It was not easy to finally converge together, at this time British Admiral Bridget couldn't help but breathe a little relieved, and at the same time, the look on the face of the commander of the Japanese Navy, Heihachiro Togo, was also a little better, but in the face of the current situation of their own side in the naval battle, the expressions of these two British and Japanese naval bosses were still very solemn.

After half an hour of chasing after me, the remnants of the British Navy's Eastern Fleet and the Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet finally converged with the six all-steel battleships that were damaged by submarines last night, but in this half an hour, the British Navy's Eastern Fleet and the Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet each lost one more battleship, even if these six all-steel battleships were already wounded, there were only 15 battleships.

And their enemy, the Northeast Navy, still had 23 battleships on the battle line, and the inferiority of the British Navy's Eastern Fleet and the Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet was still obvious.

In the bridge of the all-steel battleship Prince George, the captain of the Prince George, British Rear Admiral Gale, said to the commander Bridget, who was standing in front of the observation window: "Admiral, the battleships of the Northeast Navy are coming over again!" ”

In the process of chasing me in the first half hour, because when the battle line of the British Navy's Eastern Fleet and the Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet made a "U" shaped turn, the position was equivalent to the Northeast Naval battle line, and they belonged to the inner road, so now the battle lines of the enemy and us have opened up some distances, reaching about 7,000 meters, and the two battle lines of the two sides are basically parallel at present.

Bridget said in a deep voice: "Keep a distance from the battleships of the Northeast Navy, and order the battleships to continue to fire the main gun salvo of the battleships of the Northeast Navy according to the instructions of the flagship!" In addition, sue the Japanese. We'll have to hold out until dark, and we'll have to get out of here after dark. Otherwise, if you continue to fight with the fleet of the Northeast Navy, it will be impossible to retreat! ”

The naval battle has been fought to the present day. Bridget knew in his heart that this naval battle could no longer be won, and the wisest choice was to retreat immediately, out of the battlefield of the naval battle, and try to minimize losses, but the arrogant British Royal Navy would not do such a dirty thing as abandoning its comrades, and would buy some time for the landed Japanese Army to hold out until dark.

Moreover, after dark, it is also conducive to retreating and escaping from the pursuit of the Northeast Naval Fleet. The main thing is that there is less than one hour left before dark, and after entering October, the days in this sea area located at about 45 degrees north latitude have become much shorter, and it will be completely dark before 5:30 p.m.

Bridget then went on to say to Gail: "In addition, let the wounded Caesar, the Sovereign, and the Pavrell wait for the opportunity to evacuate now and retreat in the direction of Japan." ”

The majestic all-steel battleship Caesar, the Sovereign-class all-steel battleship Sovereign. and the Pavrel-class all-steel battleship Pavrel, these three all-steel battleships were all seriously injured in the battleship's main gun bombardment, and the injuries were not light, otherwise they would not have left the battle line.

The ship Caesar was hit by shells from the main guns of the battleships of the Northeast Navy. The hull of the ship leaked and nearly 3,000 tons of seawater was loaded inside, although it did not sink. However, the speed was less than 12.5 knots, and a twin turret with 40 times the caliber of 305 mm was destroyed. 12 single-mount 40-caliber 152-mm secondary guns also lost 5 units.

The Sovereign was also hit by several shells from the main guns of the 305-mm battleships of the Northeast Navy, and the hull leaked. The speed was already less than 12 knots, and the ship's guns were also suffering heavy losses.

The Pavlerle was not only hit by several shells from the main guns of the battleships of the Northeast Navy, but also hit two torpedoes from the destroyers of the Northeast Navy, and the hull leaked even more severely, and the speed was less than 10 knots.

If the Caesar, the Sovereign, and the Pavrell are allowed to retreat with the main fleet after dark, as long as the Northeast Navy sends warships to pursue them, then these three all-steel battleships are likely to not be able to escape, after all, the injuries of their three all-steel battleships are somewhat serious, and the speed has become very slow.

In the bridge of the all-steel battleship Fuji, the flagship of the Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet, Jiro Takahashi, the captain of the Fuji, said to Heihachiro Togo: "Commander, Admiral Bridget of Great Britain has sent a flag and is ready to hold out until after dark, and the navies of our two countries will take the initiative to retreat, get out of the battle with the Northeast Navy, and give our landed land forces one hour." ”

Heihachiro Togo sank for a moment and said with a wry smile: "It seems that we have lost again, send a signal to the transport ships, and let them land all the land forces within 1 hour at any cost, and our navy can only buy them 1 hour." ”

Heihachiro Togo has no objection to Bridget's approach, this naval battle is going on here, and it is already difficult to win the blue sky, just now the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet's Aoba-class all-steel battleship Aoba was also sunk, originally the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet had 4 Aoba-class all-steel battleships, and now they are all sunk.

In this way, the combined fleet of the Japanese Navy, counting the Mikuma and Fuso, which had just entered the battle line, was injured, and there were only 5 all-steel battleships left, and the British counted the 4 all-steel battleships that had just joined the battle line, and there were only 10 all-steel battleships, which means that Britain and Japan still had 15 all-steel battleships to maintain their combat effectiveness, and the Northeast Navy on the opposite side still had 23 battleships. In order not to be wiped out by the fleet of the Northeast Navy here, the combined fleet of the British Navy, the Eastern Fleet and the Japanese Navy, it was a wise choice to retreat after dark.

In fact, if you put yourself in their shoes, the British have done their best, if they had changed their identities, it was the British Army that landed at the Boar River Wharf behind them, and Heihachiro Togo might have ordered the Combined Fleet to run away a long time ago, who cares about the life or death of your British, preserving the strength of the Combined Fleet is the most important thing.

Takahashi Jiro nodded with a heavy expression, he didn't expect that this naval battle was that the combined fleet of the powerful British Navy and the Japanese Navy fought side by side, and he was still defeated by the Northeast Navy, so what should he do in the future? After this naval battle, the combined fleet of the Japanese Navy had already suffered heavy losses, and even the Eastern Fleet, which Britain had sent to the Sea of Japan to help Japan escort the transport ships, also suffered heavy losses. How else to deal with the Northeast Navy at sea? Is Japan's sea supremacy about to be lost again?

Takahashi Jiro's expression became even more depressed when he thought of this, without the right to control the sea, what would happen to the Japanese Army that landed in the Far Eastern Province and the Japanese Army in South Korea?

At this time, Togo Heihachiro said again: "Takahashi-kun, send a signal to the Kirishima and Suzuya, and tell them to wait for the opportunity to retreat immediately and retreat to the Japanese mainland, otherwise it will be difficult for them to withdraw in a while." ”

The two all-steel battleships, the Kirishima and the Suzuya, were seriously injured in the battleship's main gun bombardment, and basically lost their combat effectiveness, as long as they withdrew from the battle line, until they withdrew from the main gun bombardment range of the battleships of the Northeast Navy, but they were not far from the battlefield of the naval battle.

The Kongo-class all-steel battleship Kirishima was hit by several 305-mm shells, not only did the hull leak out of the hull, but also many pipes inside the hull were blown up, and the speed dropped a lot, it was less than 12 knots, and the ship's guns on the Kirishima also lost a lot, and the barrel of a double-mounted 40-caliber 305-mm main gun was blown up and bent, and it was no longer usable.

The Kumano-class all-steel battleship Suzuya was also hit by several main gun shells of the battleships of the Northeast Navy, and also hit 3 torpedoes, and it was a miracle that it did not sink, but the Suzuya's hull leaked very strictly, and thousands of tons of seawater had entered, so that the speed of the Suzuya was only less than 9 knots, and it was a kind of luck to be able to get out of the battlefield of naval warfare at such a slow speed, and I don't know if luck could continue, so that this all-steel battleship could escape back to the Japanese mainland.

On a small hill not far from the Wild Boar River Wharf, the commander of the Japanese Northern Dispatch Army of China, Oyama Iwa, was using a telescope to observe the situation on the sea, although the distance was very far, but Oyama Iwa could still see the warships sunk one after another in the tragic battle between the two sides, and the more he looked at Oyama Yan's brows, the tighter he wrinkled, he knew that the situation of the naval battle had become more and more unfavorable to his side.

At this time, a Japanese army officer hurriedly ran to Oyama Yan's side, "Commander, the navy has sent a signal, they can only delay the Northeast Navy for another hour, and then our Japanese Navy Combined Fleet and the British fleet will take advantage of the darkness to withdraw." ”

Dashan Yan put down the binoculars, thought about it for a moment, and immediately ordered: "Send a signal to the transport ships to rush to the shoal near the pier of the Wild Boar River, and within one hour, all the reinforcements and the officers and men of the 33rd and 34th Divisions must be allowed to go ashore!" ”

There is only one natural berth at the Wild Boar River Wharf that can dock ships with a displacement of about 2,000 tons, and this berth has been unloading artillery for the Japanese dispatch force in the north of China, and in the attack of submarines, the artillery of an independent heavy artillery brigade and 100 field and mountain guns with a caliber of 75 mm sank to the bottom of the sea. There are also 20 152-mm howitzers and 30 127-mm howitzers of 1 separate heavy artillery brigade, as well as 400 field and mountain guns of 75 mm caliber, which need to be unloaded at this 1 berth.

Personnel of the Japanese Army could only dock lifeboats on some transport ships and transport them to the dock little by little.

The meaning of the big mountain rock is to let the transport ship wash up in the shallows, so that the soldiers can jump directly from the transport ship to the not too deep shallows, and then go ashore, but in this way, those transport ships are equivalent to running aground, and it is easy for the transport ships to hit the reef in the shallows, but now in this situation, the transport ships can no longer be cared for. (To be continued......)