Volume 4: Hot! The whole world is a warring state Chapter 713 Zhou Yuji's surprise attack
"Commander, the Western bandits really used fishing nets to salvage our mines."
"Humph, these idiots, let them go and fish it out. I want to see how long it takes them to fish out what tens of thousands of workers at our Singapore Ship Repair Yard have worked so hard for a year."
Batam Island is a large island on the south side of Singapore Island. But the main reason why this large island not too far from Singapore Island has not developed into another Singapore is that in addition to Batam Island, there are countless small islands, many of which do not even have names, and more reefs hidden under the sea nearby. In short, the hydrological conditions here are extremely complicated. With the smooth shipping route on Singapore Island, no one would dare to come here.
Therefore, although the naval losses in the Battle of Malacca were so severe that Zhu Youdong kept saying that Singapore could not be defended and the most important thing was to preserve the naval officers and soldiers, when the war developed to this point, Singapore was still in the hands of the Ming Dynasty, and its strategic value was highlighted.
At this time, Zhou Yuji and a group of lieutenants of the fleet were wearing green army uniforms, lying in the thick bushes on an unknown island, observing the huge Spanish fleet. In order to hide, in addition to covering themselves with various green plants, they also covered the lenses of the telescopes with thin green scarves.
Because of Philip's appearance, the Spanish Navy did not suffer the same series of broken spine injuries as in the original plane of history. Therefore, the Spanish Navy at this time was still the world's first-class elite. At 8 o'clock in the morning on the 25th, nearly a thousand lifeboats, on more than 200 ships, and with the cheers of tens of thousands of crew members, slowly sailed into the minefield of the Ming army.
It must be said that Alfonso's idea was a good one. By six o'clock in the afternoon, when the sun began to slowly sink into the sea, the Spaniards had already salvaged thousands of mines from this area.
"Your Excellency, our minesweeping brigade has salvaged a total of 1,035 enemy mines today. While we were handling them, one of the mines exploded, destroying six small boats near us and killing 24 people."
"Thank you for your outstanding contribution to the fleet, Major General Garcia. Please go to the ship where the fallen soldiers were originally on and express my condolences to their comrades on my behalf. At the same time, Lieutenant, when you go down, count the specific names of the personnel who salvaged the mines today. I will reward the brave sailors with one gold coin for each mine. As for the fallen sailors, I will personally send pensions and letters of condolence to their families after returning to India."
"I sincerely praise you, Your Excellency, the generous and kind Count. Before I submit the list to you, I have important discoveries to report to you."
"Speaking."
"During our minesweeping today, we found that the Chinese had hidden a safe channel in the minefield. The width of this channel is about 80 meters and it is distributed in a Z or S shape. In short, we did not salvage a single mine in this channel."
"Hmm~ Your discovery is very important." Alfonso clapped his hands vigorously and said, "The existence of this waterway indicates two things. First, the Chinese warships have gone ahead of us and are waiting for us outside the minefield. Just like the Chinese navy's advance arrangements in the tragic naval battle in November 1939. Second, the Chinese minelayers have withdrawn to Singapore Harbor, otherwise there is no explanation for why such a narrow waterway was left."
At this point, Alfonso was obviously excited: he said he was not in a hurry during the day, but in fact he was still very anxious. After all, if he bypassed Malacca earlier and reached the west side of the Malay Peninsula earlier, he could bring the army back to India earlier. What if his delay caused the army to suffer heavy losses in the Malay Peninsula? Humph, although His Majesty Philip did not like to kill people, he probably had to borrow his head for the sake of EU unity at that time.
"Lieutenant, I have a mission for you. Tomorrow morning, in addition to continuing to clear mines according to today's plan, you must also organize another fleet to focus on exploring this safe waterway. The sooner we can open it, the sooner we can sail out of this damn minefield."
"As you command, sir."
So, it was September 6th.
On the Ming Dynasty side.
"Commander, the Western bandits seem to have discovered the safe passage we deliberately left. I saw that the first few lifeboats seemed to have completely figured out the pattern of our minelaying. This morning, they advanced very quickly. They entered the battle at 8 a.m., and I could not see them at all by noon."
"Hehe, it seems that these Western bandits are not stupid. Hey, this is the first time I hope that the enemy is smarter. Otherwise, if these guys really foolishly clear out a safe waterway four or five kilometers wide, who can I cry to?"
This side of Spain.
"Your Excellency, we have completely figured out the distribution pattern of the enemy's safe waterway. Our twelve fastest boats, six groups of lifeboats, have traveled at least twenty kilometers today, and have not recovered a single mine. Adding the five kilometers we cleared yesterday, from here, twenty-five kilometers away, we have cleared three kilometers horizontally to the left and right, and have only recovered seven mines. I guess we have broken through the enemy's minefield!"
"Very good! Lieutenant, when we return to India, I will personally draft your promotion order. Now, Rear Admiral Garcia, please lead the Paris, Porto, Marseille, and Lyon along this safe waterway."
"Sir, while our light cruisers and destroyers are still on outer alert and have not yet returned to the fleet, I will lead four heavy cruisers forward. You only have two battleships, the Duke and the Barcelo, and one heavy cruiser, the Lille."
"It's okay, Major General. If my guess is correct, the enemy must have a fleet waiting for us outside the minefield. But judging from our battles with the Chinese Navy in the past year, their largest warship is only a 3,000-ton light cruiser. So, the purpose of giving you four heavy cruisers is to break through the enemy's blockade outside the minefield. As for me, humph, if the Chinese can break through the cordon formed by our outer light cruisers and destroyers and come to the Duke, I will once again let them know the power of the 305 cannon."
"I understand. I will lead the team out right away."
More than four hours later, Rear Admiral Garcia sent someone back to deliver the message: "Our fleet has sailed out of the minefield and no enemy ships have intercepted us."
"Hahaha, these yellow monkeys, how come they don't even have the courage to fight now? Send out orders, have our minesweeper brigade light torches on the ship to mark out a safe waterway, then the Duke will lead, followed by the transport ships, with the Lille and Barcelona bringing up the rear. The entire fleet will enter the minefield. We will try to pass through the minefield within five hours."
"Sir, should we wait until tomorrow morning?"
"Young men, while we are here enjoying ourselves, our Army brothers may be fighting hard. Now, every minute and every second counts.
It doesn't matter. Singapore Port is more than 80 kilometers away from here. It will take at least two hours for the warships there to rush over. Moreover, even if they get here, they have to deal with our outer cordon first. I don't believe that our 18 light cruisers and destroyers can't hold out for even three hours. In front of us, outside the minefield, Rear Admiral Garcia's four heavy cruisers also guarded the exit for us. Even if the Chinese fleet outside the exit finds something wrong and rushes over, Rear Admiral Garcia will at least hold out for us for five hours.
Now, please follow my orders."
"As you command, sir."
Following the orders of Lieutenant General Alfonso, who appeared calm but was actually extremely anxious, the huge Spanish fleet began to heat up their boilers. More than an hour later, the Spanish fleet, which had lined up, led by the Duke, blew a loud whistle and headed into the safe waterway in the minefield.
It was 7:45 p.m. on September 6, 1641. The sun in late summer and early autumn had completely sunk below the sea level. Only a touch of afterglow and the increasingly dim orange-red background where the sea and sky met in the distance remained on the entire sea surface.
"Commander, the Western thieves have fallen into a trap!"
"Be gentle, the sun has gone down and it's not completely dark yet. What if you jump like this and get spotted by the Western bandits' telescope?"
"Oh, hey, Commander, why don't we launch our ship yet?"
"Why are you in such a hurry? Where the hell have we just arrived? I don't want his battleships. What I want are these merchant transport ships!"
It's no wonder Zhou Yuji didn't panic at all: the straight-line distance from the entrance to the exit of the minefield is 25 kilometers. But this safe waterway is zigzag-shaped. The actual distance a ship travels in this waterway is more than 50 kilometers.
50 kilometers is about 27 nautical miles. According to the general speed of these transport ships, which is only 6 or 7 knots, it will take at least 4 to 5 hours. And Zhou Yuji's thoughts...
At 8:20 in the evening, apart from the moon that occasionally peeked out from the sea and was not obscured by the clouds, the only other things left were the extremely sparse starlight that was blocked by the clouds.
"God is really helping me! I came out to fight this battle with the determination to die, but who knew that the Western bandits would cooperate so well and enter the minefield at night? Tsk tsk, the enemy general is really too bold. Do you really think that our Ming navy can't fight just because it has been silent for the past two years? Pass the order, light a fire!"
In addition to Alfonso's actions of entering the minefield at night due to underestimation of the enemy and impatience. The sky was also cooperative that night: the clouds were thick, and most of the moonlight and starlight were blocked. As for the noise made by the steam engine? Come on, hundreds of ships are gathered together at this time, and their engines are making all kinds of roars. What kind of noise can be considered the sound made by the ten torpedo ships of the Ming army when they are started?
At 9:35 p.m., the ten torpedo boats, with the boilers at maximum pressure, emerged from the back of seven unnamed islands thirty kilometers outside the minefield. They then formed a formation about fifteen kilometers away from the Spanish fleet in the minefield. The ten torpedo boats formed a horizontal formation and rushed towards the Spanish fleet at a speed of twenty-five knots.
As for why the Ming Dynasty's torpedo ships were not afraid of hitting mines, it was because the draft of the Ming Dynasty's torpedo ships was controlled within 3.2 meters at the beginning of their design.
At this time, the Spanish fleet, starting with the Duke, had been in the minefield for nearly two hours. On the one hand, the two hours of safe sailing had made everyone relax their vigilance. On the other hand, all that stood in front of Zhou Yuji's fleet were ordinary transport ships - without a single naval gun!
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
When Zhou Yuji's fleet rushed to within five or six kilometers of the enemy, the sailors on the transport ship finally reacted. Unfortunately, in such a situation, what else could they do except roar in despair?
A distance of five or six kilometers would only take a few minutes for a high-speed torpedo ship running at full speed.
At 9:48, all ten torpedo boats of Zhou Yuji's fleet came into range. With Zhou Yuji's ship Shaoyang taking the lead in turning, the ten warships including Chenzhou, Guiyang, Yongzhou, Hengyang, etc. turned together and fired forty white-headed torpedoes in unison.
The Whitehead torpedo, which relies on high-pressure air as its power, is very slow, very slow... But this kind of slowness is like the despairing torture of being shot for five minutes for a transport ship that is stuck in a minefield, with only an 80-meter safe waterway, and has a displacement of at least 5,000 tons and can hardly turn.
At 52 minutes, Zhou Yuji's fleet achieved its first victory: a white-headed torpedo slowly penetrated into the waterline of a 10,000-ton transport ship. After a violent explosion, the torpedo directly opened a super-large hole more than three meters long and two meters wide in the unarmored part of the opponent's waterline. Then, this 10,000-ton giant ship began to tilt rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Boom, boom, boom~" The sound of explosions rang out one after another on the originally silent sea surface. A total of twelve transport ships were hit by torpedoes one after another. The explosives experts of the Ming Dynasty, led by Sun Yuanhua, were all hopelessly phobic patients of insufficient firepower, so the amount of ammunition loaded in the white-headed torpedo was extremely large. For these transport ships that had almost no armor below the waterline, a white-headed torpedo could definitely hit them in one shot!
"Brothers, light up the following ships and let them follow us. Let's do it again!"
Looking at the flickering flames and the various explosions and screams coming from afar, the Ming army soldiers, who were full of vigor and vitality, all roared in response to the majestic man standing at the bow: "Yes, Commander!"
So, after circling around, just a few minutes later, Zhou Yuji's fleet rushed up again: this time, they used the torpedo tubes on the other side and fired forty neatly aligned torpedoes!
A few minutes later, another round of violent explosions sounded. The Spanish transport fleet, which had been in good order just now, was completely in chaos. They began to abandon their complete formation and run around like a group of wildebeests frightened by a group of lions on the African savannah.
Then, a series of rumbling sounds came one after another - the Ming Dynasty's minefield was finally open!
