A week later--on 14th May, to be exact--the entire Russian fleet left Hon-koe Bay, steering northward; and although the French authorities suppressed the news of the departure for two whole days, Togo, who was now with his fleet in Chin-hai Bay, on the southern coast of Korea, received the news by wireless the same night. Thenceforward its progress was carefully watched and reported daily, so that at any moment Togo could put his finger upon the chart and indicate the position of the enemy, within a few miles. Meanwhile, Togo was busily engaged in the preparation of his plans for the great battle toward which we had all been looking forward for so long. In this work he was of course hampered by his lack of knowledge as to the intentions of the Russians. There were two routes by which they could reach Vladivostock: one--much the shorter of the two--by way of Korea Strait and up through the Sea of Japan; and the other, via the east coast of Japan and La Perouse Strait. Also, should Rojdestvensky choose the shorter route, he could pass either to the east or to the west of Tsushima Island. Togo solved the problem by preparing a plan of battle for each of the three alternative routes. On 26th May the Russian fleet was reported as being south-west of Quelpart Island, off the entrance of Korea Strait, and its position rendered it practically certain that it was Rojdestvensky's intention to take the shorter route up through the Sea of Japan. It was shortly before sunset, on 26th May, that the fateful wireless message--"Enemy in sight, fifty miles west of Torishima,"--came in from one of our scouting cruisers; and two minutes later a signal was flying from the _Mikasa_, summoning the Japanese admirals to a council of war. The council was a brief one, lasting barely a quarter of an hour; then the admirals returned to their respective flagships, and the latter at once signalled the captains of the several squadrons to meet in the cabin of the admiral of that squadron. The _Yakumo_ formed part of the armoured cruiser division, under the command of Admiral Kamimura, and accordingly it was in the cabin of the _Idzumo_ that the six captains of that division presently assembled to receive our instructions.