Seven Seas Beacon Fire

Look at the warships passing through the Tsugaru Strait...

Wait a moment???

Warships are currently passing through the Tsugaru Strait?

Sakamoto Genhachiro rubbed his eyes. Then he pressed his eyes against the rangefinder again, and through the lens, he clearly saw two giant ships cutting through the waves in the distance.

Why are there capital ships in the Tsugaru Strait?!

And more importantly... I, the acting captain, have already seen it, so why haven't the lookouts reacted yet? Suppressing the urge to climb the stairs and slap each of the seemingly asleep observers on the mast, Sakamoto Hachiro immediately returned to the bridge and sounded the battle alarm.

After the battle alarm was sounded, Hachiro Sakamoto finally had time to observe more closely what kind of capital ships were rushing out. However, after just one glance through a high-powered telescope, cold sweat broke out on Hachiro Sakamoto's forehead.

"It's Longyuan!"

Sakamoto Hachiro didn't realize that his tone of voice had changed. There was no way around it; in this era, the Ryuen battleship, compared to the ships operated by other naval officers and soldiers, did indeed possess a certain degree of intimidation that could silence a child's tears.

Chapter 268 A single punch opens the way (9)

What would it feel like to witness a 4-ton behemoth cutting through the waves and hurtling toward you at a speed of about 22 knots?

You thought you were a two-legged creature walking on a mountain path when you encountered a fierce tiger with piercing eyes and a white forehead? Actually, it's like you've traveled to another world and discovered you have Captain America's physical abilities. You're incredibly excited and preparing to form the Avengers when you meet someone on the road who can generate a magnetic field.

In a state of extreme shock, Hachiro Sakamoto didn't even give any orders for a moment, until the acting vice-captain beside him asked him, "Do we need to designate the target code now?"

In naval surface artillery battles, enemy warships are usually assigned a specific code name. This is mainly because it is not easy to accurately identify warships in long-range artillery battles at sea. If the weather is slightly bad or the visibility is slightly poor, not only will the specific warship model be difficult to identify, but even the type of warship will be seriously misidentified.

An unnamed destroyer was soundly wrecked by the 34th Special Forces ship during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, but as for identifying this warship... let's take a look at Admiral Halsey's memoirs:

"At that distance, it was impossible for us, the USS New Jersey, to identify what type of warship we sank, so I relayed the information to the ships ahead. The answers we received were truly a testament to the accuracy of our night-fighting observations."

The light cruiser USS Vincennes reported that it was either an Aoba-class or Atago-class heavy cruiser.

The light cruiser USS Miami; "one Fubuki-class or Asashio-class destroyer"

The light cruiser USS Belossie cautiously referred to it as "a cruiser."

The USS Miller (a destroyer of the Teruzuki class) launching torpedoes.

The destroyer USS Owen was "a Fusō-class battleship".

Destroyer squadron commander of the "Yubari-class light cruiser"

Our cruiser squadron commander said, "I have no objection; one cruiser should be fine."

"That's all the truth we know."

Even in good weather and when the target is clearly identifiable, it is often necessary to come up with a code name, since many ships of the same type look very similar to each other, which is like playing "spot the difference".

But right now there's obviously no need to designate any damn identification code!

Lion-class battlecruiser: I'm going to fight Longyuan?

343mm L45 vs 420mm L45?

侧舷9吋垂直 VS 侧舷305mm倾斜15°+110mm／70°穹甲？

Then, Sakamoto Hachiro finally realized what their most important task was.

Quack! Run, you little rascal!

"Speed ​​up! Speed ​​up now!"

Sakamoto Hachiro screamed in terror. In his immense fear, his voice seemed to be drawn out and sounded like a woman's cry.

He no longer cared about why he had encountered two of the world's most powerful battleships in the Karuzu Strait. Why these two battleships had been able to pass through the Tsushima Strait and enter the Fusang Sea undetected, and how they had navigated the Karuzu Strait so precisely and covertly... these questions were meaningless now.

What they need to do now is to make the most of the Lion-class battlecruisers' only advantage over the Longyuan-class battlecruisers—using their speed advantage to create distance. Although the Royal Navy of the Tang Dynasty is unlikely to be so reckless as to rush up and open fire directly, it is clear that no one is willing to put their life under the enemy's guns, and no one wants to stay within the effective range of the 420mm giant guns.

The two Lion-class battlecruisers began to accelerate from 15 knots. Sakamoto Hachiro had never felt that the acceleration of these two battlecruisers was so slow. On the bridge, he asked about the current boiler pressure in the boiler room almost every one or two minutes.

Although he knew it wouldn't be easy to increase the speed from the original cruising speed in a short time, he couldn't remain calm as he watched the two 22-knot battleships gradually close the gap.

"How long will it take us to increase our speed to over 27 knots?" Sakamoto Hachiro looked at the Ryuuen-class battleship, which was less than 2 meters away from them. He knew very well that this distance might not be an ideal range for gunnery against the Ryuuen, but they were definitely now within range of the enemy's main guns.

Having a 420mm pipe pressing against your head is definitely not a pleasant feeling.

"But for a while, no one in the bridge could answer his question. After all, most of the people on this ship had been on board these two battlecruisers for less than a month. Even if they had experience driving two Dufflinger-class battlecruisers, how could they quickly learn to apply the same knowledge to two warships from different countries and systems?"

Especially when it comes to the practical application of the power system, these are things that need to be figured out gradually, and they are not something that the naval officers and soldiers who were urgently transferred from China can handle.

Only the first mate immediately began to ask a middle-aged white man in English on the bridge. This man was an engineer from the Victorian Imperial Navy whom they had hired for this voyage. As an engineer, his job was to provide instruction during the voyage and also to solve some technical problems that the Japanese sailors could not solve.

However, the engineer's face was also somewhat pale—European skin tends to turn reddish after being exposed to the sun, and this middle-aged man also had reddish skin, but now he was clearly frightened and his face had turned pale again.

If this engineer had known that earning this money would involve such great risks, he definitely wouldn't have taken the job under any circumstances.

If they don't offer extra money afterward, I'm definitely going on strike... But I need to shake off the pursuers first before I can even negotiate extra money, and right now this damn battlecruiser...

"What do you mean it's impossible to go that fast now? When these two ships entered service, they were the fastest battlecruisers in the world!"

Although Hachiro Sakamoto's English was only so-so, he understood the engineer's answer. According to the engineer, the ship could only reach a maximum speed of 25 knots, let alone 27 knots.

After all, these two battlecruisers hadn't been in dry dock for over a year before they were sold, and the barnacles on their hulls hadn't been cleaned. This would have already reduced their speed, not to mention the long journey they had taken. It was a severe test for the entire propulsion system. In those days, even a few leaks in a few steam pipes on a warship's propulsion system could reduce its top speed by one or two knots.

This is also why the Russian Second Pacific Fleet suffered such a crushing defeat in the Battle of Tsushima in another world.

Distance is a formidable enemy.

The problems these two battlecruisers faced were not just distance and maintenance. Even if they couldn't reach their original top speed, they could still reach around 25 knots, which was enough for them to shake off their pursuers.

However, they can't even reach that speed right now because the two ships have been maintaining a constant speed of 15 knots for a long time. This speed only requires starting the two steam turbines. The reason for maintaining this speed is naturally to save fuel as much as possible.

The Victorian Empire's battlecruisers and battleships were not known for their long range. The Lion-class battlecruisers, even at their most economical speed of 10 knots, had a maximum range of only 5810 nautical miles, which is still a respectable figure.

However, everything is relative. The standard battleships of the Colombian Navy can reach tens of thousands of nautical miles at the same speed. Therefore, although the maximum speed of the Colombian Navy's battleships is only 21 knots, they can actually maintain this speed to travel and still have a considerable range. For example, the Lion-class battlecruisers would have a range of 2400 nautical miles if they maintained a speed of 24 knots, and if they maintained a speed of 27 knots, the range would be further reduced.

Previously, in order to avoid the interception set up by the Tang army at sea, they deliberately detoured along the northern route, which resulted in a significant increase in distance and unnecessary fuel consumption. Now, the two battlecruisers can still increase their speed to 25 knots after a period of time.

However, if they continue at this speed, the fuel of these two ships may not be enough to reach Edo Bay.

This is truly a case of being stubborn and getting stuck on both ends.

-------------------------------------

"We really caught them off guard..."

On the bridge of the battleship Longyuan, Rear Admiral Lin Zhiyuan looked at the two battlecruisers racing in the distance, his tone filled with obvious amazement. He noticed that the young man beside him had an expression that, in addition to amazement, was also full of doubt.

Are all the people in the Zangpo Society organized by His Highness the Crown Prince a monster?

"They're all just clever tricks."

On the bridge of the Longyuan battleship, Xu Yueming, who was boarding a large surface warship of more than 3 tons for the first time since joining the navy, was curiously looking at everything in front of him. Faced with the praise from Rear Admiral Lin Zhiyuan, his reaction was quite calm and composed, showing the demeanor of a great general.

"If cleverness can help us find our target on the vast ocean, then that kind of cleverness is true wisdom."

Lin Zhiyuan said with great admiration, "You assisted the Navy Department in deciding where these submarines were deployed to carry out reconnaissance and reporting missions. I must admit that you did an excellent and thorough job."

Those two battlecruisers are probably racking their brains right now and still can't figure out how they were exposed. The one who exposed their whereabouts was naturally the submarine force of the Tang Dynasty Royal Navy. These submarine forces were not very important during the Ming Dynasty Royal Navy period.

After all, many countries at that time highly regarded Mahan's theory of sea power. Although submarines were cheap at that time, navies of various countries hoped to deduct a little more from their limited funds to buy even one more capital ship.

This resulted in these submarine forces not being able to exert their effective advantages in the early stages of the war. However, when Li Che began to organize these submarines to conduct almost unrestricted submarine warfare in the later stages of the war, he really made the Colombian Navy suffer.

After the war, what would happen to these small vessels within the naval system? Xu Yueming astutely discovered a tactic that no submarine had ever used before: these ocean-going submarines of the navy lurked along the routes that the two battlecruisers would inevitably take.

To carry out this mission, most of these submarines were painted in the same color scheme as the submarines of the Land of Light in another world—many people think that the paint scheme of the Land of Light's submarines is too tacky, but it is actually the most suitable camouflage for the northern coastal region.

If any of the submarines dispatched discover a target, they will use a pre-arranged code to send out the code over radio communication, pretending to be an ordinary ocean-going fishing vessel. This way, the two poised submarines will know that they have "caught a fish."

The two Ryuen operations can be said to be quite similar to the Thunder Thurbrus operation by Santoko in another world. First, they pretended to be conducting routine training in the Yellow Sea, and then, under the cover of darkness, they quickly passed through the Tsushima Strait while maintaining radio silence and light control.

After passing through the Tsushima Strait into the Fusō Sea, the two battleships quietly entered Vladivostok to await their target. If the two battlecruisers were to take the northern route, they would then directly attack through the Tsugaru Strait and block the two battlecruisers, just like they were doing now.

If these two battlecruisers had taken a different route, they would have first faced interception by other Tang Dynasty battlecruisers, and the two Longyuan would have sailed directly to the outer edge of Edo Bay to "close the gate." In short, unless these two battlecruisers could avoid all the submarines deployed by the Tang Dynasty, they would have ended up like they are now.

“It would be impossible for me to do the work so perfectly by myself.” Xu Yueming shook his head: “The strategies in the game are often locked in before the game is even started. From deploying these submarines to our passage through the Tsushima Strait, the officers of the former Japanese navy brought by the Tokugawa family played a significant role.”

"Do you think we should increase our speed further? These two battlecruisers are slower than we expected, I don't know if it's because they're running out of fuel or they're not in good condition. If we give up hiding our speed, we can catch up."

Faced with the major general's question, Xu Yueming said somewhat helplessly, "General, you are our highest-ranking officer."

"The highest-ranking officer now demands an answer from you, and I require you to provide one immediately!"

Chapter 269 A single punch opens the way (10)

Xu Yueming looked around and realized that no one on the entire bridge of the naval vessel was willing to speak up for him; everyone seemed to be just watching the show.

After all, everyone knows that Xu Yueming is someone that His Highness the Crown Prince values. Within His Highness the Crown Prince's council of opinion, he is a rare figure who, despite his young age, wields considerable influence.

Although the naval aviation he is in charge of is just an insignificant little department in the Royal Navy, compared to others who are senior staff officers in headquarters or captains of destroyers or cruisers in front-line fleets, the naval aviation department may be small and his rank may not be high, but he is now the head of a department.

So if you don't try to figure out what the superiors are thinking, who will?

Even if you guess wrong, what can His Highness the Crown Prince do to you?

Feeling the expectant gazes of the officers on the bridge, Xu Yueming knew exactly what they wanted most in response.

If you bought a Xiaomi SU7 Ultra, which clearly has over 1500 horsepower, but only unlocks 300 horsepower for the first 300 kilometers, wouldn't you be itching to get one?

In previous operations, the speed of the two Longyuan-class battleships was limited to a maximum of 23 knots, which naturally made the officers and men on board feel constrained. So far, the two battleships have only conducted full-speed tests in the closed inland sea of ​​Bohai. In the relatively shallow Bohai Sea, the two battleships can reach a speed of 26.5 knots, so in the deeper waters, they can obviously run even faster.

No man can resist the temptation of shrimp catchers.

"I believe we can keep up with those two battlecruisers at our current speed. Moreover, at the same time we received the report from the front court about those two battlecruisers, the Jingyuan fleet also received the news simultaneously. They must have already headed north at high speed towards Edo Bay. If nothing unexpected happens, we can block those two ships outside Edo Bay."

As soon as Xu Yueming opened his mouth, he could clearly see obvious disappointment on the faces of the officers on the bridge of the Longyuan, including Major General Lin Zhiyuan.

It seems these guys really want to take advantage of their temporary "imperial envoy" status aboard the Longyuan to have a good time at sea.

If you want to speed across the sea like that, go drive a destroyer! Those are fast.

"Keep four cars moving forward and three in."

The captain of the Longyuan glanced at Rear Admiral Lin Zhiyuan and then at Xu Yueming, and gave the timely order to maintain the current speed of 23 knots.

Seeing the slight disappointment on the faces of the officers and men aboard the Longyuan, Xu Yueming could only patiently explain, "The various countries are about to sit down to discuss a naval arms control treaty. We currently have seven battlecruisers on the surface, three of which are dreadnoughts that may be decommissioned in the future. The remaining four are all high-performance super-dreadnoughts. If other countries were to learn that we also have a batch of new, advanced fast capital ships..."

Lin Zhiyuan raised his hand to interrupt Xu Yueming: "I understand the reasoning, but the Crown Prince also requires us to establish our authority this time. Although His Highness did not specify how to establish this authority, His Majesty issued an imperial edict last week—force can be used at the last moment. Lieutenant Colonel Xu, your rank has risen very quickly, so you must understand what this means, right? As I understand it, this last moment means preventing these two battlecruisers from entering Yingzhou's port."

Major General Lin Zhiyuan's words were somewhat sarcastic. Xu Yueming had risen from lieutenant to lieutenant colonel in just one year, a speed of promotion that would be considered quite astonishing even in wartime.

However, Lin Zhiyuan's verbal aggression ended there. After all, he knew that while the Crown Prince's favor was a factor in the rapid promotion of Lieutenant Colonel Xu, it was also due to Xu's own impressive resume—a participant in the Battle of Yuanshan and the First Battle of the Bashi Channel, in which he had performed exceptionally well.

He proved his courage in the Battle of Wonsan and led the naval shore-based air force to be the first to locate the enemy fleet in the Battle of the Bashi Channel. He was indeed a young man with real skills, but having real skills does not mean that he will not be envied in the military.

A person who is not envied is mediocre.

The atmosphere on the bridge became somewhat heavy. Was this a disagreement between the fleet commander and the "imperial envoy"? However, before the other officers and soldiers on the bridge could figure out the situation, a well-timed telegram temporarily dispelled the tense atmosphere.

"Report! Two King-class battleships of the Yingzhou Garrison Fleet have set sail! Accompanying them are four light cruisers, several destroyers, and other unarmed vessels!"

Lin Zhiyuan calmly took the telegram and read it carefully. After confirming that the intelligence in the telegram came from the firsthand observation of a naval intelligence officer on the shore, Xu Yueming's words rang in his ears:

“I agree with the general’s understanding of ‘the final moment,’ but I think we can have more flexibility in choosing the target.”

"A more flexible option?"

"Aren't there two more suitable targets right now?" Xu Yueming said, "Compared to the ships traveling with us, isn't the Lion-class battleship, which was sunk by the Leitanian Empire's Derfflinger-class battlecruiser in the Battle of Skardrak, and the King-class battleship, which played a key role in the Battle of Skardrak and covered the Leitanian Empire's high seas fleet's successful retreat, a more suitable target to make an example of them? More powerful firepower, more powerful armor... and a speed that is just right, slower than our current four-vehicle-to-three formation."

Lin Zhiyuan remained silent.

"Moreover, this is a safer option. Our fastest speed is only 27 knots. After all, the Longyuan is not the Royal Navy's Prestige or an Admiral-class battlecruiser. It does not have a significant speed advantage against the Lion-class battlecruisers. If we want to establish our authority, it would be best to show our attitude and strength in front of a large audience, in front of Yingzhou Edo Bay. But if the two Lion-class battlecruisers fail to deliver a fatal blow and manage to escape into the harbor at high speed, wouldn't that be a case of trying to draw a tiger but ending up with a dog?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Xu speaks as if these two battleships are the ideal targets. Should we thank God that they just happened to be setting sail to pick up those two battlecruisers? Otherwise, we might really have made things worse?"

Lin Zhiyuan's tone clearly revealed his dissatisfaction. Xu Yueming's words, such as "what if we don't deliver a fatal blow" and the two battlecruisers manage to escape, were, in Lin Zhiyuan's view, a serious questioning of the quality of the officers and soldiers of the two battleships he was leading.

Although the officers and soldiers on the two Longyuan-class battleships were certainly not as proficient and integrated with the warships as those on ships like the Dingyuan, Zhiyuan, and Haiqi, which had been fighting on the high seas for many years, the quality of the officers and soldiers on the two first-generation super-dreadnought battlecruisers was even more worrying. Their combat power was at least two levels lower than their own, so there should have been no surprises. Therefore, his words were full of dissatisfaction, which meant that if these two hairless pigs hadn't come today, he wouldn't have been able to eat pork today.

"General Lin, to be honest, the Military Intelligence Bureau, in coordination with the Navy Department's previous deployment, carried out a series of activities. In addition to forcing the Yingzhou people to increase the chances of taking the northern route when returning to their homeland, the main purpose was to reinforce a misconception in Yingzhou—that we would ultimately compromise on the issue of these two battlecruisers for the sake of the 'big picture' of postwar economic or political issues, and that we would continue to back down in the face of their probing attacks, just like before."

"What does this have to do with those two King-class battleships?"

"General, do you think two King-class battleships can defeat our two Longyuan-class battleships?" Xu Yueming asked. "These two King-class battleships obviously left port after receiving distress signals from the two battlecruisers we are tracking. But I would like to ask you, General, if you were the enemy commander, would you be confident that you could use two King-class battleships to force back two Longyuan-class battleships?"

"Of course I wouldn't have such a wish, but as a soldier, I would still carry out such an order if I received it."

“You are very brave, but we are discussing decision-making issues here,” Xu Yueming said. “For Yingzhou, being able to return to port is a victory, and the closest port in their country that can accommodate such large warships is Edo Port in Edo Bay. What substantial help can sending two battleships that are neither fast nor strong enough to fight back provide to the two battlecruisers?”

"Maybe they think there's some hope in a 4v2 situation..."

A young staff officer had barely uttered half a sentence when he noticed that everyone from the commander to the captain and even Lieutenant Colonel Xu was giving him a look that seemed to say, "Are you mentally challenged?"