"The report commander, who had just received a telegram from Shinomaru and discovered the Russian fleet."

Hearing the report of the adjutant, Yasuji Nagata, the Togo Hirahachiro who had just been awakened from his sleep, was immediately excited and said immediately: "Oh, let me see the telegram."

Nagata Taijiro handed over the telegram manuscript, and Togo Heihachiro couldn't wait to snatch it and opened it to watch. More than a minute later, Togo Heihachiro said a few words of "good" and asked Nagata Taijiro: "When is it now? How is the weather?"

Nagata Yasuji said: "It's 5 a.m. The weather is fine, but the wind is strong and the waves are strong."

Hirahachiro Togo immediately said: "Okay, I'll send the telegram to Akiyama's staff immediately, and the power generation notified the base camp that 'discovered the enemy ship, the joint fleet will attack immediately. The weather will be clear and the waves will be strong'. Order the entire fleet to gather and prepare to set off."

The Joint Fleet set out from Sasebo Port on May 5, but the Joint Fleet cannot always float on the sea. The Joint Fleet chose Zhenhai Bay at the southern end of the Korean Peninsula as a temporary berth. It is only more than 100 kilometers away from the Tsuma Strait, and it only takes about 3 hours to reach it, which is more than twice as close to the Sasebo Port. The main forces of the Joint Fleet, the first and second teams, are anchored in the Town Fleet, and several other fleets take turns patrolling near the Tsuma Strait, and set up 6 cordons in the waters south of the Tsuma Strait to search for the whereabouts of the Russian fleet.

However, these few days are probably the most difficult time in his life in Hirahachiro Togo and Shin Akiyama. Although Hirahachiro Togo and Shin Akiyama judged that the Russian fleet would go to the Tsuma Strait, they did not dare to make a promise. In fact, no one dared to be absolutely sure about such a major matter. Therefore, although Hirahachiro Togo and Shin Akiyama arranged the joint fleet in the Tsuma Strait, they also arranged a large number of reconnaissance ships and reconnaissance points in the waters between the Tsuma Strait and Taiwan, the islands were arranged to find and monitor the whereabouts of the Russian fleet. They were also ready to leave the Tsuma Strait at any time and intercept the Russian fleet in other waters.

However, the communication capabilities of reconnaissance in this era were too backward, so although a large number of reconnaissance ships and reconnaissance points were arranged, they still could not accurately grasp the whereabouts of the Russian fleet. They did not fail to discover the whereabouts of the Russian fleet, but they received too much information, which was too chaotic and contradictory. Sometimes they found that the Russian fleet had reached the Tsushima Strait; sometimes they found that the Russian fleet planned to detour through the Qingjin Strait; repeatedly, true and false.

However, Togo Heihachiro and Akiyama Mano were confused because they had to take every message seriously, while checking the map; while disclosing the authenticity of the news, but some false sounded like the real ones. On two occasions, Togo Heihachiro almost couldn't hold back and was ready to pull the fleet away. Fortunately, they always got clarified information at the most critical moment.

However, for Hirahachiro Togo and Masashi Akiyama, this is indeed a huge torment. Hirahachiro Togo is older after all, and he can avoid being strong and calm down. However, Masashi Akiyama is already a bit spiritual and almost always on the verge of mental collapse at this time.

At around 3 a.m. on May 12, the reconnaissance ship Shinono Maru, patrolling in the southeast of Jeju Island, found the light of a steamship on the port side. Captain Seikawa Kyuki immediately ordered to approach the light. About an hour later, Shinono Maru approached about 5,600 meters of the light, and could see the outline of the three-masted and two chimneys, as well as the blurred red cross sign on the side of the ship.

When Seikawa Kyu confirmed that this was a medical ship, he immediately became alert, because the enemy's hospital ship could never travel alone, so there must be a fleet nearby! But there was darkness around and nothing could be seen under the fog. After considering it, Seikawa Kyu decided to take the risk to continue his reconnaissance. So Shinnomaru passed to the front of the medical ship, and suddenly found dozens of warships and countless coal smoke at a distance of about 1,500 meters on the port side.

In addition to being excited, Seikawa Kyu immediately sent a telegram to the headquarters of the joint fleet in Zhenhaiwan, "Discover coal smoke suspected to be an enemy fleet!" Then he continued to go to reconnaissance in order to seek more accurate results. Ten minutes later, Seikawa Kyu finally understood clearly that they were all warships, and the closest one was less than 1,000 meters away. So Seikawa Kyu ordered the Shinnomaru to retreat to the southeast, and continued to send a report "The enemy fleet was found at 203, and it seemed to be heading towards the Madong Waterway."

This telegram is crucial and confirms that the Russian fleet is traveling to the Tsushima Strait, Togo Hirahachiro, and Akiyama Masao's judgment is correct.

Although the telegram from Shinnomaru did not directly reach Shinnomaru, because the radio technology of this era was very backward and was not enough to allow Shinnomaru to send the telegram directly to Shinnomaru. Therefore, the first telegram was the 3rd Team on the 4th Cordon Line, and then the flagship of the 3rd Team, Kasai, forwarded the telegram to the flagship Mikasa, which was anchored in Shinnomaru, and sent it to Hirahachiro Togo.

Finally, I got the exact news about the Russian fleet. Not only Hirahachiro Togo, but also Matsuyuki Akiyama, but also many soldiers who had just woken up were very excited. After all, after waiting for several days, the soldiers were a little impatient. Now the Russian fleet has finally arrived and can fight a war with the Russians.

At 5:40, the Mikasa received a telegram from the Kashima again, confirming again that the Russian fleet was still heading towards the Tsushima Strait. It turned out that after receiving the telegram from the Shinnomaru, the Kashimasa immediately rushed to the location reported by the Shinnomaru and discovered the Russian fleet.

Hirahachiro Togo immediately ordered the 2nd Fleet to leave the bay first and intercept the Russian fleet at the mouth of the Tsushima Strait. The 2nd Fleet is the main fleet of the joint fleet, including six large armored cruisers with an average speed of more than 20 knots. Hirahachiro Togo hopes that the 2nd Fleet will quickly arrive at the preset interception position to prevent the Russian fleet from running away.

In fact, at this time, the Russian fleet was about 150 kilometers away from the Tsushima Strait. Considering that the Russian fleet's speed was only 8 knots, it took at least 12 hours, and the joint fleet only took 3 or 4 hours to reach the Tsushima Strait. There was no need to send the 2nd Fleet to take the lead. This also shows that Hirahachiro Togo was also a little out of control at this time.

At 6:30, the 1st Fleet of the Joint Fleet was finally ready. Mikasa cleared off the excess coal on the mid-deck and drove out of Zhenhai Bay with the head ship. He led the remaining fleet to advance at a single 15 knot speed.

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At 8 a.m. on May 12, although the wind and waves on the sea were still very strong and there was still a little mist, it was dawn after all. Lieutenant General Rozerjesterwinsky, the commander of the Russian Second Pacific Fleet, could see the silhouette of a warship on the starboard side of the fleet, even without using a telescope.

Of course, the Mitsunomaru that followed the Russian fleet was not Shinomaru, but another reconnaissance ship and Izumi. These two reconnaissance ships were handed over in the fourth cordon set up in Japan, and the Izumi continued to follow the Russian fleet.

At this time, Colonel Sermiaonov advised Rozjestwinsky: "Commander, we should sink this warship. This warship should be a modified reconnaissance ship, and its combat effectiveness will not be strong. Only two cruisers will be enough to sink this warship, and it will not affect our speed."

Rozjesterwinsky thought for a while, shook his head, and said, "No, if it were just a warship, I would never dare to get so close to us. Moreover, the fog is still very large now. Therefore, in the fog behind this warship, there is a very likely enemy main fleet, and the cruisers we can use to attack are only Avlear and Svetrana. The firepower, speed and athletic ability of other cruisers are insufficient, so it is easy to fall into the trap. I think it's better to forget it. Our biggest task now is to break through the Tsushima Strait with all our might and rush to Vladivostok."

After hearing this, Semenov nodded and said, "But it seems that the Japanese fleet is ready to intercept us in the Tsuma Strait, so it is not easy for us to break through the Tsuma Strait. Should we change the route?"

Rozerjestwinsky smiled bitterly and said, "It's too late. If we change the route, we have to increase the distance by at least 1,000 kilometers. Our coal-fired coal will not support us to divert to Vladivostok; and the speed of Japanese warships is faster than ours. Even if we change the route, the Japanese fleet will catch up with us, or whether we go to the Qingjin Strait or the Sogo Strait, the Japanese fleet can still arrive at the extreme to intercept us. At that time, there will be a fierce battle."

Although Rozjestwinsky's intelligence is not very good, he is not an incompetent person. He has basic naval qualities, because the speed of the Japanese fleet is above the Russian fleet, and several seaways leading to Vladivostok, the Tsuma Strait, the Kotsu Strait, and the Soya Strait are basically in the surrounding waters of Japan. The Japanese fleet is not only very familiar with the seas in this area, but also has a large number of merchant ships and island observation points. Therefore, it is almost impossible to really escape the interception of the Japanese fleet. And if there must be a battle with the Japanese fleet, the best battlefield is actually the Tsuma Strait.
Chapter completed!