Battle of the Third Reich

The trajectory of a whole row of torpedoes showed a beautiful fan shape, and what made Manpeng more frightened was that he saw the same torpedo trajectory under the water surface in the other direction. The Siamese waterborne reconnaissance aircraft was equipped with a Japanese-made radio, but no matter how loudly the Lieutenant Manpeng called, the fleet's response was not heard.

Lieutenant Colonel Weifengan stood on the open-air bridge of [Thonburi] and watched the seaplane take-off with a group of subordinates. In his heart, he was proud of his quick thinking. Who would think of borrowing a plane from a transport ship?

Suddenly there was a cry of exclamation on the bridge, and the seaplane suddenly made a roll inexplicably, twisted the nose and dived towards the sea.

"Has something broken?" Lieutenant Colonel Weifengan couldn't help but hold the fence around him nervously.

Immediately he found out that the plane seemed to be shooting at the sea, because he saw the splash of water on the surface of the water, and then heard the sound of crisp machine guns.

"What is he aiming at?" Wei Fengan was puzzled, and then he suddenly thought of something, and suddenly a cold sweat came out of his back.

"Start sailing now and advance at full speed!" the captain ordered loudly.

"Order the fleet to set sail immediately, pay attention to observe the water surface, the reconnaissance aircraft may have found the trace of the submarine!" pointing at the signal soldiers roared loudly, Wei Fengan's forehead had exploded blue muscles.

The Italian lightning strike ships with two wings in formation are equipped with the latest steam turbine power. Because of the temporary suspension, the pipeline still maintains sufficient steam pressure, so when the flagship command is passed through the flag and the light, the ships immediately The power was turned on, the white splash of the stern splashed, and the propeller began to rotate at high speed.

But for the lightning strike ship on the outside at this time, the flagship command obviously came a little late. Because of the Mediterranean ship type, the freeboards of these lightning strike ships are relatively low. In order to maintain stability, the superstructure of the hull is not very high, so when the watchtower standing on the open deck on the top of the bridge found the torpedo track, the two sides’ The distance was quite close, and the Siamese sailors didn't even have time to warn their superiors, and the torpedo had hit the ship's side.

The two [Dao] class small lightning strike ships on the left, each of the [Chun Teng] and [Beida Nian] hit one torpedo, and the [Surat] was hit twice in succession. The former quickly began to roll and sink, while the latter was detonated because of the ammunition depot and was blown into parts on the spot.

A torpedo gliding past the stern of the "Beida Nian" luckily hit the inner "Gechang Island" transport ship, hitting a five on the side wall of the front cabin of the old cargo ship made in 1898 In the large hole with a width of one meter, a long-lost freighter had long damaged most of the watertight doors, and soon the bow of the ship sank down at a speed discernible to the naked eye.

Because the draughts of these target ships are very shallow, the torpedoes have a fixed depth of only about two meters, but because they are all electric power, this has not exposed obvious wakes.

Just as the lightning strike ship on the left was destroyed, the three lightning strike ships on the right were also attacked. However, because of the angle of attack, there was only one torpedo in the bow of the ship [Chun Buri], and the remaining The torpedoes all missed the target.

Under the fearful observation of a group of Siamese naval officers and men, torpedoes passed through the ship at high speed, and finally one of them hit the stern of [Ayutthaya Ayutthaya] at the forefront of the queue, leaving The torpedoes disappeared as quickly as they appeared. After more than ten seconds, a drainage column exploded in the distant sea.

Almost in a blink of an eye, [Thonburi] lost half of its total tonnage. At this time, only two [Dao] class lightning strike ships and the flagship [Thunburi] remained in combat. The remaining ships were either hit hard or were sinking.

In spite of the rescue of colleagues who had fallen into the water, [Thonburi] added full horsepower and started to move forward. Wei Fengan could not guarantee whether there would be a second wave of torpedoes. Judging from the quantity just now, there are at least two submarines under the nearby sea surface. For this shallow-water heavy artillery ship, this is not a good thing.

Although she possessed a large-diameter main gun of 203 mm and had a firepower comparable to that of a Japanese heavy cruiser, she did not even have the basic ability to fight back against her opponents lurking under the sea.

[Songka] and [Rayong] could not sit back and ignore their compatriots in the same squadron. These Italian lightning strike ships were full of horsepower. The two warships were cruising around the injured ship quickly, and at the same time, they continued to throw life-saving appliances at the falling compatriots.

[Thunburi] The snake maneuvered towards the northeast for almost five minutes, and did not wait for the expected second wave of attack. Lieutenant Colonel Weifengan was not sure that the other party had left, because there have been many similar ones in the history of naval warfare. In the case of battle, the submarine will launch the second and third attacks when the other party rescues the attacked ship.

At this time, the formation commander had also calmed down, knowing that he could not abandon other teammates in this way. If he only returned to the base with a warship, he would definitely be sent to the military court by the angry boss.

In particular, he could not sit back and watch the [Ayutthaya Ayutthaya] sinking. This gunboat and [Thunburi] were regarded by the navy as the double walls of the kingdom, and any loss was unforgivable.

So [Thunburi] began to change course and returned to the scene of the accident. At the same time, Thonburi reported to the Naval Command in Bangkok on the radio about the formation's encounter in detail. It was only in the report that Mr. Lieutenant Colonel avoided it and did not mention the fact that he stopped the boat and set the plane aside.

Of course, it is absolutely impossible to hide this incident during the post-war investigation, but if in the end, due to his efforts, the formation has recovered part of the loss, maybe you will get a chance to lose your head.

If Lieutenant Colonel Weifengan reported the truth now, then the next stage would definitely be deprived of command by the superior on the spot, and he would not be given any opportunity to argue.

[Ayutthaya Ayutthaya] suffered more damage than Wei Fengan had imagined. The torpedo hit the stern rudder room and blew through the waterproof compartment of the power cabin, in addition to causing a lot of water. In addition, the fire caused by the fuel leakage also destroyed the generator room and the adjacent power distribution room. So at this time, the shallow water heavy gunboat not only lost power, but also lost all its electricity. Although the crew struggled to save themselves from the crisis of sinking on the spot, the warship had turned into a dead fish with no fighting power. Only at the mercy of others.

In just a few minutes, four [Dao]-class lightning strike ships have disappeared from the sea. A thick layer of fuel and debris floated on the water. A group of oil-stained sailors floated in the sea.

[Pagan Island] put down all of her deck boats, struggling to rescue the Siamese sailors who had fallen into the water. The remaining two lightning strike ships circled around the shipwreck area, watching the nearby water with vigilance, but it seems that the attackers are not in a hurry to show up, or they have already left, and wait until the rescue is coming to an end, those so-called submarines are still Did not appear.

At this time, forty minutes had passed since the first torpedo exploded, and the Bangkok Command had sent back a reply, ordering Wei Fengan to immediately lead the remaining ships back to Sattahip, and then wait for the senior officer's inquiry.

The superior ordered him to find a way to bring [Ayu Tuo Ye] back to Sattahip anyway. They had ordered Sattahip to send a naval tug to come to aid, and also deployed some naval reconnaissance bombers. [Thonburi] The formation formed an escort. Looking at this belated support, Wei Fengan really felt like crying.

The Siamese seaplane was short of fuel because of its own fuel. After hovering over the fleet for more than forty minutes, it finally ran out of fuel and landed on the sea near Thonburi.

At this time, the deck of [Pagan Island] was already full of rescued wounded people. There was no place to park the plane, and the transport ship was towing the [Ayutthaya], impossible. Stop to recycle it. So in the end, Wei Fengan assigned a motor boat on the Thonburi to pick up the pilot, and then ordered the lightning strike ship to use a 76-mm main gun to destroy the seaplane in place.

[Songka] fired four or five cannons at the small seaplane, but he didn’t even hit a single shot, which made the captain of this lightning striker lose face and scolded the gunner. After the pause, the lightning strike ship could only turn to approach the Siamese at high speed, and finally used a 20-mm single-barrel gun on the back of the bridge to completely destroy the small seaplane.

While everyone was paying attention to the awful artillery performance of the Songkhla, a few faint smoke plumes appeared on the sea level in the northwest direction of the fleet.

"Northwest direction, a ship was found." The watchman standing in the fence of the rangefinder at the top of the bridge [Thonburi] at the 4.5-meter range shouted loudly to the captain on the open bridge.

"It may be the tugboat transferred from Sattahip." The first officer said to Wei Fengan.

"They arrived fairly timely, so that we may be able to increase some speed." The lieutenant colonel nodded and agreed.

Because the towing was completely out of power, the deck was close to the sea [Ayutthaya], [Pagan Island] had used every inch of steam, and the speed dropped again to a pitiful six knots. In order to prevent being attacked by the submarine, they had to change their course almost every few minutes, so that the speed of the entire formation became slower.

"Be especially careful at this time. The enemy has not left. I must be staring at us somewhere. I can feel it." Wei Fengan held a telescope and observed the sea on the side of the ship, hoping to find some clues. Prove his judgment.

"Left full rudder." The captain patted his sleeve and ordered.

"Left full rudder, sir." The brass helmsman in the steering room replied loudly, and the formation started a new turn.

After continuing to navigate through the twists and turns for about a quarter of an hour, I can clearly see the figure of the coming ship from the high magnification telescope. From the gray hull painting of the other party and the main gun raised high, it is obviously not sent by Sattahip. Tugboat.

"It's the French navy flag!" Through the high-power lens of the 4.5-meter rangefinder, the operator finally saw the huge tricolor flag flying on the other party's mast.

"Pull the battle alert! Order the [Pagan Island] to the northeast coast, and if you can't do it, she will be stranded with the [Ayutuye]." Wei Fengan decisively issued a battle order.

【Ayutthaya Ayutthaya】has become a burden at this time. To keep this warship aground, it is a correct disposal method.

As for the "Pagan Island", although it was a cargo ship bought from Italy, its age is more than thirty years, and even if the loss can be tolerated, the key is that she still carries four lightning strike ships on it. Officers and soldiers can no longer plunge them into war.

[Thonburi] Although it was a new ship, the sailors received rigorous training in the hands of Japanese instructors. The combat preparation was quick and skilled, and soon everyone entered their respective combat positions.

The two lightning strike ships increased their speed, surpassed the Thonburi, and launched an assault in the direction of the coming enemy. They prepared to rely on a speed of up to 30 knots to carry out a wave of preemptive attacks.

"There are two warships behind the enemy ship, which is being identified." The steering wheel operator reported.

"Three-on-three? Then let's see who can laugh until the end, and how much time is still in the range?" Wei Fengan asked, looking up.

"It is estimated that it will take another five minutes," the operator reported.

"The main gun began to load, everyone was ready for battle, and the officers entered the command tower." The Lieutenant Colonel ordered.

The officer's tail followed the captain down the spiral staircase and entered the armored control tower below the nautical bridge. Only a few watchmen and maritime officers remained on the open bridge.

"The main gun is loaded, Captain." The gunner picked up the phone on the side and listened to the report from the shooting post.

"It has been identified that the first two are French storm-class destroyers, and the other warship is too far away, and it is not yet possible to distinguish the models." The first officer reported to the captain.

"Very well, when the enemy ship enters the range, immediately fire at the first enemy ship to cover the attack of the lightning strike ship." Wei Fengan nodded, holding a telescope, from the narrow observation window of the armored control tower to the enemy ship in the distance Looking away.

ps: Thank you for your support. (To be continued.)