Northeast of Lingayen Bay, the flagship of the 2nd Fleet "Ruixiang".

Ma Shengyu looked at the chart on the table, his face was solemn, and he frequently opened and closed the pocket watch with a white gold cover in his hand—it was given to him by the former prime minister Liu Yun when he met with the navy heroes after the South China Sea Naval Battle.

According to the information transmitted from the telegraph room on the side, the staff officers around the chart were constantly marking the changes in the positions of the enemy and the enemy on the map, and they were very busy.

"The enemy avant-garde has entered the armor mine formation!"

"The enemy avant-garde enters the line of interception of submarine No. 1!"

"The enemy avant-garde entered the left cruiser blocking line ......"

Ma Shengyu listened carefully, watched carefully, and issued brief orders from time to time, as the commander of the fleet on the South China Sea side, he was fully responsible for this battle - and it was very likely that he would be honorably martyred in the final decisive battle.

Ma Shengyu knew very well that the outcome of this battle would fundamentally depend on the extent to which the traps set by our army in Lingayen Bay could cause attrition to the enemy fleet.

The first trap was a mine array, and three days earlier, before the landing fleet had fully withdrawn, the 3rd Fleet escort unit guarding Lingayen Bay had begun to lay a mine barrier 6 nautical miles long and 1-2 nautical miles deep near Kabaruyan Island, the most likely direction for the enemy fleet to enter. After the main force of the 2nd Fleet and the Subic Bay escort force were assembled in Lingayan Bay, they laid two mine arrays (B and C) each 5 nautical miles long and 1 nautical mile deep to the north and northwest of the bay, and promptly distributed mine arrays to their own ships that were scheduled to stay in the bay to fight. It is estimated that no matter which direction the enemy fleet enters or detaches, there is at least a 50 percent chance that it will rush into one of the mine arrays. Sure enough, according to the report of the observation post on Kabaruyan Island, the enemy advance guard rushed straight into the center of the minefield in the northwest direction 30 minutes ago, and 3 or 4 ships exploded-

The second trap is the submarine interception line that lies in ambush behind the mine line, a total of four, of which Line 1 is laid behind the mine array A, Line 2 is laid between the mine arrays A and B, Line 3 is laid behind the mine arrays B, and Line 4 is laid between the mine arrays B and C. Four small submarines lurk at equal distances along each line, for a total of 16 submarines, waiting for an opportunity to launch an attack on the enemy fleet that breaks through the mine array. According to the report of the naval unit sent to Kabaruyan Island, the enemy fleet had rushed into the blocking line between submarines No. 1 and No. 2 15 minutes earlier.

The third trap, or rather, the defensive line, consists of three lines of interception of cruisers on the left, center, and right, of which the seven old cruisers on the left line (belonging to the 5th Light Patrol Team of the Japanese Army and the 3rd Light Patrol Team of the DPRK Army) patrol behind the blocking line of the first and second submarines, and the four old cruisers on the middle line and the right line each are behind the blocking line of the third and fourth submarines. The purpose of setting up the cruiser barrage line was to destroy the light cruiser force led by the enemy, and to attract the attention of the enemy avant-garde, providing cover for the effectiveness of the fourth trap. These old cruisers laid on the blocking line have fully proved their value in the battle in the early hours of this morning, and the two light cruisers of the Japanese and North Korean armies on the left blocking line completely destroyed the two British cruisers that had secretly penetrated into the bay in that short but fierce night battle. Ironically, all eight cruisers were built by German shipyards around 1900, and the fact that German warships battered British ships in the Pacific Ocean seemed like a good news stunt against the backdrop of the German Empire's mighty high seas fleet, which was too reluctant to challenge the Royal Navy. However, in that battle, several boilers of the "Incheon" of the 3rd Light Patrol Brigade of the DPRK Army were damaged, and it could only sail at half speed, unable to move with the team, so it had to withdraw to Kaohsiung Port for repairs.

According to the report of the "Takasago" (the flagship of the 5th Japanese Light Patrol Squadron), the leader of the left blocking line, three enemy light cruisers were spotted 10 minutes ago, and an unknown number of large ships were marching in column behind them - at this time, it was not known whether the left blocking line of the road had exchanged fire with the enemy ships.

As for the fourth trap......

Ma Shengyu anxiously flicked open the cover of the watch and glanced at the telegraph room again - what's the matter, it's almost time, did those guys fly to Java?

"The attack team of the three ships has called!"

Hearing the excited shout of the adjutant in the telegraph room, Ma Shengyu's waist shook: "Hurry up!" ”

"Our team is above your department, please help indicate the direction."

Ma Shengyu stomped his feet and said fiercely: "I said, I'm really fucking lost," and then turned to the fleet aviation staff officer: "Staff Officer Xie, you can find a way to show them the direction of attack as soon as possible." ”

"Yes!"

It was 1:15 p.m., and the land-based air attack group, which was vital to the operation, had not found the enemy fleet 45 minutes after the scheduled attack time.

Vice Admiral Bernie on the "Malaya" already vaguely sensed the abnormality of the situation.

None of the five reconnaissance planes sent out have not returned, nor have they sent back any meaningful reports, and the cruiser reconnaissance line, which is the tentacles of the whole fleet, has reportedly been engaged in a scuffle with several enemy cruisers, and the battle cruisers and mounted patrols of the avant-garde column should have quickly supported them at this time to ensure that our reconnaisance line can obtain information in the bay in a timely manner, but what made Bernie vomit blood was that the ships of the avant-garde column located in the right front of the main column had become a mess, paralyzed, tilted, and danced......

In less than an hour, a total of 5 cruisers of the avant-garde forces, including the reconnaissance line, were sunk or heavily damaged, and God knows how many submarines the other side has laid here!

No, it's just a submarine...... There were not a few destroyers attached to the avant-garde, and in such a sunny sea, it was easy to spot the trail of periscopes, as well as the trajectory of torpedoes.

Since it is impossible for a submarine to be arrogant to such an extent, then the only possibility is - mines!

Bernie suddenly felt a chill down his spine: Oh no! If that's the case, the fleet will have to suffer greatly!

Wait, wait, can't panic, calm down, calm down.

By the way, within a few days of the enemy's arrival, it is impossible to lay minefields that are enough to severely damage the entire fleet so quickly, survey the sea conditions and water depth, demarcate areas, draw up mine arrays and distribute them to various units, as well as actual mine-laying operations, and set up hidden buoys, these tasks take a lot of time, and if you want to complete all the procedures in these few days, you can only greatly reduce the scale of the mine array, that is, even if there are really mine arrays here, the amplitude and depth will be very limited, not enough to cause fatal damage to such a large fleet.

But, in any case, the losses are now serious enough! Corresponding countermeasures must be taken immediately, and the main forces of the fleet must not be further depleted before they come into contact with the enemy's main forces!

If you think about it, since the other side has laid a mine array in the bay, its main force should not risk wandering in it, but is more likely to wait outside the bay far away from the minefield - in this way, there are no targets worth protecting in the bay at all!

In the case of a large number of large ships (especially requisitioned civilian ships) gathered in the bay, the guy who resolutely ordered to lay mines in the bay was 99 percent brain-broken, if not an undercover agent of the enemy.

Pitfall!

This is a big trap set up to drain the forces of the Combined Fleet!

If you keep going, you will only suffer even greater losses! It is necessary to make an immediate U-turn and retreat! Get out of this damned trap as soon as possible, and go out of the bay in search of the enemy's main force, yes, they must be waiting outside the bay, waiting for us to struggle in the trap and scar us before smashing the hammer on our heads that we have managed to poke out of the trap—

Cunning yellow monkey, it's useless to play this game in front of my Bernie, honestly line up your battle line, and use the big ships and cannons to fight it out!

Thinking of this, Bernie sneered and ordered: "Order!" The main column, together with the rearguard column, turned 180 degrees on the spot and withdrew from the bay at a low speed, and the ships paid close attention to mines and submarines! The advance guard should immediately abandon the ships that cannot be navigated, and after quickly transferring the officers and men on the ships, retreat with the main column as soon as possible! ”

Before the words could be spoken, a lookout shouted in the microphone: "A large number of planes have been found behind the port side, and the number is ...... Forty or more! ”

"What!"

Bernie strode to the porthole on the left side of the bridge and raised his binoculars to see a dark black cloud exuding mechanical coldness, slowly and inexorably expanding in the field of vision behind the porthole......

Where did the plane come from? American planes? No way! There are up to 30 things that can take to the skies in the entire Philippine archipelago – including hot air balloons.

Well, the enemy still has aircraft carriers left here? Or rather, flying directly from the nearest land airfield? If it's the latter, the opponent's aviation skills are really ......

I don't have time to think about it so much!

Bernie tightened his face and waved his big hand: "Send a signal, the whole fleet is ready for air defense operations!" ”

As soon as the order was given here, there was another lookout report there: "A large number of high-speed small ships have been found in front of the port side!" Quantity...... Fifty or more! ”

Sure enough, it's a trap!

Bernie gritted his teeth and forced himself to calm down, at this time, panic is tantamount to suicide, not to mention that the more critical the English gentleman should show that incomparably noble calmness and grace at the more critical moment-

"Order, the whole fleet is ready for anti-lightning strikes! The destroyer fleets immediately went out to block the enemy's lightning strike forces! ”

There is nothing to be nervous about, the fleet has 29 destroyers and 5 torpedo boats, plus those dense secondary guns like hedgehogs on the cruisers and capital ships, how many mine-striking ships can rush to a dangerous distance of 2,000 yards to launch torpedoes? As for torpedoes fired 2000 yards away - it can basically be considered fishing.

Bernie straightened his white gloves and raised his confident head, ready to admire the carnage he had expected.