Wu Qianlong wanted to hit him in a place he didn't expect, so that he was caught off guard. Manila was bombed. On the long-restored island of Cavite and on the island of Corregidor covered with old wounds with new plants, tons and tons of bombs ignited and scorched the earth. The nearby bases and ports were razed to the ground under the bombing and strafing of aircraft. The task force then rushed northward, reaching the island of Okinawa. Then, he turned south and attacked Luzon, and the results were quite astonishing, and the army was repeatedly raided and difficult to resist. The situation took a sharp turn for the worse, and the Chinese army was like a bamboo.

The cliffs off the coast of the Philippines are extremely steep and precipitous, and the Chinese pilots could see the cliffs towering in the sky at a glance, and at the same time, they also spotted a large number of military planes appearing in the air. The army invested more than 1,000 aircraft, but more than 800 were shot down by the Chinese army. Twenty-six warships were sunk. The Chinese army lost 129 aircraft. Radar is using an increasingly keen eye to detect long-distance swarms. The largest air battles took place far from the fleet. These ships were attacked only by the bravest and most fortunate planes. Two Chinese cruisers were badly damaged and were forced to advance by tow. Wu Qianlong left a detachment to cover the retreat of the injured ships, and he himself led the main force of the task force to rush towards the Philippines again. The next day, this radio station announced to the whole world that China's Pacific Fleet had been destroyed and almost completely annihilated. Some naïve pilots mistakenly took the two damaged cruisers and the Chinese detachment that remained behind them for "the remnants of the Chinese fleet." The reports of these military pilots are the root cause of the big mistake made by Yue himself. The propaganda machine, bent on reporting the good news, hastily adopted this unverified report. The Cabinet held a ceremony to congratulate the Emperor, the foundation of all victories. But after 48 hours, the truth was revealed. The madmen who had damaged the reputation of the supreme authority were reprimanded, and an investigation into accountability began. The most obvious result of this stupidity is that the military has decided to send out a fleet at any cost to save face and to seize the victory that was so soon declared as possible.

Wu Qianlong's fleet is huge, 80 kilometers long and 20 kilometers wide when sailing normally at sea. This fleet will cooperate with the fleet commanded by Rear Admiral Kim Ngoc Ki to conquer the Philippine Islands. The Kongok fleet consisted of 8 battleships, 5 heavy cruisers, 6 light cruisers, 18 escort aircraft carriers, 86 destroyers, 225 frigates and 21 fast frigates. The exact task of this fleet was to cover the landing of the Chinese Army on the shores of Leyte Gulf. Wu Qianlong's fleet is responsible for supporting and covering the Jin Yuqi fleet, destroying all fleets that threaten the Philippines, and destroying all fleets that encounter or discover on the way. On 17 February, Wu Qianlong telegraphed Shen Honglie to complain that his number one task — to cover the Jin Yuqi fleet — had denied him full freedom of movement. Shen Honglie replied: Military orders are like mountains and cannot be changed. Execute the order to protect the Golden Jade Qi fleet.

On 20 February, the Chinese army easily landed on the shores of Leyte Gulf. Only 1 infantry landing craft was destroyed. Thousands of ships gathered in Leyte Gulf, and the scene was so impressive that if it weren't for the fire and smoke rising from the shore, it would have been like a mass migration of migrants. There are also mortars firing indiscriminately on the island. Five hours after the first landing assault echelon landed on the island, Army General Wang Chaoyong and MacArthur set foot on the beach of Tacloban Island. MacArthur immediately went to the microphone set up by the Chinese communications troops on the beach and said, "This is the Voice of Liberty radio station, and General MacArthur is speaking to you." Filipino citizens, my Chinese comrades-in-arms and I are fighting back. Almighty God willing, our troops are once again on the land of the Philippines watered with the blood of the people of our three countries. Please lean closer to me! The indomitable spirit of Bataan and Corregidor inspires us to move forward! We are fearless, we are strong as steel! God is leading us and showing us the way...... so let's heed God's call to victory together! At this time, Chinese planes were still bombing all around. By the evening of the second day of the offensive, 157,000 Chinese troops had landed on Philippine soil. In total, the Chinese army lost 227 people in the landing battle.

At dawn on the third day of the attack, that is, on 22 February, Rear Admiral Kim Ngoc Ki received a telegram from the submarine "Seagull." At that time, the "Seagull" and the submarine "Puffin" were on guard at the mouth of the Palawan Strait in the western Philippines. USS Seagull Report: 3 cruisers were spotted. Late at night on the 22nd, the "Seagull" and the "Puffin" sent a second telegram: a fleet of several large warships, possibly battleships, was coming from the southwest towards the strait.

Late at night on February 23, the battleship appeared at the mouth of the Palawan Strait, and the two Chinese submarines kept in touch with each other after reporting the situation. The night was dark, and the two submarines were a few meters apart, floating on the water, monitoring his movements in front of the fleet. The two captains talked to each other on their respective bridges to discuss the attack. Before dawn, two submarines were launched and approached him. The two captains looked down at the radar phosphor screen, seeing that the target was getting bigger and bigger, and the large battleship sailed in two columns under the escort of the small warship. At 5:32, the "Seagull" fired 6 torpedoes from the front torpedo tubes; Then he turned around and fired four more torpedoes from behind. The first six torpedoes immediately hit the leading ship of the fleet. The warship was facing the periscope; I saw that it was full of smoke and flames, and the bow of the ship sank into the sea first. At the same time, the second warship shook in the explosion of the last four torpedoes of the "Seagull." This is no longer a place to stay, so the "Seagull" dives deep to the bottom of the sea. In this way, the "Seagull" sank the heavy cruiser "Asama" in one fell swoop and severely damaged the heavy cruiser "Tokiwa". A few minutes later, the "Puffin" attacked one after another, sinking the heavy cruiser "Fukuoka". The two submarines took refuge in deep water for a long time, only to hear the screw thrusters of the torpedo boats rattling overhead, and the depth charges turned the sea water up and down. The two submarines were unharmed. The "Asama", which was sunk by the "Seagull", was the flagship of the Saimoto fleet from Singapore; The commander of the fleet, Admiral Kurita, and several Saimoto sailors who had fallen overboard were rescued and boarded one destroyer. Most of the crew perished at sea, especially the communications office of the General Staff, where half of them died. This loss hampered the speed of compiling the coded telegram and, therefore, the outcome of the battle.

During the day on the 23rd, the Wu Qianlong fleet met the oil convoy in the Philippine waters about 280 nautical miles northeast of Samar Island. The huge fuel tanks of the aircraft carriers were fully refueled. This fleet roughly consisted of 12 aircraft carriers, 6 fast battleships, 10 cruisers and 50 destroyers. This fleet was completely able to deal with the incoming enemy with no urgency, because the landing on Leyte Island was covered by Jin Yuqi's fleet. In addition, a task force of five aircraft carriers under the command of Rear Admiral Yang Chengwu has left the Philippines and is heading for the base on Ulysi Island, where the entire crew will take a short rest. This circumstance can be unexpected on the eve of a big war. The reason for this was that Zhang Qifan, commander of the aircraft carrier fleet, who had the overall situation in mind, noticed in mid-January that the officers and men of the fleet were mentally exhausted: "For 300 days, 10,000 of my sailors have not left their decks. No other fleet has ever toiled as long as they have. So he decided to let the warships take turns resting. When it was learned that the fleet was approaching, Yang Chengwu's task force had already set sail for Ulisi Island. Far away, it won't help to recruit them back. Besides, there is nothing to worry about the forces of friend or foe. After the fleet refueled, Wu Qianlong immediately ordered to return to the Philippines. The Wuqian Dragon fleet was divided into three task force fleets. In the early morning of the 24th, the formation was completed, and the three task forces formed a long snake formation of more than 200 nautical miles in front and back, and advanced towards the west. The Air Force Wing fanned out and searched in the sky. Visibility is excellent. Looking down from the sky, the turquoise waters, the vast smoke waves, and the tropical islands are like crystal jewels, sparkling. At 7:46 a.m., a pilot of the aircraft carrier "Longxing," which was flying over 3,000 meters, spotted a fleet from the plane's radar, and a few minutes later, it was visible to the naked eye. This fleet was the same fleet that was attacked by the submarines "Seagull" and "Puffin", and included five battleships, eight heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, and 13 destroyers, two of which were the 160,000-ton "Yamato" and "Musashi." It is estimated that the fleet under the command of Admiral Kurita would have reached the waters of Leyte Island in the early morning of the 25th if it had not stopped for a moment. It is said that the navy has laid mines in various bays and straits, and is heavily guarded and ready to work. Wu Qianlong did not want to cross these straits to meet Kurita's fleet. In addition, according to the Intelligence Service, Admiral Ozawa's other fleet of aircraft carriers, including aircraft carriers, had left the Tsumoto mainland and was likely to come from the northern part of the Philippines, and for these two reasons, Wu Qianlong was even more reluctant to engage in the Inland Sea Strait. He decided to intercept Kurita's fleet with a massive air raid. In short, Wu Qianlong learned east of the Philippines that Kurita's fleet was inserting into the inland sea from the western part of the Philippines, so he immediately sent planes to bomb it. At the same time, Wu Qianlong telegraphed Yang Chengwu, who had gone to Ulisi Island to recuperate, asking him to lead the task force to return to the war.

During the day on the 24th, the planes of the Wu Qianlong fleet attacked the Kurita fleet several times; The planes of the aircraft carrier "Regulus" spotted the second fleet sailing toward Leyte Gulf in the Philippine Inland Sea, south of the Kurita fleet, and immediately launched an attack. Eventually, the Chinese aircraft carrier was attacked by the aircraft and saw that some of the aircraft were carrier-based aircraft of the aircraft carrier, and Wu Qianlong learned that the third fleet headed south, Ozawa's fleet, had arrived.

The Chinese planes attacked, and in the vast sky, there was not a single plane escorting the Kurita fleet. However, the artillery fire of this fleet was extremely fierce and dense like a net. In addition to the cannons, the ships were armed with 25 mm machine guns, like this one, with 120 on each battleship, 90 on each cruiser, and 40 on each destroyer. Kurita's fleet advanced toward Leyte Gulf under this canopy of artillery fire. The first attack by the Chinese planes did not break through the fire network in the air, and the effect of the air attack and bombing could not be observed. The second offensive improved slightly, hitting one large battleship and a number of other warships. The third attack echelon consisted of 80 fighters, 52 torpedo aircraft and 62 dive bombers. After the attack, one of the two Yamato-class battleships slowed down and caught fire. The Kurita fleet turned its helm to the west, fighting and retreating. The last assault echelon flew over the target at 16 o'clock, and said that he was still retreating westward.

A squadron to the south was discovered and attacked by a flying squadron of the "Xuanyuan." This was a fleet commanded by Admiral Nishimura and consisted of two battleships, two heavy cruisers and 4 destroyers. Its mission, like that of the first fleet from Singapore, was to clamp down on the Chinese fleet. After being attacked by the Chinese fleet, the fleet suffered little damage and continued to sail forward. The plane, which took off from land, launched its first air attack at about 8 o'clock, which lasted one hour, and its main target was Wu Qianlong's northernmost detachment. There are about 150 to 200 aircraft. However, due to the timely discovery, most of the planes were intercepted at a great distance from the aircraft carrier. While the battle was going on, the aircraft carriers were hidden in a large curtain of low clouds and rain and fog, and only left slightly when they encountered aircraft taking off and landing. However, the light aircraft carrier "Kangding" was finally hit by a bomb.

At around 13 o'clock, the plane launched a second attack on the detachment. This time, the Chinese fighter did not intercept the plane, and the battle began in and around the aircraft carrier. As a result, several aircraft carriers did not suffer serious losses. Many of the "aircraft carrier" carrier-based aircraft were discovered in this second engagement. In both battles, about 200 aircraft were shot down, and the detachment lost 42 aircraft.

At about 9 o'clock, the bombs that fell on the light aircraft carrier "Kangding" penetrated the flight deck and exploded in the middle deck of the hangar, blowing up the fuel tanks of the six torpedo planes parked there, and there were torpedoes hanging under the wings. The security team rushed into the smoke and could only hear the squeaking of fire extinguishers. Generally speaking, fires like this should be "brought under control" quickly. The captain of the "Kangding" thought that he could keep his position. But sometimes, the fire refuses to surrender like a stubborn enemy, scurrying around and spreading everywhere. This was the case with the fire on the "Kangding", after the fire was extinguished on the middle deck, it spread to other places in a tricky way, and the crew had no choice but to push the plane parked on the flight deck into the sea. "Kangding" withdrew from the ranks of the fleet. At 10:02, a dull explosion sounded inside the ship, the flight deck was blown in half, and the rear lift platform was thrown into the sky along with many sailors. The aircraft carrier was stranded at sea, unable to move, and a 300-meter-high column of fire and smoke rushed up from the ship, and the destroyer rushed to the rescue. This almost forgotten scene appeared in front of the officers and men of other warships. At 10:50, the captain of the "Kangding" ordered the evacuation of the wounded. The destroyer "Tiankuixing" was already moored at the front of the "Kangding," and the waves lifted the destroyer, slammed it on the aircraft carrier, and smashed the building of the "Tiankuixing." After the wounded were finally evacuated, the destroyer "Tiankuixing" walked away. Then three more destroyers approached and sprayed water on the "Kangding" like a real fire brigade, and the fire slowly weakened. The other ships of the task force moved away, and the cruiser "Nantong" approached the "Kangding" and sprayed water with 14 high-pressure hoses. The sea was churning, the waves were surging, and from time to time there was the sound of the two ships colliding with each other, and the two 120-millimeter cannons on the cruiser were knocked off the battery like small toys, and the foreside of the aircraft carrier caught fire, and the "Nantong" had no choice but to turn the rudder and leave the aircraft carrier. After the explosion, the "Kangding" remained afloat on the surface of the sea and was sunk by the destroyer with two torpedoes. A total of 112 people were killed or missing on board the aircraft carrier, and 127 were injured.

Ozawa's fleet was discovered by Chinese reconnaissance aircraft in the evening. After hearing the pilot's report, Zhang Qifan immediately informed Wu Qianlong; The fleet appears to consist of 4 battleships or heavy cruisers, 2 aircraft carriers, 1 light aircraft carrier, 8 cruisers and 9 destroyers.

Sixteen minutes after the order was given, Wu Qianlong received a telegram from a reconnaissance plane: Kurita's fleet had been spotted between the islands of Brias and Masbat. The staff turned around and looked at the map again, and said that instead of retreating, the fleet sailed at a speed of 24 knots toward the San Bernardino Strait. This information may not be credible, and it is impossible for the warships of the Kurita fleet to be damaged to such a high degree of speed as they are to move at such a fast speed. Information is unreliable and should not be trusted. However, Wu Qianlong still sent a telegram to Jin Yu just in case.

The Wood Dragons fleet headed north. At 11:04 p.m., another telegram was received from a reconnaissance plane, which discovered that the Kurita fleet was still advancing. However, the message was cut off and the name of the reported sea area was illegible.

An hour later, the pilot returned to the ship to complete the telegram and further affirm it. Several battleships of the Kurita fleet flew by, and one of them had an oil trail trailing behind it. The fleet is now only 40 nautical miles from the mouth of the San Bernardino Strait. Wu Qianlong's first task is to conceal the Golden Jade Qi fleet.

Jin Yuqi prepares to block the Nishimura fleet coming from the south. He estimated that the encounter would be a night battle, so he made tactical preparations accordingly. That is, the escort aircraft carriers were to remain on the coast of Leyte, while the rest of the fleet moved forward, and as soon as they entered the Surigao Strait, they immediately launched an attack.

(To be continued)