Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

After 20 minutes, the aircraft carrier shook its huge body, sank slowly, and was finally submerged by sea water.Immediately, there was a violent explosion underwater, and every nearby destroyer felt a powerful shock.The Royal Navy's proud "Hundred-Eyed Giant" disappeared, and huge foam turned up on the sea.In the last battle of the aircraft carrier, 263 people on board died.

After the Dragon Army fleet destroyed the "Hundred-Eyed Giant", it immediately launched an attack on the aircraft carrier "Hermes".In contrast, the "Sports God" did not last as long as the flagship "Hundred-Eyed Giant".At the same time, 9 Dragon Army fighter planes swooped down on it, each dropping a bomb.The first three bombs all missed, sending a column of water around the Hermes without causing any damage, but four of the next six bombs hit the front, midsection and In the rear section, the bomb that hit the bow closest to the ship landed right next to the bridge, and hit a small refueling truck parked there, causing the entire bridge and surrounding deck areas to catch fire, killing and injuring many coalition sailors.The captain and others in the ship's command center were killed instantly.Lieutenant Colonel Marbury, the veteran officer who had survived the catastrophe, immediately took command of the ship.

A fire broke out on the ship immediately, and the crew tried desperately to stop the spread of the fire, but failed. The entire warship was completely surrounded by fire, and there was almost no place to hide.Most of the personnel including Cunningham, Nolan, and Marbury had to withdraw to the starboard boat deck for shelter.

While the crew of the "Hermes" was trying to control the fire on the ship, an uninvited guest quietly appeared beside the "Hermes".The uninvited guest was Long Jun's shark-hunting submarine No. 188.

On the blue sea a few nautical miles away from the "Hermes" aircraft carrier, the periscope of the No. 188 submarine left a white trail.Lieutenant Colonel Tian Shijie has been tracking the aircraft carrier in the periscope for nearly three hours.When the aircraft carrier gradually came to a stop, he could see it very clearly. The hull of the aircraft carrier was stable, the hull seemed undamaged, and the fire and smoke on the ship seemed to be under control.There was a small boat on the sea in front of the bow, and someone was trying to throw a towline up, and many people were busy on the front deck.

In front of Tian Shijie, there were 3 alternative attack targets: the damaged "Hermes" aircraft carrier and its two escort warships, the two escort warships were about 2 nautical miles in front of the aircraft carrier.After some thinking, Tian Shijie decided to deal with that big guy first, and blow up that aircraft carrier, lest the other party's crew repair it or drag it away.So, he cautiously observed in depth with the periscope, and made a detour to the starboard side of the aircraft carrier near the bridge, looking for an opportunity to attack. At 2:5, the No. 10 submarine had entered 188 meters away from the aircraft carrier. Tian Shijie clearly saw the burning fire and busy personnel on the ship from the periscope, and had entered the best launch position.

"Let go!" Following Tian Shijie's order, the first torpedo galloped out of the launch tube.A few seconds later, the second and third torpedoes were launched successively.Tian Shijie was sure that all three torpedoes would hit.However, this is just his wishful thinking.In fact, two torpedoes missed, and only one shot straight at the Hermes.At this time, the sailors of the "Sports God" saw the white trail of the torpedo speeding with their own eyes, thinking that the aircraft carrier would be doomed, so they held their breaths and prayed silently.Perhaps their prayers had come true. Although the torpedo hit the hull of the "Sports God", it did not explode.The body of the torpedo broke in two, its warhead sank into the water, but the rear half surfaced like a huge piece of cork.

Several coalition sailors who escaped from the "Sports God" were treading water near the floating torpedo body. When they saw a floating object suddenly appearing, they immediately swam towards the god-given "life raft", and grabbed it gratefully. live it.One of them climbed up and rode on it.Seeing their companions riding Chinese torpedoes as horses, these drowning people wanted to laugh but couldn't, and for a moment they forgot the crisis in front of them.

After launching 188 torpedoes on the 3th, it was immediately caught by the S-class destroyer of the coalition escorting the "Hermes".The captain, Lieutenant Colonel Bondy, skillfully commanded his destroyer and attacked No. 188 with depth charges.In this case, No. 188 fled left and right, trying to evade with all his strength.The destroyer clung to No. 188 and carried out continuous depth charge attacks.Although the depth charges did not hit 188 directly, several bombs exploded very close to the sub, causing several small leaks in the sub.In order to escape the search by the surface ships, Tian Shijie decided to take a risk and ordered the submarine to stop and lurk.

As soon as the dive stopped, the crew heard a strange noise from above the submarine, as if someone was dragging a chain on the boat.Then, there was the sound of two heavy objects hitting on the deck.The sonar *Zongshou reported: "The sound of propellers is displayed everywhere on the indicator." It turned out that it was the S-class destroyer passing above the submarine at this time.

"Stand by and turn off all engines." Tian Shijie ordered in a low voice.

Everyone held their breath, for fear that even a small sound would alert the destroyer. As the sea was shrouded in thick fog and gunpowder smoke, Dragon Army fighters in the air attacked wave after wave. The S-class destroyer didn't have the heart to search for No. 188. After wandering around for a while, he left. Only then did No. 188 escape the opponent's attack.

While the S-class was chasing No. 188, Cunningham and Nolan had been transferred to other ships on the "Hermes", and Marbury led the firefighters to continue to fight against the ever-spreading fire.However, in the face of raging flames, their efforts became more and more powerless.The flammable paint brought the fire to all parts of the ship, triggering a chain explosion of bombs and torpedoes scattered in the ammunition depot and hangar. The steel plates were thrown into the sea like dry wood.

In the patient cabin of the "Hermes", a young second lieutenant and several medical soldiers were fighting, and the fire blocked their connection with other parts of the ship.The second lieutenant ordered a medic to find a way to find a way to move the wounded to a safe place.After searching for it, the health soldier reported to the second lieutenant that all passages were blocked.The second lieutenant said: "Okay, let God judge everything." Then he closed his eyes helplessly.At this time, a veteran non-commissioned officer ran over and said to the second lieutenant: "We can't just wait for death, we can go out through the porthole."

The sergeant's words reminded the second lieutenant, and he immediately asked the medical soldiers to push the wounded out of the porthole.At this time, the ceiling was already on fire, and they braved the fire to push the wounded through the porthole, and they did not escape until all the wounded escaped.The fire on the ship is getting bigger and bigger, and the time is getting tighter and tighter.Continue to fight or abandon ship?In this extremely critical moment, Marbury must make a decision.But this is a very difficult decision.He was a pilot, and he didn't know much about ships, especially the complex operation technology of this large aircraft carrier, let alone this one that was severely damaged.

But Marbury believes that naval aviation with rich actual combat experience is a valuable asset, and their role in future wars will be greater than this injured aircraft carrier.Under the control of this belief, he prepared to take the pilots to leave the "Hermes" and fight again.Facing the irreparable "Hermes", Marbury ordered the pilots and ground crew to leave the aircraft carrier as much as possible.

At 5:40, after giving the order to abandon the ship, he himself jumped into the sea and swam towards a destroyer.He explained to Cunningham himself: "Although we have been taught that Royal Navy personnel should not leave the ship even in the most dangerous situation, I have made the decision to abandon ship. Because I think these skilled Pilots can't be replenished when they die, they should be kept so that they can fight again in the future. I think this will serve the empire better. I also think that the fate of the ship is best left to the captain or to take over after his death His commander decides."

Three Thousand Miles of Wind and Thunder Chapter 689 The Lost Sea Empire

At this time, after No. 188 fled to a safe sea area, it did not go far.After dormant for a while, it raised its periscope to observe the battlefield again.Tian Shijie saw that the aircraft carrier that was hit was billowing with thick smoke, and the black smoke column was as high as 1000 feet. This scene was very similar to the situation where the "Konya" caught fire after being attacked in the Mannar air strike.

The personnel on the "Hermes" have come down from the ship one after another.Seeing thick smoke rising from their beloved aircraft carrier, and sometimes a long tongue of flames, many officers and soldiers of the coalition forces burst into tears and were deeply saddened.Under the action of two violent explosions, the "Hermes" seemed to jump out of the water.Then, it began to sink, but its hull remained stable for the time being.Ten minutes later, the "Hermes" was completely submerged in sea water.A total of 10 crew members died, accounting for one-third of the entire ship's crew.

After the two aircraft carriers sank one after another, the battleship "Prince Wilson" is currently the most important in the coalition fleet.In the ensuing battle, the fate of this ship was also so tragic.

When the "Hermes" was shot, the deck crew of the "Prince Wilson" were busy preparing for takeoff.When they saw the "Hermes" explode and burst into flames, knowing that the aircraft carrier was doomed, the crew instinctively looked at the sky.Suddenly, they saw 13 Dragon Army dive bombers heading straight for the "Prince Wilson". The arrival was a formation of Lanxiang dive bombers led by Gao Zhihang who took off from the Chunzi aircraft carrier.

In just a few minutes, the "Prince Wilson" hit three bombs one after another.The first bomb hit the flight deck near the elevator at the front of the ship, and the last two bombs hit the elevator in the middle, completely blowing up the deck, and the fire quickly burned to the oil depot and ammunition depot.The battleship was completely enveloped in smoke and fire, and the raging fire was crackling.The captain stood on the signal platform on the right side of the bridge and gave orders loudly, urging the crew to put out the fire and rescue the wounded.The temperature below the deck was extremely high, hot as hell, the door of the hangar deck was melted and curled up, and the living people escaped to the deck.The windlass deck became a makeshift hospital, and the doctors and medics kept their faces straight like robots.In the choking smoke, they gave painkillers to the seriously injured, bandaged them and stopped the bleeding as best they could.They put aside those who are really hopeless, and first rescue those who still have a glimmer of hope.A large number of sailors were gathered on the foredeck, together with a few officers.Suddenly, a violent explosion threw many people into the sea.

From the time the "Prince Wilson" was shot for the first time to the time when the fire swept across the entire warship, it took only 10 minutes.Due to the direct damage of the bomb and the continuous explosions caused by the fire, the main engine of the "Prince Wilson" stopped working, the steering wheel system could not be operated, and all the fire pipelines were blown up.The "Prince Wilson", which has made many achievements in World War II, became a huge "cremator" in just 30 minutes.

Faced with this situation, the captain had to order to abandon the ship, and most people began to transfer to the "Berwick" and "Kent" in an orderly manner.In order to avoid the scorching flames, many people jumped into the sea. Some of those who jumped were rescued by the destroyers "Berwick" and "Kent", while others were drowned alive.After the crew left the ship, the captain himself stayed on the burning battleship bridge. The crew elected the naval fighting champion Sergeant Yorke to return to the battleship to persuade the captain to come out, and said to him: "If If the captain refuses to come down, you will use force to carry the captain to a safe place with your superhuman strength."

When York climbed onto the bridge of the "Prince Wilson", he found that the captain was holding a Browning pistol in his hand, standing there motionless, staring ahead without blinking.He walked up to the captain and said, "Captain, on behalf of your entire crew, I am here to pick you up to safety. They are waiting for you. Please come with me to the destroyer." "

The captain ignored York's plea.York stepped forward, intending to carry the captain to the waiting boat.But the captain's stern face stopped him in his tracks.He turned and walked away with helpless tears.When he left the bridge, he heard the captain singing the British Navy's military song, and the voice was heard far away on the sea, looking extremely tragic and desolate.

At 6:13 in the evening, the surviving crew members of the "Prince Wilson" watched the battleship disappear from the sea on several nearby destroyers. There were 718 people under the captain who sank together with the warship.

At this time, the three main warships in the United Fleet had all returned to the sea. Commander Cunningham knew exactly what was waiting for him. He made a powerless gesture and said to the signal soldier: " Send a message to the headquarters that the aircraft carrier team has been hit by an unprecedented attack by the enemy and is about to be wiped out..."

The biggest tragedy in the history of naval warfare happened in just a few ten minutes.

At the same time, Mountbatten was far away in the bombed-out Mannar Naval Port. Although his stomach trouble was raging, he was still very excited. Although his subordinate Cunningham violated his order and deliberately delayed the return time, So much so that it is very possible to meet with a Chinese warship, but deep down in his heart he also hopes that his core fleet can give this Chinese fleet a heavy blow to avenge it.For this possible encounter, he is very confident. He believes that this time, the dual-core attack lineup composed of the "Hundred-eyed Giant" and the "Hermes" is fully capable of fighting the Singapore main fleet. According to intelligence, the enemy's main fleet has returned, and the impact left in the Indian Ocean is nothing more than a third-rate fleet.In the event of an encounter, Cunningham can also handle it calmly.

As expected, at 7:28 in the morning, the reconnaissance plane sent by Mannar sent a telegram: "10 enemy ships have been found!" This telegram suddenly woke up Mountbatten, who was already drowsy.

The people in the military port were very nervous after hearing the news. What they were most afraid of now was hearing the word "China". Mountbatten was even more tense and said nothing.This tense atmosphere didn't take long, and two telegrams were received one after another, informing that the aircraft carrier team led by Cunningham had encountered a formation of Chinese ships, which consisted of 5 cruisers and 5 destroyers. It seems that there is only one aircraft carrier behind.

The atmosphere in the military port suddenly relaxed, some people even became inexplicably happy, and some said: "This is a big piece of fat!"

At this time, Mountbatten and his staff had a very strange optimism. The main Singapore fleet they feared most had returned, and now there was nothing to worry about. The Chinese task force responsible for patrolling was at best only one Aircraft carriers, in any case, cannot be compared with Cunningham's aircraft carrier team.Therefore, they believed that this time the Dragon Army would definitely be killed by Cunningham's carrier-based aircraft, and it would not be long before they could hear the good news from Cunningham.

However, at 10:50, the Communications Staff was full of grief, and without saying a word, he handed an urgent telegram to Mountbatten, which was sent by Cunningham. The 'Hundred Eyed Giant', the 'Hermes' and the 'Prince Wilson' were severely damaged, and we temporarily retreated northward to regroup our forces."

When the bad news came, it was like a bolt from the blue, and Mountbatten and his staff were all dumbfounded.Mountbatten himself and his staff did not expect their fleet to survive this massive naval battle.If the loss of one aircraft carrier, they seem to be able to take it calmly, the loss of two, although it is a serious setback, can also be tolerated, but now the loss of three ships, two aircraft carriers and a battleship, together with the horse The warship destroyed in the air raid on the Gnar Naval Harbor, this time, Mountbatten didn't even have a trump card in his hand!

Therefore, at this moment, everyone in the United Fleet Command is numb and has cold hands and feet.The headquarters was no longer the calm, methodical collective it had once been.Staff Alexander was furious at first, slapping the table anxiously, and then wept bitterly, just like an actor in an Italian opera house.However, until this time, Mountbatten still believed that there was only one aircraft carrier in China's maritime formation, and Cunningham still had a battleship "George V" in his hands, and there should be some cruisers, destroyers, and torpedo gunboats. , if organized properly, there is still a chance of defeating the enemy fleet and landing on South Andaman Island.What Mountbatten and his staff are most concerned about is how much aviation power there is in the Chinese task force. Although the coalition fleet has lost almost all of its main force, the "George V" is still intact and can be used to attack the dragon. Army aircraft carrier.In addition, night battles at sea can also be carried out, or other means of attack can be adopted.

At present, this game of chess has reached the most critical moment. Either concentrate all the troops and put all their strength in a desperate attempt, and there may be a chance to turn the game over, or pack up the remnants of the defeated generals and leave the Indian Ocean, a place of right and wrong, and return to the English Channel to accept the resentment of the Chinese people.In 1 minute, Mountbatten made a decision and resolutely chose the former.In the following research, he believed that in the current form, the coalition fleet should not just shrink back around some small islands, but should gather together to capture the strategic hub of the Andaman Islands first, and obtain an outpost for fighting against China. The battle will be easier to fight.

However, the Chinese Navy must have established a defense network on the Andaman Islands. The air force attacking the Dragon Army's shore-based air force can only rely on the mobile force, but the mobile force is scattered on various small islands, and it is difficult to assemble quickly.The current problem is that it is necessary to quickly gather all sea forces and carry out a lightning strike on Andaman before it can be captured.If the Dragon Army shore-based defense bases on the Andaman Islands are not immediately destroyed, the Chinese may transfer more aircraft from the Sumatra bases, and in this case, it will be more difficult to occupy Andaman.

Three thousand miles of wind and thunder

At this time, Alexander suggested sending a surface force to bombard the Andaman Islands at night, destroying the coastal defense first, and then sending a follow-up fleet.After some research, Mountbatten finally adopted this suggestion and ordered the Indian Ocean Second Raider Force, which is closest to Andaman and has high-speed ships, to carry out this task.He also decided to postpone the Andaman landing operation until after the Chinese task force was wiped out.According to these decisions, he issued the following order at 13:10: "First, use plan C to attack the enemy fleet; second, the landing force sends some ships to bombard and destroy the air base on Andaman Island tonight; third, Landing operations on Andaman Island are suspended."

Mountbatten's "use of plan C to attack the enemy's fleet" here is to gather all the naval forces in the Indian Ocean to fight a decisive battle with the enemy's fleet to determine the final control of the Indian Ocean.According to Mountbatten's order, while the Second Squadron went to bombard Andaman Island, the landing convoys turned around and sailed towards the middle line of China and India in the eastern sea. "

At this time, Mountbatten received another more unfavorable telegram: the "George V" was shot and caught fire.It seems that this battleship can't be counted on, but Mountbatten still refuses to let it go. He believes that the first offensive force and the fifth offensive force are not too far away from the enemy fleet, and the possibility of a decisive battle at night still exists. Night battles are not only a magic weapon handed down by the British Navy, but also at night, the Dragon Army's carrier-based aircraft can't play a role, and one's own side is completely sure of defeating the opponent.Therefore, he sent another telegram at 19:15: "First, the mixed formation of enemy special forces is moving eastward; second, all ministries near the Andaman Sea must rush to capture the island; third, the joint fleet headquarters will be dispatched in the early morning Arrive at the target water area at 3 o'clock, with a heading of 90 degrees and a speed of 20 knots; fourth, the mobile force, landing force and advance force must quickly launch a counterattack against the enemy fleet."

Mountbatten and his staff are really like gamblers who have lost their eyes. They are desperate to capture the opponent's fleet on this night and carry out a decisive battle at night.On the other hand, Yu Chongguang led the task force and was moving eastward. He made this statement in his telegram to the commander-in-chief: "On the one hand, I think that night battles with enemy forces that may be superior should not be taken at risk; On the other hand, I wish not to be too far from the Andaman Islands the next morning. My troops should be placed in such a position as to facilitate the pursuit of the retreating enemy and to smash the enemy's attack on the Andaman Islands. Besides, the nearby sea may be There are enemy warships operating together with its landing formation, and there is also the possibility of a second enemy fleet appearing in the northwest sea."

Later, when Mountbatten knew that the task force had sprinted eastward, and that there was little chance of contact with it before dawn, the last hope of carrying out the night fleet battle was slowly extinguished.

After giving up the idea of ​​​​night battles, everyone in Mountbatten and his staff clearly realized that the battle had been defeated, but none of the staff suggested that the battle should be suspended.Instead, they all desperately try to salvage something from failure, like a drowning man grabbing for straws before dying. Therefore, various remedies have been proposed.An aviation staff officer suggested to use the small number of aircraft on the heavy cruisers "Cumberland" and "Cornwall", plus landing craft and all seaplanes on the light cruisers to form an air force, and then go to Attack the dragon fleet.The gunnery staff advocated that, according to the original plan, the heavy cruisers of the mobile force would intensify the night bombardment of the air base on Andaman Island.He believed that if a sufficient number of warships equipped with large-caliber artillery could be used, a powerful blow could be dealt to the enemy's air force on Andaman Island, and it would be immobilized for at least a day.Another staff officer proposed a plan, which was simply absurd.The plan called for all cruisers, approaching the Andamans in broad daylight, to bombard the air bases of the islands with their main guns.Unexpectedly, Chief of Staff Exeter agreed with this plan very much, and immediately compiled it into a document and submitted it to Mountbatten.

After reading the plan, Mountbatten calmly listened to Exeter's whimsical explanation.Then, he said kindly: "You must have studied at the Naval Staff College. Looking at the history of the Navy, it is not appropriate to use naval ships to attack ground forces."

Exeter replied awkwardly: "Yes, I know."

Mountbatten went on to say: "Your suggestion violates the most basic principles of the navy. It is too late to conduct such a battle now, and this battle is coming to an end. When playing chess, regardless of life and death, blindly fighting will cause a full board. If you lose, you will lose everything."

The chief of staff, Alexander, was not so restrained. He reprimanded loudly: "You should understand how absurd it is to attack a land fortress with the artillery of the fleet. Right now, the enemy not only still has a strong carrier-based aircraft strength, but also has a very strong land-based aviation force, using the island's intact airfield. Even a powerful heavy cruiser can be defeated by enemy aviation and submarine forces before it can launch an effective bombardment. If the island attacking force can wait a little longer , we'd better wait until the Second Air Fleet of the Admiralty arrives."

Alexander went on to say: "Also, although we lost all of our aircraft carriers in this battle, the Royal Navy still has 8 aircraft carriers, including those that are about to be completed and put into use. So in future battles, we will still There is hope."

He then said sharply: "In a game of chess, the game is already lost, and you have to fight hard again and again. Only a fool with no brains will do such a thing!"

Exeter was speechless after being reprimanded, and even Mountbatten's face was a little ugly. It seemed that these words were not only for Exeter, but also for himself.

Alexander had long considered the situation irreversible, and now had nothing to do but retreat and flee eastward.Therefore, he immediately drafted a telegram regarding the termination of the fighting.The entangled Mountbatten was very sad at this time, and he could not give any reason to object, so he had no choice but to approve the telegram.As soon as the telegram was sent out, he got the latest news from Cunningham's fleet. Most of Cunningham's fleet was wiped out. He led the remaining cruiser, two destroyers and a minesweeper to kill a bloody road and was heading to the Sailing to the west, it is not known whether it has escaped the attack range of the Chinese warship.

Mountbatten shed tears like thunder, and murmured, "It's over, it's over..."

Alexander also said sadly: "Commander-in-Chief, the Chinese are too powerful. We are no match at all. Let's retreat quickly. If they launch another round of air strikes, our entire army will be wiped out."

Mountbatten immediately ordered all the remnants and defeated generals to gather in the waters near Mannar, and at the same time sent a search plane to find the whereabouts of the mobile unit. At 12:5, several troops joined forces in the sea area specified by Mountbatten.However, this was not at all the victorious and joyous Grand Master that the fleets were looking forward to.Mountbatten's two best aircraft carriers are gone, and they have lost 2 aircraft.To make matters worse, 332 highly skilled and experienced combatants died in battle.Among them: 2197 people on the "Hundred Eyes Giant", 263 people on the "Prince Wilson", 416 people on the "George V", and about 718 people on the "Hermes".

On Mountbatten's new flagship, the officers felt ashamed and ashamed in the face of this combat outcome!

However, the battle was not completely over yet. Cunningham, with his cruiser "Kent" and several remnants of defeated soldiers, had just cut a bloody path from the Dragon Army battleship and fled in a panic.After receiving the order to retreat from the headquarters, he fled desperately to the Mannar military port in case of an amnesty.However, more than half of Kent's power facilities were blown up, and it could only sail at a speed of 11 knots. Cunningham was anxious and paced back and forth in the command room, but he didn't know that the danger was slowly approaching.