The minesweeper Siska sank slowly due to uncontrolled water ingress, and the stern was quickly sunk below the surface.

When she only had the bow of the ship still out of the sea, the Ming warships passed quickly from the left and right sides one after another, and continued to pursue the rest of the ships.

It didn't take long for the minelayer Betelgeuse-7 to be the next target. She exploded in a series of shells after being hit by several shells in succession, and the entire ship almost fell apart, sinking to the bottom of the sea at a depth of nearly a thousand meters at a breakneck speed.

"Oh hoo!"

"What's it called? This is called 'the enemy flees in disarray, and it is the end of the road'. ”

The one-sided slaughter of the wolf into the flock was refreshing, and the Ming naval officers and men who participated in the war were completely immersed in such pleasure.

The previous fierce fighting had depleted the destroyers of the BDA coalition forces, and now the entire fleet could be said to be powerless - no weapons could pose an effective threat to the Ming battle cruisers.

It was ten torpedo boats that were barely capable of striking small shots, and at this moment the Dutch sailors were also out of the way, and they broke away from the fleet to reorganize their formation, and rushed towards the Ming warships in a wedge formation.

The TM-4 class torpedo boats were built by the Dutch colonial authorities in East Indo-Dutch at the Surabaya naval base, and the Dutch believed that the flexible, cheap and powerful torpedo boats were suitable for fighting in the South Seas, which were scattered all over the islands, so they built more than a dozen of them.

Its displacement is only 17.5 tons, and the design and manufacturing aspects are full of savings and improvisation - the engine uses a dismantled aero engine, the torpedo uses a dismantled old destroyer torpedo tube, and the machine gun uses a dismantled self-defense machine gun.

However, these torpedo boats met the three Ming destroyers that were approaching at great speed, and the source of the destroyers was a small warship dedicated to dealing with torpedo boats, so this counterattack was destined to be useless.

The ferocious artillery fire made the small torpedo boats like floating leaves in a pond under a rainstorm, and they may be able to evade most of the artillery fire with their dexterity, but if they are hit, they will be fatal.

TM-5 was hit by a 128mm anti-explosive bomb in the bow, and the shell instantly turned its interior into a purgatory of blood and fire, and the two sailors were instantly shattered!

The boat lost power, and the leaking gasoline ignited its flames, turning it into a floating bonfire that glided by inertia.

If it weren't for the fact that the TM-4 torpedo boat was not made of wood but had a steel shell, it would have collapsed as a result.

The Dutch sailors abandoned this futile and almost suicidal counterattack one after another, and hurriedly threw torpedoes in the general direction.

The three Ming destroyers easily avoided these conspicuous old 450mm torpedoes, continued their pursuit, and continued their pursuit......

At this time, dozens of Ming carrier-based aircraft also began to act, and they were divided into several small formations to attack in turn.

The heavy cruiser Cornwall was hit by two torpedoes and two aerial bombs from the Ming carrier-based aircraft, and its speed was greatly reduced, and finally it lost its combat effectiveness after receiving nine 320mm armor-piercing shells.

Because there was not even a single torpedo, and the rest of the ships could not carry out lightning strikes, the British sailors could only open the sea valve and sink themselves.

The Canberra Heavy Cruiser nimbly evaded all the aerial torpedoes and was only hit by a 100kg bomb with minor damage.

However, its maximum speed was only 31 knots, and in the face of the pursuing Ming army battle patrol, she was in an embarrassing situation where she couldn't fight or escape.

In the afternoon, she suffered three shells and the power compartment was badly damaged, leaving only 6 knots and nearly paralyzed.

The rushing destroyer Juye took the lead, wanting to achieve this result with a small attack and a big one.

She fired heavily and accelerated closer, firing three torpedoes at a distance of six thousand meters, and then firing the remaining six at a distance of four thousand meters.

The mighty heavy cruiser HMS Canberra was undoubtedly the pride of the Australian Navy, which was the largest warship in the Australian Navy, but now it has a sense of being bullied by dogs.

"Torpedo! 2500 yards on the starboard side! ”

In the face of the rapidly approaching torpedoes, the Australian sailors had no choice but to watch them get closer and closer to their favorite ships.

"Da Da Da-" Someone unwillingly manipulated the machine gun to strafe the white track, and a series of machine gun bullets splashed on the surface of the sea.

But water is no medium like air, and how can a bullet stop after a few meters of water penetration, so how can it damage a torpedo sailing at a depth of six or seven meters?

Four torpedoes hit the Canberra in quick succession, and although one failed to detonate, the outcome remained the same.

The 10,000-ton cruiser soon tilted to the right, and the Australian officers and men began to try to fill the left compartment with water to maintain balance.

But there was no point in doing so, the three holes on the starboard side were too big, and the raging sea quickly filled most of the compartments on the right side, and the Canberra was doomed.

The dense Australian sailors looked like ants from a distance, and they grabbed the hull of the ship and jumped into the sea.

The officers and men of the Juye rejoiced, and their ship was the 29th Pingyang-class ship, which was the oldest first-class destroyer in service in the Ming Navy, and the first ship was launched in the 15th year of Zhichang.

This time, he actually succeeded in ending a cruiser eight times his size, which is really gratifying.

This battle royale continued until the afternoon of the same day, and during the five-hour pursuit, the two Ming battle cruisers were slaughtered, harvesting many allied warships.

Two heavy cruisers, the Cornwall and the Canberra, were sunk one after another; None of the old and slow minesweepers and minelayers escaped, and all of them were sunk.

Most of the remaining ships were also sunk and sank to the bottom of the Savu Sea.

The only ones who managed to escape were two outright destroyers and four torpedo boats, as well as the Dutch light cruiser Tromp.

In this way, the "Snow Perch" breakout operation carried out by the BDA coalition ended in a fiasco, and there was no formed surface force in the entire Far East that could limit the Ming Navy.

That evening, the Old Port.

"Come on! Dry! ”

"This battle is hearty, happy!"

"Congratulations to Daming!"

"As long as we take Java, our country will be able to operate Nanyang with peace of mind from now on...... What a bright future. ”

In the elegant hall on the sixth floor of the Fideliti Hotel, a group of generals of the army, navy and air force gathered here to share the joy of victory in the naval battle of the Lombok Strait.

There were also many warblers and Yanyan who were also hip-hopping together, all of whom were slender and fireworks fandel.

There are those who play the piano and play music, those who feed wine closely, and those who cover their mouths and smile; Some wore light shirts and skirts and held folding fans, some wore low-cut evening dresses and lace mesh top hats, and some wore slim robes and black sundresses.

Zhou Changfeng was also at the scene, but he was a little embarrassed to find that not everyone in these local courtesans in the old port could speak Nanjing official fluently.

For example, a seductive stunner who impressed him before, proficient in Dutch, English, Cantonese, and Hakka, but a mouthful of plastic Mandarin is really head-catching.

“…… The British and Dutch are simply vulnerable to you, and generals like General Zhou will definitely be famous in history in the future. ”

"Yes, yes, you are such a talent, your lady must be extraordinary, isn't it that kind of alluring beauty?"

In recent days, Zhou Changfeng has been annoyed by this group of warblers and Yanyan, and all kinds of invitations have hardly been broken, and he really can't shirk going to a banquet.

"It's an exaggeration, it's not an exaggeration, it's not enough to overthrow the country and the city." Zhou Changfeng, who was smiling, shook the cup in his hand, "But the two of us looked at each other and felt that they were very suitable for each other, well, that's all." ”

Before the action was about to be launched, a feast was held, and many local courtesans were feasted, which was undoubtedly very bad in the eyes of Zhou.

However, everyone's interest was too high, and Qiu Peisheng, as the chief officer of the Third Army, reluctantly agreed.

In order to avoid leaks before the war, the warblers and Yanyan who were at the banquet were later given a "special treat" - temporary house arrest in a nearby hotel that had been quarantined.

At this time, a woman with the pseudonym Yao Sheng bowed and asked softly: "By the way, General Zhou, are you willing to do some small business?" ”

"Small business?"

"That is, after you brought some large items to Daming, you made a lot of profits."

"Bulky items?" Zhou Changfeng's face did not change, but he stared sideways into the eyes of the tall woman, "What do you want to sell?" ”

The latter was a little stunned by his gaze, "No... I don't dare to hide it from you, it's just... Cars and so on. ”

Gotta engage in smuggling, huh?

Zhou Changfeng really couldn't hold back at this time, he stretched out his index finger and swept around, and asked with a smile: "How dare you mention such a thing to me on such an occasion?" Do you want to go to the cage? ”

Yaosheng shook her head slightly, blinked, and said softly: "It's just a discussion, the little woman knows that you won't be like that." ”

Her posture seemed to Zhou Changfeng to be as naïve as a child's trick, and he was about to open his mouth to refuse, but suddenly thought of a long-term layout that he had envisioned before.

Belch... It seems that there is a real need for a fund that is not known to the outside world?

In view of the fact that the smuggling of a small number of cars has no impact on the local enterprises of Daming that are full of orders, and the tariffs lost are only a drop in the bucket compared to the whole country, it seems that this can really be considered?

After hesitating for a few seconds, he muttered, "We'll talk about it later." ”

Is this a play?

Yao Sheng was particularly surprised when she heard this, she didn't have any hope when she received this job, but she didn't expect it to be an unexpected joy?

In fact, it has been a tradition of the Ming Dynasty since ancient times for the generals and nobles of the coastal garrison to engage in smuggling, and it is almost a norm.

Zhou Changfeng has been in the military for a while, and he also knows some about the money-making operations of the generals stationed in Fujian, Guangdong, and Zhejiang.

In fact, the emperor and the court were almost clear about this, but they all turned a blind eye - since they were not allowed to do business, they really had to leave some gray money for the generals, just don't go too far, it is better than eating empty salaries and drinking the blood of soldiers.

The next day, the eighth day of the fourth month.

From early in the morning, a large number of Ming army planes pounced on Java, and the troops were divided into multiple routes, fiercely attacking the airfield in Batavia, the beachhead in Silang, and the railway line around Bandung.

The Dutch and Indian Army Air Force, which was trying to defend Batavia, fought to the death with the Ming Air Force, and citizens were able to witness the scene of fighters flying up and down in the air and fighting and strafing.

The downed plane dragged black smoke downward, and after it crashed to the ground, a large cloud of flames burst out, and a few umbrella flowers fluttered in the sky.

The buzzing roar is endless, and this immersive scene is much more shocking than an air show or something!

CW-21 fighter jets were shot down, brittle as tissue paper without the necessary protection, and many fighters disintegrated on their own in the process of falling from strafing fire.

These fighter jets, which had not been in place for a long time, had been assembled day and night at the Army Aviation Aircraft Repair Plant in Bandung, and they had not even had time to apply paint, and their appearance was a metallic silver bare aluminum alloy fuselage.

"Wow rub! Cheng Ming, Cheng Mingling, did you see it, the one just now fell apart directly?! ”

The Ming pilots were also amazed at the fragility of these enemy planes, and they began to refer to the CW-21 as a "glass plane".

The CW-21, with its excellent fighting performance, actually caused some trouble for the Ming army at the beginning, but its margin for error was too low, and most of the Dutch pilots lacked experience in flying this aircraft and failed to fully exploit their strengths and avoid weaknesses.

In the three air battles that broke out one after another from early morning to noon, the Ming Air Force was shot down 10 fighters and 3 bombers, while the Dutch and Indian Army Air Force shot down 22 fighters, and more than a dozen planes of various types were blown up on the runway and hangar.

The Ming Air Force's Type 36 light bombers dropped about 20 100kg timed bombs on the Batavia airfield, mixed with more than a dozen 250kg bombs using time-delay fuses.

The latter detonated deep under the runway, blowing up deep and large craters; The former detonates at regular intervals of 45 minutes, 1 and a half hours, 3 hours, 4 hours, and so on.

The combination of the two can significantly delay the speed of the Dutch and Indian army's rush to repair the runway and control the air supremacy on their own side.

At this point, the naval force of the BDA coalition has been completely wiped out, the air force has also suffered heavy losses, and the remaining fighters have been temporarily suppressed on the ground.

The defense of Java can only rely on the seemingly well-stocked ground forces, and although they have suffered varying losses in a series of previous defensive operations, as of the eighth day of April, the army force gathered in Java still has as many as 80,000 men.

Among them, there are 40,000 Dutch and Indian troops, more than 5,000 British and Indian troops, more than 8,000 British troops, more than 5,000 Australian troops, and about 30,000 local militia troops.

And their heavy weapons and armored vehicles are almost intact, even without taking into account artillery and armored vehicles, there are close to two hundred tanks alone.

According to the finalized battle plan, the Ming army was divided into two attacks, landing on Syllen on the west route and capturing Batavia; The eastern road lands in Cirebon and goes south through the Downing Bank to Chilaza.

The core military position on the island of Java is Bandung, a little west of the central part of the country, where the BDA Coalition Command is also located.

Once the eastern route forces achieve their goal, then the entire island of Java will be divided into two, isolated from east to west, and the coalition forces with Bandung and Surabaya as the core will have to fight on their own.

The first to attack was the western road, and from 10 o'clock in the morning, the two regiments of the 8th Division of the Ming Army had come ashore one after another and began to attack the local defenders' defense line in an all-out way.

The attack in the middle started much later, not until 3 p.m.

The Ming Army on the East Road took the 1st Marine Brigade as the core, and was equipped with a battalion of the 1st Tank Brigade and a battalion of the 3rd Field Heavy Artillery Brigade in the immediate battle, with a total strength of more than 9,000 troops.

"It's already close to the coast, ready for sabotage shots."

Zhou Changfeng put down the binoculars, "There are no decent fortifications, just a simple bombardment, the faster we land, the better." ”

(End of chapter)