Chapter 621 Night Battle Unparalleled 3

Wow, wow."

The whistle awakened the sleeping island, like a string of necklaces around the giant, guarding Hangzhou Bay and backed by Shanghai and Ningbo. The Zhoushan Islands, known as the gateway to the East China Sea, ushered in the first ray of sunshine.

Several seagull trainers roared over the bay. Seeing them, a ferry that was coming to the port came out with exclamations.

Most of the ferries that depart from Ningbo regularly every day are vendors, and large and small bags are full of cabins. This is the result of the long-term persistence of the military and the people, because a naval fleet stationed here will generate a lot of consumption every day. In addition, their relatives and families are basically a small city that does not produce, which can take a long journey. Drive the development of local industry and commerce.

Twenty years of development have completely changed this island, which used to be mainly engaged in fishing. Especially after the entry of the Third Fleet, all kinds of infrastructure began to be improved, such as roads, warehouses, power plants, oil depots, etc., and more staggered new buildings, which dazzled the elderly who have not come for many years.

In addition to timed ferries, warships are the most frequently used to and from Zhoushan.

Li Zhen, wearing navy blue casual clothes, carrying a large marching bag, and some other sailors who came back on vacation walked out of the transport boat. The faint scar on his face made everyone whisper.

"Who is he? The scar on the face looks scary.

"Bah, you're a woman. What's so scary? A man has a scar that tastes bad. Didn't you see the little lady who sent him when he left in Ningbo just now? That's so beautiful that it can pinch out water!"

"Wow, why don't you also row? Maybe the nurses in the hospital are distressed."

"Get out of here."

Li Zhen didn't seem to hear the murmur behind him. He smiled and stopped the truck to the headquarters with his bag on his back. Although he could let the royal family transfer and send him directly to Zhoushan, he finally chose to arrive in Ningbo by train and then return to the fleet like an ordinary soldier.

Trucks drove inward along the bay, with masts and war eagles flying along the way. Because the main wars in the southeast were over, the Third Fleet got a rare vacation after the dissolution of the Task Force, most of the ships returned to the station for maintenance.

On the wharf, Nanchu, the third Western Qin-class heavy aircraft carrier that joined the fleet not long ago, is particularly eye-catching. On its side are two Yin Shang-class medium-sized aircraft carriers that have scared the warships of the Allied countries. After being replaced with the Longya carrier torpedo aircraft, the combat effectiveness of the aircraft carrier has been greatly improved.

Nearby are the two Guam-class battleships that once fell out of the Atlantic Ocean and let themselves rest at home for nearly half a year. However, strangely, there are crowds of people next to the two warships and many vehicles. It seems that they are preparing for departure. What's going on? Is there a task? Why didn't the aircraft carrier move?

As the truck stopped, Li Zhen put down his idea, thanked his comrades-in-arms and walked to the headquarters personnel building. According to the regulations of the navy, all recruits or soldiers who returned on leave must come here to register before returning to the team.

"Report."

"Second Lieutenant Li Zhen, come to report and ask to return to the team!"

Li Zhen!

The sudden sound of the report shocked Li Xiuyan, who was holding the vacation record in the office, and even the personnel and logistics officers who talked to him were a little dumbfounded.

Is the eldest prince really back?!

Since he was injured, many people have been guessing whether the eldest prince would retire. No one expected that he would come back a few months later, and he would come back silently, which really surprised everyone.

Li Zhen also met the captain unexpectedly and hurriedly saluted: "Report, Li Zhen, the intern electronics officer, reported to you."

Li Xiuyan was slightly stunned. Looking at the scar on Li Zhen's cheek, his heart twitched unconsciously. Although someone had already informed him that the eldest prince would come back and would continue to serve on the Guam, he didn't expect it to be such a coincidence that when the fleet was about to leave.

"Welcome back to the team!"

Li Xiuyan smiled at him. After returning the gift, he suddenly seemed to remember something and said, "That's right, didn't anyone tell you? Now you are no longer an intern officer, a lieutenant of the Third Fleet of the Royal Navy of the Xinhua Empire, and you are still my electronic officer from now on.

"Captain, where's Captain Chen? He is not." Li Zhen didn't think much that more and more young officers like to claim that Xinhua is the empire, but he didn't refute it. It was Li Xiuyan's appointment that surprised him a little. When he wanted to ask clearly, the latter had handed over the personnel form and smiled, "Captain Chen's wife is about to give birth, so she took a vacation. I didn't go out urgently this time. Inform him so that he would not be distracted. Just now, I was looking through the personnel records here. I just wanted to find an electronic officer, but I didn't find anyone available for a long time. Unexpectedly, you bumped in by yourself.

"Captain, I."

"Lieutenant Li Zhen, do you want to disobey the order?"

"Report, I don't want to."

"Well, come with me."

After saying goodbye to several officers, the two immediately walked to the dock. They were busy getting on the bus all the way, which made Li Zhen curious but also a little looking forward to it. From time to time, the salute and surprised and excited eyes made him need to keep greeting his comrades-in-arms. It was difficult for people who had not experienced to know the friendship after the crisis.

"Why, don't you ask if we're going there?" Seeing Li Zhen biting the corners of his mouth, Li Xiuyan asked with a slight smile.

"Captain, according to the military rules."

"This time our mission is a little tricky, and we need to find a few warships in the dense island area in the southwest." Li Xiuyan waved his hand to stop Li Zhen from continuing the military rules, frowning as if talking to himself: "Recently, there have been two new capital ships that are not in our target manual and equipped with heavy artillery of the same level as the Guam class. It is said that the speed has reached 26 or even 27 knots.

They have attacked the fleet and patrol ships many times with the island as a cover. Although the damage caused is not great, it will be very troublesome if they continue to stay there.

As a prince, he naturally knew the current situation better than others, so Li Zhen immediately understood what Li Xiuyan said about the trouble.

With the collapse of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, the only thing left that can threaten the security of Xinhua's maritime is the Southwest Fleet of the Allies stationed in Australia. Originally, according to previous intelligence, it had eight new capital ships, of which the older Southwest Fleet is not a big threat, but this place in Port Jackson. There is some trouble. The naval submarine force has tried to rush in and attack several times, but it has not broken through the torpedo blockade. Because the other party has laid a layer of anti-submarine nets similar to fishing nets outside the port, a tiger shark was entangled in a propeller. If the captain and sailors had not boldly cut the net from the torpedo launch tube, I'm afraid they would have returned. Don't come.

My father also thought about sending an aircraft carrier air strike, but as the power of the aircraft carrier was displayed in front of the world, Britain and the United States strengthened the protection of the seaport. After the warships entered the port, it was also stipulated that lightning protection nets on both sides must be put down, and torpedo protection facilities were arranged in front of the main berth, so they continued to use torpedoes. The attack effect of the aircraft will be greatly reduced, and Sydney is too far away. The aircraft carrier needs to break through the opponent's island chain defense continuously.

It's okay even if they can't kill the Southwest Fleet in one breath, because they can't threaten themselves. As long as the Marines keep fighting from Solomon Islands, sooner or later they won't be able to get out of the harbor.

But now it's different. The two fast capital ships with 15-inch heavy artillery are obviously the same as the 31 Fleet a few months ago. If they are allowed to shoot east and stab in the west in the southwest Pacific, I'm afraid that even the westward attack that is about to begin will be distracted by them!

Seeing that Li Zhen did not speak for a long time, Li Xiuyan knew that he had understood the task and said with a smile, "The more the enemy is, the more nervous they are. What we need to do now is to find and defeat them and build a more stable southwest for the upcoming western attack plan."

"Captain, I'm afraid we rely on our two battleships alone."

"We still have partners." Li Xiuyan said, "The 12 fleets composed of Xinjiang and Dongmeng have set out from Honolulu. General Spee of Germany in the Indian Ocean will search for our two Jilin-class ships near Western Australia, Nauru and Solomon Islands, so there is only one thing. Do you know the radar?"

"I know a little." Li Zhen nodded: "The school took us to visit radar research before, and also conducted some training in advance, and this break also gave me the opportunity to go back to school to study radar for two more months."

"That would be great." Li Xiuyan pointed to the Guam in front of him.

Following his fingers, Li Zhen saw that there were more changes in the Guam. The rear camouflage had been removed, revealing the square stern. There were more rapid-fire cannons on the deck. The most important thing was that a new radar was installed on the top of the rear mast.

The 31 fleet was in the Atlantic Ocean for a few months, which was equivalent to giving a actual combat test to the radar. After the assessment data in storms, rain, thick fog and cold and other environments were brought back, the experts in the photoelectric laboratory were simply overjoyed. As for the technicians who were arrested became treasures, the number they dictated and recorded. According to the photoelectric laboratory led by Mr. Tesla, it has focused on improving heat dissipation, the life of electronic components and other problems, and also improving the ability to distinguish targets in bad weather.

The improved Longjing officially began mass production three months ago, and was preferentially installed on 24 Yangtze River-class light cruisers. Four Guam-class were installed in the second batch. The official hunting equipment of radar also led to its officers and soldiers suddenly become a tight position. If it hadn't been for Li Zhen's arrival, could Guam play a role? The radar capability is still unknown.

"Captain, I saw the improved Longjing radar technical indicators in Yanjing. Although the identification ability is much stronger, the detection distance is not much better than in the early days. If we travel through more areas of islands, the ability to distinguish the target will be greatly reduced, because there are a lot of clutter in that environment." Li Zhen was afraid that Li Xiuyan would put all his hopes on the radar, so he reminded him.

"Well, I know."

When he saw that the dock was about to climb the gangway, Li Xiuyan suddenly stopped and turned his head. After watching Li Zhen's cheeks stop for a while, he opened his mouth and asked for a moment, "Great Prince, I."

"Uncle Li, don't think about the past. Zhen'er is a soldier. He has been ready to sacrifice since he put on his military uniform." Li Zhen understood what he wanted to say and immediately interrupted with a smile and saluted, "Captain, if it's okay, I want to put things away first."

"Go ahead." Li Xiuyan took a deep breath, looked at his watch, and smiled, "It's better to prepare. We'll leave in half an hour!"

"Yes!"

(to be continued)