Russo-Jap War Naval: Port Arthur Break Out (Part 3) Fire All Guns that bear at the Bear!

The Russian destroyers sweep past their Japanese counterparts unabashed and bravely face the "obsolete Japanese battleship's secondary armament" which proves to still have teeth as well as ornate paintwork. One Russian destroyer flotilla is "dispersed" (some sunk, some damaged and some morale broken) and takes no further part in the battle. The second Russian destroyer flotilla conducts a torpedo attack but is unsuccessful (see below, red shell splashes indicate where the first Russian destroyer flotilla used to be):

From the "viewpoint of the gods". The Russian Fleet is steaming down the middle of the table, bar the destroyer attack on the top right of the photograph. The objective of the Russian Admiral is to breakout to Vladivostok with as much as his fleet as possible. The Japanese have him hemmed in on three sides (see below, Togo and the battle fleet to the bottom, protected cruisers to the left and obsolete battleships to the right):

The Japanese main battle line find the range of the leading Russian battleships. The Japanese Admiral chose (unwisely) to engage opposites and thus spread damage along the enemy battle line, whereas the Russian Admiral chose to concentrate his fire on the Mikasa (and Admiral Togo) and try and take him out of the battle (see below):

The IJN Mikasa bears the brunt of the Russian fire but sails majestically on (see below):

Meanwhile the Russian "protected cruisers" come into range of the two Japanese "armoured cruisers" trailing the main Japanese battle line and score a damaging hit on the leading Russian ship (see below):

Good shooting by the Russians "returns the compliment" and the IJN Nishin is rather unexpectedly damaged in the exchange of fire. At this juncture the Russians are in danger of having their "tee" crossed but paradoxically they need to surge through the enemy lines at all costs (see below):

Telling blows are being landed at this point. The Russians and Japanese are committing their battleships to a "slugging dual". The end of the table is an artificial "end of the world" and represents either a fuel limit or fog bank that saves/hides any ship that enters.

Next: Forcing the Gate (or not)