In June, the East China Sea was turbulent and unpredictable.

On the sea about 150 kilometers west of the Ryukyu Islands, two huge warships, like two lonely travelers, floated and sank on the endless blue waters of the Hanhai Sea, moving slowly.

These were two battleships ordered by Japan from Britain, the "Fuji" and the "Yashima". With a 125-meter-long hull and a displacement of 12,500 tons, it is the best warship in the world today, and it has a speed of up to 18.3 knots and a waterline main armor of 457mm.

What's even more remarkable is the front and rear four 305mm long-barreled main guns, Armstrong's 40 times diameter advanced gadgets, which suddenly extend the range of large-caliber guns from about 10,000 meters to 14-15 kilometers away! And its muzzle velocity and armor-piercing ability have also skyrocketed, no matter which country's latest armor, whether you are Krupp steel or Vickers steel, once it is fired at close range, it will all be reduced to broken paper!

A real weapon for the sea! Any country that has it has the capital to speak loudly. Anyone who can control and pilot such a powerful warship must be called the most powerful person in the world today - who can especially block Lao Tzu's shot!

But there are exceptions to everything, and at this moment, outside the command tower of the "Fuji", several middle-aged officers who represent the hope of the Japanese Navy today are full of solemnity and solemnity, facing the frantic sea breeze, opening their eyes wide, carefully searching for every trace of vision at the end of the sea level.

In gloomy and sunless weather, the sea surface lacks the harsh reflection of summer light, but the moisture sticks to the water surface and makes the distant scene look rather ethereal. After staring at it for a long time, it is inevitable that the eyes will be sour.

After all, several officers were not as energetic as young men of twenty years old. Soon it couldn't support the defeat. The oldest of them took out a white handkerchief and wiped his tears. sighed leisurely: "Sure enough, it's not okay if you don't accept old age." If I had been ten years younger, I would have been able to do this until sunset. ”

The bearded short officer next to him pretended to smile lightly: "Your Excellency is really too modest, at the age of forty-five years old, it is the most brilliant time of your life, you don't have to worry about your eyes at all, you only need the bloom of your soul, it is enough to overlook the entire ocean world." This kind of ability is not something that a young man can have. ”

This euphemistic horse sounds really pleasant. The older officer shook his head slightly: "Don't you dare to be such a compliment, it's hard for people to hear such boastful words." ”

A few people on the side also temporarily let go of their tense nerves and laughed very loudly.

These people were the main leaders who went to welcome the return of the two battleships.

The eldest is the current head of the military affairs bureau, Gonbei Yamamoto. Reported to the Minister of the Navy, Saigo, he was quickly promoted, and because of his successive statements that "Japan is an island country, if not the first, the navy should be parallel to the army," he succeeded in establishing an independent naval command department, and thus soared to prominence.

With the successive defeats in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese Navy lost its troops and lost its generals. Promising leaders such as Heihachiro Togo and Yuhiro Ito were defeated one after another, especially the death of the previous powerful bureau chief, Shikinori Kayama. The power of the navy has declined dramatically. In order to prevent the army from counterattacking, they had to bravely assume their responsibilities.

Under such circumstances, the importance of winning back the two main warships is directly related to the size of the navy's right to speak. Yamamoto Gonbei could not trust others, and with the support of Minister Saigo Norido Admiralty, he personally went to England to supervise the final series of work on the drying and long-range sea trials, and together with the shipbuilding and military supervision officer Guabu Waiyoshi Osa, led the two ships through the Suez Canal and returned to Asia.

As they set out, they learned of the plan drawn up by the coalition command to decoy the enemy. To be honest, Yamamoto was very unhappy. The two giant ships cost the food money saved by His Majesty the Emperor tightening his belt, the oil squeezed by the whole people is like the people's fat and ointment, and there are tens of thousands of Yamato Nadeshiko who sold their bodies in exchange for precious foreign exchange, which pinned the hopes of the entire Japanese Empire on the future, how can they be used to do such a nasty thing?

Not to mention, all the sea trials and corrections that were originally planned to be completed in December this year have now been greatly advanced by half a year, and the run-in of the whole ship is not good enough, and it is the last essence of the navy. Seriously, they can't afford to lose!

Of course, the benefits are not without it. In order to get Japan's cooperation, the British temporarily appropriated a large amount of equipment and even slipways that were originally to be prepared for the improved version of the "Majesty-class" battleships of the "Monarch Class" at the beginning of construction. From shipbuilding steel to artillery, and even the boiler main engine, the waiting time is greatly saved, which has the result of shortening the construction period of a whole year.

Being able to obtain two giant ships one day earlier is a great relief for Japan at the moment. However, the Japanese have always been ungrateful, and they think it's just a matter of what you want. Moreover, the British are not good people in vain, and they clearly want Japan to continue to be a pawn to constrain China and Russia.

But as the old saying goes, form is stronger than people. If Japan wants to break free from the shackles and rise, it must first defeat China and Russia to have a chance. Now, the big guy can only endure the humiliation and wait patiently for the opportunity.

Shouldering such a heavy responsibility, Yamamoto Gonbei could not tolerate any mistakes. He personally sat in charge of the presiding, just to find a glimmer of life in the crisis that could overturn at any time.

The one who praised him on the side was Guasheng Waiji Daisa, who was also the shipbuilding superintendent this time. During his tenure as diplomatic attache in France, he focused on participating in and ensuring the smooth completion of the shipbuilding work, which can be said to have made great contributions. This time, he returned to China with him, and if he succeeded, he would be promoted to major general.

In the Japanese Navy, only when he was promoted to rear admiral could he truly embark on the right path of his career, and the future was infinitely better waiting for him.

A few jokes were said, and the officers immediately replied with solemnity. The invisible pressure that enveloped their heads all the time made them really unable to be happy for a long time.

Just on the side, Minoru Saito, who was the navigation commissioner of the "Fuji", suddenly sighed lightly: "If it was two years ago. If we have these two battleships. Or maybe it will be able to defeat the Chinese navy. In that case. The current empire will be completely different, and it will not even have to obey the instructions of the British. ”

This sentence immediately resonated strongly, and the captain of the ship, Sotaro Misu, nodded violently: "That's true." With the speed of our new ships, the armor, and the sharpness of the main guns, even if there is only one, it is enough to defeat the entire Chinese navy. Dingyuan and Zhenyuan or something, it's not a problem at all! ”

"It's a pity for Director Kayama and His Excellency Ito! They were supposed to enjoy unprecedented glory. Gua Sheng Waiji's words were full of unspeakable regret.

Gonbei Yamamoto heard about it. The fists couldn't help clenching, and he slammed the steel fence, and said hatefully: "It's just that the accumulation of the empire is too weak!" If we had even half of the Qing Kingdom, no, even a third of the financial resources, we would definitely be able to build our own warships by now! ”

Like all Japanese awakened people during the Meiji Restoration, this group of Japanese elites in their forties was full of a strong desire for expansion in their bones, and they were very dissatisfied with the fate of the Japanese nation trapped on a narrow volcanic island. And for a continent with a vastness. Infinite resources, eat and drink without worrying about China. That's bitter envy, jealousy, and hatred!

Well, this kind of topic has been the most common and enduring topic of conversation in Japan from decades ago to the present. As long as you get together in a pile and drink a little wine, it doesn't take three sentences to naturally get involved. The rejuvenation of a nation does not depend on one or two wise and martial people, but on the entire awakened people, who do not forget for a moment and consciously or unconsciously work hard in that direction.

Any country, any nation, and any era can only succeed if it is the will of the people. Of course, failure is also the desire of the people, for example, it shows that at the end of the entire empire, from the emperor to the scholars to the common people, they collectively died, and as a result, hundreds of thousands of barbarians stole the fortunes of the country, which is a typical example.

The sense of distress permeates all aspects of the Japanese nation. Now that the crisis is imminent, being able to say a few light words is already the limit of what they can do.

Gua Sheng Waiji then said: "I don't know if this operation will succeed in luring the Chinese fleet to come, I would like to witness the scene of our main guns slamming open their hulls." ”

As he spoke, he squinted at the turret standing in front of him, the two 305mm long-barreled guns, and a spurting battle intent arose in his heart. Although this is not the largest caliber gun in the world, it must be the most powerful and armor-piercing main gun! Coupled with the Shimose gunpowder warhead secretly developed by Japan, it will surely become a super killer weapon that is enough to destroy a qiē!

Dingyuan? Zhenyuan? Old-fashioned things, no matter how they are transformed, will definitely not be opponents.

Yamamoto Gonbei showed a fierce look in his eyes and said categorically: "I believe that the arrogant Chinese will definitely come!" The huge success of the last naval battle must have carried them away with excitement, right? Thinking that no one in the world can defeat them, hmph, we can just give him a lesson that he will never forget. ”

"The rise of the empire will be started by our victory this time."

"That's right! We will win! ”

Several promising adjutants roared one after another, not to mention how excited they were.

They never mentioned that so far, the theoretical maximum rate of fire of the eight main guns of the two warships is still two rounds per minute, and the accurate hit distance is still between 5,000 and 7,000 meters, and the hit rate is still very low. The worst thing was that after the previous fiasco, an entire generation of excellent naval officers and men were killed and wounded, and the overall combat level of the two ships of more than 1,000 sailors and officers combined was not much better than it was two years ago. If you want to fully exert the performance power of the two warships, you are not optimistic!

In order to boost the morale of the troops, we must pick up the good ones and say that we must not repeatedly emphasize that "our shooting skills are not as good as Chinese, the rate of fire of our main guns is not as fast as Chinese, and our strike launch distance and mobility flexibility are not as strong as their......s." Is this Nima still going to win the battle?

After the mouth cannon is fired, we must return to reality and seriously prepare for the battle.

Yamamoto Gonbei temporarily acted as the commander, and after rubbing his bloodshot eyes, he ordered someone to issue an order to the "Yashima" behind: "Pay attention to keep your distance, be careful and vigilant to investigate." ”

In this regard, Guabu Waiyoshi smiled: "Kataoka Daisa's vigilance is very reassuring. He will not let go of any clues. Now I guess I'm standing on the lookout and observing it myself, right? ”

A heartfelt smile appeared on the faces of several people. That's not mockery, it's admiration.

The captain of the "Yashima" Shichiro Kataoka is famous for his rigorous style, as long as he is on the ship, he never changes his pajamas even when he sleeps, and he always maintains a state of readiness for battle.

It really made this group of people right. Since entering the waters of the China Sea, Shichiro Kataoka has not even gone down to the cabin. Standing tall and stacked on the mainmast, looking into the distance, even a small sampan must be carefully seen.

Of course, this is just a good preparation. In fact, the current surface of the East China Sea, because of the dense war clouds, the threat is so fierce that both Chinese and foreign ships dare not run far, and the sea surface is unobstructed and empty, so that they cannot find a chance to shoot targets.

Also wandering alone on the sea was the heavy cruiser "Tianjin", which was also in the sea trial period.

From the beginning of the pursuit, this advanced warship, which should never have appeared at the end of the nineteenth century, sailed at a speed of 25 knots, and sometimes increased to 30 knots in the middle, and that was also to run in the power system. Let the officers and men on the ship be familiar with the work under high-speed operation.

But it's actually boring to do too much work, and they have radar on them. And don't worry about being found up close, the heavy oil boiler is equipped with a modern flue gas purification device, so that the smoke traces are quickly blown away, coupled with advanced stealth design and painting, the whole sea is a ghost.

Fortunately, the officers and men of the whole ship are accustomed to the speed of twenty or thirty knots of the frigate, and the new large ship is more stable and comfortable, comparable to that of a luxury cruise ship, and there is nothing to be dissatisfied with, and there will be no discomfort and ineffective operation.

After swaying like this for most of the day, the battleship slowly approached the sea area where many ships converged. Under the radar scanning, the fast cruiser group of the coalition forces departing from Kyushu, Japan, the lone Fuji-class battleship, the "Dingyuan" second squadron that came straight into it at high speed, and a few scattered points of light, are clear at a glance and scattered.

"Captain, I found a speedboat acting alone, and judged that it should be an enemy communication liaison boat. Less than thirty nautical miles from us, did it avoid it in advance? ”

Yang Haiwei's eyes shrank slightly, and he said indifferently: "The sky is dark and the vision is not good, he shouldn't be able to find us." Leave him alone for now, keep the current course and move on. ”

The enemy forces have to join forces, and they have to give them a chance to succeed. In addition, to prevent the grass from startling the snake, for the current state of the enemy, you must first have an observation.

Yang Haiwei commanded the "Tianjin" to continue straight to the east, with the aim of catching up with the front of the two Japanese ships returning to the sea and giving them a big surprise.

Even if it's just running at 25 knots, it's still incredibly fast. In the second half of the night, the "Tianjin" successfully passed the advance of the enemy ship formation, quietly passed by a dozen armored cruiser formations from a distance of less than 15 nautical miles, and observed their entire formation.

"Well, it seems that the foreign devils have absorbed the lessons of the last few naval battles, and the formations are different."

Yang Haiwei rearranged the model of the formation of the enemy and us on the chart, and muttered to himself.

There is no doubt that the First Sino-Japanese Naval War and the subsequent Great War gave the navies of all countries in the world valuable experience. The decisive role of the steam armored capital ships, the breakthrough power of high speed and high firepower, the clever use of the tactic of seizing the T-head with column volleys, and the improvement of the salvo of the main guns on the side were all quickly absorbed into their tactical tables, and in this way, they directly affected the upgrading of the battleships.

For example, the coalition forces in front of you, all armored cruisers maintain a uniform speed of 16 knots, and the distance between each other and columns is staggered, and they can form a head-on attack on the front and both sides of the enemy at any time.

In addition to this, the external reconnaissance force of the ship has been greatly enhanced. They no longer split up several warships to look around, that would only be broken by each of them. Only a few torpedo boats with a speed of more than 20 knots were responsible for reconnaissance, and the main force was aimed at the two "Fuji-class" capital ships. According to the speed of the voyage, they will meet by daylight tomorrow. There is not much time left for the attackers.

It has become the best way.

Yang Haiwei was also happy to watch them perform, and simultaneously passed on the observations to the second squadron, so that they could be prepared. The radars of both sides should follow each other's radars before and after, update the situation of the enemy and us at any time, and firmly grasp the operational initiative.

It's just that the tree wants to be quiet and the wind doesn't stop. Not long after, an enemy reconnaissance boat came from the front and rushed straight to the bow of the "Tianjin".

Yang Haiwei no longer evaded, and with a flick of his fingers, he ordered: "Sink him, and leave no trouble." ”

It's time to use it as a target for training. With an eye on the future, the Chinese Navy has long been not satisfied with the slow old warships, and someone has just sent them to the door, and they can't miss it lightly.

With the assistance of radar, the advanced optical rangefinder quickly captured the target jumping between the waves in the dark night, and a series of several jù converged to the front of the armor turret, merged with its own American-style shooting commander, and the aiming of the first main gun was completed, and with the undulations of the waves and the balance to the best angle, suddenly the fire flashed, the hull trembled slightly, and a shell whistled out, shooting straight at the dexterous target less than 10,000 meters away.

The slender torpedo boat, which was less than 100 tons, did not find a strong enemy in stealth at all, and the sailors widened their eyes and touched in all directions, and they were coldly shaken by the shining firelight. At first, they mistakenly thought that there were clouds and lightning, after all, June days are the most common.

But then a roar came into the air, smashed down on the water not far from the boat, and the steam of the water wave set off by the explosion slapped fiercely, almost breaking the boat at the waist!

"It's a cannon ...... Shelling! Hurry up and send the signal! ”

The experienced captain screamed, slammed into the outside of the bridge, tore off the rain cloth, revealing a bundle of signal rockets covered below, ignited the fuse, and shot into the night sky one after another, blooming gorgeously! (To be continued......)