With the Russian Baltic fleet just a day away, the ships knew they needed to be arranged into a defensive force. However, they would get some help with Antonio being ahead of the rest of the party. He soon knew a plan if they were going to catch the Russian Baltic fleet off balance.
"You know the Baltic fleet took a force around half the globe to find us right so we must assemble all the Japanese ships that we had to counter them." Antonio told them as the others had nodded. Anchovy spoke into her radio as she was wondering about this.
"All of the ships, what happens if they get sunk?" Anchovy asked as she was worried about this. Antonio soon spoke as he knew there was nothing to worry about.
"Don't worry Il Duce, our ships are the strongest and nothing will happen to us. I promise you." Antonio responded as he knew what was going on. Kay soon took the radio wondering about what was their strength.
"You know how many ships they have?" Kay asked, wondering what their strength was. Antonio soon began reading the reports as he began reporting the numbers out to Kay.
"About 32 ships total, so they outnumber the Japanese fleet in a 2 to 1 in modern niche battleships but everything else the Japanese outnumber the Russian Baltic Fleet with an 8 to 3 advantage if you count out the bizarre Matsushima class." Antonio replied as he knew he was going to put every ship possible on the front line just so the Russian Baltic Fleet doesn't break through and link up with the Russian Pacific and try to take over the recently captured USS George Washington. "Also the Russian Baltic Fleet's speed is quite limited as we can open the speed up and get away even if we bring the geriatric Ex Chinese Ironclad Zhenyuan renamed to the Chin Yen, we can maintain about 15 knots and easily get away from the Russian Baltic fleet."
"Wow so we can do everything we could to destroy the Russian Baltic fleet and the only thing it outnumbers us in are battleships. I swear this Russian Fleet is becoming like Yuri." Kay responded as she knew she and Anchovy had to go out of their way and join forces with Antonio as they were going to be heading out to battle.
With no major action on the USS George Washington, the volunteers were taking a much needed break, Olivia, one that keeps going no matter what is now on the Kaiser Dreadnought as it was one of the ships that was heading out to battle along with the Maryland, Aurora, Mikasa and the Dante Alighieri. The rest of the ships were ordered to protect the USS George Washington from any more ships trying to capture it as well as form lines in case the Russian Baltic fleet broke through.
The School ships were now heading with the combined Japanese fleet as they were heading along to intercept the Russian Fleet at the Straits of Tsushima since it was the shortest route to Vladivostok. Olivia knew that this fleet took too long to arrive at where it needed to be and since she and Erwin knew this admiral full well that they were going against.
"So Admiral Rozhestvensky and the Russian Baltic Fleet or me and Antonio like to call it the Second Pacific Squadron had faced and dealt with numerous threats over the past few months." Erwin began as he turned to Olivia who knew full well from the journey from St. Petersburg back to Japan, to begin listing what happened.
"Imaginary Japanese Torpedo Boats, Real English Fishing Boats, The Kamchatka, Almost starting a war with a global superpower, Accidentally shooting up their own ships, The Kamchatka, Disease, Mountainous Seas, The Kamchatka, Poisonous snakes, Prophets of the end times, The Kamchatka, Highborn officers running rat hunts through the fleet, Being saddled with a bunch of obsolete floating targets that only serve to slow them down, and of course… The Kamchatka." Olivia listed as she knew that was what this admiral was known for.
In the dead of night, the ships were sailing around as they were in the area where the Russian Fleet was planning to sail through. One of the Japanese cruisers was sailing through scouting ahead as the lights were pointed to a random ship in the distance. It turned out to be the hospital ship from the Russian Baltic Fleet Orel as it began to relay the message using the lights as it wanted to signal to the fleet about what was happening. The message in the lights began to read this. I am an unarmed auxiliary ship and there are other Russian ships nearby so don't go near them. The cruiser's crew were grateful as they slipped back into the dense fog that was forming around the ship. Soon the cruiser was going to be radioing in the position of the Russian fleet.
"The Russian fleet are somewhere near the area where the ships are spotted just south of the Straits of Tsushima island. Please prepare for battle." The Cruiser reported to the Japanese fleet as the head of the Japanese fleet the admiral began to radio Tokyo about his intentions.
"Okay one of our cruisers spotted the Russian Fleet and intentions to head to battle." The Admiral said as he radioed to Tokyo. Tokyo picked up this message as it began to radio back to the fleet.
"Permission granted but let me know what weather you're fighting in so we can figure out what your moves will be." Tokyo radioed back as they politely asked what the weather was going to be. The Admiral knew that Tokyo wanted a weather report so it began to radio over what the weather was like over there.
"Heavy fog rolling in and wishing to engage the Russian Fleet if the fog clears up or we go ahead one close in the range." He radioed back. Tokyo soon picked up the message as there was no need to send any more messages so permission was granted to the Japanese Fleet to head for battle.
The weather over where the Russian fleet was sailing through was particularly poor, with a dense sea fog and a number of high waves crashing around them. The fleet knew that they would need to rest up before heading into battle with the Japanese. This would be the test for both sides regarding their ship's condition.
At 06:00 hours the next day, 40 miles from Tsushima island, the Japanese Cruiser Izumi spotted the Russian Fleet and in return the Zhemchug spotted the Izumi on the right side of the flank.
At 08:00 with much of the main Japanese fleet still somewhat off in the distance, the Russians hoist flags in celebration of Principal Nicholas the II. Even if they begin to receive signals from the rear of the formation signaling that Japanese Cruisers have been spotted, they do nothing about this and continue to sail.
At 09:00 Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky looked out from his binoculars as he was beginning to spot elements of the Japanese fleet, it was clear they were going to run into it.
"All ships prepare battle formations." Rozhestvensky called in from his flagship the Knyaz Suvorov. The transports drop back as the Battleships and the Armored Cruises merge into one long line of battle. With Rozhestvensky taking command from the flagship Suvorov. Antonio, Kay and Anchovy looked out as the admiral aboard the Mikasa began to call out for the signal to merge their ships into battle. The Massive School ships looked awkwardly among the smaller vessels as they looked like massive floating islands instead of ships. Rozhestvensky didn't know what he was taking on since the only school ship in his fleet was the Kamchatka.
At 10:20, four more ships cross the Russian formation. Some of the ships fearing a torpedo attack prepared to fire. The Zhemchug fired a few shots at the direction of the Japanese ships as it didn't want to hit them as much as it wanted to simply keep them at bay. The ships soon withdraw into the mist. Rozhestvensky watched the ships disappear into the mist as he soon gave the message.
"Their going away, I order the fact that there should be no pursuit." Rozhestvensky declared. Soon the other ships knew they needed to keep going.
At 11:00 aboard the ships, the students were bored as they were itching for a fight. Soon the captain aboard the Dante Alighieri soon gave out the message to the students that were sitting around doing nothing.
"Admiral says he's sending all the students to lunch and would like to survey the fleet, you all deserve a break from what he said as there hasn't been much action and I would not like to keep you bored for the time being." The captain gave out the message as all the students needed a break. The students got up as they went to the mess hall of the ship so they could take a break and discuss strategy.
"So what are the chances of the Russian Fleet Interference?" Anchovy asked as they were sitting down to a lunch of Pasta. Antonio looked at her as he began to explain.
"Chances are quite telling. Considering the Fleet has taken the Suez Canal and skipped Africa out entirely, it still took them far too long to reach us despite them being almost there and we managed to defeat Brook in yesterday's Battle. Considering we separated the Kamchatka, we weren't expecting it to find the Russian Fleet this fast. And in the meantime to prepare for a second Russian attack, the admiral has been drilling us in gunnery over and over and over again. And to be fair, as far as he could, so has Rozhestvensky." Antonio responded as he was eating the Pasta. Kay looked at him.
"Well now that the school ship is secured it is unlikely they would try to take it back, not with every combat capable Japanese ship out at sea." Kay spoke as she was eating her food quite rapidly. Antonio and Anchovy who had better table manners than the American looked at her as Anchovy spoke.
"Hey Kay, slow down, the food isn't going anywhere." Anchovy told her to not be so greedy with her food and wolf it down. Kay stopped for a moment before chewing it up.
At 11:20 the Orel fires a single shot. (That's the battleship and not the hospital ship.) It began to signal rapidly in apology that it was an accidental discharge. The ships unsure what to do began opening fire on general principal, the older ships were quite enthusiastic in their displays of gunnery. Not to be left out of this, the Japanese cruisers that had arrived fired a few shots in the random direction and then slipped back into the fog. Rozhestvensky looked out to see his ships firing off their shots and he was getting frustrated like usual. He soon got his Megaphone as he was ready to scream at the crew.
"How many times do I have to tell you that I do not want you to waste any ammunition on my principle!" Rozhestvensky screamed at the crew as he didn't want any messes to be going around like what happened with the earliest days when the Kamchatka fired on British Fishing Trawlers. He soon hurled his binoculars into the ocean in his fit of rage like usual.
At 12:05, with the scouting element of the Japanese combined fleet still visible. Rozhestvensky decided his true intention was not to engage with the Japanese fleet or to take over the USS George Washington.
"All right, we're sailing for Vladivostok and in the hopes that the Japanese don't attack us or go after the Saunders School ship despite orders from Yuri, we're just sailing there to reinforce the First Pacific Squadron that was attacked by the Japanese in the hopes they don't attack us again." Rozhestvensky decided that what he wanted to do, much to the dismay of the Russian sailors that wanted to help out the middle school that wanted to take over the USS George Washington and give the rebels the victory they so called wanted. Rozhestvensky wanted none of this.
Ten minutes later, no sooner has Rozhestvensky settled onto this new course when a fleet of Japanese cruisers as well as all singing all dancing protected by the emperor torpedo boats make their appearance. Rozhestvensky fearing a torpedo attack on the Suvorov decided to get his ships into action and sweep this formation aside.
"All battleships head into a Line Abreast formation." Rozhestvensky ordered, he was going to put into a much more potent line of gunnery with every forward pointing gun on the battleships to bear their guns at the same time. Quite tricky to pull off and would need some clever handling, Three of the battleships do this move quite perfectly, Alexander the 3rd gets this wrong and turns the wrong way. Soon this causes a traffic jam with the rest of the ships piling up in confusion. Rozhestvensky thinks whether burying his head in his hands, slamming his head on the nearest bulkhead he could find or screaming incoherently while hurling binoculars in any random direction would be the best thing to do. "All ships back into line ahead formation." He gave the order as all ships sailed into this position, once again giving him two columns. What he needed was more time to get all of the ships into a single line ahead formation like normal as the Japanese ships have slipped away into the fog from the confusion of the Russian Fleet. Unfortunately Rozhestvensky wasn't going to be granted his wish.
At 13:20 the admiral from the Mikasa meets up with Antonio, Anchovy and Kay who were busy chatting away as they were waiting for the opportunity to get into the action. He waved from the Mikasa as the students waved back, The Japanese were watching the Russian fleet from a safe distance as they knew they were going to intercept them very soon. Soon the ships began to head south, southwest as they, within a couple of minutes, met up with the Russian Fleet that was trying to get into a single line of battle. Kay who was observing all of this soon began to speak.
"This calls for prompt and dedicated action." Kay called out as she noticed the Russian Ships were on the other side. She soon got up with Antonio and Anchovy as they went to the experimental turret on the Dante Alighieri.
On the Russian side of things, the sailors were heading to the various Conning towers. As the Japanese fleet sailed the "T" in the formation, both sides stared intensely as the Russian fleet was looking for the perfect moment to open fire. The Mikasa decided to raise a simple flag "Zed" as they wanted to signal that it was there's the Admiral soon made an announcement as he wanted every ship to be able to do their best.
"The Empire's fate depends on the result of this battle, let every man do his utmost duty." The Admiral announced, soon the sailors and students were getting tense wondering who was going to open fire first.
27 minutes later, the Japanese fleet closes in to main battery range, The ships soon make a U-Turn to bring them to facing the Russian fleet on parallel courses, for a moment this made the ships stationary, an excellent time for the Russians to start landing some hits. Two minutes tick by as Rozhestvensky soon gave the order.
"Open fire!" He shouted, the Suvorov was the first to open up with its main guns along with Alexander the Third and Borodino, the ships behind them were still trying to assemble into line ahead formation but the lead ships were in the way. Nonetheless despite their trials and privation, some of the lessons from Rozhestvensky have stuck, the first shell lands scarcely 20 yards from the ship sending a column of water up followed by dozens more. More and more ships sailed past as they opened up with their guns and within the space of just five minutes, Mikasa was hit about 19 times without firing off a single shot in reply. The water of the Mikasa boils over from the sheer number of near misses. Soon the Admiral knew he needed to get the Mikasa to target the lead battleship.
"Fire!" He replied. The Mikasa's guns soon answered, however the first salvo wasn't like what the admiral hoped for, the shots were wide, very wide. At first it looked like the Russians were going to have the better of this gunnery duel but corrections were made and nerves would go steady. Soon the School ships and the Japanese Battleships all fire at the Suvorov while the Cruisers, Destroyers and Torpedo boats all target Oslyabya who was flying the flag of the Russian Second in Command unknown to much of the students, The Russian Second in Command had died and the flag was being flown purely for morale purposes thinking that he was in his sick bed. And in the confusion of battle the Oslyabya has to be slowed to a halt to avoid hitting the Orel head on as she is being engaged by no less than 6 armored Cruisers at once.
The first shell from the Japanese Battleships hits the Suvorov, the shell was loaded with Shimose, a picric acid explosive that burns hotter and with more power than the other shells that were being used at the time. The Japanese increased the burn charge factor of about up to 3 in terms of mass and that many explode on impact makes little difference in terms of overall damage, but the powerful shockwaves rip through are heard throughout the hull and the superstructure of the ship and the super heated flames cause the many layers of paint, a few left over wooden fittings and the coal dust, grime and other accumulations from the long voyage left on the decks and superstructure of many Russian ships to ignite. And soon flames are licking up many ships in the increasingly disorganized battle line. Many smaller guns, Iron ladders were torn from their places by the violent explosions. The only place of safety aboard the Russian ships were casement batteries and turrets but even those were not entirely safe.
At 14:09 the far end of the Russian Line was coming into battle and were firing away at anything that was coming into range. The Nicholas battleship lands a lucky hit on the Asama, knocking it out for about 45 minutes. And then starts landing hits on the Nisshin and Kasuga. The Japanese ships in response were to speed up to 15 knots and open the range, a speed the Geriatric Russian Ships cannot match. Instead the ships started zig-zagging, this did nothing to their guns' relative poor accuracy but made it difficult for the Japanese who were frustrated in their inability to heavily hit the set of bobbing and weaving set ancient targets.
The Suvorov is now on fire. A shell has hit the captains quarters and this time the sheets of flame don't burn out along with the many layers of paint. The heat from the various explosions heats the air so much that the binoculars in the various conning towers become useless in a haze of super hot air and smoke. A number of splinters make it inside the Conning tower killing three men. Soon enough, more splinters, bits of superstructure and gouts of water are slamming into the protected Conning tower, either ripping holes in it or going through ones already made. So much for a safe place to command from but then again, outside was just fire, smoke and dead bodies. The captain came over as he began to beg to Rozhestvensky.
"Change course Admiral!" He shouted. Rozhestvensky looked away, refusing his command. While such a change would throw off Mikasa's firing range, it would also throw off Suvorov's own. Then a shell hits the Suvorov below the water line. He soon decided now would be the best time to try to change course so he decides to do it.
"Turn the ship to Starboard." Rozhestvensky ordered as the Suvorov turned to put the fleet on roughly parallel course, soon more splinters entered the conning tower, this time lightly wounding the admiral. He sits in a chair and observes the carnage, 6 people are now dead inside the conning tower, more are still wounded. And no one could look outside to see how bad it was elsewhere on the ship. An officer heads into the Maelstrom as he wanted to report something to the Admiral.
"Rozhestvensky there is a serious fire in one of the gun turrets." He reported. Rozhestvensky turned to him.
"Try putting it out sir, there really isn't much I can do from inside the conning tower." The Admiral replied. The officer ran out as he wanted to see what he could do about the fire.
Under constant fire from the Japanese Battleships, more hot shards of metal punched into the conning tower, this time seriously wounding Rozhestvensky in the head and legs. While another takes out the ship's captain with a much more severe later to prove mortal blow to the head.
Fire has spread all along the Suvorov to the stern and the bridge, the masts are gone, the steering has been damaged and the ship was stuck in its starboard turn. Range finders are smashed, some of the artillery is dismounted and as a fighting unit, the Russian Flag ship should be pretty much done. But still, the numerous intact weapons continue to spit shells defiantly at any Japanese ships that they happen to notice who in turn are surprised to find out if anyone is even alive, let alone fighting in the drifting steel inferno. The conning tower is no longer a tenable position, four people were still alive, but all wounded: Rozhestvensky, two of his staff and one sailor. Pushing bodies aside, they head down an armored shaft to a lower fighting position. Upon reaching this part Rozhestvensky looked at the two officers as he had a request for them:
"Try to fix the steering and get the ship back into action." Rozhestvensky gave the order but this ship was completely wrecked. He soon headed off to find somewhere where he could actually see something. Dodging and weaving his way up ladders, many of them wrecked in below decks fires. Despite the drunken and slow weaving of the Suvorov as it fell out of line, and when it did, Alexander the 3rd, Borodino and Orel simply followed the leader. But after a few minutes, the Alexander the 3rd noticed what was going on, swung back on course now leading the Russian formation and being the Japanese Admiral's target #1. The battle was gradually shifting around with the Japanese forcing the Russians and now the battle was heading Southeast.
Suvorov has slowed to a stop and the Russian fleet passes by her, still fighting the Japanese. Now it's Alexander the 3rd's turn to feel the fury of the Japanese shell fire. Already aflame in several places, it grimly holds course and the Japanese ships keep up the barrage. They knew decapitating the Russian fleet one ship at a time was the best path to victory for them. Elsewhere the Oslyabya, the target of the Japanese cruisers, is sinking. Listing rapidly to Port, she then rolls over in a swelter of steam and spray. Hundreds of men slide or are hurled into the sea while Japanese shells continue to land around them. A cruiser, a tugboat and some of the torpedo boats race forth to pluck some of the estimated 400 survivors from the icy waters.
Sissoi Veliky is hit and begins flooding. Over the course of an hour, she'll be hit 9 times of 3 different calibers and setting her on fire as well as severing the water supply to the fire fighting equipment.
Soon the Dante Alighieri, Kaiser and Aurora join the fight as the rear of the Russian formation makes contact with them. The Dante Alighieri fires off the first shot as the shot hits the bow of the ship Kamchatka as Kaiser fires a salvo hitting the ship's rudder forcing the ship to now head in a large circle. The Aurora would fire at the Kamchatka about 26 times, scoring a total of 22 hits. Soon more Japanese cruisers came along as they began firing at the Kamchatka in an attempt to get the massive school ship to not follow along with the rest of them. Dante Alighieri and Kaiser would steam off to survey the carnage as well as pluck some of the surviving Russian sailors from the sea as small patrol boats went to retrieve them. Soon the Japanese cruiser fired into the Kamchatka hitting the supply of S variant Firecracker mines and due to them being tightly packed away, began cooking off and within a few seconds, they all exploded, tearing a large hole into the Kamchatka. More explosions would be felt as more Firecrackers went off on various parts of the School ship, ripping even more holes in the School ship and soon the Srednyaya shkola russkikh koroley middle school ship Kamchatka, was now sinking, gradually going down by the stern as it was finished off ironically enough, not by Japanese Torpedo Boats but mundane gun fire from their cruisers. The Cruiser Aurora, satisfied with its work, left the scene leaving the Kamchatka to its fate to sink, thus getting its revenge.
Now utterly ablaze, Alexander the 3rd heels out of line. Borodino suicidality, some might argue, takes its place as the leader.
A search for Rozhestvensky aboard the Suvorov, finally locates him. Having been hit by more shell splinters in the 6 inch gun turret apparently having been helping firing it until a hit has reduced the rest of the gun crew to scattered debry. He soon looked up to the crew as he began asking.
"Are there anymore gunners for the gun?" He asked as he was growing weak from his wounds. The crew aboard looked at him as they didn't have any good news with him at all.
"Admiral, the gun is completely wrecked." They responded, as they soon picked the admiral up and began to carry him away from the gun
The fog begins to thicken again and the gunfire from the two battle lines dies off for a bit. But back with the burning and disabled Russian ships, the fog is thinner and the Japanese Cruisers and destroyers continue a methodical execution of anything that is still afloat.
Four Japanese Torpedo Boats launch an attack on the Suvorov, despite burning steadily for several hours and now taking a torpedo to the stern, still lashes out against its attackers with a few remaining guns. With no pressing need to continue the attack at close range, the torpedo boats fall back, noting the position for a night attack if Suvorov survives that long.
Sissoi Veliky makes a surprise return to the fray having extinguished her fires, albeit coming into battle with a bad list to port.
The Japanese Armored Cruiser Nisshin has been hit badly, shells have sheared off several guns virtually disarming the vessel. The Maryland comes alongside to protect the Armored cruiser from anymore gun fire.
With little else to do, Rozhestvensky stayed in the shattered gun turret and eventually passed out. Now the torpedo boat Buini sails into view, the captain can barely recognize the flag ship. The masts, funnels and most of the superstructure are gone. The ship looks more like a floating black piece of charcoal. A barely conscious Rozhestvensky is transferred as the ship comes alongside.
With command given to the next capable admiral, they decided to head for Vladivostok but out of mistrust, the ships began falling back and peeling away.
Much like the floating wreck the Suvorov, the Alexander the 3rd rolls over to port and sinks within a matter of minutes.
Having taken the worst of the Japanese bombardment for four hours on and off, Borodino is a burning, blackened shell though her forward guns are still firing back. But 12 minutes later, as the battleship Fuji breaks off, she decides to clear her guns with one last departing salvo. The Borodino is hit and within moments fire spreads and one of the 6 inch magazines detonates. Further detonations rock the ship in sequence and suddenly the ship heels over. Although the upturned hull remains afloat for a short while before vanishing. The Russian ships pass the wreck although one of the cruisers is slowing rapidly.
Four torpedo boats close in on the drifting Suvorov and fire 7 torpedoes at it scoring 2, possibly 3 hits on it. A huge ball of yellow and black smoke erupts as it was a magazine explosion or at the very least a fire. Within 10 minutes, the Suvorov capsizes, sinking to the bottom while firing away with her remaining guns.
When the time reached 19:40 the Japanese Admiral soon decided that he had seen enough and began calling for his ships to return.
"Well looks like I've seen enough and I'm deciding that we go ahead and take a count." He told them as they went ahead to take a count of how many ships there were still left in the Japanese fleet. It turned out, 100 men from the navy were dead and lost about only 3 torpedo boats. Other than that. The ships had taken mild to moderate damage. Nisshin had been disarmed. Mikasa sported 30 separate hits. The barrels on some of the ships were blown off and the Cruiser Aurora was nowhere to be seen. They were getting worried about one of their middle school ships being lost that managed to use its speed during battle. Soon a message came in through the cellphone of one the staff aboard the Aurora.
We wanted to make sure you were okay, a shell from one of the Russian cruisers has hit the telegraph wires and now we can neither receive or send out messages, other than that we're mostly intact and would try finding a way to repair the telegraph wire. The text message read out. The crew were relieved that the ship was still afloat but now their telegraph wire was gone. The School Ships decided to pull back as it was clear that they had enough and the Japanese Navy would finish this battle off.
The Next morning, the results of the battle came in as it was extremely decisive. The Japanese suffered 617 casualties. 117 dead and another 500 wounded. The Russians suffered over 10,000 casualties from the battle. 4,380 were killed, 5,917 were captured and another 1,862 were interned, with most of their Baltic fleet destroyed.
Only 3 ships out of a total of 32 made it to Vladivostok.
[A/N]: Now this is what I call a decisive battle. The Rebellion is pretty much over at this point with the Rebels surrendered and taken in and the Russians unable to do anything seeing how they cannot use their navy to take on Japan any longer. Now they're going to have to sign a treaty.
Big thanks to the Youtuber Drachinifel whose video help me make this battle. I'm pretty sure this is going to make a lot of people mad but at least I used the help from someone and used his video as a guide. Anyways I hope you liked this since this is the last battle of the rebellion and thus the war is now over. That is all.