"Can the observer confirm whether it is a civilian ship or a warship?"

"I can't confirm yet, it's too dark, and the other party doesn't have lights, maybe it's a broken down merchant ship, or maybe it's an old sailing ship with no electricity......"

Without waiting for the chief staff officer Wang Wen to finish speaking, Zhuge Weidao put down the telescope in his hand and frowned: "Even if there is no electricity, you should hang a lantern, after all, this is the Seto Inland Sea!" Well, it is necessary to guard against others...... Let's control the lights! ”

"Yes, sir."

"Signal the Vladivostok again and report our findings to Chief Li."

"Yes, sir!"

On the cruiser Lushun, the observers on duty had already discovered a vague "big guy" on the sea five or six kilometers away, at least a "big ship" of several thousand tons, and it didn't turn on the lights at night, just lying across the sea, which was a bit strange no matter how you looked at it.

Zhuge Weidao became the captain of the warship for the first time, so of course he had to be careful. So no matter how big this "weird" is, in line with the idea of carefully sailing a 10,000-year-old ship, the ship's lights were controlled.

It's peacetime, the Lushun is visiting Japan, and the Seto Inland Sea is a narrow and busy sea, so in order to avoid collisions, of course, the lights should be on when sailing at night. So there are lights on the mast of the Lushun and inside the bridge, and you can see it from afar. And this light is turned off...... Hiding in the darkness, the four camouflaged assault ships couldn't hold back.

Just when the eyes of the people in the bridge of the Lushun were still trying to adjust to the darkness after the lights went out, several bright and dazzling fires suddenly appeared in the southern sky, and several muffled thunderous roars appeared almost at the same time!

At this moment, the people who were looking out in the bridge had a feeling of "bright and blind", and in just a dozen seconds, they could not see anything except these dazzling flares.

"Flares? This is...... Fighting? Zhuge Weidao's heart sank suddenly, although it was the first time he was on the ship, but his brain was still quite smart, and he immediately thought of "fighting" - it is impossible for pirates to rob and rob with flares, and only those who are blind to the black light can be robbed!

"Battle Alert!" Thinking of this, Zhuge Weidao roared again, and at the same time as the battle alarm sounded, Wang Wen, the chief staff officer, also reacted.

I only heard Wang Wen shouting: "Fort-1 flare ready!" Guns, determine the location of the target! ”

"Boom ......"

Almost as soon as they shouted, four camouflaged assault ships parked in the sea south of the Naruto Strait began to fire. Because Zhuge Weidao's sudden behavior of turning off the lights frightened the four camouflaged ships to fire in advance, the distance between the two sides was still a little far, more than 5,000 meters, which was really a bit far for the naval guns of this era. More than a dozen 6-inch and 4-inch shells fell on the sea 100 meters away from the Lushun, and the splashes could not reach the edge of the Lushun.

In a minute or two, the two 155-millimeter guns on the bow of the Lushun also let out a continuous roar, and several flares with a scorching white light illuminated a large area of the sea four or five thousand meters away.

Zhuge Weidao raised the telescope again, and what appeared in the eyepiece were two large ships of four or five thousand tons and two small boats of one thousand tons, which were outside the south entrance of the Naruto Strait, forming a column, standing in a T-shaped position, and using more than 20 6-inch and 4-inch cannons on one side to fire fiercely!

Although the distance was a bit far and the artillery was not accurate, Zhuge Weidao was still a little confused.

This firepower ...... It can't be a pirate, right? Could it be that the Japanese devils want to go to war with the Ming Dynasty? They're crazy, aren't they?

As soon as Zhuge Weidao thought of this, the "Yamato" in front of him began to sound again.

"Sir," the signalman in the bridge reported loudly, "the Yamato said we had encountered pirates...... Let's withdraw first, it's cover! ”

Let's withdraw?

Does it cover?

Isn't there a conspiracy?

Zhuge doesn't need to pinch his fingers to count, and he knows that there are strange things in it.

But before he could figure out whether to fire and sink the Yamato in front, the 600-ton Yamato had already been shot first...... I guess I got shot! I saw a huge fireball suddenly burst out from the small hull of the large one, and it looked like it had hit a 6-inch blasting bullet.

The Lushun followed at a distance of two or three hundred meters behind the Yamato, and the officers on the bridge exclaimed in surprise when they saw the Yamato being shot.

"Hit?"

"That's unlucky, isn't it?"

"It's at least 4,000 meters, why is it hit?"

The distance of 4,000 meters is in World War I and World War II in history, and it is normal to fight, but not now, the naval guns are not so accurate, not to mention that it is still a big night. So this Yamato is really unlucky!

At that moment, a raging fire broke out on the hapless Yamato, and then the lights began to be lit again.

"Sir, the Yamato said 'This ship is heavily damaged, withdraw from the battle'!"

What? Zhuge was stunned and stunned for Dao, who did he say just now that he was covering, and now he will withdraw from the battle?

Before he could react, the signal officer shouted again: "Sir, flagship lantern, let our ship be the vanguard of the whole team, and move forward at full speed!" ”

Of course, the commander of the formation gave the order, Colonel Lee Seung-hui, who was a little dull. It took several rounds of artillery before his order came.

"Execute the order...... Zhuge Weidao hurriedly ordered, "Full speed ahead!" ”

"Yes! Sir! ”

......

"My lord, Minko's cruiser is coming towards us!"

On the bridge of the disguised assault ship of the Kirikin Maru, a terrible cry suddenly sounded in Saigo's ears.

With the light of the burning fire of the Yamato, Saigo actually saw that the 5,000-ton Lushun was speeding towards his side, but he knew very well how powerful the Lushun was, so he immediately ordered: "Put away the artillery, put down the mast, and evacuate at full speed...... Raise the flag of the East India Company! ”

"Hay!"

With Saigo's order, the steam engine of the Fog Hidden Pill also began to output full power, and the propeller in the stern of the ship rotated at full speed, pushing the thousands of tons of the Fog Hidden Ship's hull and galloping towards the southeast. The Rain Hidden Pill, the Sand Hidden Pill, and the Rock Hidden Pill who were following behind the Misty Hidden Pill also accelerated to escape at the same time, while putting away their artillery, putting down their disguises, and hanging the Red Cross and Red Striped East India Company flag.

At this time, it was already more than three o'clock in the morning, and although the light on the sea was dim, it was still dimly possible to see that the attacking ships were fleeing quickly.

"Captain, the enemy has run away...... It could be a trap, should we chase it? ”

In the bridge of the Lushun, Chen Jian, the deputy commander who had just arrived, asked Zhuge Weidao questions while holding a telescope, and his tone was full of caution.

"Sir, we can't stay in the Seto Inland Sea no matter what, we must rush through the Naruto Strait before we can enter the Pacific Ocean." Wang Wen immediately reminded.

Zhuge nodded for the road, the current situation really can't be retracted back to the Seto Inland Sea...... After all, the Seto Inland Sea is the territory of the Japanese, and cruisers such as the Lushun and Vladivostok cannot be used in such a narrow sea area, and they must rush into the Pacific Ocean as soon as possible.

Thinking of this, Zhuge Weidao immediately asked, "The direction of those pirate ships?" ”

"Southeast...... They are retreating to the Pacific Ocean! Wang Wen reported.

"Good!" Zhuge nodded for the road, "Let's follow...... But don't keep up with it just yet! As he spoke, he said to the signal officer, "Give the flagship a light and advise a cautious pursuit." ”

After a while, the light on the Vladivostok also came back, and the communication officer said loudly: "Sir, flagship light language, agree to pursue cautiously, keep about 4,000 meters with the enemy formation until it enters the waters of the Pacific Ocean, and then pursue it at full speed!" ”

As a result, a "cautious pursuit" soon began to be staged on the sea south of Awaji Island, and the four cruisers and destroyers of the Ming Navy, with the Lushun as the lead, formed a column, and after rushing out of the Naruto Strait, at a speed of about 20 knots, followed by four camouflaged attack ships with the flag of the East India Company, and pursued all the way to the southeast, firing flares while chasing back.

After chasing and chasing, it was almost an hour, and the time was already more than four o'clock in the morning, and the sea was much brighter, and there was no need for flares, and the observers could see the distance with the naked eye.

Suddenly, a staff officer in the bridge of the Lushun put down the telephone receiver in his hand and shouted loudly: "Sir, a suspected British and Japanese naval mixed formation has been found in the southeast, with more than ten ships, including one Sovereign-class!" ”

Monarchy?

The atmosphere in the bridge of the Lushun suddenly became tense.

Is this a trap? The British and the Japanese have already united to go to war with the Ming Dynasty?