Chapter 266 Goal, Yokosuka!

Mengmeng's Urga Waterway is full of mountains, and the shore artillery positions on both sides are silent. It was not until the artillery was relieved to see that the seven main ships, under the protection of the two remaining light patrols, formed a team to slow down and slowly drill into the waterway.

In the moonlight, the row was at the end of the fleet. In the main turret behind the long An Yun, more than a dozen Japanese sailors also drilled out of the thick turrets and sat down on the charred deck, looking at the steel formations lined up on the glittering sea in the distance, and silently prayed for luck.

From the departure to the battle, in just a few hours, the four capital ships, which were originally considered to be the pride of the navy and the spiritual pillar of the people, lost a partner. The scene of the Asumi and the sinking of the Asakami and Iwate still stimulated their nerves.

These sailors recruited after the last war have never thought that the naval battle has developed to the current level. Let alone the powerful main guns behind them, those smaller secondary guns are enough to be fatal as long as they are hit.

A few steps ago, a steel deck raised high, and a scorched black section stretched down, pulling out a nearly three-meter-long crack. The sailors could not imagine how terrible it would be if the crack extended further down and fell into the waterline.

Such cracks and holes are everywhere on this 13,000-ton battleship, all of which are traces left when the big turn is impossible to fight back. In just a few minutes, the shells falling like a rainstorm have made everyone tremble.

A few muffled sounds came from the turret, and a shout and the deck sounded everywhere. The sailors looked at each other and had no choice but to get up to join the ranks of cleaning the deck.

A sailor walked down the stern platform of the ship from the gangway, which turned out to be the favorite place for those officers. He sat here drinking tea and watching the sea, which was once envied by many sailors.

But now, the sailors feel that this corridor is useless at all. In addition to satisfying the selfish desires enjoyed by those officers, there is neither armor nor artillery position, and they occupy the already crowded space of the ship in vain.

On the corridor, there is no longer the tidiness of the past. The twisted metal railings and the concave holes in the middle have completely made this corridor completely useless. Even if you return to Yokosuka, I believe you will not waste valuable resources to repair here.

When he squatted on the deck and picked up a shrapnel and threw it into the sea, the sailor suddenly found that in the rolling track of the waves behind him, a short "dead branch" kept undulating up and down in the waves 200 meters away. It was strange that the dead branch was not pushed away by the waves, but had been stubbornly standing and waves. In the middle of the waves.

Is it the back of some kind of fish?

The sailor looked at it twice and was about to get up and walk to the railing to look carefully, but suddenly there was a shout from his partner behind him, so he had to suppress his curiosity and climbed to the main deck to join the hard cleaning work.

The sailor's look made Qin Shou, who pinched the periscope and pasted in front of the lens, was immediately scared with a white sweat. In addition, the continuous influx of sea water overhead, soaked the vest drop by drop by drop of the robe, which only made him feel cold all over. It was not until the sailor hurriedly returned to the main deck that he was relieved and quickly adjusted. The depth of the periscope.

It's really curiosity that killed the cat.

Just in order to see more clearly, I raised some periscopes and was almost exposed. In case it is found to have destroyed the plan, I'm afraid it will be light to send him to the military court!

Seeing the commander quickly adjusting the periscope, the sailors around him did not dare to come out of the atmosphere, and the needle suddenly fell in the narrow cabin.

After the periscope was lowered, the sight became blurred again in the waves stirred by the propeller, and a large part of seawater poured into the cabin along the periscope that was not tightly sealed and dripped on the deck.

This is an annoying and exciting job. It lurks under the water all the time. Sometimes I can't see the sun for a few days. I'm afraid only Qin Shou and his submarine soldiers are willing.

The submarine under its feet is following the An Yun at a speed of eight knots. The noisy diesel engine has long been shut down, and even talking loudly has been strictly prohibited.

Looking at the shadows on both sides of the periscope, and An Yun still showed no sign of finding himself, Qin Shou was really relieved. It seemed that the Japanese sailor was just curious. After all, there were not many people who knew about submarines these days, especially in this sea area.

After handing over the periscope to the first officer to continue observation, Qin Shou turned around and walked to the chart table, grabbed an orange and wiped it on his body a few times. He bit it fiercely without even peeling the skin. The juice dripped down the corners of his mouth to the already wet clothes, reflecting a silky orange red.

The Uraga Waterway is not very long, but if the first-generation heron-class submarine is used to carry out the tailing mission, I'm afraid that the battery will be exhausted before it reaches the destination. Fortunately, with this gray ridge shark, it is also the first of the four gray ridge shark-class boats.

The length is 43 meters, the widest part is 8 meters, and the underwater displacement has also increased to 520 tons. Except that the length has not increased much, almost all other indicators have doubled compared with the bluefish level.

Two new diesel engines allow the Grey Shark to sail 800 nautical miles continuously at a water speed of 12 knots. If it slows down to 8 knots, it will reach an amazing distance of 1,000 nautical miles for the first time, which means that the Grey Shark class has the ability to carry out tasks alone without relying on the support ship for the first time.

The expanded battery pack also allows it to dive into the water up to 30 meters deep and work for 90 minutes in a row, which is enough to follow the fleet across the entire Uraga waterway to reach its destination.

Of course, these are not what he is most excited about. What he is most happy about is that this submarine is equipped with a 550mm-caliber heavy torpedo for the first time. In addition to the four full launch tubes, there are four additional additions in the torpedo cabin.

Eight heavy torpedoes made the submarine really the king of underwater sneak attack, and at the same time, it also gave him a second chance to attack, without having to escape immediately after hitting two torpedoes like the previous blue and white fish.

"The left rudder is fifteen degrees."

The voice of the first mate came. Qin Shou looked at his watch quickly and wrote down the time and angle on the white paper.

From the beginning of entering the waterway, the submarine followed the An Yun at a constant speed of eight knots, so as long as the time is accurate, it is easy to calculate how far it has sailed.

"The right rudder is 17 degrees."

The voice of the first mate came again. While recording, Qin Shou kept cursing in his heart. These little Japanese deliberately made the channel so complicated, left and right, obviously not to let the warship sailing in the waterway start. If it hadn't been for the gray shark, I'm afraid I don't know how much it would take to touch it. Clear the whole channel.

As time went by little by, the sailors sat and waited. They could not see the situation on the sea. They only knew that there were nearly a thousand mines lurking around outside this layer of iron shell, so almost all their eyes stared at the helmsman without blinking, for fear that he would turn in the wrong direction.

The helmsman was already so nervous that he was soaked. Looking at the rows of instrument needles in front of him, he grabbed the trembling steering wheel because he was in the wake of the huge propeller of the battleship in front of him. His fingers began to slowly stiffen.

"The towing ship appeared."

"The enemy ships dispersed."

"We are out of the waterway!"

"Right rudder ten degrees, destination Yokosuka!"

With a series of voices from the first mate, Qin Shou quickly handed the full note to the navigator to calculate immediately. At the same time, he rushed to the periscope and raised the periscope a little again.

In the lens, the four most damaged Japanese battleships have dispersed, and several high-horsepower tugboats are slowly leaning up. Although it is blurred, it is brightly lit in the distance.

Yokosuka, the first military port is already close at hand! ——

"Report, received the gray shark signal!"

A loud report made the fog-covered conning tower of the Polaris suddenly become restless, and the captains and staff officers who had been waiting for a long time rushed to the chart table.

More than an hour of waiting has exhausted their patience. Even after hearing the report, Long Guozhang and Tan Xiaozeng suddenly extinguished their cigarette butts and rushed forward.

Everyone gathered together and quietly watched the navigation staff officer according to the telegram, marking the channel on the map of Uraga Waterway. After completing the last stroke, he handed over the telegram to the second staff officer for verification.

Such a check and calculation was repeated three times, and finally the navigation staff stood up and saluted, "Report, the channel diagram is completed!"

Everyone took a breath, but soon locked their thick eyebrows. Looking at the two consecutive Z-shaped waterways, everyone couldn't help scolding, saying that I was really ignorant. It was so good to open my legs and wait for me to do it. It was so complicated that I was forced to kill them!

Long Guozhang slowly lay down, put his hands on the chart table, and looked at the last Z word at the end of the bend along the waterway, and his eyes flashed coldly.

Judging from the schematic diagram, this section is undoubtedly the most difficult place to pass. The lower left corner of the word Z is directly opposite the largest shore gun base, and the incoming warship is almost directly facing the other side, which not only blocks the shooting perspective of the rear warship, but also can only exert the power of the front main gun, which is equivalent to abolishing most of the gunfire advantage!

In addition to the close distance, the other party is the most intense place of firepower, which is simply a ghost gate!

"Why don't Xue Muhua and others blow up this fort first and then go to Yokosuka?" Tan Xiaozeng suggested.

Long Guozhang shook his head. The airship was the most critical part of the whole plan. If they bombed the shore gun base first, they would be exposed. No matter how fast they flew, they could not return with ammunition in a few hours. In that case, the fleet would have enough time to evacuate. Once they fled to the depths of Tokyo Bay, or Just sit down as a temporary fort, and it's too late.

"Let's go."

In the silence, a voice suddenly sounded. Everyone turned their heads and saw that Lin Taizeng and Liu Bu toad had straightened up their waists. The former squeezed away their partners and went to the sea map and pointed to the shore gun base and said, "There are two main guns in the front of the Duke, and the four secondary main guns on both sides of the ship can also play a role when the bow is against the enemy, even if only If you can line up one by one, as long as half of the hull is slightly off, the Prince can also complete the aiming.

"Twelve cannons, that's enough!"

Although Lin Tai once said it simply, and the Duke-class battleships are indeed the only two battleships in the fleet that can exert half of their firepower advantages against the enemy. Although the Jinghai-class can play the advantage of ten naval guns, the armor determines that they are not suitable for assault ships at all.

But the problem is that half of the hull is also ten meters away. I don't know if there is a mine within ten meters. Once it hits the mine, I'm afraid the whole channel will be blocked.

"I go to the left, and Kaishi to the right, five meters each." Liu Bu toad smiled and said, "The space has been opened. If I haven't even reserved five meters, then they believe in their ship technology too much!"

"What will you do once you hit the thunder?" Tan Xiaozeng asked.

"Accelerate the rudder and go straight to the shore along the minefield. If you are lucky, you may just run aground." Lin Tai once said decisively, firmly looking at Long Guozhang, who used to be under himself, but now he is the commander of a huge fleet.

Long Guozhang slowly straightened up, looked at the two new captains in front of him, felt that they were reawakened bravery and decisiveness by the naval battle, and nodded vigorously.

"Command!"

With a brush, the eyes in the command tower were burning.

"The ships are ready. An hour later, the four ships of Jinghai began to bombard the waterway to cover the submarine's entry into the port."

"Notify the airship troops and set off as soon as our shelling begins."

"One o'clock in the morning, enter the waterway on time." Long Guozhang looked at his watch and raised his head: "Fore...!"

"Duke, Prince!"——

Under the seductive moonlight, in the only flat open space on Hachijo Island, 18 giant shadows were neatly tied together, and countless soldiers around them were busy stuffing huge and strange bombs into the magazine.

This is all the belongings of the newly established airship force. After prioritizing the supply and concentrating several factories, it finally got three more than Li Mo predicted.

In addition to these giant monsters, all the soldiers who participated in the mission were also given a gag order and signed their names or fingerprints on the confidentiality agreement under the supervision of the gendarmerie.

Such a strict confidential operation is the first time in the history of the Pacific Army, but it is also worth it. For today's departure, everyone has been waiting for two years!

Xue Muhua stood excitedly on the lawn, next to which was the airship No. 01 led by him. As the commander of the troops of the air force personally named by the young master, he was only 25 years old. He was actually a half-way monk. At first, he was just a naval staff officer, because he proposed that the range of the naval gun should be increased and try to avoid the thick master as much as possible in the decisive battle. The horizontal armor theory, which focuses on attacking the weak battleships of the other side, has gradually emerged.

Later, with a paper order, he had to leave his beloved navy, give up his dream of galloping in the blue sea, and became an experimenter in the Honolulu flight laboratory.

At that time, he was full of grievances. He thought that his argument had offended people, so he was "distributed". Finally, he went to the young master. However, after seeing the young master again, he only got a sentence from the young master with a smile.

"I'll give you a chance to attack the opponent's horizontal armor, do it or not!"

At that time, Xue Muhua didn't want to do it from the bottom of his heart, but he still didn't say anything in the face of the young master. Finally, he had to come to the flight laboratory and led dozens of young people who also knew nothing to become so-called flight experimenters.

From the experimenter who didn't know anything, to the experimenter who drove the airship in the blue sky, he and his driving team made unimaginable efforts. At the earliest time, they accompanied those big-headed monsters to gnaw books, listened to the analysis meeting, and discussed the design plan, from Xiaobai in the clouds and fog to driving the first one. Experimental airship launch test.

If those big-headed monsters are Wen madmen who stick to their dreams, then the test team he leads is the Wu madman who risked his life. When the first airship trembled slightly, when the earth was far away under his feet, when the figure turned into an ant, even the most courageous flight experimenter, his legs trembled and sweated all over. I peed my pants.

But after the initial discomfort, the experimenters he led gradually fell in love with this feeling. In the end, they even developed into a sad infatuation when they didn't fly up to play for a day.

Now, even if he is not happy to let him go back and command a fleet, especially after the young master increased the allocation, began to produce large airships, and turned the team of experimenters into an army, his good day finally came!

In front of

, there are eighteen hippo-class giants with a length of 140 meters and a maximum of 13 meters, once spindle-shaped and a load of six tons. In its huge belly, 24 special bombs weighing 250 kilograms were loaded.

When he started training with this bomb for the first time a few months ago, he really understood what the young master meant when he said, "Give you a chance to attack the opponent's horizontal armor."

He can't imagine what kind of panic it will cause when it takes four strong men to lift these, and even the incendiary bombs that can burn steel will hit the enemy's head!

Now, all he has to do is lead 18 hippos to complete the first actual combat performance in the history of the air force!

When the bomb with four tail wings, I heard that the young master designed the shape was carried on the trolley and then loaded into the airship's magazine, when the completed small light bulbs lit up outside the pod, and when a soldier stood in front of the engine holding the handle and waiting, the milky yellow light bulb in front of him was suddenly covered. A layer of red paper.

The red light suddenly appeared!

The soldiers standing on both sides of the pod engine turned the handle hard. After a few slams, the engine immediately spewed out a stream of black smoke, which blackened the face and drove the propeller to turn violently.

With the last engine being started, the blood-red lamppost turned green again, and Xue Muhua's right hand rotated like a windmill. This is the signal to take off!

Quickly walked into the airship. After closing the hatch, several ground crews immediately untied the cable of the suspended airship. The No. 01 airship, which was free from the rope, was like a reinsted wild horse, soared into the sky.

One, two, three...

When the 18 airships were fully launched, the sky of Hachijo Island was suddenly completely shrouded in shadows.

"Report, the catapult is on the road."

Standing on the airship, through the narrow porthole, looking at the partners who have been grouped left and right, Xue Muhua suddenly rose proudly and trembled excitedly. This is the first performance of the Air Force, and it is also a performance that will take the initiative to change the mode of war!

"Direction 010, target..."

"Yokosuka!" ......

(to be continued)