readx; In the vast East China Sea, there seems to be nothing in the vast sea, but in this small and small sea area, there are many warships cruising various countries. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Since the Korean incident occurred at the end of November, China said that the ships of the two countries carrying out standing patrol missions in the open sea have been transferred to a state of combat readiness one after another, but although the situation was tense in those days, the two countries still did not declare war, so the warships of both sides have maintained restraint.

On 1 December, after China and the two countries declared war one after another, the two [***] ships patrolling the open sea also received orders from their superiors one after another, and promptly switched to a wartime state, and on the same day, in the waters of the East China Sea, that is, about 150 nautical miles south of Jeju Island in Korea, the warships of the two countries exchanged fire, and on that day China was the only light cruiser Heku of the Third Cruiser Fleet, which was originally carrying out a standing patrol training mission, and the destroyers Pyeongtae and Pyonghao of the Seventh Destroyer Detachment.

Although the number of the two sides was the same, because there was a heavy cruiser in the navy, the small formation of the Chinese Navy was damaged in a short period of time after the engagement, and the Chinese naval formation quickly took advantage of the night to leave the battlefield at high speed. You must know that although the strength of this small team is not small, but the leader is only a light patrol, this light patrol is the Chinese Navy in 1923 before and after the war and the construction of the Shen-class light cruiser, although the surname can be considered advanced, but it has also been in service for six or seven years, the surname can not be too cutting-edge, although the six-inch naval guns equipped with it can also threaten the Navy's ancient eagle-class heavy cruiser, but compared with the eight-inch naval guns equipped on the ancient eagle class, there is still a big gap, so it had to retreat.

In this skirmish, everyone fired a lot of shells, and they also hit each other's shells, but they failed to bring much damage to the other side in the end.

However, as the first naval battle in the mid-1930s, it is still worth recording and writing into the history of the navy.

In the following two or three days, China said that there was no more naval battle between the navies of the two countries, mainly because after the outbreak of war, the navies of the two countries were drawing troops and preparing to form the main fleet, and at the same time, in order to prevent the small formations from being attacked by the enemy's superior forces, they both reduced their regular patrols in the East China Sea.

And what are the two navies preparing to do when they concentrate their main forces? The purpose of the Chinese Navy's concentration of the main fleet is simple, that is, to strike at the sea transportation line from the mainland to North Korea, and where is this transportation line? In the Tsushima Strait. He said, "The transportation of troops or supplies to Korea must be transported to Pusan through this section of the sea." As for direct transportation to the waters off Pyongyang, he said: "Even if this navy still claims to be the third navy in the world, it does not dare to take the risk of entering the waters of the Yellow Sea and carrying out sea transportation right under the nose of the Chinese navy."

Even if the Chinese Navy now has four battleships, four aircraft carriers, and many other auxiliary warships, it is still extremely difficult to block the Tsushima Strait at the door of the Tsushima Strait, and the total number of north and south is only more than 100 kilometers, and the Chinese main fleet will be discovered as soon as it arrives, and the next thing will not be very good.

At present, the Tsushima Strait is too dangerous to go, and if we want to truly blockade this section of the sea, there is only one prerequisite, that is, it is possible to send the main force of this navy to the bottom of the sea, otherwise it is impossible to cut off this section of the sea transportation line when more than a dozen battleships of this navy swing towards the Tsushima Strait.

When the Chinese navy assembled its main forces and tried hard to cut off the sea transportation lines in this sea area, it said: "The ambition of this navy is not small, and in addition to defending the transportation line in the Tsushima Strait, it is said that "the whole navy wants to avenge the shame of the naval battle in the East China Sea in those years."

Although in the war between the navies of the two countries in that year, it was said that "the navy has always firmly grasped the sea supremacy, but in the naval battle of the East China Sea that year, it was said that the navy lost two battle cruisers, which was regarded as a great shame by the navy."

"Back then, the people of China relied on those two Yandi-class battleships to give their lives to thousands of soldiers of the Imperial Navy, and now the strength of our Imperial Navy has increased greatly compared to that year, there are already as many as five fast battleships alone, and there are also four new battlecruisers. Coupled with the old warships in the Imperial Navy, it is just around the corner to smash the Chinese Navy and regain the glory of the Qing War! "Ryozo Nakamura, who was then the commander of the 2nd Fleet of the Navy, said to a group of generals under him.

If understood according to the traditional concept, his statement is not wrong. Although the Chinese Navy has developed rapidly in recent years, it is said that "the development of the Navy has not lagged behind, and it is even faster than the development of the Chinese Navy." In particular, due to the impact of the Battle of the East China Sea in 1923, it was believed that the fundamental reason why the two battle cruisers of the 4th Sentai sank that year was that the 1st Fleet, as the main force, could not arrive in time due to its slow speed, so that after the 4th Sentai and the main force of the Chinese Navy engaged for three hours, only the Amagi arrived, and the other capital ships were still hurrying slowly, which caused heavy losses to the 4th Sentai. After that, it was said that the strategic development direction of the navy also deviated, and attached great importance to the speed of the main warships, and not only continued the construction of the second ship of the Amagi-class battle cruiser, but also continued the construction of the Tosa. It's just that these two battleships are being rebuilt, and the speed of the Amagi is sufficient, but the speed of the Tosa is still too low, only 26.5 knots. This speed is already a veritable high-speed battleship for the navies of various countries in the twenties, but it is still slightly inferior to the 28 knots speed of the Yandi class of the Chinese Navy, so it is said that "this navy in 1925 started construction of the Kii treaty battleship, adopted the abandonment of part of the protection and even firepower, in exchange for a speed of 28 knots, although I do not want to admit it, but the design of this battleship is largely imitated the design of the Chinese Shundi class treaty battleship, After all, China's Shundi-class battleships are the world's first treaty-type battleships, and it is inevitable that they will be valued and referenced by all countries.

At the time of the construction of the Kii, because the Navy was limited by the treaty, it was no longer possible to continue to build capital ships, so the renovation of the old ships was put on the agenda, and the transformation was mainly focused on improving the speed, and among the large number of warships in the Navy, including the Nagato class, there was not much room for improvement, so the Navy said that "the Navy focused on the transformation of the Kongo-class battleships, and spent a huge price to replace the remaining two Kongo-class with new fuel steam turbines. Although the protection and firepower of the two modified Kongo-class battlecruisers were still the same, the speed of the two modified battlecruisers soared to 29.5 knots.

Today, in 1930, there were two Amagi-class, two Kongo-class, and one Kii-class high-speed warships capable of participating in rapid maneuvering operations. In addition, although the speed of the two Kaga-class and the two Nagato-class battleships is only 26.5 knots, they are still high-speed battleships compared to those old warships.

Therefore, judging from the size of the battleships, it is said that the strength of this navy is much higher than that of the Chinese navy.

But the strength of the two navies is not only battleships, but also aircraft carriers, the Chinese Navy and because of the existence of Chen Jingyun, aircraft carriers have always been the focus of the development of ships, in 1923 there were already two aircraft carriers, and after 1925, two more aircraft carriers joined the navy in active service, and in 1928 in the fifth phase of the navy development plan, in addition to the construction of two treaty-type heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, six destroyers, six submarines, but also started construction of two aircraft carriers again. It's just that these two aircraft carriers were built in peacetime, and the construction period is somewhat long, and there are no bricklayers until today after the outbreak of the war.

Not to mention the two aircraft carriers under construction, but the four aircraft carriers in China's current service are all 20,000 tons of regular fleet aircraft carriers, if the combat effectiveness of aircraft carriers in 1923 can only exist as fleet reconnaissance, then after China's B6 dive bombers were formally finalized and began to be equipped in large quantities in 1926, the combat capability of the Chinese Navy's carrier-based aviation has undergone earth-shaking changes.

In the mid-to-late 20s, when the Chinese Navy held several fleet exercises, aircraft carriers became more and more tactically high, not only capable of carrying out traditional combat missions such as fleet reconnaissance, naval artillery firing, and land bombing, but also able to use dive bombers and torpedo bombers to launch attacks on the enemy's fleet on their own.

In 1929, that is, last year's annual exercise, the Huashan aircraft carrier and the Huangshan aircraft carrier in the First Air Fleet, under the cover of several cruisers and destroyers, launched a large-scale air attack on the Shundi and Huangdi battleships in the battlefleet. None of the ships of the First Air Fleet were damaged, but there were quite a few aircraft losses, and more than 100 planes on the two aircraft carriers were judged to have been shot down more than 30 during the exercise.

But how much is an airplane, at most tens of thousands of yuan, and 30 planes is less than a million, even if you add the training expenses of those dead pilots, it will be two or three million in the sky. But how much was a battleship? China's Shundi-class battleships cost as much as 78 million. Not to mention battleships, even destroyers that were also used as consumables in the war cost as much as seven or eight million or even tens of millions each.

In war, airplanes are expendables, but warships are definitely not consumables!

The results of such an exercise made a large number of battleship generals depressed, and even more surprised the aviation faction, China's naval aviation has existed as a second-line auxiliary force for nearly 10 years, and it was not until last year that the aviation force was recognized by the mainstream naval generals as the main force.

Compared with the rapid development of the Chinese Navy, the development of aviation is also considered to be a good situation, but it is a small detour, after 1923, the Chinese Navy set off an upsurge of aviation warships, and although this theory can be deliberately disseminated, but since it can cause a great reaction within the Chinese Navy, it naturally has its advantages, especially in the eyes of a large number of battleship enthusiasts, this kind of aviation warship is completely wonderful design, Not only can the battleship itself have the ability of aerial reconnaissance and aerial shooting, but it can also allow the navy to add several gunboats. This concept was quickly accepted by the navies of various countries, and it was said that "Ben, the United States, and even Britain all started construction one after another, and among them, the navy reacted the most quickly and directly started the construction of two 27,000-ton air warships, and if it were not for the limited military expenditure of the navy and the construction of the Kii and a large number of other heavy cruisers, I am afraid that the navy would have built more aviation warships."

Although this kind of aviation warship is said to be a combination of artillery firepower and aviation strength, if we simply compare the aviation strength, the two ships together are not the opponent of one of China's aircraft carriers.

From the above comparison of the naval forces of the two countries, it is not difficult to find that on the battleships, it is said that the navy occupies an absolute superiority, while on aircraft carriers, China occupies an absolute superiority. As for the other auxiliary forces, the overall situation can not be determined, everyone's auxiliary forces are built in order to cooperate with the capital ships, a heavy patrol in the navy of small and medium-sized countries is the main ship, but in the navies of the two countries, although the status of the heavy patrol is higher than that of the light patrol, but it is only an auxiliary force, the heavy patrol in the battleship formation is used as a reconnaissance force and lightning flagship of the avant-garde fleet, and the heavy patrol in the aircraft carrier formation is used for air defense and artillery warfare when necessary, ostensibly to protect the aircraft carrier, In fact, the biggest use is to act as a substitute for the aircraft carrier when necessary, when the aircraft carrier formation is approached by the enemy's high-speed battleships, whether it is a heavy cruiser or other light cruisers, there is only one task, that is, to go up and entangle the enemy's main force and let their own aircraft carrier escape.

Although the auxiliary ships could not affect the overall situation of the Chinese Navy, in order to support the main fleet, the development was also relatively rapid, and it was said that "this navy focused on the development of 10,000-ton treaty-type heavy cruisers after the Washington Naval Treaty, while China is because there are still three 15,000-ton heavy cruisers, and there are great differences in the development direction and specific design of treaty-type heavy cruises in the past few years, so when it is said that "this navy has designed two types of treaty-type heavy cruisers and put several treaty-type heavy cruisers in service, the Chinese navy is forced to keep up with the pace of other countries." In the fifth phase of the naval development plan, the design and construction of two Jie Guang Treaty type heavy cruisers, similar to the design of the heavy patrols of various countries, are to abandon protection, focus on speed, its speed is as high as 35 knots, equipped with nine 8-inch 55 times the ship gun, and the protection is extremely weak, the last place of the side armor belt is only 127 mm, and the last place of the horizontal armor is not 43 mm. Originally, the Washington Naval Treaty limited the maximum tonnage of the cruiser fleet to no more than 10,000 tons (British tons), but the Chinese intelligence department learned that "even France has secretly increased the displacement of the cruiser, so it is also secretly increasing the displacement, but it does not dare to increase it too much, but only increases the standard displacement to about 11,500 tons." In any case, this looks similar on the outside, and if it is well concealed, it will not be discovered by other treaty signatories.

Relatively speaking, the number of re-patrols in this book is relatively large, and the surname can also be extremely good. However, although the number of China's heavy patrols is small, the three 15,000-ton balanced heavy patrols are much stronger than those treaty-type heavy patrols, and China's Shiguang-class heavy patrol tonnage is nearly 16,000 tons, and the tonnage is more than 20,000 tons when fully loaded. And the Furutaka-class heavy patrol of this is only 8,000 tons, and the Aoba class is only more than 9,000, and the latest Myoko is about 11,000, so this extra tonnage is not in vain.

However, only the Chinese Navy itself treats these three heavy cruisers as auxiliary ships, and other countries treat them as high-speed armored cruisers. If I want to deal with them, I say, 'I won't use those treaty-type heavy cruisers, but I will use battle cruisers directly.'

At this time, one of the three Chinese heavy cruisers, the Shinan, was sailing in the waters of the East China Sea, about 400 nautical miles southeast of Shanghai, when the captain of the Shinan, Colonel Feng Yuanan, was standing on the bridge, and beside him were several other naval officers in white officers' uniforms.

"When will the Sand keep up?" Colonel Feng Yuanan asked the others.

The deputy captain beside him said: "The engine failure on the Hesha is not small, and it is estimated that it will take two hours to repair, and then they will be able to speed up to catch up!" ”

Feng Yuanan frowned: "So, it will be at least three or four hours later!" ”

This time, the main force of the Chinese Navy was exhausted, and the Shinan, Hesha and Hening of the Fourth Cruiser to which he belonged were all at sea, and they were incorporated into the First Air Fleet, serving as escorts for China's only four aircraft carriers, and the Third Cruiser was also on escort duty along with the Fourth Cruiser, in addition to the seventh, eighth, and ninth destroyer detachments of the Third Lightning Strike Fleet.

The entire First Air Fleet consisted of four aircraft carriers, two heavy cruisers, five light cruisers, and nine destroyers. The auxiliary forces attached to it are all cutting-edge combat ships in the Chinese Navy, and all of them are high-speed warships, and there is no doubt about this high-speed maneuverability.

Behind the First Air Fleet was the main force of the First Fleet, including the four battleships of the First Battlefleet, the First Cruiser Fleet, and the First Lightning Strike Fleet.

The above is the essence of the entire First Fleet in the Chinese Navy, and the First Fleet is also the essence of the entire Chinese Navy, most of the ships in the Second Cruiser Fleet and the Second Lightning Strike Group of the Second Fleet are old ships before and after World War I, and they cannot be said to be second-line ships, but can only be said to be third-line ships. The Third Fleet was even more unusable, with a few dilapidated coastal defense ships and some training ships.

It can be said that in the Chinese Navy, the main force of the First Fleet, and this time the main force of the Chinese Navy poured out, naturally not to see how beautiful the scenery of the morning glow in the East China Sea was, but to carry out a huge battle plan.

Naturally, no one knew about this battle plan at the beginning stage, and the outside world knew that the Chinese Navy had gone to sea, and the main force was exhausted, and people were all speculating one after another that the Chinese Navy might have to go to the Tsushima Strait. Even the navy conducted a close search and reconnaissance of the waters near the Tsushima Strait, but it was never able to find the Chinese fleet there.

And just when the navy was looking for the main force of the Chinese navy, Feng Yuanan looked at the order in his hand, and immediately issued an order to the crew: "Turn left to seventy degrees and maintain speed!" ”

Not only is the Third Cruiser Fleet turning, but other nearby Chinese naval formations are also turning, and if you look at the charts at this time, you will find that this huge Chinese Navy has gone straight to the name "Honsa Sebo!"