diskusbooks Chapter 830 Minister He’s Visit
Chapter 830 Minister He’s Visit
The Japanese didn't actually hold out much hope for Minister He's personal trip to Tianjin. After all, Li Shaoyi had been disrespecting the Nanjing government for a long time. Did they really think that Li Shaoyi could withdraw the troops from Tianjin simply by sending a military minister? Such an idea was naive.
Fortunately, the troops approaching Peiping stopped, and negotiations between the two sides began again. The Japanese troop transport speed also began to increase. At this moment, off the coast of Tianjin, two Japanese troop transport ships were carrying more than 4,000 Japanese troops slowly completing the last section of the journey. In less than three hours, these people would be able to stand on the land of Tianjin.
At this moment, not far from them underwater, a submarine had already started its engine.
These submarines had discovered the Japanese troop transport ships a few days ago, but without Li Shaoyi's order, these people did not dare to take any other action. Li Shaoyi certainly had his own ideas. If we start the first submarine war, then the next Japanese troop transport ships will definitely be followed by anti-submarine warships.
Secondly, most of the previous Japanese soldiers were first transported to Goryeo, and then transported from Goryeo to the Northeast. The number of Japanese soldiers who landed directly in Tianjin was not large.
The most important thing was that Li Shaoyi's military strength in Tianjin was enough to deal with the Japanese soldiers and prevent them from landing on Tianjin's land. How could anyone believe that a full-scale war had begun? Even now, some people still held a naive idea, that is, to negotiate with the Japanese, just like in previous regional conflicts, and finally cede some interests, and peace would still fall into North China.
Especially the senior leaders of the 29th Army, they believed in this idea without a doubt. In the past, the 29th Army was stationed in poor places. Now they have finally found some wealthy places. They don’t want to fight with the Japanese here. They also want to train the 29th Army well and make it the real king of North China.
At this moment, the two sides are at the end of the negotiation. The Japanese are rushing to transport troops, and the number is large enough. Li Shaoyi ordered our submarines to prepare to take action. If we can drown 4,000 soldiers at one time, even if we have an escort fleet in the future, this first surprise attack will be worth it.
At this moment under the sea, the two submarines each set their own targets and were aiming at the Japanese troop transport ship. Apart from the two gunboats, the Japanese side had no other protective warships, mainly because they knew that Li Shaoyi's warships had been dispatched to Southeast Asia, and some were stationed in Pujiang, but there were not many at the Qingdao naval base.
That's why the Japanese Navy was so bold. They also investigated the situation around Tianjin. Although the army was relatively strong, Li Shaoyi's air force and navy were not stationed in Tianjin in large numbers, and the airport was only temporarily guaranteed to be safe. The last time the plane landed, the Japanese heavy artillery brigade launched a sneak attack, and dozens of shells fell on the airport, posing a danger to our plane. Therefore, the Air Force also suggested to Li Shaoyi that, except for a few fighter jets, other aircraft should try not to be stationed in Tianjin, as the surrounding area is too dangerous.
It was precisely because of these conditions that the Japanese Navy only sent a few gunboats. After all, those fighter jets could only carry small bombs of 50 kilograms, and the threat to the troop transport ships was not that great. What's more, the Japanese Air Force in Tianjin was also strong and could take off and intercept at any time.
Of course, the most important thing is that they were approaching Tianjin at night. As long as all the lights on the ship were turned off, it would be a joke to send planes to intercept them at night.
Just as the Japanese troops on the ship were about to celebrate happily, several long white lines suddenly appeared on the water in the distance.
The Japanese soldiers who were originally in the observation position were now dancing and celebrating with the people below, completely unaware of the danger slowly approaching from a distance.
No one knew what songs these Japanese soldiers were singing, but everyone on the ship was very happy, including some Japanese soldiers on the patrol boat nearby. They were also infected and started singing and dancing with the people on the troop transport ship.
Just when these people were extremely happy, a transport ship located at the rear was hit directly by two torpedoes on the left side. The transport ship had a total tonnage of only 6,000 tons. The two torpedoes, one in front and one behind, tore a hole of more than half a meter in diameter, and instantly tilted 25 degrees to the left.
The Japanese soldiers who were singing were dumbfounded. This was obviously a torpedo attack. What on earth was going on? The sea area ahead was very quiet, with no sound at all.
In the minds of many Japanese officers and soldiers, even if there was a torpedo attack, it would have to be an airplane dropping the torpedo from the sky. They did not believe that the 72nd Army had submarines.
"idiot……"
The Japanese officer on the gunboat had just cursed when the transport ship in front was hit by a torpedo. The four torpedoes were fired almost at the same time, but because of the distance, the troop transport ship at the rear was hit first, and the one in the front survived for a while longer.
Another torpedo missed, but it was no longer possible to launch a follow-up attack. After the torpedoes were launched, the two submarines quickly retreated to the left and right. This is how submarine attacks work. Either we hit the target with one shot and continue fighting, or we die.
This place is still several hours away from the Tianjin port. Even if the gunboats and patrol boats on both sides fill their decks with people, they may not be able to rescue everyone.
At the beginning, the Japanese soldiers on the transport ship were able to obey their superiors and actively put out the fire. However, when the ship was about to capsize, the superiors' words were no longer of any use. Some people who could not swim began to desperately grab life jackets.
There were not enough life jackets on the Japanese transport ship. At most, only a quarter of the people had one. When the remaining people saw that they had none, they didn't care about anything else. They picked up their Type 38 rifles and started shooting at some people.
They were fighting against each other. Ten minutes ago, the Japanese officers and soldiers on the ship could not have imagined such a scene. But when the first person started this round of robbery under the support of the desire to survive, the others immediately followed suit.
Several nearby Japanese naval vessels rushed over immediately upon hearing the news. If the Japanese officers and soldiers on board hadn't panicked, at least half of them could have been rescued. However, due to a lack of life jackets, the gunfire from the two transport ships, heard from the gunboats on the periphery, sounded like a high-intensity battle...