Chapter 1303: 1304 Attack of unknown origin

Chapter 1303: 1304 Attack of unknown origin

“Submarine! Submarine!” On a Lions Empire destroyer in the distance, a first mate put down his telescope and shouted loudly: “Sound the battle alarm! Quick! Sound the battle alarm!”

 He did not receive any news that a battle had begun ahead, so the entire destroyer was still on level two alert and was not ready for battle at all.

“Send power to the flagship! Tell your majesty that we have been attacked by an unknown person! It is suspected to be an enemy submarine!” The first mate shouted and gave the order to turn the rudder: “Left rudder! Off course! Go around!”

 Their current position is still far away from the transport ship that was hit by a torpedo, and they have to get close quickly to know what happened.

In fact, the first officer did not see the submarine. He only saw the water column raised by the torpedo explosion, and then judged that there was a nearby submarine firing torpedoes at them.

Unfortunately, there are about thirty transport ships nearby, but they are the only destroyer. For enemy submarines, this is definitely a huge piece of fat.

“Which country’s submarine dared to attack us on the high seas?” The first mate frowned, not yet understanding the situation.

Logically speaking, the Lions Empire has not declared war on any country and should not be attacked while sailing on such high seas.

"Could it be that there's a fight ahead? The Tang Empire has already started a war with us?" He thought of a possibility, but quickly rejected this speculation: because if the war had already broken out, he should have received messages from the front The fleet's message is correct.

But in fact, he did not receive any message reminding him that the war had broken out, not even a message asking him to upgrade his combat readiness level.

While he was thinking, the third transport ship was hit by a torpedo, and a huge column of water suddenly rose up from the middle of the ship. The seawater rushed into the sky and broke the transport ship full of ammunition into two pieces.

  The expanded seawater lifted the middle part of the transport ship high, and the bow and stern of the ship fell to both sides due to gravity. The entire transport ship broke apart at once, and then slammed back to the sea as the water fell back.

 “Damn it!” The first mate on the destroyer cursed, and then he saw the captain hurriedly came to the bridge. He stood at attention and saluted, giving up the command position to his superior: "Captain!"

"Well! How's the situation?" The captain leaned in front of the porthole, looked at the transport ship that had just exploded and broken, and asked without looking back.

"We were attacked, it should be a submarine. Maybe we have declared war on the Tang Empire, otherwise there should not be a submarine attacking us here." The first mate expressed his speculation.

"It is estimated that a war has begun. Send a telegram to the Lines! Inform us of our current situation! Request instructions!" The captain issued an order: "Get closer! Prepare anti-submarine depth bombs! Find the location of the submarine as much as possible."

“It’s too noisy here, with too many engines... We need quieter conditions,” the first mate reminded.

Their sonar performance is average and will be interfered by the propellers of surrounding transport ships. Only farther away can the noise of submarines in the sea be distinguished.

“Accelerate! Forward at full speed!” The captain also knew that he should build a defensive barrier further away from the fleet. At least he should push back the enemy submarine so that the other party could not continue to attack unscrupulously. "Send a telegram to the destroyer Thunderbolt behind you! Let them get closer quickly!" After ordering to speed up, the captain began to look for helpers again.

  This is a very natural method in anti-submarine tactics. It uses the superiority of troops and the high speed of destroyers to quickly gather forces to encircle and suppress an exposed submarine by the enemy.

  The destroyer's sharp bow split the water, and with the action of the rudder, it turned sharply and left the transport fleet. The two chimneys on the ship were emitting green smoke, and the sailors on the mast were looking for any suspicious targets on the sea. All the weapons positions were filled with sailors, waiting for the order to fire.

 As soon as an enemy submarine is found or the periscope is sighted, they will immediately attack. The destroyer will use intensive artillery fire to force the enemy submarine to dive, then use sonar to fix the submarine's position, and then drop depth charges to send the enemy back west.

"The enemy ship has broken away from the fleet! It is approaching us!" In the Tang Empire's submarine, the sonar soldier heard the movement of the destroyer and reported to the captain.

"Prepare wire-guided torpedoes! Give them a surprise!" Tang Guo's captain showed his yellowed teeth and said with a grin: "Cheer up! Boys! The big fish is coming!"

There are 6 torpedo launch tubes directly in front of the Tang Army's submarine, but in fact only four torpedoes were launched just now. The remaining two torpedo tubes are filled with wire-guided torpedoes, which are the secret weapons of the Tang submarine force.

This kind of tracking torpedo has a terrifying hit rate and can be called an underwater missile. It can accurately receive instructions from the submarine, change the course, lock the target and attack accurately.

Just when the Tang Army submarine began to adjust its course and pointed its bow at the more threatening Lines Empire destroyer, the fourth torpedo that had just been fired also hit the target, sending a transport ship into the air.

At this moment, the entire transport fleet of the Lions Empire was in chaos. Faced with this terrifying attack, all the transport ships were asking for help.

Nearly all ships said they needed destroyer protection, and some even broke away from the convoy and sailed in directions they thought were safer.

But this undisciplined turn caused even greater chaos, and even several ships almost collided as a result.

“There is no reply message from the flagship Lions. The Thunderbolt has called back. They are on their way!” The first officer was a little nervous. This was the first time he faced such a powerful opponent as the Tang Empire submarine.

 In previous exercises, they achieved pretty good results in sparring with their own country's submarines. At least they have extensive experience in dodging torpedoes, and they are very confident in this regard.

"Has the radar been repaired?" The captain looked gloomily and looked at the technical officer beside him. The officer was embarrassed and replied: "It will take another three hours to replace the spare parts. This is the fastest speed."

"Let the lookouts pay attention to the sea surface! If you find the enemy's periscope, report it immediately!" The captain knew that his radar could not be counted on, so he turned around and said: "Let the Heavy Rain maintain its course and guard the other side! Maintain the order of the transport fleet! This is Leave it to us and the Thunderbolt!"

"Send another telegram to the flagship Lines! Transport Fleet No. 16 is under attack and the war has begun! Remind them to be careful!" After the captain finished speaking, he picked up the telescope and looked at the sea in the distance again. .