The Yellow Sea in January is stormy and rough, and experienced fishermen know that this is not a good time to go out to sea.

The sharp bow of the ship cleaves the fast waves, causing the waves to emerge on both sides of the ship. The warships of the Italian task force, which the Combined Fleet had been obsessed with, were cleaving the waves and hurrying in the Yellow Sea.

On the flagship Turin, Vice Admiral Álvaro, who was the commander of the fleet this time, looked at the poor sea conditions, looked at the telegram in his hand, and reflexively asked the captain of the ship, Colonel Lefeel.

"Major Pez, the captain of the Eagle, sent me another telegram with an unidentified civilian ship ahead of me. You say that in this sea area, why are there so many civilian ships? ”

Vice Admiral Álvaro's Eagle is the latest reconnaissance cruiser of the Italian Navy. It is equipped with 12 high-rise coal-fired boilers that can provide it with up to 17,000 horsepower, supporting the 4,500-ton warship to run at a high speed of 24.3 knots, and win the throne of the world's fastest warship.

And the Eagle is not only fast, it is equipped with 4 152 mm main guns and 8 120 mm secondary guns, which is enough to solve a lot of troubles, and it can be said to be the best among reconnaissance cruisers.

Of course, most of the warships built by Italy were for the purpose of competing with France for rights and interests in the Mediterranean, and many people thought that Japan was just a testing stone for testing the achievements of Italian warships.

Facing the Vice Admiral's words, Lefel, who was the captain of the Turin and the commander of the temporary battleship formation, immediately said with a smile.

"Lieutenant General, it may have a lot to do with our approach to the war zone, otherwise there would not be so many uninvited guests."

"yes, there are too many uninvited guests. Especially when there are uninvited guests, it is even more tireless. ”

Vice Admiral Álvaro looked behind the fleet, and several small black dots in the distance followed them closely.

Don't look at it, these are all warships of Britain, France, the United States and other countries, and these annoying guys have been following them since they set off from Shanghai.

Fortunately, they don't have their own secret weapon, otherwise the position of the fleet would be exposed at any time.

Vice Admiral Álvaro knew the situation of his fleet. Britain and the United States were very dissatisfied because they forcibly participated in the Sino-Japanese war despite the advice, and needless to say, the relationship with France would not be missed.

However, these three countries have the greatest influence in the Far East, so on the sea, Lieutenant General Álvaro has always had a feeling of being watched. But fortunately, it was only surveillance, and the main force of the British Far East Fleet remained in Hong Kong, while the French Far East Fleet also did not move in Saigon, otherwise it was not known what would happen.

"Order, increase the speed of all ships by 2 knots, to 14 knots."

Lieutenant General Álvaro was going to change the speed of the ship and play with the tail in the back.

As for why only 2 knots were raised, since the transport fleet could only reach this speed. As for whether it is useful to increase the speed, the experienced Lieutenant General Álvaro can only tell you, lad, you are too young.

Sure enough, as the formation increased its speed, the small tail behind immediately caused a burst of restlessness. In order not to miss the target, they also immediately increased their speed. Of course, it is not enough to increase the speed, but also to make small necessary movements.

As one of the little tails, on the cruiser Bauhinia, the captain of the ship, Captain Wiggington, immediately gave the order. "Let the gunboat Boulder immediately inform the Skylark behind us of the news that the Italian formation has increased its speed by two knots."

"Yes, Captain."

With a bit of a flag, the Boulder made a sharp turn and rushed to the rear.

The Skylark is a communications ship, and its identity is announced by its high-flying rice flag. However, if you can look closely, you will find that these people in British military uniforms are all yellow and relatively short.

That's right, these naval officers and sailors on the Skylark did not belong to the British Empire, and it can even be said that the real Skylark is still in South America. This is the Sakura, a Japanese-owned notification ship. It is also the fastest ship in Japan at present, capable of reaching a speed of 21.4 knots.

Because it was of the same level as the Skylark, it was pretended to be the Skylark as a weapon for the Combined Fleet to master the Italian formation. Of course, this is also the convenience given by the British, otherwise they would not dare to do it by borrowing ten dares from the Japanese.

And in order to avoid being seen, the fake Skylark dragged on to the end. This made it look like they were following the Italian formation, and the Skylark was following them.

In addition, in order to ensure that the Sakura was not accidentally captured by the enemy and caused trouble to the British Empire, several bombs were prepared on board, and of course, the officers and men on the Sakura were also carefully selected.

Now after receiving the message from the Boulder, the Fake Skylark immediately went at full speed, bypassing the Italian formation and heading towards Nampo.

Located on the Korean Peninsula, Incheon was one of the three major trading ports of the Joseon Kingdom, along with Nampo and Busan. As the port closest to the Shandong Peninsula, the port of Incheon was also chosen by Ito as a temporary anchorage for the Combined Fleet.

When the Skylark brought the news that the Italian fleet had been accelerated by 2 knots, several heads were gathered on a chart on the flagship Yamashiro to watch Deswa Osa work on the map.

As the chief of staff of the Combined Fleet, Shigehiro Idewa made a very beautiful drawing, not only marking the position of the Italian fleet before Sakura had just reported his departure, but also marking the current location of the Italian fleet at different speeds of 12 and 14 knots according to the time when Sakura arrived.

After Admiral Dewa Daisa's map was indicated, Lieutenant General Ito, who was the commander, looked at the chart for a while before speaking. "At present, it seems that the Italians have passed the waters of Haizhou Bay, and there are still 210-240 nautical miles from Weihaiwei, which will take at least 24 hours, and we are only 98 nautical miles from Weihaiwei, which only takes about eight hours."

Don't look at Lieutenant General Ito Yohei muttering about the distance between the two sides, he is counting the time when the two sides meet. Or in other words, it is in the best interest of choosing which time for the two parties to meet.

In fact, the location of the Italian fleet is very good, because the destination is clear, that is, Weihaiwei. The departure point is also clearly Shanghai. There are only a few routes from Shanghai to Weihaiwei, and there are also tailgating warships in the name of observation to report the location.

So the whereabouts of the Italian fleet are hidden, this is all known to everyone.

Of course, you know it, but the strength of the Italian fleet that came to attack is also recognized by everyone. Otherwise, Ito Youheng would not have to calculate the time carefully in order to improve his winning rate.

After thinking for a while, Ito took out a pencil and drew a straight line from Incheon, which coincided with the possible sailing route of the Italian fleet.

"Order all the officers and men to pay attention, seize the time to prepare for rest and preparation, and we will set off in ten hours. Prepare for battle tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 14 p.m. ”

According to the identification of the location on the chart, this is the sea off Jiaozhou Bay. Ito plans to compete with the Italian fleet in the waters off Jiaozhou Bay.