Comrade, your ingredients are too complicated.

At the same time that Huang He set out for the Qilu Military Region, at the southern border of Jinghai, the Tsushima Strait.

At night, the junction of the sea and the sky does not seem far away, and there is no obvious boundary between the ink-colored sky and the sea level.

At this time, six ships gathered in the Whale Sea, and the leading Fletcher-class destroyer was swaying with the huge waves. It first raised high and pointed to the sky, then changed its posture and sank its bow, splitting the waves like a peerless sword.

The rest of the ships followed closely behind, maintaining their formation. The ships were of different sizes, and even the style of their cranes was different from that of the flagship. However, they seemed to be driven by the same will, and all of them stubbornly headed west.

"Major, is the place we are in really still the Pacific Ocean? The sea conditions are so bad that I'm afraid the dark trenches in the Atlantic Ocean are no better than this."

"Ah, I have to go on a business trip for no reason, and I have to sell the new ship I just took over. Maybe I don't have to face De San's underwater villains, which is one of the few good news now."

“Lord, may your holy angels be with me, and may I not be at the mercy of my evil adversaries, Amen.”

Inside the bridge, the deputy captain of DD-450 was praying while handling daily affairs. From his resentful tone, anyone could tell that he was dissatisfied with his captain.

It seemed that what he had just said resonated with everyone present, and the atmosphere in the bridge became restless again.

If this mission had not been ordered personally by the Commander-in-Chief, King, and Commander Nimitz, the crew might have really protested on the spot.

After saying this, Gordon Paia Zhongyun sighed silently in his heart. Although he was the current commander of this destroyer, it was really difficult to mediate the emotions of his subordinates.

There was no other reason, it was just that the voyage lasted much longer than expected, and there was not even a chance to rest between the two journeys. More than a month's voyage had already made all the crew members physically and mentally exhausted.

In addition, his Chinese identity is also a red flag.

Half a year ago, Zhong Yun was just an ordinary captain on the battleship Arizona.

In order to actively show goodwill to the Eighth Route Army, the Pacific Theater Navy Commander Nimitz personally promoted him to major and ordered him to be fully responsible for the transaction operation.

The original captain was squeezed out and the new captain was parachuted in. In addition, he and the crew had no experience of training and fighting together, so it was natural for everyone to have some emotions.

What's more, to put it bluntly, this operation is to sell four destroyers and two transport ships, and to sell the new ships that have just been put into service to the Republic of China.

Even though it was the arrangement of their superiors, the soldiers were still unwilling to do so.

After a while of random thoughts, Zhong Yun shook his head helplessly.

Now he desperately hoped that the Japanese would attack so that he could prove himself and establish his prestige in a battle.

"Captain Bird, although there are no German U-boats in the Whale Sea, we may encounter patrolling Japanese at any time. This area is not the territory of the Russians, and no one can guarantee whether the red flag on the ship is still effective."

"If we encounter a light cruiser or naval aviation under the Combined Fleet, our four destroyers may not be able to escape unscathed."

"So, please stay alert. We are still 120 nautical miles away from the scheduled rendezvous point. If we hold on for another half a day, we will be safe."

"Roger that!"

After receiving the order, sporadic responses were heard in the bridge, but this was done out of consideration for the fact that the enemy might attack at any time.

Obviously, the Ugly Country crew had no expectations for the so-called pick-up. In their impression, the Republic of China was still that backward country without the ability to protect itself.

Rely on them for support? It would be better to believe that you are a relative of the Heavenly Locust.

As for the Eighth Route Army?
I haven't heard that the main force of the Republic of China is not the Central Army?

In this situation, a feeling of powerlessness rose from Zhong Yun's heart again.

There is no way. After all, you can't expect everyone to pay attention to the Asian battlefield all the time, especially when the top propaganda leader is an anti-communist.

Adhering to the concept of being responsible to the team, Zhong Yun walked out of the bridge with a telescope and began to observe the position of friendly forces.

At this time, the four destroyers responsible for escort were deployed in a diamond formation. In relatively wide sea areas, this formation can effectively reduce the interference to the sonar caused by the rotation of the propellers of the ships in the formation.

In addition, each destroyer is only responsible for one direction, which can greatly reduce the pressure on the personnel on duty on a single ship.

Seeing that the fleet was about to cross the Tsushima Strait, Zhong Yun decisively returned to the bridge and ordered:

"Notify our friendly forces that we should change our formation. The narrowest part of the strait ahead is only 40 kilometers. I don't want to bet that the Japanese are all blind. Now only a single column can keep us concealed."

"After sending the signal, all ships except the flagship must maintain radio silence and implement a blackout."

"Let's rush forward in one go and try to reach the territorial waters of the Republic of China before daybreak. As long as we get close to Shandong Province, we'll be safe."

Thinking of the brutal record of the Japanese Navy, the middle and senior officers on DD-450 immediately put aside their thoughts of getting upset. Each department performed its duties and sent the captain's orders to the friendly forces using signal lights.

Soon, the entire fleet was formed into a single column with Fletcher as the vanguard, three Bensons in the middle, and two transport ships at the bottom.

The reason why the transport ships were placed at the end of the fleet was that the escort formation had to keep pace with the protected ship. If the enemy suddenly attacked, the destroyers could quickly deploy a counterattack formation.

Seeing his orders being carried out by his subordinates, Zhong Yun finally breathed a sigh of relief. He walked out of the bridge again with a telescope and began to check for omissions.

"DD-421 and DD-427 are a little off. Signal them to adjust 10 degrees to the left."

"And the two Liberty ships, they are too slow. The Tsushima Strait is more than 200 kilometers long. At the current speed, they can't pass through it smoothly before dawn."

"Roger that!"

Since humans invented the ship as a tool, its most primitive and basic function is transportation.

Throughout history, there have been countless types of transport ships. But among these designs, one type, with its huge production, became the cornerstone of the Allied victory in World War II, and it was the Liberty Ship.

As one of the strongest auxiliary ships during World War II, this ship will definitely appear in any film or TV work related to naval battles. Even the daily supply boxes in World of Warships are transported by it.

The main reason why Huang He specifically asked for the Liberty Ship was to train the supply troops that would follow the fleet in advance, and to get a batch of American ammunition at the same time.

There was no way, it wasn't that Huang was trying to take advantage. Before he could completely unlock the navy-related decisions, the ammunition for live-fire training still had to be provided by Ah Chou.

After seeing the signal from the flagship, the two transport ships, which had no curves and looked like sliced ​​eggplants, decisively increased their speed.

As a fine product produced by Henry Straight Shipyard, the Liberty Ship participating in this operation has better functions than ordinary models, and its quality is more guaranteed. There will be no embarrassing situation of breaking into two sections while running.

"I hope everything goes well. I can't wait to see where my grandfather lived."······
With Zhong Yun's mixed feelings of expectation and worry, the entire fleet began to cross the Tsushima Strait at an average speed of 15 knots. However, the process was surprisingly smooth, and they did not even encounter any enemies along the way.

After nearly ten hours of sailing, the sun is about to rise.

Fortunately, the trading fleet is about to arrive in the East China Sea, and it seems that victory is only one step away.

Just when Zhong Yun relaxed his vigilance, a piece of bad news suddenly came from the combat center of DD-450. The heart-wrenching roar in the headset made everyone tense like a bowstring.

"Sir! Enemy target appears!"

"Bearing 087 degrees, distance 15 to 20 nautical miles! According to the radar, the enemy should be a destroyer! The other party has not moved yet, and it is likely that they have not discovered us."

"No other types of ships have been found so far, nor any land-based fighters!"

After hearing the report from the combat center, Zhong Yun immediately took out the sea chart and started to calculate. When he found that he could not escape the enemy ship no matter what, he decisively ordered the deputy captain beside him:

"Turn on engine overload! Set speed to 36 knots!"

"Everyone on alert! Boatswain! Notify all combat teams to go on deck! We must strike first and destroy that destroyer before daybreak. We cannot let it discover us, and we cannot let it send the news back to our homeland."

"Everyone has been training for this moment! Revenge for Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona!"

Since the escort ships have to keep the same speed and course as other ships, under normal circumstances, a destroyer will not easily turn on all its engines.

Alternating between groups not only reduces engine life loss but also saves fuel, and is a common sailing technique.

But the situation before the war was another matter.

When approaching the enemy, the chief engineer must start all the engines. After all, any ship type needs to switch between fast and slow speeds as needed during combat, whether it is attacking or avoiding enemy attacks.

Upon learning that their captain was planning to launch a surprise attack on an unknown destroyer, the commanders on the bridge were a little confused for a moment.

But after hearing the two keywords Pearl Harbor and Arizona, everyone felt a surge of blood in their hearts and they couldn't wait to fight the enemy ships.

"Turn on engine overload, full speed ahead!"

"Don't worry about the sonar. The fleet is in the Whale Sea. The Japanese will not deploy submarines in this area."

"Combat Situation Center, be vigilant! If any surface ship or aircraft appears on the radar, you must report to the bridge immediately!"

With everyone working together, DD-450's attack speed was amazing. In just five minutes, she took the lead and rushed towards the enemy with two Benson-class ships.

The battle plan formulated by Zhong Yun was also very simple, which was for the three destroyers to approach in a single column formation.

This formation is simple and easy to command. Even if everyone has never cooperated or trained together before, there is a high probability that there will be no problems.

When the battle begins, all destroyers will turn on their searchlights, use their advantage in breaking stealth, and use their guns and torpedoes to attack the F2A, delivering a devastating blow before the enemy can react.

Three against one, can you really fight back? Your plan works!
······
As it turned out, Zhong Yun and his team were very lucky.

Due to repeated night bombings by the 3rd Air Division, the Japanese's reconnaissance focus in recent days has been in the air rather than above sea level.

When the three American destroyers sailed to within five nautical miles of the enemy, the lookouts on the DD-450 could even clearly see the outlines of the Japanese ships.

However, the opponent's "destroyer" seems a bit big.

Although he realized that the radar detection results were wrong, he had to shoot the arrow. Inside the bridge, Zhong Yun decisively ordered: "Change the formation! Fire the torpedoes!"

With that said, the entire fleet moved into a T-shaped formation to suppress the enemy ships with artillery fire. This was an advantageous position in naval artillery duels that had been recognized since the era of sailing warships.

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.”

Accompanied by the sound of falling into the water, thirty 533 mm kinetic iron rods rushed towards the enemy at a speed of 31 knots.

Looking around, the entire sea surface was covered with torpedoes. This spectacular scene, placed in the magic world of the white-haired man, was definitely enough to make any player take their hands off the keyboard.

Seeing that the Mark 14 was getting closer and closer to the enemy ship, Zhong Yun immediately shouted loudly: "Open fire! Sink it!"

After that, the three destroyers turned on their searchlights at the same time, and the fifteen 127mm main guns opened fire at full force. At such a close distance, the first wave of shells hit the target directly.

It was not until now that Zhong Yun realized that there was a cruiser in front of them.

But it's not a big problem. The MK12 naval gun has an extremely fast firing rate, and can even fire 15 rounds per minute under optimal conditions.

Fletcher and Benson were equipped with a special electric ammunition supply system, and the amount of missiles they could project was enough to suppress a large ship.

In the face of the absolute firepower, the enemy cruiser was instantly covered by dense shells. Not long after, a torpedo also hit the middle of the enemy ship's port side.

"Continuous damage" + "natural disasters and man-made disasters" would sink even the strongest of the strong. The surging sea water and blazing fire brought this raid to a perfect end.

······
Seeing the enemy ships lose their ability to resist, the sailors on the three destroyers cheered excitedly. Most of them were survivors of the Pearl Harbor incident, and now that they had taken the first step towards revenge, how could they not be happy?

Unlike other commanders, Zhong Yun, as the fleet commander of this operation, knows that now is not the time to pop open champagne, and the real business is to sail out of the Tsushima Strait.

After a moment, he gave another order:

"Notify the rear and have those three ships catch up. We have to move quickly, or the enemy will send out land-based fighters to hunt us down."

Speak of the devil, and here he appears. As soon as the words were spoken, bad news came from the war center.

"Sir, the SC air defense radar has detected two enemy forces. The closest wave is about twenty aircraft, one hundred nautical miles away. The number of the second wave is unknown, but I estimate that there are at least a hundred aircraft."

As soon as these words were spoken, the bridge suddenly became so quiet that you could hear a pin drop, as if an invisible hand had pressed the mute button.

Although twenty aircraft are many, the four advanced destroyers are not without the ability to fight.

But a hundred?

One hundred enemy planes could sink a North Carolina-class battleship. How could they fight with only the 127mm dual-purpose guns, 40mm Bofors and 20mm Oerlikon on the destroyers? (End of this chapter)