Chapter 1320 Tracking and Escape
After Pinto received the signal from another flagship, he actually expected that Louis' eagerness might be related to the sailing ships with unclear identities and purposes on the distant sea. If it were based on his temper, it would be best to kill all these small sailing ships, but unfortunately, the attempt just made has proved that this idea is a bit unrealistic. The speed of these small sailing ships is astonishingly fast, not so An easy target to catch.
"Perhaps Luis has thought of some way to get rid of these troubles?" Pinto subconsciously thought of this possibility.
At present, information can only be transmitted at sea through relatively simple methods such as semaphores or flares. The amount of information that can be transmitted is extremely limited. If two commanders want to discuss tactics, they really have to find a way to meet on a ship. But as a result, the fleet would inevitably have to stop temporarily to allow one of the commanders to take a boat to the other flagship.
Pinto did not dare to be careless. He first mobilized ships to deploy defense measures outside the fleet, and then ordered to slow down and stop sailing. Then the flagship "Valentin" lowered the small boat. Pinto climbed down the ladder on the side of the ship, and the sailors The rowing boat took him to the San Diego, the flagship of the Manila fleet.
When the Spanish fleet stopped to discuss countermeasures, the Haihan sailboats in the distance slowly reduced their speed and cruised on the distant sea, without completely leaving the sight of the Spanish fleet. This more clearly exposed their bad intentions. Fortunately, these ships had no weapons and equipment at first glance, so there was no need to worry that they could directly threaten the safety of the fleet. However, Pinto hoped that these ships would rush over for whatever reason. As long as they were approached by his own sailboat, they would not be able to deal with them without using artillery.
But Pinto's hope did not come true. These ships carefully maintained a distance from the Spanish fleet, with no intention of getting closer. Pinto also didn't expect that the Haihan sailboat was equipped with a telescope, a powerful reconnaissance tool, and he could still observe the details of the Spanish fleet without getting too close.
After Pinto boarded the "San Diego", Luis immediately told him concisely and concisely what he knew and guessed. Pinto's eyes widened after hearing this, because it was really hard for him to imagine how the magical skill described by Louis could be achieved.
"Louis, if the Governor hears these ridiculous remarks of yours, I think he will probably be very angry." Pinto shook his head repeatedly: "What you said is just a baseless conjecture, and there is no evidence to prove that the Haihan people are really Having mastered this... technology, we should try to destroy these pesky flies in front of us instead of watching them have fun on the sea!"
Lewis said with a dark face: "Captain Pinto, the situation I just told you is not a fantasy. This is the information our people exchanged for their lives! And the Governor also knows about it, but he can't tell it to his mouth, lest he Affects the morale of the army! ”
Pinto said dubiously: "You mean that the Governor knew about this and deliberately kept it secret?"
"This is for the sake of the overall situation!" Louis did not deny Pinto's statement, but immediately changed the topic: "Our whereabouts cannot be exposed to Haihan's surveillance, we must find a way to make them disappear...or, we Disappear automatically.”
"Are we disappearing on our own initiative?" Pinto frowned slightly, but he immediately understood what the other party meant: "You mean to get rid of them under the cover of night?"
Lewis nodded and responded: "There may not be any other good way besides this."
It was getting dark at this time, and being on the sea after dark was indeed a good time to get rid of tracking, but it was hard to say whether it would be possible. This means that the entire fleet must implement blackout, and the consequence of this is that the fleet can easily lose its course in the dark. In addition, if the weather is clear, the outline of the ship can still be distinguished at a relatively short distance on the sea at night. If the other party shortens the tracking distance, even if the light control is implemented, it may not be able to completely hide the whereabouts. But now the Spanish fleet has nothing to do with the stalkers and can only try to get rid of the entanglement at night. No matter whether you can succeed or not, you have to try your best.
Pinto returned to his "Valentin" with full of questions. Although he still did not believe that Haihan had any advanced technology for transmitting messages through the air, Louis kept saying that this was a reliable source of intelligence. I can only believe it for now. Moreover, Louis said that the governor deliberately concealed this kind of thing in order to stabilize the morale of the military, which sounds quite credible and does not seem like a plot made up by Louis.
The Spanish fleet continued to move forward, and the sailing ships did not stop tracking. They still followed the fleet in the distance and continued to move westward. The ships of the Spanish fleet are making preparations nervously. After dark, they will shorten the sailing distance between the ships and move forward in the dark on the sea. This is a technical job without any moisture, and only the Spanish fleet with a large number of experienced sailors dares to take the risk.
When the distance between the ships shortened, the crew relied entirely on their naked eyes to identify the outline of the ship ahead and followed it as they sailed in the dark. The Haihan sailboats that are far away from the fleet will most likely lose their targets due to their limited vision.
This kind of operation requires high technical requirements for the crew. Otherwise, if the ship loses control in the dark and a collision occurs between ships, the gain will outweigh the loss. The two Spanish commanders had full trust in their subordinates, so they chose this slightly riskier course of action. If this still can't get rid of the opponent's entanglement, then Louis can't think of any more effective way. I have to say that Louis' strategy was indeed very targeted. The Haihan light reconnaissance ships following the Spanish fleet did not dare to get too close in the dark. If this kind of high-speed sailing ship wanted to follow closely, it might accidentally crash into the Spanish fleet's formation. And if this light sailing ship, with a displacement of only more than ten tons, accidentally collides with a Spanish galleon, it will fall apart or capsize in minutes. Although the sailors on the ship are not afraid of the Spaniards, they cannot use themselves as chips to gamble on such an unlikely bet. Moreover, their main task has actually been completed. The traces of the Spanish fleet have been transmitted through the ship's radio after being discovered. Informed the Sanya base camp.
Tao Donglai also didn't expect that his almost lucky move would actually work. After receiving the telegram, he responded and asked for some details to identify the opponent's identity, so he could be sure that the reconnaissance ship he sent was really in the vast sea. Encountered the Spanish fleet coming from Manila. According to the navy's current estimates, the probability of such a situation happening may be only one or two percent. The move to send out a reconnaissance ship is just to do everything possible and obey fate. I have to say that this is really a blessing from God.
Now that the whereabouts of the Spanish fleet have been discovered, war is basically inevitable, and the preparations for war in various departments have entered the actual combat stage. After Tao Donglai read the confirmation message sent back by the reconnaissance ship, he picked up the phone and reported the situation to Yan Chujie. At the same time, he ordered all armed forces in the Sanya area to immediately enter a wartime state, temporarily block the entry channel of Victory Port, and suspend the entry and exit of merchant and civilian ships. Temporarily convert Victory Harbor to wartime military mode.
All civilian ships entering and exiting the port will temporarily transfer to Sanya Port, where the channel is narrow. If necessary, ships can even be used to block the channel, making it easier for shore firepower on both sides of the harbor entrance to defend. But even so, the entry and exit inspections at Sanya Port will be upgraded to wartime standards, and all ships and personnel will face strict inspection and registration. In particular, foreigners and immigrants who have not yet obtained Haihan nationality will be the targets of key surveillance by multiple departments such as port administration, police, security department, and military during this period.
Of course, this news was quickly conveyed to all coastal cities and counties on the island via radio. Although it was impossible to fortify the long coastline everywhere, it was not difficult to use local militia to monitor coastal movements. There are almost no large towns on the east coast of Hainan Island. Even if the Spaniards land in these areas, they are unlikely to cause much damage to Haihan in a short period of time.
The Spanish fleet traveling in the South China Sea was completely ignorant of what happened on Hainan Island. The crew sailed cautiously in the night all night. When dawn broke, they found that there were no traces of those Haihan sailing ships on the nearby sea. Although this was not a remarkable achievement, the sailors who had been busy all night couldn't help but cheer.
After dark last night, the fleet first turned to the south, and after traveling for a few hours, it turned to the northwest. After a lot of trouble, it finally got rid of the malicious pursuer. After careful calculation on the chart, Pinto corrected the current course and continued towards Hainan Island.
The Spanish fleet did successfully get rid of Haihan's reconnaissance ship, but unfortunately their whereabouts had been exposed. Even if they successfully escaped by turning at night, the closer they were to Hainan Island, the smaller the range of route choices. Han has already mastered the sea area where the Spanish fleet last appeared, and it is not difficult to deduce its next movements. After all, its final destination is Sanya, and there is not much time left for them to circle around the sea.
The Ministry of Defense inferred from the Spanish fleet's series of counterattacks yesterday that the Spaniards have realized that their whereabouts have been exposed and are very afraid of Haihan's tracking and monitoring, so in theory they will complete the rest of the voyage as soon as possible and launch an attack on the designated target. , to avoid leaving Haihan too much reaction time to organize defense. After calculations, the Ministry of National Defense concluded that the enemy forces would arrive in the waters near Sanya within two days. If the Spaniards are eager to launch an offensive, it is very likely that they will no longer have the patience to reconnoiter and test Sanya, but will directly launch their ultimate move.
The navy dispatched all the reconnaissance ships stationed in Sanya and fanned them out in small groups in the nearby waters, striving to give the combat fleet more time to react. All military and police personnel in the Sanya area have entered a wartime state. Once the enemy shows signs of landing, the police and militia will immediately receive weapons and assume part of the defense tasks.
Of course, this is only a deployment arrangement under extreme circumstances. In fact, although the market atmosphere in Sanya is a little tense, most people are optimistic about the outcome of the war, and do not believe that the war will really affect Sanya. This is why the Haihan Army's winning record over the years has given the people great confidence. No one thinks that there will be any pirate armed forces in the South China Sea that can challenge the authority of the Haihan Army. Although Haihan officials have implemented wartime control measures at the port, which has caused a lot of inconvenience, most people still understand this. After all, if there are pirates in this sea area, the impact will be huge. It is better to endure this temporary inconvenience and let the Haihan Army clear up the hidden dangers in three steps.
Liu Shang has also been very busy these days. Although he has taken over the errands of the Youth League, what he actually does is the same as the Propaganda Department. He also explains on the streets that the Haihan Executive Committee has issued a series of emergency orders and strategies. Timely mobilization order. If the previous tour of Hainan Island with the inspection team was a glimpse of Haihan's production capacity and social status, then the second emergency mission of being captured by Yu Xiaobao was a glimpse of Haihan's war mobilization capabilities.
Liu Shang had been in Haihan for a long time, but he had never imagined that there were so many troops stationed in Sanya. They were constantly deployed from the army base on the Luhuitou Peninsula to various ports, urban areas, and transportation thoroughfares in Sanya. In just a few days, a large number of temporary defenses were erected, surrounding the entire Sanya like an iron barrel.
Although this will inevitably cause tension among the people, on the other hand, these fully armed Haihan soldiers can also bring a lot of security to the people. The various combat materials transported by train from Tiandu inland to the port area also made Liu Shang dumbfounded. All kinds of guns, artillery and ammunition were transported to the port area one by one, and then distributed to various port areas and Temporary strongholds set up in key areas. Almost every barricade is equipped with at least one small-caliber artillery, and a large number of artillery pieces are densely deployed at the crenellations of the shore defenses.
Liu Shang secretly drooled at the sight of such luxurious equipment. He couldn't help thinking angrily, even if the Haihan people had the money to build so many artillery, they would have to have such gunners to operate them, right? There are hundreds of cannons set up along the coastline, I'm afraid they are not used to scare ghosts.
In fact, Liu Shang's guess was not wrong. The garrison in Sanya did not have so many gunners. Such measures were more of a show-off to make the people aware of the military's emphasis on defense and create an atmosphere of impregnability in Sanya. What can really play a role in sea defense is actually the powerful coastal defense guns on the fort.
(End of chapter)