Chapter Thirty-One: The Flagship's Demise

  Yamamoto's maneuver surprised both the Japanese fleet and Russian Admiral Rozhdestvensky, as it would interfere with the shooting of the unturned Japanese ships, and at this point all turning Japanese ships would become easy targets for the Russians.

  A few minutes after the order was given, the Russian fleet opened fire first. The Japanese ships continued to turn in sequence according to Yamamoto's orders, despite being under fire from the Russian fleet. The armored cruiser Asama was hit first, with three shells damaging its stern and rudder, causing it to lose steering and be forced to withdraw from the line of battle. Other Japanese ships were also hit, but none suffered fatal damage.

  In less than 10 minutes, most of the Japanese ships had completed their turn and began counterattacking. The four battleships at the head of the Japanese fleet concentrated their fire on one Russian flagship, while the six battleships and cruisers behind them attacked another flagship flying a command flag. The Russian fleet was thrown into confusion as both flagships were simultaneously attacked, and with the fleet in an unfavorable position, one of the flagships under concentrated attack also caught fire and billowed smoke.

  The commander-in-chief of the Russian fleet, Rozhdestvensky, was on another flagship that was being concentratedly attacked at this time. The Japanese accurately hit his ship with a second wave of shells, and the general's head, back, and feet were all injured. After being transferred to the command tower, he fell into a coma. The commander's coma, combined with the fact that the divisional flagship had been hit and set on fire, caused chaos in the Russian fleet's command, making it impossible for them to concentrate their firepower on the Japanese ships.

  On the surface, the Japanese Combined Fleet ventured to seize the T-shaped head, first taking a beating and then counterattacking, causing the Russian fleet to lose its way for a while. Underwater, on the edge of the chaotic waters where the Japanese and Russian fleets were battling, dozens of Taiwanese submarines that had followed and lain in ambush also passed through the surface, dragging their antennae and communicating with each other in tense tones, adjusting their positions. Just as Rozhdestvensky was injured and unconscious, the newly appointed commander of the First Submarine Squadron, who was in charge of this operation, Taiwanese Navy Colonel Gao Jianguo, issued an order to launch a limited strike on the Japanese battleship formation. As soon as the order was given, three "Shark-class" submarines near the northern part of the battlefield slowly adjusted their posture and fired six 533mm heavy magnetic explosive torpedoes at the Japanese Combined Fleet's flagship "Mikasa", which was sailing 1500 meters ahead.

  On "Mikasa", Admiral Heihachiro Togo was also hit by two shells in the previous turn, one hitting the rear main turret and making it unable to rotate, while the other hit the bow without exploding but only punching a large hole through the deck and damaging the anchor room. Togo stood on the bridge directing his fleet despite being showered with Russian shells, which shattered the glass and injured his leg. When he successfully turned his fleet around and got in front of the Russians, he sat down in his chair and smiled, knowing that in this formation, his large-caliber guns could fire freely at the Russian ships, while the Russians' ships were facing him head-on and could only exert one-fifth of their power.

  As he watched the two Russian flagships being hit and set on fire under his command, while the remaining Russian warships were each fighting for themselves, Yamamoto couldn't help but think of the naval battle with China many years ago. In that battle, Yamamoto did not participate in person, but the pre-war planning came from this navy lieutenant's hand, including how to seize control of the sea and how to use quick-firing guns to deal with the two heavily armored warships "Dingyuan" and "Zhenyuan". The fact proved that Lieutenant Yamamoto Gonbee was indeed very farsighted at that time. However, thinking of his fellow countryman Higashifushimi Toshihito, Yamamoto couldn't help but feel some regret and anger. From the beginning of participating in the Anglo-Satsuma War in Satsuma Domain to entering the Naval Academy together, the two people had been encouraging each other and striving for the strength of the Japanese Navy. Who would have thought that just as he and Higashifushimi gradually grasped the navy and drove it along the most advanced and powerful road, Higashifushimi, one of the pillars of the Japanese Navy, fell in the Taiwan Strait.

  Just as Yamamoto Gonbee's mind wandered and he thought of Tōgō, thought of Taiwan, it was as if the heavens were moved. Taiwan suddenly appeared before his eyes; to be precise, the trajectory of a torpedo launched by a Taiwanese submarine appeared several hundred meters off the port side of Mikasa.

  Although it was already afternoon, the thick fog that had been present since morning had not cleared up completely, and there were still patches of mist remaining on the surface of the sea. Moreover, the Japanese battleship fleet was currently engaged in a fierce artillery duel with the Russian fleet to starboard, so the three lookouts standing atop the mast did not notice anything unusual to portside, nor did they detect the white trail left behind by the 533mm heated torpedo until one of them happened to turn around and observe the trajectory of the Russian shells.

  As the earsplitting collision warning sounded, Yamamoto also found the torpedo speeding towards him from behind the sea surface in the cries of his staff. Several hundred meters away, it was not just a clumsy battleship that could hardly avoid such a rapid and omnidirectional torpedo attack, even a destroyer would struggle to do so. Yamamoto stared blankly at the white trail on the sea surface, without giving an order to evade, but instead adjusted his uniform, sat upright in his chair, with both hands grasping the hilt of his command sword, looking forward, and said to his staff:

  "If you all can luckily escape, please inform the military department that this is a Taiwanese submarine. The Crown Prince and Dong Xiang died unjustly." Yamamoto said, then closed his eyes.

  Then, the huge water pressure directly lifted this 15,000-ton battleship from the middle to several meters high. Many people on the ship broke their necks, spines or legs due to sudden acceleration. Due to the self-weight of the hull, although the middle part left the water surface under the water pressure, both ends were still pressed into the water. When the water pressure weakened, the entire hull crashed back into the water, and this up-and-down movement caused the keel of this first-class battleship, which had been in service for only 2 years, to deform. Seawater sprayed into the deformed hull through the gaps like a high-pressure water gun.

  If it could be salvaged in time, this battleship would not be able to recover its original structural strength, but after repairs, it could still serve as a coastal defense ship. Unfortunately, a few seconds later, the second torpedo exploded just a few meters away from the hull in the water... followed by the third... the fourth... The "Mikasa" was like a dead fish in a frying pan, constantly jumping up and down, until finally, accompanied by an ear-piercing screech of metal scraping, the entire ship began to disintegrate, large steel plates and upper structures peeling off and falling into the water, slowly disappearing beneath the surface amidst a mass of splashing waves.

  The Japanese battleship squadron behind Mikasa had forgotten to open fire at the moment of the explosion, from the captain to the staff officers, from gunners to lookouts, all stared blankly as Mikasa pitched up and down several times in a strong geyser of water, then broke into pieces and sank into the sea.

  "What the...?! What's going on here?!" Admiral Sanetomo Misu, Commander of the First Fleet of the Combined Japanese Fleet, stood on his flagship "Nisshin", furiously asking his staff officer beside him.

  "Sorry, sir. We're too far away and it's not clear what happened to Admiral Yamamoto's flagship. I'll go ask." The chief of staff of the First Fleet also didn't know why "Mikasa" suddenly exploded and sank in a situation that was going well, and from the state of the explosion, it didn't seem like the ammunition depot had been hit either, as there wasn't much fire or black smoke on the ship.

  "Give orders to the battleship squadron, telling them not to be affected and continue attacking the Russian fleet. Admiral Yamamoto is leading by example as the first one." Sanada endured the blow of losing his fleet commander, diligently fulfilling his duties as the commander of the First Fleet, which was also the battleship squadron.

  As the staff communicated with signal flags to the communication ship, issuing orders for Sanzu and inquiring about the situation of the Russian fleet ahead, the Japanese battleship formation continued firing at the Russian fleet after a brief confusion and ceasefire.