The cruiser "Nagara" has a full load displacement of 5,570 tons and is captained by Colonel Naoi Toshio.
Colonel Toshio Naoi was quite dissatisfied when he received the order from Naosaburo Okabe. He said to his staff: "When will the Imperial Navy also be commanded by the Army? Shouldn't he obtain the consent of the Naval Command?"
"Maybe it's a military emergency!" the staff officer replied, "They didn't have time to contact the naval headquarters!"
Then the staff officer added: "Your Excellency Colonel, I heard that our strategic focus will be transferred from the sea to the land, and it is still the Chinese mainland, so..."
Colonel Naoi Toshio couldn't help but fell silent when he heard this.
The staff officer's words were relatively cryptic, but Naoi Toshio understood clearly: If the strategic focus shifts to land, the navy's position will no longer be as important as before.
This is obvious, especially after knowing that Eagle Sauce has a proximity fuse and has produced "Hellcat" fighter jets to completely crush the Imperial Navy, the status of the Navy has been declining.
The reason is very simple. From all aspects, it is impossible for the Imperial Navy to defeat the Eagle Navy:
The Imperial Naval Air Force bombed the Eagle warships, which had proximity-fuse anti-aircraft guns that could knock Imperial fighter planes out of the sky like turkeys.
When the Eagle Naval Air Force bombed the Imperial warships, because they were protected by "Hellcat" fighter jets and could enter uninhabited territory, the Imperial troops had no choice but to be bombed.
What makes people feel even more helpless is that according to the empire's intelligence, Eagle Sauce's aircraft carrier is being launched at a rate of more than a month...
How to fight this?
How many times the empire has put in efforts to sink one aircraft carrier in Yingjiang, and then two, three or even more aircraft carriers in Yingjiang will be launched into the battlefield. Will the empire face more and more enemies?
(Note: The Essex-class aircraft carrier adopts a modular production method. From December 1942 to January 1944, 8 aircraft carriers were put into service in just one year, with an average of one aircraft carrier being put into service every one and a half months)
The battlefield is based on importance.
In the past, the empire hoped to use its navy to defeat Eagle Sauce and protect its homeland's security. Of course, the navy's status was high.
Now, the navy is unable to win the war after spending countless funds. Facing the eagle sauce, the navy can only hide and avoid fighting. What status does it have?
Thinking of this, Colonel Naoi Toshio sighed and ordered: "Order, replenish ammunition and rush to HLD!"
"Yes!" the staff officer responded and passed on the order.
Also setting off with the "Nagara" was the "Kuma". Although the captain of the "Kuma" also had the rank of colonel, because Toshio Naoi had rich combat experience, it was finally decided that Toshio Naoi would command the reinforcement operation.
, there was also a warship and a submarine that were left at the shipyard and did not participate in the war because they were still being repaired.
In fact, Naoi Toshio believed that only one of his warships was needed for this reinforcement.
Because although the "Nagara" is a light cruiser, it has 7 140MM caliber main guns, 2 76MM anti-aircraft guns, 36 anti-aircraft cannons, and 6 anti-aircraft machine guns.
This kind of firepower is sufficient to deal with both the Eighth Route Army infantry and aviation.
However, due to repeated requests from Naosaburo Okabe, Colonel Naoi Toshio finally pulled up the "Kuma".
"Our Commander Okabe, is he afraid of being beaten by the Eighth Route Army?" Toshio Naoi said with a mocking tone to Colonel Yoshihiro Tahara, the captain of the "Kuma" light cruiser: "It's just a few regiments, let him
So scared!"
Colonel Tahara Yoshihiro laughed and said: "Naoi-dono, please understand them. They are directly facing the enemy on land. How can we understand their mood on a warship?"
This may sound like you are thinking from the perspective of infantry, but in fact it is a mockery of infantry who only use backward equipment to use brute force against the enemy.
The navy is different. What they say is that there is a generational difference in technology. Under this generational difference, the enemy has no way to defeat them.
Naoi Toshio deeply agreed with this, and he secretly thought: Even though the strategic focus of the empire has shifted, the navy is still not comparable to the army!
It took the two warships about five hours to reach HLD...they were not moving at full speed.
This was Toshio Naoi's decision, despite Naosaburo Okabe's repeated urgings for them to speed up.
Naoi Toshio only replied: "What if we arrive at the destination too early and the enemy is frightened and dare not move forward? Then will our journey be in vain?"
Then Naosaburo Okabe took office and ignored no matter how hard he urged him.
It turned out that the warship arrived early. When they arrived at their destination, the Eighth Route Army was still dozens of kilometers away from HLD.
Naoi Toshio then added: "Look, we still have plenty of preparation time!"
On the other side, Naosaburo Okabe was furious to death by Naoi Toshio's words. Shouldn't the warship reach its destination first?
If he didn't arrive in advance, how could the gunner on the warship know where the artillery fire was going to come from?
They should first send artillery observers to bring radios ashore, and even need to understand the defense lines and deployment of the imperial army, so that they know how to provide artillery cover for friendly forces during the war without accidentally bombing their own people!
However, because they were the navy, they were not theoretically under the command of him, the commander of the North China Front, so Naosaburo Okabe could only swallow these words.
Wang Xuexin immediately received the information that the Japanese warships had arrived at HLD.
Chen Songyong asked impatiently: "Commander, is it time to try anti-ship missiles?"
Wang Xuexin just asked: "What is the range of the Japanese warship's gun?"
Chen Songyong was stunned when he heard this. Only then did he realize that he didn't even know the range of the Japanese naval gun.
But it's no wonder that the Eighth Route Army had been fighting guerrillas against the Japanese in the mountains before, and there was no possibility of fighting the Japanese warships. Therefore, no one cared about the range of the Japanese naval guns, so the information in this area was almost blank.
Then Chen Songyong and several staff members were busy for a while, and even found Sun Erwei's head... Yingjiang had fought naval battles with Japanese warships, and they knew the Japanese navy well.
Then I got some basic data about the Japanese navy: 140MM naval gun, maximum range of 20 kilometers, projectile weight of 38 kilograms, and propellant weight of 10.97 kilograms.
Chen Songyong couldn't help but smacked his lips when he heard this charge. You must know that the small bomb carried by the Jaap 98 light explosive is only 25 kilograms, and the Japs shell weighs 38 kilograms, which is almost a bomb.
Then Chen Songyong and others began to rejoice: Fortunately, there were missiles to deal with the warships, otherwise I don’t know how many people would have been sacrificed in this fight!
Wang Xuexin didn't say anything, he just ordered: "Keep moving forward!"