1890 King of Southeast Asia

"The enemy ships are turning!" The unique hysteria sounded, alarming Ijuin 5's command team.

"The fleet turned right? What does that mean?" Ijuin 5 looked at his staff.

"The enemy's speed has slowed down. Do they want to engage in battle?"

"In any case, the enemy will slow down. The Great Japanese Empire is never afraid of challenges. We must make the other side pay the price. If we want to fight, we will fight."

"I just hope they don't run away again. To be safe, we will fight in a melee."

Ijuin 5 looked at the Russian fleet that was turning and was entangled for a while.

If the Japanese fleet turned, the two sides would enter the standard battle line bombardment mode, and the two fleets would sail in parallel.

But if the Japanese fleet just completed the turn and the Russian fleet turned in the opposite direction, it might allow the Russian fleet to run further.

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"Rush over, turn at a close distance, to be safe, the protected cruiser will fight on the periphery, and wait until the main fleet is completed, and then take the opportunity to join the battlefield." Ijuin 5 finally decided to postpone the turn.

"This decision is not wrong. With the armor advantage of the armored cruiser, we can shorten the battle distance and stick to the Russian fleet. Even if there is a chaotic battle, Japan, with more ships, has more advantages." Li Jin lay on the mast and explained to the juniors.

Li Jin arrived at the nearby waters with Wuling and Lanling yesterday. At 1 pm, the Nanhua observation fleet followed the sound of artillery and arrived near the battlefield.

In order not to cause misunderstandings, the observation fleet observed at 8 kilometers. Li Jin climbed up the mast with a group of officers and watched the general actions of both sides with a telescope.

"I don't know what the Russians think. The distance between the two sides has returned to about 5,000 meters. Although the Russians can quickly complete the formation, they can't get away in this way." Li Jin didn't quite understand the Russians' approach.

What Li Jin didn't know was that 20 nautical miles northeast of the two fleets, the Russian battleship fleet was divided into two, with a fleet composed of four battleships as the core advancing at a speed of 16 knots, and 3 nautical miles away, a fleet composed of three battleships as the core sailing at a speed of 14 knots, both heading west by south.

"Damn! What did Grom eat? Why did they fight?" An officer holding a high-power telescope said in surprise.

"Captain Yang, do you know the commander of the Russian Empire? What kind of person is he?" Li Jin looked at the officer.

"By chance, I went to Rakshasa Island and met him.

A person who is more aristocratic than the most aristocratic person I have seen at Sanchester College." The officer thought about it.

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"I thought only the British and French would be so arrogant." Li Jin looked at the officer in surprise.

"No, I'm talking about those beautiful qualities, just like our gentlemen." The officer explained.

"I'm talking about you." Li Jin picked up the telescope again.

The officer was stunned.

"You just said that, the organization is... strange." The colleague said quietly and tactfully.

At this time, the battle situation has changed again.

"There is a problem! There must be a problem." Li Jin whispered softly.

The Russian fleet formed a formation, but did not turn again, and even the speed dropped.

"What are you going to do?" Ijuin Goro looked at the battle situation in confusion.

The Russian fleet made a big turn, and 9 warships were lined up in a straight line, and it seemed that they were going to have a duel with the Japanese warships only 4,000 meters away.

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As for grabbing the T, Japan's formation is a goose-shaped formation. To change the horizontal formation, they only need to turn each other, and they don't need to hold the artillery hard, so the T-shaped advantage is very small.

On the contrary, because of the big turn, the two sides have shortened the distance, and Japan can better play its firepower advantage (more ships and more large-caliber guns.)

"Commander, if you don't turn again, it will be a melee." The fleet staff reminded.

"I know, but the battle has already gone on for this time, I think a melee is more in line with our tactics." Ijuin Goro's eyes did not leave the telescope.

"We have been tracking them for too long. The Russian cruisers have caused heavy losses to the Empire. We cannot tolerate this situation continuing.

A melee can guarantee that a part of them will be eaten up, while a battle line confrontation is likely to allow more Russian cruisers to escape." Ijuin Goro became more and more determined.

"Some losses are acceptable to the Empire. As long as we win, everything is worth it. Order the entire fleet to rush up, break up the enemy's formation, engage in a melee, and destroy the enemy to the greatest extent!" Ijuin Goro put down the telescope, widened his eyes, gritted his teeth and gave the order.

The Japanese fleet accelerated to 20 knots again and rushed straight towards the Russian fleet. This not only stunned the South Chinese who were watching the battle, but also stunned Grom.

Grom has been waiting, waiting for the Japanese to change their formation, and then the Russian fleet will make a big turn again with two armored cruisers as the core, rushing towards the Japanese fleet and engaging in a melee.

It only takes one or two hours for the battleship fleet to arrive. As long as it can delay some of the Japanese main battleships, even if it pays a certain price, it is acceptable.

Said,

"Is the commander on the opposite side a rookie? Such a good opportunity, it would be a waste if it is not used. Concentrate firepower and hit the enemy flagship!" Grom was stunned for a few seconds before realizing that his tactics were used.

That's good, then use the problem that I have been worried about to fight back against the enemy.

Boom!

The Russian fleet had only 8 203mm guns, 78 152mm guns, 84 120mm guns, a total of 170 large-caliber guns.

Japan had 26 203mm guns, 98 152mm guns, and 46 120mm guns, a total of 170 guns.

(Japanese protected cruisers are relatively small. There are only 3 Russian protected cruisers below 6,000 tons, and no Japanese ones above 5,000 tons. Moreover, among the 3 larger ones, Japan also equipped them with single 203, which is very similar to Nanhua's Lanling class.)

Japan soon enjoyed the fun of T-shaped battles. It was hit by others and could not exert its full firepower, so it could only passively take the beating.

"Damn it!" The 8th Cloud was hit by two more 120s, hitting the command tower, and Ijuin Goro fell to the ground and slapped the floor.

"The distance is about 3,000 meters. Do you want to charge again?" The captain helped Ijuin Goro up.

"The enemy slowed down again, and the speed is expected to be less than 14 knots!" The voice of the lookout sentry made Ijuin Goro make a decision.

p\u003e

With the speed decreasing, the hit rate will be relatively improved. At a distance of 3,000 meters, Ijuin Goro did not dare to guarantee that the 178mm waterline armor could block a few shells.

"Turn right and focus on attacking the enemy flagship!" Ijuin Goro shouted.

Boom boom!

The twin 203mm main guns of the Russian ship spewed out fire snakes. Two shells hit the 8th Cloud accurately, and one hit the mast. Unfortunately, with the blessing of Japan's luck, only a few Japanese were killed.

Another one hit a secondary turret. Japan's bad habit of piling shells on the gun position made the 8th Cloud pay a huge price.

Shimose gunpowder - passivated picric acid was activated by high temperature and vibration, and more than a dozen shells exploded at once. The high temperature of 3000 degrees Celsius is indeed something, no wonder Japan likes it.

The gunpowder burned through two layers of cabins in a short time, and the third layer was only protected, or it was not completely protected.

Under the third layer was propellant, and the high temperature of 800 degrees ignited the propellant bag.

boom!

The huge vibration made Ijuin Goro feel like he was flying up, and then fell heavily on the floor.

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Puff!

"Cough cough!" Ijuin Goro spit out a mouthful of blood. He felt that his bones were shaken apart and his internal organs were in pain.

"Damage control! Report the loss!" Ijuin Goro took a break, climbed up and shouted to the copper tube of the voice transmission as soon as he got up.

Soon, a damage control soldier ran over in black.

"There is a big hole on the port side, and three secondary guns have been lost. The mechanical structure of the front main gun is faulty and is being repaired. The explosion has shaken the main shaft, and the main shaft is overheating. Please leave the fleet for repair."

"What..." Ijuin Goro has not yet reacted. His first reaction is disbelief.

Did the Tsarist Russia install artillery of more than 300 mm? Can one gun cause such great damage?

"The shells accumulated in the secondary guns exploded, and the port side..." The damage control soldier repeated it again.

"Send a signal, Asama will take over the command and push it out of the battlefield for repair." Ijuin Goro felt bored and waved his hand, watching the battle that was still going on.

Why watch? Because when the damage control soldier was talking, the 8th Cloud had gradually reduced its speed and gave up its position.

—*—

Even though he had achieved such a great victory and a Japanese 10,000-ton cruiser was seriously injured, Grom did not smile. Instead, he frowned, clenched his fists, and his body trembled slightly.

"Boyalin can't hold on any longer. The main engine was hit by a shell. The captain has raised a white flag and is transferring sailors. Novak is leaving the battlefield to put out the fire. In addition, each ship has been damaged." The captain of the Wisdom Goddess said.

"What happened to Askeld?" Askeld is the third Russian protected cruiser under 6,000 tons, with a standard tonnage of 5,900 and a relatively good level of protection.

"Water is coming in on the starboard side. Askeld's waterline has been hit like a sieve. They hope to withdraw and drain the water." If water is poured into the other side, the speed is likely to drop sharply. Even if it can run at 24 knots, it will not run much faster after water is poured.

"What time is it?" Grom looked at the sky, which was already obscured by gunpowder smoke.

"Two minutes to five."

"It's almost time! Agree to Askeld to leave the battlefield, and all ships will gather and prepare for a counterattack." Grom said with a smile, trying to cheer himself up.

Array? 2 Ten minutes ago, there was no array. The two sides had been dispersed and a melee was formed.

"The 1st Battle Fleet called and will arrive at the battlefield in half an hour." The captain nodded. Half an hour, they can hold on - if they are lucky.

boom!

"What?" Grom picked up the telescope reflexively to observe.

"It's Varyag! With such a large amount of water vapor, Varyag is finished..." The captain said helplessly as he looked at a "white cloud" rising in the distance.

Varyag was hit by a 203mm stink bomb, which broke through a bullet hole and flew in, hitting the dome armor, piercing the dome armor, and hitting the boiler.

The high-pressure boiler exploded suddenly, detonating several surrounding boilers. The part above the keel was directly blown away, and the keel was also bent by the explosion. Then, under the strong pressure, the Varyag protected cruiser broke into two sections from the middle.

"What are the Tsarist Russians thinking?" Li Jin was puzzled.

They didn't run away when they had a great opportunity, but had to fight, and they chose the difficult ones to fight. If they attacked the protected cruiser first, the Tsarist Russia would still have a chance.

"The Russian Empire lost one battleship, two battleships were seriously injured, and the others were also injured. I don't know what they are trying to do. They have been fighting Japanese cruisers." Captain Yang was also puzzled.

"Cruiser? What are their results?" Li Jin seemed to have grasped something.

"Three ships were slightly injured, two were damaged, and there may be some problems with the power system, the speed has been reduced, and one ship was severely damaged and stopped for repairs in the distance. What's wrong?" Captain Yang said strangely.

"If..." Li Jin thought, this place is only 1,200 kilometers away from Rakshasa Island, and they have all arrived...

Boom!

A muffled sound like thunder suddenly sounded, attracting everyone's attention.

"The fleet was discovered on the starboard side, the Peresvet-class battleship, it is the Russian battleship division, 3 Peresvet-class battleships, 1 Letvizan-class!" An officer shouted.

"So that's it..." Li Jin nodded.

"Peresvet class, displacement tons, shaft horsepower, 5 knots, weapons are two twin 254mm guns, 11 152mm secondary guns, the British position is a high-speed ocean-going 2nd-level battleship.

Retvizan class, 1290 shaft horsepower, 18 knots, two twin 305mm guns, 12 152mm guns, Russia commissioned the United States to manufacture, 1st-level battleship..."