On March 17, 1904, after more than four days of changing lanes and dragnets, the blockade fleet consisting of dozens of merchant ships or old ships finally found a thick black shadow of soot in the far south sky. Different from the various misunderstandings caused by the grass and trees before, this time the sea and sky junction is no longer a ** merchant ship flying the flag of another country, but a light combat ship with a slender body and fast speed! If you see such a thick black soot in this position, with a warship for avant-garde reconnaissance, then there must be no doubt that the main force of the Russian Pacific Fleet will be behind it!

"Really, as you expected, Makarov had no intention of returning to Dalini at all, but took this farthest route to prepare to go directly to Vladivostok to unload the cargo." On the battleship "Mikasa", with a standing displacement of 12,700 tons, the commander of the fleet, Heihachiro Togo, was in a straight military uniform and holding a long knife, and a sense of excitement and hatred was already surging in his chest, and he said loudly, "It was indeed my carelessness in the previous time that allowed Makarov to pass through our blockade network and reach Manila safely, and this time, we must not let him run away again!" ”

Akiyama Shinyuki exhaled a long breath, only to find that a layer of cold sweat had formed on his back at some point, and said in a deep voice: "This person has a deep attainment in the control of the fleet and the judgment of the situation, and there is a difference between heaven and earth from other admirals of the Lu Nation. After moving south to get rid of the golden cicada's shell, he broke the stereotype and changed to a new destination, and even I was almost denied. If he hadn't been dragged down by the speed and endurance of those transport ships, and hadn't made any second large-scale transfer maneuvers, we wouldn't have been able to catch him! If this person is not removed, it will become a great danger to our great Japanese empire to defeat Lucia, and I would rather let this mixed Russian fleet return to Vladivostok safely, and I will definitely end Makarov's life. ”

"Makarov must be eliminated, and the convoy must not allow them to return safely; And now, it is the best opportunity that Amaterasu has given us. He ordered the avant-garde detachment, led by the two armored cruisers 'Izumo' and 'Iwate', to immediately break away from the main fleet and rush to the sea area where the Lukuni fleet was located at full speed, and told Rear Admiral Tanaka that he did not have to fight hard with the Russian fleet, but only to bite them, and to report the situation of the Lukuni fleet to the flagship at any time. The main fleet turned four compass points to the right, increased its speed to 15 knots, and sounded the second level combat alarm. Dongxiang muttered at the chart for a while, then raised his hand to glance at the clock hands on his wrist, and said with a fierce look, "After two hours, the battlefleet immediately changed from a cruising array to a decisive battle formation. We will form a column before the Lu Nation fleet and annihilate them all with the most ferocious artillery fire! ”

After the order was issued, the main force of the huge Japanese Combined Fleet began to turn again, and the sharp bow of the introductory ship split a large white spray, setting off a small curtain of flying waterfalls on the side of the ship. As time passed, the red sun that had been in the east gradually slanted to the west, and on the other side of the sky, a thick black soot had risen at some point, which was extremely clear and dazzling in the light of the sun. Listening intently, the intermittent sound of artillery bombardment could be faintly heard rumbling from a distance, and the sound was as deep and majestic as thunder.

Surprisingly, after seeing this scene, Dongxiang's eyes not only did not show a fierce and excited look, but a little doubt climbed up his face. He frowned and muttered, "Strange. Our ships have been in their sights for almost four hours, and based on Makarov's previous behavior, he should have known that we had spotted them and that the main forces of the Combined Fleet were heading towards him. But why did he not make any changes in his route and speed, and basically continued to move forward according to the original path? If I were him, I would have left some of the fast cruisers behind, and then the rest of the ships would turn around and evacuate; As long as you stay up until the night, you have a great chance of getting out of the crisis. ”

Perhaps it was to dispel Togo's doubts, and as soon as he finished speaking, an adjutant walked into the conning tower under the tight protection of 250 mm Krupp hardened armor. He saluted Dongxiang and said in a slightly hurried voice: "General, there are only a single battleship in the fleet of Lu Guo, including 10 battleships, and no trace of any transport ships has been found!" ”

"Nani?" Dongxiang was stunned for a moment, and suddenly said loudly: "It must be that Tanaka didn't look for it carefully, right?" In general, transport ships protected by the fleet would follow the battleship about 20 nautical miles in case of contingency, as was the case with Qing troop carriers during the Sino-Japanese War. Tell Tanaka to send a fast cruiser behind the Lu Fleet to look for me, their convoy must be nearby! ”

The adjutant shook his head and said, "General Tanaka has sent Yoshino and other ships to go 30 nautical miles behind the Luguo fleet and walk through the surrounding places, but he didn't even see a wisp of soot. It seems that the Luguo transport ship did not go on the same route as their warship, but took a different route. ”

Dongxiang waved his hand slowly, signaling that he had learned the situation, and asked the adjutant to disappear from the command tower. His right hand gradually clenched into a fist, and he said softly: "From the moment you found the Battleship of the Rising Sun, did you order the convoy of transports that followed far behind to flee for their lives, while you covered for them?" It's only 4 hours until dark, so you've got a good idea. It's just ......"

Dongxiang slowly stood up from his chair and said, "A few hours ago, my main target was indeed the transport fleet, but now I have changed my attention. Rather than sacrificing yourself to take out the transport ship and let the army pack of red deer reap the benefits while our navy continues to face a tricky enemy like yours, it is better to take you out first. What does it matter to me whether the army group of red deer lives or dies? All I have to do is gain absolute supremacy of the sea for the Combined Fleet! And now, even if I am forced to send 4 armored cruisers to the Tsushima Strait to support, but so what? Today's Combined Fleet is definitely not something you can resist! ”

————————————————————————

Thirty minutes later, a battle line of 10 capital ships stretched for nearly 4 kilometers on the endless blue sea. The two lightest pilots at the front were the Izumo and Iwate armored cruisers. These two ships were part of the four standard ships ordered by Japan from Germany in 1899: they had a standing displacement of 7,000 tons, a speed of 20.5 knots, two twin 203 mm L45 guns, 12 single 152 mm L45 secondary guns, and a large area of 150 mm Krupp hardened armor on the waterline. This German improved on the basis of the god Garibaldi combines firepower, protection and speed, and has better and more balanced performance than Garibaldi, and its combat effectiveness is even better than that of the British slag Asama class built for Japan. Today, it can be directly at the forefront of the decisive battle of the battle line with its 150 mm Krupp armor.

The two armored cruisers were followed by four Hatsuse-class battleships under the command of Togo himself: these cutting-edge battleships, which had been ordered in bulk from Germany in 1900 for just one year, had been considered the most powerful killing weapon in the world until the Borodino class was born. It has a standing displacement of 12,700 tons, a speed of 18 knots, and is equipped with two twin 305 mm L40 primary guns, four twin 203 mm L45 secondary guns, and eight single 152 mm L45 secondary guns, with a 5-meter-high vertical armor of 230 mm or 200 mm on the waterline. In medium and long-distance engagements, it can exert the powerful firepower of 1 battleship + 1 armored cruiser, and its combat effectiveness is even better than that of the 15,800-ton Edward VII that Britain started construction in 1902!

At the end of the fleet was another group of battleships consisting of two Shikishima-class and two Fuji-class. They were all ships that Japan had ordered from Britain earlier: the former had a standing displacement of 14,850 tons, a speed of 18 knots, and was equipped with two British twin 305 mm guns and 14 single 152 mm secondary guns of the same model as the Hatsuse class, and the waterline had a 229 mm main and 102 mm main guns that were barely enough for height, and the performance was quite average. The 12,533-ton Fuji class is tragic, although it also has four 305 mm L40 main guns and a speed of 18 knots, but because it has not yet appeared turret structure when it is started, its main gun takes 80-90 seconds to complete a round of reloading, and the hit expectation is pitiful. What's even more painful is that its armor protection idea is the same as that of the six Russian battleships, which is still the defensive pattern of the ironclad era: the 2.4-meter-high 457-millimeter-thick Harvey armor on the waterline is as indestructible as a diamond, but the freeboard in other places is completely naked, and its ability to maintain combat effectiveness is extremely low. Togo also knew that these two old ships were the weakest in combat, so he put them at the very end of the battle line.

Heavy ships, hunting flags. Two battle lines of 10 capital ships on both sides, with their own younger brothers for escort, approached in this unknown sea, ready for the expected violent collision.