HCB Chapter 329: The devil’s submarine?
Chapter 329: The devil’s submarine?
Fu Zhengyang and the first mate were immediately called back to the bridge by the radar operator's loud call.
"It's a single signal, and the flying speed is not too fast. Could it be our 'Nanyang Military Police'?" Seeing that Captain Fu Zhengyang was about to sound the battle alarm, the first mate reminded him.
In order to firmly control the South China Sea, Zhang Chi used a loan to purchase 24 PB4Y-2 anti-submarine aircraft from the White Eagle Convair Company, and then spent 135000 Silver Lions to purchase more than 100 aircraft directly from the system, forming a large anti-submarine patrol fleet under the naval aviation force.
The reason why he bought so many was not to show off, but the performance of PB4Y-2 was indeed excellent. In the 5s and 60s, the White Eagle added radar to it and modified it into the first generation of early warning aircraft or electronic warfare aircraft. Zhang Chi also planned to use it as a general air platform in the future.
作为一款最大起飞重量30吨的4发大型飞机，PB4Y-2能够携带近4吨的炸弹或是深水炸弹，6座双联12.7mm重机枪炮塔的自卫火力，以300km/h的经济航速，飞行4500km。
This means that as long as it is deployed in ports such as Yangon, Bangkok, and Chittagong, the surrounding sea areas with a radius of nearly 2000 km will be within its patrol range.
Because of its long range, the White Eagle Navy nicknamed it "privatizer", while the Anmin Army vividly called it "Nanyang Military Police".
Currently, the entire Bay of Bengal, the Pegu Sea, the Gulf of Siam, the Strait of Malacca, and half of the Gulf of Annam are within its patrol range, specifically searching for disguised Japanese merchant ships or submarines sailing in these waters.
Especially the Japanese submarines, which occasionally need to surface during the day to breathe and charge their batteries.
Once its tracks were discovered by the low-flying "Nanyang Military Police", they would immediately fire a round of depth charges at it, followed by radio calls to the anti-submarine ships patrolling nearby to come and encircle it.
In the past two months, the Nanyang Military Police have sunk seven Japanese submarines and discovered, captured, or inherited three disguised Japanese merchant ships. (Japanese merchant ships flying other flags and disguised as other ship names)
At this time, the Hunting Submarine No. 9 was sailing at the outermost edge of the fleet. As the first ship to discover the situation, Captain Fu Zhengyang was obliged to notify the fleet flagship.
"Then let's not sound the battle alert yet. Signalman, call the flagship Zhenbei and inform them that the radar shows an aerial target approaching." Fu Zhengyang finished speaking and patted the radar operator on the shoulder. "Has the IFF responded?"
(IFF: Identification Friend or Foe, a radio automatic transmission and response mechanism)
The radar soldier shook his head: "Not yet."
Fu Zhengyang: "That could also be the Japanese land attack ship returning to Sumatra. Gunnery commander, have the boys get ready!"
The Hunter-9 anti-submarine boat led by Fu Zhengyang was exactly one of the [PC-451 anti-submarine boats] purchased by Zhang Chi through the War Thunder system.
In order to avoid suspicion from the United States, Zhang Chi symbolically purchased several second-hand torpedo boats and anti-submarine boats, and then mixed them in with the large number of auxiliary ships purchased from the system, confusing outsiders so that they could not determine where so many of his ships came from.
The PC-451 anti-submarine ship was an experimental anti-submarine ship developed by White Eagle during World War II. It had a displacement of less than 500 tons and was equipped with a 76mm dual-purpose main gun, six 20mm Oerlikon machine guns, two anti-submarine rocket launchers, and 22 depth charges.
All officers and soldiers in the People's Liberation Army Navy know that the future of the Navy can be summed up in three words: expansion, expansion and expansion.
The entire crew currently on board a submarine chaser may be transferred to a destroyer or even a cruiser in the future.
Therefore, although the ship's combat strength is only 50 people, it is small and has all the positions such as captain, first mate, second mate, boatswain, gunnery officer, and chief engineer.
As the gunnery commander's orders continued to be issued, all the officers and soldiers on the ship put on their helmets and life jackets in accordance with the drill manual, and stood ready at their respective battle positions. All the weapons had their gun covers removed, and the gun barrels were pointed to the sky.
Especially the 76mm dual-purpose main gun at the bow. Its 76mm anti-aircraft shells are equipped with the latest VT fuses developed by the Sixth Institute. It is the anti-aircraft weapon of the entire ship. Slow-moving aircraft like the Type 1 land attack aircraft can be shot down with just a few shots.
Five minutes later, when the entire fleet, under the command of the fleet commander, began to change into an anti-aircraft wheel formation, the radar operator suddenly shouted:
"IFF responded, it's our plane."
The combat status was immediately lifted and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Upon hearing this, the first mate on duty at the stern of the ship immediately took off his helmet and wiped the sweat from his face:
"Damn it, it was a false alarm."
Fu Zhengyang came over and patted the first mate's belly. Only then did he notice that the slightly plump man's shirt was completely wet.
"Not bad, just treat it as an exercise."
After saying that, Fu Zhengyang took out his pocket watch, opened it and looked at it. He seemed very satisfied with the speed of the sailors.
"You, if you eat less and lose weight, you won't sweat so much."
The first mate waved his palm-leaf fan-sized hands to fan himself and cool down:
"I, Old Zhang, have been working on a Dutch merchant ship since I was 12 years old. My only hobby in this life is to satisfy my appetite. If you don't let me eat, you might as well kill me."
"Hahaha, okay, guys, you performed well just now. We'll give you a snack tonight: a glass of pineapple beer each, plus 4 taels of lychees!"
As soon as Fu Zhengyang finished speaking, the news spread throughout the ship and was immediately greeted with cheers.
仰光到吉大港的航线距离约为600多海里?6?7，以10节的经济航速算，单程只需要不到3天。
Therefore, although the Hunter-9 anti-submarine boat only has a simple kitchen due to its small tonnage, the sailors have a lot of stored fresh fruits and vegetables to eat in addition to various canned convenience foods.
The impact of pineapple beer and fresh lychees on morale was obvious. The next day, the sonar operator on the Hunter-9 was the first to hear strange movements in the water.
"Hydroacoustics room report, there is a strange propeller sound!"
The People's Army of Anjou did not have submarines. Several Siamese submarines were captured by the People's Army of Anjou and remained in the port. The submarines of the Johns and White Eagles generally did not come to the Andaman Sea, so they could only be the Japanese.
Fu Zhengyang, who had made the decision on the bridge, immediately lowered the microphone and began broadcasting to the entire ship:
"All ships ready for battle. Repeat, all ships ready for battle. Prepare for anti-submarine warfare. This isn't a drill. The devils are really coming!"
The control of the Andaman Sea was completely in the hands of the Allies, so YG-11 naturally did not need to follow the radio silence mode. The Hunter-9 quickly shared the information of the discovery of the Japanese submarine with the entire fleet.
Fu Zhengyang in the bridge looked out through the thick bulletproof glass and saw that all the merchant ships were slowly turning, trying to take a zigzag route to avoid the torpedoes.
"Too slow, those big guys are too slow." Fu Zhengyang was extremely anxious. His mission was to escort the merchant ships. He couldn't just watch them being hit by the Japanese oxygen torpedoes.
"Hydroacoustic Room, haven't you located the Japanese submarine yet?"
"Report, no. But judging by the sound characteristics, it's a mid-level sea level!"
The sonar operator in the soundproof room covered his headphones and listened carefully.
"There's the sound of water filling the torpedo tubes. The Japanese submarine is at periscope depth and is about to attack!"
Fu Zhengyang: "Increase radar power and conduct a full-scale sea search! Everyone, pay attention to the sea surface and find the Japanese periscope for me!"