17 June 1904, Singapore Strait.

On the Singapore side of the strait, more than a dozen warships flying the rice flag were waiting in formation, and the muzzles of the main guns of each ship were pointing to the west entrance of the strait, where a group of unwelcome passers-by was marching.

One, two, three, four......

The first four warships to break through the morning fog and enter the strait were the newest Borrodino-class battleships of the Russian Empire, which had the so-called "French" appearance of the era: a sharply inverted hull, a narrow upper deck, and a bow deck significantly higher than the aft turret deck...... The huge hull with a length of 121 meters, a width of 23.22 meters, a draft of 7.97 meters, and a standard displacement of 13,516 tons (full load of 15,216 tons) is equipped with 4 305-mm guns (2X2), 12 152-mm guns (2X6), 10 75-mm guns, 10 47-mm guns, 8 37-mm guns, 2 *mm guns and 10 small-caliber machine guns, in addition, it is equipped with 3 torpedo tubes of 381 mm caliber. With a total power of 15,800 hp, it is capable of reaching a maximum design speed of 18 knots. At first glance, the armor of this class of ships looks frighteningly thin, the broadside armor belt between the two turrets is only 7.5 inches (190 mm) thick, the bow and stern armor belts are 100 mm (254 mm), and the main turret and conning tower, which are the most heavily armored in the whole ship, are they crazy? For the Russians, who had already mastered the two innovative techniques of "dimensional heat treatment" and "nickelized steel", the use of new armor with the world's most advanced level seemed to be enough to compensate for the lack of thickness of the "Borodino" class armor, and the tonnage saved could be used more for weapons and power, and in addition, the smaller dockyard in the port of Vladivostok also limited the total tonnage of this new class of warships intended for the Pacific Fleet.

Since then, they have been called: "Duke Suvorov", "Borodino", "Emperor Alexander III", "Orel (Eagle)", among which the former mainmast of the "Duke Suvorov" bears the flag of Vice Admiral Rozhestvensky, the commander of the fleet.

The officers and men of the Royal Navy and the reporters accompanying the ship looked excitedly at the huge fleet in front of them, they all knew very well that the Russians had not yet had the courage to challenge the British Empire, and the Royal Navy sent ships to line up on the side of the channel this time was just a routine matter, and it was impossible to fight, and the right was to watch the excitement and find the news, and the boring life needed exciting embellishments after all......

The Orel was followed by the Dawn (Peresviet)-class battleship Oslyavia, launched in 1898, and its sister ships Dawn and Victory had been killed off the coast of Vladivostok half a month earlier. Like its two sister ships, the ship was armed with four (2X2) 254 mm guns with a high elevation angle of up to 35 degrees, while the 40 times diameter 305 mm guns of the Chinese Army had a maximum elevation angle of only 15 degrees. Other armament included 11 152 mm guns, 20 75 mm guns, 20 47 mm guns, 4 37 mm guns, 2 * mm guns, 4 7-point 62 mm Maxim machine guns, and 5 381 mm torpedo tubes. With a full load displacement of 12,693 tons, a hull with a length of 133.4 meters, a width of 21.8 meters, and a draft of 7.9 meters, it is powered by a 14,500 hp steam engine and can reach a maximum speed of 18 knots. Armor configuration: waterline 229 mm, deck 76 mm, turret 229 mm, command tower 152 mm.

Then, in the onlooker's view, the Sisoy•Viliki, launched in 1894, and the battleship Navarin, launched in 1891, appeared one after another.

"Behold, our 'Trafalgar'...... imitators. Among the onlookers, the more senior Royal Navy officers had a special affection for the Navarlin, with its twin parallel four chimneys, because the warship was actually modeled after the British Navy's armoured ship Trafalgar, and in fact it was clearly not suitable for ocean-going voyages, as its freeboard was only three metres high, and it must have suffered a lot when crossing the rough North Sea and the Cape of Good Hope......

The Navarin has a full load displacement of 10,260 tons, the main dimensions are 112.3 meters long, 20.4 meters wide, and 8.4 meters in draft, 12 boilers are equipped with 2 vertical three-stage expansion steam engines, and the output horsepower of 9,140 horsepower can reach a maximum speed of 15.8 knots. The armament consisted of 4 305-mm guns (2X2), 8 152-mm guns, 8 75-mm guns, 14 47-mm guns, 2 *mm guns, 2 7-point 62-mm Maxim machine guns and 6 381-mm torpedo tubes. Armor protection: 305 mm on the main turret wall, 51 mm on the top of the main turret, 127 mm on the 152 mm gun profile, 127 mm on the bow and stern, 305 mm on the upper part of the waterline, 356-406 mm on the lower part of the waterline, 51-63 mm on deck.

The "Sisoy•Viliki" in front of it was in fact an improved version of the "Navarin", with a raised freeboard, a new 305-mm main gun, and a higher tandem double chimney in terms of smoke exhaust, with a full load displacement of 10,400 tons, a main size of 107.2 meters long, 20.73 meters wide, a draft of 8.25 meters, a horsepower of 8,500 horsepower, and a maximum speed of 16 knots. The armament consisted of 4 305-mm guns (2X2), 6 152-mm guns, 12 37-mm guns, 2 *mm guns, 4 7-point 62-mm Maxim machine guns, 6 432-mm torpedo tubes and 2 ship-based torpedo boats. In terms of armor protection, it was similar to the "Navarin".

The Eighth ...... Old-fashioned...... Launched in 1885, the "Admiral Nakhimov" is an old armored cruiser with a full load displacement of 8,524 tons, and its armament is 8 203 mm guns, 10 152 mm guns, 2 * * mm guns, 8 37 mm guns, 2 7-point 62 mm machine guns and 3 381 mm torpedo tubes. Armor configuration: waterline 254 mm, turret 203 mm, conning tower 152 mm.

The ninth battleship that entered the strait was the "Emperor Alexander II", launched in 1889, this battleship equipped with only one twin 305 mm main gun had an outdated appearance that was contrary to the times, the body with a full load displacement of 9,672 tons was driven by a vertical three-stage expansion steam engine with 7,864 horsepower, and the speed was only 15.5 knots, and other weapons in addition to the main guns included: 4 228 mm guns, 8 152 mm guns, 4 * mm guns, 2 37 mm guns, 2 7-point 62-mm machine guns and 5 381-mm torpedo tubes. Armor configuration: turret 254 mm, waterline 356 mm, deck 63 mm, conning tower 254 mm.

Ships 10th to 12th...... Something that can only be described as garbage...... The 3 Admiral Ushakov-class armored coastal defense ships: "Admiral Scheniavin", "Admiral Apraksin" and "Admiral Ushakov", these extremely low-freeboard warships were originally intended to be used in the calm Baltic Sea, and it is a crime to drive them to the ocean! Some of the Royal Navy officers and men who were watching couldn't help but show pity. The 4,648-ton hull with a full load displacement carries two twin 254-mm guns, in addition to four 120-mm guns, four 37-mm guns, and two 7-point 62-mm Maxim machine guns. After being equipped with the above weapons, the ship is also equipped with 254 mm waterline armor belt, 152 mm turret armor and 180 mm conning tower armor, so that this design speed of 15.5 knots cannot even drive 11 knots in the third level of sea conditions......

The thirteenth and fourteenth ...... Finally eye-catching, these two new armored cruisers launched in 1902 were originally built by the * Ansaldo shipyard for the Italian Navy, but after launching, they were bought by Argentina and prepared to be used for war with the Chilean Navy, but with the easing of relations between Argentina and Chile, the Argentine side canceled the contract, and the two ships were left in the Italian shipyard under the names "Mitra" and "Roca" for sale, and the Russian purchasing delegation arrived quickly and signed the purchase contract three days before the Chinese contacted the shipyard. The two ships were named after the "Varyag" that sank in Hakodate, Hokkaido on September 9, 03, and the "Rulik" that sank in Peter the Great Bay on October 2, 03. The two ships followed the typical style of Italian battleships: the mainmast was located in the center of the hull, the two chimneys were located on the front and rear sides, and the armor belts were not as long and thick as those of the Anglo-French armored cruisers of the same period. In terms of armament, the main guns of this class are equipped with a peculiar configuration of one 254 mm gun with a maximum elevation angle of 35 degrees in the front and one twin 203 mm gun in the rear, in addition to 14 152 mm guns, 10 75 mm guns, 6 47 mm guns, 2 7-point 62 mm machine guns and 4 381 mm torpedo tubes. The standard displacement of this class is 7,628 tons, using two reciprocating steam engines, 13,500 horsepower, and a maximum speed of 20 knots. Armor configuration: waterline 180 mm, turret 150 mm, conning tower 360 mm, deck 50 mm.

The next fifteenth ship...... Another rubbish, the old armored cruiser "Dmitry & #8226;Donsky", launched in 1883, with a full load displacement of 5796 tons, was armed with 6 152-mm guns, 10 120-mm guns, 8 37-mm guns and 2 7-point 62-mm machine guns, the speed was only 16.5 knots, and the protection was only arranged with 152 mm broadside armor belts on the waterline.

The sixteenth, the old armored cruiser "Vladimir•Monomakh", was still rubbish, launched a year earlier than the previous one, with a full load displacement of 5,593 tons, and its armament was 5 152-mm guns, 8 120-mm guns, 8 37-mm guns and 2 7-point 62-mm machine guns, and it was slower, only 15.2 knots - not as good as the oldest battleship in the fleet, "Emperor Alexander II". In terms of protection, in addition to the 152-mm waterline main armor belt, the 152-mm gun was equipped with 100-mm thick turret armor