Age of Rebirth

When the night wind and thick clouds covered the sky full of stars and accumulated over the Strait of Malacca, none of the beacon lights on both sides of the Strait that originally guided the passing ships was lit up, including the side controlled by the Americans.

Tang Qiuquan sneered, and said to Xin Xiguo, Chief of Staff of the Fleet: "It seems that the Americans are destined to make small moves, order the fleet, implement blackout, turn on the navigation radar, and there is no beacon light. We will pass through Malacca as usual. Report to division headquarters."

Tang Qiuquan, who was very angry in his heart, didn't know that MacArthur was going crazy. Two telegrams with the same deterrent force were spread out on the table. MacArthur held his head that was about to explode, thinking about how to strike a balance again, neither to annoy the Japanese nor to offend Tang Qiuli, even Chief of Staff Stilwell The general came in and didn't notice.

When Stilwell saw the commander's posture, he knew that he had encountered a problem. After reading the two telegrams, the two sat together and studied for a long time with their two heads, but they didn't have a good idea. During the time in the waters of Singapore, MacArthur finally made up his mind to choose the lesser of two evils. The threat of the Japanese is greater than that of Tang Qiuli.

After all, Tang Qiuli is a power in China, while Japan is a country. At this moment, MacArthur's heart is tilted towards the Japanese, and he would rather offend Tang Qiuli than the Japanese. Apart from ordering the beacon light to be turned off, In addition, through secret channels, the specific time when the independent division fleet passed the Strait of Malacca was disclosed to the Japanese. [

After doing these activities, MacArthur was already exhausted, without a trace of strength. He knew that the risk of doing this by himself was for the Japanese.He thinks that he has already done enough, and the specific time will be revealed to you, and it will not be possible to fight.That's not my MacArthur's problem. It's because you Japanese are too capable. With such a wide waterway, you can't even fly a bird through the shore artillery.

As for Tang Qiuli, he also thought of an excuse, the beacon light was being overhauled.Although it is far-fetched, it is also an excuse, isn't it, the Chinese will not beat himself up because of such a trivial matter?

As for the passage time, it is better to explain it. It is no wonder that such a huge fleet passed without being discovered by the Japanese.It can only explain that you Chinese have not done a good job of keeping secrets, so what does that have to do with us Americans?As long as the Japanese don't shake things out.Tang Qiuli was kept in the dark and would never know the truth.

Stilwell watched MacArthur jumping up and down and giving orders one after another. He didn't say a word, what could he say?What's more, what the old guy said is what the old guy doesn't want to listen to. The commander's actions are obviously playing with fire. The Japanese will not be satisfied with the little things sent over. Will see.The Japanese asked the U.S. military to take action to intercept the Chinese fleet by force.

As for Tang Qiuli's side, all the actions can't be hidden from the shrewd Chinese. From the fact that the beacon light happened to be turned off, he can reveal a lot of behind-the-scenes things.In Stilwell's view, Tang Qiuli was more terrifying than the Japanese. If he made his own decisions, he would never be as stupid as MacArthur.

This is indeed the case. After Emperor Hirohito received MacArthur's telegram, a sneer appeared on his gloomy face, "That old and cunning American thinks he can deal with it like this? The passing time of the China ship and such rubbish information can't be dealt with." Use it to fool me, the soldiers of the imperial army stationed in the Strait of Malacca, their eyes are wide open, and they use you MacArthur to provide information, it seems that the Americans are not reliable."

At this moment, Emperor Hirohito made a murderous attempt on the Americans. After Tang Qiuli received Tang Qiuquan's telegram, there was no obvious anger, and everything was expected. If he didn't do this, he wouldn't be MacArthur, but , the contemptuous smile on the corner of his mouth became stronger, "Okay, MacArthur has started to play, but the price is something you Americans can't afford."

As the fleet entered the waters off Singapore, Colonel Seinfeld, the captain of the "Longxiang" aircraft carrier, stared closely at the navigation radar. For a large aircraft carrier with a deep draft, there were no beacon lights to indicate, and the night sailing in such a narrow space The waterway is very dangerous, and I cursed in my heart: "Yankees are really nothing. Fortunately, there is a navigation radar, otherwise, I might have hit the rocks just now."

There was a flash of fire on the right bank, and then there was the whistling sound of guns piercing through the air. A large-caliber gun exploded at a distance of less than 500 meters from the aircraft carrier, stirring up a column of water that shot up into the sky. "Damn it, why is the little devil's nose so good? The fleet just entered the channel and started shelling?"

He immediately picked up the intercom, "Headquarters, I'm Seinfeld, the Japanese army started shelling, but the accuracy was a bit off, please tell me, is the carrier plane taking off to fight back? Make the little devil's shore artillery dumb?"

Tang Qiuquan was also surprised. The fleet has not yet entered the narrowest channel, and blackout is implemented. According to normal conditions, sailing at night, without moonlight and starlight, the Japanese shore artillery cannot visually detect the position of the fleet. like know?

He immediately ordered: "Seinfeld, the carrier-based aircraft is ready to attack, don't fight back yet, the Japanese army is conducting a reconnaissance test firing." Immediately, he issued an order, "The fleet enters a combat state and waits for the command of the headquarters." Order."

Qiuquan has to take a lot of risks in doing this. As long as the carrier-based aircraft takes off, other warships can turn off all the lights, but the aircraft carrier cannot. Taking off and landing at night is inherently dangerous. The landing of the plane can only be the result of the crash of the plane, but once the lights are turned on, the two aircraft carriers will be exposed to the artillery fire of the Japanese army and become living targets.

In addition, he also wanted to see if the Japanese bombardment was blind shooting, but he was wrong. Not long after the first shot fell, the direction of Singapore on the right bank was like fireworks. , was pierced by the trailing gun path, one after another, although it did not pose a substantial threat to the fleet, the water column on the sea surface was scary enough.

Tang Qiuquan understood that this was the position of the Japanese coastal artillery, and the purposeful bombardment was carried out. The problem is not serious now. The range of the Japanese coastal artillery cannot reach the position of the fleet. In about an hour, it will enter the narrowest area. In the waterway area, guns would rain down on every warship. Judging from the intensity of the Japanese bombardment, there were no less than a thousand artillery pieces.

Unable to make it through, Qiu Quan had a question in his mind. Why did the Japanese army have such an accurate grasp of the passing time of the fleet, and started shelling when it was within the range of the shore artillery. Could it be that they had learned the news in advance?

Qiuquan is not an impulsive person. The current situation is very unfavorable to the fleet. Continuing to sail is equivalent to sending the fleet to the guns of the Japanese army. The current position can also be returned by the same route. "Order, all ships will be on the spot Break down, keep fighting, and don't fire back without orders!"

The warships stopped advancing one after another, like dark giant beasts, moored quietly on the sea. The front and rear main guns of all warships, the starboard side guns, raised their thick muzzles, and the guns were already loaded, silently aiming at the right bank. The gunners sat on the gun positions, waiting for an order, and fired the guns into the little devil's position.

Relying on the 240 mm caliber naval gun, a large piece of rock can be blown up with one shot, and when they shoot at each other, they are not afraid that he will kill the little devil. On the "Longxiang" aircraft carrier, Tang Yunfei sat quietly In the fighter plane, I watched the fireball-like cannons flying continuously, and looked at the city of Singapore where the cannon fire reflected half of the sky. [

Tang Yunfei has practiced taking off and landing with the lights on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier at night. It can be said that he is very proficient. Not only has he mastered this high-risk technology himself, but when he was the squadron leader, all six fighter-bombers in the squadron had mastered it. Originally, after he served as the captain of the team, he would be widely used in the whole team.

Later, Lieutenant General Tang Qiuquan, the commander of the fleet, discovered that he stopped immediately, and gave Yunfei a hard reprimand. Qiuquan was afraid, these boys are playing with their lives!The fleet was weak in the first place, how could he bear the loss of pilots?

Qiu Quan was very anxious. The fleet was blocked in the Strait of Malacca. The delay would affect the final plan to capture the Japanese Navy's Third Fleet. You can break through, but the subsequent losses will be immeasurable. Even if all the Japanese shore artillery is wiped out, so what?

The goal of the fleet is the Third Fleet. Apart from this goal, nothing else is important. It will be less than seven hours before dawn. After dawn, the fleet will be completely exposed to the sight of the Japanese army, and the difficulties will be even greater. In the fleet headquarters, The atmosphere was so tense that it was hard to breathe.

Qiuquan thought about it, and said to Chief of Staff Xin Xiguo: "Chief of Staff, report the situation to the division immediately. At 21:[-], when our fleet entered the waters of Singapore, it was blocked by the Japanese shore artillery. The coincidence is doubtful! In addition, on the left bank of the Strait of Malacca, all beacon lights in the US-controlled area have been turned off, and I have ordered the fleet to anchor on the spot and wait for the next order from the division headquarters."

Northwest of Yangon, Yangon Township, Yangon Frontline Headquarters of the Independent Division, after Tang Qiuli received the telegram from the fleet, his face was livid, and he roared "Despicable!" His eyes flickered coldly, and he punched the table. Everyone in the room looked up in surprise. The division commander, who was on the verge of going berserk, was the first time he had seen such a fury since he entered the Indochina Peninsula theater.

(To be continued)