Chapter 178 Hunting the Yamato (Third update, please subscribe)
The sun rises slowly on the horizon, and the sea surface in the morning light is filled with a layer of sea fog. In the sea fog, a blue-gray submarine was sneaking in the fog like a whale.
Today is the third day of the "Shark" submarine sailing into the Yellow Sea to perform its mission. Three days ago, when the "Shark" sailed near the waters of Fujian, Zou Tongjie specially called all the officers and soldiers to stand on the deck. Salute to the mountains and rivers of the motherland,
Eight years!
As a native of Fujian, Zou Tongjie saw Fujian for the first time in eight years and was so close to his hometown for the first time. Eight years ago, the warship he served on was ordered to be scuttled. In the following seven years, he continued to perform minelaying missions with the troops. Until he was laid off and dismissed last year.
Just when Zou Tongjie thought he had no chance to set foot on a warship again, someone approached him, and then, like many of his colleagues, he became an employee of the Borneo Company. What next? They took a flight to India, and then took a flight from India to Italy. In the port of Taranto, he once again stepped onto a warship, or even a submarine!
As the captain, Zou Tongjie and others learned to operate the submarine and how to conduct submarine operations under the guidance of Italian instructors. A month ago, they sailed out of the port of Tunisia, passed through the Suez Canal with three other submarines, entered the Indian Ocean, and then entered the Pacific to perform submarine operations with US submarines.
But for them who are inexperienced, combat is more like training. They are just learning how to implement submarine operations and break engagements under the guidance of Italian consultants who have participated in the Atlantic submarine war. Until a week ago , the "Sea Serpent" only scored the first blood - sinking a 2,000-ton cargo ship in the waters of Tsushima.
After this news came, Zou Tongjie naturally also focused on the waters of Tsushima. Compared with the vast Pacific Ocean, there were more Japanese merchant ships and it was easier to achieve results.
However, he has not achieved any results until now. Although he has seen many boats, most of them are small fishing boats.
"Don't be anxious, Zou."
At this moment, Diccato's voice came from beside him. This former Italian naval officer once commanded this submarine to achieve seven sinkings in the Atlantic Ocean. According to records, the tonnage sunk exceeded 30,000 tons. Now he and several other Italian officers and sailors are employees of the company, assisting Zou Tongjie in commanding the submarine as instructors.
“Patience is the most important thing when carrying out submarine attacks. When we were in the Atlantic Ocean, we sometimes waited for a week or even longer. As long as you were patient, prey would always come to your doorstep... "
Nodding slightly, Zou Tongjie said.
“Bungo Waterway.”
"What?"
"Japanese merchant ships and warships will all pass by there. Three days ago, the US military began to attack Okinawa. The Japanese will definitely send reinforcements to Okinawa. They can only go by boat. So, I think we might have a chance to achieve some results when we get there!”
I have to say that Zou Tongjie’s intuition is very keen, perhaps because in the past few years, he has not been so much a naval officer! , rather it is more like the Army.
For the army, it is normal to encircle a point and provide reinforcements.
Since the US military is attacking Okinawa, he can encircle points on the sea for reinforcements.
So the submarine "Shark" sailed towards the east again, sailing at full speed in the morning light and the diffuse sea fog.
At this time, what Zou Tongjie didn’t know was what he would encounter there.
Sometimes, this is how things develop. There are always many, many accidental factors to promote the occurrence of some things.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, the fleet weighed anchor. At that time, the sun passed through the clouds and fog. The former colonel's cruiser "Yahiki" opened the way, followed by four destroyers, then "Yamato", and four destroyers behind.
While the ten warships slowly sailed out of the Seto Inland Sea, the first of ten large-scale air attacks on the American ships gathered in the sea of Okinawa began. Three hundred and forty-one bombers carried out conventional bombing for nearly four hours, and 355 "Kamikaze" attack planes rammed the US ship. By dusk, three US destroyers, one landing craft and two ammunition carriers had been sunk, and ten other ships had been seriously damaged.
Vice Admiral Ito, who was on the "Yamato" ship, was very happy after hearing the news that he had witnessed thirty enemy ships sinking and twenty catching fire. In the sky, Kusaka followed the fleet in a seaplane and did not say goodbye until he had just enough fuel to return. He waved to the fleet and the small plane flew back.
That night, a thousand sailors from "Yagi" gathered on the deck and listened to the former colonel read out the last telegram from Admiral Toyoda that inspired them to fight to the death - the fate of the empire "fights here."
After the bursts of shouts of "Japanese Empire squad!", the former colonel gave his own instructions, which made most of the crew members feel indignant. He said:
"Our mission looks like suicide, and it is. However, I want to emphasize that suicide is not our goal. The goal is victory. You are not driven to the altar. Sheep... Once this ship is seriously damaged or sunk, you must escape without hesitation so that we can fight again in the future. You must not commit suicide, you must defeat the enemy!"
< br>This time, there was no "Long Live" sound on the ship. Everyone knew that even if they escaped, it would be difficult to survive.
At about eight o'clock in the evening, the Second Fleet carefully sailed through the minefield of Bungo Channel and entered the Pacific Ocean. Ito ordered the fleet to sail down the coast of Kyushu at a speed of twenty knots per hour.
At this time, Yiten did not know that his fleet had been discovered by two American submarines, and the American submarines immediately sent out a secret message.
At this time, the "Shark" sailing along the coast of Kyushu also received the telegram.
“It must be a big fish!”
Zou Tongjie said excitedly. Although he did not understand which warship the enemy ship code sent by the American submarine referred to, he was immersed in excitement. In excitement.
After drawing the route intersection chart on the chart, Zou Tongjie looked up at Dicocato and said.
"How about it, let's do it!"
Looking at Zou Tongjie's enthusiastic eyes, Dicocato's eyes were like those of a lion seeing its prey, and he took a hard shot of the sea chart , said.
“Let’s do it!”
So the Shark submarine immediately sailed towards the converging waters at full speed. All night long the Shark sailed at full speed, and did not dive to the bottom until dawn. At the same time, the listener heard the high-speed rotation of the warship's propeller.
"Discovered many warships!"
What?
Multiple ships!
The listener's report made Zou Tongjie's fanatical gaze change immediately. He suddenly realized that he had rushed there - into a fleet.
For a submarine, this is not a good thing!
The roles of hunter and prey sometimes change very quickly, so fast that people cannot adapt to this role change.
For the "Shark" at this time, after multiple warships broke into his ambush circle, the "Shark" not only did not necessarily have the opportunity to carry out an attack, it might even become the enemy's target. prey.
Now we are really in a dilemma.
Listening to the sharp sound of high-speed propellers coming from the speakers, Zou Tongjie frowned. Suddenly, he seemed to have made some decision,
"Slow down, lower to The speed reaches three knots..."
When Zou Tongjie gave the order, Dicocato nodded with satisfaction. In this case, silent submarine is the best choice. If you can't escape, another option is to dive into the deep sea, or even You can sit and sink to the bottom of the sea, but of course you have to control the depth.
Just then the sonar soldier reported.
"There is a sound of rain! It should be raining on the sea, and it is very loud! The sound of water is very complicated!"
"God bless. He is ours!"
It doesn’t matter what kind of warship it is or not, I’m sure to take advantage of this big fish now!
Zou Tongjie seemed a little excited.
At this time ten warships have entered the high seas south of Kyushu. They adjusted the formation into a ring, with "Yamato" in the center, and took a zigzag route south to Okinawa at a speed of twenty-four knots. At the same time, the last batch of escort aircraft also returned.
After the Kyushu coast disappeared, this fleet was the only one left on the sea.
At eight o'clock in the morning, the sky was filled with dark clouds, heavy rain hit the ship, and the wind and waves were so strong that all the escort ship heard in the audio device was noise. They did not notice at all that there was something below the sea surface. , there is a submarine.
“Rise to thirty meters!”
"Thirty meters. Yes, captain." The horizontal helmsmen turned the wheel. The index on the depth chart keeps rising. There was a louder noise outside: the ping-ping of sonar. The clatter of the propeller. It was obvious now that the sound was coming from the front.
"Thirty meters, Captain."
"Very good. Now, listen carefully. I'm going to raise the periscope."
< br>Zou Tongjie’s voice sounded determined.
"Then I want you to rise exactly one meter, level for a while, then raise one meter, and level again. You have to be steady, do you understand?.
"Yes. Captain. "
The thin tube of the attack periscope rose quietly, and finally stopped.
"It has risen to twenty meters. Captain! ”
“Very good! ”
Everything is perfect!
In the eyes of DiCocatto and several other Italian instructors, both the order given by Captain Zou and the process of the sailors executing the order were perfect.
Under the operation of this group of excellent sailors, the submarine maintained a smooth and level sail, and then paused again.
"It has risen to eighteen meters, captain."
The two horizontal helmsmen are almost the best sailors on the submarine, and they carefully maintained their stealth.
"Okay! Keep this height! That's it!"
Zou Tongjie raised his voice, with a certain kind of fanaticism in his voice. This fanaticism was the desire born eight years ago. As he watched When the warship sank in the Yangtze River, he longed for all this to come.
Now, he finally has a chance to take revenge!
At this time, Zou Tongjie only felt his blood boiling.
At this time, there was silence in the boat, and an unusual "crackling" sound came from the loudspeaker.
The echo rangefinder chirped louder and shriller, and the propeller noise grew louder. The torpedo data computer is performing calculations.
There was silence in the command tower. There was silence on the entire submarine. All the sounds now came from outside the boat, the noise of machinery, and the sound of the sonar of the Japanese fleet escort ships while exploring.
"Raise the periscope. Record! The distance is one thousand five hundred meters. Record! Bearing three three five. Record, the leading edge entry angle is 30 degrees to starboard!"
Saw it!
The moment the periscope rose, Zou Tongjie raised the periscope, put his eyes on the eyepiece, and the target appeared in his sight.
A huge ship like a mountain came into his eyes. At this moment, he recognized this battleship, the battleship that they had feared and longed for.
Now, it's in the periscope's crosshairs!
"Oh my god, yes, it's Yamato!"
Zou Tongjie looked at the target in the mirror in shock, and the huge hull of the "Yamato" just broke into him. Sweat flowed from his forehead.
My heart beat faster and my throat became more astringent.
Well, no need to hesitate, this is it!
This is the big fish!
If it succeeds, it will be worth it even if the whole village eats it!
Sometimes, people always need a little bit of adventurous spirit, and for the navy, the adventurous spirit is even more indispensable. In essence, a qualified naval soldier is first and foremost a gambler, because , they often want to be quiet.
Win takes all.
If you lose, you get nothing!
"Torpedo preparation!"
When leaving the eyepiece, Zou Tongjie spoke Mandarin with a Fujian accent. The somewhat hoarse voice was stretched, but the difference was that, His voice seemed a little tight today.
You only have one chance to win? Or lose?
Mazu bless!
"Prepare torpedoes!"
"Launch!"
The order spurted out from Zou Tongjie's throat. When the firm and decisive order was issued, he felt sweat on his palms.
“Launch!”
“Launch!”
The same two words in the mouth of the torpedo commander were repeated twice, and each time it was the same as before, a firm and decisive order. With the order, the torpedo man pressed the firing button.
As always, there was first a bump and a sound of water waves. Two German-made electric torpedoes were launched from the submarine. The black and gray torpedoes rushed straight into the sea and rushed towards the target.
At this time, the sea was very windy and rough, and the rain was heavy. The sound of waves and the sound of raindrops hitting the sea water made the hydrological sound extremely noisy.
Despite this, Zou Tongjie frowned slightly when he felt the trembling after the submarine was launched.
There is no room to look back. Once discovered, death is likely to be waiting for them!
The voice paused.
“Raise the periscope!”
From the periscope, he felt that he could even see the two wakes clearly! The torpedo was heading straight for its target. Now nothing can stop the torpedo from hitting the target, not even God!
“Lower the periscope!”
When he issued this command, he felt dizzy, it was because of excitement!
Eight years of longing for it day and night finally became a reality today!
Zou Tongjie, who put his eyes on the stopwatch in his hand and started timing, was waiting for the sound from the listener like everyone else.
Will it hit?
If it is really hit, even if it means death - I will be willing to do so!
Today’s posts are all big chapters, there are only three updates...
(End of this chapter)