In such an era when there is no sonar, no anti-submarine torpedoes, and even the most ordinary deep bombs, if you want to deal with a submarine, unless the people on the warship have discovered it before the submarine sinks...

In the face of vicious wolves from underwater, no matter how fierce the surface ships are, they can only be prey.

This can be seen from the fact that the captain of the U9 boat sank three 10,000-ton warships in one hour with only six torpedoes.

In the case of a surprise attack, just one already has such power, not to mention that Yan Shao has arranged a total of more than 20 submarines here this time?

Of course, if these Japanese can deal with it calmly, maybe things will take a turn for the better, after all, submarines are actually fragile, as long as they have to float, in the face of such fragile ships, even if it is just an ordinary destroyer, it can be solved lightly.

The problem is that the Japanese have not been trained in how to defend against underwater threats, and even after the battle of Longkou Bay, after all, the time is still too short, even if it is too late.

In addition, in the fleet, those transport ships that were originally protected were making trouble again, and one by one they actually collided with friendly ships in the process of evasion, which brought a larger fleet to the already chaotic fleet...

So, despite some omissions, in the first wave of attacks, a considerable number of ships were torpedoed. Many of them were destroyers and cruisers escorting the perimeter, but some were transports protected by them...

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In Tokyo, Japan, a qiē seems to be the same as usual.

Inside the accommodation. Shigenobu Okuma is playing chess with his wife. To be exact, it should be said to be a teaching, after all, Okuma Shigenobu's chess skills are much better than his wife.

This time to come. Shigenobu Okuma really had too many headaches for him. So while playing chess with his wife, he enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere very much.

"Looks like I'm going to win this game again..."

Placing the white chess pieces on the chessboard, a smile appeared on Shigenobu Okuma's face.

Smiling lightly at Shigenobu Okuma, his wife looked at the chessboard and thought.

Under this quiet atmosphere, Okuma's already heavy heart became relaxed.

It's just clear that God doesn't intend to keep him in this relaxed state of mind.

He was playing chess with his wife while Shigenobu Okuma. While talking to her, a young man suddenly pushed open the wooden door from the outside and burst in, and said loudly under the inexplicable gaze of Okuma Shigeshin.

"Your Excellency. Takagi Daisa, who was responsible for escorting the two divisions to Shandong, had just called and said that they had been ambushed by the Chinese submarine forces..."

Hearing this, Okuma Shigenobu stood up from his seat violently, and the chess piece in his hand that was about to fall on the chessboard also involuntarily fell on the chessboard.

"What did you say?!"

Meanwhile. There are many people in Japan who follow Shigenobu Okuma with an expression.

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On the surface of the sea. Some of the ships had begun to sink after the violent explosions, and some of them had hit torpedoes, and despite the fire that had already broken out on the ship, the people on board were still trying to save their lives―――――― at the same time.

In the vast sea, if there is no such thing under their feet, the possibility of surviving is pitiful.

At the same time, it may be due to the excellent high-speed performance of the Hiei, and of course it may also be due to the good fortune of the Hiei when it continued from Longkou Bay. Although quite a few torpedoes were directed at him this time, most of them were easily dispersed by the Hiei. Even if two of them were almost on the verge of hitting him, they were finally blocked by two destroyers in turn―――――― for the Japanese, the survival of the 'Hiei' was obviously much more important than their ship, so it was worth sacrificing oneself.

On the other hand, in the process of continuing to carry out evasive actions, Nanataro Takagi did not forget to command the ships to counterattack. On the blue sea, the appearance of torpedoes is very conspicuous, so as long as you shell according to the position where the white line appears, there is always something to be gained...

In fact, it is...

Due to the suddenness of the ambush, Nanataro Takagi's fleet suffered great losses, and the escort ships of the entire fleet sank at least three-fifths, two of which were sunk by his own men.

And the transports, which should have been heavily protected, sank even more, to the point of four out of five―――――― one fifth of which sank in the event of a collision with each other.

There were also some ships that hadn't sunk yet, but they seemed to be coming soon, as they had been hit by torpedoes, not normal shells. Plus this time it was either a destroyer or a cruiser, or a transport.

The former have a small displacement, while the latter has poor survivability because it is a civilian ship.

Ambushed by more than two dozen submarines, the entire fleet was almost devastated.

At the moment, Nanataro Takagi is commanding the surviving ships to rescue the soldiers who fell into the water, and he doesn't know how much he can save at the moment. Because of the suddenness of the attack, many soldiers were still in the cabin at the time, so when the torpedo hit the ship, a large number of crew members and soldiers were trapped in the cabin, and then gradually sank with the ship.

This is not Longkou Bay, the bay is shallow, and there are tens of thousands of troops next to it who can help, and they are the only ones who can help them here, if even they can't help themselves, then they can only be trapped in the cabin that is about to be filled with water, and pray to God for protection...

Looking at the ships that had sunk, were about to sink, and were not sunk, but were badly damaged, burning, and emitting a lot of smoke, Takagi Nanataro also had a feeling that he was almost suffocating.

He couldn't imagine how big his loss was this time.

Three-fifths of the combat ships. And four-fifths of the transport ships ...

This kind of loss, even compared to the annihilation of the whole army, is probably not much away, and Takagi Nanataro can't even imagine how he should go to the military headquarters. Explain to His Majesty the Emperor...

"Maybe caesarean section should be a more decent way..."

Thinking of this, Nanataro Takagi couldn't help but smile bitterly.

However, they have also achieved some success.

Although the bombardment of the water surface was completely purposeless, the shelling of the position where the torpedo appeared was more or less effective.

And...

Indeed, the navies of this era largely lacked the ability to respond to underwater threats. But in the same way, Gong let them attack the surface target for the first time, and the experience is also poor―――――― although Longkou Bay was also floating on the water that time. But it's all fixed, basically except for the tension of actual combat, it's not much different from hitting a fixed target...

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After firing all the torpedoes, he looked through the periscope at the remaining ships of the target. Gong Rang gritted his teeth.

"Withdraw..."

"Yes!"

The officer standing next to Gong Rang was also clear. The current submarine has lost its sharpest minions, and staying here will only increase the danger, so immediately obey the order.

As Miyarang's submarine turned away, the other submarines also left their targets one by one...

It's just that compared to the number when they came, when they left, the number of them was significantly less...

19 ships...

Compared to the 24 when they came, there are 5 fewer submarines ...

In other words, in the course of the assault they lost at least 5 ships ...

And this is precisely the reason why Gong Rang gritted his teeth...

Like I said before. Although the Japanese lacked the means to deal with the threat from underwater, they also lacked experience in attacking surface targets. Although before the operation, they had already worked out the combat method of 'shooting one shot for another place'. But after all, there is too little experience, and it can even be said that there is very little.

After all, many of the more than 20 submarines have not even been able to complete sea trials, and the officers and crews who piloted them have not even completed ordinary training.

In this case, although after firing the torpedo they should have moved the place, the speed was obviously a little too sluggish in the process of transfer. As a result, it was shelled from the water.

At this time, the submarine is still very vulnerable, and even if it is not a direct hit, the shock wave may cause damage to the submarine. So in addition to the two ships that were directly sunk, the other three ships were injured and had to be urgently floated...

The submarine is an interesting weapon, and he is the most dangerous hunter until it is discovered. But when he is discovered, he will change from a hunter to a prey.

Especially on the surface of the submarine, if it is found underwater, then they may still have the possibility of running away, but on the surface...

Even just an ordinary destroyer has the ability to take out a submarine ...

Suddenly attacked, and at such a big price, it is impossible to say that those Japanese are not annoyed. So after seeing a submarine floating up, they didn't even consider the option of 'capture', and directly aimed their guns at the submarine ...

After a few salvos, the submarine that was forced to float was reduced to ashes ...

The two submarines did not escape such a fate, although they also used the submarine's own naval guns to counterattack, but their firepower was too insignificant compared to any combat ship on the surface...

The rest can be imagined...

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"Great President, the telegram that has just come back is going well, and the battle is going very smoothly..."

Walking to Yan Shao's side, Wu Qianqiu said softly.

"Did you succeed..."

"Hmm..." took out a telegram, Wu Qianqiu handed the telegram to Yan Shao's hand, and at the same time said on the side. Since the submarine force had already withdrawn after the normal ambush was over, it was impossible to thoroughly count the results of the battle, but according to the report at the time, the Japanese should have suffered heavy losses this time, more than half of the combat ships escorted by the escort, and the transport ships were also almost lost, according to the submarine force, there should have been no more than six transport ships floating on the sea at that time..."

"What about the loss?"

"It's not small," Wu Qianqiu said softly. The submarine force lost about 5 submarines, and some more were damaged. After leaving the battlefield, he had to urgently float up..."

"That's it..."Yan Shao nodded.

Although it was said that 5 submarines were lost, in Yan Shao's opinion, it was definitely worth it to exchange the loss of 5 submarines for such a big result. And before the operation was formulated. Yan Shao had already considered the possibility of casualties, and he had already prepared in his heart, so there was nothing to be sad about―――――― to be exact, there were no casualties in a few battles in this world.

No matter how much Yan Shao longs for a zero-casualty battle, this is unrealistic after all...

Since war has been chosen, there will definitely be casualties, and this is the right reason...

"Anyway. Count the losses and the results of the battle, and send them out, just to boost morale..."Thinking of this. Yan Shao also looked at Wu Qianqiu. "In addition, I am sending a telegram to Cai Ye and them, telling them that they can act..."

"Yes..."

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On the Shandong Peninsula, just when the temple was still waiting for the reinforcements he urgently needed, a piece of news made him feel like he was struck by lightning...

A fleet carrying reinforcements. On the way to it, he was ambushed by the Chinese submarine forces ...

Leaving aside the casualties of the escort fleet for the time being. The reinforcements that Terauchi Masashi urgently needed, including the surviving transport ships, two infantry divisions, and the Japanese army that survived in the end were only more than 6,000 people, including the officers and soldiers who were rescued from the water by Nanataro Takagi later...

That is, on this voyage, the Japanese lost at least more than 30,000 people―――――― after excluding those combat ships ...

And there will be so few people who survive, but it is because of a reason why Masaki Terauchi doesn't know whether to be happy or cry...

This time the Japanese have already transported two infantry divisions. All of them add up to more than 40,000 people. The problem is that even in infantry divisions, there must be a lot of equipment that needs to be delivered.

For example, the rifles that soldiers need. Artillery, machine guns, and other equipment.

Among the surviving ships, two were responsible for transporting equipment, such as artillery and ammunition...

After all, after sending people to Shandong, they must always have equipment that they can use to fight, and if they are bare-handed, then what is the use of asking them to come over?

However, these two ships loaded with munitions robbed many soldiers of their chances of survival...

Later, according to the statistics of the Japanese, in the ambush, including the loss of the navy, the Japanese lost a total of more than 40,000 people. The two infantry divisions were basically disabled, and the remaining Japanese officers and soldiers could only be temporarily turned into an infantry brigade...

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The news of the almost total annihilation of the transport fleet was a huge blow to the Japanese.

Originally, after learning that reinforcements were about to arrive, the morale of the Japanese army in Shandong was more or less improved, but after learning the news, the morale of the entire Japanese army suddenly dropped to the lowest point, especially when they saw those scattered fleets sailing into Longkou Bay...

It can be said that at this moment, few of those Japanese troops on the Shandong Peninsula still believed that they could win, and even the most fanatical officers of the Young Zhuang faction had lost hope in their hearts.

Naturally, the loss of hope was followed by politicians in Japan itself, as well as many soldiers.

When they learned the news, they were almost struck by lightning. But after reacting, they became overwhelmed.

40,000 people were killed, a figure that was unimaginable even for the Japanese. After all, at this time, Japan's mobilized troops were only a little more than 500,000. 40,000 people, which is almost a tenth of the Army's share―――――― just almost...

What's more, on the Shandong Peninsula, there is also Masaki Terauchi who is waiting for reinforcements.

Soon, an officer of the Shaozhuang faction proposed that another reinforcement should be sent, after all, according to the telegram of Terauchi Zhengyi, the Shandong side seemed to be about to be unable to hold out.

The opposition, however, believes that sending reinforcements is a death sentence when the underwater threat has not been cleared. At the moment, the 'Empire' has already paid 40,000 losses, and it will definitely not be able to withstand another blow...

It was while they were still arguing that another bad news came to their ears.

On the shipping route between Japan and Shandong, ships carrying supplies to Shandong were constantly sunk, and in just one day, eight transport ships were sunk―――――― all of which were submarines that returned to the fortress of Qingdao to replenish the torpedoes and fuel consumed and set off again, and Miyayo was also located in it.

However, because many ships were injured in the course of the attack and had to be repaired in the military port, there were only 13 submarines that ambushed on the shipping route...

If the shipping route is cut off, then what will happen to the Japanese army in Shandong, this is very clear to both Okuma Shigenobu and Yama Prefecture Aritomo...

On the other hand, the Nationalist government made a big deal about the victory at sea...

Although the Communist government has not yet had an accurate figure, after some speculation, it is possible to estimate the casualties of the Japanese army.

So when the national government publicized the casualty reports of more than 30,000 people (some of whom were transporting equipment and ammunition), almost the whole world turned its attention to it, and the country was boiling over it...

And the war that happened in Shandong seems to have finally reached a conclusion at this moment...

After the two newly transferred infantry divisions arrived in Shandong, Cai Ye and Jiang Baili gathered all the troops they could mobilize, intending to end the war that had been going on for some time in the shortest possible time...

There will be a winner in this war, but it is definitely not the Japanese ...

And as long as this battle can be won, the position of the Nationalist government, which was still somewhat loose, can be completely stabilized... (To be continued......)