Canteen System Assistance Notes

The occasional flares created a dim circle of light, pulling out the fleet hiding in the darkness - no, it couldn't be called a fleet at all, there were all kinds of ships here: fishing boats, motor boats, passenger and cargo ferries, and even paddle steamers that had long been eliminated.

At the sight of the light, the ships panicked like flies under a bed, trying to flee. However, their dreadful speeds couldn't keep them within the aperture, so they lurched and lurched. The pheasant's signal lights flashed, sending out Morse code.

"The torpedo boat 'Pheasant' sent a light signal, asking what to do next."

In reality, Kudo Shunsaku himself was eager to spare this mixed bag of goblet ships: bombarding the canban and civilian ships would not bode well for the miners. Furthermore, he was well aware of the nature of the Army's Sano Unit. If these refugees were captured, they would likely lose all their property, or even their lives, under the Army's tyranny. However, Commander Koga Mineichi demanded that they not spare any high-ranking Chinese government officials or celebrities who might flee. As a naval officer, he had to follow his superiors' orders.

"Reply to Zhi, have them fire their main guns into the air."

After much deliberation, Captain Kudo decided to force the Canban army to stop first, and then slowly find out the reason for the crazy escape.

The Chi slowed down, turned on its searchlights, and trained them on the frantically fleeing Canban army. The blinding beams shone back and forth across the sea, creating a narrow fan-shaped pattern. The unfortunate Canban were crammed with livestock, luggage, debris, and people. Soon, the Chi's main guns began to rise under human power. This type of torpedo boat's main guns used fixed ammunition; there were no powder packs for immediate use. The loaders, after some maneuvering, inserted a round without a warhead and prepared to fire into the air.

Bang!

The orange fireball lit up the night sky, but it also made the torpedo boat the perfect target in the dark.

Out of sight of searchlights and flares, two propellers began to spin with a barely audible roar of boost and the sound of water entering the water. Two vague black shadows, trailing white trails, glided beneath the water surface before silently colliding with the Pheasant's starboard side, and her lights suddenly went out.

In the darkness, two white tents suddenly bulged on the starboard side of the Pheasant. The torpedo boat weighing more than 800 tons was lifted out of the water by the huge water pressure like a toy. The thin planks were torn apart in an instant like a layer of straw paper, and the sea water mixed with foam rushed into the hull. At this time, the crew of the Pheasant heard the loud noise like muffled thunder.

"Boom!"

"Enemy attack! First combat configuration! Prepare for portside artillery and torpedo warfare!"

As the torpedo that hit the Pheasant exploded, Captain Kudo picked up the microphone and ordered everyone to prepare for battle. "Lights off! First main gun, fire one flare! Both sides, maximum speed, prepare for evasive maneuvers!"

The flare exploded in the air. Two more white torpedo tracks were clearly visible on the black sea surface illuminated by the flare. "Two torpedo tracks! 15 degrees to port! Close quickly! Distance 300!" the lookout shouted, holding up his telescope.

"Full starboard! Red 30 on the port side!"

The bell rang, reminding all the crew members to hold on tight. Under the helm of the navigator who was known as an expert in steering, this special destroyer spewed black smoke and turned at full speed on the sea. The high-pressure steam in the boiler output powerful power through the copper propeller, pushing the ship into a semicircular track.

Fortunately, two torpedo tracks just passed by, which made people sweat.

"Hurry back, red 50 on the port side!"

"Return to the rudder!"

all

"Torpedo hit, sir!"

“Those MTBs are great!”

Elsewhere, Captain Pierce, whose expression had been tense since his secret escape from Aberdeen Bay a few hours earlier, relaxed a little. It seemed the Japanese blockade at sea was far less stringent than on land. The 60-foot and 55-foot torpedo boats, using the enemy's searchlights for positioning, had successfully launched the first wave of surprise attacks tonight.

"The road ahead should be easier, General Chen?"

"As long as we avoid the Japanese destroyers, that's it."

The one-legged man, dressed just like the British non-commissioned officer on the ship and holding a cup of hot cocoa, answered like this. He was originally quite elegant, but after accidentally falling into the water and losing his box, no matter how elegant he was, he could not be cool.

General Chen, however, still had his basic qualities. He tightened his blanket around himself and swung his wooden leg to calm himself. "Although the Japanese navy is powerful, they can't deploy aircraft at night. Trying to block so many civilian ships with surface ships is a drop in the bucket. As for where we go and what to do once we reach shore, Mr. Liao will make the arrangements."

"I hope so."

Captain Pierce nodded. This man with only one leg was a major general of the Chinese Navy named Chen Mingtang. He was also the nominal highest-ranking commander in this retreat operation. As for why it was nominal, it was because the Chinese Navy could no longer send any ships at that time.

"Mr. Liao, what should we do next?"

"Captain, after we break through the blockade and pass Sanmen Island, we should turn north and enter this bay."

He Liuhua (his actual last name was Liao) pointed to the markings on the nautical chart using the destroyer's red headlights. He declared, "On Sanmen Island, there's a customs station built during the Qing Dynasty. Although this place was long occupied by the Japanese, they've left the navigation lights intact, intending to use them for their own use after they occupied the area. Our men can ensure these lights remain illuminated tonight."

"From there we can split up according to our previous plan - the B Division of the destroyer Shannet will go south to Singapore, and we will continue

Head northeast. You should know that the water depth north of the island is insufficient, except for torpedoes.

The destroyer is likely to hit a reef and run aground at night, so we need to cross Sanmen Island from the south, then turn north and enter Daya Bay.

"Once we're here, we'll need to unload our crew and walk ashore. We'll be met there. The only problem is, there's no harbor here for destroyers, so your ship might need to make a beach landing." This means the Thracians will stay here no matter what! ... But that's good enough, gentlemen! Each gun will aim independently, with decentralized control. Fire as soon as reload is complete, and concentrate on attacking their destroyers!"

Captain Pierce's voice spread throughout the ship through the brass pipes, and the small destroyer immediately erupted into flames in the night.

"Check! Check! Check! Target changed, all guns and TBI follow!"

"Load the flares, fire! fire! fire!"

"Woo--" The alarm sounded, and then fierce artillery fire rang out. Then the muzzle flash flashed like lightning, like a scorching flower blooming on the dark sea.

The British destroyer Thracian, which was forcibly breaking through the blockade, began firing at the Japanese army.

At the same time, British flares lit up above the Japanese heads, and a few drops of water from the falling bombs splashed on the side of the thunder.

The naval battle with the British had begun, a development unforeseen by the entire Second Expeditionary Fleet, from the Koga Mine down to the sailors themselves. Compared to the bewildered British Hong Kong government, it seemed the Japanese Navy wasn't the only one faring better. Muzzle flashes soon erupted from the Japanese ships' direction, as Lei's six 12.7cm naval guns simultaneously opened fire.

"They're starting to fire back!" Major Pierce put down his telescope and looked at his pocket watch.

"There are still five hours until sunrise, and in one hour, Shannet will withdraw from the battle. I hope everything goes well." "Slight correction to the right! Track the enemy destroyer! Keep firing!"

One by one, fully loaded 4-inch shells were delivered to the deck by the rammage machine. After being taken out, they were manually placed on the feed chute of the main gun by the loader, pushed into the barrel by the ramrod, and then fired out of the barrel at the next time of firing.

Boom!

The Lei fired another salvo. As the shells fell, the observation officer, Zhang, immediately reported the parameters for corrections for the next round of artillery fire. The shirtless Japanese loader, ignoring the steaming shells, continued to load and fire.

However, in such a dark night, even the Japanese Navy, which was famous for its night combat capabilities, had a hard time hitting a target like a destroyer. The two sides fired many rounds back and forth, but failed to score a single hit.

"Wait... stop shooting!" Captain Kudo of the old mine house came up with an idea.

"Minemaster, can you track the muzzle flash?"

"no problem!"

With a creaking sound from the mechanical transmission, Lei's torpedo tubes swung to port. While the special destroyer lacked the formidable "M-decisive weapon," the 61cm-93 oxygen torpedo, it carried a full nine 61cm-90 torpedoes of the same caliber. In contrast, the British ship carried only four outdated MKVI 21-inch torpedoes, giving the Japanese a clear advantage in torpedo attacks.

"Torpedo tubes 1 to 6, prepare to launch! Target: enemy destroyer A!"

"Aiming complete, launch preparation complete!"

"emission!"

Since your enemy is called "Mine House", let's try our torpedoes!

The jet force of the ignited black powder threw the Type 90 torpedo violently into the water, creating a dense fan-shaped pattern. The super-large 61cm torpedo quickly found the depth it should be at and swooped down on the British ship in the distance.

"The enemy ships have ceased fire!"

After hearing the lookout's report, Captain Pierce felt something was wrong. In the night battle, the enemy ship, which had the advantage in artillery, suddenly ceased fire. This sign made the experienced captain feel a crisis.

"Spotted flares! Enemy torpedoes entering the water, starboard side - Green-130!" As expected, the lookout reported the crucial information. He immediately ordered: "Full left rudder! Two warning shots!"

"Woo! Woo!"

The highly maneuverable Thracians turned sharply left.

"Torpedo! Green-160 degrees!"

Under the flares, the Type 90, without pure oxygen, left a white trail far greater than that of the Type 93 torpedo. Hearing the lookout's alarm, Captain Pierce and the second-in-command immediately raised their binoculars in that direction. Under the flickering shadows of the magnesium light, several thin white trails crossed with the ship's track behind the starboard side, then headed in the wrong direction.

There was no doubt that the Thracians, operating at full speed and in an evasive manner, had ample leeway to dodge the torpedoes launched by the Japanese ships. "Sannet sent a message by lantern light, saying they will withdraw from the battle and retreat to Singapore as planned."

At this moment, surprising news came from the telecommunications room, "They have broken through the blockade and sighted the coast lights. The plan was successfully implemented."

Upon hearing this news, Captain Pierce finally breathed a sigh of relief, along with Chen Mingtang and He Liuhua. At least, there was only one Japanese destroyer directly in front of them; the other large ships were on other sides of the blockade. Now it was Japan's turn to make a choice.

"Reply," said Captain Pierce. "I wish them a safe journey, happy hunting, and good luck."

"The enemy ships have separated!" exclaimed Zhang Yuan from "Lei".

Captain Kudo was a little disappointed that none of the torpedoes hit the target, but the situation before him forced him to make an immediate decision: the blockade had been breached. Should he continue north to pursue the destroyer, or go south to pursue the convoy of two destroyers?

Going south from here, there is the vast South China Sea, and going north, there will be some army troops... Although he dislikes the army's idiots, Captain Kudo Shunsaku still made a decision:

"Now we can't track two groups of enemies at the same time! Call the flagship Isuzu, our ship will track the enemy ships retreating south, and it is recommended that the 'Kasajima' and 'Tosho Maru' on guard near the Jieshi Bay on the east side go forward to track the enemy ships. That's all." At this point, the brief confrontation off the coast of Wan Chai came to an end.

Chapter 555: Shannette's Escape (Part 1)

When the lights on Sanmen Island came on, Captain Bernard Davis of the Shannet felt that God was waving to him. But he also knew that there was no God over there, only the Chinese.

He wondered what the Thracians would face next. Unlike his own plan to turn south and retreat to Singapore, the Thracians and Captain Pierce would take the families of the officers and crew of the Canadian Battalion and, under the command of the Chinese, land on a bay in Guangdong Province and retreat to the unknown interior of China.

He knew little about the Chinese interior, except for the stereotype of barefoot farmers wearing bamboo hats and growing rice, similar to his view of India. But he had heard that the Red Chinese Army in the north had recently conquered a province in China that had previously been occupied by the Japanese. This must be a significant event; the province, called "Suiyuan," was probably the size of Wales.

Oh, no, maybe bigger than Guangdong Province, he thought.

But it was enemy-occupied territory after all. Thinking of this, Captain Davis had to point his finger at his chest and make the sign of the cross, praying for Captain Pierce who had voluntarily left the evacuation opportunity to him. He hoped that he was safe and that the Chinese could rescue him successfully.

"Sentinel's light signal, sir!"

Following the Shannet was a destroyer, the Sentinel, whose captain was Hedworth Lamberton. Captain Davis had worked with him for a long time and had a good relationship with him. The Sentinel, commanded by him, was sailing at ten o'clock on the Shannet, about 1500 yards away, keeping watch on each other.

Now, this miniature fleet had escaped the Japanese Navy's blockade and disappeared into the darkness. Without radar tracking, their high speed was almost certain to evade the Japanese. "Sentry," asked Shannet, "what should we do next?"

Captain Davis glanced at the note in his hand and called the ship's navigator. In the chart room, the sailors spread out the charts and drew lines on them with rulers and compasses. "Please tell me where we are now."

Even though the navigator was wounded by shrapnel in the previous night's artillery battle and was wrapped in thick gauze, he still picked up a pencil with one hand and pointed on the nautical chart, "Based on our speed, we're about 160 miles south of Wan Chai, about 180 nautical miles."

"The Sentinel asked where we should go next, whether we should sail directly to Singapore," Davis briefly explained. "What's your opinion?"

The only people in the chart room now were Captain Davis, the navigator, and the newly promoted first mate—the previous one had been killed in the same near miss during the artillery battle off Wan Chai last night, and the sailors had just held a funeral for him—and the second-oldest communications sergeant on the ship was also here.

"I think we are definitely going to Singapore as planned."

Seeing no one speak, Captain Davis began, "Singapore is the Royal Navy's stronghold in the Far East. As for safety, there's no place safer." He hesitated for a few seconds. "Even if Singapore wasn't safe, we'd still have to refuel and resupply there before crossing the strait into the Indian Ocean."

Everyone nodded. The navigator gestured on the chart and concluded, "If we head directly for Singapore, we need to turn to 220 and continue sailing for about 1200 nautical miles." "Please wait a moment. The communications room just received a fleet report: Malaya and the Philippines have both suffered surprise attacks by the Japanese. Under these circumstances, heading directly for Singapore is not a good option." The sergeant major objected. "We don't have that much fuel." He stamped his foot. "And if we continue at this speed, the engine won't be able to withstand it, Captain."

Both the Shannet and the Sentinel were old S-class destroyers, built during World War I. Their engines were already aging and in poor condition. Since last night, thanks to the desperate efforts of the engine room, the two destroyers had achieved a rare high speed of 30 knots without any fatal failures—even though the ships were originally designed to reach 36 knots.

If the Japanese were landing in Malaya and the Philippines, and assuming they were also trying to land in Singapore... Davis looked at the nautical chart in front of him and used his head to set up several possible routes for the Japanese fleet departing from several ports - these routes happened to intersect with his own retreat trajectory to the south.

If these two destroyers encountered the Japanese fleet, their destruction would be inevitable. Furthermore, the Japanese had already built numerous land-based airfields and deployed reconnaissance aircraft in Indochina. Once spotted by their reconnaissance aircraft, these two small destroyers would be powerless to escape.

However, in order to evacuate the entire ship to Singapore, he had to slow down. Neither the fuel nor the engine could withstand such a long period of high load operation. After careful consideration, Davis made up his mind:

"Set course to Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island), sail 300 nautical miles, then turn to Latuna; then, turn to Singapore. At the same time, we slow down to 18... no, 20 knots," he ordered. "We'll make a detour. Send a message to the sentry..." He paused again. "Forget it, let's send it by light."

"Check, check, check! Turn to Scarborough Reef, speed 20!"

However, Shannet and the sentry were indeed very lucky. In the chaotic darkness of last night, the destroyer Dian, which was responsible for pursuing them, ultimately failed to catch up with the two small destroyers. In addition, without any reliable radio guidance, the Japanese lost their target in the vast ocean.

After receiving the information that two destroyers had escaped to the south, the Japanese Navy began its traditional skills as usual - they did not promptly notify the Japanese Army Aviation which had reconnaissance planes in Cam Ranh Bay, but only conveyed this information to the naval ships in the South China Sea, and then telegraphed this information to the headquarters. Finally, after a long period of twists and turns, it was forwarded to the army by the headquarters.

In this back-and-forth intelligence exchange, the two British destroyers successfully left the perilous waters off Wan Chai and reached Huangyan Island, now known to the British as "Scarborough Shoal," completing a crucial turn. They carefully maintained radio silence and took pains to avoid any possible ship presence. During this time, the lookouts spotted a "fleet" consisting of approximately three merchant ships and escort vessels. Fortunately, the enemy failed to detect them, or perhaps mistook them for destroyers belonging to the Japanese Navy. In short, Shannett did not intercept the enemy's radio warning, nor was she intercepted.

During last night's battle, the Sannet was hit by a high-explosive near miss from a 12.7cm gun, causing some water to seep into the hull. While slowing down, the damage control team repaired the damage with wooden plugs. Meanwhile, the sailors in the engine room diligently maintained this slightly troubled vessel: God willing, this 27000-horsepower behemoth remained in working order.

On the second day, taking into account the remaining fuel reserves, Davis asked the two ships to speed up to 22 knots in order to reach their destination as soon as possible.

Through the deep blue, plowing through the sea, the two small S-class destroyers seemed to have gotten rid of the ghostly shadow of the Japanese Navy. The sun in the sky gradually

It was getting hot. If it weren't for the Far East Fleet bulletins regularly updated by the Telecommunications Room,

Knowing that the Japanese army was attacking the British and American troops by sieging cities and strongholds, everyone even thought that the previous battle was just a distant dream and that they were actually out for fun on a destroyer.

While passing Taiping Island, known as Changyu Island in the New South Islands in Japan, the two ships conveniently bombarded the Japanese forces on the island—also before the enemy sent a warning telegram. After all, according to Captain Davis's understanding, the two widely separated "lookout towers" on the island must have been devices used by the Japanese Navy to use baselines to measure the distance to and notify passing ships.

However, the two tall buildings that looked like radar ranging stations were actually weather stations for the Japanese Navy and the Japanese Army respectively.

In order to boost morale, on the afternoon of the third day, the ship's kitchen made a simple pudding for everyone using bread and eggs.

La Tuna was gone, and Captain Bernard Davis breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed that Lady Luck was on his side. He sipped his rum and enjoyed his egg pudding, while the sea breeze blew across the open steering platform.

As long as they can survive this afternoon, under the cover of darkness, Shannet and the sentry's chances of survival will be much greater.

However, after such a blessing, Shannet's aura of good fortune finally began to fade. From the ship's brass tubes, the lookout's somewhat panicked voice echoed. "Scout plane spotted! Starboard! Green-105, altitude 1000 feet!"

“Approaching!”

Chapter 556: Shannette's Escape (Part 2)

An old-fashioned, biplane seaplane, perhaps a Type 94, slowly approached from the starboard side of the Sannet. Soon, the observer on the masthead could see the big red flight on its wings.

The other party was obviously very cautious. It increased its altitude and circled around the two small boats of unknown nationality again and again, showing good manners - before the other party raised the flag indicating its identity, it was a very cautious operation to conduct a close confirmation.

Just when Bernard Davis was fantasizing that he might be able to deceive the other party, bad news came from the communications room: a repeated radio message was intercepted! Almost at the same time, the old biplane lowered its nose and rushed towards Shannet who was flying behind.

"Air raid siren!"

"Starboard Green 100! Low! Altitude 300!"

Continuous gunfire and the roar of airplane engines echoed simultaneously, the surrounding seawater splashed in a series of splashes, and a sound like frying beans erupted on the deck of the Shannet!