About a quarter of an hour later, Tan Kah Kee, Zhang Liangfeng, Lin Jiangshi, Hu Tiejun and Cui Lin, who were staying together on a 10,000-ton merchant ship named "Qiangyun", learned about the interception by the Japanese fleet ahead. Zhang Liangfeng and Hu Tiejun, Cui Lin could still remain calm, but Tan Kah Kee and Lin Jiangshi were a little panicked.
Tan Kah Kee smiled bitterly: "It was still discovered by the Japanese. After all, it was too counterintuitive. Nearly forty ships came at once, enough to transport 70,000 to 80,000 people. The Japanese would definitely become suspicious."
Zhang Liangfeng comforted him and said: "President Chen, there is no need to be too anxious. As long as the Americans insist that we are all American expatriates, there are not many methods the Japanese can take. Besides, our commander-in-chief has other plans."
Hu Tiejun: "It's already like this, so what are you afraid of? It's just death. Staying in Singapore would be worse than death even if you don't die. It's better to be buried at sea than to die at sea. At least, we have fought to change our destiny."
Cui Lin nodded and said: "I agree with what Lao Hu said, destiny should be in our own hands. No matter what the outcome is, at least we have tried hard. Hehe, I hope the Japanese will actually board the ship to inspect. In that case, we will die You can also pull two backrests.”
"Cui Lin, you are not allowed to think like this." Zhang Liangfeng said sternly: "It doesn't matter whether we live or die, but we must not drag down the Americans. If things really get out of hand, then we will take the initiative to leave the American evacuation ship. Team', in that case, some people should be able to be saved, Cui Lin, do you hear that?"
"knew."
Zhang Liangfeng turned to Tan Kah Kee and said: "President Chen, we must immediately notify the people on the other ships to keep calm no matter what and never get into trouble. By the way, especially the members of the Xinghua Volunteer Army, under the influence of the Americans, Before the ships leave the convoy, they must not act on impulse and cause conflicts with the Japanese troops."
"Okay, I'll let someone pass the message."
At about 1:30 in the morning, the evacuation fleet and the Japanese expeditionary fleet "Kaga" aircraft carrier fleet finally met. Under the command of Yamada Shimizu, the "Kaga" aircraft carrier fleet consisted of eighteen battleships plus the "Kishan" The frigates 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 away, a dozen speedboats were released from the large ship by the Japanese. These speedboats were very fast. broke into the evacuation fleet, and the loudspeaker on the boat immediately began to broadcast: "Listen to the people on the boat, you have entered the battle waters between the Imperial Japanese Empire's Western Expedition Fleet and the British Indian Ocean Fleet. Please slow down and accept inspection by our army. ,We need to verify whether any British people have sneaked into you, ,warning, you have entered..."
As soon as the first round of broadcasts from the Japanese speedboat was completed, Tan Kah Kee issued an order for all Chinese to stay in the cabin and not move around. At the same time, Mitterrand, accompanied by Grant, entered the captain's room to command the heavy cruiser. The U.S. sailors responded to the Japanese broadcast: "We are the evacuation fleet of the United States of America. There are no British people on board. Our evacuation operation has been approved by your government and military. You have no right to search us." .”
The two sides started talking over the radio, and at the same time, the Japanese fleet dispatched three frigates, carrying about a brigade of soldiers, and slowly drove towards the several 10,000-ton ships at the head of the evacuation fleet.
Seeing that the search was inevitable, Grant had no choice but to order all ships to reduce their speed. At the same time, he sent someone to send a message to Tan Kah Kee and the others, telling them to stay calm and not be impulsive, and leave everything to them.
In the captain's room of the "Kaga" aircraft carrier fleet, Yamada Wei issued an order for the aviation force to release a group of torpedo bombers, and repeatedly told them: "No unauthorized attack is allowed without my order, otherwise it will be punished with treason." "
This order defined by Yamada is actually against his will. The middle and low-level officers of the Japanese army are far more fanatical than the senior officers. There is no national justice in their hearts, and there is no concept of fear at all. If Yamamoto Isoroku completely delegates power, now Yamada's definition must have given an order to attack.
On the flight deck of the "Kaga" aircraft carrier, torpedo planes began to take off one after another. At the same time, several nearby cruisers and frigates fired flares into the sky one after another, directly lighting up this area. The sea shines as bright as day,
Yamada Shiji became famous for successfully planning a night battle. This time, facing the American evacuation fleet, he couldn't help but resort to his favorite tactics. But what he didn't know was that... When the "Kaga" started to launch fighter jets, two submarines were slowly approaching the "Kaga" on the seabed. At this time, they were less than two thousand meters away.
The Japanese were really too careless. They did not expect that enemy submarines would appear here, so they did not take corresponding anti-submarine measures. When the Japanese radar soldiers on the "Kaga" and several other ships suddenly discovered that there was an enemy submarine on the radar screen, When two strange black figures suddenly appeared in the place closest to Zhongzhi, they had no time to conduct anti-submarine operations.
The first person to discover traces of the submarine was the lookout on a frigate next to the "Kaga". With the help of flares, he suddenly discovered that two big black guys suddenly appeared seven or eight hundred meters ahead. At first, he thought He was dazzled by what he saw. When he rubbed his eyes and took a closer look, he was so horrified that he almost fell off the watchtower. "Submarine, submarine, British submarine." He shouted crazily, looking as if he was extremely shocked. attitude,
His shout alerted the captain of the frigate. The ship was ready for battle. All combatants were in their positions. Realizing that it was too late to notify Yamada Shiji through semaphores or telegrams, the captain of the ship made an impromptu decision and ordered All the guns on the stern of the ship immediately fired at the two British submarines.
The sound of a nearby artillery fire alerted the Japanese on the "Kaga". Only then did the ship's radar soldier see something strange on the radar display screen. He immediately stood up and shouted at Yamada Shii: "Your Excellency, Submarine, enemy submarine."
Yamada Shimizu heard the sound of gunfire. At first, he thought someone ignored Commander Yamamoto's strict order and fired at the American evacuation fleet. He broke into a cold sweat. Then he heard the screams of the radar soldiers. He leaned over and took a look. His heart almost sank to the bottom of the water. He quickly ran to the bridge and looked behind him. He saw eight obvious water trails dragged by torpedoes hitting the left and right sides of the "Kaga"'s stern hull. He turned around. He shouted to the first mate who was steering: "Full right rudder, hurry, hurry." The next moment, he ran into the captain's cabin and sounded the battle alarm, then picked up the microphone and held the send button and shouted: " All ships, move closer to me immediately, and frigates, start anti-submarine warfare immediately."
Four torpedoes struck, and the officers and soldiers of the "Kaga" became a mess amid the shrill sirens.
Among the nearby Japanese ships, some were equipped with walkie-talkies (as the Japanese call them). The captains of each ship immediately ordered to turn and move closer to the "Kaga". Those not equipped with walkie-talkies turned around one after another. Among them, the captains with quick reactions ordered In anti-submarine warfare, they hurriedly put down towed sonar, and some even started throwing depth bombs directly into the sea.
In an instant, the formation of the "Kaga" aircraft carrier fleet was completely disrupted.