The meteor-like rockets in the sky, dragging bright tail flames, lit up the sky before dawn, and the ships transporting the Japanese troops were all unarmed civilian ships, and in the face of such intensive artillery fire, there was no power to fight back, and the civilian ships had no armor at all, and the protection was basically blank.

The rockets fell on the civilian boats, the bodies of the Japanese soldiers were thrown high, the civilian boats were so large that there was no place to hide, the Japanese soldiers held the weapons in their hands, shouted and howled in despair, looking at the rockets flying in the sky, raindrops fell, there were many Japanese soldiers, dizzily jumped into the sea, in order to avoid the rain of bullets of death, but the rockets covering all directions, on the sea surface, exploded rows of water columns that soared into the sky.

The Japanese soldiers who jumped into the sea could not avoid the blow of the rockets, the blue sea water was dyed slightly red by the blood of the Japanese soldiers, Sasaki Osa, this time he was not so lucky, the civilian boat he was riding on was blown to pieces under the first round of artillery fire, and His Excellency Osa and the civilian ship turned into a certain piece in the surging waves of the Strait of Malacca.

Lieutenant General Shinno, commander of the Fifth Army of Japan's Southwest Pacific Dispatch Army on the island of Sumatra, jumped up in shock after receiving the report of the forward troops, and the commander of the forward forces described it like this: "Your Excellency, a fierce battle is taking place in the Strait of Malacca, and from the observation position on the shore, the sea surface has been reflected in red, and the direction of the artillery fire is not the shore-based artillery of the Shina unit in Singapore!" ”

Lieutenant General Shinno asked loudly: "It's not the artillery of the Chinese army that attacked Singapore, where did the artillery come from?"

The commander of the forward troops of the Japanese army was also confused, and he was an old soldier, no matter what type of artillery, he could probably distinguish it. But with a long tail of flames, hissing and screaming, and cannonballs like meteors in the sky, it was the first time I saw it, and the commander asked himself, and he couldn't answer, and the consequences were very severe!

He had an idea and replied: "Judging from my observations, it should be the naval fleet of the Independent Division, which is intercepting the retreating Yokoyama Brigade fleet. After a moment's thought, he added, "Your Excellency, Commander." This was the judgment of the department, because we could not contact the Yokoyama Brigade and did not know the specific situation of the battlefield, Commander, whether we were using shore-based artillery or not. Artillery cover for the Yokoyama brigade? ”

Lieutenant General Shinno, not yet confused. asked coldly. "Can you determine the location of the fleet of the Independent Division?"

The commander of the Japanese forward unit was speechless, the fog shrouded the Strait of Malacca, and he could only see the flickering firelight in the mist, and hear the scream of artillery shells piercing the air. As for the position in which the Yokoyama Brigade flotilla was transported, the guessed position of the independent division's fleet could not be determined at all, and it was proposed to let the shore-based artillery open fire. If the answer is uncertain, he will also be reprimanded by His Excellency the Commander.

He blamed himself for talking too much, so he could only round the words, and after a moment's pause, he replied: "Your Excellency Commander, the shore-based artillery can roughly determine the direction of the fleet of the independent division!" ”

Vice Admiral Shinno said: "Well, order all shore-based artillery to immediately shell the Shina fleet!" "General Shinno also understands that the Yokoyama Brigade is afraid that there will be many bad lucks, and the unarmed civilian ships are attacked by warships, and they are not lambs to the slaughter, and the reason why he ordered the artillery to be fired is, on the one hand, not to leave a pretext for accusations to the General Headquarters of the Dispatch Army, and the artillery of our Fifth Army has done everything possible to support the Yokoyama Brigade.

On the other hand, Vice Admiral Shinno is really worried that the fleet of the Independent Division, taking the opportunity of intercepting and killing the fleet of the Yokoyama Brigade, will attack Sumatra by taking advantage of the situation.

Lieutenant General Shinno thought for a while, and he still felt unsteady in his heart, he ordered the communications staff officer, "Immediately report the battle situation to the headquarters of the dispatch army, the telegram is as follows, the commander of the Fifth Army, Shinno, reports, Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief Ito, at about 5 o'clock in the morning of August 8, the fleet of the Yokoyama Brigade withdrawing from Singapore to Sumatra was suddenly intercepted by the fleet of the Independent Division in the waters of the Strait of Malacca. Provide air cover for the Yokoyama brigade! ”

What should be done, everything has been done, Vice Admiral Shinno can only pray for the Yokoyama Brigade, may Amaterasu bless the poor Rear Admiral Yokoyama Kongoro, but in his heart, he is not steady, how did this mysterious independent division fleet avoid the observation posts of the imperial troops along the coast and touch into the Strait of Malacca?

Rear Admiral Xin Xiguo, chief of staff of the fleet of the Independent Division, calculated the time, the gunboat detachment had fired eight rounds of salvos, more than 30,000 rockets, enough for the little devil to drink a pot, suddenly, his command boat, shook violently a few times, and several thick water columns appeared in front of him, he immediately judged that this was the Japanese shore-based artillery shelling, however, the fog-shrouded sea, the Japanese artillery could not determine the exact location of their formation, from the landing point of the shells, it can be seen that the Japanese artillery is blindly shelling!

Xin Xiguo sneered, "The little devils on Sumatra Island are not willing to be lonely, they don't show their heads, they still want to beat them with their hands, and now, take the initiative to jump out, it's uncomfortable!" He ordered: "Gunboat detachment, you send two brigades of gunboats, under the cover of fog, to approach the Japanese shore-based artillery positions and teach the little devils a lesson!" ”

"It is especially emphasized that each gunboat is only allowed to fire one round of rockets, and then, quickly out of the range of the Japanese shore-based artillery, not to fall in love, the other brigades of the gunboat detachment immediately withdraw from the battlefield, and the torpedo boat detachment quickly sank the remnants of the Japanese transport!"

On the sea, more than 100 gunboats of the gunboat detachment immediately divided into two routes, one to withdraw from the battlefield, and the other way, lightly adjusted the direction, in the direction of Sumatra, galloping away, this kind of high-speed gunboat prepared by the fleet of the independent division, as the fleet commander Vice Admiral Tang Qiuquan said, is a typical "assassin," small tonnage, low noise, fast speed, fierce firepower, very flexible, the bow ploughs open the blue water, leaving white waves, almost like flying against the sea, like an arrow off the string, shooting at the Japanese shore-based artillery position.

When Le Yiqin led a mixed group of fighters and bombers, when he arrived over the battlefield, he only saw the flames on the sea surface of the Strait of Malacca shrouded in fog, appearing and disappearing in the mist. "The fleet is almost done!

Le Yiqin smacked his teeth, hurried to catch up or didn't catch up, he ordered: "Bomber formation, go down at low altitude, see if you can pick up some leftovers, fighter formation, immediately climb high, guard the airspace around the battlefield for a hundred kilometers, if the little devil dispatches fighters, you can still catch the battle!" ”

Then, opening the contact channel for the ship formation, Le Yiqin's first sentence was quite dissatisfied, "I said Chief of Staff Xin, your fleet is too fast, I brought hundreds of brothers from Myitkyina, how can I let them have a good time, your brother is good, Bao Yuan'er!" It's not righteous! I have to talk to Commander Tang about this, the two families are fighting together, and the fleet can't eat alone, right? ”

Le Yiqin's voice was absolutely loud, Xin Xiguo smiled bitterly, and said secretly in his heart: "This Le maniac, as soon as he heard about the war, his eyes lit up, according to Commander Tang's combat deployment, the mixed group of the Southern Flight Group of the Air Force, the main task was not to attack the Japanese transport fleet, but to warn the Japanese aircraft groups on Kalimantan and Sumatra. ”

Xin Xiguo replied with a smile: "Commander Le, just this little fish and shrimp, eat it in two, no one is enough, your aviation is waiting to eat fat, I estimate, let's make such a big move, the little devil's plane, it is impossible to see the excitement, the battlefield is too close to the Japanese airfield, the little devil's plane, just talk about it!" ”

Le Yiqin grinned, Xin Xiguo's words, but when it came to his heart, he was really afraid that the little devil's plane would not come, and he was complaining, just these dozens of civilian ships carrying the little devils, it was really not enough for the group to fight, he said: "Then borrow the good words of the old man, let my brothers also open the meat, I said, Chief of Staff Xin, the little devil artillery on the other side, the trouble is very fierce, do you use my bomber, go and give them a wake-up?" ”

Xin Xiguo was startled, the fog was heavy, the visibility was not good, the bombs were dropped in the air, and there were errors, so he was sure that it would blow up the two gunboat brigades that arrived close to Sumatra Island, he hurriedly said: "Commander Le, thank you for your kindness, I have sent two groups of gunboats to the shore-based artillery positions of the Japanese army to carry out artillery bombardment!" ”

Le Yiqin understood as soon as he heard it, people didn't need it, he muttered, turn off the intercom, this kung fu, the two brigades of the gunboat detachment more than 80 gunboats, has reached the best artillery position of rocket artillery, the commander of the detachment with a telescope, at that time, happy, the excellent location, the Japanese shore-based artillery position, from time to time flashing fire, is the best target.

The shells whistled overhead, and the gunboat detachment was in the dead end of the Japanese shore-based artillery, and the little devil only had to be beaten, he secretly admired the decision of the chief of staff, and ordered: "All boats pay attention, listen to my orders, target the Japanese shore-based artillery positions, launch them in a unified manner, and ...... Prepare, launch! ”

On the sea covered by fog, a string of whistling rockets suddenly flew out, like a meteor out of the fog, smashing their heads and smashing on the Japanese shore-based artillery position.

(To be continued) (To be continued.) )