Episode 60 The First Battle of the Blockade

At eight o'clock in the morning of July 3, Zhu Yourong, the empress of the Ming Empire, delivered a radio speech, expressing her acceptance of the Soviet Union's declaration of war, and that the Ming Dynasty would use all means of war permitted by the Geneva Conventions to launch a full-scale war against the Soviet Union.

Next, there was the speech of Shen Rongxuan, the first minister. Shen Rongxuan announced that with immediate effect, all the property of the Soviet side in Daming, including movable and immovable property, would be frozen. The Soviet embassy, consulates and other diplomatic missions in Ming were closed, and the diplomats involved were expelled from the country within 48 hours. At the same time, all diplomatic missions in the USSR were closed and all diplomatic personnel were recalled.

In addition, the two detachments that have already been dispatched will be given new missions: to block Soviet naval communications in the Baltic, Black Sea (Mediterranean), and Sea of Japan, respectively. From now on, the Ming Dynasty began a naval blockade of the Soviet Union. Any Soviet ship sailing on the sea could be captured or sunk by a Ming warship. Any third-country cargo ship bound for the Soviet Union would be stopped by the Ming warship and ordered to return to the ship, otherwise it would be seized.

……

After listening to the declaration of war speech, Xiang Xiaoqiang sat in a small conference room, looking at the large map on the shelf, and pinching his chin. He pressed the electric bell and asked the secretary to call Qiu Yun.

In his impression, for the purely military aspect of the navy, Qiuyu's literacy seems to be stronger than Xiuxiu's. So he called Qiu Yu to ask.

"Qiuyun," Xiang Xiaoqiang asked with some concern, looking at the map, "Now that war has been declared, we are going to blockade the Soviet Union by sea." You say that the blockade of a country like the Soviet Union does not require too much naval power, right? ”

Qiu Yu didn't look at the map, and said directly:

"It's hard to say. The entrance to the sea of the USSR was divided into three parts, one in the Baltic Sea, one in the Black Sea, and one in the Sea of Japan in the Far East. The first two outlets to the sea are narrow and theoretically easier to block. The last Vladivostok is a bit more laborious because of the open sea in Japan......

Xiang Xiaoqiang nodded again and again:

"Yes, that's what I'm worried about. In the first two places, the Yongle detachment was done. One Yongle and one Zhurong happened to guard the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea respectively. The latter Vladivostok is probably not so simple. It is impossible for our battleships to cling to the blockade of other people's ports as they did in the days of sailing. Today's torpedo boats and planes are terrible, the blockade fleet has to stay in the open ocean, and Vladivostok is the wide Sea of Japan, and if you can't see it, you can be slipped out by Soviet ships. I'm worried that the Cabinet will send more ships to the Sea of Japan. Then our navy will be too scattered. Our maritime gateways, the Zhejiang and Zhoushan archipelagos, are too dangerous. ”

Qiu Yu nodded very seriously and said:

"Hmm. Xiaoqiang, you're right, in that case, if the Japanese navy launches a surprise attack on us, I'm afraid we will lose very badly. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang was stunned and overjoyed. He didn't expect Qiu Yun to agree with his opinion. Unexpectedly, at this time, the only one standing with him was Qiu Qiu. is the Qiu Yu who everyone is a "transparent person" in her headquarters on weekdays.

He grinned and took Qiu Yun in his arms, kissed it, and said with a smile:

"Okay, yes, yes, Qiuyun, you still understand things. Heck, if only they were all like you. ”

Xiuxiu also smiled and said:

"It's not just me, the few of our navy in the headquarters are the grasshoppers, and they are all guarding against Japan!"

Xiang Xiaoqiang remembered, this is also true, for many years, the Ming Navy has regarded Japan as an imaginary enemy. Because Asia is so close to the two major sea powers, Ming and Japan, the navy people are wary of Japan, which is normal.

This also brought a new idea to Xiang Xiaoqiang: you can try to find like-minded people in the navy.

Qiu Yun looked at the map and said:

"But Xiaoqiang, you don't have to worry about them sending more troops into the Sea of Japan. At the moment there are enough naval forces in the Sea of Japan. ”

"Enough already? Why? ”

秋湫 says:

"You see, the Sea of Japan is wide, but the main trade routes of the Soviet Union are to the west, the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea. On the Pacific side of the Far East, he doesn't have much maritime trade. Except for Japan, to the south were the spheres of influence of the Ming Dynasty and Britain, France and the United States, and no one did business with him. On the other hand, on the European side, the current strength may not be enough, and it is possible that additional ships will be sent over. ”

"Why?" Xiang Xiaoqiang was surprised, "Aren't the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea just two small gaps the size of a needle's eye?" Two battleships will do it. ”

Qiu Yun looked at him and asked:

"Xiaoqiang, do you say we have a base over there?"

Xiang Xiaoqiang thought for a moment and said with a smile:

"As you know, there is no nominal base right now. However, the actual base has already been negotiated, which is Rostock, Germany. We can stay there for a long time in the name of 'visiting'. It is only 700 nautical miles from St. Petersburg, the only Soviet outlet to the Baltic Sea, and can be reached at a cruising speed of 48 hours. And the Baltic waters were narrow, and it was difficult for Soviet ships to evade us. ”

Qiu Yun frowned and said:

"The problem is that we only have one base in Rostock, and we can only block one in the Baltic Sea. To the south, the exit of the Black Sea from the Balkans, where we have no bases. Neither in Turkey, nor in Romania, nor in Greece, there are no bases. It is possible to send over only from the base in Rostock. But there are thousands of nautical miles from Rostock to the Black Sea, how much time do we have to spend on the road? How much fuel do you have to spend on the road? Even if we go along the way into the ports of friendly countries and receive supplies, then it is too inefficient. We need to send at least three battleships past in order to have a blockade effect of one battleship. You see, one rests at the base, one goes back and forth, and one cruises in the Black Sea. And the Soviet Black Sea Fleet had one battleship. We can't help but send battleships yet. Then tell me, if we want to block the Black Sea access, how many naval forces do we have to send over? ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang frowned when he heard this, and muttered:

"Really...... In this way, it may not be enough to send half of our navy over......"

"yes."

Xiang Xiaoqiang leaned on the backrest, pinched his chin, and muttered:

"No, I can't. I'll have to talk to the Navy guys that I can't let the Cabinet put all the cards on the naval blockade of the Soviet Union. First, the Soviet Union is a country with a vast land and resources, strong industry and agriculture, and everything in oil and coal, so it is not afraid of blockade at all, and second, we have taken all our family resources to blockade the Soviet Union, which is exactly what Japan wants to see. In the event that Japan launches an offensive against Liaodong or Shandong from the sea, we will not even have the capital for naval warfare. ”

……

At the same time, the Zhengde detachment of the Ming Navy was chopping the waves and advancing northward. At this time, the two sides had declared war on each other, and there were no worries. From the commander of the fleet to every sailor, they were eager to throw off their arms and sink all the Soviet ships they saw.

At 11:00 a.m., the Sea of Japan, about 150 nautical miles east of the Korean Peninsula.

Although it is summer, the Sea of Japan in the north is characterized by harsh, gloomy, rainy and foggy sea conditions. Today was okay, just a little gloomy with some moderate undulations.

Suddenly, a lookout on the bridge shouted:

"Starboard 015 azimuth——!!! Spot ship targets——!!! ”

He paused for a moment and continued to shout:

"Distance——!!! 15000 m ——!!! Unknown heading——!!! ”

Immediately afterward, the eight lookout posts in front unanimously turned their binoculars to the 015 direction.

At the end of the line of sight, on the gray horizon, there is a faint gray dot. A black-and-gray ribbon of smoke could be seen floating above it.

After a few minutes, the observation data was continuously fed into the bridge command room. Soon, the other party's course and speed also came out.