need the support of the armies of other countries of the Eight-Nation Alliance, if we let the other countries of the Eight-Nation Alliance withdraw their land forces from our territory in Russia because of our naval problems, it will definitely be a worse situation." ”

Listening to Rostislavich's words, Makarov was silent instantly, yes, now that Russia has joined the Eight-Nation Alliance and declared war with the Qing Dynasty and Lin Daxin, it is not just a matter of the Russian Navy, the Dingbei Army under Lin Daxin has now captured millions of square kilometers of land in Russia, so that the Russian Army has lost a million troops, and now if you only rely on Russia's own army, it is really difficult to resist.

Several European countries in the Eight-Nation Alliance have already sent their land forces into Russia to resist the Dingbei Army, and if their own navy now becomes a deserter and makes this naval battle fail in the end, the other countries of the Eight-Nation Alliance will certainly put the responsibility for the defeat on the Russian Navy, and the navies of other countries will definitely suffer very heavy losses in this naval battle, and if they anger the whole of Russia and withdraw their land forces in Russia, they will become Russian sinners.

But without retreating, this little bit of the Russian Navy could not withstand such attrition, and Makarov fell into an incomparable entanglement.

At this moment, the observation window in the bridge of Makarov Tongguò saw in the distance another Russian Navy fast protection cruiser, as if it was torpedoed by the torpedo boat of the Northeast Navy, the 500 mm torpedo of the mine A-class torpedo boat, suddenly blew out a huge gap on the side of the fast protection cruiser of the Russian Navy, and the sea water continued to pour into the inside of the ship.

Makarov slammed the platform under the observation window, and said to Rostislavich, the captain of the Askald: "Immediately let the warships close to the south send a flag to the British General Bridget, we were blocked by the main fleet of the Northeast Navy, after fierce battles, our Russian Navy detachment has suffered heavy losses, and it can no longer be supported, ask for support!" ”

Rostislavich said uncertainly: "Commander, the battle between Britain, France and Germany is also very fierce, and they are also being hung and beaten by 13 dreadnought battleships that suddenly appeared in the Northeast Navy, can they have the strength to support us?" ”

Makarov said helplessly: "When the flag was issued, I told General Sù Bridget that if there is no support, I hope that our Russian naval detachment can withdraw and join the fleets of Britain, France and Germany, and I would rather go back to the giant shells of those 13 dreadnought battleships than stay here and continue to fight." (To be continued......)

ps: Thank you丨Cool Master, Blue Fantasy, ㄚ-Chen Stay for the rewards, as well as the brothers who voted for monthly tickets and recommended votes!

It's not too little in the past 2 days, 8,000 words a day, so I'm a little confident, asking for a monthly pass, a recommended ticket~~~~R1292