If you hoist the ignore flag, of course the flagship will be ignored, the formation will be disbanded, and the ships below will watch and fight on their own.
This is also a tactic of the British Royal Navy, called "chaotic warfare" or "melee", which extremely tests the command level of each ship's captain, the training level of the sailors, and the actual combat experience.
A truly high-level navy can still cooperate in chaos and chaos. It is false chaos, not real chaos. What is really disrupted is the enemy.
Since the age of sails, the British Royal Navy has been a master of disruptive battles. It will often take the initiative to disband the formation when the strength is not dominant or the situation is unfavorable, and then launch an attack to disrupt the enemy's array, and then rely on its own Higher command and training levels enable you to win in chaotic battles. The only one in history that could compete with the British Royal Navy in chaos and melee was the navy of the Dutch Republic, which was still a coachman on the sea.
But now, seeing that the formation battle could not be won, George Yilu could only resort to the old method of disrupting the battle and fighting in a melee.
Seeing the Revenge hoisting the "don't care flag", the three second-class protected cruisers such as the Leander, the Mersey, and the Eris, which had been following the Revenge and the Indomitable, immediately changed direction and started from They rushed out of the formation, but they did not fight alone. Instead, they each brought a destroyer to form three two-ship formations, while the remaining two torpedo boat destroyers ran to the Revenge and Indomitable to protect them. The two "boss" continued to wander around the battlefield.
The Revenge and the Indomitable did not continue to maintain their original formations. They also formed two two-ship formations with the arriving destroyers.
The two Japanese gunboats Echigo and Mino, which had been fighting since the beginning of the battle, also formed a two-ship formation and began to retreat in the direction of Danlu Island.
In addition, the four camouflaged attack ships led by the one-eyed dragon Saigo have long since disappeared...
"Sir, the British have disbanded the formation!"
Zhuge Weidao, who was holding a telescope on the Lushun and staring at the Revenge, heard Wang Wen's voice again in his ears.
"Dismissed...want to run?" Zhuge Weidao quickly turned the telescope and looked around, only to find that the British did not run away, but launched a charge.
"The Romance of Fairy Wood"
"They are going to disrupt the war!" Wang Wen said with a smile, "Sir, now is our chance!"
Of course Zhuge Weidao knows what "chaos" is? But he also knew that the Ming Navy would not actually disrupt war... The Ming Navy lacked actual combat experience, and officers and soldiers who had never fought in a war were most afraid of chaos!
But Wang Wen’s smile was so brilliant!
Zhuge Weidao quickly used his brain to think again, and he figured it out - the Ming Dynasty's navy has the advantage of information technology, and it is the information navy of the 19th century!
Although the four warships of the Ming Navy used semaphores and lights since the previous encounter with those camouflaged ships, which seemed very uninformation-based, in fact, these four ships had radio transceivers!
Therefore, these four warships are fully capable of chatting beyond visual range. No matter how chaotic the battlefield is, they can still cooperate with each other.
"Sir, the flagship Vladivostok is calling, let's release the smoke and rush south out of the Kiyin Channel...and then sail southwest to Cape Muroto. In four hours, the Vladivostok will join our ship in Muroto Meet ten nautical miles south of the headland.”
"Come out of Jiyin Waterway?" Zhuge Weidao frowned, "There is no enemy fleet ambushing outside Jiyin Waterway?"
"Sir," Wang Wen quickly reminded, "We have deployed early warning airships over the Tsushima Strait. When we encountered those camouflaged ships, the radio station of the flagship Vladivostok must have summoned them. It may be almost here now. It has flown over Jiyin Waterway. If there is an ambush, we will definitely know about it."
Dimensionality reduction blow!
Zhuge Weidao thought to himself: "Airship early warning, telegraph communication... If we can get some precision-guided weapons, this will be a flying dragon riding on the face!"
Just as he thought of this, Wang Wen said again: "The terrain of Cape Muroto is conducive to setting up an ambush. As long as we are commanded by the airship in the sky, we can definitely catch the British by surprise at Cape Muroto!"
It really has precision guidance!
Zhuge Weidao's confidence greatly increased and he immediately ordered: "Turn, go south, release smoke...and evacuate at full speed!"
...
"Sir, four warships of the Ming Navy are releasing smoke and retreating separately."
In the command tower of the Revenge, George Yilu, who was holding a phone receiver and talking to the damage control captain, suddenly heard the news that the Ming warships were retreating, which surprised him. He quickly put down the phone, walked to the window in a few steps, raised his binoculars and looked south, and found that four lines of smoke were becoming more and more dispersed on the sea.
"Disperse and retreat?" George Yilu was a little confused, "Why did they disperse?"
"Your Excellency Commodore, I think they dispersed and broke out in order to ensure that at least one battleship rushed out of the Jiyin Waterway and sent the news of the attack by the Royal Navy of the British Empire back to Ming Dynasty's Ryukyu Base or Kushiro Base?"
The person who answered George Elliot's question was Shimazu Qi Liang, who had gauze wrapped around his head. He fell headfirst in the explosion just now, but his life was not in danger, so he can still talk to George Elliot with a frown on his face. .
"Spread out and break out? Are they worried that..." George Yilu said, "Our two countries are setting up an ambush outside the Jiyin Waterway?"
"They must have thought this was a planned attack!" Shimazu Qi Liang frowned, "The current situation... Ming Dynasty will use this as an excuse to go to war against the British Empire, right?"
"Start a war? How dare they..." George Yilu's heart sank.
The current situation is hard to say!
Originally, his purpose of coming all the way to Japan was to conquer Japan to fight with the Ming Dynasty, to find out the bottom of the Ming Dynasty, and to see whether Japan was worthy of the full support of the British Empire.
But now, the British Empire and fleet just had a fight with the Ming Dynasty fleet, which was far inferior to itself on paper... and obviously suffered a loss!
If this cannot be brought back, when the Ming court finds out, it will definitely re-evaluate the strength of the British Empire, and even if it does not go into full-scale war with Britain, it will definitely adopt more radical strategies. And Japan might also turn to the Ming Dynasty... In this way, the Ming Dynasty will no longer have to worry about East Asia!
Thinking of this, George Yilu said to his cousin Charlie Yilu: "Send a semaphore to the Indomitable and let it come closer. I want to change the flagship."
Of course, changing the flagship is to continue fighting!
Now the Revenge is no longer able to continue fighting and must be docked for major repairs - both turrets are gone, and the front and rear ammunition magazines are full of water. It is estimated that the repairs will take several months. I don’t know if it can be repaired in Japan?
Therefore, George Yilu, who was not willing to fail, had no choice but to board the Indomitable.
One arm was wrapped with gauze and hung on his chest. Charlie Yilu stood up and replied loudly: "Yes, sir."
Shimazu Qi Liang had no intention of accompanying George Yilu to take risks. He quickly said to George Yilu: "Your Excellency, Commodore, I will not accompany you to continue fighting with the Ming Navy... I must do it as soon as possible. Report the misunderstanding that occurred in the waters near Danlu Island to the general, and maybe there will be a possibility of diplomatic resolution!"
George Elliot nodded: "Then please take the Revenge to Osaka..." He paused and then said, "If the Japanese Empire is determined to fight, the British Empire will definitely provide all necessary support." Aid, that would be considerable aid!”
George Yilu, who was about to transfer to the battleship Indomitable and go to the Jiyin Waterway for a final fight, never expected that his enemy would be the advanced "information navy"! Just when he was changing his flagship, the radio stations on the Lushun and Vladivostok were already connected to the Beiyang Fleet Headquarters of the Ming Navy and the Ming Navy Staff Headquarters.
After receiving the news, Zhuge Weiyi, the Minister of the Navy of the Ming Dynasty, and Zhuge Weiyong, the Chief of Staff of the Navy of the Ming Dynasty, were a little confused. They quickly called the two prime ministers, and then went to the Prime Minister Zuo's Mansion to talk to the two prime ministers. Let's discuss countermeasures together.
