Within two hours of the start of the battle, two Russian battleships were buried at the bottom of the sea, and the rest of the ships of the first Russian formation were also damaged to varying degrees. The auxiliary ships and cruisers of the second Russian formation engaged in a fierce melee with the superior cruiser strength of the third combat group of the coalition forces, and gradually distanced themselves from the first formation.

At 16:10, under the wing of the No. 1007 "Sting-J" water reconnaissance plane of the First Air Force of the Allied Forces, the trajectory of three battleship columns in an almost parallel position across the sea was clearly shown on the vast ocean: the northernmost was the remnant of the 12th ship of the Russian First Formation, and the course at this time was due west; In the middle are the 6 heavy battleships of the First Coalition Force, which at this time are heading almost due east; The furthest south were the 10 armored cruisers of the Second Coalition Squadron, which at this time were heading almost due west.

Within a few minutes, the situation changed abruptly, and the second team of the coalition army, which easily overtook the first formation of Russia at a speed of 20 knots, suddenly made a sharp turn to the north, cutting its course from the left front of the Russian fleet, and almost at the same time, the first team of the coalition also made a sharp turn to the north, overtaking from the left rear of the tail of the first Russian formation - the three columns of battleships showed a tendency to piece together a steel "H" letter on the light blue curtain.

At this time, the lead ship of the Russian first formation, the "Borodino", under the command of Colonel Vaniesiri, made another 90-degree right-angle turn, and took the entire formation to azimuth 360 (due north) to avoid the broadside salvo fire of the second coalition team.

The "Borodino", which had been subjected to concentrated fire from the heavy battleships of the First Coalition Force, was now riddled with holes, the front main gun and the starboard secondary gun were all ineffective, and the superstructure was once in a sea of fire, and now it is only dragging a long smoke belt at a low speed of less than 10 knots, and the situation of the "Emperor Alexander III" that followed behind is not good, the hull and superstructure are full of bullet holes, many of the bullet holes are full of fireworks, and a large amount of soot leaking from the bottom of the broken chimney covers most of the hull......

Lin Taizeng, who observed this scene from the telescope fixed on the tripod, smiled slightly: "There is no suspense anymore." ”

"You mean that the enemy is already doomed?" Sa Zhenbing on the side was full of confidence.

"I mean, the enemy has no chance of escaping." Lin Tai once responded.

At this time, the situation was exactly like the number "111", the three battleship columns were running north side by side, more than 10,000 yards from each other, while the first and second warframes of the coalition forces on both flanks were faster, and soon surpassed the first Russian formation for a long time.

At 17:05, the flagship of the second team "Hangzhou" raised the flag order: "The whole team turns right 90!" ”

5 minutes later, the flagship of the first team "Ruixiang" raised the flag order: "The whole team turns left 90!" ”

At about 17:20, a huge "T" composed of 16 coalition warships and 12 Russian warships appeared on the sea, and the first and second warplanes of the coalition forces cut the course from the right front and left front of the Russian fleet respectively, and the rain of bullets from 54 305 mm and 16 203 mm main guns and 87 150 mm secondary guns available on one side instantly covered the 3 "Borodino" class battleships and 2 "Varyag" class armored cruisers of the 1st detachment of the first Russian formation. At this time, only half of the warships of the first Russian formation were likely to use front-firing fire to return fire.

A quarter of an hour later, the bow of the battered first formation lead ship "Borodino" had already submerged under water, at 17:40, the ship broke out of the queue due to excessive water ingress, and a few minutes later, it suddenly lost control again, almost collided with the battleship "Navarin" of the 2nd detachment, at about 18 o'clock, the bow of this giant ship named after the famous battle site of the Russian-French War sank forward, and only 7 of the 903 crew members survived.

Later, the "Emperor Alexander III" withstood the same intense firepower, and the already honeycomb-like hull was even more hopeless, and the vicinity of the waterline was repeatedly pierced by large-caliber shells of the coalition forces, and the sea water continued to pour in. At 17:55, the ship tilted sharply to the starboard side of the ship, and out of control, soon exposed half of the bottom of the ship, and sank to the bottom of the sea from the starboard side at 18:15, killing 819 people under Captain Bochworth Sdorf.

As the first and second warframes of the coalition forces driving in opposite directions approached, in order to avoid a mistaken attack between the two warbands that were staggered, the "Ruixiang", the general flagship of the main force of the combined fleet, successively raised the flag and ordered: "The second warteam will suspend firing, and the first warteam will continue to shoot in formation." ”

The second team then staggered head-on from the north of the first team.

Under the leadership of the "Borodino" class battleship "Orel", the last of the first detachment, the Russian first formation turned eastward again, but the "Orel" was seriously wounded at this time, all four main guns and two-thirds of the secondary guns failed, the engine room and other places repeatedly caught fire, and the bullet holes near the waterline continued to swallow seawater, and the speed dropped to less than 7 knots. The second Sentai team's blow seemed more ridiculous than making the sun, which was now close to the western sea antenna, jump back to the zenith......

"They really have nowhere to escape...... Sa Zhenbing rubbed his hands excitedly.

Seeing that the sky was gradually darkening, Lin Taizeng became cautious: "The key to the problem is that we must destroy all the opponent's heavy ships before dark, this is the vast ocean, and it is difficult to intercept the enemy after it is dispersed...... Order, this team turns left at 90 degrees! In addition, the second squadron was ordered to surpass the enemy ship at the maximum battle speed and cut the course of the enemy ship again! ”

At 18:40, the battlefield once again showed an "H" posture, only this time, the distance between the two coalition warship columns and the Russian fleet was less than 6,000 yards, in view of the fact that the firepower of the Russian ships has been greatly weakened, the coalition warships safely and boldly approached the Russian ships, the second team hit the front half of the Russian first formation with all the broadside firepower, and the first team quickly crossed the tail of the Russian first formation, and at the same time attacked the ships of the Russian third detachment as the rear guard with all the broadside firepower.

At 18:45, a large explosion occurred at the ammunition depot of the auxiliary guns in the front of the "Orel", where the superstructure had already been a mess, and a large number of debris with fire was thrown into the sky one after another, and three minutes later, the mast of the "Orel" disappeared into the sea, and only two people survived the ship.

The two weakly protected armored cruisers "Varyag" and "Rulik", which were mixed in the 1st detachment, could no longer withstand the ravages of the coalition's large-caliber heavy artillery, and at this time they could no longer withstand the fierce bombardment of the coalition warships at closer range...... At 18:55, a large explosion occurred in the rear main gun ammunition depot of the "Varyag", and the twin 203-mm turrets wrapped in 150-mm steel armor were lifted into the air more than ten meters into the air, and the hull sank rapidly. Fifteen minutes later, the "Rulik", riddled with bullet holes, also came to the end of its miserable voyage, the battleship lost power, the guns were completely extinguished, and the fire raged was abandoned by the desperate captain, and more than 300 crew members were captured, and the "Rulik", which was paralyzed on the sea, was sent to the bottom grave with several torpedoes by the Chinese destroyers surrounded by hunting dogs.

"This is a complete massacre, the Russians are powerless in the face of the superior firepower and speed of the East Asian fleet, especially worthy of our attention is the performance of the coalition second team, the second team of 6 armored cruisers equipped with battleship main guns, although weak protection, but relying on nimble maneuver and heavy firepower, it can be said that they played a key role in this battle, I think, it is time for us to consider the construction of warships of the same type......"

After the war, Rear Admiral Stineau, who witnessed the entire battle on board the battleship "Reichsian" as a military observer, wrote in his report to the Admiralty.

Before nightfall, the 16 warships of the 1st and 2nd Squadrons of the coalition forces were slightly damaged, and they rushed close to the 7 battleships that were left in the first formation of the Russian army, and launched the most rearly attack, and the coalition warships even unscrupulously rushed to a place less than 4,000 yards away from the Russian ships and opened fire, although the garbage ships of the 2nd and 3rd detachments of the Russian army resisted hard, they had no choice but to have a huge disparity in strength, most of the Russian ships were hit by bullets, most of the weapons were ineffective, and the officers and men suffered heavy casualties. Rear Admiral Flekelsham, the commander of the 3rd detachment, who could no longer endure this hellish torture, ignored the opposition of his subordinates, and at 19:45 ordered a white tablecloth to be raised, and then ordered the banner "We surrender" stipulated in international law to be raised, for fear that the coalition forces would not be able to see the flag clearly due to the dark sky, and sent a report to Lin Taizeng in Morse code and sent a light signal, and under his leadership, the two coastal defense ships of the 3rd detachment, "Admiral Scheniavin" and "Admiral Apraksin" One after another, the Andrei flag was lowered and the signal of surrender was given, followed by the old armored cruiser "Admiral Nakhimov" behind the 2nd detachment. At this time, the lead ship of the 2nd detachment, "Sisoy-Viliki", was sinking, and the crew jumped into the water one after another, and although the "Navarin" was seriously damaged, two masts and three chimneys were destroyed, but under the leadership of the captain Colonel Dmitrisky, who was unwilling to be taken prisoner, the "Navarin" attempted to force its way eastward into the night, and was sent to the bottom of the sea with four torpedoes at a distance of less than 100 yards, and only 10 of the 612 crew members survived.

The coastal defense ship "Admiral Ushakov" of the 3rd detachment, which was located at the end of the entire fleet, saw the signal to surrender, and the commander of the 2nd detachment, Rear Admiral Nebaugatov, who had been transferred from the long-sunken "Oslyavia", asked the captain, Colonel Berimke: "Are you going to surrender like them?" ”

Burimke asked rhetorically, "Are you going to change again?" But I don't see any ships to transfer to. ”

"Then it's up to us to tell those yellow barbarians what is the heroism of the Russian Empire!"

Therefore, when the Chinese ship "Caiyun" approached the "Admiral Ushakov" and ordered the ship to lower its flag and surrender, the "Caiyun" was answered by a row of 254-mm shells.

Lin Tai once sighed after receiving the report: "Although I can't measure myself, I am also courageous...... It's up to Team One to solve it. ”

For the brave and tenacious opponent who is out of the way of life and death, giving him the most vigorous destruction can be regarded as a sign of respect......

The 30 305-mm guns of the 6 Chinese battleships were pointed together at the "Admiral Ushakov", who decided to fight to the death.