My Italy

The weather outside Jiaozhou Bay in January is changeable. It was still foggy after 6 o'clock in the morning, and it didn't dissipate until 9 o'clock.

Today's Jiaozhou Bay is particularly unique. Several warships flying the Rising Sun flag are lined up at a distance of twenty nautical miles, trying to find something.

Behind these warships lurked the combined fleet led by Vice Admiral Ito Yuhiro, waiting to deliver a fatal blow to the enemy.

As one of several search battleships, the Yaeyama is a reconnaissance cruiser built by the Yokosuka Shipyard in Japan. The ship was designed by the French designer Bai Laoyi. Construction started in June 1887 and was launched in March 1889. Entered service on March 15, 1890.

Since the ship is used for reconnaissance, speed is its most important point. With its six high-pressure coal-fired boilers, the Yaeyama can push the reciprocating steam engine to an output of 5,600 horsepower. Although the horsepower is not high, the Yaeyama only has a displacement of 1,600 tons, which is enough for it to run at a high speed of 21 knots. This also makes the Yaeyama the core of the search formation. After all, for reconnaissance, running fast has an advantage.

Nakano Ikki also knew this truth, so he asked the officers and soldiers in the power room to be ready to flee once they encountered an enemy situation.

"The command lookout must be taken seriously. The safety of our entire ship depends on them."

"Hey!"

Nakano Ikki once again emphasized the importance of the lookout post. The captain's majesty could not be refuted, so he naturally obeyed the order again.

You can't blame Captain Nakano for being so nervous, because before setting off, he had just received news that the Italian fleet had the fastest reconnaissance cruiser in the world. This reconnaissance cruiser named Eagle can run at a super high speed of 24 knots. In addition, the Eagle has good weapons and equipment. It will not be a problem to defeat at least three ships under his feet, the Yaeyama.

God Rizhao, who can run so fast and still fight, who would want to meet this evil star, who can't run and can't win, what can he do?

Just as I was thinking about this problem, a shout came from the lookout post. "There is a plume of smoke found on the right front!"

Nakano Ikki was shocked when he heard this and quickly ordered loudly. "Look carefully to see what kind of ship it is."

Although Captain Nakano asked him to take a closer look, anyone who has been to the sea knows that it takes a while before the ship can be seen after seeing the smoke column, so the officers and soldiers on the Yaeyama could only wait uneasily.

This is the mentality of hoping to find the enemy, but not wanting to be discovered by the enemy. Of course, things are not as good as expected. This is all relative. You can see the other party's smoke column, and the other party can also detect yours. Do you expect that the other party's lookout sentry is blind?

"It's a civilian ship!"

While all the officers and soldiers on the ship were waiting anxiously, the results came from the lookout post, which made everyone breathe a sigh of relief.

But at this moment, another shout came from the lookout post. "Red fireworks were found on the left side, they should be from the Tsukuba!"

The shouts from the lookout immediately attracted the attention of the officers and soldiers on the Yaeyama, and the officers and soldiers who had good intentions started talking about it.

"It's actually red fireworks. The Tsukuba must have encountered a desperate situation."

"It should be the eagle."

It needs to be explained here that the several reconnaissance ships of the joint fleet that went out to search, including the Yaeyama, were equipped with special flares, which were specially added. It hits higher than ordinary flares and the signal it sends out is more eye-catching (to put it bluntly, it is an extra-large Diamond Sky Monkey).

Its only function is to send signals to let friendly forces in the distance know the situation they are facing. Green means safety, yellow means early warning, and red means danger. Keep friendly forces away.

"Look, it's hit again. It's really a red signal."

This time, even the officers and soldiers on the deck saw the red signal in the distance, which further showed how dangerous the Tsukuba was.

"Evacuate at full speed, quickly!"

In the distance where the officers and soldiers of Yaeyama saw, Tsukuba captain Ichiro Matsumoto roared angrily.

Although the warship with bad intentions in the telescope was flying the Qing dragon flag, everyone knew that it was not a Qing warship. Not to mention anything else, the tonnage alone is larger than the Tsukuba at my feet, and it can also run at a high speed of 24 knots. Who else could it be, but who else could it be but that damn Eagle?

The Tsukuba under my feet only had a maximum speed of 17.6 knots. This gap was too big. I had to retreat quickly. If it was too late, I wouldn't be able to leave. As for the reconnaissance mission, we can only rely on friendly forces. I wish them good luck.

Following Captain Matsumoto's order, the officers and soldiers in the Tsukuba's power room were sweating profusely. They kept waving shovels with their bare arms and sent white coal into the boiler as if for free, completely ignoring that the barometer was pointing to red. Warning area.

At this time, we were still concerned about the fact that the boiler pressure was too high. If the enemy ship really caught up, everyone would be dead.

Compared with the busy Tsukuba, the Eagle, as an uninvited guest, was much more calm.

Major Pez looked at the Tsukuba fleeing backwards in the distance in the command tower, and asked his first officer calmly. "Have you sent out the news that we encountered a Japanese ship?"

"It has been sent out."

"Hasn't the Lieutenant General called back yet?"

"The call back is coming." Before the first mate could answer, the staff officer from the telecommunications room rushed over with a telegram. "The Vice Admiral ordered us to find out the location of the enemy fleet and report it to them."

Captain Pez smiled when he heard the contents of the telegram. He was very satisfied with the lieutenant general's order, so he continued. "Order everyone to prepare for battle and increase the speed. We must scare the prey into panic and let it lead us to the real nest location."

Following Captain Pez's order, the Eagle, like a real eagle, pounced on the enemy at high speed.

When Captain Matsumoto on the Tsukuba saw the Eagle rushing toward him, he could only order the power cabin to maintain speed while ordering the entire ship to prepare for battle. I hope I can support myself in rushing back to the fleet.

About 30 nautical miles behind the Eagle, the huge Italian fleet was sailing forward. Although the Eagle's telegram has been received, before the location of the combined fleet is determined, protecting the transport fleet is still the most important task. After all, if you don’t even know where your opponent is, how can you let the transport fleet leave? Of course, it’s not like you do nothing.

On the flagship Turin, Lieutenant General Alvaro issued orders one after another shortly after receiving the telegram from the Eagle. "Order the Aosta and Savoa to move forward 15 nautical miles to form a formation and be prepared to meet the Eagle."

The Eagle is the treasure of the Italian Navy. Its high cost means that few ships of this thing can be built at all, and it is almost as much as 80% of the cost of the Venetian.

In addition, radio is really a good thing. This kind of communication equipment that does not require telegraph lines has greatly improved the navy. He had a premonition that this thing would be very popular in the world in the future. If nothing else, at least sailing ships would be equipped with this thing. Of course, this is all a matter for the future, and taking care of this sea battle is the most important thing now.

Following Lieutenant General Alvaro's order, the Aosta and Savoa immediately increased their speed and broke away from the formation, while the fleet continued to sail forward.