Republic of China: German-equipped divisions massacred as warlords guarded the nation's borders

East China Sea.

Night had completely enveloped the sea.

The fleeing Japanese troop transport ships scattered into three main groups. The largest group of more than twenty ships headed northeast, attempting to rendezvous with the retreating Kirishima. The second group of more than a dozen ships headed due north, desperately fleeing towards the Korean Strait. The third group, with about ten ships lagging behind, was still struggling slowly about thirty nautical miles southeast of the Wusongkou due to insufficient boiler power.

Zhou Dehai's four speedboats were the first to engage the third group.

The S-class torpedo boats have a maximum speed of 36 knots, nearly twice as fast as troop transport ships. In the darkness, four black figures skimmed across the surface of the sea, like four hungry sharks.

"Boats One and Two, attack from the right flank! Boat Three, follow me and cut in from the left flank! Boat Four, cover the rear!"

"receive!"

The Japanese sailors on the troop transport finally spotted the white wakes on the water. Some began firing their Type 92 heavy machine guns from the deck at the sea. Tracer bullets drew red arcs across the night sky.

But it was too late.

Zhou Dehai's No. 1 boat launched two torpedoes when it was 400 meters away from the troop transport ship.

The white bubble trails left two straight lines on the sea surface, hurtling straight toward the target at a speed of forty knots.

boom!!

The first torpedo struck the troop transport ship below the waterline amidships. Six hundred kilograms of TNT exploded inside the hull, instantly tearing a five-meter-wide gash through the ship. Seawater, like a beast unleashed from its cage, surged wildly into the lower decks.

The Japanese soldiers on the ship jumped into the sea like dumplings being dropped into boiling water. But the sea temperature in the East China Sea at the end of October was only fourteen degrees Celsius. A person soaked to the bone would not last more than forty minutes in such water.

The second torpedo struck the stern of an adjacent troop transport ship. The propeller was blown off. The powerless troop transport ship spun on the surface of the sea and then began to slowly sink.

Boat No. 2 and Boat No. 3 also completed their attacks in succession.

Within fifteen minutes, seven of the third group of about ten troop transport ships that had fallen behind were sunk.

The sea was filled with struggling figures.

Some people clung desperately to the floating planks. Some trampled each other. Some had already lost consciousness to the icy seawater and floated face down on the surface.

Zhou Dehai glanced at the Japanese soldiers who had fallen into the water through the porthole.

He held the communicator in his hand and hesitated for a second.

Then he pressed the call button.

"Young Marshal, there are approximately two thousand Japanese soldiers who have fallen into the water. Should we...?"

The voice coming from the communicator was devoid of any warmth.

"Did they think like you now when they were planning to kill those 67 people on Nanjing Road?"

Zhou Dehai put down the communicator.

"Attention all crew. Change course. Load deck machine guns."

Da da da da da!

The sound of machine gun fire echoed across the sea for a long time.

……

at the same time.

The cruiser Rongchou is pursuing the troop transport group to the northeast at full speed.

Rong Haitao stood on the bridge, gripping his binoculars tightly. His aging eyes made out the scattered lights on the sea ahead in the darkness.

"Enemy troop transport fleet spotted ahead! Approximately twenty-two ships! 8,000 meters away! They are approaching the Kirishima!"

Rong Haitao put down his binoculars and said in a deep voice:

"We cannot allow them to rendezvous with the Kirishima. All ships, prepare for battle."

"yes!"

The Rongchou only had two 120mm main guns.

But for attacking troop transport ships, 120 mm is sufficient.

"Hard to port! Cut across the enemy formation's course! Main guns aimed at the foremost ship!"

Boom! Boom!

Two 120mm shells traced orange-red arcs in the night, striking the superstructure of the lead troop transport ship. Flames shot into the sky.

Two torpedo boats rushed out from both sides of the Rongchou, like two sharp knives piercing the belly of the troop transport fleet.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The torpedo exploded. The troop transport ship shattered. Flames rose and fell on the sea.

The two gunboats circled the damaged and slowed troop transport ships like two small hounds, using 75mm rapid-fire cannons and machine guns to stop the ships that tried to approach and escape one by one.

The East China Sea was engulfed in flames at night.

……

Shanghai. International Settlement.

The radio listening room in the British consulate has been ringing non-stop all night.

An operator, pale-faced, removed his headset and shouted at the duty officer:

"Sir! We've intercepted a large number of Japanese distress telegrams!"

"read."

The operator swallowed hard.

"The first letter... 'This is a one-sided massacre! Great white sharks are chasing us! Run for your lives!' The second letter... 'The thirteenth transport ship has been hit! It is sinking! Five hundred people inside cannot evacuate! Requesting reinforcements!' The third letter... 'Our ship has been bombed! Torpedoes! Torpedoes everywhere! We have no ability to retaliate!' The fourth letter... '

The operator paused for a moment.

"What is the fourth letter?"

"...Save us...Can anyone hear me...I don't want to die in the Chinese sea..."

The officer on duty stood still for a long time.

He picked up the phone and dialed the consul.

"Sir, you already know that the Hiei was sunk by shore artillery. Now... the Chen family's navy is pursuing the Japanese troop transport fleet in the open sea. Judging from the intercepted distress telegrams... this is no longer a battle. This is a massacre. A one-sided massacre."

"This violates the spirit of the navy and the Geneva Convention. What do you think we should do...?"

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone.

"He has a navy now?"

Bardon did not answer; his voice was hoarse, as if someone had choked him.

"Yes, sir. Although it's a small scale... after tonight, the whole world will know."

Barton slowly put down the phone.

He turned his head and looked out the window.

On the distant horizon, a blurry flame flickered.

That's the direction of the East China Sea.

……

Three o'clock in the morning.

Command room of Wusongkou Fortress.

Battle reports were delivered to Chen Zijun's desk one after another.

"Reporting to the young marshal! Zhou Dehai's speedboat squadron has returned to port. Eleven troop transport ships were sunk, and three were damaged. Twenty-two torpedoes were used. There were no casualties among the crew."

"Where is the Rongchou fleet?"

"The Rongchou, leading the Shanghai Fleet, sank nine troop transport ships and damaged five others. The Rongchou itself was hit by two bullets, sustaining minor damage that does not affect its navigation. Commander Lin requested permission to continue the pursuit."

"No need to chase after them," Chen Zijun waved his hand. "We're back in Hong Kong before dawn."

He glanced down at the summary data on the table.

Tonight's results:

The 380 Fortress Guns sank 6 troop transport ships and 1 battlecruiser (Hiei).

Torpedo boats sank 11 troop transport ships and damaged 3.

The Shanghai Independent Fleet sank 9 troop transport ships and damaged 5 others.

A total of 26 troop transport ships were sunk. Eight were damaged. The remaining twenty or so ships escaped, but the losses from collisions and people falling into the water during their escape were incalculable.

Preliminary estimates indicate that more than 24,000 Japanese soldiers were killed in action or went missing after falling into the water.

Chen Zijun put down the report.

His face was expressionless.

It was neither happiness nor sadness.

It's just peace.

What does killing more than 20,000 people mean to a time traveler?

He didn't know. The only thing he knew was that if those 20,000 people didn't die in the East China Sea, they would roam freely across China, and those who died would be his compatriots.

So he doesn't regret it.

Not at all.

He was about to stand up and stretch his stiff neck when the system interface suddenly popped up on its own.

[Unlimited Pay-to-Win System]

Battle Results Settlement Notification:

Major naval victory! (Sunk 1 enemy capital ship + 26 troop transports)

Battle Damage Achievement Reward: £8,500,000

Current funds: £2,334,716 (+£1 per second)

More than 41 million pounds.

Chen Zijun looked at the string of numbers, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

A reward of 8.5 million.

It's more than his entire year's earnings from running the system.

Is the system encouraging him to clear out junk files?

He didn't continue thinking about it.

Because the communicator rang again.

This time it was Moran's voice.

"Young Marshal."

Mo Lanzhi's tone was cold. But this coldness was different from her usual coldness; it carried a hint of urgency.

"explain."

"We just received urgent intelligence from Guangzhou. The National Revolutionary Army in the south has completed its reorganization, three months ahead of schedule."

Chen Zijun paused for a moment.

"That's not all," Moranzhi continued. "The Guangzhou authorities have secretly contacted the Tang faction warlords in Hunan. The telegrams we intercepted show that they plan to first launch a northern expedition to Hubei, then sail down the Yangtze River and take Nanjing directly."

"Take Nanjing?" Chen Zijun raised an eyebrow. "Nanjing is my territory."

"Yes. So I conclude... they're after us."

Chen Zijun leaned back in his chair.

Having just defeated the Japanese at sea, the Chinese on land are coming.

He looked up at the dim light bulb on the ceiling.

"Looks like everyone wants to sit in this seat."

He closed his eyes.

three seconds.

Then open your eyes.

Tell Shen Li to prepare for a meeting.