"Heavy damage to the Flying Eagle, the sinking of the Falcon, Longfeng, and Nazhi with a total loss of 31 aircraft, minor injuries to Ninghai and Dunkirk, and the destroyer Wuyishan was attacked by a Japanese submarine last night and sank. At present, the 211 battleship formation is pursuing the remnants of Nagumo at full speed, and it is expected to converge with the tracking destroyer formation in five hours. ”

At nine o'clock in the evening, in the former governor's palace in Hankou, Miao Luo walked past Gu Yuwen, who was reading a telegram, and put the brewed tea one by one beside Yang Qiu, Yue Peng, and Chen Guofu, who were surrounded by the map and exchanged ears. "Thank you, ma'am." "You go to sleep first, I'm going to be late tonight." Yang Qiu asked her to find some rest.

"It's cool at night, put it on, watch your body. I've got you ready for supper, and if you're hungry, just shout. ”

"Okay, let's go rest." Yang Qiu patted Miao Luo's hand, and after putting on his coat, his gaze turned to the map again. After she left, Chen Guofu clapped his hands excitedly, and this big victory in the Philippine Sea laid the cornerstone of the decisive victory in the Ryukyus. Thinking that after sunset tomorrow, the combined fleet that has enveloped Asia for nearly half a century will no longer exist, and there are some gains and losses in his heart, he pushed Yue Peng beside him: "Brother Zi'an, you said earlier that the Intelligence Bureau has deciphered Yamamoto Fifty-six's telegram, doesn't this mean that it is already a sure game?" ”

"There is no such thing as a war in the world that must be won, it is nothing more than insight into the opportunity." Yue Peng smiled slightly, his fingers slowly swiped across the map, and his face gradually became solemn: "Judging from the telegram, Yamamoto will continue to divide his troops." Among them, Tsukahara led three aircraft carriers to the south and went directly to the Daito Islands to deal with our '12 Aircraft Carrier Battle Group', and he personally led the battleships into the East China Sea to shell Iheya Island or Kume Island to lure our fleet to fight a decisive battle at night. You also saw the results of the night battle in Kerama a few days ago, and in the short term, the night battle is still a technical obstacle that is difficult to overcome, so Yamamoto bit this point and make a fuss. Bingwen told me that although Yamamoto's follow-up plan is unknown, the ** of the Ten wants to rush in first and give an explanation to the country. It is best to fight a decisive battle with us at night, if not, I am afraid that we will go south along the Ryukyu Oshima Islands, quietly go around to the back of the Daito Islands, and then cooperate with Tsukahara to flank our aircraft carrier battle group. ”

"Bingwen and they have a big problem now, you see Yamamoto has already learned of Nagumo's losses, if the fleet is ambushed on Iheiya Island, it will make him aware of the leak of the operation. In this way, in order to keep the last bit of possessions, he will immediately retreat from the north of Ryukyu Oshima, and will also abandon the Daito Islands, allowing Tsukahara to cover his retreat to the mainland. To the north of the Ryukyus, the sea area is open, and if a night interception is carried out here, it may be difficult to leave Yamamoto behind. Even if he stays, he can only watch Tsukahara escape at night. ”

Listening to the analysis, Chen Guofu, who had put aside his military for many years, also slowly sniffed out the taste, and couldn't help but stare at the oil-bean-like Yipingya Island on the map: "That navy means ......." ”

"Bingwen and the navy have no choice, if they want to eat Yamamoto and Tsukahara at the same time, they will have to pay some price......." Peng meaningfully dragged out the last note, and pressed his finger on Keirama again: "If Yamamoto wants to cooperate with Tsukahara and flank us to go to the aircraft carrier formation of the Daito Islands, then it is still here, the watershed of the war!" ”

Chen Guofu was stunned for a moment, and then immediately understood. Looking at Yang Qiu, who looked displeased, his eyebrows were a little tight, and he lowered his voice: "The president is also worried about this, right?" In this way, hehe, the price is really not small. ”

"Without sacrifice, where can there be victory." Yang Qiu, who was silent, suddenly interjected, looked up at the wall clock on the wall, and asked Gu Yuwen to get supper, and then pointed to the sofa next to him: "Sit down, I'm definitely going to stay up late tonight." After speaking, he remembered the Siberian vote and asked: "Is the northern referendum ready?" ”

The two knew that he was very concerned about the naval battle, so they deliberately stayed up late hoping to grasp the battle situation as soon as possible. "The president must take care of his health, in three or five years, I am afraid that this war will not end." After a few words of concern, Chen Guofu introduced the preparations for promoting the referendum in Siberia and joining China.

After deciding to push the Siberian region east of the Yenisei River to join China by referendum, Chen Guofu, the current chairman and speaker of the National Socialist Party, took up the heavy responsibility and joined Wang Zhaoming and the Kuomintang to do this together. The Kuomintang has been depressed for decades, but with the outbreak of the war, there has been some improvement, after all, not everyone in the country supports the war. The KMT has also been actively developing in remote 'new regions' such as Central Asia, the South-East Peninsula and Siberia, reversing many of its declining trends. Therefore, Wang Zhaoming was particularly active in this referendum, and the National Assembly was also very supportive, and special funds were also allocated to buy local ethnic minorities. In the past year's work, the Yakutia, Evenki, Even, Chuchiko, and Buryatia ethnic minorities in Siberia have all agreed to the conditions, and as soon as the voting begins, they will mobilize all of them and collectively elect to join China.

"Over the years, there have been 500,000 immigrants from our country to the Siberian region, and these people are all oriented to the country. The local ethnic minorities have basically agreed, and the Russians who supported the scene have also selected many from the group of people who were stranded in the country in the early years. Now it is mainly on the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, which is still occupied by Japan and a small number of Soviet partisans, and we cannot get through Kamchatka. ”

"When the Ryukyus go ashore, the army will begin to fight in the northeast and Korea." Yue Peng said.

"That's good, as long as we can clear away external forces, there will definitely be no chaos on my side. As for Britain and the United States, they don't have time to meddle now, listening to Chu Nan, Spain and North Africa are fighting lively, Britain and the United States have lost successive wars, and tens of thousands of people have been planted. The three of them held the teacup, carefully sketched the future, and when they waited for the news from the navy, there were already waves in the East China Sea.

At 22 o'clock, northeast of Iheiya Island.

A crescent moon, stubbornly poked out of the clouds and mist, and a faint brilliance sprinkled on the 10 warships painted in ripple camouflage, refracting a little streamer. The Navy's 125th Destroyer Patrol Group's two Xinanjiang-class fast-mine-laying cruisers, four Qinling-class destroyers, and six Linghai-class frigates formed a semicircular formation to cut off the northern route from Ryukyu Oshima to Iheiya Island. On deck, the sailors were dressed in life jackets and steel helmets, sticking to their posts. Suddenly, a tearing roar shattered the silence. Looking back, five kilometers away on Iheiya Island, a black and red fireball was rising.

It was a 305mm 'crusher' heavy mortar deployed on Yefu Island, firing at the Japanese positions to the north.

The radar non-commissioned officer on duty at night sat in front of the five-inch black-and-white radar screen, guarding the screen that had not changed for several hours, not daring to relax in the slightest.

The black sea, the white islands and our own ships, are clearly distinguished under the radar beam. At the top of the screen, a thin white ribbon is half-obscured, which is the outline of the Ryukyu Island, 40 kilometers away.

The long watching made the non-commissioned officer nervously numb, and he was about to turn around and chat with his comrades behind him to relieve his fatigue. Suddenly! A point of light suddenly jumped out of the white outline of the island, and after a while, more points of light began to appear, as if cells under a microscope were divided, and they were 'spit out' by the outline of the island, and then connected into a piece. "3 o'clock position! The northern edge of the island, 35 kilometers away, the target is unknown, and it is approaching rapidly! The radar non-commissioned officer took a sharp breath, grabbed the red phone beside him, and pressed the call button: "There are a lot of them!" ”

Booming orange-red lights and combat signals spread throughout the entire 125-drive patrol formation in an instant. At this time, the radar non-commissioned officer picked up the phone again: "0 o'clock!" The second batch of unknown targets! "And?" Pang Haitao, the captain of the Xin'anjiang, who had just entered the bridge, was taken aback. "Captain, what should I do?" The lieutenant was so angry that he pointed his fingers in two directions on the chart, indicating that he was being flanked.

"Don't worry, the Japanese must be coming for the island! Notify the island and let the troops evacuate and prepare for shelling. Contact the command to inform them of the situation. Someone came, and sent a telegram to the battleship formation, the 126th Destroyer Patrol Formation, and the Kumejima Air Brigade, that we needed support. Go, use the lights to contact the Fuchunjiang, and move with our ship. Sailing, sailing four kilometers along the island, throwing all the mines down. The rest of the ships temporarily retreated to Isina Island and asked the frigate to check the torpedo launcher, their thing was improvized, so don't be able to shoot it. Pang Haitao gave orders loudly and continuously.

On this side, the 125 Destroyer Patrol Formation had already jumped into the air, destroyers and frigates had retreated to Izena Island, and two Shin'anjiang-class mine-laying cruisers had also sprinkled 260 mines in the four-kilometer offshore area at the northern tip of Iheiya Island. On the other side, 17 Japanese destroyers and torpedo boats carrying 2,700 Japanese troops and 2 seaplane carriers were approaching at a speed of 33 knots from the eastern detour of Oshima in the Ryukyus. To the north, the second heavy patrol group consisting of four Kaohsiung-class heavy cruisers, led by Vice Admiral Mikawa Gunichi (written earlier as Takasu Shiro, written incorrectly), also encircled Iheiya Island at a speed of 25 knots.

"Report, 125 Destroyer Patrol Fleet reports, spotting the Japanese fleet approaching." In the front-line headquarters in Qingdao, the telegraph operator tore down the telegram, and after quickly completing the translation, he suddenly kicked off his seat and rushed to the sand table: "There are two strands, one is at the northern tip of Ryukyu Oshima, and the other is due north of Iheiya Island. Under his command, the female soldiers quickly moved the two models of ships representing the Japanese fleet into position.

Bingwen and Shen Honglie suddenly rose, and the other officers also cheered and all rushed to the sand table. "It's really here! And where is our fleet? Bai Yutang took a step forward and picked up a push rod: "The 122 escort aircraft carrier formation is moving towards Chong Dadong Island, the 125 drive patrol formation is in the northeast corner of Yipingya Island, the 127 drive patrol formation is between Suguo Island and Yijiang Island, the 126 drive patrol formation is 40 nautical miles west of Yizena Island, and the 'Beijing' and 'Nanjing' battleships are behind them. ”

"The three battleships Shandong, Shanghai and Chongqing are here, Qingliangma!" When Bai Yutang pointed out the positions of each fleet, Shen Honglie had already pulled down the telegram from another staff officer who came to report: "Pang Haitao is temporarily retreating to Yishi Ming Island, and Yang Zhikai of the 126th formation has also gone from the west. ”

"It's easy." Bai Yutang pushed the two models to a new position and said quickly: "If Yamamoto's 4 battleships don't fire, Yang Zhikai's six cruisers are enough to deal with 4 Kaohsiung. If you fire, you can pretend to be defeated and retreat to the west first. If Yamamoto turns around and heads east, the two Beijing ships will converge with the 126th formation, turn around and catch up together, and the 127th formation can also be intercepted diagonally from the northeast of Ie Island. If he goes deeper, the 127 formation will let go of the passage, and Zhang Xiaoyu will block him in Qingliang, and fight again! ”

"What about the island?" Bingwen clasped his hands and asked the most crucial thing.

"Already evacuating the commander, don't worry too much. From Iseiya Island, take the inner side of Ie Island and bypass Kerama along the west coast of the Ryukyus, taking 4 hours at Nagato-class speeds. Between now and dawn, there are still 5 hours, so Yamamoto only has an hour of shelling time at most. In the meantime, you have to deal with our attacks. ”

One hour! Even if the 4 main battleships do not shoot, the 40 main guns on the Kaohsiung-class heavy patrol are enough to peel off the skin of the two divisions that have landed on the island. The most troublesome thing is that in order to catch Tsukahara's three aircraft carriers and not scare him away, his own battleships cannot be put into action too early. "Twenty thousand soldiers! Chengzhang, Yutang, if we can't stop Yamamoto, I'm afraid we will be sinners. Thinking of this, Bingwen also took a big breath nervously. Shen Honglie and Bai Yutang beside him both nodded, and then slapped the edge of the sand table fiercely: "But I believe that I will definitely be able to stop him!" ”

"Order Ikeda Daisa to break away from the formation and set up a defensive line to the northwest of Iheya Island!" On the flagship Kaohsiung, the commander of the team, Mikawa Junichi, stood calmly under the lamp, and the dim light stretched his back obliquely. "With the flagship as a yardstick, the movement turned left and laid an artillery line. The distance was set at 13,000 yards. In a hoarse and low voice, Mikawa began to lay an artillery line. The report, Your Excellency Lieutenant General, is ready. ”

Mikawa nodded, picked up his beloved German stopwatch, and glanced at the port side: "Major General Goto's convoy, has it arrived?" ”

"15 minutes to go."

"We'll start in a minute." Mikawa nodded, and handed the stopwatch to the gunner: "Use the most intense fire." After the order was given, the 40 L50/203 mm guns quickly raised their barrels and aimed at Iheiya Island in the dark.

At this time, the southern part of Yipingya Island was already turned on its back. "Hurry, hurry! Get into cover. Officers on alert shouted loudly, and thousands of soldiers took cover in disarray, ready for the terrible naval bombardment.

"Put on your steel helmets, cover your ears, and don't look up! Hide all heavy gear. ”

"Beware of the enemy taking advantage of the opportunity to rush out! Machine gun, there is a shooting hole here. ”

"Divisional commander, didn't our fleet stop the Japanese ships?" In the cave at the southern foot of Heyang Mountain, which had just been captured, Hua Min, commander of the Fifth Marine Division, commanded everyone to evacuate and hide. Many officers and men who did not know the situation showed signs of nervousness and uneasiness after being asked to guard against the shelling of heavy naval guns. "Rest assured, the fleet is coming. Just hide you. And you, stinky boy, don't die, get out of the open space without craters. "Hua Min checked the concealment of the troops all the way, is it worried to look at the north.

"Be careful!" As he stepped into a makeshift fortification, the sound of breaking through the air greeted him. "Boom, boom, boom." At 22:40, a huge roar sounded from the south of Heyang Mountain, and the fireball spread all over the south of the island in an instant, and the thunderous explosion wave washed over the surface of the ground that had been scraped off three layers, like a galloping sound of ten thousand horses, echoing in every eardrum. The Mikawa Army returned all the encounters of the Japanese army a day earlier to the landing 5th Marine Division and the 223rd Infantry Division, and more than 20,000 soldiers suddenly turned from the attacker to the defender. The cannonballs that fell like meteorites pouring down from the heavens continued to explode around them, terrifyingly shrapnel, blazing flames, and carrying countless blood and flesh.

After the Mikawa Army gave the order to open fire, the 'Tokyo Express' led by Goto Ariko, like a ghost in the dark, came to the northeast of Iheya Island in two directions under the cover of heavy patrols. "Look, the North Island is not in our hands yet!" After the lead destroyer Shikinami impatiently sent out the contact signal, the island of Moriguro also lit up with flickering signal lights. "Get ready for landing, go, drop the life-saving bomb!" Seeing the light, the captain of the ship, Aso Yushin Shaosa, was just about to give the order, but the 2,000-ton destroyer burst out with a huge bright light, which broke off from the middle at a speed visible to the naked eye, and all the more than 100 army soldiers on the deck who were about to land on the island were shaken into the sea.

Before the Shikinami disappeared into the sea, the destroyer Fukiyuki, a kilometer away, also exploded, and the tall column of water even overturned the 300-ton torpedo boat next to it. These two violent explosions made Mikawa, who provided fire support, stunned: "What's wrong?" Quick, contact General Goto. "Mines, mines!" The sudden explosion of the Shikinami and Fukiyuki frightened Goto Yuki, who rushed towards the island at high speed, and after careful identification, he found that there were many anchor mines floating in the nearby sea.

"Damn it! The people of China have laid mines here. Quick, put down the transport boat and let them ashore. Hearing the report, Goto Ariko immediately secretly shouted that it was not good, and immediately let the army land in the lifeboat on the ship, and also sent torpedo boats with shallow draft to find a new route. Just when the fleet released the land and was busy, two bright and dazzling flashbangs suddenly lit up in the darkness to the south. In an instant, Goto's 'Tokyo Express' formation appeared in the white light. Under the flash bomb, 6 fast-moving black spots quickly drilled out, led by 2 Xin'anjiang-class fast-laying mine-laying cruisers and 4 Qinling-class destroyers that returned to the battlefield.

"Enemy attack." As soon as the Japanese 'cat's eye' on the mast shouted, the six warships led by Pang Haitao fired 40 torpedoes in unison. When the torpedoes rushed towards the Tokyo Express, the ship's 20 twin 120-mm Takahira dual-purpose naval guns also fired fiercely at the Goto fleet at the fastest rate of fire. Before the momentary distraction from the minds of Goto and the other officers, another destroyer and a torpedo boat suddenly exploded.

The three explosions, with an interval of less than ten minutes, made Mikawa in the distance frown: "Order Atago and Maya to abandon the shelling and support Goto's landing." ”

At 23:05, Goto finally came to his senses, and while directing the army to land small boats such as transport boats, torpedo boats, and lifeboats, he led seven destroyers to storm southward, covering the landing field, and entangled the 125th Patrol Formation to prevent it from rushing in. In an instant, the sea east of Iheiya Island was blazing, artillery of various calibers roared intertwined, and the balloon ballistic trajectory and exploding fireballs were denser than the stars in the sky.

"Alternating red and blue signal lights, informing the 'Cloud Mountain' to lean towards me." The blazing artillery fire was reflected on Pang Haitao's cheeks. When he looked at the 'Cloud Mountain' on the left, and was about to use the signal light to contact the other party and cover himself for a high-speed raid, a 203-mm shell accurately smashed into the bow of the destroyer.

"Boom." The 3,000-ton destroyer "Yunwu Mountain" seemed to have been pressed by a giant's big hand, and the bow of the ship sank two meters in an instant.

The heavy cruisers "Atago" and "Maya" of the Second Heavy Patrol of the Japanese Combined Fleet both twisted their guns and continuously created water columns around the 125-drive patrol formation at a rate of 40 shells per minute.

Just as the east side of Yipingya Island was on fire and the entire sea seemed to be on fire, the west side of the island, vowing to avenge the sister ships "Taiwan Island" and "Hainan Island" heavy cruisers, led the four light cruisers "Yangtze River", "Yellow River", "Nujiang" and "Jinshajiang" to the north of the island, and 66 210 mm and 155 mm main guns were raised at the same time.

And behind them, two Peking-class fast battleships moved in a straight line to the north at a high speed of 30 knots. As the battleship rushed faster and faster, several tangled spots of light slowly appeared on the radar screen.

Yamamoto is here