afterglow

Chapter 371 Battle Royale!Should we start the smuggling business?

The minesweeper USS Siska sank slowly due to uncontrolled flooding, and the stern of the ship quickly submerged below the sea surface.

When only her bow was still raised out of the sea, Ming warships passed quickly from the left and right one after another, continuing to pursue the other types of ships.

It didn't take long for the minelayer Rigel to become the next target.After she was hit by several consecutive shells, a series of explosions occurred. The entire ship almost fell apart and sank to the bottom of the sea nearly a thousand meters deep at an extremely fast speed.

"Oh hoo!"

"What's this called? It's called 'the enemy flees in disarray and is at the end of his rope'."

The one-sided slaughter of wolves among sheep was extremely satisfying, and the Ming navy officers who participated in the battle were completely immersed in this pleasure.

The previous fierce battles had exhausted the torpedoes of the BDA coalition destroyers, and now the entire fleet could be said to be powerless to fight back - no weapons could pose an effective threat to the Ming army's battle cruisers.

The ten torpedo boats that were barely able to attack the larger ones with small ones were at this moment the Dutch sailors were desperate enough to break away from the fleet and reorganize their formation, charging towards the Ming warships in a wedge formation.

This type of TM-4 torpedo boat was built by the colonial authorities of the Dutch East Indies at the Surabaya Naval Base. The Dutch believed that the flexible, cheap and powerful torpedo boats were very suitable for fighting in the Southeast Asia, which is full of large and small islands, so they built more than ten of them. ship.

Its displacement is only 17.5 tons, and its design and manufacturing are all about economy and improvisation - the engine uses a dismantled aero engine, the torpedo uses a dismantled old destroyer torpedo tube, and the machine gun uses a dismantled self-defense machine gun.

However, these torpedo boats met the three Ming Dynasty destroyers approaching at high speed. The source of the destroyers was a small warship specially designed to deal with torpedo boats, so this counterattack was destined to be meaningless.

The ferocious gunfire makes the small torpedo boats look like floating leaves on a pond under heavy rain. They may be able to avoid most gunfire with their flexibility, but as long as they are hit, it will be fatal.

TM-5 was hit by a 128mm anti-explosive bomb in the middle of the bow of the boat. The shell instantly turned its interior into a purgatory of blood and fire. The two sailors were immediately torn to pieces!

The entire boat lost power, and the leaking gasoline ignited flames, turning it into a floating bonfire that slid by inertia.

If the TM-4 torpedo boat had not been made of wood but of steel, it would have disintegrated directly.

The Dutch sailors gave up this futile and almost suicidal counterattack one after another, and hurriedly threw torpedoes in the general direction.

The three Ming destroyers easily avoided these conspicuous old-fashioned 450mm torpedoes and continued their pursuit without losing speed...

At this time, dozens of Ming Army carrier-based aircraft also began to take action. They were divided into several small formations and took turns attacking.

The heavy cruiser Cornwall was hit by two torpedoes and two aerial bombs from Ming army carrier-based aircraft, and its speed was greatly reduced. Finally, it lost its combat effectiveness after receiving nine rounds of 320mm armor-piercing bombs.

Because there was not even a torpedo left, the other ships could not carry out lightning strikes, so the British sailors could only open the sea valve and sink themselves.

The heavy cruiser Canberra flexibly avoided all aerial torpedoes and was only hit by a 100kg aerial bomb, causing minor damage.

However, its maximum speed was only 31 knots. Facing the pursuing Ming army battle patrol, she was in an embarrassing situation where she could neither fight nor escape.

In the afternoon, her power cabin was severely damaged after being hit by three artillery shells. She was only able to reach a speed of 6 knots and was almost paralyzed.

The excited destroyer Juye took the lead, hoping to achieve this result with a small blow.

She fired fiercely while accelerating her approach, first firing three torpedoes at a distance of 6000 meters, and then after getting closer, she fired the remaining six torpedoes at a distance of 4000 meters.

In the past, the mighty heavy cruiser Canberra was the largest warship of the Australian Navy and was undoubtedly its pride, but now it seems to be bullied by dogs.

"Torpedo! Starboard 2500 yards!"

Faced with the rapidly approaching torpedoes, the Australian sailors had no choice but to watch them getting closer and closer to their beloved ship.

"Da da da -" Someone unwillingly controlled the machine gun to shoot at the white track, and a series of machine gun bullets splashed waves on the sea.

But the medium of water is no better than air. The bullet stops after entering the water and traveling for a few meters. How can it damage a torpedo traveling at a depth of six or seven meters?
Four torpedoes hit the Canberra one after another. Although one failed to detonate successfully, the outcome remained the same.

The [-]-ton cruiser soon tilted to the right, and the Australian officers and soldiers began to try to fill the left cabin with water to maintain balance.

But this approach was meaningless. The three holes on the starboard side were too big. The turbulent water quickly filled most of the cabins on the right side. The Canberra was destined to be destroyed.

The densely packed Australian sailors looked like ants from a distance. They pulled the hull of the ship and jumped into the sea with a splash.

The officers and soldiers of the Juye were delighted. Their ship was the Pingyang-class ship No. 29, which is the oldest first-class destroyer in service in the Ming Dynasty. The first ship was launched in the 15th year of Zhichang.

This time, he actually successfully killed a cruiser that was eight times his size, which was really gratifying.

This battle royale at sea lasted until the afternoon of that day. During the five-hour pursuit, the two Ming army battlecruisers went on a killing spree and harvested many coalition warships.

The two heavy cruisers Cornwall and Canberra sank successively; none of the dozens of old and slow minesweepers and minelayers escaped and were all sunk.

Most of the remaining ships were also sunk and sank at the bottom of the Savu Sea.

The only ones who managed to escape were two fleeing destroyers, four torpedo boats, and the Dutch light cruiser Tromp.

In this way, the "Snow Bass" breakout operation implemented by the BDA coalition ended in a disastrous failure. No organized surface force in the entire Far East could restrain the Ming Dynasty Navy.

That evening, Old Port.

"Come on! Do it!"

"This battle was so hearty and enjoyable!"

"Congratulations to Daming!"

"As long as we capture Java, our country can run Nanyang with peace of mind from now on... The future is so bright."

In the elegant hall on the sixth floor of the Fidelity Hotel, a group of generals from the army, navy and air force gathered here to share the joy of victory in the naval battle of Lombok Strait while drinking wine.

There were many Yingying Yanyan present who were also laughing and joking together, all of them were graceful and graceful in pink and white.

Some are playing music, some are drinking wine close to their bodies, some are covering their mouths and smiling; some are wearing light shirts and skirts, holding folding fans, some are wearing low-cut evening gowns and lace mesh hats, and some are wearing slim-fitting clothes. Wearing a short robe and black suspenders on her legs.

Zhou Changfeng was also present, but to his embarrassment he discovered that not all of these local socialites in Old Port could speak fluent Nanjing Mandarin.

For example, a charming beauty who impressed him previously was proficient in Dutch, English, Cantonese, and Hakka, but speaking plastic Mandarin was really a headache. "...The British and Dutch are simply vulnerable to you. A general like General Zhou will definitely leave his name in history in the future."

"Yes, yes, for someone as talented as you, your lady must be extraordinary. Isn't she the kind of alluring beauty?"

In recent days, Zhou Changfeng has been troubled by this bunch of people. There are almost no interruptions in all kinds of invitations. He really can't avoid going to a banquet. From beginning to end, people have recommended themselves to be pillows, which makes him very speechless.

"It's an exaggeration. It's not like it will bring down the country and the city." Zhou Changfeng, who was smiling, shook the cup in his hand, "But we have seen each other and think that we are very suitable for each other. Well, that's it."

Before the operation was about to be launched, a big banquet was held and many local socialites were entertained. This behavior was undoubtedly very bad in the eyes of Zhou.

However, everyone's interest was too high, so Qiu Peisheng, the commander-in-chief of the Third Army, reluctantly agreed.

In order to avoid leaking secrets before the war, these Yingying Yanyans at the banquet will later receive "special hospitality" - temporarily house arrest in a nearby hotel that has been quarantined.

At this time, a woman with the pseudonym Yaosheng saluted and asked softly: "By the way, General Zhou, are you willing to do some small business?"

"small business?"

"That's right, I made a lot of profit by taking some big items to Ming Dynasty through you."

"Big items?" Zhou Changfeng's expression remained unchanged, but he turned his head and stared into the tall woman's eyes. "What do you want to sell?"

The latter was a little frightened by his gaze, "No...I dare not hide it from you, it's just...a car or something like that."

Yeah, smuggling, right?
Zhou Changfeng really couldn't hold it back. He stretched out his index finger and scanned the surroundings, and asked in a dumbfounded voice: "How dare you mention such a thing to me on such an occasion? Do you want to squat in a cage?"

Yao Sheng shook her head slightly, blinked, and said softly: "It's just a discussion. My little lady knows you won't do that."

Her gesture was as childish as a child's trick to Zhou Changfeng. He was about to refuse, but suddenly thought of a long-term plan he had envisioned before.

Uh...it seems like you really need a fund unknown to the outside world?

Considering that smuggling a small number of cars has no impact on local enterprises in Ming Dynasty that are full of orders, and the lost tariffs are only a drop in the bucket compared to the whole country, does this really seem to be considered?

After hesitating for a few seconds, he muttered: "Let's talk about it later."

Is this a play?

Yao Sheng was particularly surprised when she heard this. She had no expectations when she accepted this job, but she didn't expect it to be an unexpected surprise?
In fact, it has been a tradition of the Ming Dynasty for the generals and nobles stationed along the coast to engage in smuggling. It is almost a normal state.

Zhou Changfeng had been waiting for an imperial edict in the army for some time, and he was somewhat familiar with some of the money-making operations of the generals stationed in the three provinces of Fujian, Guangdong and Zhejiang.

In fact, the emperor and the court knew almost everything about this, but they turned a blind eye. Since business is not allowed, it is indeed necessary to leave some gray ways of making money for the generals. Just don’t go too far. It is better than eating empty pay. Drinking soldiers' blood is less harmful.

The next day, the eighth day of April.

Beginning in the early morning, a large number of Ming army aircraft rushed towards Java. The troops were divided into multiple routes and violently attacked the airport in Batavia, the beachhead in Serang, and the railway lines around Bandung.

The Dutch-Indian Army Air Force and the Ming Dynasty Air Force, which were trying their best to defend Batavia, launched a life-and-death fight. Citizens could witness with their own eyes the scenes of fighter planes from both sides flying up and down in the air, fighting and shooting.

The downed plane fell downwards, dragging black smoke. After hitting the ground, a large ball of flames burst out, and a few scattered umbrella flowers floated in the sky.

The buzzing roar is endless, and this immersive scene is much more shocking than an air show or something like that!
CW-21 fighter jets were shot down one after another. Without the necessary protection, they were as brittle as tissue paper. Many fighter jets disintegrated on their own as they were strafed, caught on fire, and fell.

These newly arrived fighter jets were finally assembled at the Army Aviation Aircraft Repair Factory in Bandung over days and nights. They didn't even have time to apply paint, and the appearance was just a metallic silver bare aluminum alloy fuselage.

"Wow! Cheng Ming, Cheng Ming, did you see that the plane just fell apart?!"

The Ming Army pilots were also surprised by the fragility of these enemy aircraft. I don't know who started it. They began to call the CW-21 a "glass plane."

The CW-21 with excellent combat performance actually caused some trouble for the Ming army at the beginning, but its fault tolerance rate was too low, and most of the Dutch pilots lacked experience in flying this type of aircraft and failed to fully exploit its strengths and avoid its weaknesses.

In three consecutive air battles from early morning to noon, the participating Ming Dynasty Air Force was shot down 10 fighter jets and 3 bombers, while the Dutch and Indian Army Air Forces were shot down 22 fighter jets, and more than a dozen of various types were blown up. On runways and hangars.

The Type 100 light bombers of the Ming Dynasty Air Force dropped about twenty 250kg timed aerial bombs at the Batavia Airport, as well as a dozen [-]kg aerial bombs using delay fuses.

The latter detonates deep into the runway, blasting out a deep and large crater; the former detonates regularly according to 45 minutes, one and a half hours, three hours, four hours, etc.

The combination of the two can significantly slow down the speed of the Dutch and Indian troops in repairing the runway, and control the air superiority in their own hands.

At this point, the BDA coalition's naval force has been completely destroyed, the air force has also suffered heavy losses, and the remaining fighter planes have been temporarily suppressed on the ground.

The defense of Java can only rely on the ground forces that seem to be quite substantial. Although they have suffered varying degrees of losses in a series of previous defensive operations, as of April 8, there are still as many as [-] army troops gathered in Java. .

Among them, there are 4 Dutch and Indian troops, more than 3 British and Indian troops, more than [-] British troops, more than [-] Australian troops, and about [-] local militia troops.

Moreover, their heavy weapons and armored vehicles are almost intact. Even excluding artillery and armored vehicles, there are nearly [-] tanks alone.

According to the finalized battle plan, the Ming army divided into two lines of attack. The west line landed in Serang and captured Batavia; the east line landed in Cirebon and went south through Tangning'an to capture Zilaza.

The core military location on the island of Java is Bandung, located slightly west of the center, where the BDA coalition headquarters is also located.

Once the east-route troops achieve their goals, the entire Java Island will be divided into two, with the east and west isolated. The coalition forces with Bandung and Surabaya as the core can only fight on their own.

The first to launch the attack was the West Road. Starting at ten o'clock in the morning, two regiments of the Eighth Division of the Ming Army had come ashore one after another and began to comprehensively attack the local defenders' defense lines.

The attack in the middle started later and was not about to be launched until [-] p.m.

The Donglu Ming Army had the 9000st Marine Brigade as the core, and was equipped with a battalion from the [-]st Tank Brigade and a battalion from the [-]rd Field Heavy Artillery Brigade, with a total strength of more than [-] people.

"Already approaching the coast, prepare to destroy and shoot."

Zhou Changfeng put down the telescope, "There are no decent fortifications, just a simple bombardment. The faster we land, the better."

(End of this chapter)