Episode 64 The first naval battle between Ming and the Soviet Union

At about 4 a.m. on July 4, the Zhengde detachment, which was waiting 50 nautical miles south of the military port of Vladivostok, was on guard at the perimeter of the destroyer sonar.

The sound was faint, about 20 nautical miles to the north. But listening to the sound, it is approaching, and the speed of approach is quite fast, estimated to be at least 30 knots or more. Soon, a second, third, and fourth voices were found.

This is clearly a torpedo boat, and it was driven from the port of Vladivostok. It was probably discovered that the Ming fleet was coming, and wanted to take advantage of the cover of night to attack the main ships of the Ming army with torpedo boats.

The destroyer immediately reported the destroyer flagship with a semaphore. The flagship of the destroyer fleet also immediately ordered all the destroyers with a signal light: leave two to defend the Zhengde and Li Guang, and the remaining four immediately go to meet the battle and annihilate the torpedo boats. At the same time, the general flagship Zhengde and the heavy cruiser Li Guang were also alerted.

Suddenly, on every ship, a battle alarm sounded. The sea surface of the entire fleet, the dark sea and the air, were filled with the screams of loudspeakers, rising and falling with the sea breeze. Each warship was speeding up and adjusting its position, and arc-shaped white marks were dragged out on the black sea.

……

The Zhengde squadron consisted of one battleship, one heavy cruiser, and six destroyers.

Among them, the battleships were dedicated to dealing with the "Paris Commune". Heavy cruisers follow the "fist help", serving as the main force of the forward, cleaning up enemy destroyers or patrol boats, attacking cargo ships, reconnaissance, salvage and rescue, firing torpedoes, and when it is necessary to divide forces, they can also take charge of themselves, and they can also be used as a capital ship with two destroyers to form a detachment of their own...... In short, cruisers are the most versatile and do odd jobs. And those six destroyers, mainly against submarines or torpedo boats, in short, against the current situation.

The four destroyers lined up in a wide line, and each ship gathered 3,000 meters between them, stretched out into a large net, and "netted" north at a high speed of 25 knots. The sonar crews of each ship listened attentively to the headphones, carefully distinguishing the position, speed, and course of the target in front of them. The number of bridge observation posts on each ship has increased to eight, and the number of deck observation posts has also increased to eight, for a total of sixteen pairs of eyes scanning eight directions in the darkness. All gun positions, from the 150 mm turret main gun to the 12 mm machine gun, were put into the highest combat readiness and ready to fire.

All sailors, wearing steel helmets and life jackets, stood at their posts, letting the waves of the sea rush over the deck and over their heads and faces.

It was still navigating in total darkness, cloudy, and the starlight overhead was blocked by clouds from time to time. The visual distance is tens of meters, less than a hundred meters. In order not to expose the target, the destroyer sailed in all black. Now both sides clearly know each other's approximate position in sonar, but it is still far from visible to the naked eye. The Ming army relied on "strong ships and sharp guns", tall bodies and light and heavy weapons of various calibers, as well as excellent training of naval powers. The Soviets relied on the cover of night, their nimble bodies, their lethal torpedoes, and the fearless devotion of the early lower Bolsheviks.

The two sides walked in the opposite direction, and the combined speed of the two ends was more than 50 knots, and the speed was nearly 100 kilometers per hour. The two sides got closer and closer, and the Ming destroyer fleet became more and more close, and the distance gradually narrowed from 3,000 meters to 2,000 meters, 1,500 meters, 1,000 meters, and finally to about 600 meters. This distance allows for mutual care in night battles, but is not so crowded that it is impossible to maneuver when dodging torpedoes.

After a few minutes, the two sides were already very close, and the sonar judged that it was estimated to be only a few kilometers.

At this time, the flagship of the Ming destroyer gave a lighting order by radio.

A muffled thunderous cannon shot rolled over the dark sea, and twelve large flares exploded in the air on all sides, as well as several strings of trumpet flares. The sky is hung by parachutes, spraying dazzling white magnesium light, slowly descending, illuminating the sea surface in a radius of several thousand meters as if it were day.

About 3,000 meters in front of the sea, in a flickering ripple, four torpedo boats were scattering and turning their rudders, dragging four long trails in both directions, trying to outflank both sides of the Ming destroyer's fleet.

"Bang...... Boom...... Bang ......"

The high-power searchlights of the four destroyers were turned on, each covering a torpedo boat. At the same time, the remaining searchlights of the ships swept across the surrounding sea, searching for traces of torpedoes. The main guns continued to shoot flares into the sky. In short, make the sea as bright as possible.

"Keep the lights on," the flagship commanded in plain radio words, "fire at targets of your choice, and take care to avoid torpedoes!" ”

……

At the sound of an order, the large and small guns of the four destroyers opened fire together. The main guns roared, spewing out large fireballs, followed by a high column of water rising near the Soviet torpedo boats in the distance. At the same time, several 40-mm guns and 20-mm guns of each ship continuously sprayed tongues of fire, and the orange light pierced the eyes in the night. In the distance, a dense splash also exploded around the Soviet torpedo boats.

And the Soviet torpedo boats began to spit tongues of fire. They had not taken the initiative to fire before, in order to use the cover of darkness as much as possible and get as close as possible to the Ming fleet. Once fired, the exact position of the self is exposed. But now that they had been exposed to the glare of flares, covered by searchlights, and subjected to intense fire, their exact location was firmly locked. So the captain of the Soviet torpedo boat detachment decisively ordered to return fire.

But as a torpedo boat, the armament in addition to torpedoes was pitiful. There was only one 20-mm machine gun, plus a machine gun. But even these two weak weapons are now roaring, bringing a lot of threat to the sailors on the deck of the Ming army.

20-mm machine gun shells exploded one after another on the destroyer's hull and bridge, and machine-gun bullets also "clanged" on various parts of the destroyer. On two of the destroyers, one sailor was wounded at once, lying on the deck howling, and was rushed up and carried away by the medic. And of the four torpedo boats of the Soviet army, three of them were already on fire by this time.

Suddenly, there was a strong flash of light on the sea, and then a torpedo boat exploded into a large fireball, and countless fragments of parts were scattered in the fire and black smoke, and the entire hull of the ship was gone. A few seconds later, the sound of the explosion reached the four destroyers of the Ming army.

This should have exploded the torpedo. I don't know if it was directly blown up by machine guns or by fire.

For a time, the sailors of the Ming and Soviet armies all looked at the scene of the explosion, at the wreckage and mutilated corpses floating in the water, and at the flames burning on the oil slick, as if they had forgotten about the battle.

Suddenly, a destroyer shouted over the radio:

"Torpedo - azimuth 246! 400 meters! Torpedo - azimuth 247! 500 meters! Torpedo - azimuth 239! 400 meters! ”

Hearing the torpedo siren, the four destroyers increased their horsepower, quickly turned their bodies, and aimed their bows in the direction of the torpedoes, so as to minimize the attack surface. At the same time, several searchlights of each ship also gathered in the reported direction and distance to search for torpedo trails.

A few seconds later, two or three hundred meters away, three white bubble traces loomed under the sea surface, approaching rapidly, each trail about 200 meters apart. At this time, the Ming army used the flexible advantage of destroyers, each deflected its course, and successively let three torpedoes pass on its sides.

Generally at such a distance of several hundred meters, as long as the destroyer can detect the torpedo, it can basically calmly avoid it. But it must also be avoided. The destroyers are small in tonnage, and in addition to the fact that they are generally unarmoured, if they get hit by a torpedo, they will be destroyed immediately.

……

At this time, although the remaining three Soviet torpedo boats did not hit the main guns, they were already burning and riddled with holes under the continuous machine shelling and shooting.