Chapter 373 There is still one and a half hours left!

At that moment, Felitman and all the officers seemed to feel their brains buzzing, their hands and feet were stiff and breathing almost stagnant, and the whole fleet seemed to be frozen by the ice in an instant.

You never thought that you would meet an airship here, because it is located in the center of the Luzon Sea, and it is 400 kilometers away from the nearest coastline of Luzon Island!

Filitman was stunned. Looking at the moving light in the dark night sky, he only felt that his hands and feet were cold. The coffee he had just drunk seemed to have thickened hundreds of times back to his mouth, staining his whole tongue.

As the most powerful empire in the world, it has a huge fleet that cannot be reached by the last few. Britain attaches great importance to hydrological surveys around the world and has 16 large hydrological survey ships. It is this inconspicuous hydrological fleet that gives British naval officers the courage to cross the world even if they close their eyes.

So Felicman was very clear about the surrounding environment. After he took the fleet to get rid of the tracking, he had actually been wandering here, and then counted the passage of time little by little. As long as he waited for the arrival of the Indian support fleet, he was ready to forcibly break through the Bus Strait into the South China Sea and return to Hong Kong.

According to his expectations, as long as he joined the Indian support fleet, the battleship ratio of him and the Xinhua Navy would reach 13 to 10, and the cruiser was more overall ahead, but at this critical moment, this little bit of light in the sky stabbed him and the whole fleet like a needle.

He really didn't expect that there would be rival airships here, because after spending a lot of money on airships in Britain, he conducted a thorough study of this new weapon. Later, he also learned about the fact that the Xinhua Navy was equipped with reconnaissance airships, and calculated them according to the obvious signs. Cruise distance.

Their naval airships are much smaller than those of the air force, so according to calculations, the range should not exceed 1,000 kilometers. According to the experience of using airships in Britain, the maximum distance is not the combat distance, because it also needs to take into account factors such as return and resistance against strong winds, even if it can fly 1,000 kilometers, If it is used for reconnaissance, in fact, it can only fly up to 400 kilometers to return, otherwise there will be a tragic fate drifting with the wind after there is no oil.

He took these into account when he set out, so he did not go to the narrow Taiwan Strait, so as not to be blocked by the other party in the narrow strait, and did not sail along any coastline. He was afraid of being discovered by the other party's airship. After arriving here, he carefully circled the lurking sea and strictly controlled the activities of the fleet. Distance, never touch the bottom line of 400 kilometers!

This is all he can do, but he still didn't expect that an airship swaggered above his head, and it could not be an airship to go to Guam and their Daxia, because if he went straight through the Luzon Sea, even if the airship was loaded with twice as much oil, it would not be enough.

"Maybe it's a lost flight?"

Several officers behind him quietly came to a conclusion, but Felitman obviously didn't think this joke was funny. Now he can only expect the thick cumulonimbus clouds in the sky to continue to cover the light of the stars and the moon, making the sea darker!

In the moving bean light, the co-pilot looked at the oil meter, glanced at the clock next to his eyes, shook his head and sighed. The fuel tank was half empty. If it hadn't brought two extra barrels of oil, maybe they would have sailed back before. Although it has survived until now, if they don't go back, I'm afraid everyone will have to see the mood of Mrs. Feng today. So I immediately reminded him, "Head, it's time to go back. It seems that I'm busy for nothing today."

The captain glanced at the dark night sky outside his eyes and frowned.

It's obviously not his good day today. This damn cloud is so thick that it has completely covered the starlight. It makes no sense to continue to search. What's more, it may rain heavily in a while. You know, flying in the rain is extremely dangerous. Two months ago, an air force reconnaissance flight on a mission in Borneo. Because the boat encountered heavy rain and lightning, which eventually led to the destruction of the boat, the general manager has strictly banned him from flying in the storm, which has been considered illegal.

If the weather is good, you may be able to take another risk, but now for everyone's safety, let's go back honestly.

Thinking of this, the captain immediately began to pull the rudder and shouted, "Going 180, the radio begins to position, we." Wait a minute!" Hearing the captain's shout, the observer suddenly interrupted. He scratched his head and pointed to the east and said urgently, " Captain, can you move forward?"

"Forward? Double happiness, you don't want to go back, do you? The son-in-law of the Dragon Prince is not easy to do. As the correspondent began to locate the return flight through a radio signal every half a minute, he replied with a smile.

The captain and the co-pilot also looked at Shuangxi curiously. They didn't understand the big guy who was still holding the pillar and didn't want to get on the boat when he first came. What's wrong with today? He likes the feeling of flying in the sky. Should he choose the time? Flying at night is already very risky, and there are cumulonimbus clouds, which is no different from desperately!

Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Shuangxi was also a little embarrassed, but when he thought of the flash in front of him just now, he always felt that something was calling him. After thinking about it, he gritted his teeth and said, " Captain, I don't know what to say, but I think there seems to be something over there."

"Over there?"

The captain and the co-pilot both looked in the direction of Shuangxi's fingers, but they couldn't see anything at all. The captain quickly said, "Shuangxi, this can't be a joke. What on earth did you see?"

"I don't know. When the clouds cracked just now, I seemed to see a few black outlines, but now the cloud seams are closed again." Shuangxi also stamped his feet in chagrin, constantly complaining in his heart that his best eyesight was not used at the critical moment.

Seeing the expression of Shuangxi, the captain smiled and said, "Come on, don't be annoyed. I'll fly a little further, but you remember that it's only three minutes. If you can't find the shadow in three minutes, we have to go back!"

"Yes!"

Shuangxi also knew that he could not joke about everyone's life, so he immediately climbed to the observation window and widened his eyes. Maybe the captain just wanted to let Shuangxi die, or for the order of the Admiralty, or a doomed coincidence. When the three-minute time limit was about to arrive, the clouds in the sky cracked again. Gaps.

In the gap, a wisp of starlight leaked straight down. When the shimmered into the sea, Shuangxi, who had been lying in front of the observation window, suddenly stiffened. Only a few kilometers away, several huge shadows were quietly undulating with the waves.

"Aircraft, captain, is a fleet, one, a fleet, at least six large ships!"

In the excited trembling voice, the captain suddenly got up and rushed to the window. Soon the four people were stunned by the scene in front of them. When the clouds closed quickly and the sea returned to darkness, everyone looked at each other.

"Will it be wrong?"

"Mengzi, get ready to launch the flare! Xiaohou, start positioning and pick up the communication station! Double happiness, widened your eyes, show me clearly this time!"

The captain crawled back to his seat while shouting. As he suddenly ruddered in the direction of the shadow, a bright and dazzling mass of light suddenly appeared in the night sky.

The sudden appearance of the fire, like a flash of lightning, cut through the dark night sky and stabbed the eyes of all British officials.

"British Fleet! It's the British Far East Fleet! One, two, three, four, five! Five, five battleships are all here!" The light that landed slowly lit up the nearby sea, and the observer Shuangxi, who had been trained to identify the shape of each [***] ship, immediately shouted.

"I found it! I found them!" In the shouts of the four people, several warships in the dark in the distance were also brightly lit at the same time. While several searchlight columns shone, a series of fires suddenly spewed out from the deck.

"Be careful!"

Seeing the captain of the fire team shouting loudly and pulling the steering wheel hard, the small sea eagle suddenly climbed up as if it had been caught in a strong wind.

Since the emergence of the airship, all countries have begun to pay attention to and study how to defend, but after all, the time is relatively short, and the anti-aircraft guns are still immature, so the fire are several 57mm guns installed on the deck with a large angle of fire, but the distance of the airship is more than 10,000 meters, and it quickly climbed to a height of 2,000 meters, so these shells are not only He failed to scare the other party away, but exposed himself.

"Have you contacted the signal station?"

Seeing that the British fleet began to turn the rudder, the captain was sweating anxiously, and the correspondent almost wanted to get into the radio station and fly back. Seeing several British [***] ships stop opening fire and then entering the darkness, a familiar ticking sound finally came from the radio station.

The radio station is connected!

"Report quickly!"

"Galayan Island Seahawk No. 7 Report, at 7:23 p.m. on September 8, the main force of the British Far East Fleet was found at 470 kilometers southeast of the Bus Strait. At present, there is not much oil left in our boat. Please send someone to take over the surveillance immediately!"

The captain shouted while looking at the oil meter. When the telegram left, his heart suddenly stopped.

A few minutes later, the radio received a reply from the radio that the two nearby reconnaissance ships had begun to arrive in a hurry, but the problem was that the latest one would take at least two hours to arrive, and now the British navy has begun to move. In such a dark situation, if they disappear in the dark again, I'm afraid !

News, the air in Seahawk 7 suddenly solidified, and the joy of finding the enemy suddenly disappeared. It took a lot of effort to take the risk of flying at night and even ran to the cumulonimbus clouds. All of this was to find the enemy. If you return now, without the guidance of the airship radio, the reconnaissance ship is fundamental. You can't find the enemy who has left for a long time in two hours!

The co-pilot took a deep breath, and Shuangxi pinched the telescope, and the communication officer also took off his headset. After adjusting the radio station to the navigation state of sending a signal every half a minute, his eyes were all aimed at the captain.

Knowing each other and flying together gave the four people a tacit understanding, so after seeing everyone's firm eyes, the captain knew that everyone had made a choice in their hearts.

Suddenly, he felt a sore nose. He nodded and smiled with tears, "Brothers, I'm very happy to work with you!"

"Ha ha." The co-pilot rubbed his hands: "C captain, didn't you say that? We are sea eagles, eagles flying in the sky in the navy! So, we can't die. Maybe Grandma Feng will send us back directly in a while.

"I think it's better to send it to England and shoot them directly in the head. How cool it is." The correspondent patted the pistol on his waist and laughed.

"I still have a grenade!"

Double Happiness pulled out a grenade, scratched his head and smiled, shaking--

"Report, Seahawk 7 reported that the British Far East Fleet was heading northwest at full speed after discovering them. Now they are tracking them, but they report that they are not carrying many flares, and now they can only last for another two hours at a rate of ten minutes."

"In addition, Tingfeng and Hurricane have reported that they have received the automatic navigation signal from Seahawk 7 and are currently rushing there at full speed and are expected to arrive in two hours."

The report made the general command hall, who was cheering for the discovery of the British Far East Fleet, suddenly quiet. In the previous telegram, everyone already knew that Seahawk 7 did not have much fuel. The calculation of their departure time from the base should have reached the limit, but they didn't expect that they would live at this moment. But I'm still insisting!

Although Phillipman is already running to the Bus Strait, which seems to be helping the airship return, the problem is that there are still ten hours before dawn at this moment. It is very difficult to fly at night, not to mention being distracted by tracking the enemy fleet, so the fuel is definitely not enough for them to return to even the nearest island!

Similarly, Seahawk 7 should be very clear about its situation, but they still chose to turn on the radio navigation answer button, and then resolutely dragged the remaining oil to bite the enemy!

They are real soldiers and the backbone of the nation!

"Yuanshou, you must bring them back to me completely!" Li Enfu stared at Chen Ping with red eyes, and the latter immediately nodded: "Mr. Li, don't worry, I will try my best!"

After saying that, he took out a cigarette and calmed his breath before continuing to ask, "Where is Ji Rushan?"

"After receiving the news, the First Fleet immediately sent three destroyers to accelerate. In addition, the capital ship group also began to accelerate. At present, it has passed through Yonaguni Island. It is expected that the main force will arrive at Lanyu Island between the Bus Strait and Taiwan at 7 a.m. tomorrow morning, and from our calculations, they are very likely to Felitman arrived at the Bus Strait at the same time!"

Zhang Zuolin said as he walked to the map and drew two dotted lines with the Bus Strait as the center with a pen. Graphically, the First Fleet, Phillipman and his Far East Fleet, as well as the Bus Strait, formed an equilateral triangle.

As soon as his route map was finished, there was a rapid sound of footsteps behind him. According to the report, Seahawk 7 found that five British destroyers and three small cruisers began to accelerate, and the target was suspected to be the Bus Strait!"

News, the cigarette that Chen Ping just raised to his mouth was put down again. Obviously, Philipman also wanted to take advantage of the speed advantage of the small ship to get stuck in the bus strait first to ensure that the capital ship entered the South China Sea!

On the one hand, there are three new defense-class newcomers sent by Ji Rushan, and on the other hand, there are three second-class cruisers and five torpedo ships of Felitman!

There is no doubt that after discovering the opponent, this naval battle has entered the second and the most critical link. Is it the defense-level newcomer dominant, or the number of Felitman preemptive?

Everyone knows very well that no matter which side wins, it will lay a solid foundation for the decisive battle tomorrow morning!

"7 o'clock!"

After reading Zhang Zuolin's line diagram, Chen Ping glanced at the landing clock in the corner, and the cigarette butt on his finger lit up and extinguished--

The sea breeze roared. After pouring into the bridge from the open porthole, it seemed that there was still no intention to stop. It continued to rush in along the corridor, and finally rushed down the stairs to the top of the telegraph room before stopping.

The narrow cabin is full of people, and the sound of ticking telegrams is endless. The instructions and messages are connected to the fleet with the outside world through telegraph lines.

At this moment, the sixth radio correspondent who had been in charge of contacting the reconnaissance ship jumped up. He waved his fist hard, and his whole face turned red. Then everyone took off the headset in their stunned eyes and shouted, "Save it!" Listening to the wind saved all four people on Seahawk 7!"

"Great!"

"Seahawk 7, good job!"

"Quick, go and tell the commander and captain the news. They must be in a hurry!"

The news of Radio No. 6 immediately made the telegraph cabin boil. When a staff officer was about to pass on the good news, the alarm bell in the corridor rang violently.

Shouting, the sound of footsteps soon flooded the Duke and even the whole fleet. Countless sailors and officers quickly got dressed, got out of the rest cabin, and rushed into their positions.

And when they had just fallen, the chefs on the ship, who had been busy all night, immediately carried out the already prepared steaming steamed buns and beef, walked on the deck, drilled into the turret, went down to the coal bunker, and rushed into the power cabin. When they finally carried the empty lunch box back to the kitchen, they found that the fleet had The light control has been lifted.

They turned their heads and watched the red anti-collision emergency lights draw out under the sea breeze, but their hands were busy. When they had cleaned up the tableware, they immediately took off their aprons, rushed into the aisle, sat next to the sailors on standby, and became a member of the damage management team.

But as soon as they sat down, a rapid sound of footsteps had come from the corridor above their heads. The footsteps rushed along the corridor and quickly disappeared in the direction of the bridge.

"Report, Lan Jianshu reported that they have found four enemy destroyers and three second-class cruisers, and the exchange of fire has begun!"

The news made the officers in the command tower, who had just been relieved by the rescue of Seahawk 7, nervous again. Only Ji Rushan did not seem to hear the news, but raised his wrist and looked at his watch.

"There is still one and a half hours!" ......

(to be continued)