(Author's reminder: To read this book, please prepare your own atlas of the world)

On 17 June, at 12:50 a.m. capital standard time, Lin Tai, who was drinking white porridge with tomato roast beef at the officers' quarters, received a telegram from the "Chaofeng," the flagship of the reconnaissance and alert team, which was sent at 12:30 a.m., and contained a set of numbers separated by a ton number: 00155, 10402, 11, and 0, which indicated that the position of the Russian fleet was 1 degree 55 minutes north latitude and 104 degrees 02 minutes east longitude, the speed was 11 knots, and the course was 360 degrees (due north) of the compass.

Lin Taizeng took the telegram back to the chart room, grabbed the azimuth ruler and studied it on the chart, then called the chief of staff, Major General Sa Zhenbing, who had not yet wiped the oil star on his lips, and handed him the telegram: "This is from the 'Chaofeng' at 12:30. ”

Sa Zhenbing suddenly saw the clue: "In other words, if each other's speed and course remain the same, we and each other will meet at night...... Or rather, there is a good chance of passing by. ”

"The distance is now 220 nautical miles (about 400 kilometers), and if the speed and direction of each other remain the same, they will enter the range of each other's visual observation in about 8 and a half hours, and then night is about to fall, and if you take into account the sudden change of course of the enemy fleet, the problem is complicated......" Lin Taizeng flicked the blue drawing pen in his hand, "So, do you want to stand by backwards or speed up to intercept?" ”

Sa Zhenbing did not speak, the commander had already listed his own options, he had no room to speak, in his understanding, the so-called retreat and standby is to transfer the fleet to the north, wait for the enemy fleet to go north, and then ask for the enemy and engage after dawn the next day; The so-called accelerated interception is to order the fleet to speed up its southward movement and intercept the enemy fleet and engage it before nightfall.

If you are waiting backwards, you must accurately determine the current destination of the enemy fleet in order to choose a suitable standby position, but after waiting for a night, whether you can successfully search the enemy fleet in the open ocean the next day is a difficult problem full of unknowns.

Even so, the maximum formation speed of the main force can only reach 17 knots, and if the speed and course of each other's speed remain unchanged, it will take seven and a half hours before they can enter the range of each other's visual observation, and at that time, our side can only use the short time of one and a half to two hours before sunset to maneuver to occupy a position and strive to inflict heavy damage on the enemy fleet, and it will not be easy to carry out a night lightning strike operation on a relatively wide ocean, and the enemy fleet will have a great chance to disperse and escape by taking advantage of the darkness.

Both options are risky, a severe test of the patience and courage of decision-makers, and time is running out for consideration.

"Tomorrow's weather won't ......be too bad," Lin Tai had flipped through the weather bulletin sent by the Intelligence Section of the Naval Staff Bureau this morning, and finally made up his mind.

"Two hours of engagement can only prompt the enemy to flee into the night more quickly or even disperse, so that the enemy can retain some strength, what the Empire needs is a decisive victory, and it will take time, give me at least half a day to do it......"

"So, it's backwards and standby?"

"Prepare orders: First, turn left to azimuth 30 (north-northwest), and we will return to our position at 9:30 a.m. today: 5 degrees 45 minutes north latitude, 105 degrees 55 minutes east longitude. Second, a total of 10 ships of the 1st Japanese Light Patrol Squadron and the 6th Destroyer Squadron of this squadron must enter the waters between 4 degrees 30 minutes north latitude and 5 degrees north latitude and the Malay Peninsula and 105 degrees east longitude before 19 o'clock today to conduct a search. Third, a total of 19 ships of the 1st Squadron and the 7th Patrol Brigade and the 4th Squadron of the Reconnaissance and Alert Squadron must enter the waters between 4 degrees and 5 degrees north latitude and 105 degrees east longitude to Laute Island before 21 o'clock today. Fourth, the 3rd Destroyer Squadron of the Reconnaissance and Alert Squadron, the 2nd Squadron of the Japanese Light Patrol Squadron, and the Special Service Squadron of the Support Squadron, a total of 20 ships, must enter the waters between Natuna Island and Cape Dadu in Borneo (Kalimantan) before 23 o'clock today to conduct a search. ”

Was it an overly risky decision or an overly cautious decision? In any case, the order was quickly carried out, and at 13:15 the main force of the huge Combined Fleet began to turn in its entirety, and in this tropical blue sea and blue sky, tens of thousands of tons of floating steel and countless plumes of soot under the sun were brazenly boasting of the scorching construction and destruction, excitement and fatigue, sanity and madness, pride and self-righteousness of the industrial age......

In this world, perhaps the most difficult thing is ......

Endure.

As the commander of the Second Pacific Fleet, Rozhestvensky was able to endure the dozen or so East Asian coalition cruisers that followed, but not all the Russian officers and men who were fond of vodka spirits had such patience, and the fleet was in a restless and imminent mood after being followed and harassed by the enemy for three or four days, coupled with the poisonous sun and hot winds in the South China Sea.

At 17:15, the battleship "Emperor Alexander III" of the first detachment, without any order, suddenly broke away from the queue, approached the coalition cruisers, and fired at the Chinese ship "Chaofeng" with 12-inch (305 mm) guns at a distance of more than 9,000 yards. Disorderly and indiscriminate firing, huge columns of water tauntingly rising over the surface of the sea 1,000 yards away from the enemy ships, the coalition cruisers quickly turned to dodge, and soon disappeared in the faint sea fog to the west.

Witnessing this humiliating scene, Rozhestvensky on the flagship trembled with anger, gritted his teeth and dropped the teacup in his hand: "Tell those damned mongrels not to waste ammunition and return to the queue!" ”

In fact, this is the first time in 3 months that the ships of the 2nd Pacific Fleet have conducted live firing.

In order to make room for them, Rozhestvensky hurriedly issued a large series of orders, and the whole fleet fell into even greater confusion for a while.

At about 18:30, the cruiser of the East Asian coalition reappeared in the field of vision of the observers of the Russian fleet like a ghost, and this time the cruiser of the coalition and the Russian fleet, which was still in chaos, were moving almost in parallel, and the distance between them remained about 10 nautical miles. In order to prevent those "drunken mongrels" from acting on their own again, Rozhestvensky gave a death order: "If there are any more unauthorized acts on all ships, the captain will be dismissed!" ”

Soon after, a telegram was sent to the commander of the Combined Fleet, Lin Taizeng, about the chaotic formation caused by the disorderly firing of the Russian fleet and the position of the Russian fleet.

"It seems that the enemy can't hold their breath anymore, maybe they've sensed something?" Sa Zhenbing said after reading the telegram that Lin Taizeng handed over.

Lin Tai didn't care about this: "It doesn't matter, anyway, night is about to fall, and they will soon think that they are free from the surveillance of our cruiser forces, and the distance is now 200 nautical miles (365 kilometers), according to 12:30 p.m." These reports on the position of the enemy fleet sent out by the Chaofeng every one hour can confirm that the Russian fleet is basically heading north along the 104th parallel east longitude, and regardless of whether they will change their current course after nightfall, they must be intercepted after dawn tomorrow before the enemy fleet crosses the 5th parallel! ”

"The current arrangement is seamless, not to mention that we have two hydro-aircraft carriers in our hands, and the carriers on them can search at a speed of 60 knots at a distance of 80 nautical miles from the carriers, and I propose that one of the hydro-aircraft carriers be deployed near Laute Island, in case the enemy fleet changes course at night and takes the central waterway between the Anambas Islands and the Natuna Islands......"

"At critical moments, we cannot disperse our forces, assuming that the search distance is 80 nautical miles, each water plane can only cover a search sector of 12.5 degrees at most, and each carrier has only 6 water planes, even if all 12 water planes are dispatched, it will just cover a 180-degree sector, not to mention that these days' drills have exposed many deficiencies of water planes...... In short, I am sure that since the enemy fleet is no longer accompanied by coal ships, and has been under the surveillance of our cruisers for the past few days, replenishment at sea has become completely impossible, the fleet has fallen exhausted after a long voyage, and the First Pacific Fleet has long been destroyed, and the possibility of the enemy fleet sailing directly to Vladivostok is almost nil on these three prerequisites! Speculating from this, there was only one reason why the enemy fleet insisted on going north despite the above premises: that is, to enter the waters of French Vietnam to resupply and rest, and then make plans. The enemy must be convinced that our army will not dare to take the risk of war with France to chase into the waters of Vietnam, and he thinks that entering the waters of Vietnam is entering a safe area, so he will naturally take the shortest route and sail to the other place - the enemy's fleet today's track can be used as proof! ”

"In this way, is it really necessary to do what the base camp said, as long as the Russian fleet can be annihilated, there is no need to take into account the position of other countries?" Sa Zhenbing remembered the base camp instruction forwarded by the Navy Staff Bureau a few days ago.

"Basic international law still has to be observed, but the premise should be that the other side also abides by the law, and if the French openly aid the Russian fleet, they will in fact desecrate the principle of neutrality, and we don't have to give them face." Although there is a lack of trust in the so-called Sino-British alliance, Lin Taizeng is not worried about offending the French, 20 years ago in Vietnam, the history of France's undefeated victory and China's undefeated defeat is still vivid, today's France is just like this, today's China is far from being comparable to the past, "the shame of the snow horsetail, the vassal of Vietnam" such slogans are widely spread in the navy, especially the "shame of the horsetail", which is deeply rooted in the minds of the middle and upper echelons of the navy, which is mainly composed of Fujian people and Mawei students. Nothing has changed in 20 years.