On the evening of July 18, 1923. In the East China Sea, night has gradually begun to fall, and a fleet of more than a dozen warships is plowing white waves on the sea. At the heart of this fleet are four Kongo-class battlecruisers! There were also eight destroyers of 1,000 tons patrolling around them for protection.

This is the Second Fleet of the Japanese Navy, which hurried from the Amur Bay near Vladivostok. Although the Japanese army has suffered defeats in successive battles, the Japanese navy firmly controls the sea supremacy along the coast of China, and the four battle cruisers here alone are enough to send the entire Chinese navy to the bottom of the sea! Novel chapters are updated the fastest

Vice Admiral Kantaro Suzuki walked slowly along the corridor on the right side of the ship on the right side of the ship, making a few stretching and relaxation movements from time to time. It looks laid-back, but the eyebrows are tightly locked. He was worried about his younger brother, Takao Suzuki, the commander of the Army's 14th Division, even though the Army was firmly blocking every unfavorable news. But before leaving the Amur Bay, he still heard from Terauchi Shouichi that the 13th Division and the 14th Division were attacked by the main force of the Chinese army in the Phoenix Mountains of Liaoning Province, China! It was also known that Takao Suzuki's division headquarters was surrounded by Chinese troops. I wonder if they will be able to hold out until the day when the navy will win the battle in Shanghai and force the Chinese government to sue for peace!

And for the Shanghai operation, Kantaro Suzuki is not particularly optimistic. In the past two years, the Japanese Navy has been paying attention to the deployment of the squadron in Shanghai all the time! Photographs of the two large fortresses at Wusongkou and Gaoqiao were placed on the desk of every Japanese admiral. From the analysis of the appearance of the fortress, I am afraid that the 305mm caliber naval guns will not move. At least 356mm caliber naval guns were to be used for shelling at closer distances. However, the distance between these two fortresses and the mouth of the Yangtze River is more than 30 kilometers, and it is difficult to reach even the 410mm main gun of the Nagato. If they were to be destroyed with naval artillery, it would be necessary to let the precious battleships and battle cruisers penetrate deep into the Yangtze River estuary...... I really don't know how many mines and torpedo boats are ambushed there! The Battle of Gallipoli in the European War. The British had four battleships or battlecruisers heavily damaged and sunk! Hopefully, the Battle of the Yangtze River Estuary will not turn into a second Gallipoli Campaign. ""Novel chapters are updated the fastest

Kantaro Suzuki sighed softly, and as soon as he stopped, he saw Mitsumasa Yonechi, the chief of staff of the Second Fleet, standing beside him and waiting. Suzuki asked in a low voice, "Minuchi-kun, is there something wrong?" ”

"Your Excellency, the battleship Nagato has transferred the latest battle briefing." Mitsumasa Yonechi had a sad expression on his face. A thin dossier was presented in both hands. Kantaro Suzuki suddenly chuckled in his heart, took it and opened it to see that there was a yellow copy newspaper inside. There were a few simple sentences written on it.

"The 13th Division, 14th Division, 19th Division, 20th Division, etc. Although they carried forward their bravery, they still could not withstand the superior firepower and strength of the enemy army. After a few days of hard fighting, I regretted defeat. Casualties and missing persons have not yet been fully counted. It is estimated at more than 80,000 people! In addition, the commander of the 13th Division, Lieutenant General Inoue Kitaro, was missing, and the commander of the 14th Division, Lieutenant General Tadao Suzuki, was martyred......"

"Four divisions were lost in one day!" Kantaro Suzuki let out a low exclamation of surprise. Although he had long been mentally prepared for the army's defeat, he definitely didn't expect the army's defeat to be like this!

Four divisions at full strength. There are more than 100,000 people in total! Now the losses reported by the army itself alone have exceeded 80,000. If you take into account the practice of concealing losses, these four divisions are almost broken! Coupled with the 10th Division in Shuangcheng Ziyu a few days ago, in just over a month, the Japanese Army actually lost 5 divisions! And 8 more divisions were cut off from the logistics line...... If it ends up in pieces, will this war be salvageable?

Kantaro Suzuki, who had finished reading the telegram, stood there, his face was pale, and he didn't speak for a long time. Mitsumasa Yonechi frowned, not knowing how to comfort his bereaved boss. And at this time, neither Japanese devil thought of it. Not far from them, two pairs of greedy eyes were looking through binoculars on the four precious battlecruisers of the Japanese Second Fleet!

"One, two, three, four...... Good boys. It's all King Kong-class battle cruisers, 400,000 Chinese dollars! Now we're going to make a fortune! ”

Of course, it was Major Jiang Mosan, the captain of the Chinese Navy's submarine No. 001, who spoke. His No. 001 submarine and another No. 002 submarine are now guarding the straight line of the Japanese Second Fleet to the mouth of the Yangtze River, and they have really been caught!

Feng Yundong and Jiang Mosan were still standing side by side on the barrel bridge of the submarine, and the two of them were smoking together, and by the way, they made a cameo appearance as a lookout, but they didn't expect to really show them the iconic British triangular mast of the King Kong-class battlecruiser.

"Mo San, let's be realistic! Four King Kong-class submarines and our two submarines can't deal with them no matter what. Feng Yundong took a long puff of cigarette. It's good to be able to sink one, hit one of them with all 16 torpedoes, and slip away as soon as it's done. ”

Jiang Mosan just shook his head. "It's a pity, it's a pity...... Our submarine brigade has only two E-class submarines, and if we can have twenty of them, these four Japanese battlecruisers will be able to wrap it up! The Battle of Shanghai could have been won without fighting. Chairman, let's not be willing to buy a few more? ”

Feng Yundong glared at Jiang Mosan angrily. "You kid thinks a submarine is a cruiser or a destroyer! That's a good thing that money can't buy! The British are willing to sell us two of them, which is already a support for us...... France and Germany have made alliances with us, and thirty artillery regiments have been given to us for nothing, but they refuse to sell submarines to us! You know why? It's for fear of offending Britain and the United States! What these two naval hegemons oppose the most is the development of submarines by a weak naval country like ours. So this treasure can only be built by yourself, and you can't buy a few by buying. ”

Jiang Mosan leaned into Feng Yundong's ear and asked in a low voice with a grin, "Brother Yizhi, is there any inside information?" Does our chairman have any plans to vigorously develop submarines? Xiaodi, I want to be promoted, but I want to go crazy, if this submarine is not expanded. My little brother is about to learn to fly an airplane! Did you know that three 27,000-ton aircraft carriers are preparing to start construction, and the first draft of the design plan has already come out. The Naval Command Department and the Air Force General Directorate are organizing a manpower assessment...... The captain of this aircraft carrier is at least a rear admiral! ”

"Damn, you kid is thinking about the beautiful things of getting promoted and getting rich." Feng Yundong scolded with a smile. "There are a lot of admirals and lieutenant generals in the navy, and the captain of the aircraft carrier can take the turn of our juniors?"

Jiang Mosan threw away the half-smoked cigarette in his hand, and said with a smile: "If you have to speak on military merits, our chairman has clear rewards and punishments." ”

"Then don't bother, hurry down and prepare for battle!" Feng Yundong also threw away his cigarettes, picked up the walkie-talkie on the bridge and ordered loudly: "Discover the Japanese fleet!" Four battle cruisers. Inform the enemy to No. 002, pull the battle alarm, and dive urgently! ”

"Woo, woo, woo......" The shrill siren immediately sounded in the cabin of 001.

"Dive! Urgent dive! Jiang Mosan and Feng Yundong jumped into the cabin from the submarine's lifting hatch one after the other. He was followed by the sailors at the surveillance post, and the last to come down was the officer on duty, who slammed the door of the elevator and tightened the sealing wrench.

At this time, the submarine had turned into an underwater killer with fangs exposed, and Jiang Mosan, who had entered the combat post, had no square grinning expression on his face. The expression was extremely solemn. Begin to give orders out loud.

"The Japanese fleet was discovered, with four Kongo-class battle cruisers, approaching in our direction at a speed of 15 knots and coming into torpedo range in about 45 minutes! Immediately notify the 002 boat, the target is the lead ship of the enemy battlecruiser formation, fire all torpedoes, and leave the battlefield immediately after completing the mission. Return to Qingdao Port. ”

"Yes!" The Communications Officer replied aloud.

"Now dive to periscope level

to keep sailing horizontally. ”

"It's the captain." The horizontal helmsman agreed.

At this time, the Japanese Second Fleet was still sailing on the ocean more than 20 kilometers away. It was already dark. There was also a drizzle on the sea, and all the lookout posts did not notice the two Chinese submarines more than 20 kilometers away, and the entire formation was still moving in the direction of the mouth of the Yangtze River at a cruising speed of 15 knots. Contrary to the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force, which has a strong anti-submarine warfare capability in later generations, the Japanese Navy, which is currently the third largest in the world, has no anti-submarine capability at all, and it does not have this string in its head. If the top brass of the Chinese Navy are now living in the period of the First Sino-Japanese War, then the leaders of the Japanese Navy are living in the Russo-Japanese War, and their minds are full of fantasies about seizing sea supremacy with a decisive battle of the fleet like the Battle of Tsushima. Before the war began, they spent 60% of Japan's military spending on expensive capital ships, but they were reluctant to import a few active sonars to install on those expensive naval warships.

And now, it's time for the Japanese Navy to pay for their backward tactical thinking!

"Raise the periscope!"

The periscope of submarine No. 001 slowly rose, and General Jiang Mosan's hat was pulled diagonally, and his eyes were pressed against the periscope. The huge formation of Japanese ships was still moving at a speed of 15 knots, without changing course and not accelerating. It seems that he did not find himself and Boat 002.

At this time, the torpedo chiefs of the two Chinese submarines and their subordinates were nervously preparing for the launch of the torpedoes. At present, the torpedoes of the Chinese Navy are all produced by the British shipyard in Shanghai, and the production technology comes from the British, which is not advanced at all, that is, the most common torpedoes that use thermal power and trigger fuses. The various performance indicators are mediocre, and after launch, they will be discovered by opponents because of the large number of bubbles generated by the air flow leaking from the tail. However, this kind of unadvanced torpedo is very, very reliable, as long as the aim is accurate enough, the operation is correct, and the distance is close enough, it can generally hit, and if it hits, it will explode.

Four 18-inch torpedoes were mounted on the mine heads, and the launch tubes were advanced at a fixed depth. After getting the report of the torpedo chief, Jiang Mosan once again raised his periscope to observe the position of the Japanese fleet and adjusted the course depth. Then he ordered: "Sail at five knots, move slowly, and be careful not to speak loudly." ”

Since it was not the first time to participate in actual combat, the young Chinese submariners in each cabin were not too nervous. However, this time they are not facing Japanese merchant ships, but the powerful Japanese main fleet!

The periscope rises again. The Japanese fleet came from a distance, and the distance between it and the 001 boat was already less than 5 nautical miles!

Jiang Mosan carefully observed the formation of the Japanese fleet. It is the most standard anti-submarine formation, but the number of destroyers escorted is insufficient. There were only eight of them, located on either side of four battle cruisers. Jiang Mosan couldn't help but be overjoyed, such a guard would not play a role at all!

Feng Yundong saw the expression of his junior brother. Just know that there is a play! He held back his excitement and asked softly, "How is it, are you sure?" ”

Jiang Mosan replied: "You will definitely be able to hit, and whether you sink or not depends on luck." ”

"It's going to sink! Be sure to sink! Feng Yundong gritted his teeth and said. That's the King Kong that attacked the chairman's ship! ”

……

At this time, on the battlecruiser Kongo, the captain of the ship, Koichi Kishii, was standing in the bridge, and he suddenly remembered his predecessor Sekigan Dasa. He and he were graduates of the same class as the Etajima Naval Academy. And the "hammocks" are relatively high, if it weren't for the "King Kong incident" that was so unlucky. Maybe you can become a general in the navy, right? But now he has been sentenced to death by a military court on a crime of great rebellion...... Crown Prince Hirohito didn't come out to say a word, did he want to watch his loyal ministers die like this?

Koichi Kishii, who was not in the mood, paced up and down the bridge. The first mate Kondo Nobutake on the side saw the sad face of Idataka Daisa, and comforted him in a low voice: "Your Excellency the captain." Recently, the morale of the whole ship has improved, and the effects of the Kongo incident have gradually passed. ”

"yes!" Koichi Kishii sighed and said, "More than half of the officers have been arrested, which makes people panic, why is there any need?" Who doesn't know what this incident is meant by the palace? Alas......"

Kondo Nobutake also sighed and said, "Your Excellency. I know you don't understand what is done in the palace. But you should know that everything done in the palace is for the empire and the people...... As courtiers, we have to follow us. ”

Koichi Kishii shook his head, and was about to say something, when he heard a sound of footsteps. Vice Admiral Kantaro Suzuki, commander of the Second Fleet, had already finished his walk and walked in side by side with Mitsumasa Yonechi, the chief of staff of the fleet.

"Didn't find anything out of the ordinary, did you?" Kantaro Suzuki asked.

"Your Excellency, Commander, one qiē is normal." Koichi Kishii replied. How did he know that at this time, under the murky waters, there were two blue-gray E-class submarines lurking quietly. They are like two assassins hiding in the dark. Just wait for the target to come into their range.

"The battle cruiser Kongo is 2,600 meters away from our boat! Speed 15 knots, direction southwest! Jiang Mosan glanced back at Feng Yundong, the commander of the submarine force who went out with the 001 boat. Seeing that the other party lowered his head heavily, he suppressed his excitement and ordered: "Direction 023, the target enemy King Kong battlecruiser!" The torpedo is set at a depth of 2 meters, fired slowly, and torpedoes No. 1 to No. 4 are fired in a fan shape! Preparation...... Shoot one! Shoot two! Shoot three! Shoot four! ”

The hull trembled slightly, and the torpedo chief's voice sounded from the loudspeaker: "Report, the torpedo has been fired!" ”

"The torpedo compartment was immediately filled with water, and the torpedo was loaded for the second time!" Jiang Mosan then ordered again. The E-class submarine was a product of World War I, and its firepower could not be compared with that of the later submarines in World War II, and it could only fire four torpedoes at the same time, which was probably not enough to kill the Kongo. So it was necessary to risk being attacked by Japanese destroyers for a second round of torpedo attacks.

Soon the torpedo chief's voice came again. "The torpedo is ready and ready to be fired!"

"Azimuth 023, Target Kong! Fixed depth 2 meters, launch! ”

There was another slight tremor in the hull, and four more torpedoes were fired from the torpedo tubes of submarine No. 001 in turn!

"Lower the periscope! Urgently dive to 30 meters and evacuate quickly! ”

The submarine slowly turned away, Feng Yundong and Jiang Mosan held a stopwatch in their hands and watched the time pass by second, and their foreheads were already sweating profusely. Just when the two almost thought that the torpedo was empty. "Boom ......" two explosions in quick succession, followed by three dull explosions. This proves that at least five torpedoes hit enemy ships.

"Hit!" Just when the sailors in the submarine cheered loudly. The sound of a booming explosion sounded again, it was supposed that the torpedo fired by the submarine No. 002 hit the enemy ship!

"Raise the periscope!" In the periscope, Jiang Mosan clearly saw that there was a raging flame on the battle cruiser King Kong, and the stern of the ship was obviously sinking, and it seemed that a large amount of water had been flooded! One of the destroyers escorting the King Kong was desperately throwing depth charges into the sea, but it was obvious that the two submarines of the Chinese army were not spotted, and they were just throwing them indiscriminately.

Putting down the periscope, Jiang Mosan let out a long breath and smiled proudly. "The King Kong is finished, it will definitely sink, we have made a great contribution here!"

And in the bridge of the battlecruiser King Kong, which was not far from them, the whole thing was already in chaos! The captain Koichi Kishii, whose face was covered in blood, didn't care about bandaging, so he asked loudly about the damage.

"Your Excellency, Captain! There are 8 torpedoes in this ship! Two in the middle of the port side, three in the stern of the port side, one in the bow of the starboard side, one on the amidships, and one on the stern...... The bow oil tank was hit, and the fuel leaked a lot! The stern rudder is destroyed! The power compartment was shot, and the sea water is pouring in! The hull is tilted...... Your Excellency, the Kongo is sinking! (To be continued.) )