Tsushima Strait.

The sea breeze swept past the bow of the ship, and although the huge iron anchor had been lowered, the Kuroshio current still made the battleship rise and fall, moving little by little.

The sky, black and oppressive, thick clouds obscured all the starlight, even if it wasn't for the partners not far away, if it weren't for the rose-red formation lights still on, I'm afraid they wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

From the outside, the fleet that had just finished shelling Vladivostok seemed to be asleep, and the huge hull slowly rose and fell with the waves. Only the narrow air window of the command tower under the bridge of the Polaris still shone a little.

But only when you go deep into the ship's body, will you find that this 10,000-ton battleship that has been marked by the navies of various countries is still full of vitality and vitality.

The telegraph cabin, which was only one cabin away from the command tower, was filled with ticking sounds, and busy officers would glance at it from time to time, or prick up their ears to listen to the crisp tapping sound, with proud smiles on their faces.

Yes, proud!

Although there have been many problems with signals since the application of radio, and the proportion of failures and damages is even more alarming, everyone must admit that it is precisely because of its emergence that the Pacific Army is quietly entering the ranks of military leaders!

Perhaps there are still flaws in the design and construction of warships, perhaps there are still difficulties in the materials of naval guns, or the armor is not as thick as in Europe and the United States, but with the use of radio, with the use of new technologies such as steam turbines and new oil-fired boilers in the future, the Pacific Fleet is quietly undergoing qualitative changes.

When the fleet was first established five years ago, no one would have imagined that one day, sitting in a warship, he would be able to command warships across the oceans and scattered in various seas.

Now, standing here, they can not only know the news hundreds of nautical miles away, but they can even contact the staff headquarters and modify their tactics according to the intelligence at any time.

Moreover, what excites them the most is that so far only the Pacific Army has mastered radio technology, which is still exclusive!

Of course, the increasing pressure and thirst for the increasing way of warfare began to change quietly after the advent of radio, making every officer who experienced it feel even less knowledgeable, and they all know that if they want to become a new generation of commanders in the future, they must work harder and have more expertise than others.

"Report."

A crisp report interrupted the officers' train of thought, and in the eager eyes of everyone, the communications officer quickly got the latest information: "The Herring is calling, the Russian fleet set sail from Arthur two hours ago, a total of thirteen battleships, including four first-class battleships and four second-class battleships, and the previously seriously wounded Admiral Nasimov is also accompanying it. ”

Hearing this information, which had been received for most of the night, the sleepy worm was sunk to the bottom of the sea in the blink of an eye, and every officer's eyes lit up with excitement, and the main force of the Russian fleet was finally mobilized!

"Eight against eight, plus a cripple."

Tan Xiaozeng took the telegram, looked at it and raised his eyelids: "Old Long, you have found a good opponent." ”

Long Guozhang didn't look back, continued to look at the sky that had lost its brilliance because of the thick clouds, and flicked the cigarette ash accumulated on the cigar with his fingers: "Order, survey the sky, patrol the sea is responsible for vigilance." ”

"Order the Swordfish, the Sailfish to go out to investigate."

"Order the Herring, Cod to continue tracking the Russian fleet."

"Order all ships to go back to sleep except for the officers on duty!"

After giving three orders in succession, Long Guozhang turned his head to look at his watch, raised his head to everyone in the command tower, and hooked the corners of his mouth: "We are here to ......, wait!" ”――

In the Ryukyu Temporary Headquarters, the chaotic footsteps in the usual days suddenly became much softer tonight, and the staff officers and officers who were holding documents and holding information up and down were all interested in visiting their relatives, and even the orderlies reduced their movements, sitting in the corner and watching the huge pendulum clock hands walk by one grid by grid, only the guards were still conscientious and vigilant, but as long as they were free, they would also glance at the beautifully carved floor clock.

In the distant Honolulu Government Council, Li Enfu smoked a cigarette, his eyes were red and he was discussing with Tang Xiao and other left-behind officials the deployment of materials that urgently needed to be loaded on the ship, thinking about the results in the event of failure, and from time to time he glanced at the pocket watch that had been adjusted to Ryukyu time.

In Yanjing's mansion, after Feng Qi wrote a few words on the stationery, he quickly tore it off, kneaded it into a ball, and threw it into the middle of the paper ball that had already been piled up.

In the conference room of the General Staff, without the two smokers of Zhao Long and Long Guozhang, Chen Ping's figure seemed much lonely, and the fleet had already set off, with 15,000 sea and land soldiers, under the protection of two destroyers.

This is dangerous, if they encounter the two Russian cruisers left behind, they will be powerless! So according to the plan, they had to land in the open sea and after the fleet turn, otherwise they had to cancel the plan.

The merger was not easy, because before that the fleet had to defeat the Russian Far East Fleet, which was of equal strength, and gain sea supremacy!

Li Mo lay on the rocking chair and looked out the window calmly, the staff had calculated the approximate time of the encounter between the two fleets, and Long Guozhang also sent a telegram saying that it was ready, and the tracking destroyer bit the target, but this does not mean that victory has been put in the pocket!

Although the Admiral Nasimov was heavily damaged and the Admiral Kornilov was rushing back to the Ryukyus under the escort of sailors, the Russians still had four battleships and four heavy cruisers, and the total number of warships was one more than that of Long Guozhang.

In terms of strength, experience, and the quality of the soldiers, Li Mo is confident that he can win this battle, but there is never a sure victory in a war, maybe a small cannonball, a torpedo can decide the entire victory.

Next to them, Tang Shaoyi and Liang Dunyan, who had just arrived, were also talking in a whisper, their eyes swept over the young man on the recliner from time to time, they were shocked that Li Mo was so young, surprised by the changes in the Ryukyus, excited that the Pacific Army actually declared war on Russia, and lamented a rising era, but they were also worried about the upcoming decisive battle.

Although they had not yet received all the plans, they also knew that as the convoy of transports loaded with soldiers embarked on the journey, the new fleet, which had already moved to the Far East, had quietly lurked in some corner of the sea with the departure of the Russian fleet.

They remembered Li Mo's words of "bear witness for me", and they all knew very well that they would witness a decisive battle at sea that would affect the fate of the three northeastern provinces and even the whole of China.

Win! The Pacific Army will completely gain sea supremacy and become the new hegemon of the Far East, which even the British fleet cannot compare.

Lose, then even if the army can finally complete the landing, it will be strangled by Russia little by little because of the lack of sea control and the inability to obtain follow-up support, and the last vitality will be exhausted.

This is even a decisive battle that does not allow a draw, although the Pacific Fleet defeated Yuben and earned fame, but neither of them dared to be optimistic, because in front of them stood a huge old empire!

The door was suddenly gently pushed open, and Duan Fei walked into the conference room: "Young Master, Mr. Yan and Mr. Qiu have both sent telegrams. Li Mo didn't answer, he continued to read: "Mr. Yan called and said that Kou has passed, and my generation has also gone. ”

"Mr. Qiu said that the first batch of Luzon coolies had arrived, but he had heard that the Russians were more powerful and that it must be good to do hard work." After speaking, Duan Fei closed the telegram, Li Mo looked at him, the arc of his mouth suddenly hooked, and the two looked at each other and smiled. In this room, only the two of them knew the meaning of these two telegrams.

"We're going to win!"

In the lonely waiting, Li Mo suddenly spoke, his feet pressed slightly, and the recliner slowly swayed.

"Yes, we will win." Chen Ping's eyes lit up slightly, Du Dazhuang at the door stood up straight, Liang Dunyan looked up, and a trace of fish white had risen from the window-

Witherft stood on the flybridge, he hadn't closed his eyes all night, and as the red light moved the eastern horizon to rise, the howling sea breeze finally subsided.

"It's a sunny day." Witherft squinted his eyes, looked at the fiery Axu on the horizon, and said to himself.

But unlike the weather, his heart at the moment was already full of haze, damn himself, he actually took the opportunity of attacking Lushun to go to Vladivostok to sneak attack, it is unforgivable!

Witheft slapped the flybridge railing hard, looking at the blue ocean, his teeth rattling!

He was not worried about the safety of Vladivostok, with the power of the guns of his small cruisers, even if Vladivostok was not prepared, they would not be able to break through the heavy artillery fire of the battery, he was worried that it was the transport ships mentioned in the telegram!

In order to ensure safety, he also deliberately left a second-class battleship and a cruiser to escort the transport ship, but he didn't expect the loss to be mentioned in the telegram! Although he was eager to shoot the incompetent escort officer immediately, considering that the cruisers were generally fast and might indeed threaten the transport ships, he could only pray at this moment that he would not cause too much damage and affect the later operations!

As the minutes passed, the speed of the fleet had already been mentioned to the fastest 13 knots, and although the Chesma could run the fastest 16 knots, it could only last for half an hour, so even if I was in a hurry, I could only wait patiently.

Fortunately, according to calculations, it will be possible to return to Vladivostok early tomorrow morning at most. "Damn it, since the Pacific Fleet has not completely wiped out you, then let the Great Russian Far East Fleet come!" Looking in the direction of Ben, Witheft shook his fist.

"Report, Your Excellency General, we are about to pass through the Tsushima Strait, this is the area under my control, please ask if you want to slow down and send a cruiser to reconnoitre."

"Do you still have a warship?" Withoeft glared at the staff officer and said, "Full speed!" Maintain the formation formation, we don't have time to be distracted! ”

"Yes."

(To be continued)