July 23, South China Sea.

The bright moon and stars reflected on the sea surface like black curtains. The ten-ton-ton heavy cruiser of the Sea Sky crashed through the waves, rising and falling in the ocean, but no light shone out.

Thick curtains were hung on the doors and windows of the officer's lounge to cover the lights. Chen Shaokuan stood aside with his arms in his arms, and as he watched several naval school-level officers pointing at the charts to discuss calculations, his eyebrows became tighter and tighter.

When receiving the secret order from the Navy Command, the heavy cruiser of the Haitian heavy cruiser was replenishing fuel supplies in Camran Bay, a military port of French Indochina. During this period, the slightly larger Japanese naval ships had left the waters west of Taiwan, and only some submarines and gunboats were left to carry out a break-in mission in the South China Sea. The Haitian left Camran Bay overnight to avoid Japanese submarines. Although the Haitian had installed the most advanced sonar system during its docking in Italy, the anti-submarine was not the job of a 10,000-ton heavy cruiser.

However, what really made Chen Shaokuan feel sad was not the Japanese submarines operating in the South China Sea. The speed of the Haitian was enough to ensure that they could get rid of all submarines. What worried him was the order issued by the Navy Command to "harasse Japan's local coastal cities and break into the Sea of ​​Japan."

Such a mission is simply touching the tiger's butt. It's okay to harass the Japanese coast. At worst, you can run away and hide in the far sea of ​​the Pacific Ocean. Now the main force of the Japanese joint fleet is in the estuary of the Yangtze River. Most of the warships left behind in Japan are from the old Russo-Japanese War period, so they will definitely not be able to keep the Haitian. But suddenly the Sea of ​​Japan is a bit of a dysfunctional.

There are only four entrances in the entire Sea of ​​Japan, Tsuma Strait, Tsuma Strait, Sogo Strait and Tatar Strait. If you come unexpectedly, there should be no problem breaking through Tsuma Strait. But it is easy to enter, but it is even more difficult to get out. As long as the Japanese Joint Fleet deploys a small fleet including an armored cruiser in Tsuma and Sogo Strait. Use land turrets to block the Qingjin Strait, and then use a fleet with battlecruisers to enter the Sea of ​​Japan from south to north to search, you can force the Sea to the Tatar Strait. If Japan blocks the Neverskill Strait again, the Sea to the Sea will surely die!

However, the command of the Navy Command made it clear: "...At present, the main forces of the Japanese joint fleet gathered in the Yangtze River estuary, and they used armored cruisers and battlecruisers to strand in Hengsha. Chongming Beach acted as a fixed fort, which put great pressure on the sea defense of the Yangtze River estuary. Therefore, the Haitian must break into the Sea of ​​Japan with the greatest determination and shell the Japanese coast. Threat Sakhalin Island in order to attract the main Japanese ships to return to the rescue. After completing the task of attracting enemy ships, if necessary, the Haitian heavy cruiser can be abandoned and all personnel retreat to the Far East Coast Control Area..."

The Navy Command has already said this. I think the situation of fighting in the Yangtze River Estuary is still very serious. As a naval general who grew up under the shadow of the Japanese Navy, Chen Shaokuan knew that the strong strength of the Japanese Navy was definitely not something that two submarines and more than 200 aircraft could deal with. To be honest, if the military information notification of the Military Command was true, the Chinese Navy had found a shortcut to surpass the world's naval power. However, it would take at least ten years to truly achieve transcendence, not in this war.

"Report, I received a telegram from the Navy Command that two hours ago, the Japanese fleet shelled the Shengsi Islands in Zhejiang. Now the contact with the Shengsi Islands has been interrupted. It is estimated that the Japanese army has landed on the Shengsi Islands."

The voice of the Haitian communication officer suddenly made the air in the officer's rest room tense. Chen Shaokuan hurriedly walked to the chart and looked at the Shengsi Islands above and whispered to himself: "What are the Japanese occupying a small fishing village?"

"Maybe it's an anchorage?" The first mate of the Haitian University reminded. "It's only a few dozen nautical miles away from the estuary of the Yangtze River. It seems that the Japanese army is preparing to fight a protracted war with us in the East China Sea. In addition, the Japanese army's battle on the Shengsi Islands is likely to be the beginning of their invasion of our southeast coastal islands and harassing coastal towns."

“Coastal islands? Coastal towns?”

When he heard the first mate raise this possibility, Chen Shaokuan shook his head gently. "It's unlikely that most of the big coastal cities are far away from the beach, only Xiamen, Qingdao, and Lushun Dalian were built on the beach, but there are coastal defense fortresses around those cities and heavy troops are stationed."

"Mr. Fu, the Japanese army's target may not be a big city, but a small town!" said the first mate frowned.

"Small town?" Chen Shaokuan's pupils suddenly shook, and then shook his head. "The garrison of the small town is empty, but it does not have much military value? What is the purpose of the Japanese doing this?"

The first mate snorted and said, "It's better than doing nothing? Now that the Japanese army is in the Far East, North Korea is completely out of the blue. More than a dozen regular divisions have been defeated. Even if they send new divisions, they will not be able to save the situation. The attack on the Yangtze River Estuary is not successful, unless they are willing to use more battleships to strand as fixed turrets. Even so, they will not win. After all, the channel at the Yangtze River Estuary has been blocked by mines and shipwrecks. If they want to invade, they have to occupy Chongming and Changxing Islands first, and then slowly clear the channel. This process is to fight for people's lives. The Japanese Navy can take out the battleships, and their army may not have enough lives to fill in."

"So they can only use the method of harassing the coast to force the chairman to make concessions and compromise?" Chen Shaokuan still shook his head. "Can the chairman be scared by destroying several fishing villages and killing thousands or tens of thousands of fishermen?"

"It's impossible to scare you, but it can make us feel at ease and we can't concentrate our energy and financial resources on construction. This is probably the current Japanese tactics, right?"

Chen Shaokuan sneered, and the hesitant expression on his face had disappeared. He seemed to have made up some decision. He said: "Since Japan has plagued our coast, we will go to the coast of Japan for tooth and kill people and set fires, so that they will not let them be peaceful!" As he said that, he looked back at the naval officers on the side of the Navy Tower. "Have the route to break into the Sea of ​​Japan been confirmed?"

"It's confirmed that you can break into the Strait south of Tsuma Island, then head north along the coastline of Honshu, Japan, and shell Japanese coastal towns along the way. Finally, advance towards the Tatar Strait and strive to break through before the Japanese army blocked the Neverskill Strait. In this way, you can enter the Amur River to avoid the Japanese Navy's pursuers...but the premise is that the army can control the lower reaches of the Amur River before this."

"Very good, just do it this way. It's good to hide in the Amur River as an existing fleet. This will at least restrain a battle cruiser formation, right?" Chen Shaokuan nodded with satisfaction.

...

On the Nagato battleship, Takeshita Yuki looked up at the dark sky and breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that the weather would not be very good tomorrow, and the main force of the United Fleet might be able to attack the Yangtze River Estuary during the day.

"Have you taken down Shengshan Island and wolfberry Island?"

"I have succeeded. There are no regular Chinese troops on these two islands. Only a few customs anti-smuggling personnel are stationed, which is simply vulnerable."

Takeshita Yuki walked to the chart table, slid his fingers on the chart, and found these two small islands located in the eastern part of the Shengsi Islands. He finally felt much more at ease in his heart.

The two islands are close together, forming a shape similar to a bay, which is the main safe haven in the Shengsi Islands. Moreover, the water depth is just right. At about 10 meters, large warships can be parked, but aviation torpedoes cannot be used. The only thing to pay attention to is the submarine. However, the problem is not big, because the entrance to the north of the bay is very narrow and can be sealed with an anti-submarine net. There is no problem just need to step up patrols in the south.

After occupying these two islands, even if the main force of the joint fleet has a foothold on the southeast coast of China, in the future, the main force of the fleet will hide here during the good weather during the day, and at other times they will attack to fight at the Yangtze River Estuary. At the same time, cruisers and destroyers will be sent to transport Marines to harass the southeast coast of China and fight guerrilla wars with the Chinese army!

Thinking of this, Takeshita Yuki smiled bitterly and sighed. The dignified Japanese joint fleet has actually fallen to the point of fighting guerrilla warfare. If I had known this was the case, I would have spent the military on developing the army in the past two years.

He raised his head and found that the Japanese joint fleet's temporary shelter was Shengshan Island and Goji Island outside the sea level. Before he finally entered the "Anle Nest", he did not dare to take it lightly. In the past two days, the Chinese submarines attacked the joint fleet again and sank two coal transport ships!

"His Excellency Commander, the submarine I2 telegram found that the heavy cruiser of China Haitian left the Cam Ran Bay in French Indochina and was heading towards the Philippine Islands."

Takeshita Yuki received the telegram and a puzzled expression appeared on his face. "Philippines? Does the Haitian want to cross the Philippine Islands to the Pacific Ocean?"

"It should be the Pacific Ocean. It is estimated that the heavy cruiser of the Haitian was going to the South Pacific or the Central Pacific to break the diplomatic relationship." Joint Fleet Chief of Staff Eisuke Yamamoto took the telegram from Takeshita Yuki and took a look and analyzed. "Do you want to send a battle cruiser to intercept it? A heavy cruiser is not a joke. The destroyers and old cruisers that are escorting the transport fleet are not its opponents. If the Haitian and several other Chinese cruisers with the word "head" turn, the empire's foreign trade routes would probably be cut off."

Takeshita Yuuki frowned and said, "Well, let Kirishima and Hazelne bring three destroyers to form the First Southern Fleet and the Second Southern Fleet to search for the Haitian. Also, generate electricity for the military command and ask them to re-arrange the transport fleet and dispatch old battleships and armored ships to participate in the escort." He paused and ordered: "Let the Asama to bring two destroyers and a large group of marines to attack Daishan Island. If there is artillery fire from the Chinese defenders on the island, the Marines will not go ashore. If there is no, go up and kill them, burn them all, and grab them all!"

...

"Daishan Island is under Japanese shelling!"

Chang Ruiqing, wearing pajamas, walked around the small reception room with barefoot, and finally stood in front of a temporarily hanging map of southeastern China. "Last night was the Shengsi Islands, and Daishan Island was again in the early morning... What do little Japan want to do? How many Japanese ships are there? Have you found a landing fleet? Have the HNA and Air Force aircraft taken off?"

Hearing Chang Ruiqing's series of questions, Chen Cheng frowned and replied: "There are three Japanese ships, one armored cruiser, and two may be destroyers. No landing regiment was found. Today, the weather in Daishan, Dinghai and Zhenhai areas was very bad, and the planes could not attack. However, the artillery positions of the 57th Division of the 19th Army Army on Daishan Island have fired and fought back."

"What's the use of a 105 howitzer barrel?" Chang Ruiqing waved his hand and sighed. "Our naval surface ships are still too weak. The era when aircraft dominate the ocean has not arrived. Alas, the sea is still unpredictable! This move by the Japanese happened to hit our weakness. Fortunately, there is only more than a month left..."

Chen Cheng's face was filled with suspicious expression. More than a month left? That's September? What will happen in September? Isn't it possible that the United States and Britain will start war against Japan in September? It seems that I haven't heard of such a thing.

"It seems that we can only organize the evacuation of residents on the southeast coast." Chang Ruiqing did not notice Chen Cheng's strange expression, but ordered himself: "Ci Xiu, go and hang up the phone number for Zhejiang Provincial Chairman Lu Zijia and Jiangsu Provincial Chairman Wang Fusheng, and ask them to come to Shanghai once... Let's evacuate the coastal residents of these two provinces first."

Chen Cheng received the order, saluted Chang Ruiqing and turned around and left. As soon as he was halfway through, he was stopped by Chang Ruiqing. "Where has the Haitian number been? Have you passed the Philippine Islands?"

"The news has not been received yet, the Haitian number is implementing radio silence." Chen Cheng replied.

"No news is good news." Chang Ruiqing said to himself. He waved his hand and let Chen Cheng leave. He said that he was right. If the Haitian encountered the Japanese fleet, there was no need to keep the radio silent anymore. Since it was still silent, it only means that he had not encountered any trouble.

...

On July 25, the heavy cruiser of the Sea and Sky was 100 nautical miles east of the Philippine Islands.

"Sir, the Telecommunications Office reported. He monitored two radio signals of unknown origin and has been sending reports for more than 30 minutes."

The communications officer's report broke the silence atmosphere inside the bridge of the Haitian heavy cruiser. Chen Shaokuan frowned and asked, "Can you confirm where the radio waves came from?"

"The specific location cannot be determined, but it is certainly sent from the waters near Okinawa or south, either the Japanese army on the island, or the... "

"It cannot be from the Japanese Army." Chen Shaokuan interrupted him before the communications officer finished speaking. "The telegram for 30 minutes must be extraordinary, either an important combat instruction or a discussion of military information. If it is a Japanese defender on Okinawa, they should send wired telegrams with submarine cables, which is safer." He paused and his voice became solemn. "The Japanese are likely to discover our whereabouts. There may be Japanese submarines ambushing outside Cam Ran Bay. When we leave Cam Ran Bay, the moon in the sky will be lit!"

"But the sonar did not find anything," said the communications officer.

Chen Shaokuan shook his head and said, "It is very likely that Japanese submarines will not move on the water, so that our sonar will not be able to find anything."

"Dingling..." The phone rang, and the communications officer picked up the phone headphones. "This is the bridge, ah, I found the enemy planes? How many? The direction... OK, I know."

The naval officers inside the bridge turned their attention to the communication officer of the Haitian, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense. The communication officer reported to the phone and headphones: "Sir, the lookout report found a Japanese seaplane."

Hell, he was discovered! Chen Shaokuan's heart skipped a beat. Most Japanese ships that could carry seaplanes were new battleships or battle cruisers! There was only one purpose of such warships appearing in the Pacific Ocean, which was to pursue his own heavy cruiser, the Haitian heavy cruiser! Moreover, there were probably more than one.

"What should I do now?" said the first mate of the Haitian number urgently.

Chen Shaokuan walked to the chart table, stared for a while, and said slowly: "The fastest speed among the Japanese main battleships is the King Kong-class battlecruiser, with a maximum speed of 27.5 knots, which is 3.5 knots slower than our Haitian... If there is only one ship, we don't have to be afraid."

"It can't be one," said the first mate, and then he drew a picture of red and blue pencils and a ruler compass. "There must be one in front of it. If we were supposed to be discovered by a Japanese submarine when we left Cam Ran Bay, then the two Japanese battlecruisers should be dispatched 40 hours ago, from the waters near the Yangtze River Estuary... at least 20 knots high speeds. Now they should be about 800 nautical miles away from the Yangtze River Estuary, and the farthest will not exceed 1,000 nautical miles."

When we were talking, two arcs appeared on the map south of Okinawa and east of the Philippines. The current location of the Hi-Sky heavy cruiser is between these two arcs.

"Mr. Fu, you can't drive west anymore, so you'd better turn south." The first mate put down the compass in his hand and said. "The Japanese army probably didn't expect that our target was the Sea of ​​Japan. They might think that we were going to the South Pacific or the Central Pacific to break the diploma. If we drive south, they will definitely bite behind the Sea. When it's dark, we will turn north and pass between the two Japanese battlecruisers."

"Walk through between two Japanese cruisers?" Chen Shaokuan glanced at the lieutenant colonel in his twenties in front of him, nodded in appreciation. The person's name is Bo Fuping, a graduate of the first phase of the Whampoa Naval Academy and was trained by American and British naval instructors. This courage is indeed not comparable to the old navy, who has lived in the shadow of the Japanese navy for half his life!

He nodded and said, "Just do it like this, turn to the south first, then turn back to the north at night, and pass through them. The route must be carefully calculated, and be careful not to let the Japanese battlecruiser approach us."
Chapter completed!