On July 3, when the morning sun rose from the sea again, Yang Yonglin's fleet of the Huaxia Navy finally narrowed the distance to the point where it could launch an attack after nearly a week of tracking. According to the calculations of the Huaxia fleet, at this time, Yang Yonglin's fleet was only a little more than half an hour's range from the opponent's fast fleet, and it could include the enemy in the range of its own naval guns. But because of the lighting and position. The Russian Rapid Fleet didn't seem to notice that Yang Yonglin's fleet had sneaked in so close to them. Or did the Russians find out, but have a backhand?

The Huaxia fleet was making the last preparations, bags of fine sand were spread on the deck, and various first-aid kits and medicines were also sent to the battle position. To plug the gaps and fire extinguishers have been distributed, and hospitals are ready to receive the wounded. And all items that are easy to fall are also tied up or put away. In the dark, the Chinese Navy may have realized that this would be the last large-scale engagement, they had already repaired the Russians twice in the Java Sea, and this time they planned to finish the battle!

Just when Yang Yonglin was about to give the order to attack, a telegram suddenly arrived interrupting Yang Yonglin's plan, and a light cruiser on a guard mission in the southeast direction found huge columns of smoke, which should be a powerful fleet according to calculations. And in this case, the only possible thing is another fleet of the Russians, the 6 battleships under the command of Essen are really in the southwest, and this fleet should be Makanov's main fleet, which is in the southeast, so on. These two fleets are like a giant pincer. And in the middle of the pliers is the Huaxia fleet commanded by Yang Yonglin! From a formal point of view, the Huaxia Navy may fall into the opponent's pincer offensive at any time. The situation is somewhat beyond Yang Yonglin's estimate.

At this time, Essen was a little smug. With the help of British merchant ships, Essen succeeded in estimating the course of the Chinese navy. And after constantly estimating the distance, he calculated that the opponent would attack him in the near future. And when it was determined that the two Longxing-class battleships and the two Longxu-class battlecruisers of the Huaxia Navy did not appear in the fleet, he felt that there was a great opportunity in front of him. It is not an exaggeration to say that there is even a chance of a comeback. In this area, Russia has 10 capital ships, while the other side has only 5 capital ships and 2 secondary capital ships. Of course, the number of auxiliary warships on the other side is indeed large, but Essen believes that this is the first time that the heavy artillery firepower of the Russian Navy has completely overwhelmed the other side. If you can't win this time, then there will definitely be no better chance than this one in the future!

And this campaign, planned by Essen, was approved by Makanov. After coordination, the two fleets decided to deploy near the Dongsha Islands. The two fleets are deployed on the left and on the right, and in order to prevent the other side from detecting and escaping. The Essen fleet will first engage the enemy and hold the opponent back, and then the Makanov fleet will go up to meet the enemy, and even if it cannot completely destroy the opponent's high-speed fleet, at least two slow-moving battleships will be left. But the plan is good. But at this time, the distance between the two sides is still relatively far. In addition, the other side has an absolute advantage in auxiliary warships, if the Huaxia Navy chooses to evacuate, the Russian fleet really has no choice.

"What should we do if the Huaxia fleet withdraws?" Essen asked before the war. "If the Huaxia Navy chooses to retreat, then we also choose to retreat. We will withdraw to Batavia and leave again before the Chinese Navy carries out the blockade operation. Makanov thought for a moment and said. In fact, this time, Makanov did not expect much from the battle, because they thought that the Huaxia fleet would not choose to fight. In his view, the Huaxia Navy is more inclined to gain superiority on the battlefield through rigorous and careful strategic deployment. Usually they play each other in an advantageous situation, and it is not often that they play against a disadvantage. Therefore, Makanov deduced that Yang Yonglin would most likely choose to evacuate rather than fight.

But Makanov is not Yang Yonglin after all, and his understanding is also misunderstood. Although the Huaxia fleet tends to gain advantages through careful strategic deployment. However, it does not mean that the Huaxia fleet can only fight in advantageous situations. In the Huaxia Navy, there are two naval battles with the highest evaluation, the first is the battle between Xu Jie led three 5,000-ton cruisers and the Japanese fast fleet led by Tsuboi Kozo off the coast of Izu, in this battle, the tonnage of the fleet led by Xu Jie is not even half of the opponent's. However, it was a draw. On the other hand, the old Beiyang Fleet fought for the main force of the Japanese Combined Fleet in Gunsan Bay, although it did not win, but it inflicted heavy losses on the opponent in the case of disadvantage. Although the two battleships did not achieve overwhelming superiority on the battlefield, they paved the way for subsequent victories, because the Japanese navy was severely damaged in both battles, allowing the Huaxia Navy to survive the difficult period before the armored cruisers returned.

Even now Xu Jie no longer holds the post of Huaxia Navy. But with Xu Jie's involvement, the Huaxia Navy is still looking forward to it. This is not only because Xu Jie is the prime minister, but more importantly, the Huaxia Navy believes that victory can be achieved under his leadership. Xu Jie has been vigorously supporting Yang Yonglin, hoping that he can really be independent. However, Yang Yonglin still did not achieve a victory like the Battle of Izu or the Battle of Gunsan Bay as a footnote. That kind of keen grasp of fighters, Yang Yonglin has never really done.

After obtaining the location information of the Russian fleet, Yang Yonglin did not make a decision immediately, but carefully analyzed the situation. Russia was divided into two fleets, and the forces were evenly divided, and after handing over the two French battleships to Essen, although the combat effectiveness increased, the speed was also slowed down. In terms of firepower, the combat effectiveness of the Essen fleet is still weaker than that of Makanov's main fleet. And the last Russian fast battleship Catherine is the weakness of this battle group, not to mention the flagship of Essen, plus it is a mixed Russian-Dutch fleet. Once the flagship is destroyed, there will be chaos between the Russian fleet and the Dutch fleet. The Dutch and Russians will not listen to each other's commands. And if you take advantage of the lightning strike at this time, the opponent's formation is likely to be completely scattered. And if one side of the formation collapses first in a fleet battle, and it is still the weaker side, then the result must be very tragic!

And judging by the current situation. Its own 7 battleships are an absolute advantage over 6 warships of the Russian Navy, and there is also an armored cruiser Varyag in the Russian Navy. Its ships of the same class were all seconded cargo in the face of the Scharnhorst. As the weakest dreadnought in the Sino-Russian War, the Catherine was relatively poor in both attack and defense. It is still highly possible to hit it badly and then sink it by lightning strike. If you can inflict heavy damage on the opponent or break up the opponent's formation before the Makanov fleet arrives. Then even if Makanov arrives, the Chinese Navy can fight or go.

"General, General Lin Yongsheng's 2 Longxu-class battlecruisers will arrive at the battlefield in 1 hour, and they are now sailing towards the battlefield at a high speed of 24 knots, as long as we can hold out for an hour, the offensive and defensive momentum on the battlefield will inevitably change." At this time, Deng Shichang's words strengthened Yang Yonglin's determination to fight! Reinforcements arrived soon. Even if the plan failed, Yang Yonglin was sure to lead the fleet to retreat. It is impossible to fight a war without courage, but it is necessary to distinguish the situation. Yang Yonglin really wants to prove himself with a clean victory. But only if the safety of the fleet comes first.

In just 15 minutes, Yang Yonglin, Deng Shichang, Lin Taizeng, and other officers of the Chinese Navy had already drawn up a temporary operational plan. This plan was later regarded by naval officers and naval researchers of various countries as "the earliest and best tactical coordination in the history of dreadnought warfare". In this battle, the Huaxia Navy integrated every warship into the entire combat plan, and the coordination between the capital ship and the frigate was seamless. The timing of the entry into battle of the various detachments was very appropriate. And the coordination of various tactics basically achieved the desired goal, so that in the battle, it only took less than half an hour to successfully dismember the Essen fleet.

"Let's get started!" With Yang Yonglin's lieutenant general's flag raised on the battleship Longtai, the Huaxia fleet quickly began to change formations, and the huge fleet was directly divided into three teams, of which the fleet composed of three Longtai-class battleships, two Longteng-class battleships and two Scharnhorst-class pocket battlecruisers rushed to the Russian army in a single column, and then, two light cruiser formations accompanied the right side of the main fleet. Located in the right front of the main fleet. And the remaining dozen or so mine-striking ships followed in the left rear of the main fleet.

The entire approach route of the Chinese fleet was at an angle of 30 degrees to the course of the Russian fleet. The two fleets were in a state of hedging, and the distance between the two sides was rapidly approaching. And the formation of the Huaxia Navy also made some doubts appear in Essen's heart. It stands to reason that during the engagement between capital ships, auxiliary warships will only enter the battlefield under certain circumstances. For example, when it is necessary to release smoke or lightning strikes to cover the fleet's maneuvering, otherwise these vulnerable warships will usually stay on the non-combating side to avoid losses, but depending on the current situation. However, the Chinese fleet seemed to have the intention of letting these light cruisers take the lead. And in the right front of the main fleet, it is clear that it will affect the maneuver of the main fleet. The Russians, on the other hand, were able to turn smoothly and pull out of the line to exert their firepower.

Essen was now confused, but he was sure that his fleet was small and that he could definitely turn ahead of his opponents. And then pull out a line of battle perpendicular to the opponent directly in front of the opponent, and under the fire of 6 of their own battleships, it is inevitable that the opposing fleet's light cruiser fleet will be crushed, as for the launch of torpedoes? In the absence of fire cover from the capital battleships, the light cruiser was not suicidal in launching a lightning strike on the capital fleet. And the subsequent deployment of the Huaxia fleet will definitely be half a beat slower, that is to say, the opponent's battleships will turn in front of their own guns, and all 7 battleships will be fired in turn! This is a disaster for the Huaxia fleet!

Essen even doubted the other party's IQ at this time, and the two sides could just pull off the battle line and bombard each other? Then it was enough to cover the light cruisers and torpedo boats from time to time to launch lightning strikes. This is the safest and easiest way to act. Why did the Huaxia Fleet have to adopt this seemingly death-seeking tactic? Essen's idea would have come to the mind of almost any admiral who had chosen a safe tactic. However, the problem is that under the battlefield conditions at that time, this seemingly safe tactic was actually a slow suicide, and this kind of battle based solely on strength and the quality of officers and soldiers would generally be very long. And after a long time, by the time the Makanov fleet arrives, Yang Yonglin will definitely be defeated!

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