Ito sighed, "It's just that our country's resources are too poor. Uchida, the captain of the 'Chiyoda' on the side, said angrily: "So we want to destroy the Lanfang Imperial Navy and seize the mainland." ”

Ito stopped him sternly with his eyes, and Uchida realized that he was about to leak military secrets for a while, and he quickly lowered his head and didn't dare to speak again.

Half a month later, the Yoshino and Naniwa returned to the Japanese and officially entered the combined fleet of the Japanese state, and ten days later, the three new warships that Bai Laoyi was responsible for building were launched, which were named "Matsushima", "Itsukushima" and "Hashidate".

"I think we still have time to prepare, we should first let the three new ironclads go through the sea trials for half a year, and at the same time let the 'Yoshino' and 'Naniwa' enter the dock to clean up the microorganisms on the bottom of the ships, which are very important for the warship." Ito, commander of the Combined Fleet of the Japanese Nation, shouted at Ito, the Prime Minister of the Japanese Empire.

Facing the angry Ito, Ito did not get angry, but took a sip of tea and said: "Ito-kun, I can understand your feelings very well, but you should also know that there are currently five large ironclad ships of the Lanfang Empire's navy under construction in the shipyard of the Lanfang Empire, as well as several cruisers of the Chinese Consulate. These warships are being built very quickly, but we don't have enough follow-up plans to compete with them because of the country's lack of financial resources, and if we can't do it quickly while the ironclad warships still have some advantage in numbers, these warships will become our nightmare. ”

Ito said, "But what if we attack the second and third fleets of the Lanfang Empire? Even if that fleet were all wiped out, it wouldn't make the Lanfang Empire break its bones. ”

Ito said: "But now the strongest First Fleet of the Lanfang Empire is confronting our friends of the Saar Empire, they can't pull back at all, as long as we destroy the remaining fleet, we can send the army to land in the Lanfang Empire without any scruples, and we can realize the dream of the continent for many years." ”

Ito said in a deep voice: "Prime Minister, have you forgotten that the Chinese Territory still has a naval fleet? Ito said contemptuously: "What is the threat of that small fleet with only a few small ships and less than half a year of army, as long as our combined fleet succeeds in a sneak attack, they will only have to watch." ”

"Maybe they'll be our trouble." Ito had a bad premonition in his heart, but unfortunately he didn't know that Ito still had the intention of occupying the coast of the Lanfang Empire and taking the warships under construction in Fang Xiaoyu's shipyard as his own.

Since the Japanese royal family and the government had made up their minds to attack, the navy commanders naturally wanted to carry it out, and a secret order was issued, and the entire Japanese navy was mobilized.

The naval port of Yokosuka was cordoned off, and no one was allowed to enter or leave the country, all naval officers and men were canceled from their vacations, shells of various calibers were taken out of the ammunition depots and loaded into various warships, and the coal and water were filled with sufficient water, and the officers and men at all levels took their own responsibilities and carefully inspected the places they were responsible for, striving not to make any mistakes in the warships' operations.

A few days later, the combined fleet of the Japanese countries quietly set sail in the night, and disappeared.

Both the Wa Kingdom and the Lanfang Empire are located on the west coast of the East Ocean, and between the Wa Kingdom and the Lanfang Empire is the Lanfang East China Sea, and the combined fleet of the Wa Kingdom at this time is sailing in this vast sea area.

Ryuichi Yamamoto, the engineer on the Hashidate, climbed out of the engine room in a dejected manner, and Captain Hiroshi Hidaka, who was waiting on it, immediately asked, "What is the situation down there?" ”

Ryuichi Yamamoto shook his head and said: "Report to the captain, the broken steam engine can't be repaired, and a transmission shaft has cracks, and it can't be restored unless it goes back to the dock for overhaul. ”

Captain Higaku sighed and said, "Then I have to open a crew, slow is slow, and it can still be used." ”

Takashi Yamamoto: "But the speed of our warship will drop to eight knots." ”

Hidaka's strong man looked at a few old warships not far away and said, "We can only act as the second echelon with those three old ironclad ships." He turned to the herald behind him and said, "Go and send a signal to the flagship, just say that a crew failure cannot be repaired, and the ship can only move slowly." ”

Seeing the flag signal sent by the 'Hashidate', Ito sighed, the government is really in a hurry, these warships should be subjected to sea trials for at least half a year before they can be put into active service, and now it is really risky to directly join the active service and immediately drive out to fight.

But the government can't be blamed for making such a decision, the prime minister is right, the new batch of five ironclad ships built by several large shipyards opposite for the Lanfang Imperial Navy has already begun to lay keels, and if they are completed, it will be even more difficult for the Japanese Navy.

Thinking of this, Ito looked at the 'Matsushima' and 'Itsukushima' ironclad ships that were following near the flagship, as well as the 'Naniwa' and 'Yoshino' that had just returned from the Western Continent, and Ito was extremely depressed.

Unlike the situation of the three new ironclad ships, the cruisers "Naniwa" and "Yoshino" sailed thousands of nautical miles back to the Wakoku, and the bottom of the ship was already covered with parasites, these small things at first glance were inconspicuous, but they would greatly affect the speed of the warship, and they were sent out before they could enter the dock to clean up in Hong Kong, resulting in the "Yoshino", which should have been 23 knots, could only sail to 20 knots.

Ito secretly prayed that nothing would happen to this sortie, but he was half relieved when he thought that the first fleet of the Lanfang Empire was still stationed in Quanzhou Port, and he didn't look at the second and third fleets of the empire with only wooden warships.

After the formation was adjusted, the combined fleet was divided into three echelons, with the fastest cruisers "Naniwa", "Yoshino", "Kongo", "Tsukushi" and "Katsuragi", and "Matsushima" and "Itsukushima" ironclad ships as the first echelon.

The cruisers Yaeyama and Chiyoda, though fast enough, were unarmoured and unprotected cruisers, and they were left behind to protect three old shipside gunhouse-style ironclads, the Musashi, Hiei, and Showa, as well as the Hashidate, which could only move with a single crew.

The remaining thirty-two wooden sailing warships of the former Japanese Navy were placed behind the sea as fire support. This is also a helpless move, although the Japanese state has accumulated for many years, the warships are saved little by little, and their performance is naturally uneven, and only such an echelon will not make a mistake.