Tokyo Bay is located in the middle of Japan's main island along the mouth of the Pacific Ocean, on both sides of Tokyo, Yokohama, Kawasaki, Yokosuka, Chiba and other large cities, of which Tokyo is the core of Japan, with a population of millions and Japan's main industrial base, is the administrative center, the emperor's palace; Kawasaki is the most important shipbuilding base in Japan, and most of the shipbuilding industry accumulated in Japan since the Meiji Restoration is concentrated in the Kawasaki Shipyard, which is also one of the important targets of this bombardment; In addition, Yokosuka is Japan's largest naval base, where the remnants of the Japanese Combined Fleet are located, except for two old armored cruisers, small ships such as torpedo boats, and even some sail warships, and the biggest threat to the Pacific Fleet are those extremely fast torpedo boats.

The mouth of Tokyo Bay is surrounded by two peninsulas, Miura and Boso, leaving only a small mouth that enters the Pacific Ocean from the Uraga waterway. Most of Japan's heavy shore defense guns are deployed on both sides of the bay, which can completely block the entire Tokyo Bay. The bottom of the sea is densely packed with mines, and there is only one safe waterway.

Since the Meiji Restoration, the defense of Tokyo Bay has been included in the key projects, after the destruction of the Japanese Combined Fleet in the Battle of Tsushima, the coastal areas of Kyushu in Japan were bombarded by China, and the defense of Tokyo Bay was immediately accelerated, a large number of mines were thrown into the bay, and a large number of artillery pieces were turned out of warehouses and arranged on both sides of Tokyo Bay, especially in Tokyo, Kawasaki, Yokosuka and other places, and even included a large number of old guns with breech loading, and there was no shortage of small-caliber mountain guns. It can be said that the Japanese have spent a lot of effort on the defense of Tokyo Bay, and they even look forward to the arrival of the Chinese navy, so that they can rely on the defense to deal a heavy blow to the Chinese fleet, and even sink the so-called super battleships of the other side.

This is a big hedgehog, Lu Hai touched his forehead: "Order the seaplane to take off and reconnoiter the defense situation in Tokyo Bay." "Four seaplanes were hoisted down, and the pilots started the engines. Driving the propeller to push the water surface, gradually moving away from the battleship, and soon flying into the blue sky.

"How long will it take for them to arrive?" Lu Hai looked at his watch anxiously and asked the liaison officer beside him.

"According to the scheduled plan, there was still an hour and fifteen minutes to go, and it was windy in winter. There will also be a corresponding increase in the drag on the airship, which is likely to cause delays. An Air Force captain liaison replied.

The bombardment requires the cooperation of the Air Force, and this is not a shame. If the Pacific Fleet forcibly intrudes into the Gulf of Tonkin, it is very likely to be bombarded by heavy artillery on both sides of the strait, and while dodging mines, it will be difficult for the fleet to make an effective counterattack against the shore defense artillery, resulting in damage to the warship. Lu Hai didn't want the Japanese coastal defense artillery to test the defensive capability of the "Taishan".

Looking at the traffic map in his hand, a smile appeared on Lu Hai's anxious face, this is the killer feature that can succeed in this bombardment. The Japanese laid a large number of mines in Tokyo Bay. There is only one waterway, which is classified as top secret, and only the Prime Minister of Japan, the Commander of the Defense of Tokyo Bay, the Commander of the Navy, and the Sentomo Yama Prefecture know about it, so it can be said that the possibility of leakage is almost non-existent. The British smuggling ships that broke through the blockade did not dock in Tonkin Bay, but at other small ports, which not only facilitated concealment, but also avoided the dangerous Tonkin Bay, thus reducing the utilization of safe waterways. Minimize the possibility of leaks.

But the illustration of this safe waterway was on Lu Hai's desk, and he did not know how the drawing had been leaked from Japan. No guess, it must be the masterpiece of the Bureau of Investigation. So, sometimes timely intelligence is worth countless armies. The Japanese would not have imagined that there would be such a big hole in their carefully laid out defenses.

While the fleet was waiting in the open sea, an aerial bombardment group of fifteen airships was moving rapidly towards Tokyo Bay, while at the bottom of the sea in Tokyo Bay. The Navy's "SEAL" special operations group frogman team is also working intensively.

A destroyer floats in the outer waters of the Uraga waterway, and under the water are five frogmen wearing tight wetsuits and wide breathing apparatus, tasked with cutting through a three-layer barrage net laid out in the sea. Since the Chinese army used submarines to attack the Japanese Combined Fleet, the Japanese have strengthened their fortifications below the surface, and the main role of the blocking net is to prevent the sneak attack of submarines.

After an hour of intense construction. The frogman successfully completed the cutting work, ascended to the surface and was helped by the destroyer's officers and men to board the ship, and then quickly left the relatively dangerous sea mouth. Submarines on underwater standby took advantage of the situation to dive into the Uraga waterway, and the first to enter Tokyo Bay according to the route of the safe waterway.

The frogman was able to cut successfully, thanks to the relatively safe environment on the water. Now that the Chinese army has complete control over the sea, there is no attack in the sky, the ships of the Japanese Navy are all located in Yokosuka in Tokyo Bay, and the rest do not pose a threat to the destroyer.

Submarines must move very carefully after entering Tokyo Bay, the waterway is narrow, and there are deadly mines on both sides, and one mistake may hit the mine and sink. There are four submarines in charge of entering Tokyo Bay, and the captains are all the best in the submarine group and have the best psychological quality, even so, the submarine is also worried inside, even if the technology is good, it is difficult to ensure that there is a mistake in the road map in hand, what if the road map obtained by the agents of the Investigation Bureau is not accurate?

The airship brigade in the sky is much more comfortable, so far, there is no weapon on the battlefield that can pose a threat to the air, and they can move forward boldly with confidence.

The airship group was targeting the heavy shore gun positions on both sides of Tokyo Bay, and as long as those threats were eliminated, the waiting fleet outside Tokyo Bay could attack them.

Arriving above the target, the 1st Bombardment Airship Squadron began to reduce its altitude in turn, and the observers on the airship could even see the Japanese soldiers on the ground in a mess, running around the heavy artillery positions, many of them entered the machine gun positions, and a shuttle bullet flew into the sky.

War is the best catalyst for science and technology, the Japanese who experienced the Battle of Kyushu began to study how to counter the threat from the air, they modified the heavy machine gun so that it could have a high elevation angle and shoot in the air, but the 7.92 mm bullet lost its threat when it flew into the sky for less than a thousand meters, after all, it was not a professional air defense weapon, and could not pose a threat to the high-altitude airship.

In order to improve accuracy, the airship brigade even lowered the airship to an altitude of two thousand meters, and the accuracy of high-altitude bombing is a big problem, even in the air of two thousand meters, it is difficult to ensure accurate hits. The officers and men of the airship used the method of large-scale bombing, and the lack of accuracy was offset by numbers.

Screaming bombshells fell swiftly from the airship's bomb bomb bay, and the sound of piercing the air was like a death talisman that sent chills through the nervous resistance of the soldiers on the ground.

"Boom!" The bombshells carried by the airship exceeded the power of the army's heavy artillery shells, and even exceeded the power of the 380 mm heavy artillery shells, because it did not need to be loaded ******, and could be filled with gunpowder to the maximum, and a bombshell could complete the mission of destroying the shore defense artillery even if it fell dozens of meters around the enemy's position.

"Whew!" The crew of the Tarzan gathered on the deck, far away, but the fire and smoke after the explosion could still be seen, and the huge airship became small, they were battleships floating in the air!

The Air Force is mighty, and now it is the turn of the officers and men of the Navy to contribute. Although there is a safe waterway between the mines, this channel does not allow the "Tarzan" to pass safely, and as the main force of the bombardment, the "Tarzan" must enter the Gulf of Tonkin. Therefore, three minesweepers need to be the first to enter the waterway and clear the obstacles on both sides of the waterway.

The bombing of the airship brigade has enabled the minesweepers to carry out the minesweeping work relatively safely, and the minesweepers that use kite-type minesweepers to cut off the minesweepers floating on the surface of the sea can cut off the mine buoys floating on the surface of the sea, so that the connection between the mines and the buoys will be disconnected, so that the mines will lose their effectiveness, and there is no need to remove the mines and then tow them to shallow water for destruction, thus greatly shortening the time for the minesweeping operations.

Most of the artillery on the shore defense positions on both sides was not destroyed, and when they saw the Chinese ships entering the waterway, they immediately aimed at several minesweepers and opened fire. It is a pity that the waterway is more than five kilometers from the shore position, and the heavy artillery with sufficient range was bombarded by airships and suffered heavy losses. A large number of shells exploded at a distance of seven or eight hundred meters from the minesweeper, stirring up waves, but they did not pose much threat to the minesweeper, and occasionally a heavy shell fell around the minesweeper, which was fired by the heavy artillery that survived the bombardment of the airship, because of the range of the accuracy, but it was also a real threat.

The minesweepers gradually opened a waterway sufficient for the "Taishan" to advance, and the super battleships took the lead, and the "Taishan" needed to be the first to enter, and the threat of the coastal fire guns on both sides of the strait was clear through the heavy guns on the battleships, and the caliber of the guns of the "Nanhai-class" light patrol was too small to strike at the coastal defense positions more than 5,000 meters away.

As soon as the behemoth appeared, it became the target of concentrated bombardment by the shore anti-aircraft artillery, and countless shells flew towards the "Taishan", and before it could open fire and counterattack, a heavy shell finally hit the "Taishan".

Unfortunately for the Japanese, the shell hit the turret of the "Tarzan", which was the most defensively defended, and not only did the shell not penetrate the armor, but because of the tilted structure of the turret, it bounced off, leaving only a black mark on the turret. (To be continued.) )