"Your Excellency, the Chinese battleships have been entangled with light cruisers and destroyers, and we must retreat immediately." Chief of Staff of the Combined Fleet, Frederick? William? Sir Richards reminded. If they want to delay until the evening and escape at night, then the distance between them and the battle line of the Chinese Navy's home fleet must be increased to 30 nautical miles, or even more.

"Order the fleet, turn at once, and return to India!" Combined Fleet Commander Algernon? McLennan? Sir Lyons glanced at the light cruisers and destroyers that were rushing towards the battleships of the Chinese Navy, and gave the order to retreat. Although, such an order was very cruel to the officers and men of the British Navy who served on light cruisers and destroyers. However, in order to preserve the strength of the British Navy, for the sake of the overall situation, there is no other way now.

The six battleships of the British Navy, escorted by several light cruisers and destroyers, immediately began to turn and sail southward, gradually increasing their speed to 17 knots. The maximum speed of the 'Majesty-class' battleships is only 17.5 knots, which is already their limit.

Combined Fleet Commander Algernon? McLennan? Sir Lyons's orders, which were given only to the warships of the British Navy, the Russian Navy and the French Navy, were deliberately forgotten by him. At the same time as the light cruisers and destroyers were abandoned, the Russian Navy and the French Navy were also abandoned. Especially in the Russian Navy, most of their battleships have a speed of less than 15 knots, especially the 'Catherine II-class' battleships have a speed of only 13.5 knots. When the time comes, the Chinese Navy will launch a pursuit. Surely these Russian battleships will be the first to be done. And the British Navy. Got some precious time again.

"Your Excellency, the British have turned, and they are sailing south at high speed!" A Russian naval officer reported to the Russian Admiral Grand Duke Alexandrovich in horror.

"What? These bitch Brits, they actually ran away, they actually left us behind. These damn Brits, how can they be so shameless? "The Grand Duke Alexandrovich, who found out that he had been betrayed, immediately burst into a rage.

"These bastards, I'm going to denounce them. I'm going to send a telegram to His Majesty the Tsar! Grand Duke Aleksandrovich was furious, and he now had a feeling of being deceived. Originally, the Russian Navy's joining the Combined Fleet was equivalent to doing the British Navy a great favor. However, they were used as cannon fodder by the British in naval battles and suffered heavy losses. And now that the British have actually left them behind, how can he accept this?

"Your Excellency, what should we do now?" The other Russian admirals all looked at Grand Duke Alexandrovich. Waiting for him to decide. There is no doubt that the British fled. This war has been lost, and there is no possibility of fighting.

"What else can I do? We'll retreat right away, too! These damned Britons, when they return to Russia, I will not let them go! Grand Duke Aleksandrovich cursed viciously. It's just that this time the possibility of him being able to escape back to Russia is very small. At present, the four remaining battleships of the Russian Navy, two battleships of the 'Alexander II' class, the battleship 'Gangut' and the battleship 'Three Saints', have a maximum speed of only 15 knots, and the two battleships of the 'Ekaterina II' class have a maximum speed of only 13.5 knots. Once the Chinese Navy gets rid of the light cruisers and destroyers and pursues them, there is no way they can escape.

"Somebody, send a telegram to that guy from Lyons and ask them what the hell they want to do?" Grand Duke Aleksandrovich ordered. At the same time, four battleships of the Russian Navy, escorted by several light cruisers and destroyers, began to turn to the south. It's just that they are much slower than the British Navy.

A few minutes later, the commander of the Combined Fleet, Algernon? McLennan? Sir Lyons called them back. The content of the telegram is very simple, in this naval battle, the combined fleet has been lost, everyone should flee for their lives! However, the British Navy thanked the Russian Navy for being their queen.

"Bastard!" Grand Duke Aleksandrovich roared angrily and tore the telegram in his hand to shreds. The British not only deceived them, but also tricked them in the end. As soon as he thought of the fate of the Russian Navy after the Chinese Navy caught up at high speed, Grand Duke Alexandrovich felt a chill rise from behind him, making him cold.

The armored cruisers, light cruisers and destroyers of the French Navy, which were fighting the Chinese Navy, also understood that they had been fooled when they discovered that the British Navy and the Russian Navy had withdrawn south. The remaining warships of the French Navy, without saying a word, immediately withdrew from the battlefield and began to sail south. Moreover, armored cruisers, as well as light cruisers and destroyers, were at a higher speed, and soon they overtook the Russian Navy, which lagged far behind. This made Grand Duke Alexandrovich angry enough.

At this moment, the Chinese Navy is striking at those light cruisers and destroyers of the British Navy. These high-speed light cruisers and destroyers are a great threat to the lead ships of the Chinese Navy. If they were to get within two thousand meters, these light cruisers and destroyers could fire torpedoes. The 450-mm medium torpedo used by Europe, with a speed of 30 knots and an effective range of about two thousand meters, is also a huge threat to the capital ships of the Chinese Navy.

"Commander, those capital ships of the Combined Fleet have all gone! They tried to drag us with light cruisers and destroyers, and then took advantage of the opportunity to escape. These foreign devils are so cunning! "On the bridge of the battleship 'Qin Shi Huang', Vice Admiral Li Haitao, chief of staff of the Chinese Navy's home fleet, said hatefully. If the last ten battleships of the Combined Fleet were to escape, then the battle would not be so perfect.

"Don't worry, they won't be able to escape. By the time we have dealt with these light cruisers and destroyers, at our speed, we will definitely be able to catch up with them! Don't go, the battle on the side of the 'Beijing-class' heavy cruisers will soon be over. The maximum speed of the 'Peking-class' heavy cruisers, but 28 knots, is less than their destroyers, I see how they can escape! Admiral Deng Shichang said disdainfully. The Combined Fleet only wants to evacuate now, it's too late, to the fat of the mouth, how can the Chinese Navy let them slip away?

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! "The battle on the sea was still very fierce, and these light cruisers and destroyers of the British Navy braved the bullets to fight through the rain of bullets and launched an assault on the battleships of the Chinese Navy. Although warships were constantly being sunk, these British people seemed to be not afraid of death at all.

The two destroyers of the British Navy rushed to a distance of less than 1,500 meters from the battleship "Yan Huang", although the battleship "Yan Huang" and a light cruiser and destroyer protecting it launched a fierce bombardment of the two British Navy destroyers, and the dense shelling destroyed the superstructure of both destroyers. But the two destroyers still took the opportunity to launch torpedoes. Six torpedoes, at a high speed of 30 knots, rushed to the battleship 'Yan Huang'.

"Right full rudder!" The commander of the battleship 'Yan Huang' immediately began to evade. The battleship began to turn, intending to aim its bow at the incoming torpedoes in order to reduce the area under attack. At the same time, the rapid-fire guns on the battleship also fired at those torpedoes, hoping to get a chance on those torpedoes.

"Boom! Rumble! "Dense shells, firing at those torpedoes, but the effect was very limited.

The battleship 'Yan Huang', three torpedoes of Shun lì, and two torpedoes were missed. However, the last torpedo did not manage to escape. This torpedo hit the port side of the battleship 'Yan Huang'. More than a meter below the waterline, a hole of less than a meter was blown up. The underwater armor of the 'Zhonghua-class' battleship was also treated with mine protection, and a medium torpedo was not enough to kill.

The damage management personnel on the battleship 'Yan Huang' immediately dealt with it, and after discovering that the gap could not be blocked, they immediately closed the nearby watertight compartment. The amount of seawater pouring into the battleship 'Yan Huang' reached hundreds of tons, causing the hull to tilt slightly. Although it is not lethal, its combat power has been greatly affected.

"Let the battleship 'Yan Huang' be repaired at the Beihai Shipyard!" Admiral Deng Shichang ordered with a cold face. The battleship 'Yanhuang' became the first battleship of the Chinese Navy to be heavily damaged in this naval battle.

Subsequently, the light cruisers and destroyers of the British Navy had no more chance, and by half past one in the afternoon, all but a few had been evacuated early, and all but a few had been sunk.

"Order the fleet, maintain a speed of 22 knots, pursue the battleships of the fleeing combined fleet, and must not let them escape!" Admiral Deng Shichang gave the order to pursue. At the same time, the heavy cruisers of the Chinese Navy also sank the armored cruisers and the 'Admiral-class' battleships of the British Navy, paying the price of heavy damage to the heavy cruiser 'Tianjin' and minor damage to the heavy cruiser 'Changsha'. The remaining 6 heavy cruisers were all engaged in the pursuit battle.

At this moment, the Russian Navy is closest to the Chinese Navy, and at the high speed of the heavy cruiser at 28 knots, it will be able to catch up with them in two hours.

At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the six heavy cruisers of the Chinese Navy were already less than 15 kilometers away from the four battleships of the Russian Navy, which scared the Russian Navy enough.

"Come on, prepare the white flag, and when the Chinese Navy catches up, we will surrender! Those damned Brits, want us to defend them against the Chinese, and then they run away on their own, no way! If you want to die, everyone will die together! "Russian Marshal Grand Duke Alexandrovich had a resentful expression on his face.

PS: The first update has arrived! Ask for a subscription, ask for a monthly pass! Thank you to the book friend of the People's Liberation Army Eagle, extreme deep-sea diving, and my reward with a knife! Thank you for the monthly pass of Susygut and Dengjun2004!