Chapter 407: The first destroyer of the Eighth Route Army
After two weeks of high-intensity combat, the third brigade of the Qilu Column completely suppressed the formation of the independent fifth brigade. The special marines stationed along the coast of Jiao'ao were also killed by Li Yunlong's 1st Marine Brigade.
At this point, the people in Jiaodong area who had been waiting eagerly for it finally came to see Master Wang who they had been thinking about for a long time.
In the days to come, there will be no more oppression.
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February 1, 1942, Weihai Bay.
Today is very special for Tiger in the Forest and his group. Because they wanted to go to Liugong Island to receive eight rebellious surface ships on behalf of the border area and headquarters.
Strictly speaking, this will be the starting point for the Eighth Route Army’s ability to conduct sea operations.
On such a special day, Political Commissar Luo was afraid of making any mistakes, so he personally borrowed two large fishing boats and dozens of small and medium-sized fishing boats from local fellow villagers.
After the fleet traveled one sea mile, Chief of Staff Liu, who was holding on to the brim of his hat and shaking his head, looked at his companion who seemed to have roots on his feet. He couldn't help but ask with doubts in his heart:
“Lao Li, have you ever been on a boat before? Why does it look so stable?”
The person standing with 103 at this time was Li Yunlong, who was invited to support the third brigade of the Qilu Column.
Due to the airport conditions in the Jiaodong area, which did not meet the take-off and landing standards for the Air Overlord transport aircraft and the Hamilka glider, the 1st Marine Brigade that completed the mission had to temporarily stay on standby.
After learning that the army was going to receive several warships today, Lao Li, who was on a semi-vacation, simply came to join in the fun.
"Hey, you must have practiced it. My troops were struggling on the other side of the Mother River for more than half a month."
“I’m not bragging, let alone a large fishing boat. Even if you bring a torpedo boat or a gunboat over, I’ll be able to drive it away after I’ve been studying it for a while.”
As the only special unit of the Eighth Route Army at this stage, the daily training of the First Marine Brigade is very diversified. The most basic requirement for comrades is that one person has multiple functions and one specialization has multiple abilities.
In order to cope with operations that may occur in mountainous areas, plateaus, forests, and even island environments, soldiers must not only master the skills of infantry, but also learn to use various weapons and equipment within the organization.
This includes driving motor vehicles and ordinary civilian ships. A small number of talented comrades can even fly transport planes.
While the two were chatting, a sudden movement interrupted their conversation.
“Ugh!”
The two of them couldn't help but look back in surprise.
Looking towards the source of the sound, I saw a comrade wearing glasses who looked extremely pale. His left hand holding on to the guardrail of the ship had bulging veins and he was vomiting uncontrollably as the waves bumped.
At this scene and this situation, 103's face was immediately filled with sympathy.
As a person who suffers from airsickness, he naturally knows the symptoms of motion sickness. That feeling of dizziness and darkness was really worse than being shot.
With the idea that if you have been caught in the rain, try to hold an umbrella for others. 103 hurriedly took out a bottle of medicine from the pocket of his military uniform and strode towards the guardrail.
"Director Xiao, try focusing on the small island in the distance. This is a little trick taught to me by Dean Liu of the headquarters. I think it is quite useful. If that doesn't work, here is the Dragon Tiger Man Pill , it will be better to eat one.”
"We really have the same problem. I aspired to be the leader of the air force, but ended up getting airsick. Your situation is better than mine. You are already the top commander of the navy, but it's a pity that you get seasick."
"According to me, we must practice more, otherwise we will not be able to take care of ourselves in the future, and how can we command the troops."
That's right, the man leaning against the edge of the boat and vomiting was none other than Director Xiao, who had come all the way from the border area to Jiaodong.
Although War Fox and Lao Dai signed the Lend-Lease Act, they even negotiated matters related to training the navy.
But the rabbits will not place all their hopes on their allies. After all, no one knows when the French will regain the dominance of the fleet.
This military operation in the Jiaodong area just made the big guys see the possibility of establishing an independent navy.
In the original plan, the Japanese navy in Jiaoao was the target of the third brigade of the Qilu Column. In order to capture the enemy's warships, Monk Xu also specially prepared a spy camp and asked them to sneak into the city in batches and stand by.
But who would have thought that all the Japs were extremely hard-headed.
After confirming that there was no support or retreat, they actually sank the mine boat and two gunboats directly, without even leaving any ammunition dedicated to the ship.
Fortunately, there is always a way out.
Just when the soldiers thought they would return empty-handed from this trip, good news came from Liugong Island hundreds of kilometers away:
The Weihaiwei Observatory's Hong Kong Command, which belongs to Wangwang Wang Wang, and some students who have a warship uprising with a warship.
After this news was sent back to the border area, it immediately alarmed the army's morale wizards.
As soon as he received the news, he immediately sent a delegation headed by Director Xiao to the Jiaodong area and asked him to follow Lin Zhonghu and others to take charge of receiving the warships.
“Well, what Chief of Staff Liu said makes sense. I will have to find opportunities to ride more boats in the future to try to get used to this bumpy feeling as soon as possible.”
Director Xiao’s face improved slightly, and he held his handkerchief and forced a slightly grateful smile:
“The border region attaches great importance to this operation and sent me to form a new force. Then I must not let my superiors down.”
“As the top commander of the navy, I must study the issues of coastal defense and coastal defense carefully and guard the eastern and southern gates for the country.”
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After another twenty minutes of sailing, everyone finally arrived at their destination: Liugong Island.
This is a C-shaped island as a whole. Its excellent geographical location and topography have made it a natural military port since ancient times.
During the Qing Dynasty, the base of the Beiyang Navy was located here. It also witnessed the destruction of the First Fleet in Asia.
After the outbreak of the all-out Anti-Japanese War, this area was occupied by the Japanese's 21st Mine Squadron and used as a foothold to block the coastline.
Recently, due to the escalation of the Pacific War, the Japanese army had to mobilize a large number of troops from the battlefields of the Republic of China, so Liugong Island was handed over to the navy for garrison.
It is precisely because of its internal emptiness that the students on the island had the opportunity to revolt.
"Chiefs! Hold on to the guardrails around you, we are about to dock!" Under the guidance of the advance troops, the fishing boats sailed to the Liugong Island Iron Pier in an orderly manner, and finally stopped steadily at the entrance of the military port.
I don’t know whether it was the effect of the Dragon-Tiger Man Pill or the fact that he set foot on land again. Director Xiao finally got rid of the motion sickness after getting off the ship.
After everyone was assembled, he first looked at the fishing boats of different sizes behind him, and then turned his attention to the warships ready to go not far away.
“Chief of Staff Liu, please remember this for me. On February 1, 1942, Navy Commander XJG came to inspect Liugong Island by fishing boat.”
Director Xiao looked serious and said word by word:
“When there is an opportunity in the future, or when our naval school officially opens, you can help me find a few skilled craftsmen to carve the words just now on the big stone in front.”
"yes!"
Written these three words, 103 subconsciously took out the notebook he carried with him, and then wrote down the above words verbatim.
Perhaps out of cautious professional habits, he even repeated the contents of the notebook to Director Xiao.
After an episode that only Huang He could understand, the Tigers in the Forest and his team officially began the work of receiving the surface fleet.
“Reporting to the chiefs! The ship in front of you is the German-made destroyer we mentioned in the telegram! Chiefs, please give instructions and review!”
As soon as these words came out, everyone present focused their attention on the Tongan.
Since everyone is from the army, they have never been exposed to "large" ships before. So the old-fashioned destroyer in front of us, which is 63.4 meters long and 6.58 meters wide, is definitely a big guy to everyone.
Amidst the sighs of emotion, 01, 02, and 03 joined hands with Director Xiao and boarded the Tongan destroyer.
After observing carefully for a while, even a usually stern person like Tiger in the Forest couldn't help but smile from the bottom of his heart.
This old ship has a displacement of only 400 tons and is more than 30 years old. It really has little combat effectiveness.
If placed on the high seas, not to mention the Mutsuki-class in this book, it is estimated that even the Kamikaze-class and Ruozhu-class can be fought against her.
But such an old-fashioned destroyer has opened up a new branch of the Eighth Route Army, giving comrades the confidence to defend the enemy from outside the country.
“Raise the flag.”
Following Director Xiao's order, several red flags with two golden Chinese characters and sea blue and white stripes printed on the lower half were slowly raised from destroyers, gunboats, patrol ships and traffic ships. rise.
Although there was no military song playing at this moment, the sea breeze blew the flags, which gradually overlapped with the excited heartbeats of everyone present.
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Afternoon, Beiyang Navy Admiral’s Mansion.
This 55-year-old brick and wood structure complex covering an area of 10,000 square meters was originally the combat headquarters of the Beiyang Navy.
After the Japanese handed over control of the island to Wang Wangwang, the leader of the puppet army specially set up his office here.
Now, this is the command center of the Eighth Route Army Navy and Director Xiao’s temporary residence.
After the reception ceremony, Tiger in the Forest and his group had returned on the original route on a fishing boat. The military operation in Jiaodong is just the starting point, and a series of challenges are waiting for them.
As for why it was still a fishing boat instead of aboard the newly received warship?
The reason is very simple, because currently there is really no team that can operate patrol boats or traffic boats on the entire Liugong Island.
The naval academy established by Wang Wangwang was full of oppression and exploitation. Not only do the trainees in the training camp not have enough food and clothing, they even suffer discrimination and humiliation. Their daily life is no different from that of prisoners.
When the puppet troops recruited soldiers, they specially compiled a set of lies to beautify the life of sailors. They lied that the recruits would learn navigation, gunnery, engineering and other skills after entering the camp.
The results of it?
When a large number of students who do not know the truth are recruited into the army, they have not learned any real skills, and they have to be whipped and humiliated at will by the instructors on weekdays.
It was precisely because of the above-mentioned encounters that the students completed the uprising.
As for the puppet military instructors on the island?
He was naturally shot to death on the spot by the angry students, and his body might have floated to the peninsula strait.
After listing the current difficulties one by one, Director Xiao felt that the burden on his shoulders was a little heavier. He held a pen and said with a sad face:
“Hey, my superiors have really arranged a big job for me. Without teaching materials and experienced instructors, the establishment of this naval school is really difficult.”
“We can’t wait for our allies to send people to support us, right? How long will it take?”
Just as our navy leader was complaining, Li Yunlong, who had just finished lunch, staggered in from outside the house.
Originally, Lao Li was planning to return to land with the tigers in the forest, but because he had more or less experience and theoretical knowledge in driving civilian ships, he was kept by Director Xiao.
After hearing the difficulties of his colleagues, he had an idea, and a figure suddenly flashed in his mind.
“Director Xiao, do you know the fleet battle master over at Guo Preserved? There is a high probability that he can provide some help.”
“From what I know about that person, as long as you pay a certain price, the other party will even support a group of experienced naval instructors and secretly assist us in establishing a naval school.”
Since Li Yunlong transferred to the airborne force, he took the time to master the basic information of well-known generals at home and abroad. This is why he was able to give advice to Director Xiao as soon as possible.
As for the master of fleet battles mentioned by Lao Li, he is naturally the only naval admiral of the Republic of China in a certain 7+ game. He scared the bald Chen SK away with just a PPT of twenty aircraft carriers!
The resume of this senior general can definitely be said to stand out among the insects in the preserved fruit.
He graduated from Jiangnan Naval Academy and is familiar with the systems of major naval powers in the world. While studying in England, he even participated in the Battle of Jutland with the fleet.
Even in this difficult period, he is still actively cultivating naval talents and insists on sending talented students who are willing to endure hardships to study abroad.
In a sense, it was precisely because of the efforts of the fleet battle masters that a large number of key talents were retained for the new navy in the original timeline. (End of chapter)