The wind howled, the white waves were surging, and the waves more than a meter high were constantly lapping on the sides of the gray-black painted battleships, and the raindrops the size of beans were also mixed with the seawater, knocking on the hull deck of the "Izumo" from time to time.

It was 1 p.m., and the Third Fleet, which had departed from Taiwan, had now sailed to the surface of the East China Sea, less than 130 kilometers from Shanghai. As he approached his destination, his fleet was hit by a cumulonimbus cloud.

"The British and Japanese Yangtze River fleets in China were completely wiped out? Hasegawa Kiyoshi actually died? The cruiser Kanpur was captured with heavy damage? ”

Just now, Vice Admiral Mokutake Gengo, who was sitting on the flagship "Izumo" armored cruiser, received a telegram from the military headquarters, subconsciously thinking that the telegraph operator had mistranslated it, and after repeatedly checking the code, he had to accept this fact with a surprised expression.

Vice Admiral Gengo Hyakutake is the commander of the Japanese Third Fleet in Taiwan (Note: I wrote Hasegawa Kiyoshi above, the record is incorrect, Hasegawa Kiyoshi only served as the commander of the Third Fleet after 1936, and this bug I have fixed earlier).

Rather than being surprised that the red forces in South China had the courage to take the initiative to fire at the fleets of Britain and Japan, Hyakutake Gengo was more concerned about what kind of weapons they used to completely annihilate a total of 11 warships of the Yangtze River fleets of the two countries.

From a telegram from the Admiralty of Tongguò, the headquarters of the city, and information from the British, Momotake learned that the Red Army had placed large-caliber heavy artillery groups of about six inches on both sides of the Yangtze River, and opened fire without warning, annihilating both fleets in the Yangtze River in a very short time. In addition, they also mentioned the offshore cruiser "Pinghai" docked at the Jiangnan shipyard and the Ruijin and Jiujiang ships in the hands of the Red Army.

The armored cruiser Izumo where Vice Admiral Gengo Hyakutake was. It is an old ship that is more than 35 years old. After 1931, it was used as the flagship and training ship of the second-line troops. With a displacement of nearly 10,000 tons and two eight-inch twin guns as its main guns, as an armored cruiser, its protection was better than that of the "treaty heavy cruiser" line of this era, but it was extremely slow, only 20 knots. Due to the largest tonnage, in the Third Fleet, which was a second-line force, he nevertheless served the duties of a flagship.

After 1933, with the strong rise of the Southern Red Army in South China, the Japanese stationed the Third Fleet in Taiwan for a long time. to spy on the red regime on the other side. Before May 1935. The Third Fleet and the Taiwan garrison received instructions to be ready to send troops into Fujian at any time. It is closer to China than Japan itself.

According to the Japanese plan, the target of the landing of the Taiwan garrison was Hangzhou Bay in Zhejiang or Mawei Port in Fuzhou, Fujian. However, a series of actions by Lin Han in Japan disrupted the layout of the Japanese military headquarters. But compared to the messy homeland. The Taiwanese garrison did not suffer much impact. Although the death of the emperor was "shocking" to the Taiwan garrison. But they are alone on an isolated island in China. There is no local entanglement that is like fighting for power and profit. When the military department asked them to send troops, the Taiwan garrison still sent warships and requisitioned a landing force of 3,000 army troops in time.

However, due to the difference in speed, the army units all took slower passenger ships. Fell behind the Third Fleet, which was in advance. Only the soldiers of the Marine Corps, numbering about a thousand people, moved with the warship. Although the sailors' cabins on the resulting warships were crowded, the sailors were still tolerable with less than two days of sailing from Taiwan to Shanghai.

As for the news of the annihilation of the defenders of the Japanese Concession last night, because of the fact that the Japanese military department felt that the news was "too embarrassing" or "unbelievable," because of the fact that it was "too fast" to destroy the Japanese Concession Army, the commander of the Third Fleet, who was sailing to Shanghai at full speed for reinforcements, it had not yet been passed on to him, the commander of the Third Fleet, who was sailing at full speed for reinforcements.

His chief of staff, Eijiro Kondo, looked at the bright sky not far away, and said to Hyaktake Gengo: "Your Excellency, Commander, we are about to sail out of the rain belt. ”

Baiwu Yuanwu glanced at the sky, nodded and said, "I don't know what the weather is like over there in Shanghai now." According to past intelligence, the CCP forces in South China, which were secretly supported by the Soviet Union and even Germany, had an air force that was not weak. In September last year, a large number of planes from the Nanjing government defected directly. ”

The telegram from the base camp was vague about the process of the collapse of the Japanese and British Yangtze River fleets, and as an officer who came from the era of big ships and huge guns, Hyakutake Gengo also did not think that the air force was the nemesis of his fleet. It's just that in the process of landing in China, he also doesn't want to see "flies" "" on the head of his precious warship.

According to the news from the base camp, he could not find a working dock around Shanghai during his trip to Shanghai. This also meant that the soldiers on board his warships could only be transported in small batches in small boats, and they could land slowly and inefficiently around Shanghai.

The Marine Corps, in the eyes of the Japanese Navy, although it is a "heretic", is after all a "heresy" in its own family. Baiwu Yuanwu would rather let the army "red deer" who was pulling behind die than want his own family's "heresy" to suffer unnecessary losses.

When departing from Keelung, the Third Fleet dispatched the armored cruisers Izumo, Tenryu, and Tatsuda, in addition to eight destroyers, including Uji, Atakate, Saga, Toba, Hozu, Seta, and Hira, for a total of eleven warships. For the Red Navy at this time, this was a very formidable opponent, and this did not include the more powerful home fleet that would arrive in Shanghai tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

"Those red deer in the army will only do bad things, and what are the people in the Admiralty doing?"

Looking at the lagging intelligence, Hyakutake Gengo cursed in his heart, the news he got from the country, after the emperor's entire family was wiped out, the political situation in Japan was in chaos, the control faction in the army and the imperial faction were arguing endlessly over who to nominate the next emperor, and the navy and the army clashed opinions as usual, and the contradictions in Japan were so complex that they were like a mess of twisted flowers.

The emperor died suddenly, and all the contradictions that had been suppressed in the past now erupted at this moment. The Japanese government, which is in turmoil at home, is now on the issue of China. It's not "focused" enough. That's why yesterday afternoon, the Anglo-Japanese Combined Fleet was completely annihilated by the Red Army on the Yangtze River, but he, the commander of the Third Fleet, who rushed to support, did not get this information, which had been delayed for nearly a day, until he arrived in Shanghai.

At half past three in the afternoon, after the Izumo sailed out of the rain cloud area, another piece of bad news came.

"The Red Army occupied Hongqiao and Yangpu districts, our army was shattered, and the public concession surrendered."

This news immediately stunned Commander Baiwu Yuango.

The loss of the concession meant that the Red Army had completely taken control of Shanghai, and his reinforcements were supposed to carry out the "task of combining the inside and the outside". Now it was before the arrival of the Home Army. can only be a lone soldier who can "go it alone".

Commander Baiwu Yuanwu, who was still a little high-spirited when he left Keelung, quickly calmed down after receiving this piece of information. No matter how arrogant Motomo Hyakutake is, he doesn't think that he is relying on the more than 1,000 marines he carries on the ship. You can take the whole of Shanghai by yourself.

Now him. There is only one option left. Honestly stay at sea and wait for the lagging army transports to catch up.

Because the Third Fleet was dispatched as soon as it received the order to call the marines on board. Compared with. The Army's movement was much slower, and due to the drag of loading more equipment into the ship, it took them nearly seven hours to delay the departure of the passenger ship from Keelung, and the difference in speed made it possible to arrive at Shanghai after 8 o'clock tomorrow at the earliest.

The reason why the navy moved so quickly is also due to the contradiction between the "land and sea" within Japan. In 1931, the army went alone in the northeast and became popular. The Navy has long wanted to do the same in South China. However, due to the vigilance of the British, they never found an opportunity. In the past two years, the navy's biggest action has been to fire a few artillery shots at Dongshan Port and blow up some port facilities, but nothing has been done.

In order to grab the credit, Baiwu Yuanwu left the army and acted in advance, originally wanting to arrive in Shanghai one day early to create a miracle that "belongs to the navy", but unfortunately the script he planned in his heart had not yet begun, and it was declared useless because of the annihilation of the entire Marine Corps in the Japanese Concession, how could he not be depressed.

Shanghai was already in sight, and Mokutake Gengo was thinking that after arriving in Shanghai, he was driving the fleet into the mouth of the Yangtze River to shell Shanghai, and when he was holding the mouth of Shanghai without moving, two planes were flying in the direction of his fleet at an altitude of about 1,000 meters over the East China Sea.

The plane that flew over was a JU52 transport plane that took off from Shanghai Hongqiao. However, the mission of this flight was not transportation, but maritime reconnaissance.

After taking off from Shanghai, the two planes first flew several dozen kilometers eastward, and then began a dragnet search along the route from Shanghai to Keelung, with the aim of confirming the location of the Third Fleet.

Originally, they should have taken off earlier to search, but before noon on 15 July, the weather in both Shanghai and Hangzhou suddenly changed, and heavy rain began one after another, although it only lasted for more than an hour, and it was not until about 2 p.m. that they were able to take off their planes for maritime reconnaissance. It's now June and a half, and the entire Gangnam region is beginning to enter the rainy season.

Eleven warships were operating at the same time at sea, which was a great target, and less than an hour and a half after takeoff, the crew of the plane was less than 100 kilometers southeast of Shanghai when they spotted multiple plumes of smoke rising into the sky.

The pilot lowered his altitude and flew in the direction of the column of smoke, and soon, the random crew members passed through the telescopes they were carrying, and spotted the Third Fleet.

"Izumo, Tenryu, Tatsuda, Toba"

On the transport plane, the crew members held binoculars in one hand and photos of Japanese warship drawings provided by Lin Han in the other for comparison.

The scouts on the plane included international students trained by Lin Han and officers provided by the German Navy. Both the young Chinese Navy and the rebuilt German Navy are in dire need of opportunities to increase their experience in actual combat, so this reconnaissance Sino-German joint operation was carried out.

The crews of both planes quickly confirmed the identity of the target.

Knowing that China and Japan were already in a state of war, the pilot of the plane did not arrogantly fly over the Japanese fleet to demonstrate, but brushed the fleet from a distance, took a few photos, and after confirming its identity as the Third Fleet, he directly waved his wings and left.

During this period, Baiwu Yuanwu once ordered the anti-aircraft guns on the fleet to deterrent the two planes to expel and shoot, due to the distance of the target, the shooting effect was very poor, only left some black smoke around the two planes, and nothing was hurt.

When the Third Fleet was approaching Shanghai, the Red Army in Shanghai was on the side. In order to "welcome" the arrival of the Third Fleet, it is also like a fire of preparations.

Since late last night, the north bank of the Yangtze River and the south bank of the Yangtze River on both sides of Chongming Island on the Yangtze River have been lit up all night. More than a dozen ships on the north and south sides of the strait came and went, busy unloading a large amount of artillery and supplies.

The artillery on the north bank was mainly placed in the area of Haimen County, while the artillery on the south bank was placed at Wusongkou at the junction of the Huangpu River and the Yangtze River.

The newly imported artillery is not the SFH13 land plus howitzer that made a great contribution in yesterday's battle, but an out-and-out naval gun, to be exact, the 150-mm naval gun originally prepared for the "German" class battleships No. 1 and No. 2. There are as many as 16 doors in total. Three gates are arranged on the north bank of the Yangtze River. And on the south bank there were thirteen gates.

The north shore is not well equipped, because the channel between Chongming Island and the north bank of the Yangtze River is narrow, ordinary artillery can block the route, and the Red Army has already laid mines on the channel there. I was not afraid that the Japanese ships would sneak in from there.

And the river to the south of Chongming Island. The channel is wide. The draft was deep, and it was easiest for enemy ships to sneak in, and the Red Army simply laid mines on the channel between Chongming Island and Changsha Island. As for the waterway between Changxing and the south bank of the Yangtze River, it has not been mined for the time being because it is still useful.

Although there were many ships in the Third Fleet, except for the two 203-mm guns of the Izumo, which were more threatening, the rest of the warships of the Red Army were not afraid of them. In terms of firing range, the 150-mm naval guns prepared for the German-class battleships had a maximum range of up to 22 kilometers, which was not inferior to the old 203-mm naval guns on the Yuyun.

The main drawback of the 150mm naval gun on the Deutschland, which is called the worst six-inch gun of World War II, is that the Germans mistakenly chose the "light bullet" design, in a vain attempt to make up for the lack of firepower by increasing the rate of fire. However, in fact, in the turbulent Atlantic theater, due to the influence of the factors of the undulation of the hull and the limitation of the firing window, the rate of fire will be greatly affected, and the advantage of the high rate of fire will not be reflected at all. And the more powerful, and a slightly slower rate of fire "heavy bullet" is the right choice.

However, after being used as a shore defense gun, there is no restriction on the "shooting window", and this disadvantage is no longer a disadvantage. In addition, the gun was also upgraded before it was sent to China, and now it can also fire a more powerful "heavy bomb" against the ship, and it is already a very good coastal defense gun.

And Hannah's abandonment of the gun on the Deutschland was another factor that was the reason why Kaohu had reached the dual use of air defense. The 150-mm gun has a limited elevation angle and is not suitable for air defense, while the newly developed 128-mm gun has a high rate of fire and a large amount of bombs per unit time, which is not much worse than the 150-mm gun, and the air defense efficiency is higher. Therefore, the 16 naval guns prepared for the two German-class ships were directly withdrawn and then sold to China at a "conscience price" 10 percent higher than the cost price -- in Europe, where battleships are rampant, it is also very embarrassing to use the guns as shore defense guns as compared to battleships.

But in Asia, if the Izumo dared to arrogantly rush into the Yangtze River, this batch of military artillery would give him a lesson that he will never forget. In the early stage, due to the rush of time and the heavy weight of the gun, it was not until the end of the battle of the Japanese Concession that it was hastily transported to the banks of the Yangtze River by water, and then the artillery arrangement began that night.

That night, the Red Army engineering corps worked overnight, and by dawn they had set up improvised artillery batteries on both sides of the Yangtze River, and then pushed the artillery into it. In addition to arranging the artillery, the Red Army camouflage troops on both sides of the strait also arranged a large number of camouflaged artillery positions with bricks and wood around them. These camouflaged artillery positions were intended to be used to attract artillery fire and air force from the British and Japanese armies in future artillery battles and air raids.

Not only the forts, but also the Hongqiao Airport, where the Red Army planes are now assembled, also has a large number of camouflaged aircraft arranged in that area.

Although Hongqiao Airport is well equipped, the biggest problem here is that as we all know, at the beginning of the war, it will inevitably become a key target of the British and Japanese air forces. Therefore, the Red Army did not plan to place all the main fighters here, but planned to build several more suitable field airfields near Shanghai, just in case.

The biggest headache for the defenders of Shanghai was that Shanghai had entered the continuous rainy season, and the bad weather of heavy rain would inevitably affect the use of aircraft, and the air force was the most effective means for the Red Army to deal with Japanese warships.

In the afternoon of the same day, when the intelligence of the Third Fleet arrived, the Saphiroth, which had just completed the salvage operation, sailed back to the Jiangnan shipyard to undergo another transformation.

The purpose of the modification was to install torpedo tubes on this yacht.

The Saphiroth was overhauled after returning to Germany, which was originally the standard modification of high-speed torpedo boats, and even reserved space for firing torpedoes on the ship.

After the Red Army annihilated the Nationalist Government in Nanjing, it also captured some torpedoes, but most of these torpedoes exported from Japan to China were old and did not perform well. The Red Army, on the other hand, used new magnetic torpedoes imported from Germany - it was normal for Germans to use this as a real field for new weapons. However, out of distrust of the new product. Lin Han still asked for the detonation device when the torpedo mounted on his hull was replaced with an old-fashioned firing pin.

Since the place was reserved at the time of the renovation in Germany, many corresponding renovations were made. At the Shanghai shipyard, the Sephiroth only removed the camouflage plates on the surface, and it took more than an hour to install two torpedo launchers on the hull and add torpedoes, and on the upper part of the hull, a rifled gun that could fire in a 360-degree circular direction. After the transformation, the Sephiroth was a full-fledged torpedo boat.

According to the plan, Lin Han planned to set off from the minefield on the north bank of the Yangtze River tonight to see if he could take advantage of the night to sneak attack the Third Fleet. (To be continued......)