As they wished, the "Kaga" aircraft carrier was sent to the bottom of the sea, and a heavy cruiser and a frigate were sunk along with it. Xu Kai and the others were so excited. Xu Kai ordered a deep dive to escape from the tracking of the Japanese ship through the sound of the sound. Listening to the beautiful sound of the sinking Japanese ship, Na said with an intoxicated expression: "The commander-in-chief once said that submarines are assassins in the ocean. Now, I fully understand the meaning of this sentence. Hehe, assassin, little The devil will have a big problem in the future."
Yangon, the new British Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in India, Wavell, fell into a long silence since he received a telegram from Percival last night and learned that the "Singapore Retreat" operation had failed. This morning, he received After his subordinates presented the communication telegrams between the various units of Japan's Western Expedition Fleet that had been deciphered through eavesdropping, he suddenly became energetic. He personally drafted a telegram and asked his adjutant to immediately send it to the Commander of the Royal Navy's Eastern Fleet. Officer Somerville sent it,
The failure of the "Singapore Great Retreat" was a painful blow to Wavell, because it not only meant that Singapore would soon be captured, but more importantly, more than 60,000 Singaporean British troops would die in the battle. Or become a prisoner of war of the Japanese. However, after learning through deciphered Japanese telegrams that the heavy aircraft carrier "Kaga" of the Japanese Expeditionary Fleet was severely damaged by a submarine attack, he suddenly realized a possibility. If the Royal Navy could rely on If the submarine force blocks the Strait of Malacca, it will completely cut off the only sea route for the Japanese expeditionary fleet to enter the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. In that case, he can calmly mobilize his troops and use the narrow terrain of southern Thailand to snipe the Japanese army.
After the telegram was sent, he said to his adjutant: "Perhaps, I have found a way to curb the Japanese attack on Thailand."
It took a full hour and a half before Vice Admiral Somerville called back. The Royal Navy's Eastern Fleet had a total of three submarines, two of which were non-combat transport boats. These three submarines are currently in the Myeik Military Port in Myanmar. So after receiving the "good news" conveyed by Wavell, Somerville was naturally confused. "Could it be that the base camp sent additional reinforcements without telling me?" Thinking of this possibility, he secretly telegraphed the British base camp to Marshal Mountbatten. Inquiring about this matter, Mountbatten was very excited when he heard the news. He even suspected that someone in his submarine force had taken the initiative and sent reinforcements to the Far East, so he made an inquiry. Naturally, there was no result. Now, He couldn't help but become curious,
"Could it be that the Americans did it in our name in order to ensure the success of the evacuation operation?" Gradually, both Mountbatten and Somerville came up with this idea, and it was only natural that they would think so. Because in their opinion, who else but the Americans has the ability and reason to do this? It can’t be the Germans.
Somerville telegraphed this conjecture to Wavell and emphasized that in view of the unclear attitude of the U.S. government, the opinion of the base camp was not to expose it for the time being. At the end of the telegram, he also said that the strength of the Eastern Fleet was simply not enough. Use submarines to block the Strait of Malacca, but he will contact the U.S. Pacific Fleet as soon as possible to see if he can borrow the two submarines from them, and stated that this is the opinion of the headquarters.
Not to mention the fact that the British were happy to take the blame for the Xuebing Army, let’s just talk about the evacuation fleet.
The evacuation fleet sailed toward Puerto Princesa, Palawan at a speed of nearly 40 kilometers per hour. By about five o'clock that afternoon, it had sailed nearly 400 kilometers at a stretch. At this point, Grant, Whether it was Mitterrand, Tan Kah Kee or Zhang Liangfeng, they finally breathed a long sigh of relief, and their hanging hearts fell back into their stomachs.
"Let everyone come out and get some air. It's not going to be easy to be stuck in the cabin for a long time." Lin Jiangshi suggested to Zhang Liangfeng,
Due to time constraints, the ships organized by the Xuebing Army only made some crude modifications on the road. The cruise ships were okay. They were originally meant to carry people, but they were just a little crowded. The conditions for carrying passengers on those merchant ships were too poor. To put it mildly, it’s just a canned food.
Because he felt that the Japanese warships would not be able to catch up anyway, and it was almost night, and the Japanese would not be able to send out planes to bomb, Zhang Liangfeng looked at the sea and found that the wind and waves were not big, so he agreed.
The order was passed on, and the Chinese people in Singapore and Malaysia were very happy. Is there anything more joyful than this after the disaster? Come out to see the sea view, breathe the fresh air, and then have a sumptuous dinner. If not The previous experience could be called a trip. People poured out of the cargo hold. Soon, the decks of each ship were full of people. A few minutes passed, and as they adapted to the environment on the deck, they had sharp eyes. The people spotted the acquaintances on the nearby boat and immediately greeted them warmly.
"Hi, who is that? I'm here."
"So-and-so, I saw you."
"Everyone is fine."
"Okay, okay, where are my sister-in-law and nephew."
"Everyone is here."
...The whole family escaped from the devil's nest in Singapore. This is a great blessing. Some are lucky and some are unlucky. Those who had relatives lost their lives at the hands of the British army burst into tears when they suddenly saw their relatives on a nearby ship. He said: "Second uncle, it's me. My father was killed by the British."
"Ah, well, don't cry. It's good that you can escape."
...Those orphans or those who have lost all their relatives and are left alone are the focus of everyone's care. Chefs and sailors dressed as cadet soldiers hold the orphans in their arms, take out candies from their pockets and give them to them. Eat them, or take them to the captain's cabin, teach them how to use the walkie-talkie, and play songs to them...
Americans also came out to join in the fun. Although there were some people with dual nationality of the United Kingdom and the United States who looked at the Singaporean and Malaysian Chinese with cold eyes or even cursed in a low voice, the vast majority of people watched with a smile, empathically enjoying the joy of surviving the disaster. ,
Mitterrand and Grand were naturally the focus of the Americans. They stood side by side on the deck of the escape passage outside the captain's room, looking at the jubilant Singaporean and Malaysian Chinese in the distance or not far away with smiles on their faces. The former said to the latter: "Grant, we have done a great thing."
Grant nodded with a smile and said: "Yes, although it was very difficult, we withstood the pressure and succeeded. For me personally, this is a great non-battlefield victory and will be a profound victory that I will never forget. life experience.”
Mitterrand looked up at the sky and said with emotion: "The evening scene on the endless ocean is so beautiful." As he said that, he turned his head and looked at the sky behind the fleet. The next moment, he froze, and then exclaimed Said: "Plane."
Grant looked around and saw a plane in the sky southwest of the fleet. He frowned slightly and said, "Aren't the Japanese still giving up?"
At this time, Zhang Liangfeng and the others had also seen this fighter plane, "Japanese plane." Someone immediately shouted in panic,
"Keep your voice down, it's not a big deal." Zhang Liangfeng said, "Don't cause a commotion. Even if the little devil sees you, it won't be a big deal."
Cui Lin responded: "Yes, we have all run out so far, and it will be night soon. What can the little devil do if he finds us? Hehe, I am really looking forward to the expression of the old devil Yamamoto Isoroku after hearing the report. "
"Will he be so angry that he vomits blood?" Xiao Yi joked,
Cui Lin thought about it seriously and said seriously: "It's hard to say."