In the rough East China Sea, it was not yet dawn. After two days of sailing, the nine submarines of the 12th Submarine Group formed two columns about 6 nautical miles apart, heading northeast at a cruising speed of 15 knots about 120 nautical miles southeast of Honshu.
With.Boat and boat
The front and rear distance between the two ships was about 5 nautical miles, and they were moving quietly on the dark sea. There was nothing on the sea. The sailors on duty on the bridge pretended that their friendly ships were enemies. In this way,
Come and pass this long and boring time.
Dongfang spit out fish-white color, and Yang Jingwen climbed from the command module to the bridge. The environment inside the No. 432 boat was much larger than the Type 1 submarine he was originally in, which provided the crew with a slightly more spacious and comfortable living space.
space, and the boat is also equipped with several food freezers, which is particularly important for maintaining morale during long-term combat cruises.
"'Team Xu' advocated diving at six o'clock, and everyone should be farther apart. Together with No. 421 and No. 356, each group is 15 nautical miles apart!" At this time, Li Jiacheng also came up from below, holding in his hand
Holding a telegraph newspaper.
"Yeah, I got it! Send a signal to No. 421 and No. 356 behind them. We have to reduce the speed to 12." Yang Jingwen said. The signal soldier took the signal light, climbed to the top of the bridge, and signaled to the two ships following them.
The submarine signaled, and after a while, the two submarines also sent back signals to indicate that they understood.
"Keep course, speed 4 knots and 3 knots." Yang Jingwen gave instructions to the microphone below.
At dawn, the submarine dived to the depth of the snorkel.
Gong Xinmin went down the ladder to the lower cockpit and walked forward along the rickety passage. A row of green lights lit up on the cockpit bulkhead, indicating the sealing status of every airtight hatch on the boat.
Everything was in good condition. The helmsman held the steering wheel in his hand like a ship on the water, and looked at the various instruments in front of him nonchalantly. Everything was normal.
He passed through two oval-shaped compartment doors and entered the narrow and crowded torpedo room at the front. "Everyone, be prepared, you may need to use them today!"
"Sir, we have checked and can load them into the launch tube at any time." The torpedo commander stood next to a row of gray warheads. These warheads have been loaded with fuzes, but the insurance will only be activated when launching.
tear down.
Gong Xinmin still conducted another inspection in accordance with the procedures. After confirming that there were no problems, he returned to the restaurant in the middle of the boat. People on the night shift got hungry faster.
The submarine strangulation tactics used by the Republican Navy were still effective against Japan. In two years, the total tonnage of Japanese merchant ships sunk by submarine forces exceeded 2 million tons. In addition, the naval surface fleet sank several Japanese merchant ships in several raids.
With nearly one million tons of merchant ships, the total tonnage of Japan's domestic merchant ships has dropped to less than 4 million tons, and its transportation capacity is slowly losing.
As the import of raw materials is greatly troubled, Japan's national shipbuilding capacity has also dropped from 1 million tons to 500,000 tons per year. Its shipbuilding capacity is far unable to keep up with the quantity consumed. Based on the current situation, if this situation continues
If this continues, within three years, Japan, as an island country, will lose all its merchant ships, which means that this country will basically lose its industrial capacity.
This is the situation that countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States least want to see.
For this reason, the British, regardless of their own huge losses, leased 120 merchant ships totaling 800,000 tons to the Japanese government, while the United States increased its exports of raw materials and weapons to Japan.
"Hunting in the Pacific is far inferior to that of the Korean Strait, which is a paradise for submarines, and here, those transport fleets can escape our ambush just by turning a corner!" In the restaurant, Li Jiacheng was chatting with the captain.
"That's right, I came here twice before but returned empty-handed. Once outside Miyake Island, we were attacked by a destroyer and almost finished!" Gong Xinmin sat down with a cup of coffee.
"This time is different. This fleet from the United States transports a large amount of aircraft manufacturing materials, as well as five hundred combat aircraft, especially the latest radars and anti-submarine sonar developed by the United States. We must find them and
Sink them!" Yang Jingwen said.
"Americans? Why do they want to intervene in our war with Japan?" Li Jiacheng looked very angry.
"Because they don't want us to win, Americans always wear the same pants as British people." Yang Jingwen said, as the Republican Army invades India, the relationship between China and the United States is getting worse and worse, and a war may break out at any time.
possible.
"If the fleet flies the American flag, will it cause a war?" Gong Xinmin said.
"No matter which country's flag it flies, this fleet must sink to the bottom of the sea. The headquarters has sent a total of four submarine brigades this time, which is a great determination." Yang Jingwen said, "If these things are shipped to Japan,
Our navy will be seriously threatened and may even cause heavy losses, which is the main factor behind the high-level determination to eliminate it."
The Republican Army has always pursued this idea of striking first to gain the upper hand.
The 12th Submarine Group lurked in the Oshima area outside Tokyo Bay, which is the only place to enter the Tokyo Bay channel. The boats were about 5 nautical miles apart and ambush on both sides of the channel. The engines were turned to the minimum and they maintained a speed of 3 knots.
Silent cruising, only the exhaust pipe and periscope are exposed on the water.
Through the thin hull of the boat, the crew could hear the sound of rolling waves, and everyone's tone of voice lowered, as if they were afraid of being discovered by the enemy who had disappeared in the distance.
"Here they come!"
The convoy was intercepted once on the Pearl Harbor to Yokohama route, in which two freighters were sunk. After the ambush, they turned north and then circled back from Vancouver so that it could escape
intercepted by the 6th Submarine Group in the middle.
In addition, the 13th Submarine Group is ambushing in the northern part of Honshu Island to prevent this fleet from entering the port from Aomori or Sendai area.
The combat alarm sounded, and the crew quickly ran to their combat posts.
"Can you see anything?" Li Jiacheng asked Yang Jingwen who was operating the periscope.
"We can't see clearly, but our sonar has detected these things. The approximate distance is about 9,000 meters, and they are coming towards us." Yang Jingwen continued to turn the periscope and search on the sea.
"There are quite a few people who heard the sound," Li Jiacheng said.
"It should be like this, but we can't tell what kind of ship it is yet." Yang Jingwen said, and suddenly shouted loudly: "At 11 o'clock, my God, it's a destroyer! Prepare torpedoes!"
"Are you going to attack it?" Gong Xinmin asked in the cockpit.
"Yes, we need to kill these escort ships first. They are currently traveling at about 12 knots and seem to be unsuspecting," Yang Jingwen said.
"The torpedoes are ready, captain!" the torpedo captain replied.
"Okay, direction 11 o'clock, set depth 3 meters!"
"The target has been locked, sir!"
"Okay, No. 1 to No. 4, launch in sequence!"
After a moment of silence, the crackling sound of the torpedo room came over the loudspeaker.
"Ping-ping-"
The submarine vibrated slightly and the torpedo was launched.