When the howling came again, aside from a few young staff officers who put down their work to listen carefully, the other officers didn't react.
It wasn't because they hadn't heard it, but because there were more important things to do.
At the beginning, the communication advisor delivered damage reports from the "Ji River" and the "Gui River," as well as Gui Boyong's analysis of the situation.
What was there to analyze?
By walking over to the last window on the right, one could see the two warships behind them, or more precisely, the large fires burning on the ships.
In that first round of sudden and dense gunfire, all six battlecruisers had been hit and caught fire.
Fortunately, the fires on the first four warships were quickly controlled and then extinguished, but the last two were in a much worse state.
Actually, it was extremely bad!
The key issue was that they were sailing too fast, and even without considering the sea breeze, the wind on deck was over twenty knots, preventing the damage control crews from getting close to the fires to extinguish them.
In trying to put out the flames, the damage control crews on the two warships made repeated brave attempts, and the casualties were extremely heavy.
According to a telegram from the "Ji River," unless they could reduce speed to fourteen knots or less, they could only let the fire burn on the surface of the ships.
Obviously, that was a huge dilemma.
In the dark of night, lookouts struggled to clearly see distant warships, let alone measure their range. But with bright flames, it was a completely different story.
With the help of the fires, it was possible to precisely gauge the range, even from twenty kilometers away.
The biggest taboo in night gun battles was for one's own ship to catch fire.
What was fatal was that the enemy only needed to keep an eye on the "Ji River" and the "Gui River" to track the movements of the 21st Sub-fleet and aim their fire effectively.
What to do?
Actually, everyone knew what had to be done, but no one said it out loud.
"Report!"
A telecommunication soldier ran up in haste, shouting as he approached, and handed the still-wet telegram to He Yongxing.
Before He Yongxing could reach for it, Gui Boyong snatched the telegram.
After a quick glance, Gui Boyong was stunned, as if suddenly turned to stone.
Upon reading the telegram himself, He Yongxing's brows furrowed tightly. He handed the telegram to another staff officer who had come up to him and walked over to the nautical chart table.
The telegram passed through two more staff officers before reaching Bai Zhizhan's hands.
After reading, Bai Zhizhan was also left in shock.
It was from the "Guangyang," the flagship of the 33rd Sub-fleet. The message was only a few dozen words, mostly numbers and letters, but the content was incredibly shocking.
To the north, the Second Battle Patrol Squad had started sailing southwest, and their speed had surpassed twenty-five knots.
What did those guys from the Saiyi Navy want to do?
Were they planning to take advantage of the chaos?
Moreover, the last eight characters of the telegram were: Long live the Navy, may the Empire flourish forever.
In the Navy of the Empire, these eight words had a special meaning, signifying a do-or-die battle with the enemy.
After sending this telegram, the "Guangyang" shut down its radio and would transmit again only after defeating the formidable enemy; otherwise, it would have been sunk in battle.
It wasn't just the "Guangyang" that was making this brave sacrifice, but all six warships of the 33rd Sub-fleet.
Although they couldn't see, they could perfectly imagine that after sending that telegram, the "Guangyang" charged ahead of the other five armored cruisers without looking back towards the enemy ships. Even though they knew they were facing certain death, the Navy officers and sailors on those ships never looked back.
As Marshal Chen Bingxun famously said, "The sailors of the Empire's Navy are all courageous and fervent heroes!"
The 33rd Sub-fleet bravely met their fate and engaged the Second Battle Patrol Squad's guns, actually aiming to buy time for the 21st Sub-fleet.
When Bai Zhizhan passed by, the Nautical Advisor had already marked the information from the telegram onto the nautical chart.
If anything could be said, it was that those Saiyi Imperial Kingdom bastards were indeed very cunning, very aware of how to reap the greatest benefits at the least cost.
The information on the nautical chart was clear at a glance.
To the east of the 21st Sub-fleet, more precisely, about thirty degrees to the east-southeast, were the eight battleships of two main force squads. Through the blast from their guns, the lookouts had determined that all these battleships belonged to the Newland Navy, equipped with fourteen-inch main guns.
To the north was the Fast Battle Squad.
Since the Fast Battle Squad didn't change direction, soon they would move from the north of the 21st Sub-fleet to the northeast, and then to the southeast.
It was evident that the breakthrough was in the northwest!
There, just in the direction of the Watcher Strait.
If the Second Battle Patrol Squad moved up quickly and positioned themselves to the northwest side, with great effort rendering previous achievements useless, the 21st Sub-fleet would find themselves unable to fly even if they had wings.
Even if it was the Newland Navy's main force that crippled the 21st Sub-fleet, and the Bulan Navy's Fast Battle Squad that held them, the Saiyi Navy could also claim credit for swiftly cutting off the 21st Sub-fleet's escape route, accurately speaking, reaping the rewards without doing the work.
Thinking of this, Bai Zhizhan clenched his teeth in hatred.
Over two years ago, if it were not for the betrayal of the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom, even if the Newland Federation had joined the war shortly after, the Liangxia Empire would not have fallen into defeat so quickly, at least not losing the initiative within a few short months. With enough time, even just a year, the Liangxia Empire could have completed strategic adjustments in response to the entry of the Newland Federation into the war, and the other countries of the Consortium Group could have faced the new challenge without haste.
It was obvious that those in the Saiyi Navy were opportunists that betrayed loyalties for profit.
Although he hated them to his very core, Bai Zhizhan knew to keep his emotions in check.
After a short discussion, Gui Boyong, representing all advisors, suggested not to adjust tactics for the time being, and to continue attempting the breakthrough towards the strait.
The "Ji River" and the "Gui River" trailed behind, even if they couldn't extinguish the raging fire, it wouldn't have too much impact.
Moreover, the enemy could easily guess that the 21st Sub-fleet would attempt to break through towards the strait, so the issue of the two ships being on fire revealing their position did not exist.
If the two ships were able to put out the fire and break through with the leading ships, that would be the best outcome.
Even if it wasn't possible, the captains of the two ships would make the wise choice when necessary.
However, the situation was changing far too rapidly.
Less than five minutes later, the Telecommunication Soldier ran over again, delivering a newly received telegram.
This time, it was from the "Ji River".
At the end of the telegram were those same eight words.
Long live the Navy, long may the Empire thrive!
Soon after, the lookout reported that a fleet made up of several light cruisers or torpedo destroyers was rapidly approaching from the southwest.
Due to the dim light and the great distance, it was impossible to identify the specific models of the ships.
What was certain was that those ships were traveling at a speed of over thirty knots, and they were coming aggressively, intent on launching a torpedo attack.
He Yongxing did not give any order - it was obvious he wanted the fleet to continue their desperate rush.
According to the orders previously given by He Yongxing, aside from the "Ji River" and the "Gui River" which were on fire, the other four battlecruisers did not fire upon the approaching enemy ships.
The reason was simple, the flash from their guns would reveal their position.
This situation brought to Bai Zhizhan's mind a saying: A tiger driven to the flatlands!