Clear skies. Visibility is good, the sun rises in the east and the sea sparkles.

The scenery is beautiful, but the billowing black smoke on the sea surface spoils the scenery and makes the air murderous.

Heihachiro Togo stood on the open-air bridge of the battleship "Hanoi", looking at the sea antenna in the east, the snow-white navy dress and snow-white thin cotton gloves looked spotless, but they looked out of place with the billowing black smoke on the sea.

In this murderous background, both the people and the scenery look so incongruous.

But in the eyes of Heihachiro Togo, there is no scenery more beautiful than all this in front of him, the most powerful fleet in the entire Far East is now in front of his eyes, and those billowing black smoke on the sea surface is a testament to the strong combat effectiveness of this fleet, no matter where it is, no matter what era, this huge fleet represents the national strength of the Japanese Empire. As long as this fleet was able to roam the seas, the national security of the Japanese Empire would not be threatened.

In that year, this fleet defeated the Beiyang Fleet of the Qing State. It also defeated the expeditionary fleet of Tsarist Russia, and the international status of the Japanese Empire was actually enhanced by this invincible combined fleet, and it can be said that without this powerful combined fleet, the current international status and national image of the Japanese Empire would not have existed.

But now, the fleet, which had brought great honor to the Japanese Empire, was facing one. If it is not a very severe test, then perhaps Japan's hard work in the past few decades will be in vain, and now, the main task of Heihachiro Togo is to command this fleet to pass this test. Continue to maintain the current international status of the Japanese Empire, and continue to suppress China's international status.

In order to suppress China's international standing. Heihachiro Togo divided the combined fleet into several warbands. Some warbands were responsible for shelling targets on the shore to cover the landing of the army, while others were responsible for protecting the maritime safety of the entire transport fleet, and were swimming back and forth on the sea outside the harbor to form an antisubmarine cordon, carefully searching for any suspicious targets on the sea like hounds to guard against attacks by Chinese submarines.

The joint landing of the Japanese army and navy on Dagushan is Japan's largest overseas military operation since the Russo-Japanese War, and no matter which aspect is viewed, it must be foolproof, and the smooth landing operation must be ensured.

So far, it seems that everything is going well, since the landing operation was launched at dawn yesterday. By now, for a whole day, the Japanese army reinforcements had successfully landed and established a solid beachhead under the cover of naval guns, and all that remained was to wait for those logistics to be transferred ashore.

At present, the transport fleet is hoisting a large number of logistical heavy materials loaded in the cabin onto the landing boards and small boats attached to the side of the ship, and these heavy rays that are related to the development of the entire war situation are being transferred ashore in an orderly manner, and everything is going so smoothly.

It was as if the Chinese army had suddenly lost its combat objective, and the Chinese army disappeared without a trace.

However, Heihachiro Togo did not dare to take it lightly, and yesterday's landing operation was very light, and it changed the image of the Japanese army some time ago. The Chinese army units defending Dagushan were almost immediately crushed, and the Japanese landing advance party easily occupied the port of Dagushan, which had long since become an empty city, and was warmly welcomed by a small number of Japanese expatriates hiding in the port.

This was not normal, and Togo Heihachiro insisted that it was the Chinese army that took the initiative to abandon Dagushan and withdraw the main forces out of the range of the Japanese Combined Fleet's naval guns in order to preserve strength. Heihachiro Togo strongly advised the army commander not to go deep inland for the time being, so as not to lose the cover of the fire of the Japanese Combined Fleet.

Fortunately, Yoshimasa Oshima, commander of the Japanese Army's "First Army of Levy and Branch," accepted Togo Heihachiro's suggestion and ordered the landed army units to set up a sortie position at Dagushan Port, and were not allowed to go deep inland until the follow-up troops of the "First Army of Levy and Branch" arrived at Dagushan Port.

It is rare for the Japanese army and navy to cooperate tacitly, Togo Heihachiro breathed a sigh of relief, but this does not mean that you can sit back and relax, the mysterious whereabouts of the Chinese army made many officers feel uneasy, in order to relieve this uneasiness, Togo Heihachiro specially sent two seaplanes to the inland area to carry out reconnaissance.

Both seaplanes were urgently carried by the battleship, just half an hour ago. They have already taken off and headed for reconnaissance missions in the north-western direction of the inland region, if all goes well. In an hour's time, they would return to the skies above the fleet, bringing with them the information that Heihachiro Togo had been waiting for.

As a naval officer, Heihachiro Togo used to look down on airplanes, and in his opinion, the kind of flying machines made of wood and canvas were just toys for some aviation enthusiasts. For the Navy. There is no need for airplanes, and this stubborn bias seriously affects Heihachiro Togo's judgment. It is precisely for this reason that when the news of the Lushun air raid came, Heihachiro Togo, like most admirals, was taken aback, they never thought of relying on such an inconspicuous aircraft. It is possible to destroy a detachment in just one hour.

The headquarters of the Japanese Kwantung Army in Lushun had already formed a report on the details of the air raid and transmitted it back to Japan, and Togo Heihachiro was able to access the most core secrets, although he was saddened by the huge losses of the Japanese detachment, but at the same time, through this jaw-dropping air battle, Togo Heihachiro finally realized the war potential of the two new weapons. One is a submarine, the other is an airplane.

This time, he led the combined fleet to attack Dagushan. Heihachiro Togo sent a special telegram to the Japanese wartime base camp, asking the base camp to send a few seaplanes along with the escort detachment in order to provide the combined fleet with the necessary air early warning. Although it is true that the air power is very thin, it is an attempt after all. Perhaps, this is how the future landing operations will be.

Except for those few seaplanes. The Japanese Army also raised several artillery observation balloons on the coast, which could not only carry out reconnaissance in the inland direction, but also provide some necessary cover for the fleet near the shore, and one of the tasks of those balloon crews was to search for suspicious underwater targets on the surface of the sea and to guard against a surprise attack by submarines.

One is an aircraft of the Chinese Air Force and the other is a submarine of the Chinese Navy, and for Heihachiro Togo, these two new weapons are enough to pose a mortal threat to the combined fleet, so he is now standing on the open bridge of the battleship "Hanoi" and the main question he is thinking about is how to deal with these two new weapons.

To deal with aircraft, there is already air defense technology, only need to strengthen air early warning measures and warship air defense weapons, but submarines are a headache, this kind of mysterious underwater weapons are difficult to find, especially in the case of bad sea conditions and insufficient light, it is easiest to create a sneak attack opportunity for submarines, a few days ago Dongxiang Ding: gathered staff meetings, everyone came up with ideas, strategies, no less hard work, such as hanging anti-torpedo nets for nephews. In order to reduce the damage caused by torpedo attacks when the military is berthed, for example, when building warships, add a layer of anti-torpedo longitudinal walls to the waterline of the hull, install a layer of protective shell on the warship, and reduce the damage caused by torpedo attacks, but these suggestions can not fundamentally solve the problem, in order to fundamentally solve the problem, we must take the initiative to find those terrible submarines, and effectively attack them, and sink them before they attack.

If there is no suitable means of detection. Submarines sailing below the surface of the sea are always a mortal threat to the surface fleet. Heihachiro Togo has already suggested that the Japanese Navy's Ship Administration Department conduct a study on this issue and find suitable anti-submarine technology to ensure that the Japanese naval power continues to dominate the Far East.

But so far, the Japanese Navy has not had effective anti-submarine means, although from yesterday night to this morning. The Combined Fleet was not attacked by Chinese submarines, but this does not mean that Chinese submarines will not come to attack, and Heihachiro Togo has not dared to take this lightly.

"Your Excellency, your breakfast has been prepared, and according to your orders, it is completely British, and the dessert after the meal is also British."

An adjutant walked up to the open bridge and invited Heihachiro Togo to the officer's cafeteria for dinner.

Heihachiro Togo nodded, and glanced northwest as he left the bridge, where the detachment on the artillery mission was still bombarding the inland areas with naval guns, and the sound of artillery could be heard from time to time on the sea, and the smoke of gunpowder in the air lingered for a long time. The light warships that carried out anti-submarine vigilance missions also patrolled back and forth on the sea, and it seemed that the entire defense line was invulnerable.

As before, Togo Heihachiro's meal was soon over, and then, as usual, the Japanese marshal returned to the captain's room, flipped through the voyage reports submitted by the ships, and began his day's work in order, until a telegram arrived, and he had to finish the work at hand.

The telegram was sent from Japan's wartime base camp, urging Togo Heihachiro to send a detachment south to the waters around Taiwan Island and the Ryukyu Islands as soon as possible to carry out escort missions and strike at China's maritime attack fleet. The shipping route between Japan and the South Seas is already in jeopardy.

Looking at this telegram, Heihachiro Togo was speechless for a long time.

"It seems that the empire has indeed encountered a very cunning opponent, a weak surface fleet, in the hands of this Chinese president, can be used so flexibly, he really understands the essence of maritime strategy."

Heihachiro Togo sighed a few words, which made the staff officer standing in front of him a little strange.

"Your Excellency, the surface fleet of China is very weak, and if the Combined Fleet can immediately send a detachment to the south to escort it, the attack fleet of China will definitely retreat."

Heihachiro Togo glanced at the staff officer. Shook his head. He put the telegram on his desk, and walked to the porthole and looked out at the sea.

Japan is an island country, the domestic resources are poor, most of the industrial raw materials rely on imports, iron ore, coal, tin ore, rubber, cotton, sugar, petroleum "almost all industrial raw materials closely related to modern industry have to rely on sea transportation, such a country, once faced with the enemy's naval blockade or sea attack, no matter what the strength of the enemy's fleet, Japan's industry will inevitably be affected, anti-sea blockade, anti-sea attack, the cost required is high, The enemy may only need to play a few light warships to contain several times the size of the Japanese warship, which is a costly game of cat and mouse at sea. Japan must participate in this game, and the initiative is not in Japan's hands.

"Please call back to the base camp, the Combined Fleet is currently unable to send the main force south, once the land forces complete the landing operation and establish a solid position, the Combined Fleet will immediately move south to sweep the Chinese attack fleet."

Heihachiro Togo was silent for a long time. Then an order was given to the staff officer to leave the captain's quarters. He was still standing by the porthole, quietly watching the waves on the sea, the waves breaking. The breeze is breezy and breezy. If it weren't for the war, today might be a good day for an outing.

Just as Heihachiro Togo was immersed in the memories of peacetime, the hatch was pushed open, and a staff officer broke into the captain's room in a rage. Very rudely shouted.

"Your Excellency! Air force! The Chinese Air Force is coming! Our reconnaissance plane did not return and was most likely shot down. ”

Heihachiro Togo turned to look at the staff officer, then raised his hand and pointed at the staff officer.

"Koga-kun, it's just a bunch of planes, you're too out of shape, Imperial soldier. It is necessary to be in danger, if everyone is like you, there are no six gods and no masters, how can the empire be able to survive for a long time? ”

"Hay! Under the recklessness! "The staff officer stood upright and listened to the marshal's teachings.

"Order, the fleet is ready for battle. All warships stopped shelling shore targets and fired all their fire into the air. ”

Heihachiro Togo calmly gave the air defense order, then picked up the pair of thin cotton white gloves, walked out of the captain's room, boarded the bridge, raised the binoculars, and looked in the northwest direction pointed by the staff officer.

But nothing was seen, the information of the Chinese Air Force's attack was transmitted to the Combined Fleet by the Japanese Army landing force at Dagushan Port, and the Japanese troops who landed set up an air defense observation post in the west, and it is obvious that the Chinese Air Force is still some distance from the main force of the Japanese Combined Fleet.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the artillery observation balloons on the coast were lowered by the Japanese to avoid being attacked by Chinese fighters.

"Leave the anti-submarine fleet to protect the transport fleet, and the other warships sail to the open sea."

Heihachiro Togo's order was quickly conveyed, and all the warships sounded the alarm. All the anti-aircraft weapons on the warship that could come in handy were used, and even the sailors were issued rifles ready to fire into the sky.

Five minutes later, Heihachiro Togo saw the first plane in the telescope, then the second, the third, the fourth, the fifth, and the sixth.

This scene really shocked Togo Heihachiro, who intuitively experienced for the first time what "air supremacy" was and finally understood why after the air raid on Lushun, the Japanese "Kanto Governor" Fukushima Yasumasa would send a telegram back to Japan as soon as possible, demanding that the scale of the aviation industry be expanded immediately.

"Your Excellency, we have a few more seaplanes that we can take off and intercept the Chinese Air Force."

A staff officer made a suggestion, but Heihachiro Togo did not intend to accept it, and a few seaplanes, even if they took to the skies to meet them, were just moths to the fire.

However, Heihachiro Togo did not plan to send planes to meet the assault group of the Chinese Air Force, which does not mean that others are also so calm, so Heihachiro Togo observes with a telescope; When the assault aircraft of the Second Army were in the group, a heavy cruiser carried the two water planes to the surface of the sea, and soon took off, heading to the northwest.

"Yaga! A herd of red deer! If the Japanese soldiers are all brainless fools, what else do they need strategists? ”

Heihachiro Togo was very annoyed, but since the two seaplanes had already taken off, it was impossible to recall them again, and he could only watch as the two stupid pilots pounced on the Chinese Air Force assault group like moths to a flame.

“… airplanes

The roar of the engines in the sky became clearer and clearer, and the officers and sailors on the deck of the warship looked at the Chinese Air Force air formation that was getting closer and closer.

"Gnaw, tart coo,"

Soon the crisp sound of air machine guns was heard in the sky, and the Chinese Air Force fighters flying high in the air quickly pounced and only blinked their eyes. The two Japanese seaplanes, which were inadequate, were hit and caught on fire, and almost helplessly, dragged the black smoke to the surface of the sea, one fell to the surface of the sea, and the other fell headlong on the beach. turned into a bright fireball, leaving many Japanese servicemen on the warship dumbfounded.

This is how the battle between the sea and the air began.

Seeing that the Chinese Air Force assault group did not bomb the Japanese army units in Dagushan, nor did it bomb the Japanese transport fleet anchored near the port, Heihachiro Togo immediately understood that the other party's purpose was very clear, and the target of the Chinese Air Force assault group was the Japanese Combined Fleet.

"Command! All the teams were divided into small groups, accelerated away from the near shore, and formed a ring air defense formation in the open sea. ”

Togo Heihachiro gave the order, and most of the Japanese warships turned their bows and sailed eastward at maximum speed, preparing to form an air defense formation, which was the air defense formation that Togo Heihachiro had just worked out with his staff officers a few days ago, and this was the first actual combat test.

"Submarines! Submarine! Port! Port! ”

The lookout on the mainmast of the battleship "Hanoi" suddenly shouted loudly into the intercom microphone, and quickly. The staff officer conveyed the news to Heihachiro Togo.

Heihachiro Togo raised his binoculars and looked to the port side, but he didn't see anything, and now the sun was strong and the sea was sparkling. It is difficult to tell if the sailors were too nervous and delusional. Or maybe the submarine has gone beneath the surface again.

"The destroyer continues to monitor the sea, and the other warships carry out air defense operations!"

Togo Heihachiro once again emphasized the division of tasks, because he was too nervous, his palms were full of sweat, and he had already soaked the thin cotton white gloves, and the sweat on his neck was also soaking the collar, but Togo Heihachiro was unaware.

Finally. A group of assault aircraft of the Chinese Air Force flew over the main forces of the combined fleet and immediately dropped bombs.

"Whoosh"

"Boom!"

"Whoosh"

"Boom!"

Aerial bombs fell from a height of 1,000 meters with a terrible scream, and the sea suddenly seemed to be ***, and there were explosions everywhere, although most of the bombs fell into the sea and did not hit the warship. But this alone was a sight that panicked the Japanese sailors on deck who were preparing for air defense.

This was only the first wave of attacks by the Chinese Air Force assault force, and the more frightening attack was yet to come, when the light bombers dropped the bombs, and immediately after that, the escort fighters pounced. With his back to the sun, he dropped light bombs from a height of 500 meters while firing wildly at the deck of the warship with his machine guns.

At the same time, all the machine guns on the warship raised their muzzles and fired at the Chinese fighters that pounced on the sky, and the sailors who had finally restored order also opened fire with rifles into the air under the command of the officers.

"Gnaw, bite" bark tart"

"Boom! Rumble!

Chinese fighter jets went on a rampage in this dense hail of bullets, and some fighters were hit by bullets. The engines began to smoke, and a few planes dragged black smoke to the surface of the sea, but the fierce offensive did not abate in the slightest.

Subsequently, the medium bombers of the Chinese Air Force also flew over and dropped heavy bombs, a few of which hit the warship, and the smoke of gunpowder on the sea became even thicker.

As Heihachiro Togo worried. At the same time that the Chinese Air Force launched its air offensive, the Chinese submarines that had been lurking in the nearby waters began to fish in troubled waters, and only two minutes after the Air Force attack was launched, the first torpedo was launched from the submarine's torpedo tubes, and a Japanese destroyer fell victim to this torpedo, in a violent explosion. Broken in two and sunk to the bottom of the sea.

"Order the fleet, change the ring formation, speed up. Sail to the open sea! ”

Heihachiro Togo changed the order again. He is well aware that submarines are slow when sailing below the surface of the sea and simply cannot keep up with surface ships. As long as the fleet moves on a zigzag course. can effectively dodge torpedo attacks, but in this way, the original annular air defense formation will not be useful, and the warship will have to go in a straight line, and in the process. There is a high probability of being attacked by air force bombs.

Heihachiro Togo had to take that risk. Compared to bombers. He is more worried about submarines, if a warship eats a bomb, it may not sink, but if it eats a torpedo, even if it does not sink, it will be hit hard.

Heihachiro Togo's decision was correct, he minimized the losses of the Japanese Combined Fleet, but even so, this naval and air battle still caused a lot of losses to the Japanese Combined Fleet. Two destroyers sank, two heavy cruisers were hit by aerial bombs, although they did not sink, but the superstructure of the deck of the warship was badly damaged, fortunately, during this air strike, the Chinese bombers did not throw aviation torpedoes.

The losses of the Chinese Air Force are also enormous. After the end of the battle, the wreckage of fighters and bombers could be seen everywhere on the sea, and the Chinese Air Force assault force lost more than 20 combat planes and killed more than 20 pilots in this air raid, and the surviving pilots of the crashed planes floated on the sea surface until the submarine rescued them.

Fearing for the safety of the convoy, Heihachiro Togo did not dare to go far, two hours after the battle ended. He led the Combined Fleet back to Dagushan Harbor, but what he saw was full of devastation.

During the period when the main forces of the Japanese Combined Fleet were entangled with China's air force and submarines in the waters near Kashima, several inshore submarines of the Chinese Navy broke through the outer antisubmarine cordon, quietly touched the port of Dagushan, and carried out torpedo attacks on those Japanese transport ships anchored in and outside the port. At the same time, Chinese heavy bomber units coming from the other direction also flew over the port, dropped a large number of bombs and aerial torpedoes, and bombed the Japanese army units that had landed.

The Chinese military's move of "striking from the east to the west" sank 15 Japanese transport ships and damaged six, and a large number of military supplies sank along with the ships, and the logistical supply and distribution of the landed Japanese troops were in danger.