PS: Eritrea is still an Italian colony and is not included in the German East Africa concept.

While Germany and Italy were celebrating the impending victory, the entire Japanese fleet was rejoicing in the abundance of supplies and ships. When the 1st Guerrilla Detachment arrived at the beach and saw the transports on the beach that had been abandoned by the British and American troops, they were so happy that they couldn't close their mouths.

After clearing and driving away the British and American officers and men on the shore with artillery fire, the fleet immediately dropped the marines and sailors to receive the ships -- for this Indian Ocean attack, the combined fleet brought a total of two wings of marines, but they did not take special transport ships but were scattered over the warships, and the first guerrilla detachment added up to more than one large group.

Rescuing a stranded steamer was a technical task, but the Japanese Navy, which had been dealing with ships and the sea for many years, had a way, and the marines and sailors climbed onto the transport ship with their hands and feet, first cleaning up the corpses on the deck, and abandoning the bodies of those British and American soldiers on the beach without hesitation. In the face of the overwhelming force of the Japanese army, they also died one by one without suspense.

The second step is for experienced engineers and officers to assess the extent of the grounding -- the transport ship ran aground at low tide in the afternoon and ran aground at a great distance from the coast, and if it ran aground at high tide, it would not be ordinarily difficult to rescue. It is much easier to run aground at low tide, and the engineer estimates that the water depth can be increased by about 2.5-3 meters at the highest tide, and the ship with a low draft can completely rely on buoyancy to extricate itself. In particular, several transport ships for the main transport of personnel. Because the load had disappeared, the draft was greatly reduced, and it could not even be rescued before it had risen to its highest point - so this batch was included in the first batch of rescuers.

As for those ships that are stranded deep and cannot exit completely under their own power at high tide, it will be more troublesome, and other ships will have to be towed. The Captains of the ships assessed that at least 80 per cent of the ships needed to be towed, and they wanted to report that those ships were relatively easy to tow. Takagi Takeo couldn't wait to give the order: "Don't worry about anything else, those two giant oil tankers must be brought out for me, and the oil tankers that can accompany this fleet to move quickly are all good things." ”

The navigator rolled his eyes. Said helplessly: "Sir, I was just trying to report this matter to you, these two oil tankers are very heavy and have a deep draft, and the destroyer or cruiser may not be able to tow it." ”

The two tankers that Takagi remembered were both of the Cimarron class in the United States. One is called the Salamonie. AO-26), a ship called Chemung (AO-30), is the same class as the Neosho (AO-23) sunk by the Japanese in the Battle of the Coral Sea, with a displacement of up to 25,000 tons when fully loaded with fuel and a draft of more than 9 meters.

"How much oil is left in it?"

"The gasoline, diesel, and aviation gasoline tanks for tanks, planes, and vehicles are all full, and the heavy fuel tanks are still nearly half. Overall, it's close to two-thirds. ”

"If they can't do it, let the King Kong level come." Takagi waved his hand heroically, "That's it." We have 4 King Kong class, exactly 2 towing 1 oil tanker, hurry up to arrange, and move quickly. ”

As soon as these words came out, not only the chief navigator but also a group of staff officers were stunned: the miscellaneous work of towing steamers has always been done by miscellaneous ships, not to mention battleships in normal times, even cruisers will not end, and today for these two oil tankers, the commander is actually ready to use the King Kong class, and it seems that he is also fighting.

"But sir, in case ......"

The chief of staff also reminded him: "Do you want to ask Chief Horikichi for advice first?" ”

"It's not so much, but I don't need to ask for instructions, if there is a big problem, I will cut my stomach." Takagi Takeo is a very humble man, and of course he knows the risks of towing: the warship must first venture into shallow water, and if the timing is not well controlled, even he will fall into it if he is not careful, and the large amount of stress and load generated during towing can easily damage the towing ship - this risk is even greater considering that the Kongo-class is a 30-year-old ship.

The normal way to rescue a stranded oil tanker is far more complicated than direct towing: first send a shallow barge to approach the tanker, then use the pipeline to drain the fuel inside, reduce the tanker's weight and draft, and then tow it. Takagi Takeo actually planned to get the tanker out tonight, and the difficulty was not ordinary.

But since the words have come to this, the people below can only carry out the execution, and the navigator salutes and hurriedly prepares to arrange.

"Wait......" Takagi stopped him again.

The navigator looked at him suspiciously, he thought that Takagi was going to change his mind, but he didn't expect a sentence to follow: "Except for rescuing the ships that can break away on their own at high tide, the rest of the work will be suspended, concentrate on dealing with the oil tankers, first replenish the cruiser and destroyer, and then open the valve to release oil into the sea to reduce the weight." ”

"This ...... How much less? ”

Takagi Takeo thought about it carefully, and said with a painful face: "I am ready to reduce 2,000 tons of heavy oil each." "When you calculate it, heavy oil is the least valuable.

After the supply pipeline was erected, first destroyers, and then light and heavy cruisers also pounced on to replenish supplies. All the way from the Indian Ocean, the destroyers have long run out of fuel, and they can only hold on to pumping oil from battleships and cruisers halfway, and the consumption of the first two days plus today's high-speed sprint regardless of losses is extremely fuel-intensive, so Takagi Takeo saw that the tanker was very valuable.

After the ships used up about 3,000 tons of heavy oil for replenishment, a large amount of black heavy oil was discharged directly into the sea, and the draft and weight of the tankers began to be reduced, and they would continue to discharge until the towing was successful.

Thick steel cables were erected, and each tanker had two, one end connected to the tanker, and the other end connected to several King Kong-class ships, and there was an angle of about 15 degrees between the two ships - this was carefully calculated, and it could give full play to the power of the towing without easily colliding. Everyone was in high spirits, and it was the first time that they had used a battleship to carry out a towing mission -- not to mention that in recent years, the newly recruited sailors had never seen such a rare scene, and even the veteran junior officers who had been in the navy for more than 20 years had rarely seen it. The navigators carefully calculated and chose 3:47 a.m., the time of the highest tide to carry out the operation.

As the minutes passed, the sea slowly began to rise, and one after another ships broke out of the stranding with their own power, but the eyes of the entire guerrilla detachment were all focused on the tankers, and batch after batch of flares lit up the coast as if it were day, although Takagi Takeo seemed to sit calmly in the command tower, where he usually sits, but his pale face and clenched fists had already betrayed the tension and anxiety in his heart.

In order to minimize the weight, only a minimum number of personnel were left on the tanker, and all the accessories that were not commonly used were thrown into the sea by the sailors. As the time drew closer to the critical moment, the main engine of the tanker was fully operational, making a low, surging sound, and the hull of the ship was swaying slightly under the impetus of the waves, but this alone did not seem to be enough to get out of the shallows.

"Countdown, 10, 9, 8......"

"It's time!"

"Two cars back one!"

"Yes! Two cars back one! The sailors skillfully pushed the car clock to the designated position, and the engine room immediately carried out the instructions to use the car, and drove the main engine back one time.

At the same time, the horsepower of the King Kong class had already been adjusted to the maximum, and it made a loud roar, pulling the thick steel cable straight.

With the buoyancy of the rising tide, the power of the tanker itself, and the pulling power of the two Kongo-class towing ships with up to 270,000 main horsepower, in the distant circle of cruisers and destroyers The huge body of the tanker finally began to move slowly, and then slowly moved in the direction of the deep sea, gradually withdrawing from the beach and regaining freedom.

"It's a success!"

"Quick, turn off the drain valve."

"Sir, it's done." The chief of staff, who was concerned about the whole process on the deck, swept into the command tower like a wind.

Takagi Takeo walked out of the command tower with his sweaty body, and reluctantly smiled at everyone: "Good job, everyone, now hurry up and refuel the warship." ”

"Yes, sir."

Everyone looks at Takagi Takeo with great admiration, and the courageous Chief Horikichi is too far away to look up, and Chief Takagi is also very courageous!

With the spirit of desperation, the First Guerrilla Detachment, including oil tankers, was able to rescue nine transport ships overnight, but these ships accounted for one-seventh of the total number of stranded ships, and many ships were still trapped in the shallows, especially those transport ships loaded with tanks, armored vehicles, trucks, howitzers, and other materials. Not only the army needs tanks, but the Marine Corps also needs them!

Takagi Takeo looked at the many transport ships and said with emotion: "I have to call the commander to send more ships and soldiers, otherwise it will be too late." ”

"Sir, a telegram from the 1st Guerrilla Detachment." Kusaka Yiji excitedly reported to Horiyoshi, "After a night of hard work, they rescued 9 ships, including 2 oil tankers, adding up to at least 25,000 tons of various types of oil, and now the detachment is carrying out oil replenishment." Today, unless otherwise instructed, they will continue to salvage the remaining stranded ships, ask the mobile fleet to send aircraft to cover against possible destruction by the British, and at the same time request that more ships be sent to strengthen the rescue force. ”

"Got 2 fast large tankers?" Horikichi patted the armrest and stood up, happier than any of the Kusaka, he took the telegram and read it carefully three times, a satisfied smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, "Well done!" Takagi should be given first-class credit! The next battle plan...... I already have. (To be continued.) )