137. Bombing Da Nang (three watches)
When the war broke out in the Gulf of Tonkin, MacArthur was the commander of this force, and although he was blinded by the sudden war, he could not have prevented the spread of the war in the tense confrontation situation, so he immediately sent a telegram to the domestic and coalition command.
It wasn't just MacArthur who did this, but officers from other countries did the same thing in the first place.
In a short period of time, the news of the war in the Gulf of Tonkin shook the high-level leaders of the entire European and American white countries in the world, and no one thought that the war would break out under such circumstances, and what is even more ridiculous is that it was actually caused by the "misfire" of the naval guns on the US warships, but this is too much of a coincidence, right?
The governments of Europe and the United States quickly convened an urgent meeting, and after a brief communication, Britain, France, and the United States successively sent reports to the fleets in Tonkin Bay, and at the same time sent telegrams to the embassy in China and the Chinese Foreign Ministry to make representations. But they never expected that in less than half an hour, the troops and fleets in Tokyo Bay would lose contact.
The Prime Minister's Office in Downing Street, England, was in chaos, and there were constant expletives.
In a lounge, Baldwin and Churchill were talking with a solemn face.
"Churchill, what do you think of the loss of contact with the fleet in the Gulf of Tonkin?"
Churchill frowned and said, "There is a lot of bad luck." If it is said that there is a problem with the radio, more than a dozen warships are equipped, and it is impossible for all of them to have problems. There is only one explanation, and they are finished. It's a pity. "He used to be Lord of the Navy, he had huge connections in the Admiralty, and he was quite well-informed.
Baldwin frowned, "Impossible, right? In a short period of time, can the Chinese destroy a dozen warships? β
Churchill said lightly: "Nothing is impossible. The Chinese have the ability to make fortress guns. After so many days of confrontation, perhaps the Chinese have already secretly deployed fortress guns to target warships at the dock. Moreover, the Sino-Japanese naval battle can also show that Chinese planes can blow up and sink warships, and if the Chinese dispatch enough aircraft, they can also do it. β
Baldwin's face was very ugly: "Are the Chinese ready to provoke a war over this?" β
Churchill thought for a moment and said, "I don't think so, do I?" After all, neither the Chinese nor we are ready, the problem lies with the Americans. One of the orders issued by the Chinese Ministry of National Defense states that when troops face an attack or aggression, they must immediately counterattack and report later. What we should consider now is whether there will be a local war or a real full-scale war. β
Baldwin mused for a while, "Our preparations are not yet in place. There was not enough time for the Anglo-Indian regiment to train. An all-out war at this time would be detrimental to the Empire. On top of that, McDonald's damn thing won't resign. Churchill, this war must be won under the leadership of our Conservatives, do you understand? β
Churchill could only smile wryly. He is a member of the Conservative Party. Of course, he hoped that the Conservative leadership would orchestrate what he thought was a winning war. But as an Englishman. He felt ashamed and even disgusted by this kind of behavior at this special moment, but still fighting for power and profit for their respective interest groups.
"Yes!" That's all Churchill could answer.
Almost all the diplomatic embassies in Nanjing, China, were stunned by the news from the domestic government that there was a war in the Gulf of Tonkin.
British Ambassador Smith, French Ambassador FranΓ§ois Hollande, American Ambassador Conger, and ambassadors from many countries rushed to the British Embassy to discuss at the first time. Some ambassadors were even more indignant.
"Damn, the Chinese actually dare to fight back?"
"Are they looking for death?"
Don't they know that this is against the whole world? Do they want to challenge the whole world? A bunch of maniacs. β
Smith and Hollande looked at Conger with solemn faces, and Smith said solemnly: "Your Excellency Conger, everyone said that your American warship fired first, you must tell us honestly, is this your intention, or is it an accident?" β
"Damn it." Conger said depressedly, "Of course it was an accident. We, the United States, are still mobilizing, and we are not ready for it, so how can we deliberately open fire? β
Hollande's face was unusual, and he said in a deep voice: "But the domestic telegram says that the fleet has lost contact. I think you all know what that means? The question now is, how should we deal with this matter, how do countries decide within their countries, and we must speak in unison. Is it a local war, an armistice, or a full-scale war? β
Conger said bitterly: "At present, we are not fully prepared, and the country believes that the time has not yet come for a full-scale war." β
Smith breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Okay then. Next, let's ask the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. β
Hollande also breathed a sigh of relief, as long as it was not a full-scale war, everything else could be discussed. You must know that the British and French colonies are directly exposed to the guns of China's huge army, and they have huge interests in Southeast Asia, unlike the United States, although there is a Philippines, but the United States mainland has a Pacific Ocean from China.
The huge fleet of the British, French, and American combined fleets is temporarily anchored in Da Nang, and when you look at the dense warships, you can feel that they are powerful, extremely powerful, and they can no longer find other words to describe them. Countless warships and countless naval guns all reveal an indescribable majesty.
At this time, the captains of the ships left the ships one after another and came to the temporary headquarters prepared by the French on the shore for a meeting, and some of the officers did not know what was happening, and seemed inexplicable. Of course, there are also well-informed people who are explaining to those who don't know.
"How is that possible? Lost contact? Admiral Evel, commander of the British Far East Fleet, Admiral Kate, commander of the Pacific Fleet of the US Navy, and Admiral Billy, commander of the French Far East Fleet, were all furious when they met and informed each other of the telegrams coming from their respective countries.
Admiral Iver roared fiercely: "Damn the Chinese, we must pay a heavy price for them." War, we must punish the Chinese with war, and use their blood to honor our Royal Navy officers. "A dozen warships just disappeared. Add in a few thousand Marines, and that's a shame.
Admiral Kate said in a deep voice: "Of course we all want to teach the Chinese, they are too rampant." It's just that whether to go to war or not still needs to be decided domestically. β
French Admiral Billy said: "No matter what, we must first prepare for war as much as possible, and we must not let the Chinese fly like this." Looking at their behavior, they simply think of themselves as the world's number one superpower. β
"Kill the Chinese!" The crowd of officers did not know who shouted, which caused many officers to shout one after another.
"Boom" An explosion was heard in the air in the distance, startling everyone.
"Damn it. What's going on? "As a landlord. Admiral Billy cried out in exasperation. But before he could finish speaking, he heard a terrible air raid siren, which surprised all the officers, and the officers by the window looked out of the window. I saw two fireballs falling towards the military port. It appears to be a patrol aircraft from the French base in Da Nang. Because when they came, they saw French planes patrolling, and a number of warplanes with a metallic sheen whizzing towards them.
"Airplanes! Chinese planes! The officer by the window shouted, causing chaos at the temporary headquarters.
Admiral Evel, commander of the British Far East Fleet, Admiral Kate, commander of the US Navy's Pacific Fleet, and Admiral Billy, commander of the French Far East Fleet, quickly glanced at each other. They all saw the shock in each other's eyes, and they knew that last year there was an incident that the world's navies remembered and hated, that is, the Chinese plane was able to sink the battleship, which the navy considered to be the most powerful weapon in the world, and now the Chinese plane actually came to Da Nang and directly shot down the patrol plane, and everyone could feel the pressure and killing from the air.
"Quick! Immediately return to the warship and organize air defense! The three navy bosses all howled at the first moment.
More than a hundred officers rushed out of the headquarters, and they saw a dense black group of planes in the sky.
"Oh God!" Admiral Billy was so shocked that his mouth couldn't close his mouth, although he couldn't count them, but as a high-ranking officer's sensitivity to visual inspection, he could roughly judge at a glance that there were at least five or six hundred planes on it. And at this moment, he saw that a group of Chinese fighters had begun to dive, and this wave of attacks was not aimed at the warships, but it made him horrified: "Damn, they are going to destroy the airfield of the base." β
However, his shouts did not save the airport, and within a minute he saw a fierce explosion in the direction of the airport.
Since it was an air attack, there was no doubt that the airfield was the first target, and only by destroying the enemy's planes could air supremacy be ensured, and the follow-up planes could bomb the enemy to their heart's content. Although the first target of the attack was the airfield, the Chinese attack group was so large that the other attack groups were only a short time slower than the attack on the airfield.
The sound of sharp aircraft diving and the grim air defense sirens of the military port were intertwined, making the entire Da Nang base look like nine hells, and the people were panicked, and there were a chaotic string of officers and men everywhere, even the officers and men on the warships were panicked without command.
The battleships that were neatly moored in the military port were like bombing targets that had been placed one after another. The roaring almost vertical swooping down fighter planes dropped huge bombshells one after another, and then quickly pulled up like a light swallow and rushed into the sky, and the warships below immediately erupted into the flames of violent explosions like volcanic eruptions, one after another, the warships turned into huge fireballs, and the parts of the warships that exploded and shattered were intertwined into a devastating steel storm, and countless officers and soldiers were instantly cut and disintegrated by the steel storm, turning into a sky full of minced flesh and blood mist
Miller was among them, and the moment he saw China's huge fleet of aircraft, his face instantly turned pale, and he rushed in the direction of his warship like crazy. As he ran, he listened to the violent explosions, and saw the warships collapse, break, and destroy in the violent explosions, and his heart became cold little by little, and sure enough, he saw a small formation of six planes swooping down in the direction of his William, and couldn't help but shout: "Air defense! β
As if hearing his roar, the 12 anti-aircraft machine guns sprayed tongues of fire into the sky, and a fighter plane that dived down towards the William was shot in all directions on the spot, and the plane was loaded down, and the bombs that fell were also deflected, and the bombs exploded more than 20 meters away from the William, stirring up a monstrous column of water.
However, the other warships were not so lucky, and the other five planes were very accurate in hitting the target, and the violent explosion almost stained half of the sky, and the flying steel shards caused many casualties among the naval officers and sailors on the deck of the William.
"Make a fire, pressurize !!" Miller then yelled at the warship, charging even more frantically towards it. He was very glad at the moment that his detachment had made a trip to the South China Sea, otherwise his warship would have been destroyed as soon as possible, just like other warships, without any defense.
He knew that the combined fleet was finished, and whether it was bombing by planes or launching aerial torpedoes, there was absolutely no chance of sparing such a moving target. It is ridiculous that the domestic government and the Combined Fleet actually thought that it would take at least a year for the Chinese to return to the war, but the war was just around the corner, and the price was the destruction of the Combined Fleet.
Miller doesn't want to die, at least he doesn't want to die like this, he doesn't want to be really left by Chinese, he still has to compete with the Chinese naval officer Sa Shijun, and there is a real naval duel (to be continued......
PS: Three more words, I didn't break my promise. I also hope that you will support and recommend it. Thank you