The twilight was setting in the west, and the column formed by the main forces of the Japanese Combined Fleet was completely reflected in Makarov's eyes. From a distance, it looks like a behemoth that chooses people to devour, the snake is swallowed, and it can burst out at any time to strike a fatal blow.

Lipatov's whole body froze, and he was shocked and angry, and said with resentment and unwillingness: "After four days of sailing, we were about to prepare to bypass the Japanese archipelago, but here we ran into the main force of the Japanese fleet. Could it be that these Japanese are all superpowered humans who can predict the future, and how do they know that we are in this sea area? ”

Makarov sighed and said: "They must have guessed that I would choose Vladivostok as the final destination for my return, and they made very careful preparations in advance to find our fleet on this vast ocean." I really didn't expect that these two steering maneuvers, which were completely different from the conventional thinking, were actually recognized by the other party one by one; I don't know if it's a blessing or a misfortune to be able to play with such an enemy. It's a pity that I was held back by the convoy and could only sail slowly at a turtle speed of 10 knots, otherwise even if the Japanese knew that I would go to Vladivostok, I would not have been caught by them! ”

"General, what should we do now?" Lipatov asked with some uneasiness.

"The only thing to be thankful for is that I ordered the convoy four hours ago to retreat to the depths of the ocean to the northeast, and now we are 100 nautical miles away; If nothing else, they will survive the few hours of the day before sunset. And what we should do is to hold back the Japanese fleet as much as possible and give the convoy a chance to escape unharmed. Makarov lifted his wind-blown military hat on his head and said softly, "After the first four days of rapid marching of the Petropavlovsk and Poltava, the boiler water pipes have accumulated dirt; With its current speed of barely reaching 15.5 knots, it is impossible to outrun the Japanese fleet at 18 knots. The only way to do this is to fight with the Japanese first, and then find a way to get out of the situation in front of you when it gets dark. Tell Borodino and the entire crew of the Emperor that they are veterans of many years of service and have a wealth of experience transferred from other ships, and now it is important to give me the best use of these two battleships. The survival of the entire fleet depends on their next performance! ”

Machinery hissed, soot rolled, and gray-black steel warships crushed the waves, surging forward on the undulating ocean. During this period, the Japanese fleet repeatedly tried to use the speed advantage to carry out the T-shaped tactics proposed by Akiyama Shinyuki to seize the cross-head of the Russian ranks, but they were easily defused by a beautiful turn by Makarov at the right time. After many increases and decreases in speed and dizzying steering entanglements, the distance between the two sides had been imperceptibly reduced to within 10,000 yards (9,140 meters), a distance at which each battleship was almost clearly recognizable. Looking at the Russian fleet, which was slowly turning and preparing to seize its own T-shaped cross, Togo almost without thinking about it, immediately reported to the herald the course and speed needed to avoid the movement. Feeling the slightly uneven state of the floor under his feet, the corners of Togo's mouth hooked up a playful smile, and muttered, "With this trick in front of my eyes, do you think there will be a chance of success?" ”

The pointer chirped and ticked, and the fleets of both sides drew closer and closer in an almost parallel position, and in a short time they reached the critical point of 6,000 yards. Togo turned slowly, and was about to give the order to fire with pride, when a dazzling ray of sunlight shone in through the window of the command tower without warning, and projected directly on his face. Togo froze in place for a few seconds, his pupils constricting violently, and then let out an exclamation that shook the entire command tower:

"West Horse Fight!"

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"Boom!"

Accompanied by a series of earth-shattering thunderbolts, all the 305-mm guns in the Russian battlefleet rushed out of the purple waves and red waves that were as vigorous as a mountain, and from a distance, it was like countless red and gorgeous blood-colored chrysanthemums blooming in the sky. The 305-millimeter shells weighing 331.7 kg were like red dragons going out to sea, breaking through the air and crashing into the ocean around the Japanese warships with a thunderous force, stirring up rolling waves more than 10 meters high. Looking at the huge white water column flying and collapsing not far from the window, Dongxiang clenched his fists, and his nails were already deeply embedded in his palms; In the course of the series of twists and turns that the two sides had just carried out, Makarov was still able to see the whole situation clearly, and before he knew it, he had led himself to an angle where the sun's rays were directly illuminated. At this time, the sun was setting on the side of the Russian fleet, so that they could smoothly observe their own side with their rangefinders; And their own gunners were dazzled by the dazzling sunlight and could not make any effective counterattack!

"Don't mess around! The Russian fleet is still 6000 yards away from us, and the percentage of hits at this distance is unlikely to be much! On my command, the fleet turned three compass points to the right, and the speed was directly increased to 18 knots, quickly avoiding the direct rays of the sun; At the same time, the lightning strike fleet immediately went out and fired torpedoes on the Russian ship group. Togo's brain turned sharply, and he instantly calmed down from his panicked mind, and issued a series of orders to the adjutant, "As long as we can hold on to the next 30 minutes, we can quickly close the distance with the Lu Guo fleet and complete the avoidance of direct sunlight; At that time, the ultimate victor will be the Great Japanese Empire! ”

In the sound of the Russian fleet's artillery fire, as many as 16 Japanese torpedo boats burst out of the cracks of the battlefleet, like a large pack of wolves rushing out of the wild dogs; Four large Sea Dragon-class lightning strike ships with a displacement of 237 tons led the lightning strike fleet at a speed of more than 31 knots, launching a resolute charge against the Russian fleet regardless of life and death. After unleashing these sharp fangs hidden in the cuffs, the Japanese capital ship fleet began to accelerate sharply one by one, braving the dense shells that rushed in front of it. Looking at the huge water columns and dazzling brilliance that rose from time to time in the surroundings, Dongxiang's face was as fierce as a ghost, and he gritted his teeth and said angrily: "Even if my life burns out today, I will wipe out the Russian fleet and get rid of Makarov!" ”

On the ocean that stretches for several nautical miles, artillery fire roars and gunpowder smoke covers the air. Sixteen Japanese torpedo boats and eight Russian mine-striking boats were mixed up in a matter of minutes; The two sides tacitly agreed not to shoot their precious torpedoes at each other's torpedo boats, but to use several small cannons on board the ships to make a quick attack. Due to the rapid maneuvering of the artillery platforms and targets, the torpedo boats did not achieve many hits, but the secondary guns of the Russian main fleet, which was far away, gave their inferior lightning detachment enough support. The 152-mm and 76-mm secondary guns on the sides of the 10 battleships were all spewing fiery red shells at the highest rate of fire, and because the Russians were a stable platform of fire and had sufficient projection density, the battle was quickly achieved.

"Boom!" With the roar of the twin auxiliary guns on the side of the Prince, a 152-mm shell weighing 41.4 kg spun wildly from the barrel of the gun, rushed out, cut a dazzling fiery red arc in the air, and crashed into a Japanese torpedo boat numbered 444, exploding with a bang. Although the charge in the Russian shell was cotton gunpowder with little power rather than picric acid, the power of the 2.7kg explosive explosion was obviously not something that the 89-ton torpedo boat could withstand; the entire bow of the ship was directly reduced to thousands of pieces under this thunderous blow, and it only lasted for two minutes before disappearing into the sea. At the same time, another Japanese torpedo boat was also hit by a near-miss, and the seawater poured in with the slit cut by the shrapnel, and the speed of the battleship suddenly decreased; Naturally, the surrounding Russian warships did not miss this opportunity to beat the water dogs, and several shells flew in, turning them into a floating ball of fire.

"The order, the battleships of this team only need to use secondary guns and rapid-fire guns against the Japanese torpedo boats, and the 305 mm and 254 mm main guns will continue to aim at the main Japanese battleships and then hit hard! It is necessary to deal enough damage in this favorable time period for our army! "Amid the thunderous roar of four 305-mm guns, Commander Tary's Makarov was loudly giving orders to his officers. Seeing that his tactics had succeeded, Makarov's face still did not have the slightest look of excitement, but anxiety and anticipation flashed repeatedly in his eyes; Since he knew that his fleet was a paper tiger that could not last, in order to survive this catastrophe, he had to beat the strength of the Japanese fleet to a level low enough that he could deal with it calmly during this time period!

"Damn the Borodino and the Emperor, with so many guns, why haven't they made hits yet? Could it be that the 4 German Zeiss rangefinders on it were all used as massage sticks and inserted into the eyes! Looking at the Hatsuse and Mikasa, who were still unharmed in the opposite fleet, Makarov angrily slammed the binoculars on the table and roared, "Massimov and Leviko, two idiots, have trained such a group of pig gunners for more than three months, and it's a big deal for me, I should have slaughtered them both and fed them to the bears!" ”

Seeing that the commander of the fleet, who had always been calm and majestic, suddenly burst out, the people in the command tower looked at each other, and they all saw each other's surprised looks in each other's eyes. Seeing that everyone was looking at him with a ghostly expression, Makarov took a deep breath and forced himself to return to normal in an instant. In order to ensure the morale of the army, the truth of some things can only be held in one's own heart, and it is never explained to others. The three Perryveter-class second-class battleships themselves were greatly overweight when they were designed, and now the main armor is only 0.25 meters above the water due to the large amount of coal-fired loading, which is simply a battle chicken in the garbage; once the Japanese fleet is relieved, it will be a life-and-death situation for them and the entire fleet!

"General, they hit!" Lipatov looked out the window and suddenly said loudly with a smile on his face.