At 16:10, the flagship of the Russian Pacific Fleet "Petropavlovsk".

Makarov stood on the podium, scanned the surrounding sea through the telescope, and shouted indignantly: "Those little things have been circling us for almost two hours...... The Vasilik detachment didn't seem to be of much use, and both Novik and Hercules wasted ......"

The so-called "those little things" are a few Chinese destroyers with a speed of 30 knots, since 14 o'clock, they have been operating around the detachment, monitoring the Russian fleet from a distance, Makarov once sent a detachment of destroyers to drive away, the main force took the opportunity to turn, but the Russian destroyers were instead driven back by the Chinese destroyers with 120 mm cannon firepower, after repelling the Russian destroyers, the Chinese destroyers are still hovering around the Russian fleet, like flies around the dung.

"A large plume of smoke was spotted ahead...... Shadow of the enemy ship spotted at a distance of 200 and a course of 354 ......"

"Enemy ship shadow found ahead, distance 200, course 190......"

At a distance of about 20,000 yards, observers on both flagships sounded the alarm almost simultaneously, and a few minutes later they reported on the situation in more detail.

"Preliminarily judged to be a large formation of enemy ships, 15 large ships, 8 medium ships, and 16 small ships......"

"Enemy battleships 7 were found, large cruisers 1, cruisers 2, expelled 12 ......"

Makarov already sensed that the Grim Reaper was circling and dancing on the sea ahead, he hesitated for a moment, waved his hand and ordered: "The whole ship turns to course 90!" ”

The chief of staff of the fleet, Wirtgeft, asked cautiously, "Do you want to go back?" ”

"No, we're going to drag on until nightfall, and we're going to assault the Soya Strait at full speed, and from there we're going around the Bass Strait......"

Wittgeft was taken aback: "Isn't it going to strike at the Tsushima Strait?" ”

Makarov smiled bitterly: "For the sake of secrecy, I must hide from everyone...... As a matter of fact, although the route to break through the Tsushima Strait is relatively short, from the Tsushima Strait to the Bass Strait is actually sailing between the enemy's controlled island chain and the mainland, and it is easy for the enemy to search for it; if we sail out of the Soya Strait and sail in the vast Pacific Ocean, it will be very difficult for the enemy to catch our tracks. ”

"But that's it...... Is it time to give a sudden order to the fleet? The fleet was completely unprepared for the voyage......"

"But the fleet is not ready for battle, is it? From here, it takes at least 40 hours to sail to the Tsushima Strait, and 30 hours to the Soya Strait, and the further south you go, the enemy's deployment of sea and air forces should be tighter, and if you go north, because of the sparse population and bad weather, the enemy's deployment of naval and air forces will be relatively sparse. I have already realized that even if we lose all the small and medium-sized ships during the voyage, as long as the essence of the fleet - the armored ships - is basically preserved, we will be considered to have successfully broken through. ”

Wittev thought for a moment with his forehead on his forehead, and said anxiously: "Then please come with me to the Command Tower, and we will work out a navigation plan to break through the Soya Strait and then bypass the Japanese archipelago to Cam Ranh Bay." ”

"You go, you should already understand what I mean, the plan is handed over to you, now my task is to command the fleet to avoid the pursuit of the enemy, I must stay here and keep abreast of the situation outside."

"But ......"

"Go to the Command Tower, it's an order."

Makarov said, leaning in front of the telescope, posing as if he didn't want to talk to Levitgeft anymore, forcing him to honestly carry out his orders and go to the command tower.

"It begins, heaven or hell, but in the blink of an eye."

The blue-and-white St. Andrew's flag was fluttering uneasily on the top of the foremast behind Makarov, and even it seemed to sense Makarov's apprehension.

At 16:25, the flagship of the East Asian Combined Fleet "St. Regis".

Behind Lin Taizeng, on the top of the mainmast, the Red and Blue Dragons and Blue Border of the Great Chinese Imperial Navy Flag were hunting and hunting, and the mythical monster on the flag with teeth and claws seemed determined to swallow all the humans in the icy Sea of Japan - and the ridiculous toys they had made.

"The enemy's flagship course is 90, the distance is 180!"

When he heard the observer's report, Lin Taizeng had already seen the movement of the Russian ship clearly with his own eyes.

"If you turn to the east, if you want to occupy the cross-head position, the timing is not right, if you want to retreat to the port, you should turn back to the 360-degree direction of the compass, then you don't want to fight a decisive battle and don't want to retreat, trying to break through the blockade and swim to the ocean."

Sa Zhenbing on the side analyzed simply.

Lin Taizeng crossed his waist and nodded: "Since they want to escape to the ocean, they must preserve their strength as much as possible, they want us to slowly push behind our butts, and wait until the evening, and then find a way to get rid of us, and then break through from a certain strait." ”

"What to do? Do you follow the past honestly? ”

"I plan to follow my team, and the patrol team will go around in front of the enemy, intercept the enemy, and make a flanking attack."

Sa Zhenbing folded his arms and looked at the blurred shadow of the ship in the distance, his expression was not relaxed: "It's too risky, if the patrol team drives in front of the enemy's battleship formation alone, maybe one or two ships will be knocked out." ”

Lin Taizeng raised his head and said: "If there is a chance to completely annihilate the enemy fleet, it is worth losing one or two ships to carry out patrols." ”

Sa Zhenbing frowned and smiled slightly: "It's not like your tone, didn't you always think about sealing the enemy fleet in the harbor and letting the army clean it up?" ”

"The limelight has exhausted the army, what face will the navy have in the future? Finally, when the enemy came out of the nest and caught us in the open sea, the so-called God-given opportunity, if we don't come back with a complete victory, how can we be worthy of our naval uniform? How can we be worthy of the steel warship made of millions of silver dollars under our feet? How can you be worthy of the imperial officials and people who took out this money to build a navy? ”

"That's right......

"In short, the Z flag has been raised, if you don't want to take risks, it doesn't matter what 'the empire rises and falls, fight here'! The order was given, the team turned to the course 80, pursued the enemy's main formation, mounted the patrol team and its auxiliary team, and went around to the front of the enemy's main formation to intercept it! ”

After the order was issued, Lin Taizeng instructed his adjutant Ye Fei to draft a telegram and send it to Brigadier General Ma Shengyu, commander of the armed patrol team, which reads as follows: "The commander intends to carry out a flanking attack on the enemy's main force formation, and your unit should do its best to go around to the front of the enemy's main force formation and delay the movement of the enemy's main force formation, but you should avoid close and frontal confrontation, and you must give full play to the mobility and strong firepower of your ships to complete the task with small losses." ”

As soon as Ye Fei obeyed the order, Sa Zhenbing smiled at Lin Taizeng and said: "Sending this kind of telegram in the past, it seems that you still want to preserve your strength, otherwise you should add words like 'at all costs'......"

Lin Tai once stretched out his hands: "You should also be able to calculate, it is difficult for us to catch up with them before dark, the so-called main force is flanking before and after, I'm afraid it will not be really implemented until tomorrow after dawn, but whether or not a decisive battle can be reached tonight, let them taste our lightning feast, the destroyers and cruisers of the patrol force are gathering over, and several torpedo boat teams supporting the detachment are also sailing, and at night, it is the world of destroyers and torpedo boats......"

"Weaken the enemy with a night torpedo attack, and wait until dawn to deliver a decisive blow."

"That's right, our army has an absolute advantage in lightning strikes, and we must make full use of it if we have the opportunity, after all, our army has insufficient warships, and we are still a little relieved about those thin-skinned patrols...... Hearing that the French Far Eastern Fleet is moving, it is necessary to preserve our capital ships as much as possible in order to cope with a possible conflict with the French. ”

Sa Zhenbing nodded and said: "The strength of the French army is indeed not to be underestimated, according to the intelligence a week ago, they have assembled a powerful fleet with 3 battleships and 5 armored cruisers in Haiphong Port in Vietnam, our native defense fleet alone cannot withstand it, if France suddenly enters the war, we will be ...... by the enemy."

"At the same time, we will have a chance to break the enemy individually," Lin Taizeng propped his hand on the railing and shook his head with a smile, "It's too far to think, let's settle the current matter first, and strive to let the Russian Pacific Fleet disappear from the face of the earth before sunset tomorrow, so that even if France rashly enters the war, it will not cause us too much trouble." ”

"I will add to this later - while the Russian fleet disappears, our fleet must not be too badly wounded, at least the rest of the family can rush to fight the French immediately."

"I hope that the big men in the capital can figure things out, and don't let us get involved with the French, the French have more stamina than the Russians, and their navy ranks second in the world, if they are determined to send half of their troops to the Far East, we will not be able to bear it."

Lin Tai once said, turning to look back, the eight armored cruisers of the patrol team spit out thick and crooked columns of smoke, and were breaking away from the column of their own team at full speed, turning to a course parallel to the enemy ship formation, preparing to outflank the course of the enemy fleet with speed superiority. Five battleships of this squadron and two armored cruisers of the "Suzhou" class also began to turn to the 80-degree course of the compass, which was at a 10-degree angle to the course of the enemy fleet, and rushed over the tail of the enemy fleet. In addition, within a few dozen nautical miles, more than 30 light cruisers and destroyers of the patrol force were monitoring the activities of the enemy fleet, and within a range of hundreds of nautical miles, dozens of large torpedo boats, destroyers, cruisers, and torpedo boat carriers supporting the detachment were towing dozens of torpedo boats at a rapid pace.

18:51, "Petropavlovsk".

"Report, 'Askold' calling, asking for orders for next action."

Makarov, who was having dinner, took the telegram and glanced at it, put down his wine glass, pulled the napkin and wiped his mouth: "So it seems that the 'Askold' is fifty nautical miles east of us, and it is under the watchful eye of the enemy's destroyers, and it must be eaten sooner or later, but must we give it an order to come back?" Or ......"

On the other end of the table, Wittgeft thoughtfully said, "Let it find a way to protrude the Soya Strait and join the French fleet on its own?" But in doing so, we may reveal our intentions......"

"Let it find a way to break through on its own, it goes too far, and it is too dangerous to run back, and the enemy's large fleet can easily eat it. It is our fastest first-class cruiser, and the enemy's ships of the same class cannot catch up with it, and the second- and third-class cruisers that can catch up with it cannot eat it, and it must have a way to break out of the city, and it will be dragged down if it follows us. ”

Wittgeft's heart trembled: "Could it be that the commander ...... him"

Makarov threw down his napkin and said to the adjutant: "Did you hear what I just said?" Send a telegram to the Ascord, order its single ship to break through to the Bass Strait to join the French fleet, and propose a breakthrough from the Soya Strait. ”

Wittgeft raised his head and looked at Makarov uneasily: "Commander, I said just now, this may reveal the operational intentions of the main formation......

"Needless to say, if the enemy's main formation can catch up with us, it will be the same no matter where we break through."

Wittgeft lowered his head: "Our maximum formation speed is 17 knots, and the maximum speed of the enemy's armored ships is also 17 knots, if we adjust the course properly, the enemy's armored ships will never be able to catch up with us, but the enemy's large cruisers have a speed of 20 knots, and they are equipped with the same 12-inch main guns as the armored ships, and they are fully capable of rushing ahead of us to intercept ......"

Makarov clenched his fists: "Let them intercept them, they are all papier-mâché lions, they rot when they are stabbed, I don't believe that their cruisers can have the same protection as armored ships when equipped with the firepower of armored ships, in my opinion, they are like naked barbarians with blades in their hands." ”

"The enemy will also recognize their weakness, cruisers are certainly not to be used as armoured ships, and I think that the enemy's aim is probably only to delay our actions with cruisers, so that their armored ships will have a chance to approach us and force our troops to engage in a decisive battle with them...... As you have just seen, the enemy's large cruiser formation and armored ship formation have split into two columns, the cruiser column is rushing ahead of us, and the armored ship column is chasing after us, which is a situation that is obviously going to be flanked from front to ...... rear."

Makarov raised his hand: "Of course the enemy will do this, there is nothing surprising, it is getting darker, we will act after nightfall." ”

"What are you going to do?"

"Maneuver, decisive maneuver, I'm going to take advantage of the darkness and make my way through the cracks of the enemy ships, it's a matter of timing, it's a matter of risk, but we have no choice."

Vitgev nodded: "Then should we issue an order to the fleet now, telling everyone that we are going to break through to the Soya Strait?" ”

"I'll give the order."

After Makarov finished speaking, he rubbed his eyes, looking a little tired.

Wittgeft asked, "Are you okay?" ”

Makarov sighed lowly: "Don't worry, I won't be okay until the fleet successfully breaks through the Soya Strait." ”

At 21:13, the flagship of the fifth team of the Chinese army mine boat "Hanshui".

Lieutenant Colonel Qiu Nuqing, commander of the team, put his arm on the railing, holding a telescope in his hand and stubbornly observing the black sea in front of him, the sky was full of gray clouds, it was difficult to see the stars and moon, and the night was extremely deep, even with the binoculars, it was impossible to see a target the size of a torpedo boat hundreds of yards away.

Qiu Nuqing said indignantly at the darkness: "Damn, I can't see anything, I will lose it if I continue like this, let alone launch an attack." ”

Before the words fell, a low roar could be heard faintly in the distance, just like the sound of the warship's engine and the sound of water from the propellers.

Qiu Nuqing looked down at the compass, turned his head and asked the observer beside him, "Did you hear anything?" ”

"Report to the commander, it should be the voice of the warship."

Qiu Nuqing bit her lip and listened for a while, then raised the telescope to observe the port side, and several huge black shadows with sparks dancing above jumped out of the eyepieces, and then decisively ordered: "Order, let go of the towboat, the whole team is ready to attack the large formation of enemy ships, the enemy formation is 350 to 360 in azimuth, 15 to 20 in distance, and 90 in course." ”

Eight 480-ton large Shui torpedo boats successively released their cables attached to the stern, and the eight 70-ton small torpedo boats of the Sixth Squadron of mineboats towed behind the cables gained freedom of movement, immediately formed an attack formation, and quietly sailed towards the enemy ship formation at the third speed of 22 knots, while the Shui Mineboat Squadron kept a distance of 500 yards and followed closely behind to respond.

More than 10 minutes later, the small torpedo boat squadron approached the enemy ship formation at a distance of 400 to 800 yards, and released 16 torpedoes one after another. Immediately, the torpedo boats of the Chinese army's "Flash 17" and "Flash 19" were overturned by intensive artillery fire, and the "Flash 22" burst into flames, and the bright light of the fire attracted more shells, and the hull of the boat was almost torn apart, and none of the crew survived. The rest of the Chinese torpedo boats hurriedly opened up at full speed, and at the maximum speed of 35 knots, they also disappeared into the deep darkness. While the Chinese torpedo boat squadron was fleeing with its head in its arms, the starboard side of the Russian destroyer "Grumpy" exploded violently, and the hull of the ship quickly tilted to the starboard side, capsizing and sinking a few minutes later. Immediately afterwards, the cruiser of the 1st rank "Parada" suffered a mine in the aft starboard side, the drive shaft was broken, and it lost power, and after evacuating the crew, the destroyer "Daring" fired two additional torpedoes and sent it to the bottom of the sea.

At 21:54, following the Sixth Squadron, Lieutenant Colonel Qiu Nuqing led the eight large torpedo boats of the Fifth Mineboat Squadron to attack the Russian ship formation from the other direction.

Qiu Nuqing resolutely ordered: "Order!" Abandon the lightning strike on the capital ship and instead destroy the enemy destroyer to open the way for the follow-up troops! ”

The large torpedo boat is equipped with 3 75-mm guns, 4 37-mm machine guns, and 4 torpedo tubes, with a standard displacement of 480 tons, which is on par with the best destroyers of the Russian Pacific Fleet.

The torpedo boats and destroyers of both sides immediately fought to the death, and within a few minutes, the Russian troops lost the relatively thin "Fierce" and "Perseverance", but then the Russian first-class cruiser "Diana" ventured out of the main column to rush to help, sank the "Jiangshui" with heavy artillery fire, and severely damaged the flagship "Hanshui" of Lieutenant Colonel Qiu Nuqing, forcing the Fifth Mineboat Squadron to withdraw from the battle.

At 22:32, Makarov ordered all ships to turn off their searchlights, and the injured ships quickly extinguished the fire, and the whole ship turned 50 degrees to the south and took the compass 160 degrees to move at full speed.

Chief of Staff Wittgeft was a little nervous: "Is it to pass through the middle of the enemy's armored ship formation and armored cruiser formation?" ”

"Yes."

"If it is discovered by both formations at the same time......"

"Then we'll fight."

Makarov said, with no expression on his face.

Wittgeft had a strong sense of foreboding, but there was nothing he could do, the shells were already discharged, and no amount of worry was to no avail.

Half an hour later, another group of Chinese torpedo boats pounced on the fleet, and after a fierce battle, the Russian destroyer "Barbarian" blocked a torpedo for the battleship "Sevastopol" and exploded into a brilliant ball of light, while the Chinese army had two torpedo boats of the Fourth Squadron turned into pieces of broken iron.

With a gloomy face, Makarov issued another order: "The whole ship turns 80 degrees to the north, and takes the compass 80 degrees to go at full speed!" ”

Wertgeft didn't dare to speak, he felt that the fleet had been caught in a large web that would hit it in either direction, and then a swarm of ugly spiders would jump over with excitement for a good meal.

At about 1 a.m. on the 29th, the Russian fleet was again torpedoed, and 10 Japanese torpedo boats braved the rain of shells to rush closer to the front of the main formation two or three hundred yards before firing torpedoes, with the result that six boats were sunk on the spot, one sank due to serious injuries during the return voyage, and the remaining three were also scarred, with most of the crew casualties. Two of the torpedoes fired hit the large cruiser "Thunderbolt" with a displacement of 13,880 tons, causing the ship's auxiliary gun ammunition compartment to explode, the compartment was flooded, the engine room was flooded, and the hull was gently tilted to the port side, and it completely sank at 2:43 a.m. under the watchful eyes of the crew of the Chinese light cruiser "Wuyu." In addition, the destroyer "Furious" became the substitute for the flagship "Petropavlovsk", with a torpedo in the nose and tail, and after two loud bangs, it disappeared without a trace, and none of the crew survived.

"The whole ship turned 67 degrees to the north, took the compass 13 degrees and traveled at half speed on the course ......"

Makarov's order surprised Wittgeft: "Why do you want to turn north?" Still want to slow down? ”

"I want to see how tight their net really is."

Wittgeft shuddered.

At 3:16 a.m., a Chinese destroyer suddenly appeared directly in front of the main Russian formation, twisted its ass and fled before the searchlights of the Russian ship gathered.

Half an hour later, the most terrifying torpedo attack of the night began, with eight boats of the 3rd Chinese Mineboat Squadron and 10 boats of the 1st Mineboat Squadron of the DPRK attacking simultaneously from two directions, while at the same time, 6 Chinese destroyers, led by a light cruiser, followed desperately and dispersed the Russian destroyers that were going to intercept the torpedo boats with heavy artillery fire.

The four torpedo boats of the Third Squadron of the Chinese Army bit the Russian battleship "Poltava" to the death, and rushed closer to a distance of less than 200 yards before firing the torpedoes; among them, the wheelhouse of the "Shan-5" was destroyed immediately after the torpedo was fired, and it rushed straight into the enemy ship at a high speed of more than 30 knots, and the torpedoes issued by the boat crashed into the heavy waterline armor belt of the "Poltava"; the other three boats were sunk by the artillery fire of other Russian warships in the process of disengagement, and only three of the nearly 100 crew members on all four boats survived. The "Poltava" hit three mines and was hit by a 70-ton torpedo boat at a speed of 30 knots, and the 10,960-ton hull quickly tilted, capsizing and sinking in less than a quarter of an hour, with 103 of the 627 crew members surviving.

The other Russian battleships were also heavily attacked, the flagship Petropavlovsk was attacked by four Chinese torpedo boats, and thanks to the timely support of the cruiser Diana and the destroyer Fury, Petropavlovsk sank one torpedo boat and drove away the other three, while dodging the four torpedoes that had swooped down on it from a distance of about 500 yards with a sharp turn of evasion.

The Chinese light cruiser "Gu Yu" led six destroyers of the Xuezi to circle around the main column of Russian ships and sank the Russian destroyer "Fast", and then forced by the fierce shelling of Russian battleships, they withdrew from the battlefield at full speed and disappeared into the night.

The attacks of the North Korean torpedo boat squadron did not achieve any results, and none of the torpedoes fired from a distance of seven or eight hundred yards hit, while the torpedo boat squadron suffered only minor losses.

Makarov ordered the shipwreck to be abandoned, and the whole ship turned to the compass 75-degree course and broke through to the Soya Strait at full speed.

Before dawn, a team of North Korean torpedo boats attacked the fleet again, paying the price of sinking one torpedo boat and slightly wounding two, but still no results were achieved.

In less than 24 hours, Makarov's fleet lost 1 battleship, 2 cruisers of the first rank, 2 light cruisers and as many as 9 destroyers, and at this time there were 6 battleships, 1 cruiser of the 1st rank and 7 destroyers continuing to carry out breakout operations under Makarov's direct command.

After the terrible "torpedo night", most of the Russian officers and soldiers were exhausted, everyone just wanted to sleep, and even Makarov could not help but yawn on the command platform.

The red morning sun leaps from the eastern sea horizon, and the golden sea shimmers in front of the Petropavlovsk, giving the impression that the sea is excitedly trying to swallow something – especially in Wittgeft.

At 8:20 a.m. on November 29, the Commander Tower of the USS St. Regis, the flagship of the Combined Fleet, was heavily armoured.

"The cruiser 'Kasuga' spotted a large formation of enemy ships, located in ......"

After listening to the report of adjutant Ye Fei, Lin Tai once compared the chart twice, and flicked the chart with his index finger and said: "They have been running very hard all night, it seems that they are going to Zonggu or the Strait of Tatars, no matter what, they will be stopped during the day today, and it will be difficult to do things if they are delayed for another night." ”

An urgent voice jumped out of the microphone connected to the command station on the ship's surface: "A large formation of enemy ships has been detected in front of the port side, heading 75 and 200 at a distance!" ”

Sa Zhenbing, who was still sleepy-eyed, immediately commented: "After tossing all night, they only pulled 2,000 yards away, which is already good......

Lin Tai once grabbed the microphone next to the microphone and asked eagerly: "Have you found my uniformed patrol?" ”

The answer that popped up from the microphone was a crisp "No." ”

"Look closely!"

"Understood!"

Lin Tai once threw away the microphone and turned to Ye Fei with an innocent face: "Adjutant Ye!" ”

"In!"

"Send a telegram to inquire about the location of the patrol team!"

"Understood!"

As soon as Ye Fei turned around, a voice jumped out of the microphone again: "Report, confirm that the enemy formation is 6 battleships, 1 cruiser, and 7 expulsions." ”

Lin Tai once grabbed the microphone: "I know the way, I'll come up." ”

Sa Zhenbing was a little uneasy: "Do you still want to go up above to command?" In fact, you can also ...... in the command tower."

"The commander tower is more suitable for keeping jewelry, I am not jewelry, I, Lin Taizeng, Vice Admiral of the Imperial Navy, commander of the Combined Fleet, want to go to the command platform to witness the destruction of the Russian Pacific Fleet with my own eyes."

"Then I'll go ...... too"

Lin Tai once stretched out his left index finger and pointed at him: "You stay, help me look at the charts, and contact me at any time." ”

"But ......"

"Don't mother-in-law, that's not like you."

A quarter of an hour later, Brigadier General Ma Shengyu, commander of the patrol, sent a reply to Lin Taizeng.

Lin Taizeng rubbed his hands excitedly: "In this position...... Very good, it will be stopped in another two hours, Adjutant Ye! ”

"In!"

"Send a telegram to the commander of the mounted patrol horse and tell him that he must do everything possible to delay the free movement of the enemy's capital ship formation until our warship formation brings the enemy ships into range."

"Understood!"

At 10:20 on the 29th, the armored cruiser "Fuiyun" hung the commodore flag of Ma Shengyu and led five ships of the same class, "Caiyun", "Lingyun", "Baoyun", "Baiyun", and "Xiangyun", as well as two Japanese armored cruisers "Fuji" and "Yakumo", at a speed of 20 knots, interspersed in front of the Russian main fleet, and seized the T-shaped crosshead position with a compass 330-degree course, and at a distance of eight or nine thousand yards, the 305 mm and 203 mm main guns of each ship were fired one after another. 400-kilogram and 113-kilogram explosive shells roared out one after another, raising terrifying columns of water tens of meters high around the Russian ship.

"Turn north to course 355, and the whole ship will counterattack!"

Makarov's order was quickly carried out, the Russian capital ships turned together, inserted at a 25-degree angle to the allied patrol, and then returned fire with the main guns, the muzzles of the 305 mm and 254 mm main guns emitted beautiful flashes and ethereal smoke, 330 kg and 255 kg blasting shells rushed out of the gun chambers at a muzzle velocity of more than 600 meters per second, tearing through the air, and whistling towards the Chinese cruiser about five nautical miles away, after several rounds of calibration, a large-caliber shell hit the weak upper deck of the "Baoyun", The upper half of the No. 1 chimney was torn off and a fire was set out that was too easy for all the crew.

At the same time, before the formation of Russian warships completed the turn, the flagship "Petropavlovsk" had already eaten two 305-mm explosive shells, several secondary guns on the starboard side failed, a chimney was damaged, and the ship caught fire, but it was quickly controlled. The "Sevastopol", which followed closely behind, was also hit by two large-caliber shells, the backmast collapsed, the rear chimney was destroyed, and thick black smoke spread across the ship's surface.

Just as the Russian battleship rushed up with great momentum to prepare for a decisive battle with the Chinese cruiser, the signal flag was raised on the front mainmast of the "Blowing Cloud": "The whole ship turns 90 degrees to the right and disengages at full speed." ”

The 8 armored cruisers immediately turned at full speed and left the Russian battleship far behind the ass with a speed advantage of 3 knots.

The Chief of Staff of the Russian Army on the "Petropavlovsk", Vitgeft, was beside Makarov, shook his head and muttered to himself: "There has begun, they intend to tease us like this all the time so that their armored ships can catch up and throw piles of shells on our heads." ”

Makarov glanced at him with a solemn expression: "We still have a chance, those cruisers, but naked barbarians with sharp blades, can't be wrong, we can defeat them, break through their weak cobwebs, hold on until tonight, we will have a chance to break through the Soya Strait, even if all the destroyers and cruisers are sacrificed, I will bring all the remaining armored ships to Cam Ranh Bay, as long as these armored ships are there, the Pacific Fleet will still exist, and the Pacific Ocean will still have the share of the Russian Empire...... Summon, turn back to course 75, and sail at full speed to the Soya Strait! ”

Seeing that the Russian ship formation had returned to its original route, Brigadier General Ma Shengyu twisted his gray-black mustache and gave a leisurely order: "The whole ship turns south to course 165 and prepares for artillery battle!" ”

This time, the patrol team switched to cutting the course of the Russian ship from north to south, once again seized the T-shaped cross-head position, fired the main guns again, and launched an attack. Accurate firepower was concentrated on the Russian flagship "Petropavlovsk", and multiple large-caliber explosive shells hit continuously, blowing up the superstructure of the "Petropavlovsk" to a mess. A string of shell fragments and hull fragments swept across the exposed command platform, knocking down the commander of the Russian fleet, Vice Admiral Makarov, and the chief of staff who was close to him, Wittegeft, was miraculously unscathed, but Wirtgeft did not feel lucky at all, he lifted Makarov's head in a little panic and shouted around: "Doctor! Where is the doctor! The commander was shot! ”

A bloodied hand clasped Wittgeft's shoulder: "Don't shout so loudly, it will affect morale. ”

"Commander, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, but I can't move my legs, and my chest is still a little stuffy."

Makarov smiled, a large patch of red on his chest, and his thighs showed torn muscles.

A few minutes later, Makarov took his last breath, and his soul, left the "Petropavlovsk", left the fleet for which he had been working for several years, left the sea, and flew towards the unknowable other. The famous general, who was unanimously praised by both warring parties after the war, died like a warrior.

It suddenly dawned on Wittgeft that the glorious sea he had seen in the morning sun seemed to be about to swallow up something called "hope."

"It's a hopeless sea, it burns because it swallows the sun, it swallows hope, it swallows me."

- Wittgeft, God's Feast

At 11:25 a.m. on November 29, the Petropavlovsk raised the signal flag: "The commander is killed!" ”

A few minutes later, the ship "Sevastopol", the seat of the deputy commander of the Russian Pacific Fleet, Rear Admiral Sdalk, raised the signal flag: "This ship has automatically become the flagship." ”

The battleship "Sevastopol", flying the flag of Rear Admiral Sdarke, immediately accelerated out of the ranks, rushed to the forefront of the battleship column, and began to perform flagship functions.

At this time, the allied patrol began to turn back again, trying to cut to the forward of the Russian ship again, seize the T-shaped cross-head position to carry out artillery bombardment, but the "Baoyun" was directly hit by at least three large-caliber shells before, the surface of the ship was on fire, the engine room was damaged, and it faltered, and it fell behind the most column for a while. Seeing that the opportunity was rare, Stark immediately ordered all ships to adjust their course and concentrate fire on "Baoyun"; for a while, the cannon roared, the fire was shining, and more than a dozen large-caliber naval guns shot out one after another tall water columns around "Baoyun", and from time to time a stunning fireball broke out between the water columns, mixed with human flesh and bones and steel fragments scattered and splashed in all directions. In less than a quarter of an hour, "Baoyun" completely lost all its functions as a warship and became a crematorium that slowly slid to the bottom of the sea.

At about 12 o'clock, the 10,500-ton armored cruiser "Baoyun" sank, the largest tonnage warship sunk by the East Asian coalition forces since the beginning of the war, and only 61 of the 647 officers and men on board survived.

Brigadier General Ma Shengyu, commander of the patrol team, was heartbroken to see the "Baoyun" disappear into the sea, rubbed his chin and bowed his head, and said, "One was eaten...... It's still within the range of bearing, and the battlefleet is about to follow, hold on a little longer...... Herald! Turn 90 degrees to the left and get ready for your fourth crosshead attack! ”

At a distance of about 10,000 yards from Brigadier General Ma Shengyu's flagship "Blowing Cloud", Rear Admiral Sdarke's flagship "Sevastopol" was already in shambles, with multiple bullets in the superstructure, the rear chimney and mast collapsed, the fire was raging, and the military band and the chef were engaged in extinguishing the fire. In addition, the front main turret was directly hit by a large-caliber shell, although it was not penetrated, but the huge explosion force shattered the electric steering system, and the turret could not turn, which was almost equivalent to losing combat effectiveness.

In the midst of the chaos, the lieutenant of the Governor-General of the Far East, Alekseev, crowded into the podium under the smoke and flames, and conveyed to the acting commander Sdark the governor's request: "Since it is clear that the breakthrough is no longer possible, I hope to lead the fleet back to Vladivostok." ”

"Tell the Governor that I am doing this, but please make sure he understands that it is impossible for us to move a single step out of the enemy's encirclement without the help of fog or night."

Stark knew in his heart that with his ability, it was impossible to organize a fleet to break out, and even to escape back to the military port of Vladivostok, but for the sake of his reputation and even his life, he had to try his best.

"The order was given, the whole ship turned to course 350, gave up the breakout, and prepared to withdraw to the military port."

The Russian ship was ordered to start turning, and Commodore Ma Shengyu on the "Blowing Cloud" saw this scene, thinking that the Russian ship was going to turn to a course parallel to his own column to carry out a broadside artillery battle, and hurriedly ordered the remaining seven ships of the patrol team to turn around and turn around together to avoid the Russian ship's artillery fire.

Lin Tai, the commander of the Combined Fleet on the "St. Regis", had keenly noticed this: "The enemy has turned around, good opportunity!" The whole ship turns to course 320 and prepares to intercept the course of the enemy ship! ”

Sa Zhenbing, the chief of staff on the side, was a little worried: "Suddenly turn around and come back, will there be other attempts?" ”

Lin Tai once said disapprerovingly: "Even if there are other attempts, our patrol team can still catch them again...... Adjutant Ye, distance? ”

“170！”

"Very good, the order, the whole ship will move forward at maximum speed, and prepare to engage the enemy battleship forces!"

After giving the order, Lin Tai suddenly realized something, and suddenly turned to Sa Zhenbing: "I seem to have said that I want you to keep in touch with me in the commander of your command......

"I can keep in touch with you here......"

"And who's going to see the charts?"

"That's the intelligence and operations staff thing."

Lin Taizeng smiled slightly, and moved his gaze to the thick black pillars of smoke and the large and small gray-black ship shadows on the sea antenna.

At 13:35, the distance between the warship columns of the two sides was shortened to 11,000 yards, and in addition, the allied patrol column was closely following the left rear of the Russian battleship column at a distance of about 10,000 yards, and the Chinese fleet had formed a two-sided attack on the Russian fleet.

At this moment, Sdarke's flagship "Sevastopol" suddenly turned to course 170, leading the five warships behind him to try to protrude from the gap between the Chinese military patrol and the battle fleet at maximum speed, which is also the combat plan formulated by Vice Admiral Makarov, who died three hours ago.

Seeing the Russian ship suddenly turn south, Lin Taizeng smiled coldly: "It seems that I purely want to delay time, see how long you can delay...... Herald! The patrol team quickly intercepted the course of the enemy ship...... The team turned back to course 175 and continued to pursue the enemy fleet! ”

Sa Zhenbing was a little uneasy: "The enemy's intentions seem to be very confused, turning around, where are they going to run......"

"Whatever, he can't escape anyway, this time he must eat it all in one go!"

Two hours later, with the efforts of the patrol team, the Chinese warfleet finally included the Russian ship in the effective range of the main gun, at a distance of 9,000 yards, the two twin 305 mm main guns in the front of the battleship "Rigi" opened fire first, and a few minutes later, the front main guns of several electric battleships were also fired one after another, and the Russian ships returned fire with the main guns one after another, and in front of the Russian ship's column, seven armored cruisers had already set up a position, ready to attack the Russian fleet head-on, and everything seemed to have been fulfilled by the wishes of the Chinese army- Conduct a decisive battle in the daylight against the enemy's main formation, which had been weakened by torpedo attacks.

"I found that the enemy expelled 5, and I broke away from the team and rushed over!"

Lin Tai once heard the observer's report, and said disapprovingly: "They are all here to find death, and the order, the expulsion team and the cruiser team directly under this team will come out to meet the enemy's lightning strike troops!" This team continues to advance and pursue the enemy's main formation! ”

After receiving the flagship's order, the eight destroyers of the 2nd Destroyer Squadron, which were originally in the front left of the battleship column, quickly interspersed between the capital ships and rushed towards the enemy destroyers, followed by four light cruisers of the 4th Squadron Yuzi to support them. The Chinese warship formation, while easily dodging the torpedoes fired by the enemy destroyers from a long distance, continued to advance at full speed, and the tall water column continued to rise around the two battleship formations, making many reserve sailors who were on the battlefield for the first time feel like a dream.

At 16:05, the "Sevastopol" raised the signal flag: "All ships return!" ”

After firing the torpedoes, the Russian destroyers and units dared to engage the overwhelmingly superior Chinese destroyers, hurriedly retreated, and retreated to the protection of the secondary guns of their own capital ships.

A few minutes later, the allied patrol of the allied forces sailing forward in the Russian ship formation began to fire their main guns continuously, and the fire of 20 305 mm/40 times diameter cannons and 8 203 mm/45 times diameter guns swept towards the two Russian ships "Sevastopol" and "Petropavlovsk" at the head. The "Sevastopol", which had damaged the front main turret a few hours earlier, was powerless, dozens of large-caliber shells were fired in a row, the command platform and the front mainmast collapsed together, the chimney was completely destroyed, the superstructure was turned into a sea of fire, the bullet holes on the side of the ship continued to pour into the seawater, and the hull of the ship was shrouded in thick clouds and smoke and slowly sank. Rear Admiral Sdarke, who was in charge of the Sevastopol, was seriously wounded and transferred to the destroyer "Flexible", which approached at the risk, and Alekseyev, who was unscathed, was also carried on board the "Flexible" in a panic with his family. By 18:55, the "Sevastopol" sank completely, and 197 of the 654 people on board survived.

While turning to evade, the "Petropavlovsk" returned fire with its main guns, hitting the flagship of the coalition uniform patrol "Blowing Cloud" several times, causing the ship to catch fire, and was forced to temporarily withdraw from the battle, and the flying shrapnel also injured the lower leg of Brigadier General Ma Shengyu, commander of the coalition uniformed patrol. However, at this time, the "Rigi", the general flagship of the combined fleet at the forefront of the Chinese warship column, had already been included in the effective firing range of the main guns of the "Petropavlovsk", and after the allied patrol team finished solving the "Sevastopol", it concentrated its firepower and slammed the "Petropavlovsk", and soon the 11,354-ton giant ship was turned into a ball of burning scrap metal, and the chief of staff of the Russian Pacific Fleet, Rear Admiral Wittgeft, who was sitting on the ship, hid in the heavy armored command tower early and was not injured in the battle. After the Chinese artillery fire was sparse, he and his entourage took Makarov's body and transferred it to the destroyer "Minenit" that came to the rescue, and then quickly rushed to the successor battleship "Dawn", where he hoisted his rear admiral's flag and took over the command of the fleet. By 19:30, the Petropavlovsk, the former flagship of the Pacific Fleet, had completely sunk into the icy Sea of Japan, with 441 people on board, including the former fleet commander Vice Admiral Makarov, killed and another 215 rescued - most of them captured.

At the moment when he watched his flag raised, some inexplicable excitement flashed through Wittgeft's mind.

At present, there are only four warships left in the Pacific Fleet that are still active, and all of their main guns are eight 305 mm cannons and the same number of 254 mm cannons, which is completely inferior in firepower, however, the remaining four warships can all reach a maximum speed of eighteen knots, which is higher than the maximum speed of the three battleships that were sunk on their side, and also one section higher than the maximum speed of all Chinese warships.

"So what?"

Wittgeft muttered to himself, subconsciously looking at the blurred horizon of the sea in the east, and suddenly felt that God was standing before him, and kindly told him that he was saved.