In the South China Sea, there is an isolated island called "Spratly Island".

The island is the fourth largest in the Spratly Islands. There are many seabirds on the island, and the eggs are all over the place. At the western end of the island is a well dug by Chinese fishermen decades ago, which contains fresh water for drinking.

Spratly Island is located on a table-shaped reef platform, nearly triangular, about 350 meters long from east to west, about 750 meters long from northeast to southwest hypotenuse, with an area of 0.15 square kilometers and an average altitude of 2.5 meters, the island is surrounded by sandy beaches, there are reefs formed on the beach, and inward is a sand bank, about 5.5 meters high, and the sand bank surrounds the low-lying reef part in the middle, with an altitude of 2.4 meters. At the northern end of the island, there is a cone-shaped reef with a height of 7 meters, while at the southernmost end there is another stone tower with a height of 5.5 meters. In the northeast of the island, there is a natural waterway extending into the edge of the island, with a depth of 14 meters, so it has become an excellent port in the southern sea area of Nansha Islands.

Although the Nansha Islands were included in the territory as early as the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, in fact, Spratly Island, like every island and reef in Nansha, began to name and erect plaques and survey nautical charts after the liberation of China last year, especially after the Surabaya incident, after the navy went south to protect overseas Chinese and chose the South China Sea as a training ground.

Half a year ago, all the islands and reefs in the South China Sea Islands were uninhabited, except for a naval telegraph station set up on Taiping Island, and soon after the declaration of war between China and Japan, a non-inhabited island of Nanwei Island came with a corporal, and he also brought five sailors. They now have a lighthouse and a watchtower to keep an eye on nearby ships.

Then, the island was set up with various other equipment. For example, a radio station was set up here, so a signal man, two communications technicians, and a communications worker were added to the island, along with six sailors from the watchtower, and finally an 88-millimeter naval gun was installed here.

What really brought the island into the Navy's eyes was that it was chosen as one of the anchorages for Navy destroyers after the Naval Staff had drawn up plans for it.

Later, despite the change of plans, it was chosen as the main berthing of the Navy's torpedo boat unit, and from that day on, with the help of merchant ships, the Navy's torpedo boat unit was completely poured out, and finally the Navy's torpedo boat unit waited for the last moment in the natural havens in the South China Sea.

"West wind, cloudless, clear sky"

"From 4 p.m., the westerly wind gradually increased, and the humidity on the sea surface increased"

As a naval soldier, Li Nanwen was not only responsible for guarding the ships passing in the vicinity from the watchtower, but also recording the weather here, which was eventually sent to the Admiralty and finally forwarded to the weather forecasting agency.

China's meteorology and meteorological administration began to develop when the Purple Mountain in Nanjing began to observe meteorology after the founding of the empire, and the meteorological society was established that year, and at the same time, the country began to be divided into 16 regions and began to start meteorological forecasting.

Since ancient times, weather conditions have been believed to be the one that can determine the fate of war. Therefore, after the declaration of war between China and Japan, the navy began to set up observation posts near the battlefield. Observation posts have also been set up in Tianjin, such as Taiwan, Nansha, Xisha and Dongsha, and eventually the data from these observation posts will be collected to the Navy's meteorological department, where meteorological experts hired from abroad will analyze and make corresponding forecasts.

It is precisely because of this that Li Nanwen needs to carefully record the weather changes every hour, and he understands that for himself, perhaps, this will be the greatest contribution he can make in this war that determines the fortunes of the country.

When I arrived at the barracks of the watchtower, I found that all the people were gathered together with serious expressions to discuss something. Ma Rufeng, the head of the watchtower, usually cares about him very much.

"Alright, it's fired"

After finishing speaking, he picked up a translated telegram from the table and handed it to Li Nanwen.

I took the newspaper and read it.

"The enemy fleet will pass from the 77 sea zone. Be vigilant"

In other words, the Combined Fleet will pass by the sea near Spratly Island.

"Ahh

Li Nanwen looked at the telegram in surprise.

"Sir, ......"

"We're going to be a battlefield here"

Ma Rufeng, who was standing there, looked more and more wrong, he took off all his clothes, and only a pair of shorts remained.

"You guys, come with me, hurry up and bring the oil drums, it won't be long before the torpedo boat unit will definitely be over, we can't afford to miss even a minute"

torpedo boat

The torpedo boat was never large, but the small torpedo boat was a kind of boat that frightened the enemy, and the sailors who sailed it.

The vast majority of torpedo boats, with steel ribs and wooden shells, even in this era of armored battleships, torpedo boats still adhere to wooden hulls, why use wooden hulls, because wooden hulls are light enough. ,

Torpedo boats, which are commonly used in various countries, are like a small sampan with a burning steam engine and carrying a chimney, carrying several torpedoes. Rushing to the side of the enemy's large ship with the determination to doom to the end, and then fleeing quickly after firing a torpedo, it will take considerable courage and luck to succeed.

For the Chinese Navy, the establishment and expansion of the torpedo boat force is actually a decision made in the face of weak coastal defense after the liberation, and for China, building a huge fleet in a short period of time requires too many risks, even if the country comes up with money, there are not enough naval officers and soldiers.

It is precisely because of this that the Navy will buy old merchant ships to transform training ships for training sailors at the same time, and design the most advanced torpedo boat of this era, a torpedo boat with a new power, diesel engine has become a magic weapon of the Navy, compared with the steam engine, the small diesel engine makes the torpedo boat can be built smaller, and the speed can be faster.

Smaller and faster, to some extent, means that torpedo boats can have more roles in naval warfare, but this kind of torpedo boats can only be used for coastal defense, in fact, the task of torpedo boats is also coastal defense, for the navy, torpedo boats are a navy short sword, for self-defense short sword

"Like a beggar"

Although the torpedo boat unit is the only kind of ship that uses diesel engines, the diesel engine does not make the sailors on the torpedo boats much cleaner than the uniforms on the coal-burning torpedo boat soldiers, and the oil pollution also makes these sailors always dirty, always coarse and light, and the living conditions are also very bad. This entails the danger of a big wave hitting and the rope breaking and falling into the sea.

But for the sailors of the torpedo boat unit, all this had no effect, and the only thing that supported them was the pride of daring to rush to the enemy ship with a dagger in hand and the ambition of Jing Ke to assassinate the king of Qin.

Since half a month ago, the Qianlei boats, which have been on standby in various Boning yards in the South China Sea, have been on guard for a long time, so the paint on the hull has peeled off, and if the navy flag is not hung on the stern, it can be regarded as a piece of rotten wood.

At 4:15 p.m. on the afternoon of 20 July, these torpedo boats, which were on standby at various Boning sites in the South China Sea, received an order to prepare for departure.

"All of them get up. Ready to depart"

Such an order was given from all the torpedo boats on the various moorings, and the sailors ran out of their tents, and at the same time they pulled up their anchors. The windlass rattled and the diesel engine started.

Then, in the typhoon shelters of the various islands and reefs, one after another, torpedo boats poured out of the mouth of the bay and rushed into the sea like sharp arrows against the waves.

When the torpedo boat sailed out of the haven, the wind and waves from the west wind blowing in the afternoon were too strong, and the giants* that could engulf the dinghy were constantly swept over, and the hull shook from side to side. The officers standing in front of the compass platform on the boat grabbed the pillar next to them with one hand and gave orders, and if they let go, they could be swept into the sea and hit by the waves continuously.

Although it was possible to wear a raincoat made of rubberized cotton cloth, because it could affect the movement during battle, almost all the officers were like the Chinese pirates who roamed the sea hundreds of years ago, with their trouser legs rolled high and shoe covers on their feet, and they also wrapped a towel around their necks to prevent the sea water from entering their necks.

The torpedo boats drilled in and out of the waves, and sometimes the propellers were exposed in mid-air, but the torpedo boats shuttling in the wind and waves did not slow down, and they all looked like they were desperate for their lives.

"The whole team accelerates to 30 knots, and the target is 77 nautical areas"

From the light signal sent by the first boat commanded by the captain, Tian Jianqiang read out the content of the signal, No. 77 sea area, from here, well, almost two hours away, and when you get there, the sky is already dark.

Looking up at the dark clouds in the sky, he wished that there would be no stars tonight, except that the wind would not blow strongly, and if the wind was a little lighter than it is now, then it would be a very suitable night, a night suitable for hunting.

"As soon as they get close to 300 meters, they will be out of luck"

Tian Jianqiang thought this in his heart: In the past many night attack exercises, facts have proved that as long as they are bold enough, they will definitely be able to approach within 300 meters. ,

At 18:45, the sky in the South China Sea was completely darkened, and there were only a few stars in the sky through the dark clouds.

The deafening sound of artillery, the flames of the cannons piercing the night, the burning warships that were enough to ignite the sea, the South China Sea was still boiling, and at night, the naval battles became even more intense.

After nearly two hours of pursuit, the distance between the Second Fleet and the Combined Fleet has been reduced from the initial ten kilometers to about 8 kilometers with the damage to many warships of the Second Fleet.

On the surface of the sea, shells from both sides of the enemy and enemy were constantly falling, and after boiling and tumbling, a hookah was stirred up. In particular, the twelve-inch shells of the Japanese Navy could stir up hookah that exceeded the height of the bridge and then fell on the deck like a waterfall. The sea was full of firing and explosions, and the sounds that tore through the atmosphere were like the sky was falling apart.

At this time, every ship of the Second Fleet is like it can't be sustained, and there is a scene of hell on earth everywhere, and the closer the distance, the greater the advantage of the Combined Fleet, at this time, the Second Fleet's seven ships are completely shrouded in flames, and Pingyuan, which is located at the tail of the fleet, will have already tilted to the left.

The "Pingyuan" was located behind the entire ship, and at this time, Shen Ziyang, whose military uniform had already been soaked with sweat, was already soaked in sweat.

"Shooting angle 12,......"

As an artillery officer, his post was the turret of the rear main gun, and he was responsible for directing the tail turret of the Pingyuan, and after completing this step, the loader had already begun to raise 10-inch shells from the ammunition magazine, and the gunners in the turret immediately got busy and began to load the shells into the cannon.

The rear main gun turret protruded a ten-inch cannon as well as the front. According to the convention, it should only be a sergeant who commands this kind of turret, but with the shortage of manpower caused by the rapid expansion of the fleet, Shen Ziyang, an artillery officer who will not even graduate for two years, has been assigned to this position.

"Sir, the loafer is malfunctioning"

After another volley, with a shout, the tail turret of the Pingyuan suddenly fell silent, the bomb machine malfunctioned, and the shells could not be transported.

"Xu Ling, troubleshoot immediately"

Shen Ziyang shouted, and a soldier at the end of the cannon immediately descended down the ladder.

"Others, hurry up and grab a bite to eat and drink some water"

Shen Ziyang roared in a hoarse voice, the naval battle that lasted for more than three hours had already made him tired, and now everyone was holding on here.

"An explosion occurred on the starboard side of the Hizen......"

The sound coming from inside the microphone made the exhausted crowd inside the turret laugh.

"We can win"

Shen Ziyang took the opportunity to mobilize, looking at the gunners who were blackened by the smoke of the cannonball, he himself, like them, had already become black.

"That's it, sir, we sank two of their battleships, two cruisers, and one cruiser, these are five warships, and we only lost three cruisers, so if we continue to fight, we can send the combined fleet into the sea without waiting for the First Fleet to arrive."

Each of them has enough reason to be proud, in terms of its strength, the Second Fleet is far inferior to the Combined Fleet, in terms of its quality is still inferior to the Combined Fleet, and even they are still in a lower position, but even so, the Second Fleet is still in the upper hand, at least in terms of sunk tonnage, the Second Fleet is indeed the victor.

"Quick, canvas, rubber pad ......"

When Xu Ling ran to the bottom of the ship immediately in order to troubleshoot, in the cabin, there was water everywhere, and the sailors were desperately rescuing the battleship there, and the Pingyuan had already entered the water, which he had never known in the turret, in the dim light, he could clearly see that the sea water was red, and there were even corpses floating in it.

"Let's ......"

Without a moment's pause, he shouted loudly, and after turning a corner, he entered the loaf machine through another explosion-proof door, and as soon as he entered the loaf machine, he saw the loaf machine stuck in the air, and at this moment, he suddenly heard an indescribable explosion sound above his head, which was so loud that even after the explosion, there was only a buzzing sound.

"It's a turret"

The black smoke from the elevator hole made him realize that maybe his turret had been hit, and he quickly ran back from underneath it, and when he returned to the turret again, he found that the turret was half gone. There was a sea of fire all around, and the place where he stepped on it was full of blood. Everywhere there were severed hands and feet, and some of the broken bodies were killed, except for the mortally wounded turret chief, who was still dying. ,

"Fight to the Death ...... Nothing"

The blood pool of Zhong Shen squeaked and shouted words that no one could understand, the turret was hit by a twelve-inch shell fired by the Japanese army, the Pingyuan was just a weakly armored cruiser, the top armor of his turret was not too thick, but in most cases, it would never be destroyed by the shell, but the twelve-inch shell happened to hit his weakest ventilation window, and then blew up the tail gun of the Pingyuan.

Because this warship is a warship of the Royal Highness, it is second only to the flagship "Dingyuan" in the blow.

Especially in the evening, in order to prevent the Second Fleet from escaping, the Japanese sent cruisers to block the enemy, and Cheng Biguang seized the opportunity to sink the armored cruiser "Azuma", and took advantage of the short opportunity to seize a favorable position.

Almost immediately after the pursuit began, a twelve-inch shell came at the Pingyuan, which hit the turret of the main gun in the front. The barrel of the gun was bent and the shrapnel flew in all directions, part of which flew towards the bridge, breaking the captain who was standing there and killing him instantly, and the shrapnel flying to the upper, middle and lower decks also killed and wounded seventeen others.

Then another eight-inch shell landed on the turret of the main gun in the front, which had lost its combat effectiveness, and the fragments from its explosion flew into the command tower, wounding the captain of the Pingyuan ship, Ding Mu, and the chief navigator. In addition, more than a dozen officers and sailors were beaten into blood. The warship, which had destroyed its main guns in the front, was like a magnet during the entire pursuit, constantly sucking in the enemy's shells.

In the entire course of pursuit, the attack on the Pingyuan even far exceeded that of Dingyuan, and after suffering nearly two hours of attack, the current Pingyuan has become a warship that may be sunk at any time under the constant attack of artillery fire.

"Aim the gun's guns until the last shell is fired"

The fragments of the previous shell broke his left abdomen from the back of his abdomen, and blood fell like rain from his large wound on the ship, but Ding Mu was still standing there, observing the enemy ship from a distance.

"Sir, water is coming into the boiler room...... Lost momentum"

"Immediately telegraph to the commander, Pingyuan wishes the fleet a safe return, and our ship will fight to the last breath"

Supporting his feet, Ding Muxing, who was completely red with blood from the left waist down, walked out of the command tower, and at this time Pingyuan was completely burning, while the secondary guns on both sides of Pingyuan were still firing, and the sailors on the deck were still trying to extinguish the flames on the ship.

"The warriors who have been recruited from hundreds of millions of compatriots have rushed to the enemy position on a warship, and those who have seen off have shook hands with those who have set off wordlessly, and the cold stars are on the top of the mast in the middle of the night, and we ...... Sailors, go out on the march today until the loyal soul floats across the ocean, until the empire is mighty......"

Humming the song in his throat, looking at the fleets that were gradually moving away and the combined fleets that were getting closer and closer, a smile appeared on Ding Mu's face, he first slapped his military uniform, and then even straightened his military hat.

Looking at the subordinates who were covered in blood beside them, looking at the young faces with determination in their eyes, everyone understood that the last moment was coming, and after a while, the combined fleet that pounced on them would use cannons and torpedoes to plunge Pingyuan into the sea, and perhaps, before that, they could buy ten minutes for the fleet.

"Captain"

"It is really an honor for Ding to go to the Martyrs' Shrine with all the gentlemen"

As he performed a standard British Navy salute, Ding Mu's body leaned forward slightly, as a sign of his respect for his comrades in front of him.

"It's a blessing to share the fate with the captain"

"Captain, Commander-in-Chief telegram"

The radio director, also covered in blood, ran over with a telegram.

"I wish the souls of the monarchs of the Pingyuan to return to the Loyal Martyrs' Shrine, and Cheng, as the second commander, will ask the military department to protect the Pingyuan and the navy."

A simple telegram, simple and cold words did not provide any comfort, and the same Ding Mu knew that at this time, there could be no comfort at all

"Okay, inform the brothers, let the Japanese see the ambition of the Chinese Navy"

At the last word, he almost screamed, and then a shout echoed from the bridge.

"Pingyuan"

"Our ship will fight to the last bullet"

Looking at the message, a wry smile appeared on the corner of Cheng Biguang's mouth. A sea breeze = wrapped in smoke from the crack into the bridge, dazzling and choking. He threw away the message.

This is the last telegram of the Pingyuan, and Pingyuan, who has lost its main guns, is now using what to resist the combined fleet, and there are only a dozen secondary guns.

The front and rear main guns were dumbed, many of the side guns were destroyed, and the burning Pingyuan had only seven 150-mm secondary guns left, and there was almost no way to fight back against the three Japanese armored cruisers that caught up, but only the remaining seven 150-mm secondary guns were still constantly firing shells at the enemy ships, and the artillery battle could not quickly resolve the battle, and the Japanese cruisers and destroyers that had caught up rushed forward to launch torpedo attacks.

At this time, Ding Mu on the bridge wiped the blood from his face, looked at the smoke rolling up into the air, and helplessly shouted with the microphone to the door of the engine room who insisted on pumping water.

"All of you pay attention and wear a life jacket".

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