Empire Conquest
Chapter 167 - 163: Divine Turn

Chapter 167: Chapter 163: Divine Turn

One must admit, fortune smiled upon the Imperial Navy once again.

Although usually, the Xu Sea is to the west of the Strait and the East Ocean is to the east, strictly speaking, the Watcher Strait runs from the northwest to the southeast.

When entering the battlefield, the Domestic Fleet was positioned to the northwest, while the Main Battle Corps that burst out from the strait was to the southeast.

This positioning directly determined the situation during the engagement.

Do not forget, it was deep winter, and the north wind prevailed both day and night.

To the northwest of the strait, there was a dense cloud drifting from the north; the Domestic Fleet was right underneath this cloud, untouched by the moonlight.

Conversely, the Main Battle Corps in the southeast was fully exposed under the bright moonlight.

It was under these conditions that the lookout on the "Longxing" spotted the "Yishi", and, recognizing the distinctively tall and slightly distorted tower mast, made an accurate identification while the lookout on the "Yishi" was still in the dark, unable to see the "Longxing" concealed beneath the clouds.

It was forty past ten, and the ships were approximately eighteen kilometers apart.

Being able to spot and identify an enemy battleship from such a distance was not only due to advantageous positioning but also because the lookout on the "Longxing" only needed to keep an eye on the strait.

Following this, Gui Boyong issued a crucial, hugely significant order.

Starting with the "Longxing", the four battleships turned left in succession, and after rotating 260 degrees, they returned to their straight course.

Why turn left rather than right?

In the battle report submitted later, Gui Boyong gave three reasons.

First, the distance was still too far, and since the three battleships at the rear had not spotted the enemy, a turn was necessary to give them time to prepare for battle, keep up with the flagship’s pace, and ensure they were in the best possible condition when engaging the enemy.

Second, the lookout had only speculated that the enemy vessel was a "Yishi" class; a definitive identification had not been made, so the possibility of it being another type of battleship couldn’t be ruled out. When traversing a narrow strait, it was advisable to let the heavy cruisers scout ahead instead of letting the main battleships, which serve as the main force, rush to the front.

Third, since the cloud was coming from the north, only by turning left could they continue to stay hidden under the shadow of the clouds.

Clearly, this last point was the most crucial.

Given the circumstances at the time, Gui Boyong clearly intended to stay hidden under the clouds, stealthily approach the enemy, and then open fire at close range.

Put simply, it was a sudden attack aimed at achieving a decisive victory in the initial volleys.

From the tactical arrangements made at the time, which involved the pre-distribution of targets, Gui Boyong indeed planned it this way; he hoped for a surprise attack that would end the battle after a few rounds of bombardment, at least break the enemy’s resolve, and minimize his own losses as much as possible.

If possible, they might even avoid suffering any losses.

Fundamentally, Gui Boyong was preserving strength.

To put it harshly, he was afraid the main battleships would be damaged.

This maneuver had two effects.

Since the distance increased, over the next ten minutes or so, the lookout on the "Longxing" only intermittently spotted the enemy vessel; he couldn’t maintain constant visual contact. The lookouts on the three battleships that followed were the same, unable to keep a continuous watch on the enemy vessels.

Moreover, the lookout didn’t spot the heavy cruisers rushing ahead of the battleships!

The Second Main Battle Corps entered the strait, and Takatoku issued an order for the four accompanying heavy cruisers to accelerate and catch up. As a result, by the time they reached the western side of the strait, where they were spotted by the Domestic Fleet, the four heavy cruisers had just surpassed the four battleships.

The heavy cruisers were not as conspicuous, and the lookouts focused all their attention on the four battleships, failing to notice the four heavy cruisers.

Moreover, throughout this time there had been several breaks in contact, which also impacted the search efforts.

During these ten-plus minutes, the four heavy cruisers and four light cruisers separately overtook the Main Battle Corps from the left and right sides, then split up to search north and south. The four heavy cruisers headed towards the Domestic Fleet, while the four light cruisers moved to the south of the Domestic Fleet.

By eleven o’clock, when the course was adjusted to 230 degrees, the lookout on the "Longxing" finally spotted four warships to the east, traveling towards the northwest of the strait at close to thirty knots. He quickly identified them as the Saiyi Navy’s heavy cruisers.

The disproportionately large bridges and the three main gun turrets stacked in a staggered formation at the bow were the distinguishing features of the Saiyi heavy cruisers.

At that moment, Gui Boyong was utterly baffled.

What sort of bewildering formation was this?

On the overall front, the four battleships of the Domestic Fleet had already formed a line and were traveling south-southwest at about twenty knots to close the distance quickly. Unless something unforeseen happened, the four battleships would certainly turn again in just over ten minutes—when the distance had reduced to approximately fifteen kilometers—slightly to the right this time, to obtain the most advantageous firing angle.

The Second Main Battle Corps’ four battleships were still moving northwest, showing no intention of turning or even adjusting the formation.

The four battleships were still in a column formation.

Even if planning to close the distance, it would have been prudent to let the four battleships form a single line so they could fire with the main guns from the front when bombarded.

Arrayed in column formation, the ships at the rear were obstructed with only the lead ship able to return fire.

The four heavy cruisers were sailing at full speed, but their course was toward the rear of the Domestic Fleet, not charging directly at the Domestic Fleet’s four battleships. It appeared they were assisting the four battleships charging headfirst, preparing to encircle and annihilate the Domestic Fleet from behind.

But the problem was, they were just four heavy cruisers.

Who gave those captains the audacity to think they could come out ahead facing the "Longxing" class with eight-inch naval guns?

In a close-range duel, the "Longxing" could destroy a heavy cruiser with a single shot.

Furthermore, the "Longxing" class was not only equipped with 400mm main guns but also had numerous secondary guns and high-altitude guns.

Against heavy cruisers not particularly noted for their armor, the power of the secondary guns was more than sufficient.

Of course, Gui Boyong was not to be complacent, knowing that the Saiyi Navy always regarded heavy cruisers as second-tier main battle ships and equipped all heavy cruisers with heavy torpedoes. Generally, a heavy cruiser’s commanding officer held the rank of Vice Admiral, just half a rank below the commander of the Main Battle Corps, while the Commander of the Air Corps ranked only as a Major General. Lan Yun had been promoted to Vice Admiral only after serving as the Commander of the Mobile Fleet.

Allowing these heavy cruisers to approach might turn risky unexpectedly.

For this reason, Gui Boyong issued an order for the squad of heavy cruisers to speed up and flank, attacking the enemy ships behind the main force squad.

As his position was still undisclosed, Gui Boyong specifically instructed the Communication Advisor not to use the radio.

Thus, the only option was to use the signal lamp.

Before the advent of radio, nighttime communication relied solely on light signals, which led to the development of a system similar to flag signals.

Obviously, when issuing the command, Gui Boyong forgot a crucial detail: he did not need the commanders of the heavy cruiser squad to respond.

Fatal was that the communication officer overlooked this point when sending the command.

Now, things were getting interesting.

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