About a quarter of an hour later, Chen Jiageng, Zhang Liangfeng, Lin Jiangshi, Hu Tiejun, and Cui Lin, who were staying together on a 10,000-ton merchant ship named "Qiangyun", learned the news that there was a Japanese fleet intercepting the front. Zhang Liangfeng, Hu Tiejun, and Cui Lin could still keep their composure, but Chen Jiageng and Lin Jiangshi were a little panicked.

Chen Jiageng smiled bitterly: "It was still discovered by the Japanese, after all, it is too counterintuitive." Nearly forty ships came at once, enough to carry seventy or eighty thousand people. The Japanese will certainly be suspicious. ”

Zhang Liangfeng comforted him and said, "President Chen, don't be too anxious. As long as the Americans insist that we are all American expatriates, there are not many means that the Japanese can do. Besides, our commander-in-chief has other arrangements! ”

Hu Tiejun: "It's already like this, what are you afraid of?" It's a big deal, it's just a death. It is better to die than to die if you don't die, and it is better to die at sea, at least, we have fought to change our fate! ”

Cui Lin nodded and said, "I agree with Lao Hu's words." Destiny should be in our own hands, no matter what the outcome, at least we tried. Hehe, I hope the Japanese will actually come on board the ship to inspect it, in that case, we can pull two cushions on our backs when we die. ”

"Cui Lin, you can't think like this!" Zhang Liangfeng said: "It doesn't matter whether we live or die, but we must not drag down the Americans." If the matter really reaches a step out of control, then we will take the initiative to break away from the US 'overseas Chinese evacuation fleet', in that case, we should still be able to save some people. Cui Lin, did you hear that? ”

"I know it."

Zhang Liangfeng turned to Chen Jiageng and said, "President Chen, we must immediately inform the other people on the boat, so that they must remain calm no matter what, and never mess with themselves." By the way, especially the members of the Xinghua Volunteers, before the Americans' ships broke away from the fleet, they must not take matters into conflict with the Japanese army. ”

"Okay, I'll let people talk!"

At about half past one o'clock in the morning, the evacuation fleet and the "Kaga" aircraft carrier fleet of the Japan-Western Expeditionary Fleet finally met. Under the command of Yamada, the 18 warships of the "Kaga" aircraft carrier fleet and the frigate "Weishan" lined up in a long snake formation, firmly blocking the sea route for the evacuation fleet. When the distance between the two sides was still five or six kilometers, more than a dozen speedboats were lowered from the big ships by the Japanese, and these speedboats quickly broke into the evacuation fleet, and the horn on the boat immediately began to broadcast: "Listen, the people on the ship, you have entered the sea area of the battle between the Western Expeditionary Fleet of the Japanese Empire and the British Indian Ocean Fleet, please slow down and accept the inspection of our army, we need to verify whether the British have mixed in with you-warning, you have entered the ......"

As soon as the first round of broadcasts on the Japanese speedboat ended, Tan Kah Kee issued an order to all Chinese to stay in the cabin and not to move. At the same time, Mitterrand, accompanied by Grant, entered the captain's room and commanded the American sailors on the heavy patrol to respond to the Japanese broadcast: "We are the evacuation fleet of the United States of America, there are no British on our ships, our evacuation has been approved by the government and military of your country, and you have no right to search us!" ”

At the same time, the Japanese fleet sent three frigates carrying about a large group of soldiers to slowly sail over several 10,000-ton ships at the head of the evacuation fleet.

Seeing that the search was inevitable, Grant had to order all the ships to reduce their speed, and at the same time sent someone to send a message to Tan Kah Kee and them, telling them to stay calm and not be impulsive, and leave everything to them to deal with.

In the captain's room of the "Kaga" aircraft carrier fleet, Yamada gave an order for the air force to release a large group of torpedo bombers, and repeatedly told them: "Without my order, it is not allowed to attack without permission!" Otherwise, it will be punished for treason! ”

This order, as defined by Yamada, is actually against the will. The middle and low-level officers of the Japanese army were far more fanatical than the senior officers, and they did not have any national righteousness in their hearts, so they were not afraid of this concept at all. If Yamamoto Isoroku had completely delegated power, Yamada's current order would have been to attack.

On the flight deck of the "Kaga" aircraft carrier, one torpedo plane after another began to rise into the air, and at the same time, several nearby cruisers and frigates hit the sky one after another, illuminating the sea area as bright as day.

Yamada is famous for successfully planning a night battle, and this time in the face of the American evacuation fleet, he couldn't help but itch, and sacrificed his most proud tactic. What he didn't know was that just as the "Kaga" began to fly its fighters, two submarines were slowly approaching the "Kaga" at the bottom of the sea, and at this time they were less than 2,000 meters away.

The Japanese were really too careless, they did not expect that there would be enemy submarines here, so they did not take corresponding anti-submarine measures, and when the Japanese radar crews on the "Kaga" and several other ships suddenly discovered that two strange black shadows suddenly appeared in the closest place to loyalty on the radar screen, they were too late to carry out anti-submarine warfare.

The first to spot the submarine was a lookout on a frigate next to the Kaga. With the help of flares, he suddenly noticed that seven or eight hundred meters in front of him suddenly appeared two big black guys, first thought that he was dazzled, but when he rubbed his eyes and took a closer look, he was so shocked that he almost fell off the watchtower. "Submarines, submarines, submarines of the British!" He shouted frantically, shocked beyond measure.

His shout alarmed the captain of the frigate, which was ready for battle, and all the combatants were in place. Realizing that it was too late to inform Yamada of the definition by flag or telegram, the captain of the ship made a decision and ordered all the guns in the stern of the ship to fire at the two British submarines at once.

The sound of the guns at hand alarmed the devils on the "Kaga", and it was only then that the ship's radar crew saw the abnormality on the radar display screen, and he immediately stood up and shouted at Yamada: "Your Excellency, submarine, enemy submarine!" ”

When Yamada heard the sound of artillery, he thought at first that someone had ignored Commander Yamamoto's strict orders and opened fire on the American evacuation fleet. He let out a cold sweat, and then he heard the screams of the radar soldiers, and when he leaned over to look, his heart almost sank to the bottom of the water. He quickly ran to the bridge, looked behind him, and saw eight obvious traces of water towed by torpedoes hitting the hull of the left and right sides of the rear chord of the "Kaga", and turned to the first mate who was steering, and shouted: "The right full rudder!" Hurry, hurry! The next moment, he ran into the captain's room and sounded the battle alarm, then picked up the microphone and pinched the send button and shouted: "All ships, immediately move closer to me, frigates, immediately carry out anti-submarine warfare." ”

Four torpedoes struck, and the officers and men of the "Kaga" were thrown into chaos amid the terrible sound of sirens.

Some of the nearby Japanese ships were equipped with walkie-talkies (as they are called in Japanese), and the captains of each ship immediately ordered them to turn around and approach the "Kaga". Those who were not equipped with walkie-talkies turned around one after another, and some of them, the captains who reacted quickly, ordered anti-submarine warfare, hurriedly put down the towed sonar, and some directly began to drop depth charges into the sea.

In an instant, the formation of the "Kaga" aircraft carrier fleet was completely disrupted.