At four in the afternoon, to the east of the Watcher Strait, the 21st Sub-fleet's temporary flagship "Lu River."
The sun was already slanting to the west, but it was still too early for sunset.
If they could delay for another two hours and enter the strait after dark, nothing could be better.
Because He Yongxing was standing right next to him, Bai Zhizhan just sighed quietly without revealing his thoughts on his face, and continued to use the binoculars to observe the situation ahead earnestly.
The strait was right in front of them, and they could already see Wanggui Peak on Guard Island.
Calling it a peak, it was actually just a hill less than two hundred meters high. Before the popularization of the telegraph, the Imperial Navy had built a beacon tower at the top of the hill.
Due to over two hundred days a year shrouded in sea fog, the lookout was not very significant, and the beacon tower on the hilltop had been abandoned for decades.
"Are you from Yuzhou?"
He Yongxing suddenly came out with a sentence, and Bai Zhizhan did not respond immediately, thinking He Yongxing was talking to someone else.
"Before I was ten, I lived for half a year in Yuzhou. There was a shipyard there, and my father was a naval engineer," He Yongxing said, and only then did Bai Zhizhan understand. "What left the deepest impression on me was the old hotpot by the riverbank; even thinking about it now still makes my mouth water."
"The best hotpot isn't by the riverbank but in the river itself, the kind made by ship workers' families," Bai Zhizhan put down the binoculars in his hand.
"Really? I must try it if I have the chance."
"Just come to my house, my dad is a ship worker, and my mom's hotpot base flavor is especially robust, along with freshly slaughtered tripe and live fish from the river, cooking up a big pot, the taste is simply unparalleled." Bai Zhizhan said the latter half in the Yuzhou dialect, which sounded particularly spirited.
While Bai Zhizhan was speaking these words, He Yongxing sighed. Bai Zhizhan was not a fool; noticing He Yongxing's expression, he wisely shut his mouth. The He family, which He Yongxing belonged to, originated in Eastern Yue, and the Two Yue People greatly disliked spicy food, barely eating anything spicy.
"Gui Boyong told me that you studied Air Force reconnaissance as a specialty, why choose such a minor field?"
Bai Zhizhan was taken aback, then gave a bitter smile.
He Yongxing did not ask further, but from Bai Zhizhan's bitter smile, he already had an idea. A child of the civilian class making it into the Imperial Naval Academy was already extremely fortunate; they didn't have the luxury to pick and choose, and someone had to fill the spots in the minor specializations.
"Do you think, if we started over, we would have a chance to win?"
"No."
Bai Zhizhan replied definitively, surprising He Yongxing, or more accurately, he was quite taken aback since Bai Zhizhan had previously avoided answering such questions.
"If we still follow the current routines, without making any changes, even repeating it a hundred times would be futile."
"Why?"
"As a latecomer among the old empires, we have to defeat not only the Western Powers but the entire world. Just comparing strengths, the Empire is not a match for the whole world."
"So, how should we change?"
This time, Bai Zhizhan did not rush to answer.
The direction for reform had long been clear.
After the outbreak of the great war, the Air Force had ascended to the stage of war.
Two years ago, the Alliance Group was the first to use seaplanes for maritime reconnaissance tasks.
In the battle to blockade the Ter Empire, the Royal Navy's seaplanes performed the first bombing attack using a seaplane. Although the target of the bombing was a civilian ship and not a single bomb hit, it was enough to prove that dropping bombs from the air was a viable method of attack.
Last year, before the Ter Empire surrendered, the Royal Bulan Navy's Air Force had completed its first real, successful bombing operation. A large seaplane had dropped a bomb that successfully sank a Ter Navy's wooden-hulled minesweeper.
Encouraged by this, the Royal Bulan Navy began building mother ships capable of carrying conventional takeoff and landing aircraft.
Unfortunately, even within the Royal Bulan Navy, no one believed that airplanes could pose a threat to the Main Battle Ships, let alone the Imperial Navy.
Traditional generals like He Yongxing viewed airplanes at most as reconnaissance tools.
In fact, even Bai Zhizhan thought that airplanes would hardly pose a real threat to Main Battle Ships, which were several tens of thousands times larger.
As for the belief that mother ships would replace Main Battle Ships and become the dominators of the maritime battlefield in twenty years, not to mention Bai Zhizhan having the foresight, even if he did, he wouldn't dare conclude.
Although transformation might not necessarily bring victory, without transformation, victory is definitely unattainable.
Change was certain; what remained uncertain was merely the method, manner, and direction of change.
While Bai Zhizhan was pondering how to respond, Gui Boyong arrived on the open-air corridor. As He Yongxing and Bai Zhizhan turned their heads, Gui Boyong, without much explanation, just pointed toward the southeast and handed the high-powered binoculars he had brought to He Yongxing.
There were a few barely visible columns of smoke on the southeastern sea horizon.
After a glance, Bai Zhizhan shifted his gaze to the "North River" ahead.
The flag bearer had already lowered the combat flag on the main mast and was making preparations below, waiting to raise the Command Flag that symbolized the flagship's status.
At that moment, the battle alarm sounded.
The lookout had already made a judgment, confirming that the approaching vessels from the southeast were indeed the Joint Fleet's Fast Battle Squad.
However, they were still over twenty kilometers away.
"Go down and give the orders," He Yongxing said with a sigh, handing the binoculars back to Gui Boyong. "It's either fortune or disaster, and if it's disaster, there's no avoiding it."
Gui Boyong didn't say much. As he turned to return to the command bridge, he gave Bai Zhizhan a look, signaling Bai Zhizhan to remind He Yongxing to return to the Command Bridge.
The appearance of the Fast Battle Squad from the southeast was no surprise to Bai Zhizhan.
This scenario was already anticipated.
The overall course of the Maze Channel ran from northwest to southeast, and its width only allowed a Main Battle Ship to pass slowly. Moreover, there was a safe sea area on the eastern side of the channel's center line that allowed warships to turn and maneuver, so once the fleet entered, it could only travel in one direction.
That's why, simply deploying several Battleships outside the channel's exit could block the entire passage.
The position of the Fast Battle Squad, about ten kilometers from the exit of the Maze Channel, was exactly within the direct firing range of the fifteen-inch Main Gun, so whether entering the channel or coming out from inside, they would face direct fire from the forty Main Guns of the five Fast Battleships. Needless to mention the thinly armored battlecruisers, even the powerful Battleships couldn't withstand the direct hits of the fifteen-inch armor-piercing bullets.
Using conventional tactics, the 21st Sub-fleet would definitely not be able to enter the Maze Channel under the Fast Battle Squad's guns, let alone pass safely through the Watcher Strait.
Fortunately, there were less than three hours until darkness.
Even the lookout with the best eyesight wouldn't be able to see distant warships clearly at night, so as long as they could delay until darkness, they could break out under the cover of night.
How could they delay until dark?
"Commander He, let's go in."
After Bai Zhizhan said this, He Yongxing turned and walked toward the Command Bridge.
The breakout tactics were ready; the 21st Sub-fleet already had contingency plans for this, but they needed to modify some details according to the actual situation.
Then, it was time to turn the plans on paper into action!