Micronesian Islands.

Ye Zuqi withdrew his gaze from the darkness, under the sea level in the distance was a broken and dense island, densely stretching for thousands of miles, he never thought that one day he would come to the depths of this ocean with a warship.

Compared with the previous Captain Jingyuan lying in Port Arthur, at this time he understood what the Navy was!

From Arthur to Ryukyu, from Ryukyu to Luzon, from Luzon to West Micronesia, through Wake Island, which is known as the foothold of the Pacific Ocean, to Honolulu, and finally from Honolulu to Lushun via the Ogasawara Islands!

The young man who was not yet 20 years old, who was made an arsonist in the Far East by Europe, who was angrily denounced as a war maniac by the Americans, and who was nicknamed "the young master of our family" by the people in his territory, already had a maritime frontier that was wider than the entire Qing Dynasty.

Maybe those who are still in the country, facing the loess with their backs to the sky, will laugh at the use of so many booger islands, but as a naval officer, Ye Zuqi knows very well how much wealth this vast sea frontier will bring even if the warship goes around for several months.

And more important than wealth is how important these seemingly inconspicuous islands are.

The heavy cruiser under his feet galloped wildly, this large cruiser Admiral Nasimov, which originally belonged to Russia, has already been remodeled after more than half a year of refitting, and I am afraid that even the original designer will be difficult to recognize.

The original Chesma, Sinop, Admiral Kornilov and the ship Admiral Nasimov, although there was a slight difference in the tonnage of the hull, were all classified as the same class after refit, and were renamed Vladivostok, Twin Cities, Manchuria, and Ussuri.

The navy is numbered Vladivostok class and is a heavy armored cruiser.

This is a unique classification of the Pacific Fleet, simplifying the current chaotic classification of first-class, second-class battleships, first-class and second-class armored cruisers, etc., in the Pacific Fleet, the first class battleships are called battleships, the second class battleships and the first class armored cruisers are called heavy cruisers, and the rest are light cruisers.

The torpedo ships or lightning strike ships of the rest of the countries are called destroyers, and I heard that there is a kind of warship that can dive underwater and call it a submarine in service recently, but he has not seen that unit yet.

Although the newly commissioned Jinghai No. 4 ships had a full load displacement of 9,800 tons, which was twice as large as the previous four light cruisers, they were classified as light cruisers because of the lack of heavy artillery with the surname of the name.

The Ussuri was originally a large Russian armored cruiser of the first class, with a full load displacement of 7,600 tons, and the tonnage increased to 8,200 tons after this refit.

Compared with the Vladivostok and Twin Cities, which were converted from battleships, the Ussuri and Manchuria of the same class are a whole circle smaller, and the hull time is also longer, so in the end they have to sacrifice part of the armor and secondary artillery firepower, and the coal load and endurance are also reduced a lot.

If it weren't for the great reduction in the weight and recoil of the new naval guns, I am afraid that these two heavy cruisers would not be able to fit in, and the original more than 20 secondary guns of various calibers were all dismantled, leaving only eight 152 mm guns and four twin 37 mm deck rapid-fire guns, which seemed to have greatly reduced artillery, but because of the triple naval guns in the front and rear hemispheres, the attack capability was not only not reduced, but increased a lot.

The combination of a small-tube coal-fired boiler and a more efficient reciprocating steam engine is still a first-line equipment in other countries, but it has gradually aged in the Pacific Fleet and can no longer be compared with the new power combination used in the Jinghai class, but it can still allow the Ussuri to maintain a speed of 20 knots.

From the Jingyuan ship, which was more than 2,000 tons in the past, to the 8,000-ton heavy patrol today, Ye Zuqi never dreamed that he would come to this day.

And this is not the most exciting thing for him, as the captain of a heavy cruiser, a senior officer in the navy, he can already involve some high-secret things, so he has seen the two Pacific charts that are carried with the young master and the chief of staff, only for high-level conference displays, but never hanged, when he participated in the senior officers' meeting for the first time, after seeing the chart, he almost dropped his jaw.

Master, he doesn't just want places like Hawaii, Luzon, and West Micronesia, his ambition is enough to swallow this ocean!

That map, just a quick glance, but has been engraved in the depths of the mind, although it is still far from the final goal, even the islands in Mycronia, such as the Marshall Islands, are still under the control of Germany and Britain, but one day, every island here will be planted with that flag!

Ye Zuqi slowly turned his head, looking at the faint but still fluttering fleet battle flags in the moonlight, the blood of the warriors stained the red clouds, and the giant dragon of Huaxia stretched out its golden claws and probed out of the sky, covering the blue ocean and breaking the cold warship!

Blood Cloud Dragon Claw Banner!

It is a battle flag that has been famous all over the world, and it is still being dragged by countless soldiers to the top of the mountain!

Ye Zuqi took a deep breath, and the fishy sea breeze poured into his nose, which made him feel a lot more energetic, and he glanced at the sister ship Manzhouli next to him, and secretly wondered if Sa Zhenbing was also looking at the battle flag, or was planning to use the new fleet to wash the shame of Beiyang in blood? !

Smiling slightly, he immediately walked into the ship, which was his habit, and inspected the cabins after the lights were out.

In the aisle, most of the lights had been extinguished, except for a few emergency lights that were still glowing faintly, and a slight snoring came from each rest pod, and beneath the rest pods was an ammunition bay wrapped in thick armor.

As he walked briskly past the ammunition bay to look at the power compartment, he noticed a small conversation behind the thick iron door of the compartment, behind which several soldiers in charge of the ammunition depot were laughing and scribbling on several thick 203-millimeter shells.

"Dongzi, is what you said true?"

"Of course, why else I'm taking you down at night?" The soldier known as Dongzi pointed to the sky and assured: "Staff Officer Zhang told me that the war will be scheduled tomorrow, so I have to write a sentence before the war." ”

"By the way, Dongzi, help me write a sentence for me."

"What to write?"

"Just write, this little girl, grandpa is here!"

"The dog said, I think of women." A soldier kicked falsely before he said to Dongzi: "Help me write one too, and I will write that Beiyang is back!" ”

"Well, wait, I'll write them one by one."

Outside the hatch, Ye Zuqi smiled dumbly, seeing that the news of these sailors who managed the ammunition depot was quite timely, and they dared to write big characters on the shells before the battle, but after the shells were smoked by gunpowder and high temperatures, even if they hit the warship and did not explode, it would have been scorched and unclear.

But it's a good idea, and at least it's a morale-boosting idea.

Thinking of this, Ye Zuqi pushed open the hatch, and several sailors who were writing all kinds of words on the shells suddenly turned white with fright, and hurriedly threw down their pens, not daring to come out.

"Don't be nervous, I happened to be passing by here to come in and have a look." Ye Zuqi glanced at it and found that he thought it was still an old gunner on his Jingyuan ship, and smiled: "Write a sentence for me, Beiyang has come to avenge!" ”

"Tube, Captain, you write too?" The old Beiyang gunner looked at Ye Zuqi blankly, almost not daring to admit it.

"Write!" Ye Zuqi nodded heavily and said with a smile: "But don't paint all the shells, if there is too much of this paint, it will adhere to the barrel and affect the accuracy after burning." ”

smiled and pointed to the sailors' "crime" tools, explained, and turned around to take a final look at the power cabin. "Captain, tomorrow? Is this fleet really coming? The sailors looked at each other, and finally the old Beiyang asked the question in their hearts.

Ye Zuqi turned his head, looked at Lao Beiyang and nodded, before he walked out of the ammunition compartment in a burst of suppressed cheers.

Listening to the cheers behind him, the smile on the corner of his mouth deepened, saying that this fleet is indeed coming, and according to the plan, tomorrow is also the time for a decisive battle, but!

I hope Le Fei will give them some strength, otherwise this cannonball is written, and I'm afraid I won't have a chance to shoot a few shots-

Bang bang bang.

The muzzles of the naval guns, which seemed to be in a certain rhythm, erupted in flames, and the smoke filled the sky, and even the moonlight above his head seemed to be shrouded.

In the turret, the sound of Zizi's electric loafer motor is incessant, providing a steady stream of armor-piercing shells weighing 48 kilograms for the three main guns.

This is not an ordinary shell, in addition to the heavier weight, the price of each shell is equivalent to twice that of ordinary armor-piercing shells, second only to the rarely used special incendiary shells, but the gunners who are fighting obviously do not know what saving is, plus the rate of fire of six rounds per minute, it will be seventy-two rounds per minute, and anyone who sees it will have a heart crunch.

The increase in displacement and the small weight of the shells allowed the four Jinghai-class ships to equip each main gun with 500 shells, unlike the battleships and heavy cruisers, which were only about 150 rounds, but although the number sounded quite large, in fact, if they were shelled at full speed, they could only last 80 minutes.

No wonder the young master gave this cannon the nickname "Water Pipe".

In order to save shells, the gunners invariably reduced the speed to four rounds per minute, but even this could not stop the enthusiastic gunners from pushing the shells into the chambers.

The reason is very simple, because the shelling distance at this moment has been extended to 12,000 kilometers, and this distance is night, and the secondary guns of the ships are all paralyzed, even if the main guns can still exert power, but in the absence of accurate aiming means, it is too much to describe it as scratching the itch of the boots.

It's the perfect training opportunity!

However, in order to minimize the chance of being targeted, most of the light sources have been turned off in the bridge, leaving only a red emergency light, and the roar of the ship's guns is not so neat at this moment, because the formation has long disbanded the salvo order, and the shelling has been delegated to the ships to play freely.

Le Fei took the coffee from the staff officer, according to the new combat regulations of the Pacific Navy, at this time he had completely handed over the artillery task to the more professional gun chief, and he was relieved to be a spectator.

The flames that exploded in the darkness in the distance could no longer make the officers in the bridge feel excited, at a distance of 12,000 kilometers, the fleet did not even have the means to counterattack, if it were not for the shell limit, everyone believed that the shelling would continue like this, and it would be consumed to death!

The only thing to worry about was the extremely fast torpedo boats, but with three successive rounds of harassment and surprise attacks in front of them, and mainly aimed at the torpedo ships, only five of the twelve torpedo ships remained.

The fragrant heat is rising, and the refreshing nasal cavity suddenly makes people feel refreshed, but there are also officers who are not used to smelling this smell, and bring oolong tea early, and the strong tea fragrance not only relieves fatigue but also goes to the summer near the reprimand.

Of course, there are also some tea and coffee that they don't like, so they hide somewhere outside the bridge, pull out the cigarettes they are dispensed and smoke vigorously, to survive this relaxing but somewhat long night.

Suddenly, a huge fire broke out again in the distance, and a torpedo ship did not know where it had been hit, and the figures of the ship were scattered and the hull was crooked in the midst of the raging fire.

"Another unlucky one."

The idle first mate leaned against the bulkhead and pouted.

After hearing this, everyone nodded hurriedly, this torpedo ship was indeed unlucky, because after the Yamamoto Gonbei on the opposite side had been continuously raided by long-range raids before, he already knew that the target of the light patrol formation was the remaining two second-level protection cruisers and torpedo ships, so this time they were protected early in the rear of the capital ship, just for fear of being hit.

But I didn't expect that at least at a distance of 14,000 meters, the shell still crossed the capital ship and hit the torpedo ship, but unfortunately it was too dark, and I don't know which gunner was so lucky.

Balls of fire continued to explode from the bodies of the remaining ten capital ships, and they rose into the air like a red color, but after all, they were rough and thick-skinned, and if they wanted to sink them with 152 mm naval guns at such a long distance, they really had to be a hundred times luckier than hitting the torpedo ship.

"Report, it is said that the smoke released by this fleet has turned, do you want to continue chasing?" The navigator turned his head and looked at Lefei.

"How many shells are left?" After handing the coffee to one of the orderlies, Lefei returned to his position on the ship. The gun staff officer hurriedly reported: "There are about 100 rounds left in each cannon." ”

100 rounds, at full speed, it can still shell for about 15 minutes, but at such a long distance, and the hit rate has dropped to 8% in the dark, even if you catch up, it will not cause much damage.

"Where is the supply ship?"

"The signal from ten minutes ago has arrived forty nautical miles away and is on standby."

"Stop the shelling, let the Listening Wind, Gale and Hurricane continue to track, radio contact every ten minutes." Le Fei quickly gave an order: "Order all ships, the communications officer must do a good job of radiolocation calculations, and also correct them every ten minutes." ”

"Inform the supply fleet to get ready, we will be there." Le Fei looked at his watch: "Arrive within two hours." ”

With Le Fei's order, the six light cruisers immediately broke away from the battle. The sudden cessation of the shelling also made every sailor in the fleet breathe a sigh of relief, and the hundreds of pipe loss personnel on the deck began to get busy, long leather pipes connected to water pumps, spraying tons of seawater, and throwing them towards the flames of the ship.

Although the sailors already knew very well that the power of the opponent's naval guns was not enough to penetrate the thick armor on the ship from 10,000 meters away, they still did not dare to be careless, because it was impossible for all places on the warship to be protected by thick armor, and there were even many positions exposed, such as a large number of rapid-fire gun emplacements on deck, exposed gas steamboats, and vertical decks that were only a few tens of centimeters thin.

Looking at the soldiers who were running back and forth, but were already tired and numb, Gonbei Yamamoto, who walked out of the command tower, only felt as if a bomb had been stuffed into his chest, but the fuse never burned and could not explode.

He didn't understand that in the case of the first attack and the loss of five warships, including two second-class protection cruisers, he did not hesitate to consume very valuable coal, and changed the course in a continuous maneuver, and again he even left two battleships to drag on for protection, just to find out if the other party was tracking him from a distance, but except for the elusive little black warship, there was no shadow at all, and he even sent people to monitor the four cruisers that came to watch the battle, and found no signs of leaving or sending signals halfway, So why can the other party still find himself accurately in the vast sea?

Hiding in the middle of a reef and an island, the opponent killed from the other side, losing two torpedo ships.

Risking his way through an island to an island, the other side had already blocked the channel one step earlier, and the twenty minutes of continuous shelling almost cost him a capital ship.

It's the middle of the night again, and I have learned many times that the other party has released smoke, maneuvered under the cover of smoke, and then hid in the shadow of the island and turned off all light sources, but the other party still found himself!

Are they a bunch of ghosts? It's a maggot of tarsal bones!

Yamamoto was almost going crazy, he knew very well what the other party was intending to use this continuous assault to exhaust himself and create an opportunity for the final decisive battle.

It's just that he doesn't know how many times he has been disturbed like this, damn Li Mo, why can't he be like a samurai!

At the sound of Yamamoto Gonbei's gnashing of teeth, the open fire on the deck was once again extinguished, and the corpses of hundreds of sailors had to be thrown into the sea, and most of the soldiers had finished their management and the work was focused on cleaning up and flushing the bloodstains.

A gunner, with the help of his comrades, got out from under the protective shield of the rapid-fire cannon with a frightened face, and the 47mm Habekaith rapid-fire gun beside him had become a pile of scrap metal, and several of his partners had been torn to pieces, but he survived, and when he raised his head with a swarthy face and stepped on the corpse of his partner, he found that the deck of this huge battleship of 16,000 tons had long been gnawed by dogs, and there were holes and debris everywhere.

The sailor raised his head blankly, looked at the Yamamoto Gonbei standing on the command tower, walked to the railing in a distracted manner, looked at the original enemy positions that had long been shrouded in smoke, and slowly sat down on the deck that exuded residual warmth, and his heart contracted vigorously.

Can I still go home?

(To be continued)