Commander's Bridge.

The phone rings three times before the combat staff picked up the microphone.

"Commander Bridge, I am the combat staff..."

The commander of the squadron, Major General He Yongxing, nicknamed "Tiger of the East", stood behind the front porthole.

Behind him, several senior staff members surrounded the chart table and were discussing in a low voice.

Staring at the albatrosses who had been soaring nearby and wandering around unwilling to leave, He Yongxing's thoughts had already flown out of the sky.

Seventeen years ago, after graduating from the Imperial Naval Academy, He Yongxing took a warship to enter the East Ocean via this. In the next half year, this team had eight new battleships as the core, with more than 40 ships in total, and all the warships were painted into black fleets. With the attention of the whole world, he completed a circumnavigation of the world. At that time, several albatrosses followed the warships.

The Imperial Navy at that time was like the scorching sun in the sky, so powerful that it could make the whole world tremble!

But what about now?

If there is still a chance to turn defeat into victory, it is definitely self-deception.

The officers and soldiers below didn't understand, and He Yongxing couldn't not know.

The Imperial Navy's local fleet, including the 21st Squadron, has a total of twenty-four main battleships, which is comparable to the scale when the war started more than four years ago. Because there are twelve super-dreadnoughts and four new battle cruisers, the combat effectiveness is stronger than when the war started.

However, the opponent of the local fleet, that is, the Joint Fleet, has thirty-six main battleships, and if necessary, more than twenty can be sent.

What the local fleet lacks is not only warships, but also ammunition, fuel and supplies.

In order to go on this expedition, it took three months to collect food and support, and it made people complain. Finally, the logistics manager resigned and calmed down the public's anger.

If you drag on it, it will definitely be a dead end.

If you are fully dispatched and fight to the death with the enemy, there may be a little hope.

As for combat tactics, it is to fight to the death, find the enemy fleet to start fighting. What should we discuss?

"Commander He!"

Suddenly, when words came from behind, He Yongxing suddenly shuddered and his thoughts were pulled back.

"The lookout reported that an enemy fleet appeared in the southeast, which was initially judged as six large warships, and was suspected to be the first battle patrol team that had left the previous one."

The person who reported to He Yongxing was Colonel Gui Boyong, a combat staff officer.

He turned around and looked at Gui Boyong, and He Yongxing picked up the telescope and looked southeast.

After searching for a while, he saw the few smoke columns that were not very obvious and could not distinguish the number of smoke columns for the time being.

It's too far away, and the enemy ship is still under the sea antenna.

Perhaps, the lookout standing on the top of the mast can see the enemy ship.

"Commander He?"

Not only Gui Boyong, but dozens of staff officers in the headquarters were staring at He Yongxing and waiting for the commander to issue an order.

"Contact the watchtower and report it after you have clearly identified it."

After He Yongxing finished speaking, Gui Boyong did not leave immediately. He hesitated for a moment before turning around and walking towards his post.

"What time is it now?" After Gui Boyong returned to his post, He Yongxing asked.

"Nine-thirty."

He Yongxing's brow jumped a few times, as if he had thought of something. "Contact the three warships behind, raise the plaster flag, and prohibit the use of radio."

When He Yongxing gave the order, Gui Boyong made a few gestures to the communication staff.

"Slow down the speed of the 'Jihe' and 'Guijiang', be sure to stay outside the observation distance of the enemy ship."

"Is there any other order?"

"That's all for the time being, order it!"

Gui Boyong didn't ask much, grabbed the microphone and gave orders to the lookout chief himself. As for other orders, the communications consultant was responsible for conveying them.

At this time, inside the lookout.

When the phone rang, the lookout leader grabbed the microphone.

"Yes...yes...yes!" After saying three "yes", the lookout chief put down the microphone. "Second Lieutenant Bai, the command command, let us identify the identity of the enemy ship before reporting."

"My name is Bai Zhizhan, just call me 'Xiaobai'."

Bai Zhizhan was still using the forty-fold telescope to observe the smoke pillar in the southeast. He was not surprised by the commander's bridge's reply.

"Old Li, are you sure they are six cigarette pillars?"

Using a telescope, you can clearly see the black smoke floating from the sea and sky. It is only affected by the course, and the smoke column behind it is blocked and it is impossible to count clearly.

"Xiaobai... I'm a few years older than you, so I'm not polite. Brother Li has been a lookout for so many years, and these pairs of hawk eyes are not blown out." The lookout smiled and said, "By the way, my name is Li Mingbo. If you think it's right, just call me Brother Li."

"Brother Li..."

"Do it, what's the point of doing this?"

As soon as Bai Zhizhan spoke, Li Mingbo screamed in shock.

When he looked back, Bai Zhizhan understood.

Behind the observation deck, a plaster flag, also known as the "Sun Rising Sea", is rising to the top of the mast at an extremely fast speed.

At the same time, the Red Blood Battle Flag descended from the other side of the mast.

"Brother Li, the fight is going to start!"

Bai Zhizhan controlled his excitement and picked up the portable telescope and looked back.

The two warships at the last side of the formation, namely the Jihe River and the Guijiang River, have begun to slow down, and the Jihe River has shown the flag saying "Great victory".

The three warships following the Beihe, namely the Nanjiang, the Luhe and Yuejiang did not slow down, and the plaster flag was raised at the same time.

From a distance, these four battleships are the four "Jingang"-class battlecruisers in the Second Battle Patrol of the Joint Fleet.

Of course, it is not that the plaster flag is the cloak of a magician, and it has the power to hide the truth from the world.

In terms of appearance, especially the superstructure, the "Beihe" class and the "Luhe" class have many similarities with the "Jingang" class of the Navy. The reason is very simple. The initial design of the "Jingang" class came from the "Tiger" of the Bran Navy, and the "Luhe" class also borrowed from the overall layout of the "Tiger". The "Beihe" class was amplified and improved based on the "Luhe" class, and the overall layout did not change much.

The most prominent feature of the "Beihe" class is actually that the two main gun turrets at the stern of the ship also adopt a back-loading layout.

On the front, because the "Beihe" class is also a triangular mast and the addition uses gradient camouflage, it does look very much like the "Golden Steel" class from a distance. Although the command tower of the "Beihe" is very tall and the angle of the ship's bow is larger, which is obviously different from the "Golden Steel" class, when you can see the command tower and the ship's bow, you must have entered the combat range. I'm afraid the winner will be decided, so there is no need to pretend.

The key is whether you can get close to the enemy fleet before it is discovered!

"Xiaobai, below!"

After receiving Li Mingbo's reminder, Bai Zhizhan turned around and looked forward.

The two main gun turrets are rotating rapidly, and the four gun barrels are also making up and down pitch movements. That is the gunner checking the movement mechanism of the turret and the main gun.

In addition, the secondary gun turret arranged on the outside of the bridge and command tower also began to rotate.

These are all the work that must be done before the war begins.
Chapter completed!