Chapter 377 The Battle of Tsushima (4)
At 10 o'clock in the morning, Hirahachiro Togo led the fleet to meet with six armored cruisers of the 2nd Team near Okama Island in the middle of the Tsushima Strait. At this time, after the 3rd Team discovered the Russian fleet, the 5th Team also discovered the Russian fleet, two fleets, one left and one right, closely monitoring the Russian fleet's actions. They continued to send telegrams to the Mikasa to report the position, direction, and speed of the Russian fleet.
Although the Russian fleet had entered the Tsushima Strait at this time, it does not mean that the joint fleet can catch turtles in a jar and capture it with no means. Because the Tsushima Strait is relatively wide, it gives the Russian fleet a greater room for maneuver. There are also many islands distributed in it. It is the central island of Chong Island, which divides the Tsushima Strait into two waterways in the east and west. In addition, the Russian fleet can also bypass Tsushima Island and walk through the Korean Strait. Therefore, it is also very important to determine the position, direction, and speed of the Russian fleet.
Of course, at this time, the Russian fleet also discovered that its left and right were Japanese warships, but it still did not launch an attack. Rozjesterwinsky now just wanted to pass through the Tsushima Strait as soon as possible and arrive in Vladivostok. As long as the Japanese fleet did not attack the Russian fleet, it would not be too much. Moreover, Rozjesterwinsky still had a sense of luck, hoping that the Japanese fleet had not yet gathered or made a mistake in judgment, and did not intercept the Russian fleet. However, Rozjesterwinsky also understood that this might be a slight slight, so Rozjesterwinsky just ordered the fleet to convert into a single-row combat formation and ready for battle at any time. He also ordered the fleet to pass through the waterway on the east side of the Tsushima Strait.
At 11 o'clock, the Russian fleet completed a single-row formation, and each ship began to rotate lunch. At 11:40, as the 3rd team of the Joint Fleet approached about 6 kilometers from the Russian fleet, the battleship Eagle of the Russian fleet, the battleship Eagle of the 1st team fired. The 3rd team fought back and quickly opened the distance, so the Eagle quickly stopped the artillery. This was also the first time that the Japanese and Russian fleets opened fire to each other.
At this time, in the command room of the Mikasa, the flagship of the Joint Fleet, more than 10 staff officers were working intensively. Some surrounded the Long River in front of the Tsushima Strait sand table, some were calculating the time of the encounter between the two sides, and some went between the telegraph room and the command room. Every time a new telegram came, the position and calculation had to be re-adjusted.
Commander Hirahachiro Togo, Chief of Staff Tomosaburo Kato, Chief of Staff Matsuyuki Akiyama and other important personnel stood aside and watched the staff members be busy silently. Only when the calculation results were released and they reported to them, they nodded slightly, or said "Thank you for your hard work."
At 12 noon, the 3rd Team flagship Kashiya sent a report: the enemy fleet is located at location 307, heading northeast to the east, with a visibility of 5 nautical miles. The 5th Team flagship Ichidao sent a report: I was at location 363, heading southeast to the south.
At this time, the upper and lower people finally agreed that the Russian fleet must have passed through the East Okinawa Waterway. So Hirahachiro Togo immediately ordered: Except for the 3rd and 5th teams, all other fleets gathered on the east side of Okinawa, and would encounter the enemy in an hour. We must destroy at least half of the warships!
Then Togo Heihachiro left the command room and came to the bridge to prepare to command the battle.
At this time, the sea was filled with fog, and the visibility had dropped to less than 10 kilometers. The waves were high and fast. Even the Mikasa, which had a displacement of 15,500, was shaking violently in the sea. The waves hit the deck, causing many places to soak in the ship. The waves splashed onto the bridge, pouring the military uniforms of Hirahachiro Togo and others so that they could only hold the bridge's studs tightly to prevent them from being thrown down. In such a bad weather, facing the upcoming decisive battle, everyone in the United Fleet Command became uneasy.
At 1:15, the third team, which was closely watching the Russian fleet, returned first. At this time, he was on the Mikasa, but he still did not see the Russian fleet. However, everyone knew that the Russian fleet was not far away.
At 1:20, the Russian fleet first discovered the joint fleet. Rozjesterwinsky ordered the fleet to speed up to 11 knots. The captains of each ship entered the command room, took their place, and prepared for the battle.
At 1:40, the fog on the sea gradually dissipated and the visibility expanded to about 15 kilometers. The Russian fleet finally appeared in front of the joint fleet. The joint fleet had completed its combat formation, led by the 1st team, followed by the 2nd team, followed by the 3rd team. Hirahachiro Togo ordered the fleet to change its course to the northwest and seize the upper hand of the Russian fleet.
"It's finally going to start." Akiyama Matsuno murmured to himself. He rarely put a sword belt on his military uniform that "showed determination" and seemed very special.
And Tosaburo Kato's face was pale. It turned out that his stomach disease had occurred these days and he was in pain every day. Togo Hirahachiro turned his head and said, "Chief Kato, if you are in poor health, don't stay on the bridge, go to the command room."
Tomosaru Kato said, "Commander, where are you?"
Togo Hirahachiro wiped the sea water splashed on the telescope and said, "I will stay on the bridge to command the battle. The vision here is much better than in the command room."
Tomosaburo Kato frowned and said, "That's too dangerous, if..."
Togo Hirahachiro said calmly: "That's why I want the Chief of Staff to bring everyone else back to the command room. If something happens to me, you will take the war on my behalf. Don't persuade me, I will not go to the command room. If the Chief of Staff does not want the command department of the fleet to be completely destroyed in an instant, hurry up and take the other people to the command room."
Tomosaru Kato was a little sad. In fact, he also knew that the wide view on the bridge was indeed much better than in the command room, and it could also boost the morale and fighting spirit of the army. Of course, the danger was much greater. In the Sino-Japanese War of 10 years ago, in the Sino-Japanese War of 10, in the battle between the Joint Fleet and the Beiyang Fleet, Ding Ruchang, the commander of the Beiyang Fleet, commanded the battle on the bridge. However, at the beginning of the battle, the Dingyuan was shot and the bridge was blown down, and Ding Ruchang was seriously injured and could not command the battle, causing the Beiyang Fleet to lose command at the beginning of the battle. This is also one of the reasons for the defeat of the Beiyang Fleet. Therefore, it is not unreasonable for Kato Tomosaru Kato to worry.
However, Tosaburo Kato also knew that the persuasion could not persuade Hirahachiro Togo, so he had to force the other staff to return to the command room. Of course, he left a few staff members next to Hirahachiro Togo. After all, Heihachiro Togo alone could not command the battle on the bridge.
After other staff members left the bridge one after another, Togo Heihachiro looked at his watch and pointed at 1:45. Togo Heihachiro ordered that a "Preparation for Battle" signal flag was hung on the mast and the alarm was sounded.
At this moment, the staff reminded Hirahachiro Togo that the Russian fleet was turning and heading towards 23 degrees eastward. Hirahachiro Togo looked with a telescope and did not order the joint fleet to turn, but ordered the speed of the fleet to be increased to 15 knots.
At 1:55, Togo Heihachiro ordered again to raise the "z" flag of the Mikasa and issued a command to the entire fleet: "The rise and fall of the imperial kingdom is here, and you all work hard together."
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"Look, it's the 'z' flag, and finally the 'z' flag is slapped."
"Yes, this shot is very rare. It should be preserved well. In the future, Japan will take another photo of [Sakakuchi Nobuyuki] and other things, so there can be sufficient information."
"Take it down, I see that in this time and space, it is impossible for Japan to photograph [Sakakuchi Nobuyuki]."
"If we want to make a 'z' flag, hang it on the mast, and then when we raise and write back the record, we can also make some sensationalism."
"Ha ha ha ha!"
Just as the battle between the Japanese and Russian fleet was about to break out, there were laughter and joy in the central command room of the Kunming ship, and it was relaxed. The crew members in the command room looked at several large display screens in the command room, and talked about the arrangements, formations, etc. of both sides.
At this time, the Kunming ship was located about 60 kilometers behind the Russian fleet, and other fleets were temporarily anchored on the sea. The Yueyang ship, which was tracking the Russian fleet in the early stage, and the Sanya ship, which monitored the joint fleet in the Tsushima Strait, did not meet with the Grand Fleet. The Yueyang ship was cruising on the east side of the Tsushima Strait, while the Sanya ship swam on the north side of the Tsushima Strait.
In order to monitor this battle, the People's Army did invest a lot, and dispatched two drones to monitor both sides at high altitudes. One of them looked at the overall situation, while the other was shooting local details. This was indeed quite luxurious, because the East China government has less than half of the aviation fuel in stock, but in order to win the victory of this battle, it is worth it. Of course, the People's Army did not dispatch helicopters this time, because it was also for the sake of saving aviation fuel.
On the large display screen in the command room of the Kunming ship center, the panoramic view of both sides was shown. Of course, the distance between the two sides was still more than ten thousand meters, so all warships were a small dot on the display screen, and on the other two display screens, there were close-ups of each warship, so you could even see the commander on the bridge.
Chapter completed!