Chapter 46: Hunting and Killing

  On the morning of July 16, the Houying was heading northeast at a speed of 14 knots through the Ryukyu Islands, while the Zhangliang was sailing towards Nagasaki at a speed of 13 knots in the northern part of the East China Sea. The smaller Jingke, Nie Zheng, Zhuan Zhu and Yao Li were paired up, moving slowly eastward into the depths of the East China Sea at a speed of 8 knots. According to plan... Oh, plans changed.

  At 6:27, in the thin morning fog, the lookout on the Houyuan first spotted the target. "Bearing 11 points, a ship has been discovered... Bearing 11 points, a fleet of ships has been discovered... Distance 16,000 meters, large ships... Course 240, speed 16-18 knots; closing in on our vessel."

  The alarm sounded, "Battle stations." The captain looked through binoculars and gave orders: "Yes, two large ships, in line ahead, at least three small ones, there should be more on the other side. We... reduce speed by half, left 5 degrees, no, left 10 degrees."

  At 6:34, in the gradually dispersing morning fog, "Enemy ship, bearing 1 point, small aircraft carrier, seaplane tender, multiple destroyers, speed 17 knots, distance 12,000 meters, course 240, approaching our ship." The captain ordered: "Dive at half speed."

  At 3:36, the Houyin submarine dived underwater and slowly adjusted its course at a speed of 4 knots to approach the enemy aircraft carrier formation.

  At 6:50, inside the Houying, which was underwater, voices were lowered to a whisper. "2 o'clock direction, distance 3000 meters, speed 17 knots, heading towards the aircraft carrier, ah, Fengxiang! It's Fengxiang! The rear ship is an unidentified class of seaplane tender, about 7000 tons; there are four destroyers in X-formation on the outer perimeter. Be careful, right 5 degrees, accelerate, we're moving forward."

  "Captain, which ship should we hit?" The navigator asked while calculating the trajectories of both sides.

  "Of course it's Phoenix! Unless they're turning now. Recalculate the strike angle."

  6:52, "Recalculated without error!", the periscope rose again, "Distance 1400 meters, speed 17 knots, course 240 unchanged. Target Fengxiang No., fire torpedo 1, fire torpedo 3, fire torpedo 2, fire torpedo 4!"

  4 German-made G7e torpedoes were fired at 3-second intervals, and the Ph?nix was approaching at a medium speed. Both sides were closing in on each other at speeds of over 45 knots. The Ph?nix discovered the torpedoes when they were less than 500 meters away, barely having time to transmit the order for full right rudder to the engine room.

  Hou Ying's first shot hit 64 seconds later, followed by the second and third shots. Feng Xiang was blown out of three large holes in the left middle and rear sections in three consecutive massive explosions, and tilted over 1 within tens of seconds. The reports and shouts from the ships were already chaotic.

  The 3 consecutive explosions within a thousand meters were not felt, but the Houying shook violently from side to side. More than half of the people inside the submarine were biting their towels or collars, desperately suppressing their joyful cheers. Only the captain calmly ordered after lowering the periscope: "Four hits, three sunk. Turn right 15 degrees, dive at half speed to 60 meters."

  "Relying on Fengxiang? Let them even if they find it can't throw depth charges?" The navigation captain asked in a low voice.

  The captain smiled: "Boss said it was taught by Mr. Song, haha. However, we are about to slip away, I think heading 330 is not bad, can use that turning seaplane carrier to cover us; heard Mr. Song say the enemy's sonar is very poor, but we still drive slowly." So, the Houying sailed slowly northwest at a depth of 60 meters and a speed of 4 knots.

  At 7:09, the 7,500-ton Hosho, humanity's first aircraft carrier, sank tragically into the Pacific Ocean after 15 years of service, taking with her over 200 crew members and 18 aircraft; two destroyers escorted the seaplane tender to safety at full speed, while another pair were busy rescuing survivors from the water, none of the four destroyers had time to drop depth charges, although it's more likely that the Japanese sonar was too poor to detect the target in the chaos.

  Around the same time, Zhang Liang discovered an enemy transport convoy heading west, but it did not enter the submarine's attack range. Zhang Liang abandoned the attack and continued northward.

  Jiangyin Fortress

  "Little brother, you should return to Nanjing now! They need you more there! The national situation is difficult, take good care of yourself!"

  "Take care of yourself, brother!"

  I boarded Zhou Zhirou's private car and sped south towards Nanjing.

  Looking back, Chen Shaokuan was nowhere to be seen. Zhou Zhirou smiled and said: "Houfu is having a bad day today! Even the Thunderbolt Squadron, who were always looked down upon by them, achieved a great victory. Outsiders say that the Navy is this and that, but the Navy itself... Hahaha!"

  "Hundred Fortune brother, I have high hopes for the submarine fleet, it can produce great results! On the other hand, your air force's follow-up strength is difficult to maintain!"

  "Hmm, Director Chen has sent his brother Ziwu to negotiate with Russia for arms imports and military aid; there's a large order of fighter planes." Zhou Zhijun said, "They've recommended two types of fighters to us, the I-15 and I-16. They suggest we buy some of each and use them in combination, do you know anything about this, younger brother?"

  "I heard in Germany that Russian fighters pursue single-seater performance, one type mainly emphasizes maneuverability with general speed suitable for dogfighting between fighters, and the other type excels at high-speed performance but has poor maneuverability, suitable for attacking enemy bombers; these two types of fighters should be the embodiment of this guiding ideology."

  "Brother, how do these two fighter jets compare to the new model of the Japanese military?"

  "Brother Baifu, you should ask your fighter pilots about this!"

  "I've asked before, the new fighter jet of the Japanese military is very fast, estimated to have a top speed of over 420 km/h, and its maneuverability is extremely good! I just don't know how the Russian plane compares?"

  I thought for a moment, "The Russian plane's pursuit of speed should be about the same as the Japanese army's high-speed, and the pursuit of maneuverability is similar to our Hawker, but slightly worse than the Japanese plane. I suggest that the air force ask Russia to provide us with a high-speed aircraft with enhanced firepower, such as 2 heavy machine guns or 4 regular machine guns, otherwise these planes are not effective for us and it's not worth spending a lot of money to buy!" Although this "high price" was actually paid by the French who were about to go bankrupt, I secretly smiled.

  "Why?"

  "With the large-scale deployment of the new fighter jets by the Japanese army, even if we have roughly the same number of fighter jets, we are still at a numerical disadvantage and cannot compete with the Japanese army. What's more, we may not be able to purchase better fighter jets; our only option is to avoid engaging with Japanese fighter jets and focus on attacking bombers instead. Russian-made fighter jets are both fast and durable, and enhancing their firepower would make them an excellent choice for taking down bombers. As for importing even better fighter jets, you'll have to wait a few more years!" A few more years? Thinking about the horrors of the Zero Fighter and World War I is heartbreaking!

  I continued: "Russia's twin-engine bombers are not bad, if the chairman must import them, they can be considered, anyway, their range is far and can replace heavy bombers; as for their heavy bombers, they are just junk."

  Zhou Zhirou thought for a moment, "Alright, I'll go with you to Song Gongguan and first find Brother Ziwen to talk about it!"

  At this time, in the northern waters of the East China Sea, under the strict protection of two cruisers and more than a dozen destroyers, Kaga and Ryūjō were receiving the Akagi Air Corps flying from the mainland via Korea. Three 96 carrier fighter squadrons and four 94 carrier bomber squadrons landed one after another to make up for the heavy losses of the previous day. At the same time, a giant warship anchored in the island was lifting its anchor and preparing to set sail. Soon, Chikuma, Mogami, Soryu, Aoba, Kinugasa and others sailed out of the anchorage under the close escort of a group of destroyers.

  At noon we arrived in Nanjing. I didn't care what they said, as soon as I got off the car, I rushed into my room and hugged Yunyan tightly, "My wild goose!"

  Yunyan smiled and pushed him away, "Don't bump into the baby."

  "Right, dear, and no welcome for this great hero either?"

  "Hah! You're just a dismissed junior advisor? Still acting like a big hero?" Yun Yan burst out laughing.

  "Without me making arrangements, can you win the battle?"

  "Don't be shy!"

  Several hours later, under repeated urging from Big Brother and Zhou Zhi Rou, I finally went with them to the government office.

  Not yet entering the conference room door, I heard Old Chiang laughing loudly, "Haha haha, great, well done! Who would have thought that the world's first aircraft carrier was made in Japan, and even more unexpected is that we are the ones who sank it!"

  "Has Fengxiang been sunk?" I also laughed, the last Rui Ben aircraft carrier in history sank first!

  "I don't know who shouted: 'And we sank that No. 1 ship of theirs! Haha!'"

  As we entered, Old Chiang smiled and said: "Ziwen, Zian you're here! Haha! What a great victory! Also thanks to Zian's friendship with the German, otherwise we wouldn't have gotten these 6 submarines!"

  After exchanging a few pleasantries, Old Chiang and Big Brother went off to discuss business; I then found Chen Bulei and asked, "Mr. Yanju, how is Mu Yinbrother?"

  "Zi'an ah! Mu Yin has overworked and relapsed into his old illness, he's gone to Zhongyang Hospital for treatment; I'm afraid he won't be able to work so hard again in the future!"

  "Oh, where is the servant's quarters now?"

  "By Wen Bai Guan."

  "Why hasn't Mr. Bai Li shown up?"

  "After you left, Baili brother was sent by the chairman of the committee to find aid in Europe. When he left, he recommended that you take his place!"

  "What?" I was shocked, "How could it be me? Not Mr. Geng Guang?"

  Chen Bulei smiled wryly and said, "You just left, and then Geng Liang brother had a quarrel with the Chairman of the Committee. This is the summary of military intelligence from 12 days ago to now. Trouble you to take a look! I still have to go eat dinner while the Chairman is in a good mood."

  He walked away with a swagger, leaving me and several attendants and advisors stunned.