The waves lapped against the side of the heavy cruiser Torikai, stirring up tiny sprays. Behind it is the entire 7th Sentai Kumano, Suzuya, Mogami, and Mikuma four heavy cruisers. The squadron was surrounded by eleven destroyers of the 3rd Mine Squadron, and fifteen warships were arrayed in a rectangular array and sailed forward at high speed in the moonlit night according to the night battle formation regulations.

"Your Excellency, our army has arrived at the predetermined position at the appointed time, will it immediately start the operation?" The Torikai was on full alert, and the captain of the ship, Tsunachi Goto, reported the location to the fleet commander and Vice Admiral Shiro Kawako, and the commander of the 7th Sentai Squadron, Rear Admiral Mitsumi Shimizu. According to the plan, the operation began immediately.

"Hmm." Kagawa Koshiro nodded here, but Mitsumi Shimizu on one side chattered and smiled, "The people of Mi would never have thought that we would appear in front of his eyes." Your Excellency, give your order at once! The 7th team is willing to break the jade to repay His Majesty's imperial grace. ”

"No, there's an hour to wait!" Ignoring Mitsumi Shimizu's fanatical pleas, Shiro Kawakoshiro just looked at his pocket watch before ordering: "The detection distance of the sea surface of the United States is less than twenty nautical miles, as long as it remains twenty nautical miles away from the coast." It is also important to pay attention to the patrol vessels of the Navy. ”

"Hey!" Goto Cunzhi Osaku bowed before going out to order. Only two fleet commanders and several staff officers remained in the war room.

After the decision to declare war on Mi, the entire southern detachment fleet set out from the mainland, and traveled day and night for several days, and only found this position by means of aircraft and electric reconnaissance, but when it arrived at the local commander, it was really incomprehensible.

It should be noted that according to the plan, after the shelling of the naval base of the Subic Rice Kingdom, the fleet will immediately withdraw to the west, and it will only return to the mainland after making a detour in the South China Sea. Wait an extra hour, after dawn is close to the Philippines more than 30 nautical miles, the probability of being found by the shore-based aircraft of the United States is a few points higher, and it is even possible that it will be besieged by the United States Navy in the South China Sea, but since the commander asked to wait for an extra hour, the fleet can only wait for an extra hour off the coast of Subic Bay.

The seconds ticked, and when the clock pointed to one twenty-three minutes, Kazukawa Koshiro, who had been sleeping for a long time, opened his eyes, and he looked at the people who were a little anxious in front of him, and then he ordered: "Let's start." ”

"Hey!" The cadres couldn't wait for a long time, and as soon as he said this, Rear Admiral Mitsumi Shimizu immediately ordered the fleet to turn due east. With the help of shipboard and surface electro-reconnaissance, the fleet arrived off the Subic military port at 01:57 thirty-four minutes later. Soon, in the midst of the five heavy patrols that were shrouded in smoke and lined up, the three-year 203mm front gun of the Torikai was the first to fire. The first shot was only a test firing, and even so, the roar of the main guns and the huge shock it caused on the entire warship still made all the officers and men shout that they had been waiting for this day for a year and twenty-six days, and now they had finally waited for their chance to take revenge.

Subic Bay is the most favored Philippine naval base of the US Navy, but at the beginning, the Army was timid and did not dare to fully guarantee the safety of the military port, so the Philippine naval base could only be built in Cavite in Manila Bay. After the determination to start a war against China and Japan, the navy had to expand Krabi Tei, which already had a certain foundation, in order to pursue the speed of construction, but Subic Bay did not forget that it was quite a subsidiary base of the already extremely powerful Asian Fleet.

The artillery formations were twenty-five kilometers from the naval base in the bay and eleven kilometers from the coast. It took thirty-nine seconds for the main gun to fire before the shell exploded in a wasteland on the outskirts of the naval base. The explosion of 125 kilograms of artillery shells shook the entire naval base like thunder. The commander of the fleet, Admiral Harry E. Yanel, had just jumped out of bed and asked his adjutant, "Is it a Japanese plane?" ”

"No, General, I think it should be a cannonball, an eight-inch cruiser's main gun or a battleship's secondary gun, I think it should be a cruiser, General." At this time, the Torikai was already in its second test firing, and the landing point of the shells was getting closer and closer to the base, and the eight-inch shells of more than 100 kilograms and the 16-inch battleship main gun shells of more than 1,000 kilograms were completely different.

"Oh my God, how did they get in!" The admiral asked the adjutant suspiciously. Since he took office as commander of the Asian Fleet three years ago, Yanel has been worried that Japanese or Chinese planes will attack the Philippines or Pearl Harbor.

"I don't know, General." The adjutant had no way of knowing how the Japanese got in. "General, the Chief of Staff called just now and suggested that you ask Admiral Bloch to support us?"

When the Pacific Fleet moved westward, the entire fleet was commanded by Admiral Claude Bloch and stationed at Cavite Naval Base in Manila Bay. The original Asian Fleet became an advance fleet, stationed at the Subic Bay Naval Base. Because the support facilities were insufficient, and there were only cruisers at the Subic base, the chief of staff, Colonel Smith, wanted to ask Krabi to send a battleship detachment for support, fearing that the other side would have battleships.

"No!" Admiral Yanel, who had already fully dressed up, did not hesitate to reject the proposal. "The Chinese have a strategy in the Art of War called Shengdong and West. Maybe their submarines or battleships are waiting for our battleships to leave port, we should wait for dawn, but destroyers and submarines should be dispatched......"

'Boom Boom Boom ......' was like a volcanic eruption, the heavens and the earth were shaking, and Admiral Yanel was almost unsteady on his feet. This time it should be all the main guns of the entire fleet firing in a salvo, and the five heavy cruisers have a total of fifty 203mm naval guns, and the dense explosion of shells makes it impossible to tell how many warships are bombarding outside the harbor. And at this moment, the chief of staff, Colonel Smith, who rushed over, appeared at the door with a cat on his waist, and he said loudly: "General, the Japanese have hit the base!" They hit the base! ”

The shells of the Japanese Navy, of course, hit the base, otherwise the shelling could not have been so fierce. When Yanel saw the chief of staff, he dragged him with one hand and shouted, "Where are our shore artillery? And what about our shore artillery? Why don't you open fire?! ”

"I don't know, General! I don't know. "Colonel Smith is also confused that his shore guns do not fire, even if it is dark at night, the Japanese warships will fire because of the fire will reveal the position, but now the strange thing is that the shore guns do not fire.

While the two were talking, another round of shells came intensively, this time the landing point was obviously farther away, but after a series of explosions, only a muffled sound of 'boom' was heard, and the ammunition depot of a cruiser not far away was actually destroyed. Looking at the fire rising from the berth, which was the Houston, the flagship of the previous Asian fleet, the admiral exclaimed, "Damn it! How did they hit? ”

The martyrdom of the Houston angered the admiral, but the Japanese twenty-six kilometers away were ecstatic, and when they heard the gun commander announce on the radio that the enemy ship Houston had hit and caught fire, they howled like devils and beasts.

"Your Excellency, it's time to evacuate." Rear Admiral Kusaka, the chief of staff of the fleet, had to be reminded.

"No, Your Excellency, we should wait for the Mi warship in Cavite to sail." Major General Mitsumi Shimizu of the 7th Sentai Team, who was fighting the artillery fire, glanced at the chief of staff and asked to continue the shelling.

"Bat 3 has been reported that the main force of the Krabi Timi Navy has not attacked." Cao Lu's gaze did not evade to meet Qing Shui Guangmei, and he said with great certainty: "The Mi Navy is a group of cowards, and they don't dare to fight at all!" ”

"Then we should shell and completely defeat these rice animals!" Mitsumi Shimizu roared, as if she couldn't vent her animalistic nature without it.

"How will the fleet return to the sea with continued shelling?" Cao Lu Ren asked rhetorically, and the contradiction was obviously between him and Shimizu Mitsumi.

"All the jade of the 7th team can be shattered!" Qing Mitsumi said proudly, "The blood of three thousand compatriots will be returned with 300,000 blood of rice animals!" ”

"This is Your Majesty's ship, not your jade burial!" The grass deer barked even louder.

"Yaga!" And Kagawa Koshiro was still thinking about the reaction of the rice people just now, and in a trance, the two subordinates actually quarreled, and they shouted loudly at the moment. He immediately taught: "We are all the property of the empire, and we must not break the jade without an order!" Do you understand?! ”

"Hey!" Kazukawa Koshiro is thirty-one and Mitsumi Shimizu is thirty-six, and he is his direct boss, so he has to nod his head in submission, but even with his head hanging down, the muscles on his face are still twitching - Japan's national humiliation propaganda this year has been very good. The more than 3,000 bodies brought back from the Marshall through the Red Cross were not buried, and were all buried in temples in Tokyo. Countless soldiers and hot-blooded young people swore to those coffins that they would make rice and animals repay their blood debts a hundredfold and a thousandfold.

Kazukawa Koshiro subdued Mitsumi Shimizu, but did not completely agree with the chief of staff's opinion on immediate retreat, he said: "Since the US Navy is not dispatched, continue to shell and retreat after five minutes." ”

"Hay!" As soon as the commander gave the order, all the devils drank loudly. When the order reached the turret, the gunners, who were already a little exhausted, shouted, and the speed of firing the cannon magically increased to five rounds per minute.

The artillery formation in the smoke is naturally safe, but the 3rd Lightning Strike Squadron, which is not protected by the smoke on the periphery, is not the same. Although the fire of the enemy ships could not be seen, the shore guns at the Subic base had already begun to shoot blindly into the sea. For a destroyer with a draft of less than 2,000 tons, a single shot of a sixteen-inch shell would kill you. At 02:08, just after forcing back a patrol ship with a salvo of artillery torpedoes, a sixteen-inch shell came along the muzzle fire with the roar of the train, and the shell narrowly grazed the top mast of the destroyer Rain and landed on the sea not far away. Watching the pitch-black splash rising into the sky, more than 200 people under the captain of the Shiyu, Minoru Yokoi and Minoru Yokoi, all broke out in a cold sweat in their hearts.

Shi Yu was lucky, but the Murayu not far from it was unlucky, and a sixteen-inch shell fired in this direction for the second time hit its amidship, penetrating its weak armor and exploding near the boiler room, and the Murayu was blown into two pieces on the spot, and countless devils were instantly shattered.

"Ahh Yes! "Minoru Yokoi felt that the Murayu was shot on his behalf, so he ignored the fire of the Murayu, which was only half left on the sea, and immediately ordered the ship to go to the rescue.

The Murayu was shot and sunk, but the Subic naval base had been plowed by five heavy cruisers and fifty 203 guns, the heavy cruisers and light cruisers at the berths were sunk, and even several submarines that had not had time to dive were also doomed. The berths were like this, and the base houses, docks, shipyards, command posts, and barracks were all blown apart. At this time, Admiral Yanel, who was covered by the adjutant in the bomb shelter, did not know the tragic situation of the base, but he was smart enough to be sure that there were Japanese spies nearby.

Otherwise, why did their artillery fire hit so accurately? Someone must have been near the base to observe the location of the shells by the light of the moon and the light of the shelling, and report to the Japanese warships to correct the shelling parameters, so that the shelling could achieve this effect. The Japanese had already guessed how the Japanese were shooting, and he even quickly zeroed in on the suspects - the two Chinese restaurants and three laundries outside the base.

Chinese restaurants and laundries were also shot while lying down, but that's all for later. After an unknown amount of time, the rumbling of the cannon finally stopped. But the admiral's ears, almost deafened, were still ringing, and it was only when the commander of the submarine force, Colonel John Weeks, came to him that the group was convinced that the shelling had stopped, and they left the dugout.

"General, it's a ......" Colonel John Weeks couldn't see Colonel John Weeks under the lights, but his voice was very depressed. Almost all of my troops were sunk. ”

"Are the Japanese gone?" The Chief of Staff, Maj. Gen. Smith, asked the question that was of greatest concern to him.

"Maybe." Colonel Weeks was uncertain, and he spoke with his back to the light of the fire burning on the docks and berths, shrugging his shoulders as he could see his answer. "But there has been no shelling for twenty minutes."

"How bad is the loss?" Admiral Yanel began to twitch when he saw the fire on the docks. Ever since the Japanese government issued an ultimatum, he was worried that the Japanese would send planes and submarines, but he did not expect that it would be neither planes nor submarines, but the most primitive shelling of the opposite shore. Subic is a newly built base, and many of the facilities are not perfect, so the losses are immediately heavy.

"Report to the general, the situation is very bad." The officer on duty, Major General Wainwright, also appeared at this time, his voice with eagerness and sadness. "General, the Japanese must have someone to guide you! Most of the ships on the berths were sunk, the docks, docks, ship repair yards, barracks, all suffered a fatal blow, and we... We're all broken! ”

"Let's put out the fire first." Yanel heard the report of the two subordinates, and when he saw the fire in the distance and the screams of nothingness, his heart was already cold. He didn't forget that he thought of those suspects before, and immediately said: "The Japanese spies are just outside the base, just those Chinese restaurants and laundries, arrest them immediately!" ”

"Yes, General!" Unexpectedly, the admiral's first order was to arrest people, Major General Wainwright hesitated for a moment and quickly nodded.

"Put out the fire at once, help the wounded, and send out all the other ships that can move, but don't go out of range of the offshore guns." Admiral Yanel then ordered, and then said, "I will report to General Bloch immediately!" ”

The Subic base is only more than 70 kilometers away from the Krabi base in a straight line, and it is only separated by the Bataan Peninsula in between. Not long after the bombardment of Subic Naval Base, calls were made to Cavite Naval Base and the Manila Hotel in Manila City. The former is the residence of Admiral Bloch, commander of the Pacific Fleet, and the latter is the residence of Vice Admiral MacArthur of the U.S. Army stationed in the Philippines.

Since the Japanese shelled Subic Bay, it was very likely that they would attack Krabi at the same time, so Admiral Bloch did not send ships to rescue Subic, nor did he pursue the Japanese ships, which laid the groundwork for his resignation in the future. However, this is just an excuse, since the Japanese Navy dared to shell the Subic base, it naturally arranged for Krabi, and what happened next also confirmed this, but in the face of public opinion pressure, Washington and the Admiralty had to take action.

Subic's shelling stopped in less than thirty minutes. To be precise, including the time taken for the test firing, a total of 15 minutes of shelling took place, and 50 203 naval guns poured 1,450 rounds of 125 kilograms of shells on the Subic base during these 15 minutes, basically bombarding the entire base from the land to the water. Fourteen ships, including the USS Houston, were sunk, and 834 soldiers were killed and 646 wounded as a result of the shelling of the barracks. After the shelling, the whole base was in shambles.

Admiral Bloch did not know about the terrible situation at the Subic base at this time, and when he gathered all the officers for a meeting, Subic called to say that the shelling had stopped and that the Japanese had probably withdrawn.

"Is Japan still nearby?" After the adjutant had finished briefing on the situation at the Subic base, Admiral Bloch looked at the people and asked. At this time, there were still three hours before dawn, and once it was daybreak, not to mention the naval battleships, the hundreds of B-17 bombers of the Army Aviation could launch a fatal blow to the Japanese fleet.

"The Japanese have long since fled." Lieutenant General MacArthur, who had arrived from Manila, bit his pipe and said disdainfully. His words were clearly referring to the Japanese, but his demeanor was a little disdainful that the navy did not dare to move in the face of an attack, even if the other side was only a few heavy cruisers.

"The Japanese should indeed have fled." Vice Admiral William Pay, commander of the battleship fleet, did not understand MacArthur's words, he said. "Yes, we should pursue them immediately to prevent them from escaping."

"It's very dangerous to chase at night." Bloch dismissed his suggestion, "We can only leave in three hours." In addition, I hope that the Army Airlines will search the entire South China Sea after dawn and be sure to find the Japanese. ”

"Of course." Rear Admiral Lewis Britton, commander of the Far East Army Aviation, nodded. "I'm going to get these yellow-skinned monkeys out! As long as they're around here. ”

"We should take revenge on the Japanese! Checkmate. "It was Rear Admiral William Frederick Halsey Jr., the commander of the aircraft carrier group and known as a brute. His eyes were wide open. The Japanese Government declared war at three o'clock yesterday afternoon, and the Japanese fleet came to attack in the evening.

"Yes, William." Bloch approvingly. "But we should find them out first. Will your men be able to sail at dawn? ”

"Of course!" Halsey felt that this question should not be asked at all. "Those boys are already on board, if I can't sail, I'll kick their ass!"

"That's good!" Admiral Bloch laughed. "We'll find the Japanese after dawn, no matter where they're hiding! Harry also told me one thing: the Japanese shelled so accurately because there were spies on the shore to observe the impact point. He had already ordered the capture of those Chinese, so ......" Admiral Bloch looked at MacArthur intentionally or unintentionally, and said, "We also need to clean up the Chinese next to the base, as well as the Chinese around us." ”

Seeing Bloch suddenly looking at himself, MacArthur said strangely: "You say the Chinese are spies?" ”

"Nope. I didn't say that. Bloch still laughs. I just think we should keep them away from us. At least not around anymore. ”

"I'll take that advice seriously." MacArthur finally came up with something—his maid was a Chinese woman named Ah Zhu. If he doesn't remind him, he will only confuse this Azhu as a Filipino, and they all look the same anyway.

"Alright. That's all I want to say. Admiral Bloch concluded. Find the Japanese and stay away from the Chinese. I'll leave the rest to the staff officers. ”

"Sir, when are we going to take revenge on the Japanese?" Halsey asked uneasily. "We have to give the Japanese color back."

"No, William, it's too early at this time." Bloch shook his head. He added, "I think we should at least wait for the radar to be loaded on the ship before we act." Judging by the performance of the Japanese fleet tonight, it is clear that they were equipped with radar to find the gap in the patrol ship, and then they got in. ”

"But the Army is already equipped with radar,......" Halsey glanced at MacArthur - every time he entered and exited Corregidor Island, he could see the mattress radar wires on the top of the hill, and he wondered why the Navy and Army had radars at different times.

MacArthur just laughed at this, and Bloch said with some embarrassment: "The army radar is produced by the signal company, and our radar is produced by the radio company." It just passed the test at the beginning of the year, so it's a little late. Gentlemen, I must not forget that the situation at sea is much more complicated than on land, and the radars of the Navy must be rigorously tested before they can be installed on warships. After explaining Halsey's question, Admiral Bloch continued: "Well, gentlemen, I think we can rest for a while, and set out immediately after dawn to search for the Japanese fleet." ”

At 05:45 a.m., it was getting dark. Rear Admiral Halsey, who had returned to the flagship, had just finished discussing the search procedure with the Chief of Staff, Lieutenant Colonel Miles Browning, when he heard a commotion outside the ship, and when he thought it was a Japanese plane bombing, he heard someone shouting "torpedo." Rushing to the side of the bridge, Halsey saw a scene that he would never forget: several submarines the size of torpedo boats were speeding at a speed of more than 30 knots in the faintly lit harbor water, and in addition to galloping, they also fired torpedoes at warships anchored in the harbor area.

At this time, the ships were preparing for fire, and the small harbor area was full of warships, and there was no way to avoid these torpedoes. And the gunners of the ships did not seem to have woken up - an emergency alert at two o'clock in the middle of the night, but then the alert was lifted, and many people did not sleep well, so only a few 20mm Erley air defense guns were shooting at them, but the ship was not an airplane after all, and even if it was shot, the submarine that fired the torpedo still aimed at several battleships and aircraft carriers.

"Onboard!" A Japanese officer on the submarine, with a white cloth tied to his head, stood up and shouted hysterically before the impact. 'Boom! With a loud bang, the good guy next to Halsey, the USS Charlie, was the first to hit, but after the boom, Halsey saw the hull of the Charles rippling like a wave, and then there was a twisting sound of rattling keels and ribs in the retreat, and finally there was chaos on the ship.

The Good Guy Charlie was followed by the Saratoga - the outermost two carriers, but this time the Japanese were clearly yawed, and they only hit the stern of the Saratoga, 'Boom! With a loud bang, Saratoga's brass propeller flew out of the water, flew past Halsey's eyes, and smashed a large spray on the other side of the carrier.

The Japanese were so crazy that the frightened sailors frantically used anti-aircraft guns and secondary guns to shoot at several small Japanese submarines that had not yet completed the collision, and they no longer cared whether they would accidentally injure friendly troops, and the shells hit the side of their own ships.

"Be careful! Checkmate! The chief of staff saw a tongue of fire coming at him, and in a frightened manner, he hurriedly pulled Halsey away. Fortunately, he was quick-eyed, and as soon as he pulled Halsey open, the 20mm shell smashed the porthole and carved a row of deep holes in the cabin wall.

"It's crazy! It's insane! Japanese, general...... It's horrible! Although it was Major General Halsey who was saved, Lieutenant Colonel Browning was so frightened by what was happening that he became incoherent.

"Nope! They are not terrible, just an army of evil baptized by Satan! Halsey, who had just experienced the line of life and death, was not alarmed, as a devout Christian, he was not afraid of death at all, he just felt that after the radar was installed, he would take revenge on the Japanese fiercely. (To be continued.) )