Aboard the battleship Revenge, George. Yoshiro also rushed to the bridge when he heard the news, and was holding a telescope to look at the chase that was being staged twenty or thirty thousand yards away.

His trip to Japan was very smooth until he was woken up from the bed by his orderlies just now. The Japanese side didn't realize that he was here to arch the fire, so they showed great enthusiasm. Not only did they send a naval commissioner, equivalent to the Minister of the Navy, to meet them at Mito Port, but after receiving airships from the British side (for which they were to be paid, of course), they also graciously invited the Yoshiritsu Formation to visit the Yokosuka Military Port in Edo Bay, which was the home port of the Shogunate Navy and was never open to the public, and the Yoshiri Formation was the first foreign naval formation to enter there!

After leading the formation into Yokosuka, George. Yoshiri was also invited to Edo, where he entered the Edo Castle of Tokugawa Iechi, the shogun of the Japanese de facto ruler, and met with the shogun at a very high standard in the Ohiroma.

Although, he also accompanied the Shogun to the castle tower of Edo Castle and watched the performance of the Shogunate's naval aviation together. Seeing the airship that threw the lantern shell from the world, the general seemed very satisfied, and a group of courtiers also said nonsense such as "no longer afraid of the Ming Dynasty", looking as if they were ready to take Japan to fight with the Ming Dynasty.

After meeting with the shogun, Yoshiritsu, accompanied by Tokugawa Saiaki and Shimazu Sairyo, went to the famous Edo Yoshihara to observe the customs of Japan for a few days...... Well, that's pretty "vulgar"!

Just after Yoshiritsu had learned enough about the customs of Japan, he received an invitation from the emperor to go to Kyoto to meet the sacred ...... By the way, you can experience the customs of Kyoto again.

What a great honor!

Since the founding of Japan, there have been countless foreign envoys who have seen the Tokugawa Shogun, but the foreign envoys who have seen the emperor are counted on their fingers, and all the foreign envoys who have seen the emperor are from the Ming Empire. Yoshiro was the first Westerner to receive this honor, and that alone shows how successful his trip to Japan was.

So before being woken up by the orderly, George. Yoshiri was lying on the bed in his cabin, dreaming of pushing Japan into the fire pit to consume the Ming Dynasty...... As a result, as soon as he woke up from his dream, he arrived at the bridge, and encountered something he could not have dreamed of.

A formation of two Ming cruisers and destroyers is pursuing four merchant ships flying the flag of the East India Company!

"Your Excellency, what is going on? Isn't this Japan's territorial waters? ”

A bewildered look of George. Yoshiri saw that Shimazu Qiliang, the Japanese shogunate naval staff officer who accompanied him to Kyoto, had also arrived at the bridge, so he hurriedly asked him questions.

"Your Excellency," said Shimazu, although he had not studied in England, but he could speak Japanese English with gritted teeth...... At least Yilu can understand, "Although this is the territorial waters of Japan, the warships of the Beiyang Fleet of the Ming Navy have always come whenever they want, and they don't care about any territorial sea lines, they call this freedom of navigation!" ”

"That's too unreasonable...... Yilu frowned, "Then why are the Ming warships chasing merchant ships flying the flag of the East India Company here?" By the way, were those merchant ships really the East India Company? They're so fast! ”

"The four merchant ships are supposed to be anchored under the East India Company...... Yapian smuggling boat! Shimazu Qiliang spoke, his brows furrowed, "Yapian is extremely strictly controlled in Daming and China, and it is difficult to buy, so the price is very high, and it is inevitable that some people will take risks...... As a result, the Yapian smuggling ships active along the coast of Daming and Japan were converted and appeared to be ordinary merchant ships on the outside, but they were usually very fast, and some were equipped with artillery. ”

He paused, and then whispered, "Your Excellency, or we will pretend that we don't see anything!" ”

"When you don't see anything?" George. Yilu frowned, and said in his heart, "Can you not see this?" The merchant ships of the British Empire were hunted down by the fleet of the Ming Dynasty in the territorial waters of Japan, a friend of the United Kingdom, in front of the fleet of the British Royal Navy...... And the strength of the Ming naval formation is much smaller than that of the British fleet! In this case, the British fleet would not dare to put a single fart if it wanted, so what would the accompanying Japanese think? When the news reached Europe, what would the powers that followed Great Britain think? ”

"Sir," George. Charlie, the cousin and chief staff officer of Yilu. At this time, Yilu came up and reminded in a low voice, "This is Japan's territorial waters, and those merchant ships are flying the flag of the East India Company, according to public international law, the Ming Navy has no law enforcement power, and our strength is obviously superior, we can force it back!" ”

George. Yilu nodded, deliberately showing a contemptuous smile: "That's right, we have twelve battleships, they only have four, and we also have the most powerful battleships in the world!"

Turn around and rescue our merchant ships...... In addition, we will send a message to the Ming Navy, telling them that this is the territorial waters of the Japanese Empire, and that according to the agreement between the British Empire and the Japanese Empire to mutually guarantee the freedom of trade in territorial waters, we have an obligation to protect the freedom and safety of navigation in Japan's territorial waters, and ask them to leave immediately! ”

"Yes, sir!"

......

"Sir, the Anglo-Japanese joint formation has turned around and rushed towards us!"

"Sir, they also put out a lantern saying that this is Japan's territorial waters, and asked us to leave immediately......"

"Sir, it has been confirmed that the other side has a total of twelve steam warships, including ten British ships and two Japanese ships, among which there are two ironclad ships, including one Sovereign-class! Plus, they have four camouflaged assault ships! ”

Inside the bridge of the Lushun, with the announcements of the staff officers and signal officers, the air has become very tense!

What is happening now seems to the people in the bridge of the Lushun, and it is clear that Britain and Japan have colluded to create a trap against themselves, and the purpose is likely to destroy their own four warships!

This is sixteen to four, and the advantage is in the enemy!

And regardless of tonnage or firepower, the other party has obvious advantages! Even if it is to fight for speed, the other party will not suffer too much, although the two battleships are not fast, but the British cruisers and destroyers are not slow, if they are allowed to chase and fight, the consequences will be very serious!

At this moment, Chen Jian, the deputy commander of the Lushun, suddenly said: "Strategist, what should I do now?" ”

Now all eyes are on a certain Zhuge military advisor who can pinch and calculate!

Zhuge Wei Dao also complained bitterly in his heart, the first time he got on the ship, he actually encountered this kind of thing...... The other side has two ironclad ships!

"Can you confirm the type of the other party?" Zhuge Weidao tried to calm his nervous mood while asking about the other party's strength.

Wang Wendao: "At present, it can be confirmed that there is one Junquan-class, one Indomitable-class, three second-class protective cruisers, five destroyers and two Japanese wooden-hulled gunboats...... Sir, the enemy is far superior to ours! ”

Zhuge Weidao pinched his fingers and said in a low voice while calculating: "Monarch level...... Unyielding ...... There are a total of 2 useless 13.5-inch breech-loading guns and 4 even more useless 16-inch front-loading rifled guns against the enemy......" As he spoke, he suddenly shouted: "There is! ”

"What's up?" Chen Jian looked at Zhuge Weidao, and there were beads of sweat on his forehead.

"Hit!" Zhuge Weidao said, "When you meet on a narrow road, the brave wins!" ”

"But the enemy has twelve warships and four camouflaged assault ships, and their strength is far superior to ours!"

Zhuge Weidao shook his head, gritted his teeth and said: "It's okay, we are fast, we can quickly seize the T-position, and concentrate 20 155mm naval guns to attack the leading Sovereign, as long as we hit the Sovereign hard, we can get out of danger safely!" ”

"That's a monarchy!" Chen Jian was shocked and said, "The Sovereign-class ship has two 13.5-inch cannons in the bow!" The Unyielding Rank, which follows behind the Sovereign class, has a diagonal battery layout, and all four 16-inch cannons can fire at the front! ”

"Can't hit!" Zhuge Weidao was full of confidence, "I have already calculated, the 6 giant cannons of the monarch level and the unyielding level are very slow to reload, and the accuracy is poor, and they will definitely not hit us, and our 20 155mm rapid-fire guns have a theoretical rate of fire of up to 6 rounds per minute, and the combat rate of fire can reach 4 rounds per minute, as long as there are 10 minutes, they can shoot 800 rounds, and 5% of the hit rate can also hit 40 rounds!" ”

He paused, turned back to the signal staff officer, and said, "Give Admiral Li a light and tell him all my analysis and suggestions...... Tell him again that this is our only chance to win, and it may be the only way to survive! ”