One after another, the warships flying the St. Andrew's flag drove weakly in front of the British, and under the protection of the rice flag, the officers and men of the Royal Navy talked a lot.

"Fortieth ship...... Is it the last one? It seems that there is no more in the back? ”

"I heard that the German coal ships that supplied the fleet fled without a trace before entering the Strait of Nicobar......"

"After the Anambas and Natuna Islands, it's a battlefield...... That commander really had courage, I think the Chinese are waiting for them just north of the Natuna Islands. ”

"I don't think the Chinese have the strength and courage to do this, anyway, we see a powerful Russian fleet - although there is a lot of scrap metal in it."

"The Chinese should be in the Formosa (Taiwan) Strait, where they can be supported by torpedo boat units and air forces - think about the five or six hundred feet long air monsters described in the newspapers!"

"Or think about what the Russians can do, they really plan to fight a decisive battle with the Chinese?"

"It's not a good idea for them, but it's a good thing for the world, and China and Russia, both of them, will help bring peace to the world – especially in the Far East."

“…… In the event of a decisive battle on the high seas, the Russians would probably lose more than two-thirds of their battleships and armored cruisers, while a third of the Chinese capital ships would be sunk or incapacitated, and in the event of a decisive battle in the Formosa Strait, the Russians would probably be completely annihilated, Chinese could pay the price of a quarter of the capital ship losses......"

"Anyway, we have a good show to watch......"

Before the Russian destroyer "Fierce" left the east entrance of the strait, a cruiser flying the blue and white flag of the Chinese Imperial Navy with a red background and a gold dragon sailed into the west entrance of the strait in full view of everyone.

There was a commotion among the British.

"Are the Chinese crazy?"

"Do they want to provoke a fight here? It's a forbidden place in the British Empire! ”

"Aim at them!"

The commander of the fleet gave the order, and the guns on the British ship turned to the Chinese cruiser.

After a while, the Chinese cruiser sent out a light signal and reported the name and intention of the ship: "The Chinese Navy's 'Chaofeng' has no intention of provoking your country by following the Russian fleet here, let alone provoking a war here." ”

Only then did the British relax their minds and once again watch the excitement as they watched more than 10 warships flying the naval flags of China, Japan, and the DPRK, including the "Chaofeng," sail past the midpoint of the strait.

Unlike the surprise of the British, the Russians, although they clearly saw the East Asian Alliance warships behind their butts, were almost numb, because these "iron coffins full of yellow people" had been following them for three whole days, and although they could temporarily escape from tracking at night, the enemy ships would wander outside the range of their battleships' main guns shortly after dawn...... Like "a swarm of cowardly and despicable flies".

On the bridge of the "Duke Suvorov", the commander of the fleet, Vice Admiral Rozhestvensky, sat expressionlessly on his beloved mahogany chair, he was not in despair, but he looked like a poor calf pulled up to the altar.

Six hours earlier, he had learned from a telegram from the Russian consulate in Singapore that the First Pacific Fleet had been destroyed in Vladivostok, that is, the dream of joining the First Pacific Fleet had been shattered, and that the Second Pacific Fleet, which had sailed nearly 15,000 nautical miles, would have to face the powerful Combined Fleet of the East Asian Alliance alone with its own strength.

Rozhestvensky immediately called a meeting of the commanders of the detachments to discuss the future direction of the fleet, and they had four ways out:

The first is to turn around and return home, but at this time the German coal ships accompanying the fleet have disappeared, and the British ports along the way have refused to allow Russian ships to enter the port to refuel in the name of neutrality, and the Russian ships must cross the Indian Ocean again without supplies to return to the nearest supply station, the island of Be, Madagascar, out of consideration of reality and a sense of honor, the participants unanimously opposed this proposal, and the words of Colonel Vasilye, the captain of the armored battleship "Navarin", represent the thoughts of most of the officers: " We have overcome many difficulties to circumnavigate most of the world, and if this voyage of suffering is only to turn around and make an equally painful voyage in the opposite direction before approaching the end, then the Imperial Russian Navy will henceforth become the laughing stock of the entire civilizational world and even the barbaric world! ”。

The second way was to dismantle the fleet and auction it off as a last resort, in accordance with the private instructions of the Admiral Havelan to Rozhestvensky at the time of departure, and the officers and men returned home on ordinary merchant ships, which was obviously even more unacceptable and humiliating for most naval officers with a sense of honor!

The third way was to continue northward, and after replenishing the coal in Cam Ranh Bay in French Indochina, the combat mission to rescue Vladivostok was opposed by the majority: since the First Pacific Fleet had been destroyed, and according to the consulate in Singapore, the main forces of the army had been forced to retreat to the Baikal line, and the rescue of Vladivostok by land had become an almost impossible task, that is, the fall of Vladivostok was only a matter of time, and it was completely impossible to have any further backups. It has become meaningless for the Second Pacific Fleet to continue to Vladivostok - even if the fleet succeeds in reaching Vladivostok, it is destined to follow in the footsteps of the First Pacific Fleet and be exhausted by the blockade and attack on the enemy's land, sea and air.

The last road is not a road...... Regardless of the 3721, we will first sail to Cam Ranh Bay, where we will ask the friendly French to replenish the fleet with coal, and at the same time borrow the French telegraph system to communicate with the country, and wait for further definite orders. It was expected that the crossing would be intercepted by the East Asian coalition forces to a certain extent, but as long as there was a firm determination to get rid of the entanglement of the enemy's small forces and quickly move into the protection of the French navy, the enemy would have to take the risk of war with France if it wanted to pursue it, and if France were involved in the war, it might be able to change the situation of Russia in this war......

After some deliberation, the officers were about to raise their hands to vote, and the Russian consul at the Singapore consulate forwarded a telegram from the Tsar to Rozhestvensky, in which he ordered Rozhestvensky to lead the fleet to Cam Ranh Bay in France to rest and recuperate, the French Navy would send a strong fleet to meet the waters near the mouth of the Mekong River, the Second Pacific Fleet should overcome all difficulties to enter French waters, and the base camp would issue a final order to the Second Pacific Fleet by June 30 at the latest. The 2nd Pacific Fleet should be ready for all sailing, including to Vladivostok.

"In other words, His Majesty himself does not know whether to let the fleet return or continue north, and at this time he can only act on orders - it is the Tsar himself who gives the order."

With this in mind, Rozhestvensky finally decided that the fleet would first cross the Singapore Strait in columns, and then pass through the Jemaja Channel between the Malay Peninsula and the Anambas Islands in a combat formation, and go north along the 104th parallel of east longitude to meet the French fleet in the waters near the mouth of the Mekong River, a total distance of about 500 nautical miles (more than 900 kilometers), which could be completed in 48 hours at the average speed of the fleet at 11 knots.

By this time, the fleet had sailed out of the Singapore Strait and began to change formation.

According to the battle plan that has been prepared long ago, the first formation, which includes 14 capital ships, is personally commanded by Rozhestvensky, and the first formation is divided into three detachments: the first detachment is commanded by Rozhestvensky himself, including four new battleships "Duke Suvorov" (flagship), "Borodino", "Emperor Alexander III", "Orel" and two new armored cruisers "Varyag" and "Rulik"; The second detachment was commanded by the deputy commander, Rear Admiral Nebogatov, and included the battleships "Oslyavia" (flagship), "Sisoy•Viliki", "Navarin" and the old armored cruiser "Admiral Nakhimov"; The third detachment was commanded by Rear Admiral Flekelsham and included the old battleship "Emperor Alexander II" (flagship), the coastal defense ships "Admiral Xeniavin", "Admiral Apraksin" and "Admiral Ushakov". The cruiser detachment under the command of Rear Admiral Enkvest consisted of two large new cruisers "Oleg" (flagship) and "Guangming", two old armored cruisers, and four fast light cruisers "Aurora", "Emerald", "Diamond" and "Pearl". In addition, there are 8 destroyers and 10 auxiliary ships.

Rozhestvensky on the bridge silently stared at the ships in the fleet that were constantly changing positions, hope and despair written in his pupils at the same time.

It was nearly noon.

At 5 degrees 33 minutes north latitude and 105 degrees 14 minutes east longitude, the 1st Squadron of the main force of the East Asian Combined Fleet was marching south in a column at a distance of 500 yards.

"It's hot ......"

The scorching tropical June sun was so hot that it was almost like the steel was also sunburned, and even as he sailed in the wind at a speed of 14 knots, Vice Admiral Lin Taizeng, the commander of the Combined Fleet on the open-air command platform of the "Ruixiang", was already sweating, but even so, he still straightened up, refusing to unbutton even a button on his snow-white and straight coat.

Lieutenant Colonel Ye Fei, the commander's adjutant, walked behind Lin Taizeng with a pu fan, and was about to use the fan, but Lin Taizeng saw it at a glance, and waved his hand again and again to refuse: "It's not a system, take it back quickly." ”

It was the captain of the ship, Colonel Hong Feng, who was clever and urgently ordered the sail cable team to set up a canvas canopy on the open-air command platform, which slightly relieved the commander's heat.

"The enemy is in our south, and he must be more uncomfortable than us now......" Rear Admiral Sa Zhenbing, the chief of staff of the fleet, kept wiping his sweat with a white silk handkerchief, his heat resistance seemed to be below Lin Taizeng.

"It's okay, it's better to be so hot that even the sea is boiling...... Soon, boiling sea, just ahead......"

The rumbling sound of an aero engine completely drowned out Lin Taizeng's words behind him, and the two looked up to see that a "Dian J" seaplane with a fusiform pontoon was whizzing past the flagship's mast, and the golden dragon logo on the side of the fuselage was dazzling in the sun......