Comrade, your ingredients are too complicated.

At dawn the next day, a huge golden red sun rolled over the indigo waves, dyeing the morning mist on Liugong Island into lavender.

Purple air came from the east, in the morning glow, the three giants of the North Sea Fleet, together with the chief of staff LYL, led a long steel dragon composed of more than ten black military vehicles and officially set off.

Although it was not the first time he had seen the flagship in its true appearance, 181.59 could not help but sigh with emotion at the thought of seeing the 17.22-meter-long, 103-meter-wide steel behemoth standing in the morning mist again.

"It's incredible. Even now I still feel like it's unreal."

"The theory of a century-old navy, put forward by Western maritime powers, certainly makes sense. However, we have embarked on a unique leapfrog development path since our early days."

"A few years ago, who would have thought that our Eighth Route Army could actually build a navy from scratch, and even create a North Sea Fleet with cruisers as its core."

"When I think about the aircraft carriers, battleships, heavy cruisers, submarines and other equipment that will be put into service one after another in the future, my heart surges and my blood boils."

Looking at the history of world naval development, the Eighth Route Army Navy can definitely be regarded as a unique existence that has never been seen before and will never be seen again.

Without detailed documentary records, historians and military strategists of later generations would probably rack their brains to figure out how TG built a solid naval foundation from scratch through imaginative decisions and mutual benefit.

Compared to the upset 103, Director Xiao, who lives with the steel behemoths day and night, is obviously much calmer.

However, when he thought about his own navy, which would have a huge fleet consisting of aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers, destroyers and a series of auxiliary ships in the near future, he still said with great emotion:

"The main credit for our North Sea Fleet to be as big as it is today belongs to Director Huang."

"If he had not responded to Minister Zhang's call, I'm afraid our Eighth Route Army wouldn't even have a complete province now, let alone develop a navy."

"I guess this is why the border area renamed the La Motte Pickett to the Yellow River cruiser. After all, Director Huang has never been interested in money or power, but he is very keen on leaving his name in history."

In a sense, the reason why the Eighth Route Army Navy was able to embark on a unique leapfrog development path was the result of the right time, place and people.

Among all the prerequisites, industrial strength is the most important.

When talking about industry, we have to mention a man named Huang who lives deep at the foot of Yinshan Mountain.

War Fox and the Army Morale Wizard broke the principle and named the army's first flagship after a person, which was a direct expression of affirmation of his achievements.

After hearing Huang He's name, several people in the car smiled at the same time, even the legendary French captain Philippe who was NT R in front of him was no exception.

"Haha, it's really thanks to Huang. Without him, the main force of our Free French would probably still be begging for food in Africa and enduring the cold stares of the British."

"The navy will probably be in a worse situation. After all, we have no ships, no oil, no territorial waters, and our combat capability on land is not as good as that of the Russian Red Navy."

"Being able to fight the Japanese now and fight the Axis together with the Eighth Route Army in the Republic of China is the best outcome at the moment."

Everyone talked and laughed along the way and soon arrived at Liugong Island Iron Wharf.

The fleet flagship was parked at the outermost edge, and the three giants and LYL had to pass through four destroyers before they could board the ship. So while walking on board, the four of them were greeted with endless cheers and whistles.

Well, the Ugly Navy soldiers have the loudest voices, and they are the ones who blow all the whistles.

Originally, after the 1st Air Division completely seized air superiority, these people could take transport planes to the end of the Pacific route, and then return to the west coast of the mainland by sea.

But when they learned that the North Sea Fleet was about to engage in a battle with the Japanese Navy, everyone stayed tacitly, and even the slogan changed from going home to avenging Pearl Harbor.

Considering that these soldiers were more skilled in operations and had a better understanding of the Fletcher-class and Benson-class destroyers, Director Xiao decided to keep them.

After a while, Xiao, Sa, Fei and Liu boarded the Yellow River cruiser.

At this time, the scheduled sailing time was approaching, and the comrades on the ship were busy checking for omissions and filling gaps. Seeing several superiors coming together to inspect the work, the soldiers on duty immediately shouted:

"Commander enter the bridge!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Li Yujie, the current captain of the Yellow River cruiser, quickly put down the work at hand, picked up the folder recording the supplies and walked over.

After saluting, he reported confidently:
"The current ammunition reserves of the flagship are all normal. The various types of naval gun shells carried this time are fully capable of fighting the Japanese Navy to the death."

"The four triple torpedo tubes on both sides of the ship have also been loaded. Considering the possibility of encountering enemy submarines, we also carry depth charges."

"Since the air force will be cooperating in this operation, and the new aircraft and catapults have not yet been modified, this ship is not carrying seaplanes at the moment."

"The report is complete. Commander, please review and sign it!"

Li Yujie, the current captain of the flagship of the North Sea Fleet, was formerly affiliated with the 1st Guard Regiment of the Border Area Garrison Corps. He is a strong man who can swim in the mother river alone in a single-skin raft.

Graduated from the Automobile Class of the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University, he has been at the top of all grades since he officially entered the Naval Academy, and his performance in shipboard training has been outstanding.

Such an outstanding talent was regarded as a treasure by even the two legendary captains, and he was naturally the only one who could be chosen as the captain.

Of course, considering that Li Yujie has no experience in naval warfare, the headquarters of this operation also specially arranged several consultants to assist him. All of this is just to enable him to grow as soon as possible.

After listening to the report from his old subordinate, Director Xiao nodded slightly, with a hint of approval between his brows.

He first read the list carefully and signed it. Then he walked to the window of the bridge, looked at the triple torpedo tubes on both sides of the ship and said:
"I've read the comrades' training logs. The torpedoes carried on all ships in the fleet should have been replaced with the latest models developed by the Weapons Experimentation Research Bureau."

"Has anyone found any problems with the M1942D recently? Do you need me to report it to Suiyuan?"

The torpedo originally used by the Yellow River cruiser was the 550mm M1923D originally installed by the French Navy. This thing, like a certain kinetic iron rod, also uses a wet heater propulsion system.

Theoretically, it can basically be on par with MK15 in terms of a series of performance parameters such as speed and range.

But just being level is not enough!

Even the genuine MK15 kinetic iron rod would be defeated by the powerful Type oxygen torpedo, not to mention the old and poorly maintained antique from World War I.

During the Franco-Thai naval battle two years ago, the M1923D revealed many defects. Don't think that only surface ships will be unhappy with it.

If comrades were to go into battle with defective products that had numerous problems, it would be a slap in the face of the Weapons Testing and Research Bureau.

In order to enable the North Sea Fleet to better implement the artillery and torpedo combined attack tactics, and also to sweep Japan's exploratory fleet into the dustbin of history in one fell swoop.

Huang He specially sent someone to deliver the latest torpedo: M1942D a month ago.

This new equipment adopts a lot of mature technology from Mark 17, and its paper data is infinitely close to the level of the early Cold War. It is better than the Type oxygen torpedo in terms of stability, reliability, and operational difficulty, but it suffers a little from the charge.

But it's not a big problem. To deal with large ships, we can adopt the tactic of making up for the lack of power with the help of numbers.

As tough as the Yamato was, it was still not fully protected by torpedoes. Thousands of tons of water entered the port side of the ship, and it eventually capsized and sank.

After hearing the question from his top leader, the flagship captain Li Yujie shook his head without hesitation. Through the window of the bridge, he cast his eyes on the four destroyers not far away.

"The live-fire training with the new torpedoes was excellent, even the battle-hardened Ugly and French allies were full of praise."

"Especially the Ugly Navy officers who were temporarily stranded on the island. They took the initiative to study the data of the M1942D after only one training session."

"Because of the new weapons, the allies have been cursing their own Ordnance Bureau, and they even said they would go back and settle accounts with Commissioner Smith."

Classic jokes never go out of style, especially when they are from the period in which they originated.

When the comrades on the bridge who had some knowledge of the U.S. Ordnance Bureau heard that the officers were going to form a team to attack Commissioner Smith, they all laughed out loud.

Amidst the laughter, Director Xiao turned his gaze towards his legendary captain, then patted the old man on the shoulder and said:

"Master Sa, the mobilization work before the expedition is now handed over to you. You have been an active beacon on the sea since the last century, and the young soldiers need your guidance."

"Come on, tell us a few words."

During the time proposed by Director Xiao, Li Yujie had personally turned off the switch on the rear panel of the bridge and blew the whistle into the microphone.

The long whistle was immediately transmitted to each ship through the fleet's communication system.

A few seconds later, he said solemnly: "Principal Sa is speaking, Principal Sa is speaking!"

At this time, Mr. Sa stood by the railing, his gray temples trembling slightly. He first looked around at the young soldiers around him, then his Adam's apple rolled three times, and finally uttered a thunderous Fujian accent:

"Forty-eight years ago, when Captain Deng of the Zhiyuan charged into battle, I was at the Dingyuan's lookout. We were defeated in the Battle of the Yellow Sea."

"In the year of Jiawu, I led troops to defend the island, but I could only watch as General Ding was surrounded and eventually committed suicide by taking poison. In the Battle of Weihaiwei, we were defeated again."

"Five years ago, I watched helplessly as the ships of the People's Republic were destroyed. At that time, I had passion but no sword. Jiangyin, we still lost."

"People all over the world are saying that the Chinese navy is weak, but are we really weak?"

"Today! We set sail again! Just to sink the enemy ships, just to let all the powers see! The Chinese Navy will stand up again no matter how many times it falls!"

As the whistle blew, Mr. Sa held the megaphone tightly and shouted out the words that had been buried in his heart since the last century.

"Raise the flag! The August 1st flag pays tribute to the loyal souls! We want to let the world know that the Chinese Navy is no longer the weakling it once was, but a steel Great Wall guarding thousands of miles of sea borders!"

"Let this August 1st Army flag tell the world: Anyone who violates our sea borders will be punished no matter how far away they are!"

This powerful shout exploded above the fleet, and the young soldiers unconsciously clenched their fists, and the muscles under their training uniforms were so tense that they hurt.

The morning mist over the port seemed to have turned into the lingering smoke from the Sino-Japanese War of 1894, constantly urging the fleet to attack.

Seeing Director Xiao and 103 helping Mr. Sa back to the dock, Li Yujie quickly suppressed the blood in his chest and said into the microphone:

"All departments, report the status of preparations for sailing. All departments, report the status of preparations for sailing."

"The engine is ready, the boiler temperature is normal, and we are ready to go."

"The gunnery department is ready. The main guns have sufficient ammunition and are ready for combat at any time."

"Combat Situation Center, radar is normal, navigation system is normal."

"Hydroacoustic department, everything is normal."

"Okay! Deck, cast off! Let's go!"

Accompanied by a long whistle, the Yellow River cruiser left the port first, followed by the Yan'an, Taiyuan, Weihai and Guisui ships.

After leaving the port, the fleet quickly formed into a single column and headed towards the inland sea.

······
Half a day later, thirty kilometers south of Laizhou Bay.

After two and a half days of death march, the defeated troops of the five divisions of Honko finally saw the coastline.

However, the Japs knew very well that the Eighth Route Army was not De San, and there was no fat man named Meyer in the Shandong Provincial Military Region, so there was no chance for them to rest.

So they could only run desperately, even if they were exhausted, they would sprint towards the coastline.

In the makeshift joint command post, the 8th Division's Lieutenant General Yokoyama Shizuo walked into the tent, cursing. He took off his helmet and threw it on the ground, then roared:
"Damn it! Are the Eighth Route Army crazy? They march quickly, march quickly again, attack, and then continue to march quickly to pursue us. They don't even give us a chance to breathe."

"With this kind of intensive advancement, even our soldiers can hardly hold out with assault ingots. Are all the people of the Republic of China iron men?"

"If reinforcements don't arrive, I think we'll all die on the beach!"

During the pursuit phase, the Eighth Route Army of Shandong Province made the Japanese invaders suffer a lot by relying on the coordinated operations of infantry, tanks, artillery and air force.

If it weren't for Umezu Michijiro's repeated telegrams asking them to insist on the transfer, several lieutenant generals and division commanders might have given up and stayed in the Jiaolai Plain to fight to the death.

After Shizuo Yokoyama vented his anger, he looked at the commander of the 23rd Division who was standing silently beside him.

"Xiyuan-kun, where are the reinforcements from the headquarters? I feel like the decision to bring all of us back by water is not reliable at all."

"As early as a year ago, the Navy had already withdrawn the Republic of China's evacuation fleet. Where on earth did the Admiral get hundreds of ships from?"

After these words, Nishihara Kanji, who had been dazed, finally regained some spirit. He took out a telegram from his pocket and said weakly:
"There are 96 ships belonging to the navy and 335 civilian ships. If everything goes well, we can pick up all the samurai in two days."

"As long as we reach Hebei Province, our five divisions can take the train out of the country." (End of this chapter)