Chapter Thirty-Four: Ambush Turns into Pursuit

  Around 9:00 pm that evening, the Japanese and Russian fleets, which were sailing in parallel, suddenly changed formation. The Japanese Combined Fleet's formation suddenly shifted from two columns to four, and all ships accelerated to high speed, disregarding the Russian fleet's formation on their right flank, making a sharp right turn and charging towards the rear of the Russian fleet.

  The Russians were shocked by the sudden action of the Japanese, seeing the entire Japanese fleet rushing towards the rear of their own fleet at high speed, thinking that the Japanese would take advantage of their speed to nibble away at the Russian fleet bit by bit. The six battleships lined up on the far left immediately sounded the alarm and began to increase their combat speed, turning left to block the Japanese fleet's attack on the rear of their own fleet.

  Who knew the Japanese didn't fire a shot, braving Russian gunfire, and sailed directly through the rear of the Russian fleet towards Kyushu Island. The Russian fleet fired shells at the Japanese fleet while retreating at high speed towards Vladivostok, watching as the Japanese seemed to be fleeing for their lives, leaving the Russians bewildered.

  The Russians didn't know what the Japanese were up to, but all levels of commanders in the Taiwanese submarines beneath the surface immediately reacted. The Japanese are trying to escape! Instantly, the submarines lurking around received orders from the command boat, freely intercepting and pursuing the fleeing Japanese and Russian fleets, competing to annihilate them completely based on distance.

  The order to annihilate is an order to annihilate, but in this case, even the submarine commander Gao Jianguo knew that it was just a fantasy. In the dark of night, chasing after dozens of surface warships and trying to annihilate them was basically impossible. As long as the enemy wanted to escape, they only needed to identify the direction, turn off their lights, and run a few kilometers to shake off the submarine's trail. Although Taiwanese submarines were equipped with active sonar, it was difficult to distinguish which ship was where in such a chaotic battlefield. They could only rely on rough directions to chase after low-speed vessels. As for ships like destroyers, torpedo boats, and fast cruisers, even if the submarine went all out, it couldn't catch up.

  For a time, the originally calm sea surface suddenly burst into flames, which was the firelight emitted by Japanese and Russian warships hit by torpedoes. Dozens of Taiwanese submarines underwater received the attack order and selected their pre-selected targets in the shortest possible time to launch an attack. With the guidance of the firelight, most of the Japanese and Russian battleships and logistics ships that had not escaped far from the sea surface exposed their traces and were subjected to more intense underwater attacks.

  Because the Japanese had made tactical preparations in advance, that is, no matter who was attacked, other ships must return to Japan's coastal ports at high speed, slow down or stop to rescue, and not even fire cannons at suspicious targets. The only word is escape!

  So the four Japanese fleets, after discovering that their own ships were being attacked, went even more crazy and fled forward without hesitation. The Russian fleet, on the other hand, was unaware of the existence of this killer submarine and thought it had been ambushed by the Japanese fleet, immediately forming a battle line to protect its logistics ships and damaged warships as they retreated. However, the Russians soon realized that the attack was not from the Japanese, because in the distance, one of the battleships of the Japanese Combined Fleet was burning fiercely, illuminating a large area of the sea.

  If it wasn't the Japanese, then who was it? From ancient times to the present, the unknown has been humanity's most feared enemy. Unable to find a target to attack and being attacked repeatedly itself, the Russian fleet held on for more than half an hour before it could no longer hold on, with the remaining ships fleeing in all directions at full speed.

  Both sides fled on the surface of the water, one side chasing underwater. If there were satellites at that time, from satellite photos, you would see dozens of large and small warships being chased by sea monsters, like headless flies frantically running around on the surface of the sea. At first, it was still possible to distinguish between the Japanese and Russian fleets, but later on, some Japanese warships and Russian warships ran together, shoulder to shoulder, heading in one direction, without fighting each other.

  The cat-and-mouse game continued until deep into the night, and only stopped when the submarine couldn't find its target. Gao Jian was going to tally up the results, but the reports from each boat were repeated due to the chaos on site, so when he looked at the data, he was shocked - according to it, both the Japanese and Russian fleets should have been completely annihilated, and sunk at least twice.

  Although the results were brilliant, Gao Jian Gong was anxious in his heart. The purpose of this operation was to avoid exposing Taiwan's submarines as much as possible. However, due to various factors, the Japanese Navy seemed to have discovered something, resulting in this chaotic situation. The submarine had to launch a premature attack. According to normal calculations, many small and fast warships must have broken through, whether they were Russian or Japanese. This time, Taiwan's submarines could not be hidden. As for the outcome of this battle, Gao Jian Gong did not dare guarantee that after returning to Taiwan, the Minister or President would not investigate his command responsibility.

  Although nervous, what needs to be done must still be done. Anyway, it's already exposed. Gao Jianguo sent an urgent telegram to the Taiwan Navy General Staff, asking for further instructions and suggesting a surprise attack on the Japanese naval port. According to the information provided by various submarines, not many Russian warships escaped, and most of them did not flee in the direction of Vladivostok, but rather towards Korea, mainland China, or even Taiwan. The Japanese fleet mostly fled to their own military ports, so if they can be pursued in a timely manner, it's possible to destroy some more Japanese ships near the port.

  Liu Ye received the battle report from Gao Jianguo in Taiwan, not feeling unexpected or disappointed. From the Japanese fleet at the beginning to the Eight-Nation Alliance Navy two years ago, the Taiwanese submarine force had launched a surprise attack four times in a row, although they were all successful, but the last time was still discovered by some ships of the Eight-Nation Alliance. If it weren't for the Qing government hastily taking responsibility, the Taiwanese submarines might have been exposed last time. After these years of development, Taiwan's economy, industry, and national defense had undergone significant changes compared to that time. Moreover, the European powers themselves had many problems, and their attention to Asia had gradually weakened in recent years. Liu Ye was no longer afraid to expose the strength of the Taiwanese Navy. Even if the British, French, American, and German navies were united, they might not be able to do much to Taiwan. At most, it would be a brief skirmish, with Taiwan's ports being destroyed, but then the ports of various countries in Asia would also be uncomfortable. On the other hand, these countries were not necessarily able to unite for Japan or Russia. Germany and Britain were already on the verge of breaking out in Europe, while France and Germany were sworn enemies. It was a good thing if they didn't fight each other; it wasn't certain that they could work together just because of Japan or Russia.

  After seeing Gao Jian's suggestion, Liu Fei felt that the new commander of the first submarine squadron had a good vision and momentum, more aggressive than his predecessor. With the mentality of "having nothing to lose", Liu Fei approved this suggestion, but in the order, he strictly ordered the submarine troops to infiltrate the Japanese military port, so as not to cause unnecessary losses, and even if they sank or were damaged, they should try to blow them up before sinking, rather than leaving them outside the Japanese harbor.

  When Gao Jian-gong received Liu Rui's new order, he had already led more than 70 intact submarines to the north of Pinghai Island in Japan. Due to the chaotic battle at night, several submarines were damaged by warships that were running around and could not follow the main force to fight. Gao Jian-gong had already divided out a few submarines to escort the injured submarines to the rendezvous point to replenish supplies with the replenishment ship, so as to return to Taiwan for repairs.

  When the submarine fleet arrived at the western entrance of Sasebo Military Port, the sky was already dimly lit, and the morning fog was rising from the water surface. For this port of Sasebo, Taiwanese submarines are not unfamiliar. As the Taiwan Navy regards the Japanese Navy as its first hypothetical enemy, almost every week, three submarines will conduct reconnaissance patrols outside the military port. They not only transport some intelligence personnel from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to nearby islands but also record in detail all movements within the military port and bring them back to Taiwan for the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Naval Staff Headquarters to sort out as strategic materials.

  At that time, submarines as underwater weapons had not been widely equipped in various countries, so the concept of anti-submarine warfare was basically not discussed. The Sasebo naval port, apart from some surface mines, used patrol boats and armed merchant ships as early warning facilities to detect enemy traces and then use favorable terrain and shore batteries to strike back. However, for submarines that sneak in quietly underwater, there is basically no defense or countermeasure.

  Out of caution, Gao Jian-gong only dispatched three small teams to attack the 30 submarines entering the military port in batches. The remaining submarines were hidden on the west side of the exit, north and south respectively, as a backup force.