Take Taobao to fight against Japan

Xinze immediately rushed out of the cabin and ran to the bridge. He knew that he had been targeted by the British.

The German destroyer, which was blindly searching for the convoy on the sea, quickly turned its rudder after hearing the first shelling, but could not find the location of the sandship in the vast icy sea.

The weather became worse and worse. There was heavy snow in the sky, and thick fog rose from the sea.

The terrifying waves not only tormented the Germans, but the British also searched for the target as hard as a blind man.

The two sides chase each other, but they still can't find the right direction.

In order to preserve his strength, at 14:30, Erich Bey urgently ordered to withdraw from the battle.

At this time, the return journey of the "Scharnhorst" is less than 200 nautical miles. If it goes well, it will only take more than 6 hours to reach the coast of Norway.

But the British fleet would not give them this chance of survival.

Due to damage to the radar, the "Scharnhorst" could only grope forward in the dark, and all three turrets were in a static state.

They were completely unaware that the British No. [-] battle formation, with the battleship "Duke of York" as the flagship, including four cruisers and four destroyers, was encircling them.

The British Royal Navy has an overwhelming advantage. The 10 356mm naval guns of the "Duke of York" battleship alone can fire 7 tons of armor-piercing projectiles at the sandship in a single salvo.

"Straight ahead, enemy ship found!"

In the dim sky, the visibility was about 1.2 meters, and the starboard lookout of the sandship was the first to spot the British cruiser heading towards it.

Then, the sandship's 279mm main gun immediately aimed at the British cruiser.

However, it didn't take long for a flare to roar into the night sky from the HMS Belfast, a light cruiser of the Royal Navy.

In an instant, the dark sky became like daytime, and the lonely sandship revealed its majestic body in the vast sea, like a wolf from the north, so lonely and palpitating.

"Ooooo! Is this the legendary Scharnhorst?"

"It's really unusual!"

Many British sailors who had never seen the majesty of the sandship couldn't help being amazed for a while.

"Not good! We are surrounded!"

However, the sandship officers and soldiers rushed to the deck as if by magic, and suddenly found that they were surrounded by a large number of British warships on the ocean.

"Quick, fight now!"

Lieutenant General Bei roared at the top of his lungs, he knew that at this moment he could only pull his teeth out of a tiger's mouth and desperately.

The high-quality German sailors quickly entered the battle position amidst the sound of battle sirens, just waiting for the moment of life and death to come.

Soon, the sandship's nine 9mm artillery shells roared almost simultaneously, one after another heavy artillery left the chamber, and a huge water column surrounded the Norfolk.

"Fire now! Attack!"

When the distance between the two ships was only 14 nautical miles, Fraser solemnly ordered to fire.

The British gunners seemed to be getting impatient. Before the commander's voice fell, a 360mm shell had already been fired at the German ship, and the two sides immediately turned to the most heavyweight fight.

The British warship launched a counterattack unashamedly, and a fierce naval battle kicked off on a snowy, raging ice sea.

The sandship has only one goal at this time, and that is to destroy the battleship Duke of York, which is stronger and more powerful than it.

Because, only by fighting with their backs and eliminating this leading brother, can they escape from death by a narrow margin.

After the battle started, five German destroyers rushed forward, ready to find an opportunity to use torpedoes to attack the British cruiser.

But the British fleet had been prepared for a long time, and four destroyers immediately rushed up to entangle the German ships and separated them from the sand ships.

The foundation of the British ship is more powerful artillery and a stronger hull, while the German ship can rely on higher maneuverability and the superb combat skills of German soldiers.

But because the distance between the two sides is too close, even though the sandship has an advantage in speed, it still cannot escape the firing range of the Yueship's artillery.

The shells of the 360mm cannon continuously exploded around the sandship, and the water column was kicked up to firmly cover the sandship.

Naturally, the sandship will not sit still, and the 279mm cannon retaliated against the warship.

It was one of the most brutal and intense naval battles in human history, in which any well-placed hit by either side could have resulted in the total destruction of the opponent.

This is the collision of steel and steel, a life-and-death struggle between giant beasts!

With the continuation of the war, the Royal Navy, which has a fine tradition, has become more and more brave and good at fighting. Everyone in the British fleet understands that today will be a day that will change history.

A series of cannonballs rushed towards the sandship, and suddenly there was an earth-shattering explosion sound from the sandship, and then a cloud of thick black smoke rose from the main gun turret on the bow of the sandship, and exploded in dozens of Meters high in the sky, it turned into a bright orange flame.

"The sandship has finally been hit!"

"Victory is about to be ours!"

"Gentlemen, keep up the good work!"

The officers and soldiers of the British ship were deeply encouraged, and the hit rate continued to increase.

The sandship was shot one after another. When the shell penetrated an important steam pipe leading to the turbine, the speed of the sandship dropped from 30 knots to 10 knots.

"It's over!"

Lieutenant General Bei immediately sank to the bottom of the valley, he knew that today must be doomed.

Lieutenant General Bei looked at Xin Ce, who was also ashen-faced, and then ordered the engineers to carry out emergency repairs, while preparing to generate electricity for Dönitz and the "Führer".

His telegram read: "As long as we have the last shell, we will fight on!"

The pessimistic message conveyed an accurate message, that is, make or break.

As the person involved, Captain Xinze can better understand the meaning of this sentence. As a symbol of the Imperial Navy, the sandship is always accompanied by honor.

As the last captain of Sandship, he must push this tradition to the extreme.

Since the main turret was hit, Xinze could only gather all the crew of the sandship on the deck to form a long human chain, allowing the sailors to pass the heavy shells to the stern of the ship manually.

"Gentlemen, please always remember this scene before you! Continue to attack!"

British Fleet Commander Fraser was deeply moved by the scene in front of him, and finally ordered the destroyer to attack slightly sadly.

With a rustle, the four destroyers dropped torpedoes one by one into the icy ocean, setting off waves of death on the ocean surface.

Soon, the sound of explosions came back one after another in the distance.

The sky was lit by fire from the sandship, which was now battered and shattered and could no longer move.

Seeing this, Fraser immediately led the ship and three cruisers to reappear to completely end the German warship.

At this time, the sand ship still did not give up the treatment, and was still making the final struggle, but it could no longer pose any threat to the British ship.

After the main turret was completely destroyed, and the 150mm secondary gun was unable to make any counterattack due to the increased tilt, Lieutenant General Bei could only turn on the loudspeaker: "Attention everyone, put on life jackets."

At the end, Lieutenant General Bei added: "Abandon ship!"

It wasn't until 45 minutes later, under the continuous and violent attack, that the bow of the sandship sank suddenly, and the whole ship sank straight into the ocean, with only three huge propellers still spinning helplessly.

Through statistics afterwards, people were extremely shocked to find that the blow suffered by the sandship turned out to be: hundreds of shells exploded on the sandship, and at least 55 of the 17 torpedoes hit directly!

A total of 1968 German officers and soldiers accompanied the sandship into the northern winter sea, and hundreds of people jumped into the sea when the sandship sank.

However, the icy sea water made the officers and soldiers who fell into the water lose consciousness within a few minutes, and then drowned to death.

The British destroyer HMS Scorpio searched for the surviving German troops in the vast ice sea, and only 36 people were rescued in the end.

They were covered in oil, clutching the life raft, humming an old song in a creepy tone: "No flowers bloom on a sailor's grave."

The courage of the German officers and soldiers deeply shocked Lieutenant General Fraser and other British officers and soldiers. A few days later, the ship returned to the UK. On the deck, a garland symbolizing memory was thrown into the sea.

After losing the sandship, there was only one huge ship left in the Nazi Navy-the battleship Tirpitz, but the ship never went to sea to fight again, so it was called "the lonely queen of the north".

Later history shows that the death attack of the sandship was the last traditional naval battle, and the sinking of the sandship marked a sad end to the history of the cannon giant.

After that, the role of submarines and aircraft carriers became more and more obvious, and pushed the combat method of naval warfare into a brand new stage.

Chapter 1564 Cairo Declaration

On November 1943, 11, a Boeing 21 Stratoliner was flying to Cairo Pain Airport, the capital of Egypt.

The chairman is sitting by the window, looking at the blue sky and white clouds with interest through the transparent glass, and looking at the picturesque mountains and rivers below.

The Boeing 307 is the world's first fully pressurized passenger aircraft that is put into use. It is a Boeing 17 "stratospheric airliner" built on the basis of the B-307 military bomber.

It had a crew of five and could carry 5 passengers, and cruised comfortably at altitudes above 33 meters, higher than any other transport aircraft of the time, while maintaining a cabin pressure altitude of 6000 meters.

This allows the Stratoliner to fly in most adverse weather conditions, providing passengers with a faster and smoother flight experience.

The Boeing 307 has a top speed of 396 kilometers per hour and a maximum range of 3846 kilometers. The current price is as high as 35 US dollars. It is indeed very luxurious and comfortable.

"Darling, we're going to Cairo soon. This is the first time that Huaxia has entered the international diplomatic stage as a major country in the world!"

The first lady was close to the chairman, and her expression was extremely relaxed and happy at the moment. From time to time, she chatted with the chairman to express her irrepressible pride and excitement.

"Yeah, yeah, our Huaxia has finally come to the end of our hardships, and we can finally feel proud in front of the world's powers."

At this moment, the chairman is also very emotional. The dream that he has been looking forward to day and night for so many years is finally becoming a reality step by step.

After the outbreak of the Pacific War, China, the United States and Britain formed an alliance.

At the beginning of 1943, Britain, the United States and China signed a new treaty and issued a joint statement, announcing the abolition of all unequal treaties with China in the past century, formally giving up extraterritorial legal rights in China, and safeguarding China's sovereignty.

Roosevelt pointed out that "in solving world problems, China needs to be treated equally with other world powers", but Churchill believed that "it is extremely incorrect to equate China with Britain, the United States, Russia and other world powers."

In order to coordinate the relationship between the allies, Roosevelt proposed to hold a meeting in Cairo to discuss the next step of combat strategy against Japan.

On October 1943, 10, US President Roosevelt sent a telegram to the chairman, inviting him to meet with the leaders of the United States and Britain in Egypt. On November 20 and 11, he sent two letters to the chairman, inviting him to attend the Cairo meeting.

Faced with such a sincere invitation, the chairman of the committee naturally would not miss the appointment. He traveled on November 11, and finally arrived at his destination, Cairo, Egypt after two days.

More than half an hour later, the passenger plane landed steadily at Pain Airport.

After coming to a complete stop, the hatch was opened soon.

"Crack! Kick!"

Amid the high-pitched and passionate military music and the crazily flickering spotlights, the representatives of the Expeditionary Force, reporters from major newspapers and radio stations, and many welcoming personnel who were waiting there saw the Chairman and the First Lady looking eagerly at everyone. , appeared at the door of the cabin with a smile like a spring breeze.

On the afternoon of November 11, after the Chairman, Churchill and Roosevelt had dinner together, a preparatory meeting for the Cairo Conference was held.

At 11 o'clock the next day, the three delegations held their first plenary meeting. At the meeting, the chairman insisted on "strong and powerful naval operations" and "China is the key to the entire Asian campaign."

That night, the Chairman had dinner with Roosevelt, and had a long talk with Roosevelt and Hopkins, Special Assistant to the President of the United States, on political issues.

After several days of discussions, the chairman, Roosevelt and Churchill held a media meeting on the lawn next to the Mina Hotel, announcing that the Cairo meeting had reached a preliminary consensus.

In order to seek Comrade Si's opinion, the "Cairo Declaration" was not signed and made public. As soon as the Cairo Conference ended, Roosevelt and Churchill immediately went to Tehran to meet with Comrade Si.

Comrade Si expressed his "full" approval of the "Declaration and its entire contents", saying that this decision was "correct", that "Korea should be independent, and islands such as Manchuria, Taiwan and Penghu should return to China".

On December 12, China, the United States, and Britain issued the "Cairo Declaration" simultaneously in Chongqing, Washington, and London respectively.

The Cairo Declaration stated that the purpose of this war was to stop and punish Japan's aggression, reaffirmed its status as one of the top four powers in China, and pointed out that "the territory that Japan occupied from China after the September [-]th Incident, including Lushun, the leased land of Dalian, Taiwan, and Penghu , should be returned to China" "Japanese public and private industries in China, as well as Japanese merchant ships should be completely taken over by the Chinese government".

For the first time, the Cairo Declaration demanded that Japan must "surrender unconditionally" and return all the land that China had lost to Japan.

The Cairo Declaration not only has legal effect in form, but also has the substantive support of historical legitimacy. It not only expresses the firm determination of the Allies to defeat Japanese militarism, but also clarifies the illegality and invalidity of plundering other countries' territories by force.

For Huaxia, the Cairo Conference is the first meeting that China has participated in as a world power since the Opium War.

One of the important significance of the "Cairo Declaration" is to enhance China's prestige in the international community and establish China's status as the top four in the world.

With the successful conclusion of the Cairo Conference, the Battle of Changde, known as the "Battle of Stalingrad in the East" on the Huaxia battlefield, gradually came to an end.

The Battle of Changde, also known as the Battle of Xiangbei, refers to the battle between the Japanese invaders and the Chinese army in the Changde area from November to December 1943.

The Japanese No.11 Army stationed in Wuhan has frequent commander changes.

Anan Yuji was promoted to the commander of the Second Front Army in July 1942, and Tsukada Gong, who was originally the chief of staff of the Southern Front Army, took over his position.

However, Tsukada’s life was fraught. A few months later, on the way back to Wuhan from Nanjing, when the plane passed the Dabie Mountains, it was directly hit by the Huaxia anti-aircraft artillery unit, and he died.

The so-called three fires for a new official to take office. The newly appointed No.11 Army Commander Yokoyama Isamu naturally wanted to show his talents. A little arrogant.

After a long period of planning, Yokoyama asked the headquarters of the China Expeditionary Army for instructions and brazenly launched the Battle of Changde aimed at plundering strategic materials, hitting the morale of the Chinese army, and conquering Changde, the "accompanying capital barrier".

Heng Shanyong believes that if they capture Dongting Lake, a famous grain and cotton production area in China, they will not only greatly increase the army's rear military supplies, but also defeat the Chinese army's will to resist the war.

Therefore, the time for the Japanese army to attack was chosen when the autumn harvest was full of grain.

Yokoyama Isamu was the commander-in-chief of the Japanese army in this battle, and Yan Yongwang was the commander of the Japanese army's attack on Changde.

Changde people will always remember the names of these two people, because they once tried to completely erase the hometown that Changde people love from the map.

Chapter 1565