There are also four heavy patrol teams in the local fleet, about ten kilometers behind the main team.

After ten o'clock, the lead ship of the heavy patrol team, Zizhou, also responded through the light signal after receiving the light signal from the "Longxing".

At this time, the Fifth Cruiser Team was about 20 kilometers southeast of the heavy patrol team.

In other words, the main team is just over ten kilometers away from the left front of the Fifth Cruiser Team.

Obscured by the clouds, the lookouts of the Fifth Cruiser Detachment only saw the lights emitted by the "Zizhou" and did not find the main force that was closer.

The key point was that the lookout made a very accurate judgment that the warship opposite was uttering a lantern.

Whose lanterns are sent to?

Although the lookout did not fully see clearly, it roughly understood that the warship was replying to the order, which was commonly used words such as "received the order" and "ready to execute". Because the light language is only used for internal communications of the fleet, there is no such term for encryption.

The lanterns of navies in various countries are basically the same.

According to the battle report disclosed later, Lieutenant General Wuxiong, the commander of the team at the time, made an accurate judgment and ordered the lookouts to pay attention to the nearby waters and report them immediately after discovering suspicious targets. However, he did not tell Lieutenant General Takaji about this crucial judgment.

The reason is also very simple: that was just his concern. As the commander of the team, he could not tell his concerns to the superior commander as discovery.

In addition, his relationship with Takaji was very bad, and it was simply incompatible.

Now, I'm having a big deal.

The report received by Takaji was that the "Miaogao" that had exited earlier discovered an enemy ship, but it was initially judged to be a cruiser operating alone.

How would you feel when you get this investigation report?

Not to mention Takaji, if it were Takano, it would have been determined that it was a cruiser that was performing reconnaissance patrol missions on the periphery, and it was inferred that the main formation was behind the cruiser.

In other words, the main team of the local fleet is farther away!

Interestingly, Takaji did not reply to Takeo's report, nor did he issue a new order to Takeo.

After waiting for about ten minutes, after concluding that Takaji would not make adjustments, Takeo made a very bold decision to break the stalemate.

Speed ​​up and rushed towards the enemy ship.

Obviously, Wu Xiong must have made a mistake.

Because the lookouts had never discovered the main battleship of the local fleet, Wu Xiong took it for granted that the warship opposite was sending lights to him. Simply put, the lookouts on the warship saw the "Miaogao" but did not recognize it, so they sent a lantern for inquiry.

From Wu Xiong's perspective, he must have known that it won't take long before the Liang Xia Navy's warship would determine that the enemy ship was discovered.

The key is that it may not be the cruiser of the local fleet.

Perhaps, it's just a patrol ship.

It is precisely because of this that Wu Xiong felt that he should seize the opportunity to approach quickly.

This reckless act is equivalent to sounding the horn of the battle.

At 11:40, the lookout for the "Miaogao" reported that the enemy ships ahead were not one, four, and were likely cruisers.

At this time, the distance between the two sides led the ships had been shortened to thirteen thousand meters.

For the "Miaogao", this distance is still a bit far.

Although the eight-inch armor-piercing projectile can penetrate the armor of heavy cruisers, it is difficult to accurately measure the distance from the enemy ship during night artillery battles.

The key is that the four heavy cruisers on the opposite side are under the clouds and cannot keep their visual contact.

The other party obviously did not intend to give the Fifth Cruiser Team more opportunities.

Three minutes later, four heavy cruisers headed by Zibozhou, who completed the steering took the first round of volleys, officially kicking off the battle.

It must be admitted that the lookouts of the Navy Navy are indeed very powerful.

Only a few rounds of artillery bombings were carried out. At around 1:45, the lookouts of the "Miaogao" concluded that they were four "Zizhou"-class heavy cruisers based on the sounds made when the shells flew in, the distribution of the flashes of the enemy ship's muzzles, and the number of shells dropped each time.

In fact, it's enough to judge that it's a heavy cruiser.

The local fleet only has one heavy cruiser team, which belongs to four "Zizhou" class ships.

Now, Wu Xiong dared not do anything randomly.

Although there are only nine main guns in the "Zizhou" class, one less than the "Miaogao" class, when it comes to combat effectiveness, it is actually much stronger than the "Miaogao" class.

Also, the 200mm armor-piercing bomb that the opponent called was a fatal threat.

Before 11:50, Wuxiong issued a left turn order, and at the same time asked the staff to assign the target of the battle.

At this time, the distance between the two sides had been shortened to about ten kilometers.

If you want to say it, in just a few minutes, the lookouts of the Miaogao can see the main team in front of the left. It is not because the distance has been shortened, but because the Longxing does not turn anymore, it will drive out of the cloudy area in a few minutes and be exposed to the bright moonlight.

At that time, Gui Boyong was hesitating whether to turn.

The main reason is that the clouds drift too slowly, so you need to continue to stay under the clouds, turn right and then sail to the northeast, that is, the Fifth Cruiser Team. After the distance is shortened, you may be discovered by the Fifth Cruiser Team at any time.

Or, do you still not turn and fire directly at the second main team more than ten kilometers away?

After Wuxiong ordered fire on four "Zizhou" class ships of the heavy patrol team, Gui Boyong had no headaches.

The main force team has obviously not been discovered yet by those heavy cruisers of the Navy.

Don’t forget that Gui Boyong was still worried before whether the four fast assault heavy cruisers would launch an attack with heavy torpedoes after approaching.

At around 11:53, after receiving the telegram from the Zibo "Zizhou", Gui Boyong ordered a right turn.

There is no objection to this turn.

The enemy's actions showed that, including the four heavy cruisers that came out, no enemy ship found four "Longxing"-class battleships hidden under the clouds.

At that time, the only threatening one was actually the four light cruisers that turned south after entering the Xuhai.

Affected by previous steering maneuvers, no lookout on a battleship, including the Longxing, saw the four light cruisers.

In order to keep it hidden, Gui Boyong did not order the light patrol team behind him.

However, there was no need to send a telegram at that time, because the decisive battle would begin in a few minutes.

Before twelve o'clock, to be precise, it was eleven fifty-eight, after completing the turn to the right, Gui Boyong ordered the red blood battle flag to be raised.

War tactics?

It was distributed an hour ago.

Besides, the four battleships of the second main force team were still lined up in a column and rushed forward, so the first few rounds of volleys must have been aimed at the enemy's leading ship.

As expected, it should be the flagship of the second main team, "Yimu".

Without entering the combat state, there is no reason to let other warships act as lead ships.

At about twelve o'clock, the "Longxing" broke the radio silence and issued a command to fire.

Then, the communications consultant sent out a series of orders.

In the next half minute, four battleships that had already lined up, led by the flagship, launched the first round of volleys.

The first fleet decisive battle of this war, to be precise, was the battle in the battle between the battleships in the battleships stage.

It was already early morning of the 28th.
Chapter completed!