Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

At this time, the combat duty officer was making a brief report to Abhishek, commander of the Indian Naval Command in Mannar, when a sergeant suddenly rushed into Abhishek's office and shouted: "The signal tower is signaling that the Chinese are attacking Manar." Nar Naval Port!"

Abhishek's heart rose to his throat, and he rushed out of the house, buttoning up his white military jacket as he ran.On the lawn next to Abhishek's office, the battleship group in the opposite harbor can be clearly seen.Abhishek stood there dumbfounded and watched, only to see the Chinese aircraft circle in a figure-eight shape and throw torpedoes at the warship.He could clearly see the five-clawed golden dragon logo on the wing of the plane.Abhishek's face showed an unbelievable and shocked expression. His distorted face was as pale as the white uniform on his body, and he murmured: "This is not a whim launched by some trek planes." The sky is densely packed with enemy planes."

He stared in the direction of his beloved warships as Chinese bombers swooped past them like bats.He saw the "Rahiva" being thrown out of the water, and then sinking again... The terrible scenes flashed before Abhishek's eyes like a movie out of control, and the speed was too fast for people to see clearly. No time to think.

In this sneak attack on Mannar, China identified the main targets of the attack as the aircraft carrier and battleships of the United Fleet. Since the aircraft carrier was not in the port, the eight battleships parked in the port became the targets of concentrated attack by aircraft. Seven of the eight battleships are moored on the channel called "Battleship Avenue" between Adam Bridge and the Indian Navy Factory. From southwest to northeast, they are: "Marseille", "Rayleigh" and "Konya" , "Oglala" and "Helena", "Manchester", "Liverpool".

The other battleship was Abhishek's flagship, the Rahiva, moored in the southern Naval Shipyard dock.In the north and west of Adam Bridge, there are light and heavy cruisers, destroyers, and various work ships.

The Swordfish torpedo fleet approached the "Battleship Avenue" at an ultra-low altitude, and carried out close-in bombing of the giant battleships lying quietly on the water.I saw an aerial warhawk flying across the sea surface, firing special shallow-water torpedoes with stable tail fins one after another at a very low altitude from the sea surface, and saw blue and white mine trails criss-crossing on the sea surface, galloping towards the parked battleship.Immediately, there was a continuous bang from the side of the ship, water jets rose everywhere, and flames shot up into the sky!

Five minutes after the air strike started, the coalition warships and the anti-aircraft guns on the coast began to fight back, and the dense artillery fire formed a dense barrage in front of the fighter plane's course.At this time, Shen Debian led the horizontal bomber team to the sky above the port. He suddenly felt his plane shake as if hit by a big stick, and hurriedly asked what was going on.The observer sitting in the back reported: "The left side of the fuselage was pierced by shrapnel, half of the rudder was damaged, but it can still fly."

At the risk of the plane crashing, Shen Debian still instructed the guide plane to target the battleship "Liverpool", which was parked on the inside and could not be attacked by torpedoes.After giving the order to drop the bomb, he decided to observe the bombing effect himself.At this moment, he forgot that he was commanding the whole army to fight, and also forgot to avoid the enemy's anti-aircraft artillery fire. He was fascinated by the thrill of that moment.He saw that shortly after the bomb left the plane, it became smaller than a bean and finally disappeared.Looking at the deck of the "Liverpool", it was as big as a laundry tub, and then, like dust bouncing off a carpet, two puffs of white smoke rose from the deck.

"Two bombs hit!" Shen Debian shouted excitedly.

Under the crazily onslaught of the Chinese warhawks, the backbone of the United Fleet—eight battleships suffered fatal blows: the battleship "Liverpool" was hit by two armor-piercing bombs with delayed fuzes, which exploded on the sea outside the ship. There are two large layers of ripples.As the two bombs penetrated the armor and exploded inside the ship, the ship suffered considerable damage.The hull tilted 8 meters, a fire ignited on the ship, and thick smoke billowed.

Under the concentrated attack of the torpedo fleet, the "Rayleigh" was hit by 12 torpedoes one after another. Lie down and plunge into the water.Many sailors lay prone on the hard-to-stand hull, afraid of falling into the burning sea of ​​fire.Fortunately, there was the "Liverpool" beside the ship's side. Although the ship had also been shot and burned, it had not yet capsized. Therefore, many people lying on the hull of the "Rayleigh" climbed onto the "Liverpool" with the help of their partners. number, but more people sank to the bottom of the sea with the ship.On the second day after the ship sank, ambulance personnel used welding torches and steam hammers to open several gaps in the hull of the overturned "Rayleigh", rescued the crew trapped in the cabin, and rescued 32 people. However, although those crew members who were far away from the gap shouted in the cabin, the ambulance personnel outside could not hear them.When they realized that outsiders could not come to save them, they wrote their names and suicide notes on the partition with chalk, and then died slowly and painfully.

The "Konya" was hit by two torpedoes, and the heavy oil depot on the ship caught fire. In order to prevent the ammunition depot from exploding, the captain ordered the ammunition depot to be filled with water.Unexpectedly, this action exacerbated the heeling and sinking of the giant ship.In desperation, the captain ordered to abandon the ship.However, how to leave the ship has become a big problem, because on the water surface around the "Konya", a layer of heavy oil up to 30 centimeters thick is burning. Without being burned to death, you can only swim out under the oil layer, which is difficult for ordinary people to do.As the "Konya" slowly sank, most of the crew members struggling in the sea of ​​​​fire were burned to death.

Three Thousand Miles of Wind and Thunder Chapter 684 Let the bomb fly!

The battleship "Manchester" was pierced through the steel deck by an armor-piercing projectile, causing the bow ammunition compartment to explode and sparking a pyrotechnic column hundreds of meters high.People clearly saw the bodies of some people flying into the sky amidst the explosives, and the turret weighing hundreds of tons also flew into the sky.The mast was skewed, and the huge hull was completely swallowed by the raging fire.

Although the battleship "Oglala" was only hit by one torpedo and two bombs, the ship also caught fire, black smoke billowed out, and it was completely burned.

The battleship "Helena" was also intensively attacked by the torpedo fleet. It was hit by 9 torpedoes in total, and a long and wide crack was blasted on the port side. The hull tilted and half sank into the water.

The "Marseille" was relatively lucky. Because it was close to the side of Ford Island, it was only hit by one torpedo.But this torpedo also caused the fire on the ship to burn, and the smoke rose into the sky.

Abhishek's flagship "Rahiva" narrowly escaped the fate of being destroyed because it was temporarily moored in the naval shipyard for repairs, but it also ate a few bombs.

When Mountbatten came to his combat command, seven of the backbone of the fleet he commanded-eight battleships had been sunk or severely damaged, while the enemy had only lost nine aircraft at this time.He let out a painful moan through his teeth.However, it was not only the loss of the warship that really tore his heart, but the misfortune and death suffered by his officers and men.For Mountbatten, these officers and soldiers are not just statistics that mark the strength of the troops.At that time, almost every Union warship was a small amicable group, in which almost everyone knew each other.A soldier enlists and is assigned to a ship, where he may spend two to 8 years until he retires.Joint service, combat camaraderie, and intermarriage between families are like invisible bonds linking naval officers and soldiers.Mountbatten knew thousands of officers and soldiers, he could call out the names of hundreds of officers and soldiers, and made friends with dozens of officers and soldiers.All these people, from the seasoned captain to the innocent sailor, are his subordinates, and he is responsible for them.

With a heavy heart, Mountbatten walked slowly to the window.Suddenly, a ricochet pierced through the glass and hit the admiral in the chest, leaving a black stain on the white military uniform, and the bullet fell to the ground with a "ding".Mountbatten seemed indifferent, and slowly bent down to pick it up.It was a 5mm bullet, and the bullet had lost much energy after passing through the window glass, so it left only a black spot on his military uniform.Looking at the bullet, he longed for some future chance to exact revenge on that dreadful day.Yet he knew full well that this devastating blow might mean the end of his mission as admiral, and perhaps even his naval career.His heart was full of sadness and disappointment, and he said to himself: "If this bullet kills me, it means that God is so merciful."

After the first round of air strikes, there was a temporary calm in the military port. Several white ships with red crosses painted on the sides and tops appeared on the smoky sea. The burning ship sailed away, braving the danger of explosion and burning fire to rescue the wounded.

However, the disaster did not end there.Just over 50 minutes later, the second attack wave composed of 171 Dragon Army fighters came over aggressively again.Lieutenant Commander Zhang Tingmeng was the commander-in-chief of the second attack wave. He led a horizontal bomber fleet composed of 54 aircraft. After approaching the Adam Bridge, he circled to the east side and attacked the Mannar Military Airport, Adam Bridge Airport and Sneka Airport.The dive bomber fleet commanded by Lieutenant Commander Yan Yucong consisted of 81 planes, flew over the mountains to the east, and arrived at the Mannar military port to attack the ships in the port.The air supremacy fighter team commanded by Lieutenant Wang Shuming consisted of 36 aircraft, and was mainly responsible for competing for air supremacy over the Adam Bridge.

At this time, the sky over the entire Mannar military port was covered by broken clouds, and thick smoke was billowing below, seriously hindering the dive bomber fleet from finding targets.If you fly high, it is difficult to find the target; if you fly low, you cannot dive.At the same time, under Mountbatten's hasty command, all the anti-aircraft guns of the New Crusaders have begun to shoot into the air, forming a dense fire net over the military port.When the anti-aircraft guns on the warship fired salvos into the air, columnar cluster barrages were formed in the air, and the Chinese warhawks flying in the air could clearly see these barrages.

Lieutenant Commander Yan Yucong did not hesitate, but boldly dived in the direction of the cluster barrage.When the plane dived to a certain height, he could clearly see the enemy ship that was firing, and immediately corrected his aim to bomb the enemy ship.The remaining 80 dive bombers immediately followed Yan Yucong's tactics, first looking for the cluster barrage, and then swooping down towards it.

But Lieutenant Wang Shuming was looking for "monsters" to attack.He saw that there was a place where the barrage was the densest, and he thought it must be the "behemoth", so he immediately led the squadron to dive in the direction of the barrage.But after going down, it turned out that it was a group of land forts, so I had to drive the plane up again, and looked for the target again.

The 81 planes of the dive bomber fleet adopted this method and mainly attacked the battleships in the harbor, followed by cruisers, and many destroyers.

This wave of attacks turned Mannar Naval Port into a hell of thick smoke. Black, dark red, and mushroom-shaped billowing smoke and dust sprayed into the air, like a large group of storm clouds that gathered and then dispersed, filling the air everywhere. Spicy, foul-smelling, choking breath.

The "Marseille", which was injured in the first attack wave, sailed into the channel after starting up. It didn't want to wait to die in this "grave", it wanted to leave this port as soon as possible. There was a hole in the bow of the "Marseille" that was blown open as big as a house, and the broken flag on the mast was fluttering, which seemed to indicate resistance to the enemy plane.When it slowly passed by the burning "Oglala", it saw three survivors swimming beside the ship, so it threw a rope from the ship, and the three people climbed onto the "Marseille".When the "Marseille" passed by the capsized battleship "Konya", a sense of dread gripped the hearts of everyone on board.

At this time, Zhang Tingmeng's pilots saw the "Marseille" breaking the waves below them, thinking that this was an excellent opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. They could not only sink the battleship, but also use the sunken ship to block the military port.As a result, the bomber fleet rushed over and launched an attack like a revolving lantern.In the hailstorm of bullets, the "Marseille" was hit by 6 bombs, thick smoke and fire rose from the deck, and the stern of the ship was sinking.

At this extremely critical moment, the "Marseille" suddenly changed its course and rushed to the left.In order to prevent his own battleship from blocking the channel at the entrance of the military port when it sank, the captain deliberately rushed to the beach.As a result, the battleship ran aground at Cape Hospitre.It was not until 10:45 that the tugboat towed the battleship to the west of the channel at the entrance of the naval port.The front of the warship has been blown up and the forecastle has been severely damaged.A total of 3 officers and 47 soldiers on the ship were killed, and another 5 officers and 104 soldiers were injured.Fortunately, when the "Marseille" was severely damaged, neither the captain nor the navigator was on board, and only a reserve officer served as the temporary command.

The second wave of attacks also lasted about an hour.This attack further expanded the results of the first wave of attacks.However, due to the intensified anti-aircraft fire of the coalition forces, the Dragon Army lost a total of 1 aircraft in the second wave of attack.Among them, there were 20 fighter jets and 6 dive bombers.

Sa Zhenbing and his combat staff were on the bridge of the Xiazi aircraft carrier, staring at the sky intently.Small black dots finally appeared in the far south, and the planes of the first attack wave returned.Some of the returning planes flew in formation, and some flew alone.Soon, the planes landed on three aircraft carriers one after another.

All flight officers who returned to the Xiazi aircraft carrier immediately reported to the ship's staff officer in charge of aviation affairs, reported the results of the battle to him, and then he gathered them together and reported to the commander-in-chief Sa Zhenbing who was eagerly waiting for the final statistics.

The pilot of Gao Zhihang, the commander in charge of the first wave of bombing missions, landed the plane on the deck of the Xiazi. As soon as he got out of the plane, a sailor ran over to convey the order, saying that the commander-in-chief wanted to see him immediately. .Gao Zhihang was not in a hurry to see the commander-in-chief, and decided to wait until he checked his own observation results with those of the flight captains before going.After checking, he found that the observation results of the flight captains were almost exactly the same as his observation results.At this point, he thought it was time to give his boss a fairly accurate estimate.At this moment, another signal soldier informed Gao Zhihang to report to the commander-in-chief.He just came to the war room and saw Sa Zhenbing and a team of combat staff discussing in a low voice to the military map.

As soon as Sa Zhenbing saw Gao Zhihang, he couldn't wait to ask: "How was the result?"

"Four battleships sank," Gao Zhihang replied, "I saw it with my own eyes, and four battleships were destroyed." Then, he listed the bombing situations of the pilots one by one according to the location and type of coalition warships.

Before Gao Zhihang finished his report, Sa Zhenbing interrupted him and said, "Do you think it is impossible for the enemy's fleet to sail out of Mannar Naval Port in the future?"

Gao Zhihang replied: "The main force of the United Fleet will never sail out of the Mannar naval port."

Sa Zhenbing smiled and nodded, and then asked: "What do you think the next goal should be?"

"The next targets should be the naval docks, oil depots, and those accidentally discovered ships." Gao Zhihang didn't think it was necessary to attack the battleships again.

Sa Zhenbing also asked about the possibility of a counterattack by the New Crusaders, but Gao Zhihang believed that we had already mastered the air supremacy of the Gulf of Mannar and had hit seven inches of the enemy.

Sa Zhenbing suddenly asked again: "Where do you think the missing enemy aircraft carrier will be?"

Wind and Thunder Surge Three Thousand Miles Chapter 685 Retreat as Advance

It turned out that since the start of the air strike, the Dragon Army has never figured out where the two aircraft carriers "White-Eyed Giant" and "Hermes" of the coalition fleet are.

Gao Zhihang replied: "Although I can't be sure, I think they are most likely training somewhere in the sea. At this time, the aircraft carrier has undoubtedly received the report of the air attack and will definitely come to look for our task force to wait for an opportunity." revenge."

Obviously, this terrible guess left a deep impression on Sa Zhenbing, and he was also deeply anxious about it. He asked the staff officer in charge of aviation affairs what he thought of this problem, but the staff officer replied relaxedly: "Let the enemy come Go ahead! If they come, we'll shoot down their planes."

Sa Zhenbing praised Gao Zhihang and let him go, and then discussed with his staff.

Lieutenant Colonel Yu Chongguang believed that if he attacked Mannar again before the whereabouts of the two enemy aircraft carriers were found out, he would definitely become a permanent laughing stock, so he urged the commander-in-chief: "Stay where you are for a few days and find the enemy take action after the aircraft carrier.” However, Lieutenant Commander Zhang Shaohui and Liu Deju both advocated that they could not return to the voyage and should continue to attack.

However, Fleet Commander Sa Zhenbing’s idea is: “End all this as soon as possible and go home. This time, I made the decision to attack Mannar at the risk of losing the entire Singapore Airlines Brigade. Now our main air force has no Getting hit hard, that's enough. I don't want to take that risk again."

"The purpose of this operation is to protect the flanks and rear wings of the task force. I did not expect the plan to go so smoothly." Yu Chongguang said, "Since the purpose has been basically achieved, I think we should cancel the next attack plan. Should we be obsessed with prolonging this adventure indefinitely..."

Although Yu Chongguang appreciated Gao Zhihang's strong desire to repeatedly attack the enemy, he also believed: "We have to calmly weigh the fighting enthusiasm and the enemy's combat effectiveness. At best, India would take a few broken ships. If it weren't for the British to help Let them show off, this sea battle does not need to take so many troubles, just take the warships to the east and west coasts of India. But the empire's ships are all treasures piled up with a lot of money, we can't afford to Put your own ships on the gambling table at will, and you can't take risks without knowing the size of the benefits."

The easy victory made Sa Zhenbing's combat decision-making thinking lose its focus.Before the battle, he had thought he would lose a third of the force of the task force, but now thanks to the victory of naval aviation, his warships were not damaged at all.Under such circumstances, he forgot the general rule of war that "only by destroying the enemy to the greatest extent can we preserve ourselves more effectively", and set the logical starting point for thinking about the problem at once as "how to minimize the loss of the task force." "superior.Therefore, he and Yu Chongguang agreed that the operation has achieved 80% success, and the other 20% is not worth taking any more risks.

Therefore, Sa Zhenbing made a decisive decision to return the task force.Their decision disappointed many pilots, young flight officers

Wind and Thunder Striking Three Thousand Miles Chapter 686 The contest in the decisive battle modified version

Colonel Andrew Cunningham, the commander of the Hundred-Eyed Giant, was extremely excited when he received the telegram. The aircraft carrier battle group under his jurisdiction went to the Chinese navy to fight to the death, but the commander-in-chief ordered his fleet to return first, which made him very upset, so he intentionally delayed the time on the way back, in order to hope to find the Chinese fleet on the sea and report That revenge.Now, the opportunity came, but he needed more accurate information, so he immediately ordered Brian to report the details.

After confirming that the enemy ship was heading due east, Brian closed the throttle, brought the aircraft close to the water surface, and then turned due north, at a right angle to the direction the enemy ship was heading.After traveling north for about 15 minutes, it turned due west and flew about 25 nautical miles.

At this time, Cunningham was impatient to wait. Although Brian's report was extremely important, it was not detailed enough. He decided to use Lancaster bombers to attack the enemy ships after he had a general understanding of the number and types of enemy ships.So he urged Brian again to report the details.

It was several minutes before Bryan issued a further report.Before doing so, he flew cautiously to an altitude of 800 feet to further observe the enemy ship about 25 nautical miles due south.Then, report to the mothership: "Eleven enemy ships, heading 11, speed 090, traveling in column, requesting instructions."

The officers and soldiers of the reconnaissance squadron have been very excited and attentively observing the enemy's situation, not paying attention to their position at all.At this time, Brian suddenly realized that he was about 750 nautical miles west of the Andaman Islands. He was closer to the Chinese air base in the north of Sumatra than the Chinese fleet was to the air base.Moreover, the original scheduled return time has passed more than 20 minutes, and the fuel left is just enough to fly back to the base.He immediately asked for instructions to return to the voyage, and was immediately approved.After driving out of the range of the enemy's possible anti-aircraft fire, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

However, at this time, because the task force led by Sogo also discovered the traces of the enemy's reconnaissance plane, two Falcon reconnaissance planes immediately took to the sky, and followed Brian's return direction until they found the enemy aircraft carrier. Outer patrol ship of the battle group.