At 07:30 EST on December 25, Washington, just after dawn, Lu Zhengxiang, China's special envoy to the United States for negotiations, was called up from bed by his secretary.

"What's so urgent......

Lu Zhengxiang took the glasses handed by the secretary, his face still had the drunkenness of last night, and he complained unhappily.

"Domestic secret electricity, A special grade."

"What...... Get it. ”

Under the light, Lu Zhengxiang only saw a few lines of words: "Take out the secret letter No. 0 and act at 13:00 today according to the instructions of the secret letter." ”

There was no time to put on his clothes, so Lu Zhengxiang hurriedly took out the key and took down a few heavy international law reference books from the bookshelf in the corner of the room—the most important safe in the entire embassy was hidden behind.

Insert the key, turn the cipher ring accurately, and with a "click", the cabinet opens, filled with documents.

Pulling out the inconspicuous document bag on the top with the words "103 Secret" written on the surface, Lu Zhengxiang took a deep breath, put on the coat handed by the secretary, and opened the sealed document bag with scissors.

There were two envelopes in the bag, one of which had the words "Read this letter first, only for the envoy himself" written on both sides, and the other was bare and nothing.

Lu Zhengxiang retired from his secretary, opened the envelope with words, and only said a few words: "After filling in the documents in the other envelope with the date of the day, submit them to the person in charge of the US side according to the time indicated by the secret telegram." Remember! The stakes are so high that you must act absolutely according to the time instructed by the secret message, without advance or delay! Another: This article and the secret telegram were burned after reading. ”

Lu Zhengxiang's heart trembled: Isn't it......

When I opened the wordless envelope, there were several handwritten paragraphs in Chinese and English neatly lined up on the beautiful patterned edge paper.

Omitting a lot of fancy diplomatic rhetoric in front of him, Lu Zhengxiang only saw the most critical sentence at the end of the article: "Immediately enter a state of war with your country." ”

It turned out that his wholehearted efforts in the past few months had only added to an elaborate scam......

Lu Zhengxiang hung his head in pain.

……

At 05:30 local time in Hawaii (6 hours behind EST) on December 25, 160 nautical miles north of Oahu, the flagship of the Mobile Force, the Dapeng.

The sky was still dark and dreary, but the middle and rear of the flight deck of the "Dapeng" were already full of planes, and with the help of the lights on the sides and the ship's island, deck workers in various vests were methodically refueling and reloading the planes of the first attack wave.

At the same time, in the pilot's waiting room below the island, Colonel Cai Yong, Wing Commander of the 1st Carrier-based Aviation Wing and commander of the 1st Attack Wave, led his subordinates who were about to set out for the expedition and respectfully bowed to the portrait of Her Majesty the Empress on the wall.

After the ceremony, Major General Bi Lingbo, commander of the First Combat Team, personally presented the pilots with the imperial wine of the magnificent march one by one, and kept pleading: "Rely on you, come on, work hard, kill the enemy and serve the country......

After the wine was divided, Cai Yong took the lead in raising his glass: "Brothers, for the sake of the empire, for Her Majesty the Empress, and for the honor of our navy - all the American devils to the bottom of the sea!" ”

"Long live the Empire! Long live Her Majesty! ”

The enthusiastic warriors drank the hot and spicy liquor together, and the eyes and noses seemed to immediately erupt fire, and they vowed to burn all the enemies in front of them to ashes!

The two female pilots in the second attack wave, Lieutenant Cai Guolan of the 504th Ship Battle Squadron and Second Lieutenant Qi Bing of the 166th Ship Attack Squadron, hung garlands for the soldiers who took the lead one by one, and the flowers of the First Combat Team watched you from behind—probably something like this.

When hanging a wreath for Cai Yong, Cai Guolan's expression was resolute: "Uncle take care, don't worry about me, I will behave well." ”

Cai Yong nodded and touched her head lovingly, this contemporary Mulan-like niece has always been an incomparably precious treasure in his eyes.

Young man, do your best, you must survive!

Cai Yong sincerely blessed all the soldiers who were about to go on the expedition from the bottom of his heart.

However, the blessing of that lovely girl Qi Bing should be more effective than Uncle Cai's inner cry.

"This is a wreath that Sister Cai and I made by hand, let's have a look, remember to leave a few boats for our second attack wave ......"

Words like these are combined with the sweet smile of a beautiful girl...... Burn it! Fighters of naval aviation! How can you fall behind a woman! Even if it's for the garland around the neck, you have to do it hard! Let's go!

Similar plays were being staged on the other three aircraft carriers of the mobile unit at this time.

The 250 carrier-based aircraft carried on the four aircraft carriers are the entire aviation striking power of the mobile forces.

The "Dapeng" and "Yunpeng" of the First Air Force belong to the "Dapeng class" and have been put into service this year, with a standard displacement of 19,400 tons, a length of 216 meters, a width of 28 meters, and a speed of 28 knots. There are 1,450 officers and men on board, and 76 carrier-based aircraft are rated to be carried, including 45 attack planes from five squadrons of "Thunder Eagle" ships, 18 fighters from three squadrons of "Sea Lightning" ships, six reconnaissance planes from one squadron and seven spare planes (three each from "Thunder Eagle" and "Sea Lightning" and one "Dongfeng").

The "Golden Falcon" and "Saker" of the Second Air Force are also sister ships, which were commissioned in 1912 and 1913 respectively, with a standard displacement of 15,000 tons and a speed of 28 knots. It is rated to carry 54 carrier-based aircraft, including 36 from 4 squadrons of "Thunder Eagle", 12 from 2 squadrons of "Sea Lightning", and 6 from 1 squadron of "Dongfeng".

The first attack wave is scheduled to send 24 ship-attack planes and 12 ship-fighting planes each from the "Dapeng" and "Yunpeng" of the first team, and 24 ship-attack planes and 6 ship-fighting planes each from the "Golden Falcon" and "Saker" of the second team, with a total of 96 ship-attacking planes and 36 ship-fighting planes and a total of 132 carrier-based aircraft.

Colonel Cai Yong, commander of the 1st Attack Wave, will take the squadron leader of the 165th Ship-based Attack Squadron of the 1st Carrier-based Aircraft Wing of the "Dapeng" (the plane is equipped with auxiliary fuel tanks and high-power radios instead of torpedoes) to grasp the situation from the battlefield and exercise command, and report directly to Lieutenant General Liang Shuming, commander of the mobile unit, on the progress of the operation in a timely manner. Just in case, Colonel Liang Mubin, wing commander of the Third Carrier-based Aircraft Wing on the "Golden Falcon," as the first deputy commander of the attack, also boarded a specially modified "Thunder Eagle" attack plane and was ready to take Cai Yong's place at any time.

As a result, 96 ship-attacking planes of the first attack wave will carry 94 450-mm torpedoes, and 36 shipfighters will carry 72 25-kilogram bombs to Pearl Harbor.

At 06:00, the mobile force turned to the northwest, and the four aircraft carriers were at full speed, heading into the wind, ready to release the first attack wave.