Chapter 656: Final Preparations
When the Scharnhorst sailed into Kaohsiung Port, he was shocked by what he saw, almost all the warships of the Chinese Navy were concentrated here, and the 15-kilometer radius outside Kaohsiung Military Port was limited to a military area. In the port area, various fences have even been erected to block the view. The nine dreadnoughts of the Huaxia Navy were moored at anchorage No. 1 and No. 2 in two groups, while the Ninghai-class battleships and armored cruisers were moored at anchorage No. 3, and other light cruisers and mine-strike ships were deployed on the periphery and undertook patrol duties at the same time. And in an inconspicuous place in the depths of the harbor, Count Spee vaguely saw some submarines docked quietly. And behind these submarines, there should be a cave depot.
On the other side of the harbor, Count Spee also found a number of large-tonnage civilian ships, on which a group of people were busy, and cranes lowered huge wooden false turrets and chimneys to the hull. Some of them have been painted in the Victorian style of livery usually used by the Chinese navy. On it is everything a battleship should have, a fake turret, a fake chimney, a fake conning tower and a fake rangefinder .......
Mine protection nets were placed around each warship, and several minefields were also deployed around the military port, so that even in the Chinese mainland, the Chinese Navy did not lower its vigilance. All the precautions are better than those of the forward base in the Philippines. Judging from the current situation, all the capital ships of the Huaxia Navy are already in the best condition, and anyone with a discerning eye can see that this fleet of the Far East is about to launch a large-scale operation.
Count Spee only guessed half right, the Huaxia Navy was going to launch a big operation, but it was not a preparation. Rather, it has already begun. A supply fleet of supply ships and transport ships carrying supplies have left the coastal ports of China and are gathering for Taiwan. Several submarine units have entered the Java Sea to carry out reconnaissance operations against the Russian Navy. In 2 days, this fleet will lead a large number of supply ships and transports through the Makassar Strait and enter the Java Sea again!
At the beginning of the mission, all of Huaxia's maritime forces will be divided into three groups. The main forces of the Chinese fleet will sweep along the coast of Java and destroy all the ports that Russia and the Netherlands can use. The second group is the transport fleet responsible for feints, which will occupy a port under the cover of a detachment and then pretend to start building an advance base. The third group is the supply fleet that provides logistical support for the Chinese Navy, and they will be responsible for replenishing the fleet with ammunition, fuel and daily necessities at any time. In the initial phase, they will cruise in the relatively safe Makassar Strait and enter the Java Sea for replenishment as needed.
After sweeping away the other ports except the port of Batavia, the Chinese fleet will decide on the next move according to the situation, if Makanov can't help it, he will escape from the old den of the port of Batavia. Naturally, I didn't say that everyone had a big fight. But if Makanov remained in the port of Batavia, the Chinese fleet would go to Batavia to launch a feint. Among them, the main fleet naturally had to carry out the task of shelling the port area. At the same time, the minelayers of the Chinese Navy will also go to Lassen, Bantu, Pekalangan and other port areas to lay mines. Seal off these ports completely. and, eventually, the laying of jamming minefields outside the port of Batavia. Make a gesture to completely seal off the port of Batavia.
At the same time, the transport fleet, with the cooperation of the marines, will begin to build an advance base after occupying Machen. Of course, this is a feint, and it must be a feint that the Russians can know. At the right time, the Huaxia Navy, which was responsible for the feint attack on Batavia, would choose to withdraw. If Makanov still doesn't plan to move the nest. Then the base in Machen will be changed from a feint to a formal construction. If Makanov chooses to follow the Chinese fleet and is ready to attack while the Chinese fleet is weak. Then the Huaxia Navy's operational planning will enter the third step.
In this plan, the "camouflage fleet" that the Chinese Navy has been preparing for a long time will make its debut. These civilian ships, filled with fake turrets, fake chimneys, and other fakes, will temporarily leave behind the former dreadnought fleet in the eyes of the Russians. As for whether it will be seen through. It can only be said that if the distance between the two sides is more than 10 nautical miles, basically the battleship can only judge a general ship type and determine the direction and size according to the smoke column (the large ship must have a large smoke discharge, and the small ship must be small). The difference between the two battleships by more than 20 meters is not visible at all, and the displacement difference between the battleship Bismarck and the Prinz Eugen in history is 1 times, and the British still admit that they are wrong? As for the close reconnaissance, it is estimated that no Russian warship has the courage to do so, right?
At the same time, the nine dreadnoughts of the Huaxia fleet will adjust their course at night. Towards the rear of the flank of the Russian fleet. And after the Russian Rapid Fleet fought with the Chinese former dreadnought fleet, outflanked Makanov's main fleet from the rear. The key to this step was two points, one was the decision of the Russians to send a fast fleet to attack the Chinese navy. And the other point is that the main force of the Huaxia fleet can quickly be copied from the back. As long as it can reach the rear of the Russian fleet and is not discovered at the first time, then the whole battle situation can be finalized, and the rest depends on whether the brothers are strong or not!
After the final plan was finalized, the top brass of the Huaxia Fleet also needed a reason that was enough to convince the Russians, and this reason was why the Huaxia Navy would abandon the attack on Batavia, and the Huaxia Navy was not enough to capture the port of Batavia, which was protected by the Russian-Dutch combined fleet. The dense minefield outside the harbor and the 12-inch fortress guns in the harbor, as well as up to 16 various capital ships, are enough to ensure the safety of the port at sea. At most, the Chinese Navy has caused some damage. But again, the Russian-Dutch fleet in the harbor could not deal a fatal blow to the Chinese fleet in the open sea. The most likely outcome would be a confrontation between the two sides, with the Chinese fleet receiving a few shells or losing a few auxiliary ships, while the Russians had some port facilities destroyed.
The Russians will chase them out when they think they can take advantage of them. Under what circumstances can you take advantage, for example, the strength of the Huaxia fleet on the opposite side will be damaged, and under normal circumstances, attacking the port will not lead to a big loss of the fleet's combat strength, and the Huaxia Navy will not be stupid enough to run to the effective range of shore artillery. Anyway, the Huaxia Navy is also shooting roughly, and being able to throw shells into the port area is a victory! So the only thing you can do is underwater.
Any time the ship's damage under water will be the most fatal. And the Russians also happened to have a large number of mines in the open sea. Therefore, when necessary, the Chinese Navy needs to let the Russians know that its capital ship has "hit a mine"! Of course, this can't be a real mine, if you install a mine with even a charge of more than 100KG, it is estimated that a quasi-dreadnought will kneel directly. Even if the fearless king of World War 1, who is as powerful as Byrne, after being hit by a Russian mine, doesn't he get close to thousands of tons of water at once? Therefore, the Chinese Navy needs to make one or two of them quasi-dreadnought make the "illusion" of being bombed by mines at close range. So that their retreat will become natural!
If the 2 quasi-dreadnoughts are damaged in battle, what will the Huaxia Navy do? In this case, the paper combat power of the Chinese Navy is definitely weaker than that of the Russian Pacific Fleet! In this way, the Russians can concentrate 10 dreadnoughts and 2 quasi-dreadnoughts to deal with 9 dreadnoughts and 1 quasi-dreadnought of the Huaxia Navy, of which the 2 Longxu-class battlecruisers of the Huaxia Navy are not very suitable for the battle line! And the Russians also have an advantage in armored cruisers! So in this case, the Russians will not give up this golden opportunity! Faced with the temptation to defeat the Huaxia Navy, they will definitely attack!
For this reason, the Huaxia Navy needs to do enough scenes, such as filling water on the side of the hull to tilt the hull, such as lights and pyrotechnic stunts, and then such as black smoke and blood on the hull! Well. For this reason, the Huaxia Navy also conducted similar experiments in a certain port in order to make this scene more realistic. "We're going to do something more like the real thing!" This is Xu Jie's instructions to the personnel responsible for "making movies"!
Then the rest of the scenes are simple. The dreadnoughts were ready to withdraw to replenish their ammunition due to the huge ammunition consumption, while the former dreadnoughts accompanied the wounded battleships in the rear. What a logical reason for this? Of course, the Russians can also understand that the main fleet chose to evacuate in order to avoid being dragged down by the slow former dreadnought fleet. After all, if you can't run away when your combat strength is inferior, it means defeat. Anyway, no matter what reason the Russians take to convince themselves, as long as they can go out, then the Huaxia fleet will be considered to have completed the last part of this earth-shattering plan!
Of course, in order to ensure the strength of reconnaissance, the Huaxia Navy has also decided to press all submarine forces, and the submarine forces will not be able to break up relations in the near future. But it is necessary to ensure the tracking of the Russian fleet, although these little things sail at a speed of less than 8 knots underwater, they can still reach a speed of about 20 knots on the surface, and they are very small, and they are basically invisible at a distance. Covert tracking or something is good for these little guys.
"Boss, you're a natural conspirator." When the plan was finalized, Yang Yonglin walked into Xu Jie's ear and whispered, and Xu Jie was also quite proud of this plan, no, it may be a little early to say that he is proud, and it is not too late to be proud after beating the Russian fleet all over the ground.
At the same time, Makanov, who was in the port of Batavia, was also thinking about the future of the war, and he was now 100% sure that the Chinese Republic had learned that the Russians had obtained two brand new dreadnoughts from the French, and that once the ships were in place, the Russian fleet would have the upper hand. And the Chinese Navy was indifferent? Is this very abnormal, or is there some conspiracy in it? If it had been Makanov who had led the Chinese fleet, then he would have taken action, although the exact way is not known. But now Makanov is not in a hurry, time is on the side of Russia and the Netherlands, and what Makanov needs now is to wait and see! Let's see what kind of measures Huaxia will take when it arrives on the ground, so that you can see the tricks for yourself!
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