"Yours, the submarine's, sank, didn't you?" At the prompting of Yuzaburo Kato, the officer continued to ask in Chinese.

The two captives nodded.

"Yours, torpedoes, fired, huh?" The officer asked eagerly.

The two captives shook their heads.

In a fit of rage, the officer stepped forward and grabbed a Chinese prisoner by the collar, and asked loudly, "Then yours, what are you doing here?" ”

"Ours, come here, do the work of sightseeing." A mocking smile appeared at the corner of the Chinese prisoner's mouth, and he replied in Chinese, learning the tone of the officer.

"Eight! The people of China! Die, pull, die! Annoyed, the officer punched the Chinese captives in the face.

The Chinese captive fell to the deck, blood dripping from the corners of his mouth, but he still looked at him with contempt.

"The dog said...... If it weren't for something wrong with the pressurized water tank...... Don't want to catch Lao Tzu......" the captive muttered.

"Ask them if they have laid mines." Yuzaburo Kato noticed that the mouth of the [***] person was moving, and said with a gloomy face, "If they set off mines, ask them to explain the location." ”

The officer nodded, picked up the prisoner he had just beaten, and asked in a loud voice, "Yours! Mines! Did you put it down?! ”

"I didn't have time to ......" the Chinese captive shook his head, a look of regret on his face, "It's all fucking sunk into the sea......"

In a fit of rage, the officer pulled out his pistol and put it against the other man's head.

"Say it! Mines! What a place to work! What a time to explode! Don't say it! Die, pull, die! ”

"I'm unlucky, there's something wrong with the submarine's pressurized water tank, and I didn't have time to release mines at all, if you don't believe me, just kill me!" The Chinese captives gasped and said, "If you don't kill me, I didn't complete the mission, and I will still die when I go back, won't I?" ”

The officer got up, kicked him twice, and went to ask another prisoner, and received the same answer.

"Take them away." Yuzaburo Kato looked at the two seriously wounded Chinese captives and ordered, "We need the military doctor to treat their wounds immediately, don't let them die, we need to know more from their mouths." ”

Officer Yumoto agreed, gave a military salute to Yuzaburo Kato, and then commanded the sailors to carry the two Chinese prisoners down.

Yuzaburo Kato held on to the railing with some annoyance, looking at the sea that had just been fiercely fought, at this time there was silence on the sea, only the sound of patrol boats searching back and forth, at this time the ships were alerted, and they all turned on their searchlights, shining back and forth on the sea, but no more Chinese submarines were found.

Although the Chinese captives said that they did not have time to release the mines, Kato Yuzaburo did not believe them, and at this time, under the orders of Captain Takayoshi, one after another divers in light diving suits jumped into the sea from the side of the ship and began to search for suspicious objects underwater.

After about half an hour, no one reported the discovery of suspicious explosives set by the Chinese.

Still uneasy, Yuzaburo Kato ordered Captain Takayoshi to have the heavily armed divers immediately go into the water to search for explosives.

The battleship "Settsu" was equipped with two types of divers, light-armed divers with breathing apparatus and frog flippers, and heavily armored divers wearing heavy diving suits using snorkels. Heavy divers can dive deeper than light divers, but it takes a lot of time to put on a wetsuit, put on a steel helmet, hang up a heavy lead block, and connect the air compressor.

Nearly half an hour passed, and divers reported that no anomalous objects were found.

After tossing for almost an hour, the divers still found nothing, and Yuzaburo Kato still didn't feel very relieved, he thought about it and ordered the captives to be brought back to the deck.

Soon, the two captives were carried up on stretchers by the sailors, and the bullets on their bodies had been removed, and the wounds were bandaged, but traces of blood could still be seen seeping from inside.

As a result of the effective treatment, the complexion of the two [***] people was significantly better.

"How many submarines have you come?" Yuzaburo Kato asked.

After listening to the questioning of the lame interpreter, a Chinese [***] man stretched out a hand, turned it around front and back, and said, "There are ten ships in total." ”

Listening to the other party's answer, Kato Yuzaburo was secretly frightened, and he forced himself to calm down and asked again, "What weapon are you using?" ”

"Torpedoes, mines." The other party replied happily.

"Torpedoes and mines?" Yuzaburo Kato's brows furrowed involuntarily, "Do you have submarines that can launch torpedoes?" ”

"Of course." A hint of mockery flashed in the eyes of the [***] person, "And there are quite a few of them." ”

"You all produce these submarines yourself?" Yuzaburo Kato asked with some disbelief.

"That's right, it's all produced by us Chinese." The [***] man replied aloud.

"It can't be!" Kato Yuzaburo sneered and shook his head, "The Chinese simply do not have such advanced technology, and the most advanced country in Asia is Yuben!" Ben! ”

"Do you think we swam here?" The [***] man sneered.

Hearing this, Yuzaburo Kato was silent for a while.

After about ten minutes, the [***] person suddenly asked, "What time is it?" ”

Hearing the interpreter's explanation of the other party's request, Yuzaburo Kato's face immediately changed.

"You've planted timed mines!?"

The [***] man smiled slightly, and asked again, "What time is it?" ”

The interpreter, the officer who served as the interpreter, stammered the time in Chinese, and the two Chinese [***] people who got the answer looked at each other and laughed out loud together.

"You have one minute left to run for your life." A mid-[***] man looked at Yuzaburo Kato and the officer Yumoto beside him with a frightened look on his face, suddenly restrained his smile, and said coldly, "To tell you the truth, you can't find a mine under the water, because it fell into the sand at the bottom of the ship and did not attach to the bottom of the ship. ”

"Quick! Weigh! Let's get out of here! The captain of the "Settsu" Gao Ji shouted, and the sailors immediately became a mess.

Although the order has already been issued, the "Settsu" at this time does not have any power, and it is too late to turn on the main engine immediately. Captain Gao Ji ordered to call a tugboat, but the tugboats in the vicinity were too small, and the high-powered tugboat was parked in the distance, and it could not come for a while.

Yuzaburo Kato broke out in a cold sweat.

The explosives set up by the Chinese would explode at any time, making him feel a chill through his spine and straight to his head. At this time, the two small tugboats received the signal and were hurrying to arrive, and just as they were approaching the "Settsu", a huge explosion suddenly came from underwater.

"Tom! Tong! ”

With two loud bangs in succession, the "Settsu" shook violently, and the powerful underwater momentum lifted it out of the water, and then fell heavily into the water, splashing a huge column of water almost dozens of meters high.

Yuzaburo Kato reflexively hugged his head and curled up in a ball. The jolt threw him against the wall, his head and shoulders slammed into the armor plates, and he was thrown onto the deck.

The "Settsu" kept shaking for a long time, and the sailors on the surface of the ship were shaken to the ground, and some were even thrown into the sea.

After a long while, the "Settsu" stopped shaking, and Yuzaburo Kato struggled to get up and gave the order with forced composure: "Find out the damage immediately!" Plug the leak now! Search the sea! Destroy enemy submarines! ”

Just as he finished speaking, a loud explosion was heard again in the distance, and Yuzaburo Kato's face immediately turned pale, and he turned his head and looked in the direction of the explosion with a frightened gaze.

I saw that a huge ball of fire rose from the battleship "Hanoi" moored in the distance, and then the ammunition depot of the main gun on the starboard side of the front began to appear sporadically, and then began to explode again, with long brown fire snakes erupting from the turret and chimney, and thick smoke billowed from the portholes and decks, and for a time large and small explosions began to spread throughout the ship.

Looking at this terrifying scene, Yuzaburo Kato felt a wave of dizziness and almost fell.

As the explosion continued, the battleship "Hanoi" began to tilt rapidly to the right, and in a few moments the bottom of the ship, propellers and rudder on the port side were exposed. As the angle of inclination increased, many of the sailors on the surface of the ship fell into the sea.

Soon, the "Hanoi" capsized at anchorage.

From the start of the explosion to the overturning, the whole process took less than 10 minutes!

Looking at the hopeless "Hanoi" and the many Saimoto sailors struggling for help on the sea, Kato Yuzaburo couldn't help but burst into tears.

At this time, the officers and men of the Tsumoto Navy on the "Settsu" stared at the battleships "Satsuma" and "Aki" at the anchor in the distance with frightened eyes, as if they were worried that the same thing would happen to these two battleships, but after a long while, the two battleships still stopped there quietly, and there was nothing abnormal.

The noisy mooring ground finally returned to calm, and only the massive "Settsu" was left lying on the water like a wounded beast. Now it's starting to sink slightly.

Holding back the grief in his heart and remembering his duties, Yuzaburo Kato began to give orders one after another, instructing his subordinates to check the damage and save themselves. After giving these orders, Yuzaburo Kato suddenly discovered that the two Chinese captives were nowhere to be found.

"Who saw where they went?" Yuzaburo Kato asked loudly.

"It looks like it was thrown into the sea when it exploded." One of the sailors replied cautiously.

(To be continued)