Chapter 357: Yingguo's Chaos

"Order the entire fleet," She Er turned, his voice cutting like a blade, "execute the second combat turn. But this time, not a unified turn, but a split‑fleet turn."

"Split‑fleet turn?" Te Luota was puzzled.

"The first battleship fleet turns northwest, the second battleship fleet turns northeast, the cruisers and destroyer detachments scatter in all directions, release smoke, fire torpedoes. I will churn this sea completely, muddling it so that the Yingguo cannot tell where the main force is, where the bait is, where the smoke is, or where the warships are."

His eyes flashed a dangerous light in the dim illumination: "Since order is disadvantageous to us, we will create chaos. Since they excel at fighting orderly battles, we will force them into the most chaotic fight."

The orders were broadcast wildly via radio and light signals. The already battered Deguo fleet began to carry out this mad plan.

The main fleet split in two, turning toward two different directions. Light cruisers and destroyers scattered like startled fish, releasing smoke while firing torpedoes toward the roughly estimated Yingguo fleet direction—indifferent to hits, only to generate threat.

More illumination shells were lofted into the sky, more signal flares streaked across the night.

For a moment, the entire sea surface was thrown into complete disorder.

Meanwhile, on the Yingguo fleet side, Jie Li Ke, looking through a telescope, showed a surprised expression for the first time.

"He's gone mad," Si Tu Di muttered, "splitting units, scattering like this, equals abandoning all formation advantages. Any split fleet that collides with us alone would be crushed."

"But we cannot deal with all directions at once," Jie Li Ke set the telescope down, his tone complex, "and look at those smokes... and the torpedo tracks. In this visibility, it's hard for us to discern which are real threats and which are bluffs."

This is She Er's aim—using tactical chaos to gain strategic breathing room. Sacrificing order and coordination to secure a chance of survival.

But chaos is two‑sided. When the Deguo fleet becomes a tangled mess, the Yingguo fleet must also adjust, and such adjustments may create gaps.

"Report!" the Signal Room suddenly blared an emergency call, "Multiple high‑speed targets detected approaching from the southeast! Distance about eight thousand yards, speed over thirty knots! They are destroyers! A large number of destroyers!"

Jie Li Ke rushed to the megaphone: "Quantity? Specific bearing?"

"At least... at least twenty ships! Bearing between 120 and 150 degrees! They are firing torpedoes! Signal detection picked up a massive torpedo splash sound!"

A sea of torpedoes.

This is the standard destroyer tactic when confronting a main fleet—charging in packs, unleashing a barrage of torpedoes at close range, then breaking away with speed and maneuverability. In night and dense fog, it is an extremely dangerous threat.

"Order the entire fleet, emergency turn! Hard left rudder! Adjust heading to 000! All secondary guns and medium‑caliber guns, concentrate fire on the incoming destroyers!"

The Yingguo battle line began an emergency turn. Twenty‑four Dauntless‑class ships turned simultaneously, a spectacular yet dangerous sight—during the turn, battleships temporarily lose part of their fire output, and the formation may be disrupted.

And in that window, an accident occurred.

Due to the hurried turn, compounded by dense fog and smoke interference, the Yingguo battle line's lead ship "Marboro" and the second ship "Iron Duke" misjudged their distance. When "Marboro" began to turn, "Iron Duke" did not decelerate in time, and the gap between the two ships rapidly closed.

"Collision! Collision! Collision!" the lookout shouted.

On the bridge of "Iron Duke", chaos reigned. The helmsman frantically turned the wheel, the engine room reversed urgently, but an 80,000‑ton steel behemoth is not a car; its inertia is enormous.

In the final moment, "Marboro" surged forward, "Iron Duke" swung hard to starboard, and the sterns of the two ships brushed past each other at less than fifty yards. The spray of waves drenched both decks like a small tsunami.

But the crisis did not end.

"Iron Duke"'s emergency starboard turn forced the following "Orion" to also turn urgently, then "Monarch", "Conqueror"... like dominoes, the front half of the entire Yingguo battle line fell into chaos.

And all this was witnessed by the charging Xi Peier fleet.

From the bridge of "Lü Zuofu", Xi Peier, through a telescope, saw the Yingguo battle line's chaos.

He had already prepared for sacrifice—charging the Yingguo fleet to draw fire, then sinking in a volley of Main Gun. But unexpectedly, the Yingguo used only secondary guns to harass him.

This puzzled him and made him wary.

Only now, seeing the front segment of the Yingguo battle line in chaos, did he suddenly understand.

"So that's it..." he murmured, "She Er doesn't want us to draw fire... he wants us to create chaos."

He turned and shouted at the communications officer, "Signal all vessels still able to move! Change target! No longer charge the middle of the Yingguo battle line! Charge their lead ships! Charge the 'Marboro' and 'Iron Duke'! Force them to turn, disrupt their formation!"

"But Commander," the captain warned, "our speed... we can't get that close."

"Then use artillery! Use torpedoes! Use every means!" Xi Peier's eyes blazed, "Tell them this is the last chance! If we can tear a gap in the Yingguo battle line, the main fleet will have a chance to break through!"

The orders were relayed via light signals. "De Fulingge", "Saidelizi", "Feng De Tanen", along with several light cruisers and destroyers, adjusted their headings, like wolves sensing a flaw in prey, pouncing on the most chaotic front of the Yingguo battle line.

"Lü Zuofu" surged ahead. Though she was slow and heavily damaged, her bow still pointed steadfastly toward "Marboro".

The remaining X and Y aft gun turrets opened fire. 305‑mm shells streaked across the night sky, landing around "Marboro", erupting columns of water.

Meanwhile, several Deguo destroyers burst from the smoke, charging the Yingguo battle line at speeds over thirty knots. They sought not hits but deterrence—launching torpedoes from a 4,000‑meter range, then sharply turning away.

"Torpedo! Starboard!" the lookout's scream echoed on "Marboro"'s bridge.

The captain urgently ordered a turn to evade. But turning meant breaking from the battle line, disrupting the entire Column's rhythm.

And on "Iron Duke", Jie Li Ke saw it all.

He saw the Deguo battleship‑cruiser's desperate charge, the Deguo destroyers' torpedo assault, and the chaos at the front of his own fleet.

He also saw an opportunity.