Xiao Yonglin quickly judged that it was a large transport ship.

Suddenly, a bright light shot at the "Exocet 9", illuminating the shell of its control tower. The light came from the headlights of a truck that happened to pass by on a road on the shore. Under the bright light, the crew on the control tower could even see the houses and sentry posts on the shore. Some of the crew looked a little panicked, because it seemed that the submarine's whereabouts had been exposed, and an attack was inevitable. Luckily, the truck didn't spot the submarine and turned around and continued heading ahead.

In any case, for the officers and men of the "Exocet-9" submarine, there is no way back from the current situation. The current task of the "Exocet 9" submarine is to find the target as soon as possible.

Xiao Yonglin directed the submarine to continue sailing forward while carefully observing the sea surface. Despite the good view, the submarine moved slowly forward for a while, but failed to spot any large troops. In fact, the emergence of such a situation can be said to be an oversight of the Chinese naval intelligence department. Less than a week ago, the battleship "Ise" and the battleship "Yuxiang" anchored here were escorted by nine destroyers to Taiwan waters to lure the Chinese naval detachment into attack, hoping that the Chinese detachment would fall into the attack range of the main force of the navy. However, due to the sluggishness of the action, the expected Chinese naval detachment was not discovered, and in order to prevent accidents, he had to retreat. As the Chinese navy strengthened the blockade of Korea and the eastern coast of Sasebo, he realized the fragility of Sasebo Bay, so he withdrew his entire fleet from Sasebo and relocated his base in Yokohama. In this way, Xiao Yonglin also lost the opportunity to discover and attack the battleship at this time.

Xiao Yonglin ordered the "Exocet-9" submarine to approach slowly and observe carefully. Based on the ship's three chimneys, two masts and turrets, and the ship's appearance, Xiao Yonglin immediately judged that this should be the "Izumo"-class armored cruiser of the Izumo-class navy and one of them. Immediately afterwards, he found another warship not far away, and Xiao Yonglin judged that the other party should be the second "Izumo" class "Izumo" class "Iwate" (in fact, the "Yakumo" armored cruiser with a displacement of 9,646 tons). The Izumo-class armored cruisers were built by the British for the Zoben and were armed with 4 203 mm guns and 12 152 mm secondary guns, with armor thickness of 187 mm. Probably because it was an old ship that had participated in the Russo-Japanese War, its speed had become slower and could not keep up with the new warships in the Japanese fleet, so it temporarily stayed in the harbor and was used as a coastal defense ship.

Under the cover of night, the Exocet 9 boldly approached it in a state of surface sailing, and Xiao Yonglin instructed his crew to list the Izumo as the primary target, because he had not observed any better targets here until now. After quietly approaching the "Izumo" to the attack position to measure the submarine's draft, Xiao Yonglin ordered the torpedo tubes to be filled with water and open the tube covers, ready for surface launches. At 0:58, after careful aiming, Xiao Yonglin ordered the bow torpedo tube to fire 2 torpedoes, and the torpedoes successfully entered the water and rushed to the target at extremely high speed.

At this time, almost everyone on board the "Izumo" was asleep. The dull explosion after the first torpedo hit did not attract the attention of the officers and men on board. At 1 a.m., another explosion was heard on the starboard side, but there was no fire, and most people continued to sleep without noticing anything unusual. On the "Exocet 9" submarine, Xiao Yonglin and his crew believed that they had hit the "Izumo," so Xiao Yonglin ordered a quick turn of 180 degrees, aimed at another warship (i.e., the "Yakumo"), and fired the torpedo again with two other torpedo tubes, but it did not hit.

Usually in this case, as a captain, he should consider retreating immediately, because the other party will immediately sound the alarm and start a search. But this time Yang Shuoming chose the right person - Xiao Yonglin ordered the submarine to turn again and quickly loaded the torpedo tube in the bow, and the torpedo was again aimed at the middle of the hull of the "Yakumo" and launched.

At 1:16 a.m., all four torpedoes accurately hit the target and detonated, and the explosion of the torpedoes finally tore through the huge hulls of the armored cruisers "Izumo" and "Yakumo", which had nearly 10,000 tons, and the sea suddenly burst into flames and thick smoke, and the armored cruiser "Izumo" sank in less than 10 minutes, and 21 officers and 629 people on board, including the captain, were killed, and only 22 survived. Xiao Yonglin watched the sinking of the "Izumo" from the periscope, and ordered to remain quiet and quickly evacuate. Worried about his own pursuit, Xiao Yonglin did not stop for the slightest, so he did not care to watch the results of the third attack. In fact, there were no pursuers at this time, and he was almost unaware of the existence of this Chinese submarine. Like the "Izumo," the "Yakumo" was hit by two torpedoes at the same time, and was shattered in the violent explosion, and none of the officers and men on board survived.

At this time, the direction of the tide suddenly changed, and it became difficult to evacuate Sasebo Bay. At 1:28 a.m., the submarine "Exocet 9" returned to the strait along the same route. Xiao Yonglin announced the results of the battle to the crew: sinking one large armored cruiser and inflicting heavy damage on another. Xiao Yonglin did not know at this time that the "Izumo" ranked first in tonnage among the various ships sunk by Chinese submarines during the war, and it was also the only two armored cruisers of the Imperial Navy that were sunk by Chinese submarines.

At 2:25, the Exocet 9 re-entered the Seto Inland Sea. Soon after, the British newspapers announced that the port of Sasebo had been attacked, despite the fact that he had kept the news tightly tight. The British newspaper The Times of July 1, 1921 reported the following:

"According to the latest news from this reporter and reports reported this morning, it is believed that the Chinese submarine was responsible for the sinking of the armored cruisers 'Izumo' and 'Yakumo' in Sasebo Port...... At the same time, the Chinese submarine has been sunk by the intruder, which is obviously a joke because, according to Chinese reports, the submarine has returned safely......

On the way back, the crew of the "Exocet 9" drew the outlines of the two warships on the bulkhead of the submarine and marked the national flag on them. This is a special mark of the submarine's achievements, and the crews are confident that there will be more and more such marks in the future.

After the "Exocet 9" submarine re-arrived at the port of Dagu in Tianjin. Vice Admiral Wei Yonghao and some admirals were already waiting on the docks. After the crew landed on the shore, Wei Yonghao personally awarded the White Eagle Medal to all the people, Xiao Yonglin was also awarded the first-class Jiahe Medal, on the wharf, the crew of the "Flying Fish 9" was welcomed by the local people like heroes, and all the crew took a special plane to Yanjing in the afternoon, and was personally received by the acting president Xu Shichang. Xu Shichang personally wore the Jiahe Medal for Xiao Yonglin and praised the success of the surprise attack on Sasebo Port as "the proudest achievement in the history of the Chinese Navy's submarine force." Wei Yonghao lost no time in making a proposal to Xu Shichang to expand submarine production. Although Xu Shichang still had doubts, he finally agreed to his request and sent a letter to Yang Shuoming to inquire. That evening, all the crew of the "Exocet-9" submarine attended a banquet at the presidential palace.

Although in the early days of the war, Chinese submarines did not achieve impressive results in the Pacific Ocean, the victory of the sneak attack on the port of Sasebo and the sinking of the "Izumo" and "Yakumo" made the Chinese high command realize the great role of submarines, gradually began to pay attention to the construction of submarine forces, and began to step up the manufacture of new submarines.

The result of the sneak attack on Sasebo Port greatly alarmed him, because since the war between the two sides, he believed that China had begun to carry out "unrestricted submarine warfare" against him, and in fact, in the early days of the war, the Chinese political axe had always had illusions of peace with him, so he did not carry out unrestricted submarine warfare against him, and the Chinese submarine force had always strictly enforced the rules of capturing merchant ships during the blockade of him.

And that very night, in the depths of the Benhai Sea, a new Chinese ocean-going submarine was cruising in the dark and icy sea. This is a new type of submarine in a state of experimentation, and it looks a little clumsy and unsettling on the rough sea, when the air inside the narrow boat has long been cloudy, and the periscope retracts into the sea from time to time. This submarine is the Chinese Navy's submarine "Haima".

Commanding the submarine's sailors from different provinces in China was Navy Captain Zhao Enbao, who had just been captained six days earlier.

In this bumpy periscope lens, a huge ship shadow appeared in a few moments.

It was a large transport ship.

Although there was no flag on the ship for identification, Zhao Enbao was able to tell from the shape of the ship that it was a ship.

Seeing this lonely spirit fleeing from the transport ship, Captain Zhao Enbao, who had participated in the Battle of Caofeidian, was a little disappointed, for him, the target he longed to see was his own battleship.

Still, in the face of the prey at his fingertips, Zhao Enbao whispered to the torpedo man to get ready, and he looked at the periscope once again at the prey reflected under the bright moon 500 yards away.

"Launch!"

With the roar of Captain Zhao Enbao, a 533 mm torpedo dragged the white foam forward.

The huge ship was hit directly, and the side of the ship stirred up a tall column of water, which soon began to tilt, and five minutes later, as the sailors jumped away, the unlucky ship quickly sank into the blue-black waves.

Zhao Enbao sneered and handed the periscope to an observer from the technical department.

"A thunderbolt hit, Captain Zhao really has a magic skill." The other party took the periscope and observed it, and said with a smile.

"Actually, it's still missed, today's wind and waves are too big, if it is usual, the accuracy can be better." Zhao Enbao smiled and said.

"In single-boat combat, it is also necessary to save torpedoes, but I am afraid that not every captain can reach Captain Zhao's skills." The observer said, "So, the 'group operation' that General Xiao Yang said is still necessary to try." ”

In the current campaign stage, the Chinese Navy's submarines are mainly engaged in single-boat combat due to various reasons.

At the end of the 19th century, submarines were still a very young maritime force, and the world's major naval powers were not very interested in this young force. Even the German Empire, which wanted to compete with the British Empire, had the same attitude when it first encountered submarines, according to Admiral Tirpitz, the father of the German navy, who said at the time: "Submarines are nothing more than insignificant 'red herrings,' a weak force that helps to defend the coastal waters, but does nothing to balance naval power." ”

Submarines in the modern sense were created by Irish-American John ? Philip? Holland succeeded, while the French came from behind, designing submarines suitable for ocean-going attack operations. It was not until 1904 that the German Navy suddenly realized the great potential of such ships because Russia had ordered a submarine based on the advanced French design from the Krupp Company. These new submarines, built for Russia, are excellent ocean-going submarines and are highly armed. At the same time, because these submarines have a double-shell structure and huge buoyancy, they have a good seaworthiness surname. These submarines were not limited to coastal defense, but were capable of attacking, as their French designers had never concealed their belief that large submarines could take on attack missions. As soon as the Germans came to their senses, they immediately jumped into action. At the end of 1906, the German Navy received its first submarine from the Krupp company. And almost at the same time, in the east, China and Yuben also began to set their sights on this gray wolf in the sea. As far as the Ben is concerned, their attitude towards submarines can be said to be more purposeful, while China's navy is too weak and wants to win with submarines in future wars.

Fortunately for the Chinese Navy, they have a "helmsman" who has a deep understanding of the role of submarines in warfare.

In China, the navy has always had a strong reading surname, and the secretary of the navy can also report directly to the head of state on many issues such as the construction, management, and command of the navy. As a result, it is less involved in too much political antagonism than the Army, and therefore there is no need to be bound to more traditional constraints. Therefore, among the Chinese Army, which is still relatively outdated in its thinking, the Navy has a very high spirit of innovation, and at the same time, it also has a relatively positive fighting spirit.

In 1916, under the impetus of Yang Shuoming, the Chinese Navy decided to introduce three types of submarines for testing, which chose the more typical design scheme at that time and adopted basically similar sizes for trial, so as to gain experience and promote localization. The first is the American experimental model "Lake" with a single-hull and also has scalable wheels that allow it to travel on the bottom of the sea. The second type of test boat is a German U-boat ordered from the German Krupp company Germania shipyard. The last is a submarine of the approximate "teardrop" type designed by the designers of the Jiangnan Shipyard, which has a good ability to navigate in the water.

In addition to the above-mentioned three types of experimental submarines, both the Mawei Shipyard and the Jiangnan Shipyard summed up the experience and lessons of similar submarines in the West, and successfully developed an improved version of the German U-boat, that is, the "Flying Whale" class submarine of the Mawei Shipyard and the "Flying Fish" class submarine of the Jiangnan Shipyard. The excellent surnames of these new submarines can leave a deep impression on observers in Western countries: at this time, the vast construction space and sophisticated construction technology of China's two major shipyards have proved to the world that the Chinese are capable of building new submarines. At this time, the submarines of the Chinese Navy showed greater interest, because the top brass of the Navy at this time preferred to acquire a large ocean-going submarine.

By the time World War I broke out in 1914, the Chinese Navy had a very strong interest in aviation and submarines, which had just been put into use in actual combat, and this interest was no less than that of other countries. Prior to this, due to China's overstretched financial situation and the turbulence of the domestic situation, the naval authorities were not able to fully and timely introduce these new forces, but now, thanks to Yang Shuoming's efforts, China's political axe has enough financial resources to support the submarine force of the reading power research, so that the construction of China's submarine force does not fall behind the major naval powers, and once most of the submarines are completed, it will immediately attract the widespread attention of the naval circles of the world.

In the Chinese Navy, the quality of submarine crews is the most elite, and their selection is so strict that they even surpass the Navy's battlefleet and aviation units and become the top of the entire navy. The positive and lively environment and high allowances have made the submarine force a desirable place for Chinese sailors, and naturally the training of the submarine crews is also very strict, and the Chinese naval authorities have also made great efforts to integrate this new force into the entire fleet as soon as possible. Of course, the development of China's submarine forces cannot be said to be smooth sailing.

In contrast, the Navy's research on submarines began much earlier than China's.

After the First Sino-Japanese War, he became the country with the most powerful naval power in Asia, and at the same time, he also became interested in the new weapon of submarines, and planned to introduce them, but the process of introducing them did not go smoothly. Before the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, in order to cope with Russia's expansion and prepare for war, the navy interrupted the original submarine introduction plan while carrying out a new round of expansion, and in this way, the appearance of submarines was two years late. However, no one expected that on May 15, 1904, the accident in which two former dreadnoughts of the Navy, the "Hatsuse" and the "Yashima," simultaneously hit mines outside Port Arthur in China and sank them, brought a turn for the better in the submarine program, and the Navy immediately resumed the submarine program.

(To be continued)