In fact, the intelligence that Wen Desi initially received about "the confrontation between the British and American fleets in the waters off Scarborough Shoal" was not accurate.
Less than half an hour later, the latest intelligence was sent.
Not only the British and American fleets, but also warships from France, Germany, Italy and even Spain were involved.
Well, according to the British and American fleets, they are here to "mediate" the "conflict" between China and Japan.
As for why they brought an entire fleet to "mediate", that's another matter.
"Damn it, these British guys are really bullying people," Jie Moshi, commander of the Luzon Squadron of the South China Sea Fleet, looked at the British Far East Fleet not far away and asked through gritted teeth.
This morning, the frigate Longchang, which was conducting daily patrols in the South China Sea, discovered traces of the British Pacific Fleet.
At that time, Jie Mo Shi became nervous.
Now we are in a tight fight with Japan, Niu Niu, what do you want to do here?
But Commander Xie is also very helpless, because his name as squadron commander is not worthy of the name, but he is just better than the polished commander.
The Luzon Squadron is a newly formed force that was established after China purchased the Philippine Islands from the United States.
According to the principle of centralized use of new ships, all good and new ships were given to the Pacific Task Force, and the remaining soup water was also given to the Three Seas Fleet.
Very few fell to the Luzon Squadron.
At present, the largest ships of the Luzon Squadron are the Xu Guo-class seaplane carrier "Weiguo" and the Chen Guo-class airship carrier "Tengguo", followed by 4 Wuchang-class frigates and 4 Huai'an -class destroyers were originally American Bainbridge-class destroyers, 4 Agility-class large torpedo boats, 20 Tradewind-class torpedo boats, and some auxiliary ships.
Therefore, the total number of combat ships is less than 20,000 tons, and the largest "Weiguo" and "Tengguo" are equipped with seaplanes and airships.
They are mainly used for reconnaissance and patrol, and their combat effectiveness is pitifully low.
It's okay for such a fleet to be used for anti-piracy, escort and fishing, etc., but if you expect them to fight, it's better to save money.
The British Far East Fleet this time came with a total of 8 battleships, 1 battlecruiser, 6 armored cruisers, 36 protected cruisers and 18 destroyers.
Although those battleships are all pre-dreadnoughts, they are not something Commander Jie can deal with.
If there hadn't been this tropical storm, Calmstone could still have used Luzon's air force and HNA aircraft and airships to deal with it, but now the aircraft and airships can't take off.
If the British really turned their backs, their own wealth wouldn't be enough to fill their teeth.
Woolen cloth.
But regardless of military discipline, national law or national pride, Jia Mo Shi cannot be cowardly.
For example, like the Ming Dynasty Governor Yuan, he pretended not to see the Niu Niu fleet and let the opponent "sneak through Luzon".
So Commander Xie had no choice but to bite the bullet, and with the tragic mood of "the wind is rustling and the water is cold", he took the small Luzon squadron out of the port and stopped the Far East Fleet in the Scarborough Shoal area.
However, things were not as pessimistic as Jiemo Shi thought, and the Niu Niu fleet did not fall out with the small Chinese fleet in front of them.
Are you kidding me?
The Anglo-Japanese alliance is a bull that treats Japan like a dog.
It does not treat Japan as a father.
It uses the integrity of opium bulls to ask them to pull chestnuts from the fire for Japan.
Haha, the weather is really nice today.
Besides, the British know very well that even if China's navy cannot withstand this war, its army and air force will have absolutely no problem.
If they fall out with the Chinese and Wen Desi gets mad, what will happen if millions of troops go south?
The "jewel in the Queen's crown" is still missing.
The British are not crazy yet.
They don't want to test China when the European war is about to break out. bottom line.
So their Far East Fleet is indeed here for "peace mediation" this time.
Whether you believe it or not, Niu Niu believes it anyway.
However, the method of mediation depends on the performance of both parties.
Opium cows who have been a shit stirrer for thousands of years are all too familiar with skills such as "taking advantage of others", "adding insult to injury", etc.
Although Niu Niu said this, Jia Mo Shi was not stupid, so how could he really believe it.
Declare this is a war zone and insist not to let them pass.
While the two sides were negotiating, the U.S.
Pacific Fleet also arrived.
They also had 8 battleships, and there were also two dreadnoughts, the USS Utah and the USS Arkansas.
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As soon as they arrived at the scene, they directly joined the Chinese side and confronted the British Far East Fleet.
Of course, the Yingjiang Fleet also claimed to be here for "peaceful mediation."
Regardless of whether Niu Niu believed it or not, Yingjiang himself believed it anyway.
As soon as the Americans arrived, Niu Niu became nervous.
Originally, they were trying to pressure China to let them go, but now they were not in the mood to play.
They simply put aside the Chinese fleet as the real owner and concentrated on fighting with Eagle Sauce.
Confrontation began.
Although this situation seems strange, it is quite normal if you think about it carefully.
Both Britain and the United States are preparing to go astray this time.
For Britain, it would be best if Japan could abolish China's maritime power, so that Far East affairs can be handed over to Japan as a watchdog, and the Far East fleet can be transferred back to the homeland to strengthen its advantage over the Allies.
For the Americans, on the contrary, if China, its little brother who can fight, can take the opportunity to destroy or severely damage the Japanese navy, then they will be relieved and focus on the direction of the Atlantic Ocean.
Moreover, they each have exclusive agreements with both warring parties.
If a third party joins, they will also have to participate in the war.
If you violate the agreement and don't participate in the war, your face will inevitably look a little ugly.
Although Niu Niu has always been shameless and cheated Japan once during the Russo-Japanese War, the situation was different at that time.
Now is the time when Europe is in turmoil.
If we continue to break our promises, it will inevitably make all the young brothers feel chilly.
When the time comes, we will have more work but no effort, and we will have a lot of fun.
The United States has a similar idea.
They have finally found a "little brother" in China who can fight.
Whether they can protect their "little brother" is a matter of ability, but whether they can protect it or not is a matter of attitude.
If you don't show your respect this time, how will we, the country of rice, continue to poach Niu Niu from now on?
But for both countries, they are absolutely reluctant to actually participate in the war.
Therefore, the current situation is the best for Britain and the United States.
We pretend to confront each other here, which not only shows our support to our younger brother, but also shows other countries how honest and trustworthy we are and what a three representatives we are. .
This way, you don’t have to really get involved, and you can also take the opportunity to show off your muscles to the world.
It’s simply a beautiful thing that can be done in one fell swoop.
So the atmosphere at the scene only seemed tense, but in fact both parties were very restrained.
For example, although the British and American fleets set up battle lines and pointed their guns at each other, the two sides had a tacit understanding that they did not remove the gun plugs and did not load the guns with ammunition.
Their confrontation had not lasted long, and warships from several major powers including France, Germany, and Italy arrived.
Of course, these countries came purely as onlookers, and the largest ship sent was just a light cruiser.
As soon as they saw the formation, they quickly realized what was going on.
Soon, representatives from several countries began negotiations on the "Patriot" seaplane carrier.
Finally, the Italian representative put forward an opinion that everyone could accept.
Each country would send one warship to the battlefield as an observation group, and the rest of the warships would stay here.
It is now international practice for neutral countries to send observation missions to both warring parties.
China also agreed to this opinion after consulting Wuhan.
However, it is required that the number of warships serving as an observation group cannot exceed light cruisers and protected cruisers, and all countries have no objection to this.
As a result, the six countries of Britain, the United States, France, Germany, Italy and Spain each sent a light ship to the East China Sea to serve as onlookers.
Among them, the French warships carried Russian officers, and the German warships also carried Austro-Hungarian officers, so this was an eight-nation observation group.
As for whether they can catch up with China and Japan, that is another matter.
Anyway, this is just a meaning.
For China and Japan, this is just a small episode.
The real focus is the main decisive battle in the East China Sea.
Republic 2754 AD 1913, April 9 at 8 pm, Ryukyu waters.
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At this time, the aircraft carrier Yu Chao was cruising in this area with two Zhuhai-class destroyers.
They were ordered to go out for reconnaissance to search for the whereabouts of the Japanese combined fleet.
Originally, there were early warning airships watching over the Japanese Combined Fleet, so there was no need to send out ships for reconnaissance.
However, the tropical storm that arrived early this time seriously affected the work of the early warning airships.
The wind resistance of airships is far lower than that of airplanes, and they are most afraid of strong winds.
When tropical storms come, they can only stay away.
Moreover, the performance of the radar currently equipped by China on airships is far inferior to that of later generations of early warning aircraft radars.
As the distance increases, and coupled with the interference of tropical storms, the Japanese fleet is lost near Kume Island.
Of course, China does not only have early warning airships.
China has dispatched 3 detachments of 18 submarines in the East China Sea and arranged two warning lines for reconnaissance and early warning.
But also due to the impact of tropical storms, the submarine's detection capabilities have also been greatly reduced.
Although they are also equipped with radar, so far, all submarines have failed to detect the target.
Although the Japanese Combined Fleet is large in scale, it is like throwing a few sesame seeds into a pond when placed on the vast sea.
It is difficult to find.
You know, now is the critical moment for landing in Taiwan.
If the target is not found and the little devils take advantage of the loophole and sabotage the landing operation, it will be in trouble.
Now that the Storm aircraft cannot be dispatched, except for the Pacific Task Force, the Army and Air Force have nothing to do with the Japanese Combined Fleet.
If they are allowed to run to the landing site and conduct a few rounds of shelling, they will suffer heavy losses.
Therefore, the focus of this operation is to intercept the combined fleet outside Taiwan waters.
Gao Yujie, commander of the Pacific Task Force, had no choice but to send some non-capital ships out to search.
As for why the aircraft carrier was sent out for reconnaissance, it was because the Yu Chao was the fastest warship in the entire fleet.
Its original design maximum speed was 31 knots, but during the construction process, better boilers and turbines were used.
As a result, It was discovered that its actual maximum speed actually reached 32 knots.
During the sea trial, it even reached a high speed of 34 knots, which was shocking.
You know, this is not a small ship like a destroyer or torpedo boat, it is a 10,000-ton aircraft carrier.
If we put it 20 years later, this speed will be nothing, but now it is a very abnormal speed.
At least among the Pacific Task Force, it is the fastest and cannot even catch up with destroyers.
Currently, in the entire Chinese navy, there is only a handful of torpedo boats that can run faster than it.
In addition, in addition to running fast, the Yu Chao's sea radar is also the best.
It is at the same level as battleships and heavy cruisers, and is much stronger than those light cruisers and destroyers.
In such bad weather, it The reconnaissance capabilities are also much stronger than those of light ships.
Moreover, Commander Gao also had the idea that if the storm ended quickly, he could let the Yu Chao's carrier-based aircraft show off and see what the effect would be.
Even if the attack effect is not good, there is always no problem in conducting investigation work.
"Damn it, hasn't this radar been repaired yet?"
Yue Youyuan, the captain of the Yu Chao, asked through gritted teeth.
The Yuchao was unlucky this time.
Not long after it came out, it entered a thunderstorm area.
It encountered a big storm and thunderstorm, and the sea radar was blown out by the strong wind.
"Captain, the electromechanical team is working hard to repair it.
They said it is because the cover is damaged, the circuit board is flooded, and there are many damaged components," the captain's assistant Gong Xuetu reported with some embarrassment.
Yue Youyuan shouted angrily: "It's unreasonable that the cover can be damaged by the wind.
The performance of this radar is really bad.
The person in charge of the manufacturer should be sentenced to prison."
The political commissar admonished from the side: "Well, Lao Yue, radar manufacturers are the focus of the central government.
How many of them have the guts to compromise on quality?
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I think this is because they did not expect such a harsh environment.
Look, this The radar is usually fine.
If it weren’t for this crazy weather, this kind of thing wouldn’t have happened.”
Yue Youyuan calmed down a bit, but still said angrily: "Humph, I will report it to the superiors anyway.
If this kind of important equipment breaks down at a critical moment, big trouble will happen."
"Hey, even if the radar is not bad, the effect will be greatly reduced in this thunderstorm and windy weather."
The political commissar smiled.
I don't know if it was because of Yue Youyuan's crow's mouth.
Half an hour later, when the Yu Chao had just sailed out of the thunderstorm area, it ran into the main force of the Japanese combined fleet.
When in the thunderstorm area, the two destroyers that originally opened the way fell behind the Yuchao due to the influence of the storm and large waves.
At the same time, their radars were also affected by the weather and failed to detect the combined fleet ahead.
The lookout on the Yu Chao also did not discover it in advance because of his blocked vision.
For the same reason, Japan did not discover the Yu Chao in time.
As a result, the two sides collided head-on in a confused manner.
At this time, the distance between the two sides was less than ten kilometers.
China and Japan discovered each other almost simultaneously "Report, it is found that the main force of the Japanese combined fleet has confirmed 7 battleships and 3 light cruisers," the lookout of the Yuchao reported in an anxious tone.
"Reporting to the commander, a large warship in China has been discovered.
This is" the lookout of the protected cruiser Tone in front of the attack carefully identified it and said: "A Chinese aircraft carrier has been discovered.
No other ships have been discovered":