June 18, 1915, Solomon Sea, Outer South Ocean (Southwest Pacific).

Under the clear blue sky, on the blue sea, a steel fleet spitting billowing black smoke is chopping waves and galloping southward, more than 100 nautical miles behind its side, followed by another transport fleet full of army soldiers and military supplies, one of the transport ships that looks ordinary, a thin and tall man wearing the army light green short-sleeved officer's summer uniform and carrying the rank of general on his shoulders stands alone on the zenith of the bridge, looking from afar by the railing, with a faint uneasy look between his eyebrows.

Three days ago, in the port of Rabaul, His Excellency the commander of the Southeastern Front, ignoring the persuasion and pleas of a subordinate of his subordinates, ascended the gangway in high spirits and declared from his present position to the 15,000 generals who were about to go on the expedition: "No one is allowed to set foot on the pier of Port Moresby before my Gu Yingyang!" ”

Three days passed, and although the fleet had a safe journey, he could not help but hesitate.

A month earlier, the Southeastern Front had received an order to attack Australian Papua, and by early June, all the additional naval and land troops and combat materials promised by the base camp had been in place, and the Outer South Seas Front, which had been dormant for a long time since the start of the war, finally ushered in the initial commotion.

However, as preparations for the Raiders progressed, ominous intelligence followed.

First of all, after entering the 5th, it was found that the activities of the enemy's submarines were becoming more and more frequent, and the tonnage of ships lost in the defense zone of the southeastern fleet increased significantly.

Secondly, according to the report of the reference office forwarded by the base camp, at the beginning of the 3rd, a British detachment, including several old warships, departed from Gibraltar and appeared in the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea for a time, and it is rumored that it appeared near the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. In addition, through the decipherment of the Australian side's wireless telegraphy, it was preliminarily judged that the destination of this detachment should be Australia.

Finally, through the confessions of prisoners of war obtained from the previous small-scale invasion of the northern stronghold of Australian Papua, as well as the decipherment of the Papuan side's radio communications, it is not difficult to conclude that the Papuan side's defenses have been greatly strengthened.

In view of the above situation, Gu Yingyang urgently sent a telegram to the base camp on the eve of the operation, asking him to postpone the operation and make plans after further strengthening the strength of the Southeast Front.

“…… If your troops have no intention of fighting, you should suspend the fighting. Return the naval and land forces raised for this operation, and take a defensive posture with the rest of the troops, waiting for the next instructions of the base camp......"

After reading the above call, Gu Yingyang found a place where no one was there and greeted the family of Liu Bailiangdi, the chief of the General Staff, and thought about it all night, and early the next morning, he summoned his subordinates and resolutely announced: "The Papua operation is going on as scheduled!" ”

At that time, he had secretly made up his mind: Grandma is a bear, do everything possible not to let Lao Tzu make meritorious contributions, and this time Lao Tzu will show it to you!

Really. When the army boarded the ship, Gu Yingyang ruthlessly kicked away several henchmen and staff officers who were trying to stop him. In the surprised eyes of everyone, he boarded the requisitioned "Nanyuanjia" cruise ship with great vigor, and staged the refueling drama of the general taking the lead......

Impulses always have a time limit, otherwise they don't become impulses......

When he got up this morning, Gu Yingyang's right eye kept jumping, and then there were many disasters: he broke his toothbrush while brushing his teeth, got stuck in a fish bone while eating breakfast, knocked over a cup while drinking coffee, and slipped when he went up the gangway - a piece of his finger was scratched, and it still hurts so much.

Gu Yingyang is not a superstitious person, but a bunch of unfortunate things in the land today can't help but evoke his unhappy memories of various encounters in the past two years. I couldn't help but habitually greet Liu Bailiang's female relatives again.

The vent is followed by emptiness, an emptiness that is even greater than the vast blue sky of this Solomon Sea......

'Report!' Kaga's call! ”

As soon as he heard that it was a call from the "Kaga", Gu Yingyang became excited as if he had been drugged: "Hurry, read quickly." ”

"12:30 p.m. The reconnaissance planes aboard the Kuma spotted the enemy fleet 80 miles southwest of the squadron, and preliminarily judged that there were 6 to 8 old warships and 24 large cruisers. more than 20 small ships! Heading due north, speed 12...... Commander Matsumura believed that with the current strength of his squadron, it would be difficult to defeat an enemy fleet of this size while completing the task of supporting the landing fleet, and suggested ...... The operation was aborted, and the whole team returned to Rabaul! ”

Gu Yingyang's face suddenly changed when he heard this, and he grabbed the collar of the communication staff officer who came to report: "What! You...... You report it again! ”

"Yes...... 12:30 p.m. ......"

"Enough, don't report it! Get lost! ”

Driving away the communications staff officer, Gu Yingyang held his head in his hands, his eyes wandered indifferently between the seagulls flying around the ship and the soldiers gathered on the deck, and the blue sea and sky were gray in his eyes......

"It's coming, it's still coming...... How can there be so many...... No, no, I'm not so lucky, it must be that old fox in Matsumura who is lying to me, garbage little Japan, I don't want to make any more efforts and make this excuse...... You guys

All lying to me! ”

—

One hundred nautical miles ahead of the "Minami Enkai", the temporary flagship of the Southeast Front Fleet "Kaga".

"Commander Gu hasn't called back yet?"

On the open-air flybridge on the top side of the bridge, Vice Admiral Tatsuo Matsumura, the commander of the fleet with a thin monkey face, was turning back to ask Chief Operations Staff Officer Aoisuke Sano Osa.

"Yes, I haven't received a call back yet." Sano replied with a bowed head.

"Commander Gu must be very unwilling...... Although I can understand it personally, the lives of more than 20,000 generals in the army are involved, and it is not possible to make a quick decision. ”

"Isn't there any news from the reconnaissance plane sent to confirm the ground?"

"No," Sano took out his pocket watch and looked at it, "but it's going to be soon." ”

Matsumura stretched out his hand and pulled the brim of his hat with golden branches, and sighed, "If the information is correct, with the current local forces, it is not impossible to fight, but ......"

According to the commitment of the base camp, before the launch of the Papua Raiders, the supplementary forces including 4 old warships were transferred from the 2nd Squadron and temporarily incorporated into the Southeast Fleet.

2 "Zuixiang" class modification "Kaga" of the 2nd Japanese battleship team, ":

1 "Seoxiang" class "Seoul" and 1 "Feidian" class "Pyongyang" of the 2nd team of North Korean warships;

4 ships of the 2nd Light Patrol Team of the Japanese Army of the "Ball Mill" class - "Ball Mill", "Nagara", and "Oi";

4 "Murayu"-class destroyers of the 1st Thunderbolt Squadron of the Japanese Lightning Strike - "May Rain", "Autumn Rain", and "Chuanyu";

and 4 Shark-1 submarines of the 2nd Japanese submarine team.

As a result, the total strength of the Southeastern Front increased by 4 old warships (of which 3 were Ruizi equipped with 6305 mm guns), 4 old mounted cruisers, 12 light cruisers (4 new and 8 old), 26 destroyers (4 new and 22 old.