At about 4 a.m. on July 4, the Zhengde squadron, which was waiting 50 nautical miles south of the Vladivostok naval port, and the destroyer's sonar on guard at the periphery, suddenly heard the sound of a fast diesel engine.
The sound was very weak, about 20 nautical miles away to the north. But listening to the sound, it was approaching, and the approaching speed was quite fast, estimated to be at least 30 knots. Soon, a second sound, a third sound, and a fourth sound were discovered.
a voice.
This was obviously a torpedo boat, and it sailed out of the Vladivostok port. It probably discovered the arrival of the Ming army's fleet, and wanted to use the torpedo boat to attack the Ming army's capital ships under the cover of darkness.
The destroyer immediately reported the destroyer fleet flagship with a signal light. The destroyer fleet flagship also immediately used a signal light to give an order to all destroyers: leave two destroyers to defend the Zhengde and Li Guang, and the remaining four will immediately go to fight and annihilate the torpedo boats. At the same time, the general
The flagship Zhengde and the heavy cruiser Li Guang also received the alert.
Suddenly, battle alarms sounded on every ship. On the sea surface of the entire fleet, the dark sea and air were filled with the screams of loudspeakers, and with the rising and falling sea breeze. Each warship was accelerating and adjusting its position.
, arc-shaped white marks were dragged out on the black sea.
…
The Zhengde squadron has a total of one battleship, one heavy cruiser, and six destroyers.
Among them, the battleships are specially designed to deal with the "Paris Commune". The heavy cruisers follow the "assistant" and serve as the main forward force, collecting enemy destroyers or patrol boats, attacking cargo ships, reconnaissance, salvage and rescue, launching torpedoes, and when necessary, they can also divide the troops.
Stand alone,
With two destroyers, it can form its own squadron, which can also be used as a capital ship... In short, the cruiser is the most versatile and is used to do miscellaneous tasks. The six destroyers are mainly used to deal with submarines or torpedo boats.
In other words, it is to cope with the current situation.
The four destroyers were lined up side by side in a wide line. Each ship was three kilometers apart from each other, forming a large net. They "net" northward at a high speed of 25 knots. The sonar soldiers on each ship were listening intently to their headphones.
, carefully distinguishing the position, speed, and course of the target ahead. Each ship's
The number of bridge observation posts increased to eight, and the number of deck observation posts also increased to eight. A total of sixteen pairs of eyes scanned eight directions in the darkness. All gun positions ranged from the 150mm turret main gun to the 12mm machine gun.
, have entered the highest combat readiness and can fire at any time.
All sailors wore steel helmets and life jackets and stayed at their posts, letting the waves caused by the high-speed advance rush over the deck and over their heads and faces.
We are still sailing in darkness, with cloudy weather, and the starlight above our heads is blocked by clouds from time to time. The visual distance is only tens of meters to less than a hundred meters. In order not to expose the target, the destroyer adopts a completely dark navigation method. Now the two sides are in
The approximate location of the opponent is clearly known in the sonar, but the naked eye still cannot
They cannot be seen from a distance. The Ming army relies on its "strong ships and sharp guns", its tall body and various light and heavy weapons of various calibers, as well as the excellent training of a powerful navy. The Soviet army relies on the cover of night and its flexible and compact body.
, a fatal torpedo, and the fearless dedication of the early lower-level Bolsheviks.
The two sides were heading towards each other, with a combined speed of more than 50 knots, or nearly 100 kilometers per hour. The two sides were getting closer and closer, and the Ming army's destroyer fleet was getting closer and closer. The distance gradually narrowed from 3000 meters to 2000 meters.
1500 meters, 1000 meters, and finally reduced to a distance of about 600 meters. This distance can take care of each other in a night battle, but it is not too crowded to avoid turning around when avoiding torpedoes.
A few minutes later, the two sides were very close. According to the sonar, the distance was estimated to be only a few kilometers.
At this time, the Ming destroyer flagship issued a lighting order via radio.
A thunderous sound of artillery rolled across the dark sea, and twelve large flares exploded in the sky on all sides, as well as several strings of smaller flares. The sky was hung by parachutes, spraying dazzling white magnesium light.
It landed slowly, illuminating the sea for several kilometers in radius like daylight.
In the sea about three thousand meters ahead, in a flash of ripples, four torpedo boats were turning their rudders in all directions, dragging four long tail marks and spreading out in two directions, trying to outflank the Ming army's destroyer fleet on both sides.
"Bang...bang...bang..."
The high-power searchlights of the four destroyers were turned on, each covering a torpedo boat. At the same time, the remaining searchlights of each ship were sweeping the surrounding sea surface, searching for traces of torpedoes. The main guns continued to fire flares into the sky.
In short, we should make the sea surface as bright as possible.
"Keep the lights on," the flagship ordered in clear radio language, "Each ship fires at the target of its choice, and be careful to avoid torpedoes!"
…
With an order, the large and small artillery of the four destroyers opened fire at the same time. The main guns roared and sprayed out large fireballs, followed by high water columns rising near the Soviet torpedo boats in the distance, one after another. At the same time, several 40mm guns of each ship
The machine cannon and the 20mm machine gun continuously sprayed tongues of flame, and the bright orange light pierced people's eyes in the night. In the distance, dense splashes of water also exploded around the Soviet torpedo boats.
The Soviet torpedo boats also began to spit out tongues of fire. They had not taken the initiative to fire before, in order to use the cover of darkness as much as possible to get as close as possible to the Ming fleet. Once they opened fire, their exact position would be exposed.
. But now they were exposed to the strong light of the flares, covered by the searchlights, and had been subjected to intensive fire, which showed that their exact position had been firmly locked. So the captain of the Soviet torpedo boat squadron decisively ordered a counterattack.
But as a torpedo boat, its weapons equipment other than torpedoes are very pitiful. There is only one 20mm machine gun and one machine gun. But even these two weak weapons are roaring now and are used by the sailors on the deck of the Ming army.
It's a big threat.
20mm machine gun shells hit the destroyer's hull one after another, causing "ping-pong" explosions on the bridge, and machine gun bullets also "ding-dang-dang" hitting various parts of the destroyer. On two of the destroyers, one sailor was injured immediately and lay on the bed.
There were howls on the deck, and military doctors rushed up and carried him away. At this time, three of the four Soviet torpedo boats were already on fire.
Suddenly, there was a strong flash of light on the sea, and then I saw a torpedo boat explode into a ball of fire. Countless parts and fragments scattered in the fire and black smoke, and the entire hull had disappeared. A few seconds later,
The sound of explosions reached the four destroyers of the Ming Army one after another.
This must have been a torpedo explosion. I don't know whether it was directly blown up by a machine gun or blown up by fire.
For a moment, both the Ming and Soviet sailors looked at the explosion site, at the wreckage and mutilated corpses floating in the water, and the flames burning on the oil slick, as if they had forgotten about the battle.
Upon hearing the torpedo warning, the four destroyers increased their power, turned quickly, and pointed their bows in the direction of the torpedo, minimizing the attack surface. At the same time, several searchlights from each ship also gathered at the reported position.
and distance to search for torpedo tail marks.
A few seconds later, three white bubble traces loomed under the sea surface at a distance of 200 to 300 meters, approaching quickly. Each trace was about 200 meters apart. At this time, the Ming army took advantage of the flexibility of the destroyers and deviated from their course.
, allowing three torpedoes to pass through both sides of him.
Generally at this distance of several hundred meters, as long as the destroyer can detect the torpedo, it can basically avoid it easily. But it must also be avoided. The tonnage of destroyers is very small, and they generally have no armor. Once they are hit by a torpedo
, they will all be destroyed immediately.
…
At this time, although the remaining three Soviet torpedo boats were not hit by the main guns, they were already burning and riddled with holes under the continuous machine shelling and gunfire.