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On May 22, 1940, Zhanjiang was the home port of the Second Fleet of the Chinese Navy.

Two elegant-looking four-engine Feilian 2B "Sea Hawk" seaplanes slowly landed in the take-off and landing area of the dock of the Maritime Reconnaissance Brigade on Donghai Island. Compared with dozens of blue-and-white striped camouflage Feilian-1 "Blue Swans" neatly arranged on the shore, with the help of four 1600-horsepower Meteor engines, the Sea Hawk has a maximum range of up to 6000 km, a maximum reconnaissance radius of 2200 km, and can also carry 2 tons of torpedoes or bombs. Type A is a Seahawk standard reconnaissance/anti-submarine type, and Type B is a traffic/transport type, with 22 seats, which can fly non-stop from Beijing to Borneo.

As soon as the plane approached the water-skiing slope, a traffic boat came up to fix the steel cable on the nose of the plane, and the ground crew on the shore turned their fingers to guide the winch to pull the plane onto land little by little. After the first Sea Eagle went ashore, Vice Admiral Yang Guochang, director of the Second Fleet Operations Department and deputy chief of staff, quickly greeted him: "Commander, is the Anambas anchorage ready?" ”

Stepping down from the plane was none other than the commander of the Second Fleet. He is visiting the Anambas Islands to inspect the progress of the construction of the naval anchorage. Because Natuna is isolated overseas, the Navy has always wanted to take the Anambas Islands to expand the depth of defense. With the end of Singapore, Bing unceremoniously dispatched destroyers to occupy the Anambas Islands and the southern Tamilan Islands on the same day. Immediately after the two islands were captured, the navy began to build airfields and anchorages. In particular, the construction of submarine bases, because there are no good submarine ports in the Natuna Islands and the conditions in the Tameran Islands are not good, so the Anambas anchorage is one of the most important seaports to support the forward activities of the submarines of the Second Fleet.

"There are still three days to complete, the material fleet and the submarine detachment 221 have arrived, and they can be activated at the latest early next month. By the way, what can't you say on the phone, you have to pull me back? "After a general introduction to the Anambas anchorage. Asked why he was suddenly summoned.

Yang Guochang is the last son of Yang Yonglin, a veteran of Beiyang who has the reputation of Oriental Nelson, his father was only three years old when he died, sponsored by Sa Zhenbing, and entered the Shanghai Nanyang Naval Academy at the age of seventeen, participated in the Battle of Qingdao, and served in Britain as a naval cooperative non-commissioned officer during the European War, and participated in the Battle of Jutland and the Atlantic Escort Battle. An active vice admiral who came from a naval family and participated in the Battle of Jutland. He was well aware of the importance of the Anambas Islands. I was also very happy to hear that the submarine would be able to set off from here to patrol the South China Sea in three days, so I immediately beckoned the car to drive over, and only when I got in the car and drove to the headquarters did I tell the reason: "The order was given by Commander Chen, and he asked the 22nd Fleet to leave in three days." ”

"So much earlier?" Bing frowned.

The 22nd fleet was withdrawn from the Indian Ocean for rest because of Churchill's small moves, but after Yue Peng's visit to France. The French Navy has agreed to re-allow the Chinese Navy to use the port of Djibouti, and there is no problem with returning to the Indian Ocean. So according to the plan, the 22nd fleet will start again at the beginning of June, but now it is only May 22, which is half a month early. Yang Guochang thought that he was worried about the preparation of the fleet, and said: "There is no problem with the preparations, the Xikang and Tibet aircraft carriers have completed overhaul and will be ready for delivery tomorrow morning, and the Liaoning has been training for more than a month." The state is good, and the heavy and light patrols are also ready. It's just that the supply ship hasn't been loaded yet, but it should be no problem to hurry up and set off in three days. ”

Bing waved his hand: "I'm not worried about this, I'm worried about Linga Anchorage." ”

The fact that the Japanese navy had gathered at the Linga anchorage could not be concealed from the Military Intelligence Agency. With so many capital ships in Singapore in the 56th episode of Shan, it is clear that there is a big move. If the 22 fleet departs now, it will inevitably collide with the Japanese navy. As an important force deliberately deployed on the periphery of the Navy and the Second Fleet, breaking the blockade. The 22nd fleet will take with it at least 15 ships, including 3 fleet carriers, 2 heavy cruisers, 4 light cruisers and 3 supply ships. Zhanjiang is not afraid of a sneak attack, but if Shan Fifty-six has bad intentions. A sudden sneak attack on the 22nd Fleet heading for the Persian Gulf would make Zhu Binhou's situation very dangerous.

The above will not be unaware of these things, since they know and set off early, there is only one possibility! Bing raised his head: "Is it the French East Indies?" ”

Yang Guochang nodded: "The Central Asian side has reversed, and the army is attacking Lukin's flank after eliminating Zhukov with the armored division as the arrow." The expulsion of the main forces of Soviet troops to the triangle south of Petropavlovsk is currently underway. As long as the encirclement is completed, Tashkent will be stormed, and it is expected that by the end of July at the latest, Petropavlovsk will be taken and all of Central Asia east of the Aral Sea will be liberated. The day must have gotten the news too, so this is their last chance to open up the Indian Ocean route! Shan Fifty-six had never wanted to go to war with us so soon, and his most important thing now was to take Ceylon, stabilize the Indian Ocean, and seek an opportunity to annihilate the British Far East Fleet, so the General Staff expected him to set off for the west in these days.

The Chief of the General Staff has also returned to Beijing with last night, and according to intelligence, France is likely to surrender within half a month. The MIA has also detected that Yamashita and Shunroku Hatake have been operating in Bangkok recently, and that the 11th, 18th, and 29th Divisions stationed in Singapore and Malaya have entered Siam from Songkhla. About one brigade and two divisions of the French colonial army were already massing in these two places, so they did not expect that the possibility of the Japanese army unilaterally attacking Siem Reap before the French surrendered could not be ruled out. Because as long as they control here, the Japanese army can take the Tonle Sap River and take Saigon and Cam Ranh Bay before us. So the General Staff is ready to use the 22 fleet as a cover, let's concentrate our forces on the line of the Gulf of Tonkin as soon as possible.

As soon as France surrenders, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will send a note to the French East Indies Government in the name of preventing the French East Indies from being exploited by the enemy and protecting the interests of the French nationals and our country. The whole operation was bounded by Thanh Hoa, and the army would send 1 lightly armored division and 6 infantry divisions south from Vu Thanh Pass, and the 1st Airborne Division had returned from the northwest, and they were in charge of Vientiane and Luang Pra. Our mission is to send out the fleet and naval aviation to protect the 2nd and 4th Marine Divisions, and at the same time land at Hue, Da Nang, Cam Ranh Bay, Saigon, Phnom Penh, and Cam Ou, and also find a way to take Champasak, Madwan and Siem Reap as quickly as possible before the Japanese army! ”

"Champasak and Siem Reap returned to the Marines? Isn't that the order right? It's 250 kilometers from the coast, and even if it is smooth after my landing, it will take three days, and the General Staff really thinks that the French army will be able to hold it until we arrive? ”

"The order is right, it's ours." Yang Guochang spread his hands and smiled: "Commander Chen issued an order last night, and all four general-level escort aircraft carriers in Hangzhou Bay set off to the Yellow Sea to participate in the exercises of the First Fleet. However, they will not go to the Yellow Sea, and after going around Qingdao, they will join forces with the two Anhai ships that have just been refurbished in Shanghai and have just been launched to join us together. In this way, aside from the 22 fleet, we still have 4 Anhai, 2 Sichuan-class aircraft carriers, 4 general-class escort aircraft carriers, 2 Taiwan Island-class heavy cruisers, and 10 light cruisers. ”

It is clear that although the two Anhai ships of the First Fleet have not been replaced with 330-mm naval guns, they can reach a speed of 32 knots after modification, and their air defense capabilities are also very strong, which can make up for the lack of heavy patrols in the fleet. As for the four general-class escort aircraft carriers, they were the products of the war, all of them were converted with ro-ro wheels, with a standard displacement of 16,000 tons and a full load of 24,000 tons. It can carry 60 aircraft at a time, but the speed is only 22 knots, and it is a civilian hull, with poor protection capabilities, and can only be used as a second-line supplementary force for escort and Liaoning-class aircraft carriers before they are fully put into service.

With 2 Anhai and 4 escort aircraft carriers joining, the number of troops is enough, but what about a distance of 250 kilometers? "Commander, have you forgotten the naval cavalry?" Yang Guochang took out his cigarette and reminded with a smile.

"Use them?" Bing remembered a new unit that the navy had just equipped, but he always felt that the matter of Siem Reap might not be so simple. Whether it is the General Staff or Yang Qiu, they will not be unaware that this distance has actually exceeded the rapid transportation capacity of the Navy in the event of an attack on the other side.

After crossing the bridge, the sedan quickly arrived at the gray-brown naval headquarters, and the staff officer waiting at the door immediately walked up when he saw the sedan: "Commander, deputy chief of staff." The Borneo Coast Surveillance Brigade reported that this morning, the Blue Swan 47 they sent found that the main Japanese naval force in the Lingka anchorage had disappeared when they flew over the Linga Islands to the Minas oil field area, so they immediately notified the Sumatran Air Force to urgently search westward. Half an hour earlier, two Haijian-4 (Lifeng) of the Sumatra Air Force were expelled by six Japanese Zero fighter jets east of the Malaysian Asia-Pacific Harbour. Before leaving, they spotted at least two Japanese aircraft carriers sticking to the coast to the west, at a speed of about 25 knots. And also! The First Fleet's submarine Shark 251 reported that they had discovered the Shenshu Maru landing carrier and four troop carriers belonging to the Japanese Army 75 nautical miles east of Taiwan, accompanied by the Japanese Navy light cruiser Tatsuda and the seaplane carrier Akitsusu. ”

After hearing the news, Yang Guochang and Bing changed their eyes and said with a smile: "Commander, it seems that our holiday is over." ”

"Let the chief of staff and Zhu Binhou come to see me immediately. In the name of the command, it was ordered that from now on, all personnel will be canceled on leave, and all officers and soldiers on leave must return to the unit within 72 hours to report. Bing smiled slightly, if he didn't fight again, he should be rusty. So after pulling through the information, looking at his watch, he ordered: "At 3 o'clock tomorrow night, the 211 submarine detachment will set off for Palawan Island, and the 219 submarine detachment will move towards the Gulf of Siam." Contact the 2nd Marine Division in Qinzhou and the 4th Marine Division in Haikou, and I will send a ship to pick them up within three days. Ordered the Natuna, Huangshanma (Taiping Island), Batan, and Fengshan (present-day Kaohsiung) Maritime Surveillance Aviation Groups to monitor the movements of the Japanese Navy east of the Philippines. Order the 27 frigate detachment of Borneo to move towards the mouth of the Mekong River, and I will send gunboats to support them, ready to go up the river into the Tonle Sap Lake. Then send a telegram to Abu Dhabi, ordering the Songhuajiang to immediately bring three destroyers to support Addu Atoll, and at the same time ordering the Addu Atoll Aviation Squadron to prepare for the invasion, and the 217 Submarine Detachment left the atoll three days later to move towards the vicinity of Ceylon, and could open fire in case of attack. ”

"That's right. Then contact the Military Intelligence Agency and ask them to report on the movements of the British Far East Fleet in Madagascar every two hours. ”