193: Chapter 103 A Warning to Others

The interception occurred in the fifty-third hour after the Warship Zhuifeng left the waters off Sasebo.

The weather that morning was poor, with clouds hanging low, almost brushing the tops of the masts.

The wind on the sea surface had increased to force five, with waves about two meters high, and the swells churning on both sides of the hull, emitting a continuous, low roar.

Visibility was less than five nautical miles; the distant sea surface was shrouded in a gray mist, like a huge piece of frosted glass stretched between heaven and earth.

This kind of weather was extremely unfavorable for visual reconnaissance, but for Radar, the impact was almost negligible.

Chen Haisheng stood on the bridge, fine water droplets condensing on the edges of his shoulder marks, brought in by the sea breeze pouring through the open portholes.

He held the cup of tea he never finished, his gaze falling on the Radar screen—four light spots were moving slowly at a speed of about ten knots, the formation loose, like a conventional transport fleet barely maintaining its course in rough sea conditions.

Analyzing the echo characteristics, two of them were large-tonnage transport Warship Zhuifengs with an estimated displacement between eight thousand and ten thousand tons, riding deep in the water, their outlines piled high with cargo on deck forming dense reflective patches on the screen.

The other two were old escort Destroyers, with a displacement of about a thousand tons, likely second-hand vessels transferred after being retired by Meijian Country, their power system signal characteristics unstable, with obvious fluctuations in engine output—typical of poor maintenance.

"Target position confirmed, heading west-southwest, speed eleven knots. Two escort Destroyers, two transport Warship Zhuifengs, neither taking zigzag maneuvers, and no anti-submarine towed arrays detected," the Radar operator's voice was steady, with trained restraint.

"Judging by the formation's route and cargo tonnage, it is likely a supply fleet transporting aviation fuel and naval gun raw materials to Sasebo. The coincidence with the supply window previously deduced by the system is extremely high."

Chen Haisheng did not answer immediately.

He stared at the two large echoes on the screen for a while, as if feeling their weight and content.

Then he put down the teacup, his voice not loud, but that calm penetrating power made everyone on the bridge unconsciously slow down their movements: "Full speed, turn left ten degrees, seize the interception position. Load armor-piercing shells into the main guns, prioritize striking the escort vessels; pull out the claws first, then deal with the prey. Pre-heat the torpedo tubes; if the transport Warship Zhuifengs try to turn and flee, fire a round of torpedoes directly. Notify the zhuilang to flank from the right and cut off their retreat—do not leave them a single course."

The engine room of the Warship Zhuifeng responded ten seconds after the order was given.

Four steam turbines pressurized simultaneously, the heavy oil in the boilers burning violently under high-pressure injection, and the output power climbed from the cruising state of eighty thousand shaft horsepower to over two hundred and forty thousand in just a few dozen seconds.

The entire zhuilang seemed to have been slammed from behind by something; the hull sank slightly into the swells, then accelerated, breaking through the water, its speed rising in a straight line from sixteen knots, approaching thirty-three knots in less than three minutes.

The waves split by the bow splashed up from both sides, like two white giant wings unfolding.

The two escort Destroyers only noticed the abnormality forty seconds after the Warship Zhuifeng accelerated.

The lookout saw that "freighter" on the sea suddenly change course at an astonishing speed, the hull revealing its slender bow outline and the sharp edges of the turrets during the turn, the thick smoke spewing from the chimney pulled into a thick, straight line in the wind—that was the sign of full-speed advance.

He grabbed the alarm bell almost instinctively, but that sharp metallic clanging sound was like a needle falling next to a collapsing wall in the face of the roar of the Warship Zhuifeng's first salvo, instantly completely drowned out.

The Warship Zhuifeng's six 380mm main guns fired in two half-salvos, three rounds per group, with an interval of no more than five seconds.

The shells tore through the gray-white sky, skimming over the wave crests. The first two landed about fifty meters off the port side of the escort Destroyer, the resulting water columns reaching over ten meters high, falling onto the deck like a violent rainstorm, knocking several sailors operating the secondary guns directly to the ground from their positions.

The third shot hit the center of the hull directly; the 380mm armor-piercing shell encountered almost no resistance when penetrating the Destroyer's main armor belt, which was only 120mm thick, and then detonated inside the midsection engine room.

The blast wave surged out from every porthole and every crack, the center of the hull torn into a huge hole with jagged edges, seawater pouring in from both sides simultaneously.

The Destroyer broke into two sections less than two minutes after being hit, the bow and stern tilting up at the same time, as if lifted by an invisible giant hand and then released, before quickly sliding under the sea surface.

In the last few seconds before disappearing, the whole Warship Zhuifeng curled into a C-shape on the sea, like a dying shrimp.

The other escort Warship Zhuifeng reacted slightly faster, but only by a little.

It began to accelerate and turn at the same time the first one was hit, attempting to lay a smoke screen to cover its escape, but the zhuilang had already completed the flanking maneuver from its right wing.

Two 380mm shells hit its stern from the rear flank, destroying the steering gear room and propeller shafts on the aft deck.

The powerless Destroyer spun crookedly on the sea, like a bird with broken wings flapping in the mud.

From the initial engagement to losing combat capability, the two escort Warship Zhuifengs lasted no more than twelve minutes.

The remaining transport Warship Zhuifengs completely lost the will to resist after the two escort Warship Zhuifengs sank; one of them even stopped in place and began firing red distress signal flares into the sky—those few tiny light spots shone for a few seconds in the gloomy sky before going out, like sparks directly pinched out by the wind.

Chen Haisheng ordered the shelling to stop and instead sent marines to board the Warship Zhuifengs for inspection.

The boarding soldiers found a large number of US-made aviation gasoline barrels, special steel ingots, and crates of precision instrument parts in the cargo holds of the transport Warship Zhuifengs.

Those wooden crates were stamped with Meijian Country Navy serial numbers in black molds, the brand-new white numbers still clearly visible under the dim cargo hold lights.

On the deck, several uninstalled naval gun barrels were stacked, each tightly wrapped in oilcloth, their serial numbers not yet registered in storage.

Chen Haisheng stood on the deck of one of the transport Warship Zhuifengs, gently kicking an oil drum with his boot tip; the metallic clinking sound made a short, muffled noise on the empty deck, like tapping on some kind of hollow instrument.

"These things are enough to keep them busy for another half a year," he turned and said to his adjutant. "Take everything, don't leave a single Warship Zhuifeng. Send a telegram to Jinling: Interception successful, captured supplies from two transport Warship Zhuifengs, no Warship Zhuifeng losses."

Three hours later, the Warship Zhuifeng and the zhuilang each towed a captured transport Warship Zhuifeng, forming a return fleet together with another intact transport Warship Zhuifeng.

Chen Haisheng stood at the stern, watching the sea surface gradually receding behind him.

There, only a few dark oil stains remained rising and falling on the wave crests, like the afterimage of something slowly dissipating.

He withdrew his gaze, and as he turned to walk back to the bridge, the sea breeze blew the hem of his coat, causing it to flip.

The news reached Washington late on the third night.

In the Oval Office of the White House, the President's pen tip paused on the document, the ink spreading into a small dark blue stain on the paper surface, like a diffusing ink drop.

Outside the window, the lights were just coming on, the whole city still immersed in its daily rhythm, and no one knew that at this very moment, on the supply line in the western Pacific Ocean, a multi-million-dollar supply channel had just been completely cut off.

After hearing the report, the President was silent for a long time, then asked: "Do we have any other Warship Zhuifengs that can take that route?"

The Secretary of the Navy hesitated for a moment and answered truthfully: "Yes, but it will take at least two weeks to re-plan the route and strengthen the escort force. If Li Ling's fleet continues to hunt in that sea area, our transportation costs will increase exponentially."

At the same time, in the Imperial Study in Jinling, Li Ling was sitting behind that rosewood desk, with the detailed list of captured supplies spread out in front of him.

He turned to the last page, his gaze pausing on the line "Gun barrel blanks × 12," then he closed the list and pushed it aside.

Outside the window came the sound of the night wind blowing through the sycamore branches, dry and fragmented, like some huge canvas being slowly folded up by someone.

His gaze fell back on the sea chart, as if identifying some moving outline from those static lines and markings.

"System," he spoke, "what do you think Meijian Country will do next?"

[Based on the current situation and past patterns, the system judges that Meijian Country will not dispatch its main fleet westward in the short term. The pressure in the North Atlantic direction is increasing—the new round of naval expansion by the German Empire has touched their core interests, and the Pacific Ocean direction has been temporarily downgraded to a secondary strategic direction. They will continue to exert pressure on the host through diplomatic channels, while increasing economic and technical assistance to Japan, but will not intervene with large-scale military forces in the short term. In addition, satellites show that the expansion project of the Guam base is accelerating, and the area of oil depots and ammunition depots has increased by forty percent compared to the same period last year, indicating that they are preparing for a medium-to-long-term confrontation. The British are also stepping up fleet assembly in Singapore; although the current scale is not large, once the situation escalates, they have the ability to dispatch a Cruiser detachment into the South China Sea direction within a month. The system suggests that the host, while maintaining maritime pressure, should treat the US and UK differently through diplomatic channels—maintain a certain degree of flexibility towards Meijian Country, and adopt a tougher stance towards the UK, so as to create gaps between the two.]

Li Ling nodded.

His fingers slid slowly along the common routes of the Meijian Country transport lines on the sea chart, as if tracing an invisible curve.

"Then stabilize them first. Let the Ministry of Foreign Affairs draft a note, polite in wording, firm in attitude—just say that the Tang Country is exercising its right of self-defense, preventing war materials from flowing into hostile countries, and is not targeting any third country. At the same time, tell Chen Haisheng that the interception continues, but do not pursue too deep; keep activities within eight hundred nautical miles of the home base. I want to cut off the supply line, not go and be a pirate."

Outside the window, the night deepened.

The lights of Jinling City spread out behind him, dotted like a solidified shallow sea.

And further away, on the deeper Pacific Ocean, the Warship Zhuifeng and the zhuilang were readjusting their course in the night, and a new round of light spots was appearing on the edges of their Radar screens.

Those light spots were still moving slowly, not yet realizing they were entering a hunting ground with pre-calibrated firing ranges.

On the bridge, Chen Haisheng put down his binoculars, exhaled a puff of white air, watched it be blown away by the sea breeze, then picked up the communicator, his voice carrying a faint, almost imperceptible certainty: "Full speed ahead, before dawn, intercept one more time."

On the sea, the wind and waves were increasing.

A cloud layer spanning the entire horizon was pressing in from the northwest, its edges glowing with a pale silver outline under the moonlight.

Below that cloud layer, the tracks of the two giant zhuilangs carved two parallel white lines extending across the sea surface, pointing straight toward the light spots ahead that had not yet realized their own fate.

They were accelerating, while the prey ahead was still sailing slowly, as if waiting for some certain ending.