If you want to use white mines to attack under the sea surface, the submarine of the Jiang era wants to attack. Only the Zhaban clear telescope can lock on to the target and determine the torpedo firing elements. Therefore, when the attack starts, the submarine must rise to the depth of the periscope, so that the periscope sticking out of the sea will reveal the specific position of the submarine.

It's daytime, and it's sunny, the visibility is good, and above the surface, if you have a telescope, you can search the surface of the sea, and it's not very difficult to have a periscope for a submarine now.

It was precisely for this reason that while the "Saga" was desperately trying to avoid the "Kurama" battlecruiser that had collided inside, the officers standing on the starboard side of the "Saga" all appeared at the two suspicious targets on the sea.

Those two suspicious targets were the periscope of the submarine. One is located at two o'clock on the Saga. The other is located in the direction of the "Saga" at four o'clock. And judging from the distance, the two submarines are likely to have been touched by the reef area in the north. It is full of reefs, which are not suitable for boating or laying mines, and it is indeed a good place for submarines to ambush.

At this moment, the two submarines were obviously still closing in on the side of the escort fleet, which could be clearly seen from the waves stirred up behind the periscope, in fact. It was also by relying on those waves that the officers showed up the two submarines.

It was clearly the Chinese submarines, and it was they who used the torpedo attack.

"Yaga! Lurking on the side of the main channel of the Sasebo Military Port, the Shina people are really cunning! ”

A junior officer of the Japanese Navy yelled in exasperation, and only then did he begin to care about the battlecruiser Kurama, which was in close proximity.

At this time, the seriously wounded battle cruiser was still approaching the "Saga", and the distance between the two ships was already very close, and most of the passengers on the "Saga" closed their eyes in horror. And from the cockpit, the captain's shouts were heard.

"Reverse! Reversing! Reversing! Reversing! "Get ready to put down the lifeboat! Get ready to drop the lifeboat! ”

Amid the captain's shouts, the low-ranking officer of the Japanese Navy looked over to the ship of the Saga. I saw some sailors hurriedly unloading the lifeboats, and the high-ranking officials of the Japanese wartime base camp had gathered there, standing with the diplomats of Britain, France, and Russia, apparently planning to abandon the ships and leave.

"These winter bakes old decay! Simply a coward! "Unfortunately, there was no time.

The low-ranking officer of the Japanese Navy scolded the politicians, then turned his head to look at the huge battleship that was rushing towards the "Saga," and then stood up straight, his hands firmly grasping the guardrail of the warship, and calmly faced the impending collision.

"Come on, if the fortunes of the empire are coming to an end. So. Let's end it here! The fact that I, Koga Mineichi, was able to die with a veteran minister of the Meiji era may be considered a great blessing in misfortune. ”

The low-ranking officer of the Japanese Navy stood on the starboard side of the "Saga" and thought wildly, and then, in front of the huge battleship that was pressing down like a mountain. He couldn't help but close his eyes.

One second, two seconds, three seconds, four seconds; Five seconds. Six seconds, the junior officer of the Japanese Navy counted the time of the impact in his mind, but until the time of the impact he calculated, the collision at sea never happened, on the contrary, the junior officer of the Japanese Navy heard a cheer, and then. He opened his eyes.

There was an unbelievable sight in front of me, the battlecruiser "Kurama" did not collide with the ocean-going gunboat "Saga", but passed by the ocean-going gunboat, and the two ships were only a chain apart, only a little bit apart; The "Saga" will sink to the bottom of the sea along with the veterans and ministers on the warship.

However, because the two ships were so close to each other, the huge wake caused by the voyage of the "Kurama" still sucked the "Saga" and caused it to rub against the side of the other warship, but because the degree was not fast, and the "Saga" was already reversing, the only trouble caused was that the passengers on the "Saga" fell on the deck, and did not sink after all.

A sea ramming and sinking event was avoided. On the one hand, this was due to the correct command of the captain of the "Saga", and on the other hand, thanks to the engineers on the "Kurama", if they did not cut off the propeller shaft on one side of the propeller in time, the "Saga" would have been useless to dodge, and the "Kurama" would eventually crash into the starboard side of the "Saga". The Kurama has two propellers, and turning off one of them allows you to adjust the course to some extent, which is the only way to adjust the course in the event of a loss of the servo, which is slow but still effective.

The battlecruiser "Kurama" was seen staggering away. Everyone on board the Saga cheered as if they had won the battle. Looking at these people who had escaped death, Prince Zairen of the Idle Courtyard Standing on the open-air bridge snorted coldly with disdain.

"Why haven't you attacked the submarine yet? Do you have to let the flagship give orders? ”

Prince Zaihito's sneer made the staff officers of the base camp standing beside him very ashamed, and they turned their heads to look at the seriously injured battlecruiser "Hiei", which was the flagship of the escort fleet, but now, the mast of that battleship has been hung with the "regardless flag" to give up the role of the flagship, and the commander flag has been raised on the "Saga", and now, the "Saga" is the flagship of the escort fleet.

Heard the order of Prince Zaihito of the Kanin Palace. The captain of the "Saga" then ordered the sailors to hang up the banner of "free attack," and then the destroyers in the escort fleet left their squadron in twos and threes, sailed high to the north, and had already begun to shoot at the sea with naval guns.

"Anti-submarine training in the Imperial Navy must be strengthened! Otherwise, in the future, the Imperial Navy will still stay in the military port and rely on mines to protect it. ”

Prince Zaihito of the Imperial Palace was very dissatisfied, and pointed to the destroyers and complained to several of the staff officers of the base camp around him, while the British ambassador to Japan had already walked back to the bridge from the ship's lifeboat. Standing behind Prince Zaihito of the Imperial Palace, Mr. British Ambassador admired the Japanese prince's refusal to be the first to board the lifeboat just now, but now, his mind was obviously not focused on admiring His Royal Highness. His mind was entirely on the Chinese submarine in the north, because just now, the British naval attaché in Japan who came with him told him that from the torpedo attack just now, it can be seen that China's submarine force has shown great strategic and tactical value, and in the past people thought that it would be difficult for submarines to confront the main surface ships such as battleships head-on, but now. This argument is clearly outdated.

"Your Royal Highness, I have deep sympathy for all that has befallen your navy. If you agree, I hope to be able to return to Sasebo as soon as possible, and I must at once get in touch with the British Admiralty and tell them all about what they have done here. ”

After the British ambassador finished speaking, he looked at the sea with a look of pity, and the talented Dantian Han hit, and the two battleships of the Japanese fleet were severely damaged. And four transport ships were also entrenched. Direct hits, two of them have been completely sunk due to the broken hull, those 6 Army units on board have suffered heavy casualties, and there are a few surviving soldiers and officers floating on the sea, as for the other two transport ships. He was also struggling on the surface of the sea, and he was about to sink.

The request of the British ambassador aroused the displeasure of Prince Zaihito of the Imperial Palace, and he wrote this dissatisfaction on his face.

"Your Excellency, the battle is not over yet, it is impossible for me to send a warship to escort you back to Sasebo, the Imperial fleet will not only have to fight the submarines of China, but also save the soldiers and officers of the 6th Army in distress on those transport ships."

The British ambassador apparently did not take Prince Zaihito's grievances to heart, and he again made the request of the British diplomat with a blank face.

"All I need is a transport boat. Didn't you just give the order for all warships to lower their transport boats and rescue the soldiers and officers of the 6th Army on those transport ships? I can take one of these boats back to Sasebo, and in less than half an hour, the boat will be back in the waters. ”

After the request of the British ambassador, French and Russian diplomats in Japan also went to the bridge and made the same request, and they were in a hurry to go ashore. On the one hand, they were afraid of torpedoes, and on the other hand, they also wanted to shoot cipher telegrams. Warning to the military establishment in the country. The submarine torpedo attack just now shows that the Chinese have explored a very threatening submarine tactic, that is, to concentrate on the use of submarines to ambush fleets at sea, and it is conceivable that Germany, which has close relations with China, is likely to have learned this submarine tactic from the Chinese, and once a war breaks out in Europe, if the German submarine forces also follow the gourd, then the fleets of Britain, Russia, and France must be more vigilant.

Just like the situation after the Lushun air raids, any kind of tactic worthy of alarm must now be transmitted back to Europe, to the Entente bloc at the first opportunity, so as to serve as a tactical reference for the imminent outbreak of the European conflict.

Since the diplomats of the three countries in Japan requested at the same time. Although Prince Zaihito of the Kanin Palace was very dissatisfied, he had to consider respecting his friends, so he had to order the mobile lifeboat of the "Saga" to be lowered so that the diplomats of the three countries could go ashore as soon as possible.

The man in charge of maneuvering the motorized lifeboats to escort the diplomats of the three countries was none other than the low-ranking naval officer Koga Mineichi, who commanded several sailors, activated the gasoline engine on the lifeboat, and then operated the lifeboats to carry the Allied diplomats to the Sasebo military port.

At this time, the sea was already a mess. It is impossible for the torpedo transport ship to hold on to the turn back to port, the sea is full of lifeboats and lifebuoys, and many soldiers and officers of the 6th Army rely on these life-saving equipment to float on the sea surface, waiting for the rescue of the navy, but these 6 officers and men are only a few lucky ones after all, and due to the lack of sufficient life-saving equipment, most of the 6 officers and men are destined to disappear under the sea with the transport ship.

"Submarines, submarines, what a powerful weapon. Perhaps, the direction of the future naval exhibition. It's going to be very different from what it is now. ”

Looking at the soldiers and officers of the 6th Army floating on the sea in the distance, Koga Feng was saddened. For the matter of rescuing the 6th Army, he can not do anything now. As for the formulation of naval strategy, he is also powerless now, and that is something that those old ministers should consider, but can they really adapt to the requirements of the new era of war? Koga was deeply skeptical.

"The upper echelons of the Japanese Empire really need to change their blood, and they need those young generals with wise vision. Rather than the winter drying of the dying wood. ”

Koga remembered the controversy about submarines and airplanes in the navy a few years ago, if it had not been suppressed by the old ministers of the Meiji era. Perhaps Japan will now have more submarines and planes, and will not be able to go all out in this war.

By this time, the destroyers in the distance had stopped shelling and were spinning around the northern sea like headless snakes, and it was clear that they had lost their targets, and the Chinese submarines that were torpedoed by the attack were likely to have dived and slipped away.

Wait for the lifeboat to sail into the Sasebo military port. As soon as Koga Peak appeared, there was already chaos in the military port. The submarine attack was carried out on the doorstep of the Japanese naval base, and the authorities of the military port have already understood what is going on, and they are organizing a rescue fleet.

"I think the news of this submarine attack will soon spread around the world. In the past, it was always believed that submarines could only fight in single boats, but now. One may understand that submarines can also be used for swarm attacks. ”

After landing, the British military attache sighed and made some analysis of the British ambassador.

As it turned out, the British military attaché was right, and in the afternoon of the same day, rumors that the Japanese expeditionary fleet had been torpedoed by Chinese submarine attack boats in front of the naval base had spread throughout Sasebo, and then quickly to nearby cities. and eventually appeared in the Tokyo grapevine the next day.

Late that night, a coded telegram was photographed by the German Embassy in Tokyo, and the recipient was the German Navy Staff, and the reporter was none other than the German Navy Attaché in Japan.

"Your Excellency Tirpitz, today. There was a submarine attack outside the port of Sasebo that will go down in history, and the Chinese naval soldiers used their bravery and ingenuity to wield submarine tactics to the extreme! "In this surprise attack, the Japanese Empire suffered a heavy blow, not only losing at least two 6 Army Wings. And also the loss of two battle cruisers. It turned out that the survivability of the British battlecruisers was questionable, and even the concept of such a warship as the battlecruiser itself was necessary to revisit.

I believe that after this battle, the debate on the tactical and strategic value of submarines seems to be settled, given that the surface ships of the German Navy are far inferior to the British Navy, I think that the German Navy may as well learn from the Chinese Navy, and use submarines as a means of surprise attack to carry out similar large-scale concentrated attacks on the British fleet and ocean-going merchant fleets, which is like a wolf pack on the steppe to attack its prey in groups, perhaps this tactic can be called "wolf pack tactics" It can effectively fight against large-scale transport fleets, Or even the escort fleet,.

Although the usual laws of war hold that an attack on a merchant ship is immoral, in my personal opinion, only the victor of the war can define the morality of war, and Germany must appear as the winner of the war, and in order to win, Germany must discard all unnecessary emblems.

I must admit, as a German naval officer. I'm now in a state of boiling blood, shut up the hypocritical diplomats, diplomacy is useless, now we just have to play a big war to determine the future of Europe and the whole world! Let's start the war quickly, the German soldiers can't wait, let's shout in unison, long live Germany! Long live the Navy! ”