Episode 155 The Yamato begins

Entering the second half of October, the monthly production was only a dozen ships, but now the output has begun to climb rapidly. By the end of October, 26 submarines had been built throughout the country. Of these, 12 were produced in the second half of the year. The Admiralty of the Ming Dynasty approved the request of the General Staff of the Navy to "significantly increase the production of submarines", and at the same time postponed the construction plan of the last battleship.

In the "November Plan for the Construction of Small and Medium-sized Ships," the Admiralty has set targets for the construction of submarines: 3 small submarines, 15 medium-sized low-sea submarines, 10 large ocean-going submarines, and 4 other special submarines. A total of 31 ships.

Among the "other special submarines", two of them are "Shooting Fish" anti-aircraft submarines, and the other two are "cows" - ocean-going supply submarines.

This kind of supply submarine is also an idea proposed to Xiaoqiang. This is an ocean-going submarine of about two thousand tons, without torpedo tubes, with only one deck gun and one Bofors machine gun as a weapon of self-defense. In addition to its own diesel, it can carry an additional nearly 800 tons of diesel, which can theoretically fill up five large submarines or eight medium-sized submarines. Of course, this is a theoretical value, which refers to the fact that from empty to full, in fact, it is impossible for a submarine to meet with a "cow" without a drop of oil. Generally, just add some in moderation. In this way, one "cow" can generally provide refueling for a dozen or twenty submarines, which is enough to cover a sea theater of operations.

In addition to fuel, the supply boat was loaded with a large amount of food, fresh water, medicines, replacement parts, and a very professional maintenance team. These are all things that ordinary attack submarines are difficult to carry a lot of.

Xiang Xiaoqiang once wanted this supply submarine to carry some torpedoes for replenishment of combat submarines. Because according to Xiang Xiaoqiang's experience in World War II, in addition to fuel, the most expensive thing in submarine warfare is torpedoes. Once the torpedo runs out, the submarine will have to return home, even if it still has plenty of fuel and fresh water for food. Because there is no point in dangling on the sea any longer. But the submarine designers were embarrassed at first, because torpedoes took up space, very much. The heavy torpedo used by the submarine was very huge and lay there like a large trunk that had been cut down. A few torpedoes can squeeze a lot of fuel space. Therefore, Xiang Xiaoqiang had to not give up for the time being.

He planned to put this "fuel cow" on trial for a while, and if there was a serious shortage of torpedoes, then it would be necessary to design another supply submarine - either without additional fuel and only torpedoes, or with a larger design, both.

By November, there were 61 Ming submarines in Japan's outer waters, half of which were in the Sea of Japan. There were 30 Ming submarines in the Sea of Japan – a considerable density. On the seabed within 100 nautical miles outside the port of Vladivostok, Japanese and Soviet shipwrecks lie everywhere. Japan has now implemented a "fleet escort system". In the early stage, when the merchant ships were about to sail off the coast of Vladivostok, they would gather and form a fleet and wait for the field to enter the port together. Now, as soon as they left the ports of Japan, they immediately assembled into a fleet of ships, ranging from a dozen to thirty or forty ships, escorted by three or five, seven or eight, and eleven or twelve destroyers, and sailed to Vladivostok.

But this just fits in with the "wolf pack tactics" of the Ming army. The 30 submarines of the Ming army were scattered in several layers in the northwestern part of the Sea of Japan, and the closer to Vladivostok, the denser the submarines were. Even if the Japanese merchant ships formed a fleet, they could not escape the eyes of the Ming submarines. A submarine spotted the convoy and immediately radioed other submarines in front and to the left and right, while following closely. So in the next few hours, or a dozen or so, a big net began to tighten. More than a dozen submarines simultaneously concentrated in the direction of the flotilla, trailing in front and behind, left and right.

In the evening. The submarines began to slaughter. More than a dozen submarines surfaced, riding the moon and the dark wind to speed up, galloping back and forth in the fleet, constantly selecting targets and firing torpedoes...... As a result, explosions began to explode on the surface of the sea, and large fireballs flew into the night sky, illuminating the radius of many nautical miles.

Submarines, on the other hand, are very low and can easily hide in the dark background of the sea at night, and it is difficult to be seen even when sailing at high speed on the surface. The sound of the submarine's diesel engine has long been mixed with the sound of the heavy engine of the cargo ship around it, and the sound of explosions one after another. Whether it is active or passive sonar on the destroyer, it is not much use at this time. Moreover, the destroyer has to save people and run around to capture submarines, taking care of one at the expense of the other. Sometimes if you can't keep it all, you will get a torpedo......

Once a dozen wolves rush into the hundreds of sheep and slaughter them, the shepherds, even if they have guns, are basically powerless in the face of chaos.

October was the prelude to the glorious period of the Ming army's submarine warfare. In this month, the Ming army sank more tonnage of cargo ships than the previous three months combined. There are reasons for both the "wolf pack tactics" and the significant increase in the number of submarines.

At the beginning of November, various relevant intelligence confirmed that submarine warfare was beginning to have a strategic effect on Japan. There were constant complaints in the Japanese cabinet that maritime trade with the USSR was becoming in danger of losing money, proposing that either Japan terminate maritime trade with the USSR or raise the price of goods again to compensate for the cost of more and more goods and ships sinking into the sea.

However, some people objected, saying that it was precisely the current seemingly loss-making trade with the Soviet Union that allowed the Ming to concentrate most of its submarines in the Sea of Japan, so that Japan's main Pacific shipping route would not be too threatened, and that Japan could normally import steel and oil from other countries and export Japanese goods. If trade with the Soviet Union was terminated, the Ming would definitely transfer more submarines to the Pacific coast and block Japan's own shipping routes. Therefore, it is better to continue trade with the Soviet Union, and at the same time raise the price of goods, so that the Soviet Union will pay for Japan's losses at sea. Vladivostok was the most important stronghold in the Far East, where Russia operated for decades, and the Soviet Union would not have thrown it away for a few dollars.

When this information was gathered to the General Staff of the Daming Sea and the Admiralty, these old men who were still skeptical about submarine warfare gradually became optimistic. It's just nowhere, but at the beginning, someone in the Japanese cabinet has already called for it. In the next few months, as the production of submarines in the Ming Dynasty continues to increase, and as the number of submarines around Japan continues to increase, more and more people in Japan will begin to call. Someday, most likely not too long, the war machine of the Japanese Empire will be unsustainable.

According to intelligence from the People's Guard, in early November, Japan began construction of an unprecedented giant battleship at Kure Harbor, with an expected total tonnage of 60,000 to 70,000 tons. Moreover, according to Xiang Xiaoqiang's exclusive information, this is only the first of two warships of the same class. Xiang Xiaoqiang originally wanted to tell the intelligence in more detail, bringing out the names "Yamato" and "Musashi". But then I thought about it, it was too exaggerated, so I will stop for the time being.

However, Xiang Xiaoqiang wrote in the intelligence: We don't have to be anxious, and we don't have to feel too threatened. Let Japan build giant battleships! We just need to build aircraft carriers while we continue to blockade Japan. By the time the two giant ships were commissioned, the Japanese would find that they had no extra fuel left for training. These two giant ships are either parked in the harbor as a permanent sight because of lack of fuel, or because of lack of training, they will be blown up and sunk by our aircraft carriers as soon as they go to sea.