In the waters of Bohai Bay, before the night has completely faded, a formation composed of more than 20 warships of various types is plowing white waves on the sea. In the middle of the entire formation were the battleships "Hyuga", "Kongo", and "Kirishima", which were as huge as floating mountains! The three battleships were followed by the heavy cruiser "Gagu",

Heavy cruiser "Aoba" and heavy cruiser "Kinugasa".

On their periphery, eighteen light cruisers, destroyers, and minesweepers were cruising around the precious capital ships of the Great Ben Imperial Navy.

Vice Admiral Koichi Shiozawa, commander of the 1st Foreign Fleet, stood in the command room of the "Hyuga" with his exhausted body in tow, his eyes red, looking at the Liaodong Bay, about 20 nautical miles northeast of sea level. There was still the faint sound of artillery there, and after twenty nautical miles, it was already like a faint thunder. This came from the front line of Tashan, where the bloody battle was staged, and looking at the sky that was almost red by artillery fire, Shiozawa knew that the shelling of his fleet had not destroyed the resistance of the Huludao fortress. Even he could distinguish the roar of the 380-mm train guns and the 280-mm coastal defense guns from the faint sound of the cannons, and it was obvious that the shelling of the "King Kong" and "Kirishima" ships had not been able to knock out the huge cannons of those Chi Namen, and now these huge cannons were being used to bombard the positions of the army! And he, the commander of the 1st Foreign Fleet, had to order the fleet to evacuate...... And hand over the giant cannon of the army animals to the people of China to kill and injure at will! Shiozawa felt that he was acting like a deserter, no, the entire navy was a deserter, leaving behind their army brothers and not knowing where to flee?

Right! Koichi Shiozawa really doesn't know where to go now? His fleet lost a battleship, a heavy cruiser, a light cruiser, four destroyers, in one night,

Two minesweepers, in addition to the light cruiser "Tenryu" was badly damaged, except that it was still floating on the water and sinking, and one of the turrets of the battleship "Hyuga" was destroyed, and the bow of the battlecruiser "Kongo" made a big hole in the torpedoes of the Shina. And such a terrible loss was suffered by the real trump card of the people of China ~ the air force and naval aviation could not be dispatched because of the darkness!

When the report of the losses of the First Foreign Fleet was transmitted to Japan by telegraph, Emperor Hirohito convened a meeting of the Five Ministers and the General Staff overnight. At this imperial meeting, Ben's army and navy leaders quarreled. Navy Minister Finance Biao and Military Command Minister Taniguchi Naoma made a proposal to withdraw the First Foreign Fleet as soon as the entrance to Bohai Bay was not blocked by the China Navy with mines, and also demanded that the Second Wing of the Army Air Force do everything possible to provide air cover for the fleet's withdrawal. Their reason is that the navy's anti-submarine and air defense capabilities are weak, and it is unable to deal with the Chinese submarines at night and the Chinese air force and naval aviation during the day...... Staying in Bohai Bay will eventually be wiped out! After the loss of four battleships, the empire could no longer maintain its hegemony over the Eastern Seas.

However, the army resolutely opposed the withdrawal of the fleet, and even put forward a proposal to destroy the Qinhuangdao base at the expense of jade pieces! Suzuki Manroku, chief of the army's general staff, pointed out that since the Battle of Manchuria was a gamble for the whole country, then losing the Battle of Manchuria would be tantamount to losing the fortunes of the country. In the future, it will be the South China Nationalist Government that will win Manchuria that will dominate the East, because without the land and resources of Manchuria, Ben's heavy industry will soon be left far behind by China, and without the support of strong heavy industry, the sea superiority will not be able to support it at all, and a few more battleships will just be a remnant of the breath for a while. Rather than that, it's better to fight it all at once! It's a big deal to be a vassal of the British and American or the Southern Branch in the future! It's been two thousand years anyway.

The army and navy almost collapsed at the Imperial Council, and in the end, Emperor Hirohito, who "directly led" the army and navy, could only make up his mind, but this Emperor Hirohito replied vaguely, "Is the First Foreign Fleet still capable of fighting?" "Now this telegram is in the hands of Shiozawa Koichi.

Shiozawa knew that Emperor Hirohito was actually talking ventriloquis, which on the surface seemed to be asking whether the First Foreign Fleet still had combat effectiveness, but in fact it meant that Shiozawa Koichi made a request for "fighting to the death"! Because even the Minister of the Navy and the Minister of Naval Orders could not prevent all the officers and men of the entire First Foreign Fleet from repaying the Emperor's favor with death...... Otherwise, he will be a national thief who will suffer from "heavenly punishment"!

"Shiozawa-kun!" This was Yoshida Zengo's voice, Shiozawa Yukichi turned his head and saw that his old classmate had a cold look in his eyes, and he was looking at himself: "Shiozawa-kun! His Majesty the Emperor is still waiting for the reply of our First Foreign Fleet! Now is the time for us to repay His Majesty's great kindness with a jade shatter assault, please don't hesitate any longer! ”

Shiozawa Yukichi put on a melancholy face and said in a deep voice: "Yoshida-kun, you said that if our First Foreign Fleet shows the determination of Jade Crushing, it can destroy the Qinhuangdao Fortress...... Clear the way for the army to seize Manchuria? ”

Yoshida thought for a moment and nodded solemnly: "Yes!" The Kuomintang army in China had only two important bases in Manchuria, Huludao and Qinhuangdao, and the airport and port facilities in Huludao had already been destroyed by shelling...... It is not possible to fix it in a week or two. Now as long as we destroy the airfield and port of Qinhuangdao, the logistics line of the Kuomintang army in China will be temporarily affected, and the air superiority will also be temporarily lost! The army will have a chance to defeat them and seize Manchuria! ”

"But the submarine of the Chinese people...... Do you think they will allow us to reach Qinhuangdao safely? ”

Shiozawa asked coldly.

Yoshida nodded heavily: "Yes!" Shiozawa-kun, didn't you find the deployment of the Shina submarine force very strange? They did not set up an ambush at the entrance to Bohai Bay, but put us in Bohai Bay! ”

The room was silent and poured salt and inhaled deeply: "You mean...... From the very beginning, the Shina man set a trap for us! They want to annihilate our first foreign fleet! ”

Yoshida Zengo smiled bitterly, and his tone was cold: "That's right! If the Chinese Navy had placed their submarines at the entrance to the Bohai Bay, they would have achieved greater results, but at the same time, we would have escaped after suffering heavy losses, and I analyzed that their submarines should be deployed in this way. With that, he and Shiozawa walked to the chart table. He picked up a bell pen and sketched on the chart: "Shiozawa-kun, please see that they have about twenty submarines, which should be divided into four or five detachments, one of which is deployed in the ocean west of Fuzhou Bay, which is the one who ambushed us. There are also four or five teams that should be deployed in a crescent moon around the entrance of Bohai Bay, guarding the shipping lanes to Qinhuangdao, Longkou Port, and Laizhou Port respectively, and at the same time forming an encirclement ............... against us, and the location of their ambush has also been carefully calculated! The place where we are in the middle is already more than 50 nautical miles away from the outlet of Bohai Bay, and it takes two and a half hours to sail at a speed of 20 knots

and the fleet will most likely be damaged after an ambush, and the speed will definitely decrease. ”

Shiozawa Motoichi's face was pale, as if he had seen the tragic end of the destruction of the fleet, and said in a trembling voice: "Do you mean that when we were in ambush, the Shina people had already rushed to the exit of Bohai Bay to set up an ambush?" ”

"Not the exit, but halfway through our way to the exit! Their task is both to ambush and to delay the actions of our fleet! Just wait until dawn...... Their planes will come and blow up and sink all our auxiliary ships. Yoshida smiled bitterly and sighed: "I believe that their naval aviation has also been hiding its strength!" By that time we will only have a few battleships and heavy cruisers left, will we still be able to run out of this bay full of mines and submarines? ”

The case is self-evident, relying on a few damaged capital ships, without the protection of frigates, are the targets of submarines! And there are not even depth charges on the capital ship......

Seeing Shiozawa's face turn pale, Yoshida still looked motionless: "Shiozawa-kun, I estimate that the submarine that ambushed us last night should now return to the port to replenish the torpedo...... There should be more than fifteen more submarines left. One team should be deployed on the shipping route from Huludao to Qinhuangdao, and the rest should soon reach the sea off Huludao! ”

Shiozawa frowned irritably: "Yoshida-kun, you mean that this fleet rushes to Qinhuangdao in the shortest straight line at the fastest speed?" "He already knew in his heart that his first detachment fleet would not be able to return to its roots... This icy Bohai Bay is the burial place of the fleet!

Now there are only two fleets to go out, one is to go to Yingkou Port to wait for death: the other is to go to Qinhuangdao to commit suicide!

Go to Yingkou and wait for death, and it will be the entire empire that will die...... Although most of the officers and men of the 1st Foreign Fleet should have escaped to their deaths. And committing suicide in Qinhuangdao may give the empire another chance to seize Manchuria. Five or six submarines lurking in the channel would be at most one battleship, and the remaining two would be enough to complete the task of destroying the airport and port of Qinhuangdao. Moreover, after the navy has made such a great sacrifice, it will definitely be compensated accordingly after the Manchurian War, especially His Majesty the Emperor will especially favor this "loyal" navy!

At this time, Shiozawa already knew that he had no choice, whether it was for the sake of the empire or for the navy, he and the thousands of officers and men of the navy here had to die!

When Shiozawa's gaze left the chart and raised his head, the original hesitation had been replaced by a murderous expression: "Yoshida-kun, send a telegram to Your Majesty!" The main force of our 1st Foreign Fleet will launch a jade crushing assault on the Qinhuangdao fortress of the Kuomintang in China! ”

"Hay!" Yoshida Zengo stood up and solemnly saluted the commander in front of him, who had decided to take everyone here to hell.

In last night's engagement, the Japanese First Detachment was hit by a mine and a torpedo, and knocked out the No. 2 turret of the battleship "Hyuga" by a 280-millimeter shell that hit Dayun. Looks unlucky...... However, there are some lucky places, at least the power systems of all ships in the entire fleet are basically intact. In the fleet commander Shiozawa Koichi hung out the Z-shaped flag and shouted, "The rise and fall of the imperial kingdom is here to fight, all the officers and soldiers, must work hard!" Smoke billowed from the chimneys of the ships, and soon the warships were moving towards Qinhuangdao at a high speed of 20 knots.

While the fleet was rushing rapidly in the direction of Qinhuangdao, the six ZD-type submarines were also heading towards the sea off Huludao at the highest speed.

This is the second detachment of the submarine forces of the Kuomintang Navy. Under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Wen Qing, the commander of the 001 submarine and commander of the detachment, the Lou detachment was responsible for guarding the waterway from the entrance of Bohai Bay to Qinhuangdao. However, they did not encounter this fleet. After receiving Zhang Yiming's order, although he rushed to the battlering area as fast as possible, he was still one step late. Subsequently, Zhang Yiming instructed this detachment to immediately go to the sea off Huludao to attack the Japanese fleet. After receiving this order, Wen Qingyun immediately took his detachment and chased the fleet to the north at full speed.

"What did you find?" Wen Qingyun, who was standing on the bridge of the submarine, asked the first mate on the side loudly. A man who looked very sturdy was holding a huge eight-fold telescope looking at the northern ocean, and when he heard the captain's question, he sighed: "I haven't found it yet, our submarine is good at everything, but the speed is too slow, and I think it's a bit hanging to chase the warship!" If only the four 1 kar had gone into the water earlier and blocked them in front. ”

Wen Qingyun sneered and shook his head, if the four "Karl Marx, the class battleship is in front, and the thirty-six 380 mm naval guns are bombarded, the fleet will be directly sunk, what else can the submarine do?" Hearing the laughter of his superiors, the lieutenant's first mate seemed to know that he was telling a joke, shook his head, put down his binoculars, picked up the kettle and drank cold water.

Then pick up the binoculars and continue to observe the ocean. At that moment, suddenly, a few masts and a few steam turbine fumes rose above the sea level to the northwest. He hurriedly shouted loudly: "Commander Wen, Northwest!" Northwest! They're going to Qinhuangdao! These little Bens must be crazy, they don't want to die! ”

Wen Qingyun also hurriedly raised the large telescope hanging around his neck, and found the target after a slight search in the northwest direction, the sky at this time had gradually brightened, and the visibility on the entire sea surface had greatly improved. He could even make out that one of the masts was a triangular mast typical of the English style, and that it was the Navy's Rising Sun Flag fluttering faintly on it! from the shape and size of the mast. This capable naval officer has already quickly calculated in his heart that this is the "King Kong" class battle cruiser of this navy! The main force of the first dispatch fleet is really crazy, and they want to brave the bombing of the national planes and forcibly rush to Qinhuangdao! It is estimated that they no longer plan to return to their roots alive! These little devils are going to sacrifice themselves to give their army a chance at victory!

He stood on the bridge of the submarine with a serious expression, and his mouth was still muttering, "Crazy, really crazy!" "There are more and more pillars of smoke appearing in the sky, and the tall masts of the capital ship are also appearing one after another. Wen Qingyun counted, there were three huge masts that should belong to battleships or battle cruisers, and there were also three short masts, which should belong to heavy cruisers. The main force of Ben's first dispatch fleet is almost all here!

Wen Qingyun slid from the bridge of the submarine and jumped into the cabin, and ordered loudly: "Communications chief!" Send electricity to the command of the Beiyang Fleet! One enemy battleship, two battlecruisers, and three heavy cruisers.

Azimuth east longitude xxx, north latitude xxx. appeared on the surface of the Bohai Sea southwest of Huludao at 5:16 a.m. on February 13! The enemy ship sailed at a speed of about 20 knots and headed southwest. The second detachment of our submarine is too far away to attack! His forehead was full of green tendons, and he didn't know whether he was nervous or excited, and finally scolded fiercely: "Damn little devil, I really don't even want my life in order to rob our Northeast!" Hmph, it's a pity that you were bumped into by your grandfather, so you're out of luck! ”

The telegram was quickly transmitted to the Beiyang Fleet Headquarters in Qingdao, and after receiving the news, Zhao Zheng secretly exclaimed in his heart, the ruthlessness of this navy was really unexpected, and he dared to attack Qinhuangdao in broad daylight without air cover! However, this move is really on the death of the Northeast Theater. Qinhuangdao has just been taken from the hands of the Chinese g, and the construction of the fortress has not yet begun, and a large number of materials transported from Huludao are piled up in the open space around the port and airport, if it is bombarded by this fleet, it will be a lot of fun! If I don't know if I don't know the situation of the entire Bohai Bay Operation, I will turn it around!

Zhao Zheng, who had settled down, immediately transferred the latest enemy situation to Luo Yaoguo, who was supervising the battle in Jinan, An Sihua, the commander of the theater of Huludao, and Zhang Zhi, the commander of the Qinhuangdao fortress. It was also suggested that the air force stationed in Qinhuangdao give priority to attacking the invading naval fleet, and immediately after that, an order was issued for the naval aviation to immediately dispatch air strikes against the fleet.

February 13, 5:25 a.m. At several large military airports such as Longkou, Laizhou, and Penglai, the pilots who had already been on first-level alert also received orders from their respective commanders, Zhao Zheng, commander of the Beiyang Fleet: "All the naval aviation units should set off, and the target is the first foreign fleet!" Note that the first priority targets were this light cruiser and destroyer. ”

Sharp sirens whistled over various airports, countless pilots rushed to their beloved fighters, and as one fighter plane after another slid to the runway, the first naval and air battle in the history of time and space finally broke out! And this battle of "national fortunes" between China and Japan has reached the most critical moment!。 @ws