The sea surface is dark and inky, but very calm with not many waves. The weather is clear and the sky is full of stars. The Masanori Squadron is heading east. It is only a few dozen nautical miles away from the Tsugaru Strait. Now the Masanori Squadron has received the call
An optional command:
1. Try to return, highlight the Sea of Japan as much as possible, and return to the home fleet in Zhoushan Port.
2. If it is difficult to stand out, then temporarily stay in the Sea of Japan as a "presence fleet" to disrupt the Far East shipping between Japan and Russia, threaten the ports along the coasts of Japan and North Korea, and deal with the Japanese fleet to play a diversionary role.
If the current Masanori squadron wants to highlight the Sea of Japan, it will have several options.
The first is to take the Tsushima Strait in the south. The Tsushima Strait is the widest and closest among the several exits. Just go all the way south. But the problem is that the defense of the Tsushima Strait is definitely the strongest. Japan’s Sasebo Military Port
Right at the gate of the Tsushima Strait, the Ming army has a battleship, a cruiser, and six destroyers. It is basically impossible to break through the Tsushima Strait with such a meager force.
The second is to take the Tsugaru Strait. The Tsugaru Strait is the strait between Honshu Island and Hokkaido Island, and it is also one of the several outlets of the Sea of Japan. Although the water channel here is relatively narrow, it is not as close to the military port as the Tsushima Strait.
.This is a remote northern part of Japan with no military port.
But yesterday, the Japanese Fuso Squadron was following the Masanori Squadron. Both sides were at an unexpected visual distance, but they both launched seaplanes to scout each other, and both knew the approximate location of the other side. Now the Ming Army already knows the previous intelligence
Wrong. The Fuso squadron not only has two heavy cruisers, but also a light cruiser. That is, three cruisers accompanied by a battleship. The strength is stronger than expected.
At dusk, Masanori's plane conducted its last reconnaissance and found that the Fuso was no longer hovering around it, but was sailing eastward at full speed, probably to guard the Tsugaru Strait. According to judgment, the Fuso should be the only one in the Tsugaru Strait at present.
The force of the fleet.
The Soya Strait farther north is the strait between Hokkaido and Sakhalin. Like the Tsugaru Strait, there are no military ports there and it is relatively easy to pass. But the problem is that with the Fuso Squadron following, even if the Masandoku Squadron is no longer
Sail an extra 200 nautical miles to the north and take the Soya Strait, and you will still face the interception of the Fuso squadron, and it will be further back to the Ming Dynasty.
Therefore, the Zhengde Squadron plans to compete with the Fuso Squadron to test each other's abilities. If it really starts, it will be the first time the two navies have fought against each other in modern times. The Mashengde relies on the fact that its own hardware is better than the Fuso
Stronger. Two ships
The battleships are all modified old-fashioned dreadnoughts, and their speeds are about the same, about 24 knots. However, the Mashengde's main gun is 15 inches, while the Fuso's is only 14 inches. In addition, the Mashengde's armor belt is a little thicker than the Fuso's.
limited.
However, the Fuso has twelve main guns, while the Mashengde has only six main guns. Only half of that. It can be said that the Masanori dared to collide with the Fuso head-on because of the caliber of the main gun. The caliber of the main gun is one inch larger.
, it doesn’t look very good in terms of data. But in combat, it means much stronger firepower. The range is much longer and the power is much greater.
…
The captain and fleet commander of the Masanori was in the bridge command room, looking at the chart table under the red light. Two more red warship marks had been placed on the chart table, just on the east side of Japan's Honshu Island. This
It was information just received at night. It was a battleship dispatched from Yokosuka Naval Port.
Kong, and two cruisers. Intelligence showed that the Kongo left the port in the morning and should be heading north. Its destination was either to guard the Soya Strait or to rendezvous with the Fuso. The Kongo was a high-speed battleship with a speed of
It can reach up to 30 knots, which is beyond the reach of Zhengde.
Although the main guns of both battleships are 14 inches, if the Zhengde is to fight one against two, especially if it uses its own 6 main guns against the enemy's 20 main guns, it will be suicide in any case.
The original plan of the commander of the Mashengde fleet was to engage in a naval battle with the Fuso during the day and give full play to the range advantage of the 15-inch artillery. But now we can no longer delay. By tomorrow daytime, the two Japanese fleets will be together. The Mashengde must not
Take the risk.
The fleet commander decided to seize the opportunity to break out of the Sea of Japan and start a night battle with the Fuso. He really didn't want to be blocked in the Sea of Japan indefinitely, surrounded by hostile coasts, as fuel and supplies were gradually exhausted... At that time,
I can't even think about it.
…
The bridge microphone rang:
"Bridge, this is the sonar room. High-speed propeller found. Bearing 115, distance 6 nautical miles."
Within a few minutes, the sonar heard the sound of a large number of high-speed propellers. It was estimated that there were more than a dozen warships. Among them, four large warships were relatively clear. This was completely consistent with the size of the Fuso squadron.
The atmosphere in the bridge command room became solemn, and everyone knew that the battle was just around the corner. It was 6 nautical miles away, in the blink of an eye.
The tweeters on the Zhengde tower echoed:
"Brothers, I am the fleet commander. Sonar has discovered the location of the Japanese Fuso squadron, which is 6 nautical miles ahead. The opponent is guarding the entrance to the Tsugaru Strait, and we have to pass through the Tsugaru Strait and return to Daming. Although now
The two countries are not at war, but it may start from us soon. You all
We know the strength of the opponent. We have more warships and more artillery than we do. But we have more powerful main guns and armor that can withstand shells of the same caliber. You all know what this means. That is to say, the Japanese ship’s 14
We can withstand the 15-inch shells, but the Japanese ships cannot withstand our 15-inch shells.
"Brothers, this will be the first head-to-head confrontation between two Eastern maritime powers in modern times. And we are fortunate to be direct participants and will personally write this page in the history of world naval warfare. We should be proud. There is no need.
Deny it, the Japanese army trained hard and fought tenaciously. But don’t forget, we are
The Ming Empire Navy has a long and glorious tradition. When our imperial fleet sailed south to the Western Seas and became famous around the world, the Japanese were still using small sampans to sneak around along the coast. At that time, King Zheng Chenggong of Yanping led the Ming Dynasty fleet to teach a lesson in this eastern sea.
When the Netherlands was a maritime power, Japan was still under sea restrictions.
"Now, such a junior stands in front of us and provokes us. We should use our artillery shells to teach this junior a lesson like countless times before. We want the Japanese to understand who is the boss of this sea and who is the boss of this sea.
He is the master of East Asia. As long as we win this battle, Ming Dynasty will be in an extremely favorable environment in the next few decades or even a century. And this hero is us.
"Brothers, cheer up and give me a good fight!"
Finally, the fleet commander raised his breath and shouted loudly:
“Long live the Ming Empire!!!”
On the Zhengde warship, the sea in all directions echoed with the high-pitched shouts of the officers and soldiers:
“Long live the Ming Empire!!!”
…
"The Ming Dynasty Navy——Long live!!!"
"The Ming Dynasty Navy——Long live!!!"
…
"Her Majesty the Queen - long live!!!"
"Her Majesty the Queen - long live!!!"
…
At the same time, the signal light on the Zhengde sent orders to surrounding friendly ships to prepare for battle.