Qingquan Mingfeng's scream alerted Captain Sentaro Omori, the captain of the battleship "Ise" who happened to pass by the door of the radar control room. Omori Sen walked in and asked: "Qingquan, what happened?"
"Your Excellency, something bad has happened. An enemy ship is approaching." Qingquan bowed hastily and said anxiously. After speaking, he pointed at the radar monitor screen. Omori and Omori took a closer look, and his expression became serious. He walked out of the control room and ran to the stern of the cabin. He picked up the telescope and looked over. In the lens, several small ships were galloping towards the wind and waves. The military flags on the boats were fluttering. It was vaguely possible to distinguish the flags of the Xuebing Army. He shouted loudly: "Quick, sound the alarm."
The whistle sounded. In the captain's room of the "Ise", Masafumi Arima raised his head from the chart and said to the adjutant next to him, Major Haruyoshida: "Go and see what's going on."
"Hai." Haru Yoshida responded loudly and ran out. A few minutes later, he and Omori Sen ran in anxiously. The latter shouted: "Sir Arima, an enemy fleet is rushing towards me at high speed. .”
Arima frowned, with a suspicious look on his face, and said: "The enemy fleet, you read that right, the Chinese fleet." As he spoke, he walked out of the captain's room, walked up to the observation deck on the left and picked up the The telescope looked in the direction pointed by Omori Sen. The Japanese regarded the South China Sea as their own back garden, and Arima Masabumi was no exception. When he said what he just said, there was a subtext that he did not say, "China Do you have a fleet?"
At this time, Qi Minghao's most advanced torpedo boat was less than 25 kilometers away from the enemy fleet. Masafumi Arima raised his telescope and looked over. The second lieutenant changed his perspective and lassoed a torpedo boat that was advancing rapidly in the waves. , the little Japanese was taken aback and shouted: "Ba Ge, it's a torpedo boat."
The first country in the world to build torpedo boats was the United Kingdom, and the first country to put torpedo boats into actual combat was Russia. In 1878, Russia used a torpedo boat to sink a 2,000-ton Turkish gunboat "Intiba". ", created a miracle of small boats defeating large ships. Influenced by this, European countries began to vigorously develop torpedo boat forces. Although Japan did not follow suit, it seems that experienced naval generals such as Ma Zhengwen knew the capabilities of this kind of ship. exist,
I couldn't figure out when the Gakui Army developed such a large-scale torpedo boat force, and judging from its speed and performance, it was relatively advanced. This surprised Arima Masafumi. Now was not the time to explore these things. He quickly calmed down and shouted in a deep voice. : "Notify the escort fleet to turn around immediately to attack and protect the landing ships and troop transports." After carefully thinking about the combat characteristics of torpedo boats, he then ordered: "Spread out the formation, and each ship should pay attention to avoid torpedoes."
Only five minutes later, a Japanese ship completed the U-turn. At this time, the frontmost torpedo boat was less than fifteen kilometers away from the Japanese ship. "Bang, bang," a Japanese ship began to fire, and the sound of cannons rumbling. , the Japanese soldiers felt a lot more at ease,
The Japanese torpedo boat troops suddenly appeared, which frightened the Japanese. Almost out of instinct, after receiving the order, the first reaction of many captains was to look to the southwest sky, fearing that a group of them would appear there. The black shadow was really frightened by the "sink", so much so that many Japanese ship captains became dissatisfied. Once they heard the word "attack", they would think that the military air force was coming again.
The Xuebing Army Air Force has now become a nightmare for the Japs in the Combined Fleet.
No black shadow was found in the southwest sky, and the enemy ships that entered the field of view were so small. The Japanese who did not understand the characteristics of torpedo boats calmed down. When they started firing, the fear in the Japanese's hearts completely dissipated.
The Japanese fleet began to disperse under the command of Masafumi Arima. Almost at the same time, Qi Minghao also issued the same order: "Disperse, advance at full speed, and attack freely in squadron units."
Qi Minghao seemed very excited. Not only him, but also the cadets who went out to the torpedo boat unit were inexplicably excited. This was the first battle since the formation of the cadet navy. Regardless of the outcome of this battle, they would definitely be admitted to the school. The annals of the army and navy, and if they can make achievements in this battle, then their names will be immortalized throughout the ages. Thinking of this, the trainees couldn't help but straighten their waists and look in the eyes. He also became more determined,
The closer we get to the enemy ship, the greater the density of shelling we receive. Amidst the sky-shattering explosions, the waves of the sea where the torpedo boat troops are located suddenly become much higher. And in this man-made turbulent wave, one after another "Swordfish" "It's really like a swordfish rushing against the top of the waves. Gradually, those Japanese who were optimistic at the beginning became taciturn and their faces turned serious.
"Boom." A "Swordfish" was directly hit by the shell, and turned into fragments in the explosion and huge waves. Qi Minghao's 001 was following the "Swordfish", and he suddenly turned to the left He turned the steering wheel fiercely and shouted into the fixed microphone: "Brothers, now is the most critical time. Rush over and the Japanese will have nothing to do with us. Speed, speed."
The Japanese ship's cannon has a minimum firing range limit, and there is also a blind spot for shooting. As long as it gets close, it can be turned into a display. There are two advantages for torpedo boats and small boats to attack big ships. One is that the target is small and difficult to aim; It is fast, but the calculation of the bombardment advance is very demanding. As for the disadvantage, it is due to the limitation of the range of the torpedo, and it must be close to a certain distance to be a threat.
The top speed of the "Swordfish" can reach about forty-five knots. Looking at this time and space, it has been far behind similar ships from European countries. The Japanese ship artillery clearly set the target in the center of the crosshair when firing. The shell was fired, but it flew over the target's head.
The journey from fifteen kilometers to three kilometers was the most difficult time for Qi Minghao's troops. Japanese ships and large naval guns fired wildly. More than twenty "Swordfish" were hit by flying shells or overturned by huge waves caused by explosions. , more than four hundred young cadet navy officers and soldiers were buried in the cold waters of the South China Sea before they completed their first combat experience. Our side had not even fired a single shot, and had lost nearly half of the torpedo boats that went into battle. This was a heavy blow to the morale of the officers and soldiers of the Dongshan Fleet. Some soldiers lost their temper and shouted on the public channel: "Commander Qi, the Japanese artillery fire is too dense, we can't get close."
Qi Minghao was furious when he heard this and yelled: "Why, are you scared?"
"No, I,."
"Stop saying anything, brothers, this is our first battle. Do you understand the significance of the first battle? Are our navy really just freeloaders?"
"No."
"This is the day to make great achievements. Brothers, there are a lot of enemy ships right in front of you. What are you waiting for?"