576 Chiang Kai-shek's Xi'an Incident: The whereabouts of Japanese battleships

"Commander Commander"

Meng Hailong, chief of staff of the Beiyang Fleet, took the telegram sent by the communications staff officer and shouted after reading it.

"The aviation command reports that they ...... The three Japanese warships were not found, and they pounced, and the Japanese warships had already left the sea off Qinhuangdao, and their whereabouts were unknown."

There is a distance of nearly 250 kilometers from the three large airports on the Shandong Peninsula to the sea off Qinhuangdao, and it is 500 kilometers to come and go, and the A2A dive bomber has to fly for almost two hours, and then counting the time for overhauling and installing bombs, the interval between the two bombings is at least three hours, which means that these three battleships and battlecruisers can run up to 60 nautical miles, that is, 111 kilometers

"What?" Zhao Zheng, who was walking around in front of the chart platform with his arms crossed, was stunned when he heard this, and only muttered after a while: "What about the report of the submarine force?" Did you spot any Japanese battleships? ”

"There are no reports of this." Meng Hailong walked to the chart table, pointed to a few small submarine models on the chart, and said: "A total of twenty-four submarines are approaching from the southeast, northeast, and south; In addition, we have three detachments of torpedo boats, a total of nine torpedo boats to cooperate with submarine operations, and it should be impossible for a big guy like a battleship and a battle cruiser to slip through. ”

"And where did they go?" Zhao Zheng stared at the chart platform for a while, and suddenly sneered: "Could these little devils be desperate for the future, so they sank into Bohai Bay?" The water was cool enough for the past two days. ”

"Self-sinking? Probably not, right? ”

"So where did they go? Plug in your wings and fly away? What about HNA's reconnaissance aircraft? What are they for? ”

"This ...... HNA's reconnaissance planes all hung up bombs to bomb Lushunkou. ”

"What is really wrong in the busy, hurry up and order the reconnaissance planes to dispatch, you must find the Japanese battleship for me, if you don't find it by night, it will be troublesome." Zhao Zheng scratched his head, and it was he who gave the order to let dozens of reconnaissance bombers of the Navy hang bombs to bomb Lushunkou. Because the two armored cruisers of the Japanese hid in the mouth of Arthur, the F2B fighters of the Navy and the A1B of the Air Force carried too few bombs to sink these two big guys, so Zhao Zheng sent out all the A2B2 reconnaissance bombers that could be used as bombers part-time. I didn't expect that the three Japanese battleships and battle cruisers off the coast of Qinhuangdao would slip away after shelling Qinhuangdao and Shanhaiguan......

"Commander Zhao." The German adviser Lysteyan didn't know when he came up, and after looking at the charts for a while, he pointed in the direction of Tianjin: "The Japanese should go there." The three large warships cannot be hidden in the small pond of Bohai Bay, and the submarines and torpedo boats in the southeast, northeast, and south are not blind and deaf, and I estimate that they can only turn southwest to Tanggu. ”

"To Tanggu?" Zhao Zheng and Meng Hailong glanced at each other, both with incredulous expressions. What did the Japanese battleships go there for? Shelling the urban area of Tianjin? Can't reach it? At most, it is to bombard Tanggu, are they going to destroy the Red Navy in Tanggu Port? How many pads are on the verge of death?

"Send a telegram to Jinan and tell the assistant commander that the Japanese fleet may go to Tanggu to make trouble."

Zhao Zheng thought about it for a while, but decided to hand over the problem. Dealing with GCD is very troublesome, maybe it will be suspected of a "G-pass", and the throne of the commander of the Nanyang Fleet will be gone, that is the real main force of the Kuomintang Navy, and the two motherships are now incorporated into the Nanyang Fleet, and in the future, all battleships, armored ships, and aircraft carriers that will be put into active service in the Navy will also be incorporated into the Nanyang Fleet. Moreover, the commander of this fleet has been vacant, and everyone knows that this is reserved for the elites of the first phase of Haida? With Zhao Zheng's current exploits in annihilating Japan's First Foreign Fleet, this position is most likely his.

……

In the sea off Tanggu, there is not even a seagull on the yellow sea surface in winter, and the sky and water are all chaotic colors, a bleak and solemn scenery. There are several Chinese offshore fishing boats with horn sails and a draft of about 400 materials at most, rolling nets on the sea. Although there has been a lot of artillery fire in the Bohai Bay in the past two days, these fishermen along the coast of Zhili seem to know nothing about the war, and they are stunned to drive twenty or thirty nautical miles away to catch fish. And in the waters within a radius of hundreds of miles, there are many such fishing fleets waiting for the same. The sailors on the ship, whose skin was tanned and shiny, were all dressed as fishermen. But the mind seems to be completely out of the net under them. Their eyes are all focused on one direction, the East.

In the past few days, quite a number of Kuomintang destroyers and torpedo boats from Longkou and Laizhou have patrolled this sea area, and there have also been transport ships passing through the Shandong Peninsula and Huludao. But overall, the sea is calm. These sailors relied on Caofeidian to rest and recuperate, and they had been here for many days. They were naturally the officers and men of the former Northeast Army and Navy, and now they were glorious Chinese workers' and peasants' Red Navy soldiers, who had left their gunboats and opened a search cordon on the sea for the soon-to-be-established Soviet Fatherland, guarding against a surprise attack by the Kuomintang reactionary navy at any time

Unlike the lifeless army of the Northeast Army, this nascent Northeast Army Navy has quite a fighting spirit, and in history they have made meritorious contributions in the Great War of Zhifeng and in the war against the Kuomintang reactionaries, and have also raided the port of Shanghai and sunk the Kuomintang cruisers. It was seized by the Kuomintang reactionaries, and after the two sides were reconciled and "united against Japan", the Kuomintang still refused to return it. For this reason, the Northeast Army and Navy were filled with righteous indignation, and they reciprocated the greatest friendship to the Kuomintang enemy, the GCD, and they were also the fastest troops in the entire Northeast Army system to complete the reorganization. Moreover, after the reorganization was completed, the nascent Red Navy was ready for everything, and as soon as the Kuomintang reactionaries provoked a civil war, they would rush forward without hesitation

A short, sturdy-looking man slipped off the mast with a huge eightfold Japanese military telescope around his neck. The eyes are bloodshot from long observations. Although the people had already descended to the deck, they were still looking eastward. One of the sailors below asked suspiciously, "Sir, have you found anything?" ”

The man glanced at him: "What kind of official is not official?" We are now in the Red Navy, not a reactionary army, do we still want to be officers? Calling Comrade Commander" and then sighed: "Nothing has been discovered, those Kuomintang reactionary destroyers have not appeared for two or three days, and it seems that the battle ahead is in full swing, and they can't get out of the way." These bad guys have robbed us of our flagship, and now we are finally going to suffer retribution, and I don't know if the 'Haiqi' will survive, if only it could come back. The soldiers under him just smiled, the result of the hard shock of the Kuomintang Navy and the powerful Japanese Navy was naturally the total annihilation, how could the Japanese let go of the cruiser "Haiqi"? Besides, even if the "Haiqi" escaped, it would be impossible for the Kuomintang to return it to the Red Navy. The comrade commander, dressed as a fisherman, seemed to know that he was talking in his sleep. Shaking his head, he sat down, picked up a hard cold steamed bun and gnawed it on the cold water.

The Red Navy was adapted from the former Northeast Army Navy, and the Northeast Navy of this time and space was slightly more powerful than in history due to the annexation of most of the ships of the former Beijing Government Navy. At present, there are three protective cruisers with a displacement of 2,950 tons, "Haichou", "Hairong", and "Haichen", two light cruisers with a displacement of 2,600 tons, "Zhaohe" and "Yingrui", as well as gunboats such as "Tong'an", "Yongxiang", "Chuyu", "Jiangli", "Dinghai", and "Weihai", in addition to a seaplane carrier "Zhenhai" with a displacement of 2,708 tons. With a total tonnage of more than 30,000 tons, before the rise of the South China Navy, it was the boss of China's various navies, but now it has been reduced to the point where people are blocked in ports and cannot get out, so they can only send some fishing boats to guard the sea. This time, the Red Navy mobilized about 50 or 60 large and small fishing boats, some of which were equipped with radio stations, to report to the "North Sea Fleet" in Tanggu, Tianjin, at any time the movements of Kuomintang and Japanese ships on the ocean. If, after the Kuomintang Beiyang Fleet was wiped out, the Japanese Navy would launch an attack on Tanggu, the Red Navy would also be ready to attack the superior Japanese Navy without hesitation.

At this time, suddenly a fishing boat not far away frantically signaled a light signal with several small mirrors. A sailor said loudly: "Comrade commander, there is a situation" The officer threw away the steamed bun in his hand, jumped on the mast again with his bare feet, and raised his binoculars to look east. I saw a few tall masts floating on the sea level, and a few thick thick smoke straight up to the sky, it was already noon, it was the time when the visibility on the Bohai Bay was the most peaceful, and you could even faintly see the Japanese Navy's Rising Sun Flag fluttering high From the tall and amazing mast and thick smoke column, such a capable Red Navy officer had already guessed that it was very likely that it was the battleship of the Japanese Navy, and it seemed that the Kuomintang Navy's Beiyang Fleet was finished...... There was absolutely no fluke, three battleships sailed into the Bohai Bay, each of which was enough to destroy the entire Beiyang Fleet, plus the small Red Navy fleet in which he was located

He slipped off the mast and jumped down, and ordered loudly: "Set up the radio antenna, send a telegram to the headquarters, and find three Japanese battleships, which are heading towards Tanggu at full speed, are there other ships that need to be further observed, and indeed the information will be sent after further observation" His forehead was covered with beads of sweat, and he muttered softly: "It's over, it's over, it's over...... China has no navy, no navy......"

……

When the news of the Red Navy's discovery of a Japanese battleship in the ocean east of Tanggu reached Zhongnanhai in Beijing, the leaders of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China were gathering in the West Flower Hall of Zhou Elai for a meeting to analyze the current situation of "the enemy, our friends, and our friends" and the possible outcome of the "Bohai Bay Operation." At the same time, various countermeasures were being discussed, and the conference room was full of smoke, except for Zhou Elai, all the Politburo members were holding cigarettes and smoking heavily, and the atmosphere in the room was a little gloomy. In the past two days, the Kuomintang and the Japanese have been engaged in an unprecedented joint naval and land operation, according to Soviet military adviser Cui Kov, the victory or defeat of this so-called "Bohai Bay Operation" is likely to be related to the ownership of hegemony in East Asia in the future, so the nature of the "imperialist struggle for hegemony" is not just, and it is not the same thing as the previous battle of western Liaoning in which the G Army and the Northeast Army resisted the Japanese imperialist aggression.

Although this war is not "just", its importance is clear to all the Politburo members present. Originally, the Politburo's vision for the War of Resistance in Northeast China was a "protracted war," which was also based on the judgment that Japan had sea supremacy, and that although the Kuomintang had a strong army, its navy was weak. With regard to Japan's reliance on naval superiority to break through into the Bohai Bay to fight, the Politburo's analysis is that the Kuomintang is very likely to passively avoid the war, and even withdraw its troops from western Liaoning to Shanhaiguan, seize Beijing and Tianjin, turn the War of Resistance into a civil war, and completely embark on the road of no return of surrender and betrayal.

However, the development of the matter was beyond everyone's expectations, and the Kuomintang reactionaries actually put up a posture of fighting the Japanese army in Bohai Bay and Liaoxi, and it seemed that they were carried away by the victory of the previous "Chaoyang Counterattack War", ignoring the Japanese army's numerical superiority and superiority in sea supremacy, and playing the wishful thinking of a quick victory...... Of course, the consequence must be a failure, no, it is not yet a day, it has already failed, and the Japanese navy is about to hit Tianjin

"What do you think about this?" Zhou Elai asked lightly: "Is it possible for our Red Navy to defeat them?" Comrade Xiang Ying: What is the current state of combat readiness of the Red Navy? ”

"Red Navy...... It is estimated that it is no match for the Japanese Navy. Xiang Ying was a little helpless, although he didn't understand the navy, but it was not difficult to analyze the strength of the Japanese Navy and the Red Navy, just count them on your fingers. At present, the total tonnage of the Red Navy is less than 30,000 tons, and the tonnage of the Japanese Navy's battleships alone exceeds 300,000 tons.

"Not only is it not an opponent, but I'm afraid that there is no possibility of even fighting." Xiang Ying frowned, and continued: "The telegram said that three battleships had been discovered, the thickness of the armor of the battleships was more than thirty centimeters, and our cruisers only had fifteen centimeters of naval guns, so they could not be injured at all. ”

"I think so, we should listen to the opinions of naval experts." Zhu D was the first to speak in favor, because he was born as a military general and knew very well that the complexity of military command could never be understood by a layman, especially the navy, a branch of the military with strong professional and technical skills.

Zhou Elai nodded slightly, and subconsciously glanced at the two empty seats in the conference room, which were the seats of GC International Advisor Mifu and Soviet Military Advisor Chuikov. Although the two of them are not members of the Politburo of China and G, they will attend the Politburo meetings of China and G as long as they are in Beijing. They were also notified of today's meeting, but I don't know why neither of them arrived at the meeting...... Otherwise, Zhou Elai would like to ask for the advice of Chuikov, who is different from Miff, he is a professional who is proficient in military affairs, and he will never interfere in the domestic affairs of Zhongg.

"Okay, Shiyan, you go and call back Shen Honglie and Li Zhilong first, just say that the central government completely trusts them, and let them decide." Zhou E thought about it for a while, and then instructed Zhao Shiyan, secretary general of the Central Committee, to send a telegram to the Red Navy in the name of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission.

As soon as Zhao Shiyan left, Zhou Elai sighed again: "It seems that the Kuomintang navy has been defeated, and I don't know if the Japanese will take the opportunity to land in Tianjin and come straight to Beijing?" Are we going to allow the supplies of the Kuomintang army to go north? And even allow them to deploy heavy artillery in Tianjin? As he spoke, he raised his head again and cast an inquiring look at Mao ZD, who was smoking a cigarette on the side.

"Our top priority now is to take Mongolia as soon as possible and open up international communication lines." Mao ZD did not answer this question directly, his expression was grim, and his eyes looked directly at Zhou Elai: "E, now the Kuomintang and Japan have started the idea of a quick victory, and no matter who wins or loses this war, it will be for our party...... will be a major challenge," his tone abruptly increased: "If the Kuomintang wins, they will seize the Northeast and become the hegemon of East Asia...... And we will be surrounded by the Kuomintang reactionaries. Conversely, if Japan prevailed, Northeast China would eventually fall into their hands, and the defeated Kuomintang reactionaries would compromise with Japan and recognize Pu Yi as the governor of the three northeastern provinces. This time, the Japanese aggression was also very hidden, they did not separate the northeast from China, let alone annex it directly, but fostered a local power. It was not without the possibility of compromise between all the Japanese and the Kuomintang. And after the Kuomintang reactionaries compromise with Japan, they are very likely to attack us."

Mao ZD's analysis chilled the Politburo members attending the meeting, and they all looked at him intently. Mao ZD's face appeared with a rare solemnity, his thick palms were clenched into fists, and he struck a heavy blow on the conference table, as if he was making a major decision in the next step: "Now the only way out is to immediately send troops to Mongolia, after seizing Mongolia, we will rely on the Soviet Union and control the Yellow River in the south, and the strategic room for maneuver will be greatly increased, and Mongolia can also become our passage in and out of the northeast, through which we can also try to control the resistance to the United Nations, and then slowly infiltrate the northeast." ”

At this moment, as soon as Mao ZD's words fell, there was a rush of footsteps outside the door of the conference room, and then Miff and Chuikov pushed the door and walked in, both of them with unconcealable excited expressions on their faces.

576 Chiang Kai-shek's Xi'an Incident: The whereabouts of Japanese battleships

576 Chiang Kai-shek's Xi'an Incident - The whereabouts of Japanese battleships, to the website