"Report to the Commander, all fleets are ready and can set sail at any time."

Shang Jinfeng nodded, then looked at Xia Bohai, Qin Zheng, Xiao Jianjun and others who were still seeing the fleet off the shore through the porthole on the side, and said, "Hound the whistle and set off."

As the Kunming ship emitted a flute, the huge hull slowly left the berthing dock and drove outside Qingdao Port. The Huaihua and Xiangyang ships followed the Kunming ships one by one, and also drove out of the port.

Shang Jinfeng stood in front of the porthole of the cab, looking at the boundless sea in front of the bow. He felt very moved. Since defeating the German Far East Fleet, Shang Jinfeng had only sailed his ship once during his expedition to Java. However, the Kunming ship had not fired a single shot and went to Java for a walk. Although it forced the Dutch colonial authorities to compensate for the losses, it also left a regret for Shang Jinfeng. After all, he could not fight another battle with real swords and guns. Now Shang Jinfeng is the Minister of the Navy, with a high position and a powerful position, and he can no longer have the opportunity to drive a warship to ship. However, Shang Jinfeng was less than 50 years old and was in his prime. Since then, he has lived in an office life. Shang Jinfeng felt somewhat unwilling.

This time is a completely exception. Because this battle is of great importance, it is the Battle of Guan Jian, which has risen from the East China government to gain geostrategic advantages. The East China government has prepared for several years, and all the crossing warships must participate in the war. Although Han Chao, the deputy captain of the Kunming ship, can command the Kunming ship instead of Shang Jinfeng, the Kunming ship is the flagship of the entire fleet. Han Chao is obviously not enough to command the entire fleet. Only Shang Jinfeng can hold on to this situation, so Shang Jinfeng finally got another opportunity to participate in the war.

Of course, Shang Jinfeng also knew that this was probably the last time he had driven a warship to fight, but his last battle could be like this Guan Jianxing battle.

In fact, the scale of the People's Army Navy is not small now. The Russian warships intercepted last time have been repaired and renamed and incorporated into the fleet. The battleship Crown Prince named Weiyang and into the battleship formation; the protective cruiser Ascolid is named Haike, Di'an is named Haidi, and Novik is named Hainuo. They are all included in the third cruiser formation, and the three destroyers are also included in the battleship formation to deal with miscellaneous matters.

The two types of four armored cruisers newly built by the East China government have been in service and have been formed into armored cruisers formations. The 7,000-ton armored cruisers still respect the principle of naming cities, because the construction of this type of warship is mainly due to technical accumulation and cannot be regarded as the main battleship, so they are still named after the big city, the first ship is named Jinan ship, and the second ship is named Tianjin ship.

The ten thousand-ton armored cruiser belongs to the scope of the main battleship, and can break out of the law of city naming, with much greater freedom. After negotiations by the navy, it was decided to name it after the famous Chinese war horses. The first ship was named Chitu and the second ship was named Jueying. Therefore, this type of warship is also called the Mingjue class. In fact, the navy has not thought of using higher-level names, such as divine beasts, stars, gods, etc., but this is just a ten thousand-ton armored cruiser, which uses too high-level names. So what will be named after a larger and stronger warship in the future?

Named warships with the name of the famous Chinese war horses can not only reflect the characteristics of Chinese culture, but also be considerate. After all, war horses are also related to war. Some war horses are also familiar to the Chinese. For example, the Red Rabbit used this time, Jueying is all famous war horses in the [Three Kingdoms], which most Chinese are very familiar with. And it also leaves enough space for more powerful warships in the future.

In addition, the 12,000-ton battleship built by the East China government in Germany left Germany on April 30 and headed for Qingdao. This was also the result of the East China government's request, to avoid Germany's warships being held on the grounds of neutrality after the war began. During the 20-year Sino-French War, Li Hongzhang asked Germany to deliver the completed Dingyuan and Zhenyuan ships. At that time, Germany seized the two ships on the grounds of neutrality and returned to China until the end of the Sino-French War. Although the relationship between the East China and Germany is much closer than that of the Qing court, Germany still needs the military technology of the East China government, but it is also necessary to guard against it. It is better to drive the warships away first.

Another battleship of the same type built by the East China government has entered the outfit stage and is expected to be conducted in September. The other accessories and materials needed for this warship have been purchased, so there is no need to worry about being stuck in the neck.

Now the People's Army's naval structure has a battleship formation, an armored cruiser formation, 4 cruiser formations, and 4 destroyer formations, with a total of 46 warships of various types. Among them, there were 20 warships built after the establishment of the East China government. Among the other warships, Germany and Russia had the largest warships, each with 6, and they were basically large and medium-sized warships of more than 5,000 tons.

After leaving the port, the Kunming ship took the lead, the Huaihua ship and the Xiangyang ship followed side by side, forming a triangular arrow, and the other formations formed two columns and followed behind, and the entire fleet was more than 10 kilometers long.

The other two modern warships, Yueyang and Sanya, had already left the port to carry out their mission in early May. Yueyang was responsible for keeping a close eye on the Russian fleet and reporting the movements of the Russian fleet to the crossing fleet at any time.

At the same time, the Second Army stationed in western Liaoning and the Marines stationed in Yantai also received notices requiring them to be on standby and wait for orders. The Second Army must launch an attack on the Japanese troops guarding the east bank of the Liao River within an hour after receiving the order, while the Marines required boarding the ship and sailing within an hour after receiving the order.

The Russian fleet arrived at the eastern sea surface of Shanghai at around 9 a.m. on May 10, which is about 2000 kilometers away from Vladivostok. The Russian fleet carried out its last coal replenishment here.

At 10 a.m., the coal replenishment of each ship ended. Then Commander Rozjesterwinsky ordered the 12 transport ships of the fleet to leave the fleet and sail towards Saigon. Rozjesterwinsky also estimated that when Japan came to Japan, it would not easily let itself pass through the Tsukuma Strait and reach Vladivostok. Therefore, there must be a fierce battle, first sending the transport ship without combat effectiveness out of the fleet. The fleet changed its course "73 degrees north east" and sailed towards the Tsukuma Strait.

After the People's Army Navy left Qingdao Port, it immediately contacted the Yueyang ship, which was monitoring the Russian fleet. It was learned that the Russian fleet had already reached the southern waters of Jeju Island at this time, which was about 300 kilometers away from the Tsukuma Strait. The Russian fleet's speed was 8 knots, which would take about one day. Qingdao was about 600 kilometers away from the Tsukuma Strait, so Shang Jinfeng ordered the fleet to travel at a speed of 14 knots, which was expected to arrive at the Tsukuma Strait 2-3 hours later than the Russian fleet.

At this time, the Japanese joint fleet was still living at the mouth of the Tsushima Strait, waiting for the arrival of the Russian fleet. A naval battle that changed the regional situation and fate would begin.

In fact, Japan has always been guarding against the East China government, but Japan's defense is mainly on the Liaohe Line and Lushun direction. The expectation of the People's Army's attack on the joint fleet is insufficient. This is not because Japan has not expected that the East China government will launch an attack while the joint fleet is fiercely fighting with the Russian fleet. However, it is imperative to intercept the Russian fleet, because Japan will never let the Russian fleet reach Vladivostok. Therefore, even if it knows that the East China government may attack the joint fleet at sea, it must attack.

Intercepting the Russian fleet; secondly, with the reconnaissance technology of this era, it is extremely difficult to find a fleet on the sea. Although during the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, Japanese warships intercepted the Beiyang Navy's fleet twice, because the route of the Beiyang Navy's fleet was basically along the coastline and there are rules to find. This time, the joint fleet intercepted the Russian fleet in the Tsushima Strait, and was fighting outside the sea. Unless the East China government knew in advance that the joint fleet would set the battlefield in the Tsushima Strait, it would be difficult to find the joint fleet.

Of course, Japan also considered that there was nothing absolute on the battlefield, so it still took certain precautions. First, Japan arranged a large number of reconnaissance ships from Taiwan to the Tsushima Strait and formed a strict reconnaissance network. Although the main purpose of these reconnaissance ships was to reconnaissance Russian fleets, they could also be used to deal with the People's Army Navy. Secondly, Japan's intelligence personnel in Qingdao, Yantai and other places also took action at this time to monitor the movements of the People's Army Navy warships at the port. Once the People's Army's military ships had large-scale operations, they would immediately notify Japan, and the joint fleet was informed by the domestic radio relay to make preparations. Japan believed that these two warning lines were completely enough. As long as the joint fleet received the warning, it could at least be invincible. After all, if it could not win, it could still run and desolate.

However, after the East China government announced that it had severed diplomatic relations with Japan, it not only ordered the expulsion of Japanese diplomats and expatriates, but also attacked Japanese intelligence personnel. Overnight, it destroyed eight Japanese intelligence bases in Qingdao, Yantai and other places, arrested 52 intelligence personnel, and almost paralyzed Japan's intelligence agencies in Qingdao, Yantai and other places.
Chapter completed!