"How many ships have gone out?"
Amid the gently undulating waves of Colombo Port, a shirtless, muscular man was staring from the water through a specially constructed telescope called a periscope at the British warships leaving the port one after another in the darkness. Wiping the sweat that was pouring out of his forehead with a towel.
The job of hiding in a submarine to monitor enemy ports, especially those in the tropics, is really not done by humans. It was stuffy and hot inside the submarine, and there were dozens of rough guys stuffed inside the stuffy canned submarine. As time went by, the cabin was filled with the smell of engine oil, diesel and sweat. And recently, the British also know that the Ming Dynasty Navy has ships that can sneak underwater! So they also thought of some anti-submarine methods, including "watching" and "exploding".
The so-called "seeing" is to let the lookout soldiers look underwater or on the water surface from the lookout post of the ship or the low-flying airship. Submarines in this era cannot submerge for a long time because they cannot use diesel engines when submersing. The battery drives the propeller, not to mention the slow speed. The battery has limited power, so the time it can support the submarine's submersion is also very short. Under normal circumstances, submarines only dive for a while when they are close to enemy ships or enemy ports. They usually float most of the time, especially when they are on the road. And when floating, it is easy to be discovered by the airship! Even if the submarine is in a submersible state, as long as it is not late at night, the lookout can still roughly determine the location of the submarine through the periscope, snorkel and the tracks left by the launched steam gas torpedo on the sea surface. Sometimes, if the water is particularly clear and the submarine does not dive deep enough, the lookout can even see the submarine in the water through the returning water.
And after seeing the submarine, of course he dropped bombs into the water! The reason why a bomb explodes underwater and breaks through the shell of a submarine can be quickly figured out by the British IQ. After all, this reason is the same as that of a torpedo breaking through the thick shell of a battleship.
So the British quickly figured out a way to drop bombs into the sea, and they also equipped the bombs with a hydraulic fuse and a trigger fuse, which could explode when a certain water pressure was reached or it hit the hull of the front boat.
In recent months, many submarines have been reported to have been bombed, and five submarines have disappeared. Therefore, the Ming Navy Submarine Command issued an order not long ago requiring all submarines not to approach enemy ships during the day, and all active attacks can only be launched at night! At the same time, submarines must also be particularly careful when performing reconnaissance and mine-laying missions and must not approach the enemy's heavily guarded ports during the day.
However, the Western Fleet of the Ming Navy did not relax its surveillance of the Port of Colombo - the location of this port is too important, and it is the last supply base before the British Royal Navy's Indian Fleet goes deep into the Indian Ocean to carry out combat missions. The Port of Colombo is about 1,000 nautical miles away from Mumbai, which means that the Colombo base can give the Indian Grand Fleet an additional 1,000 nautical miles.
Moreover, because the British have been operating in Colombo for many years, the port facilities here are good, and there are also shipyards that can repair and maintain large ships. The Hindustan Shipyard has also opened a branch factory in Colombo, which can handle any level of British ships in Colombo. The ship undergoes major repairs.
Therefore, the Indian Grand Fleet can not only carry out final supplies before going to war in Colombo, but can even conduct final overhaul here... Engineers and workers from Hindustan Shipyard will ensure that all ships can have the best state.
Because this port is so important, the Western Fleet of the Ming Navy dispatched submarines, airships, camouflaged reconnaissance ships, and electronic signal monitoring ships to monitor the port 24 hours a day.
During the day, airships and reconnaissance vessels disguised as large fishing boats are active in the skies and sea near Colombo. At night, the submarines assigned to the Western Fleet will approach quietly, use periscopes to conduct reconnaissance, and then release ten or eight mines...
"Thirty-three ships have already left, and there is a steady stream of them coming from behind!" Major Luo Dagui, the captain of the large ocean-going submarine B-33, who was observing with a periscope himself, blinked and whispered, "*** , Tonight is the day when the British fleet will leave port... It's a pity that all our torpedoes have been fired, otherwise we would have made a great contribution tonight!"
"It can't be that simple." Lieutenant Luo Zenan, the first mate of the submarine, who has the same surname as Luo Daguang but a different ancestry, stroked his mustache and said in Hunan Mandarin, "The area around Colombo Port is full of mines laid by the British army. There are no precise Who dares to rush into the channel map? And their minelayers will adjust it every few days. Last month, one of our camouflaged reconnaissance ships hit a mine while approaching for reconnaissance at night. I heard that the thirty All of them...sigh!"
"Luoshan (Luo Zenan's account number), don't sigh. In a war... there are no immortals!" Luo Dayou comforted his old buddy, and then ordered loudly, "Radio station, contact The command department... reported to them that the British Ghost Fleet is leaving Colombo Port!"
"Yes, sir!"
Following a series of radio waves sent out by the B-33, the Admiral of the Western Fleet in the Temasek Fortress soon learned that the British Grand Fleet had finally completed its rest and supplies, and began to launch a large-scale attack.
It was still midnight when the news came. Fleet Chief of Staff Rear Admiral Luo Bingzhang, who was staying at the Admiralty Department of the Western Fleet on the night shift, did not dare to neglect and quickly hung up the phone to Admiral Li Chenghui who was sleeping with Xin Na's Japanese concubine in his arms. .
Half an hour later, the Admiral of the Western Fleet in Temasek Fortress became lively. Admiral Li, who hurried over, shouted loudly as soon as he entered the combat command center: "Ru Zhai (Luo Bingzhang), where is our aircraft carrier?" ?」
"The first aircraft battle was near the Great Strait...still searching for the British aircraft carrier group that left Colombo 10 days ago."
Chief of Staff Luo Da is talking about the first aviation team of the Western Fleet - the Western Fleet also has one Shu Zhongwang class, one Guangdong class, and two Liaodong class. After learning that an aircraft carrier group of the British Navy had left Colombo 10 days ago, they were immediately dispatched to set up ambush near the Andaman Sea and the Great Strait. Li Chenghui and Luo Bingzhang's idea was quite novel. They wanted to fight a battle between aircraft carriers. The decisive battle.
Unfortunately, although they had a good idea, the first flight they sent out went around for ten days and found nothing.
The British Royal Navy's aircraft carrier formation that penetrated deep into the Indian Ocean seemed to have disappeared into the sea, completely losing its trace!
Now the main force of the British Royal Navy's Indian Fleet has been dispatched again, but be sure not to lose sight of it again...if that happens, the people of the Western Fleet will be lost!
The Indian Ocean Fleet of the British Royal Navy is the opponent of the Western Fleet. Whether it can defeat it is another matter. What if they disappear under the nose?
"Let Yihang go out to the vicinity of Ceylon Island to search carefully before the war!" Li Chenghui thought for a while and then said, "Send the order...all hands are dispatched!"
"Junmen, are you dispatching now?"
"Yes!" Li Chenghui nodded, "They will definitely stare at us... Let's move out in large numbers and enter the Andaman Sea, pretending to attack India. Maybe we can lure them over for a decisive battle! "
