In the quiet of Shanghai's Hangzhou Bay on 5 November, the eight submarines of the Hainan Submarine Brigade were quietly lurking in their respective positions.

At the same time, dozens of Japanese troop carriers, escorted by more than a dozen destroyers, were slowly sailing into Hangzhou Bay, carrying the 10 th Army of the Shanghai Dispatch Army, which was secretly established by Japan, with a total strength of 100,000 troops.

Dozens of troop carriers were moving leisurely on the sea, escorted by 16 destroyers, two aircraft carriers, and more than a dozen other warships of various types.

When the huge fleet had just entered Hangzhou Bay, in the command room of the aircraft carrier Eagle at this time, Rear Admiral Matsuyama, the commander of the aircraft carrier, was looking at the endless Hangzhou Bay in front of him with a solemn face.

"Your Excellency General, we are about to log in at Hangzhou Bay, as long as the 100,000 troops successfully log in from Hangzhou Bay, our task will be completed. Why do you seem to be so worried? The adjutant of staff of one of the fleets questioned.

"Because we have come so smoothly along the way, others don't know, and I, as the admiral of the Imperial Navy, still know some inside information that you don't know.

From 918 to the first Battle of Shanghai, we have suffered several successive losses in Chinese waters, and we can now be sure that there is a chaotic submarine force in China, and the first few times they have inflicted heavy losses on our imperial navy. Major General Matsuyama explained to the adjutant beside him.

"I've heard about the losses suffered by our Imperial Japanese Navy in China a few times, but I don't know that this was caused by the Chinese submarine captains. It stands to reason that China today does not even have a navy, so how can it have more powerful submarines? The adjutant questioned again.

"These submarines are not from the Chinese government, to be precise, they should belong to Li Tie, or to Huaxing Company, or more likely to belong to the base-ground-organization.

That's why I'm so worried that we've come so smoothly, and if this mysterious submarine force doesn't show up again, then when our soldiers land in Hangzhou Bay, they just won't be able to stop us. Major General Matsuyama said.

"Isn't the general too optimistic about this submarine force, we now have two aircraft carriers, more than 100 aircraft, more minesweepers, more than a dozen frigates, and 16 destroyers specially used for anti-submarine purposes.

In front of such a powerful defense force, how many submarines can the backward Chinese mysterious submarine force send? Even if these submarines are not afraid of death, they are vulnerable in the face of such a powerful anti-submarine force as ours. "The adjutant is very confident.

"I admit that Japan does have a huge advantage in the confrontation with China's navy, but this does not become our capital for pride. You know, we're in the middle of nowhere, and the submarine is deep under the surface, so the worst can happen.

Our mission this time is to safely escort the officers and men of the Tenth Army to land safely in Hangzhou Bay. As long as the officers and men of the 10th Army successfully landed, the rear road of China's hundreds of thousands of troops was in danger of being cut off by our army.

At that time, the Chinese defenders will definitely be in disarray, and then it will be time for our 300,000 Shanghai troops to send troops to pursue them, and it is unknown whether they will be able to hit Nanjing, the capital of China, in one fell swoop. "The major general is very hopeful for the victory of the Japanese army in the future.

"Your Excellency, I heard that since we launched an attack on China at the Lugou Bridge four months ago, in just four months, we have taken many areas of China, such as Beiping and Tianjin.

Three days ago, our 70,000-strong army of the Japanese Empire defeated more than 200,000 Chinese soldiers in northern Shanxi. The adjutant said happily.

"Although we have won the attack on Shanxi, it is not easy for us to win, and in the Xinkou area in the north of Shanxi, our army has sacrificed more than 20,000 people.

Although we finally won the victory at Xinkou, the pace of attacking Taiyuan also stopped, and I think that after occupying the Pingjin area, our domestic army shouted the slogan of destroying China in three months.

Now that four months have passed, we have not yet taken Shanxi, and we have not even completely occupied Shanghai, an international metropolis, so how can we say that we will destroy China in three months?

Alas, the people of the War Department are fighting with planes, and the heavy artillery does not take the Chinese army in their eyes at all, they will suffer big losses sooner or later, we have been dealing with the Chinese since ancient times, and they are not as weak as everyone thinks.

In particular, China is a big country, and they do not lack enthusiastic young people, let alone soldiers who dare to fight, taking their mysterious submarine force as an example, it has been six years, and the submarine force that caused us heavy losses in those years is only afraid that the number of submarines will be larger, and the strength of the submarine force will be even stronger.

If I were the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Navy, I would never have sent so many troop transports to land in Hangzhou Bay at one time so hastily, and at least I would have to land in several directions from Shanghai.

Otherwise, once Huaxing's submarine force is determined to die and adopts the method of fighting with the same fate, our fleet will inevitably suffer heavy losses. "Rear Admiral Matsuyama once again expressed concern about the Chinese submarine forces.

"Your Excellency, since this mysterious submarine force has been so bad, why don't you suggest to the Admiralty that you change the landing site or landing plan this time? After all, we are an army unit escorting 100,000 people.

Even if you lose a troop carrier casually, it will be a loss of thousands of people. "The adjutant has already approved of Major General Matsuyama's statement.

"It's not that I don't advise, it's that my advice isn't listened to by people at the top. They think that in the face of absolute strength, all enemy intrigues and tricks are vulnerable, and in fact, under the escort of dozens of warships, I really shouldn't have to worry about the safety of the fleet.

However, after years of research on the base-site-organization, I have found that their methods of attack are different each time, and the results achieved each time are very large, and we have no trace of their actions before the attack.

Almost every time, it was only after we suffered a major loss that we realized that it was the foundation-place-organization-organization that caused us the damage.

The Empire's intelligence department has changed its head three times for this reason, but there is still no clue about this mysterious submarine force, and the relationship between this submarine force and the base-ground-organization.

It's just that through everyone's analysis, within China, Chinese who have the strength and ability to cultivate a submarine force on their own, except for Li Tie's, do not think second. Major General Matsuyama affirmed.

"Why did Li Tie buy it?" The adjutant asked again.

"There is no direct evidence, but according to the information from our spies in Germany, by the first half of this year, a total of 36 submarines of unknown purpose were secretly transported by the German Navy.

It is only known that these thirty-six submarines were sold by the Admiralty to a buyer, but who exactly is because Germany has done a good job of secrecy, so the intelligence officers of the Reich have not found out clearly.

However, based on Germany's current situation in Europe, German submarines must not be sold to European countries, but only to Asia and the Americas.

And the Americas have always been the territory of the Americans, and the Americans will not import so many German submarines, and our Japanese submarine technology has always been the world's leading, so it is not us Japanese who bought it.

And the Chinese government is most likely and most in need of buying submarines, but now the government of the Republic of China is simply unable to purchase so many submarines, and they don't even have a decent navy, how can they buy 36 submarines back and forth?

Therefore, after all possibilities are ruled out, there is no other organization in Asia that can buy so many submarines, and it can only be the most mysterious base-place-organization.

And now the intelligence officers of the empire have determined that Li Tie is a member of the base-land-organization, and Li Tie has always had a good relationship with Germany.

Therefore, Li Tie can only buy these submarines, and according to our observation of Li Tie, he does not have any submarine-related business in Shanghai, so his submarine force must have a secret base along the coast of China, and on the coast of China, there are only three places that have this condition. Major Matsuyama continued.

"Oh, I don't know which three places have this condition to become the base of this secret submarine force?" This adjutant is very curious, and he keeps asking questions.

"The first Taiwan, because Taiwan is surrounded by the sea on all sides, has a number of natural deep-water ports, and at the same time has many coastal ports that can be developed, as long as a little construction can become a good submarine base.

It's just that it is impossible for Taiwan to become the base of this submarine force, because Taiwan has been occupied by Japan for many years, and our eyes are everywhere in Taiwan.

At the same time, there are our ships patrolling the entire coast of Taiwan, and it is impossible for a slow-building naval port like this to escape the monitoring of both our navy and intelligence personnel.

As for the second place, Hong Kong is also surrounded by the sea, and there are excellent locations where you can build a seaport.

However, Hong Kong is now the territory of the British, and even if Li Tie has a good relationship with the British, and at the same time, Huaxing's status in Hong Kong is getting higher and higher, but it is simply impossible to quietly build a naval base suitable for the activities of 36 submarines in small Hong Kong.

In this way, only the third place can only be the most suitable for the third place. Major General Matsuyama said this, and his eyes flashed.

"Understood, you must be talking about Hainan Island, another big island in China, right? However, Hainan Island is short of resources, will Li Tie really develop his naval base on Hainan Island? The adjutant expressed his suspicions.

Major General Matsuyama looked at the sea in the distance, and said in a calm but serious tone: "Definitely, certainly, and definitely." ”