At around 5 a.m. on October 16, the sky of the Ryukyu Islands was brighter by an hour and a half earlier than that of Beijing, so the Fourth Squadron of the Imperial Navy Pacific Fleet and the Fifth Squadron of the Fifth Squadron of the Imperial Navy, which was responsible for clearing the remaining ships of the Japanese Combined Fleet, were sailing rapidly in a certain waters in the East China Sea.

As soon as the sky was dawn, the carrier-based seaplane carried by the battlecruiser detachment took off and searched for the remaining ships of the Japanese Combined Fleet from all directions.

After the "disaster" yesterday afternoon, the remaining ships of the Japanese Combined Fleet were dispersed in the East China Sea. After a night of Mosuo-style voyage, the only two remaining armored cruisers (Takabashi and Yumashi), as well as six cruisers (Katakashi, Chitose, Tsumashi, Aso, Soya, and Tsubashi) and 13 Peak-class destroyers were finally reunited and converged in the waters near Taiwan's Diaoyu Islands.

In addition to the thirteen Peak Wind-class destroyers, the other eight main battleships were severely damaged to varying degrees. Among them, the Takama ship, Asu ship, and Zonggu ship had to be shut down for repair. So Lieutenant General Guasheng Waiki, who raised the fleet's command flag, ordered each ship to break down and stop the ship here, and ordered each ship to temporarily repair it. 13 Peak Wind-class destroyers were guarding the surroundings.

Although the main force of the Japanese joint fleet has been eliminated, the eight cruisers and thirteen destroyers that have survived can still be called a very powerful fleet. Although it cannot defeat any main fleet of the Chinese Empire Navy, it is more than enough to engage in destruction and attack the small warships and merchant ships of the Chinese Empire.

While Gua Sheng Waiji was having his dream of spring and autumn, the Chinese Navy Battlecruiser Squadron, commanded by Lin Yisong, was traveling southward at high speed, and reconnaissance planes were searching for Gua Sheng Waiji's fleet everywhere.

Lin Yisong led 14 battlecruisers to track the south. When he learned that a Japanese naval destroyer was found in the southeast, Lin Yisong realized that the remaining Japanese fleet must be nearby, so he ordered the entire fleet to advance at full speed towards the Diaoyu Islands.

Soon, reconnaissance planes reported to discover Japanese naval destroyers one after another. Based on the location of the Japanese ships, Lin Yisong quickly determined that these Japanese ships were on guard against the periphery, and there must be their main battleship not far away. Sure enough, Lin Yisong guessed that in less than ten minutes, three reconnaissance planes determined the positions of eight Japanese main battleships at the same time.

At the same time, a heavy cruiser detachment of the East China Sea Fleet of the Chinese Empire set off from the Xiangshan Naval Base in Zhejiang. They received an order from the Navy Department to be wary of the remnants of Japanese warships harassing the Imperial merchant ships in the East China Sea. Therefore, the five heavy cruisers (large armored cruisers) commanded by Major General Chen Fu and Colonel Ren Guo (modified from the Russian ship Admiral Aprakhin), Fengyun (modified from the Russian ship Admiral Chengyawen), Xinyue (modified from the Russian ship Admiral Ushakov), Xintong (modified from the Russian ship Admiral Teminsk), Yuxi (modified from the Russian ship Admiral Levier) are sailing towards the Diaoyu Islands.

When Lin Yisong's reconnaissance plane discovered the Japanese Navy destroyer, the Japanese destroyer also saw the reconnaissance plane. So Guasheng Waiki quickly ended his rest and led the fleet to leave urgently.

At the same time, a reconnaissance plane taken off from Hualien, Taiwan discovered traces of the Japanese fleet and immediately reported it to the East China Sea Fleet Command. Soon this information was conveyed to the fleet where Chen Fu was carrying out patrol missions.

Chen Fu had already obtained news from the East China Sea Fleet Command that all the main battleships of the Japanese Combined Fleet were eliminated, so he did not take the remaining Japanese ships seriously. He was eager to make contributions and immediately led five heavy cruisers to the direction of the Japanese fleet.

At 8:13 am, the faster Xianfu ship left to search south of Pengjiayu, and four other heavy cruisers were searching south in a fan-shaped gap of 30 kilometers.

At 8:2 o'clock in the morning, the Fengyun, which was more sudden, found a wisp of smoke in front of the starboard side. The captain judged that it was an injured Japanese ship, Takama. Chen Fu was overjoyed and dealt with a light cruiser. He was very confident. But 20 minutes later, shocking news came from the reconnaissance: at least two armored cruisers were together.

Lin Yisong compared the strength of both sides in his heart: Guasheng Waiki's Takaba ship and Yuma ship were both new armored cruisers built in 1899, equipped with 4 210mm and 6 150mm guns. The five heavy cruisers on his side were all large armored cruisers captured from the Russian Navy. They were built after 1895 and were equipped with 4 234mm guns and 16 152mm guns. Although the gun caliber is large, the range, rate of fire and aiming energy are far inferior to that of Japanese ships. What's worse is that most of the crew members on the heavy cruiser team where Chen Fu is located are rusty in technology and inexperienced conscripts and non-commissioned officers.

Chen Fu weighed the pros and conscience and felt that he was not sure to attack the Japanese ships. He could retreat south and wait until he met Lin Yisong's battle cruiser team before he fought with Gua Sheng Waiji. However, Chen Fu was unwilling to bring the charge of escaping and insulting the reputation of the Royal Navy of the Chinese Empire, and was even more worried that it would be difficult to find Gua Sheng Waiji if he lost his target. Considering that the Imperial Navy could carry out rapid global deployment, as long as the combat effectiveness of the enemy ships could be greatly weakened, even if he sacrificed himself, the main fleet that arrived later could easily find and annihilate these unreliable enemies.

Chen Fu led the fleet to travel eastward to approach the Japanese ship, gathered the fan formation at around 9 o'clock, and gathered together to the flagship Xianfu. At 9 o'clock, he assembled into a column, led by Xianfu, and then turned southward to approximately parallel to the Japanese ship route.

Coincidentally, Guasheng Waiki was also very surprised to meet a Chinese Empire fleet at this time, but his position was relatively favorable and he had already arranged a combat column, from front to back, namely the Takaba ship, the Yoshima ship, the Kashima ship, the Chitose ship, the Takama ship, the Asu ship, the Soya ship, and the Tsuka ship are located in the north more than 50 kilometers away and are returning to the team in a hurry.

At 9:20, Guasheng Waiji ordered the Japanese fleet to travel southwest. After 8 minutes, the course will be adjusted southward and parallel with Chen Fu's fleet.

At 9:31, Chen Fu raised his speed to 17 knots and sent a battle to the distant Lin Yisong flagship, Emperor Wen of Sui, to generate electricity: "I will attack the enemy ships, please support quickly."

At this time, the sun was not high and was still on the sea level. The sunlight dazzled the gunners of the Japanese ship. The light was beneficial to Chen Fu's fleet. Unfortunately, the two sides were 15,000 meters apart, both outside the other side's range.

At 9:55, the situation reversed. After the tactical formation of both sides adjusted, Afterglow clearly reflected the figures of the Chen Fu fleet's ships on the sea level, while the Japanese ship was hidden in the sunshine.

Chen Fuyi did not stop and led the team to the southeast at 10 o'clock in the hope of quickly shortening the distance between the two sides and using close combat to Guasheng Waiji to fight.

At 10:30, the two sides were 1130 meters apart. Guasheng Waiji ordered a 210mm main gun to open fire at the Chinese Empire warship. My wife and Chang Qing fought against Xianfu and Fengyun respectively. In addition, Xinyue, Xintong and Yuxi were against the other six Japanese light cruisers.

Five minutes later, Chen Fu ordered five heavy cruisers to fight back. Chen Fu later wrote in a briefing: "The wind and waves hit the bow...the observation and distance measurement were severely blocked. Because the waves hit the bridge directly, the 150 mm ground on the central deck could hardly aim at the target."

If Chen Fu is like this, the situation on the side of Guasheng Waiji is even worse. He only has 8 210mm cannons that can get Chen Fu's fleet.

However, Guasheng Waiji had the advantage, and his fleet was on the backlight side. In this way, although the firepower of the five heavy cruisers of Chen Fu's fleet was very strong, the guns of the warship aimed eastward, and the strong southeast wind made the waves rush to the muzzle, and the gunner was obscured by the splashing waves. The orientation of the Japanese warship in the morning light in the east could only be judged by the muzzle flash, let alone the distance measurement. Since the war started, Chen Fu's fleet was in such a passive situation.

Although there were only two armored cruisers on the Japanese ship and the other six light cruisers had small gun calibers, the first volley of the Japanese ship hit Chen Fu's fleet, and the third volley of the Wuma destroyed two of the sub-cannons of Xianfu.

By 10:45, although the Xianfu, which was shot everywhere, ignited a huge fire from the bow to the stern. According to Guasheng Waiki's calculations, the My Wife hit the Xianfu about 35 times. However, within 15 minutes of the battle, Chen Fu was passive and tried to approach the Japanese ship. Perhaps he hoped to take advantage of the armor of the heavy cruiser.

In this case, Chen Fu's fleet had shortened the distance to 52o0 meters, forcing Guasheng Waiji, who had guessed his intention, to open the distance between the two sides.

At 10:50, the Xianfu unit was fired by a Japanese ship again, with great casualties.

On the other hand, Chang Qinghu's third volley removed the top of the front turret in Fengyun and caused a fire. The bow of the ship was low and tilted to starboard at the same time, and all the artillery was dumb.

At 11:15, the Fengyun turned 180 degrees and slowly drove towards the northward direction. It probably got the wrong direction because there were three Japanese light cruisers in the north.

Guasheng Waiji ordered light cruisers to search for the remaining enemies. At 11:58, three Japanese ships discovered the dying Fengyun. The dragons of the Royal Navy of the Chinese Empire were flying on its main mast.

Three Japanese ships immediately rushed forward. After a blast, the Fengyun sank at 12:18. Most of the nearly 700 officers and soldiers on the ship were killed.

Chen Fu was not in good condition in command of the fleet, causing a heavy cruiser to sink. Although the heavy cruiser was just a captured Russian warship and was already very old, when Lin Yisong learned that the Imperial Navy had suffered a loss, he was furious and urgently ordered his battle patrol squadron to rush to the combat waters as soon as possible to reinforce.

While Guason Waiki and his remaining fleet were intoxicated by the joy of victory, a powerful fleet of Chinese Empire was advancing rapidly south and began to dig graves for this Japanese fleet that was unknown to the heights of the sky and the earth.

Of course, Guasheng Waiji was an experienced commander after all. Although he was lucky enough to sink an Imperial Chinese warship, he was worried about encountering more main battleships of the Imperial Chinese Navy and the dream that he had made him afraid of air fighters yesterday, so he gave up on continuing to attack Chen Fu's fleet. With the joy of victory, he turned around and turned back to the east, and sent a telegram back to the Japanese base camp.

When the news of victory reached the Japanese Navy, the Japanese Navy was not happy with this small victory. The Japanese Navy Minister Noriuku warned Guasheng that there are few hopes of success in combat with cruisers, so he suggested that he lead all warships to break back to the country. Guasheng agreed very much, but he made his own decision in the execution. He ignored the differences in opinions of his subordinate captains and decided to attack Penghu, Taiwan, and attack Longmen Port on the Penghu Islands, to hit the arrogance of the Chinese Empire, and then return to China.

At 1:30 p.m., the light cruiser in the Guasheng Waiji fleet, which was responsible for reconnaissance mission, observed a high-hanging triangular mast tower in Longmen Port - a typical symbol of British battleships. But it was definitely not the British navy, so Guasheng Waiji immediately thought that there must be a battleship captured by the Chinese Empire from the British navy.

At the same time, the battleship Yuyan (British ship Nelson), which was guarding near the port, suddenly fired a salvo at the Japanese cruiser Tarma. Guasheng was shocked, and his dream of being ready to hold her hands disappeared. He immediately ordered the Japanese fleet to escape quickly.

The battleship Yuyan, which was anchored in the harbor, immediately set fire. The furnaces were busy in the boiler room and sweated heavily. The ships were in flames. The battleships dyed black by coal ash and brought coal-added equipment immediately went out to sea and advanced at full speed, and were extremely eager to teach a lesson to the Japanese warships that came to the tiger's butt.

At the same time, the Lin Yisong fleet, which was moving south quickly, also received a report. At this time, the Lin Yisong fleet was not far from the Penghu Islands, because Chen Fu's fleet successfully attracted the Guasheng Waiji fleet and bought time for Lin Yisong to catch up with the Japanese fleet.

At 2:12 pm, Guasheng Waiki, who had fled in a hurry, received the most worrying report: his fleet had been caught up by the Imperial Chinese Navy Battlecruiser Detachment, with a total of 14 battlecruisers.

"I really respect me!" Guasheng Waiki couldn't help but smile bitterly. A battle cruiser was enough to clean up his warships, let alone fourteen, and there was no way out at all.

At 2:45, Lin Yisong's battle cruiser approached the highway, and the two sides began a battle at a distance of 14,400 meters.

The Sui-class battleship with a displacement of nearly 40,000 tons and a speed of 34 knots was the first to seize the advantageous T-head shooting horizontal position.

"Dongdongdongdongdongdong!"

The Sui Emperor Wen, which had three triple-mounted 381mm main guns, immediately fired a terrifying giant shell, and rushed towards the Japanese ship like a storm.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Eighteen huge water columns two or three hundred meters high suddenly rose on the sea near the Japanese ship, and the waves splashed hundreds of meters, which immediately scared the Japanese officers and soldiers on the Japanese ship.

The fast-paced battle cruiser team of the Chinese Empire, 14 battle cruisers were divided into four teams, and they seized the advantageous shooting position from all directions, surrounding the Japanese fleet in the center.

"Dongdongdongdongdongdong!"

14 battle patrols fired fire at the Japanese fleet in the center one after another. In an instant, countless artillery shells roared and poured down. Huge columns of water suddenly emerged from the sea. The sea water splashed and huge waves rolled. The sea water on the sea surface with a radius of 50 kilometers boiled in an instant.

"What a powerful power!"

Guasheng Waiji was extremely sad at this time. The joy just now had disappeared, replacing endless panic. Even the commander, he, not to mention the lower-level officers and soldiers.

Coupled with the shocked hun that happened one afternoon yesterday, these Japanese naval officers and soldiers who temporarily escaped from the God of Death were suddenly like frightened birds, terrified.

At 13:20, the Japanese fleet, which suffered the first attack from Lin Yisong fleet, was in chaos. Guasheng Waiji was about to face a disaster, so he hurriedly ordered all ships to evacuate urgently and flee their lives. But it was too late.

Lin Yisong personally led the four most powerful battlecruisers of the Ninth War Team, the Sui Wen Emperor, the Sui Yang Emperor, the Jin Wu Emperor, and the Jin Hui Emperor, respectively, confronted Guasheng Waiji's main battleships, Yuma and Chang Qing. The 10th War Team of the Fourth Squadron, the King of Zhou Cheng, and the King of Zhou Kang were responsible for attacking the Japanese ships, Kashikashi, Qiansui Shi, Takama Shi, and Asu Shi. The King of Zhou Lie of the Fifth Squadron, the King of Zhou Zhao, the King of Zhou Mu, the King of Zhou Yi, and the King of Zhou Xiao, the King of Zhou Li, and the King of Zhou Xuan of the Twelfth War Team respectively were responsible for attacking the remaining Zonggu ships, Jin Shi, and other Japanese naval destroyers. Lin Yisong's order was to eliminate these Japanese ships because they made the imperial navy angry.

This adjustment put the Japanese fleet at a completely disadvantage in range, firepower and speed. The 381mm caliber cannon of the Chinese Empire battle cruiser immediately showed its power. Two shells hit the bow and stern of the Uma, and a violent explosion instantly shattered the stern and bow of the Uma. The huge impact was wrapped in fire, smoke and debris, and instantly lifted hundreds of Japanese soldiers around him into the air, and blood and flesh flew everywhere. The explosion caused a fire and quickly spread the entire hull. The armored cruiser of the Uma, who was still showing off his power, seemed so weak and powerless in front of the battle cruiser, like a servant who bowed his head and had no temper to resist.

At 13:30, my wife ship island was hit by a 1.4-ton shell. In an instant, the ship's central island was blown to pieces, and the secondary guns on both sides were also dumb.

A loud "bang" sounded like a bolt from the blue. In front of the 381mm giant cannon, the armor of my wife's ship was like a false one and did not work at all.

Three minutes later, two 381mm shells hit the starboard side of the ship at the same time. The ship, which had been beaten to pieces, instantly disintegrated. The commander tower where Guasheng Waiki was located was lifted to a height of hundreds of meters, and the broken arms of all the crew members sank into the sea.

Another main ship of Guasheng Waiji Fleet, the armored cruiser of the Changqing, attempted to fight with the Uma, but the heavy shells of the Chinese Empire's advanced battle cruiser gently penetrated its deck, causing serious damage to the ship's hull. The two boiler compartments of the Changqing's two boiler compartments surged into the sea, and the thick smoke ignited the entire hull. Although it was not sunk like the Uma, fortunately it was not hit by the ammunition depot by the Chinese Empire's warship, the 356mm shells of the advanced battle cruiser were still extremely terrifying, and the Changqing ship was like a beggar, and there was no perfect place in the entire hull.

At 13:34, one minute after the my wife ship sank, the Chang Qing ship was fired by the battlecruiser Wudi of Jin for the sixth firepower volley. The starboard side was hit by four shells at the same time. The hull immediately tilted right and sank quickly.

After the two armored cruisers of the Guasheng Waiji fleet were sunk, the other six light cruisers were even worse than their opponents, and they were almost sunk after a few shots. The most gorgeous thing is that the first firepower volley of King Zhou Lie's battle cruiser unexpectedly sank the Japanese ship Tarma, creating a record of the first bomb hit and the first bomb sinking in the history of naval battles. The battle cruiser Zhou Lie also became famous in this battle.

Subsequently, Lin Yisong commanded various battle cruisers and pursued more than a dozen destroyers from the Japanese Navy from all sides. In particular, the Japanese Navy's Fengfeng-class destroyers were very fast, generally around 27 knots, and they were small and flexible. The huge battle cruisers were unable to do anything to them for a while. However, the battle cruisers of the Chinese Empire could afford it, and Lin Yisong vowed to destroy all Japanese ships, so each battle cruiser chased a Japanese destroyer alone until they were sunk.

Because the Japanese Combined Fleet came out this time and was considered for long-term combat, it did not carry a supply ship when it was attacked by the Imperial Chinese Navy. The Japanese Navy's Peak Wind-class destroyer was burned with heavy oil and was not equipped with spare fuel. After being chased by 14 battlecruisers of the Imperial Chinese Empire for several hours, due to the full speed, the Japanese ship's fuel class was soon exhausted and eventually caught up.

"Sink all, no prisoners are left."

When the ship stopped and surrendered on the same day, Lin Yisong issued a massacre order. All the destroyers of the Japanese Navy were sunk, and they did not rescue the Japanese army that fell into the water and let them die on their own.

While Lin Yisong was commanding the Imperial Naval Battlecruiser Squadron to encircle and suppress the remaining ships of the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet, the Sixth Squadron aircraft carrier battle group commanded by Ye Zugui had already rushed to the southern waters of the Japanese archipelago, but they did not enter the battle because the General Staff temporarily revised the combat plan. It was originally planned that the naval battleship fleet would cover the landing of the Army Expeditionary Force from Tokyo Bay, conquered Tokyo in one fell swoop, eliminate the Japanese regime, and end the war.

However, a telegram sent back from Tokyo from the Central Intelligence Agency of the Empire this morning showed that the Japanese military had expected that the Empire of China would attack Tokyo, so Japan had set up Nagano as a supporting capital and was ready to move the capital at any time. In this way, the value of the Chinese Empire's attack on Tokyo would not be so important. Once the Japanese government moved the capital to Nagano, it would be difficult to capture it in a short time with Nagano's geographical location.

The General Staff did not want to fall into the quagmire of war in Japan. If it could not be promptly forced to surrender, it would quickly withdraw. Therefore, the General Staff gave up its plan to land in Tokyo Bay to prevent Japan from moving its capital, which complicated the situation. However, in order to shock Japan, the General Staff decided to attack the closest Japanese island of Kyushu.

Japan is an island country, and there are many islands outside Kyushu Island. Before attacking Kyushu Island, you need to seize these outer islands.

However, before taking down these islands, you must first destroy Japanese submarines and destroyers upstream of the waters near Kyushu, otherwise the landing operation will not be carried out.

Although the Japanese Navy's Type 6 submarines still cannot reach the level of the Eastern Han-class submarines of the Imperial Navy, they already have the combat capability of the Western Han-class submarines, that is, they can be used as a defensive submarine in the nearshore.

Moreover, what worries the General Staff is that there are many Japanese submarines, far exceeding the 100 that were estimated at the beginning of the intelligence, but reaching more than 200. In this way, the Chinese Empire Navy needs to mobilize a large number of anti-submarine destroyers to eliminate these Japanese submarines. For safety reasons, the General Staff ordered Ye Zugui's aircraft carrier battle group to stay in the Ulsan Naval Base for the time being, and then go to sea to fight after clearing Japanese submarines.

Ye Zugui had no choice. His aircraft carriers did not have anti-submarine capabilities. Many modified aircraft carriers were slow to operate and were targeted by submarines, so they had to stay in the naval base and standby.

Starting from the morning of October 16, the Imperial Chinese Navy sent more than 200 anti-submarine destroyers to launch anti-submarine operations in the Northeast Sea, the Korean Strait and the Yellow Sea.

Since the anti-submarine destroyers of the Imperial Chinese Navy had already been installed with sonar arrays, this advanced weapon immediately left the Japanese Navy's submarines nowhere to hide. More than 20 were lost on the first day, and more than 50 were lost in the following three days.

On October 20, while patrolling near Hirado Tsukishima, an unknown submarine was discovered by the underwater sonar array.

"Azip 227, 3 chains from 9 nautical miles, 10 meters deep, and 10 knots!" Sonar soldiers reported: "A submarine was discovered, and it was approaching quickly."

Captain Yu Zongyue, Captain 277, ordered: "Distinguish the identity!"

"Yes!" The communications soldier quickly dialed the Imperial Submarine Fleet call channel and shouted: "This is the Foshan Hunting Ship of the Imperial Navy. Please indicate your identity. Otherwise, it will be considered an enemy ship and will be sunk. Please answer if you hear it."

After a while of silence, the communication soldier repeated it twice, but the other party did not answer.

"Report, the other party has no response!"

Yu Zongyue then ordered: "Combat orders, anti-submarine preparations!"

"Yes! Anti-submarine combat!" The combat staff repeated the captain's order and sounded the anti-submarine alarm. Suddenly, all the officers and soldiers of the Foshan ship entered the anti-submarine combat readiness state, and the combatants took their place. Deep water bombs were sent onto the conveyor belt of the anti-submarine bomber in turn, waiting for the next order.
To be continued...