Chapter 154: Our Forces Sink an Enemy Warship!
Inside the command room of the Wunan, as the vessel shook violently, a trace of panic and confusion flashed across the faces of the captain and Captain Yida.
Clinging to the control console to steady himself, Captain Yida asked with a trembling voice, "What is happening? Why is our ship suddenly shaking so violently?"
Immediately afterward, he heard a crew member report anxiously, "Captain, this is a disaster! We have just been hit by a torpedo!"
"I suspect we are under attack by the Chengyun military's torpedo boats!"
Hearing this sudden news, Captain Yida's face instantly turned pale, his eyes filled with disbelief. "To dare penetrate this far and launch an attack on us, have they lost their minds?"
Clearly, the enemy naval forces had completely failed to anticipate that they had already been targeted by submarines.
The rumbling explosions continued to echo. The secret assault by the Phantom-class submarines pressed on, accompanied by a series of explosive blasts as the sub-surface wolfpack of Phantom-class submarines unleashed a fierce attack upon the enemy fleet.
The completely unprepared enemy warships were struck one by one, sinking into the ocean depths in succession.
Meanwhile, aboard the enemy Third Fleet's flagship, the Fuso, Vice Admiral Koike was fast asleep.
Having endured a full day of intense combat, his face bore the marks of exhaustion, and he was completely lost in deep slumber.
Believing that the unchallenged naval supremacy in this region guaranteed absolute safety for the fleet, he had drifted off to sleep with complete peace of mind.
However, the catastrophic blow and subsequent explosion suffered by the battleship Nagakura shattered the silence, instantly waking him.
In a state of panic, Vice Admiral Koike let out a cry of disbelief: "What on earth is happening outside? That sound is deafening!" He rushed up, throwing on only a loincloth as he bolted from his cabin.
Bursting into the command room, he was met by his heavily stressed chief of staff running toward him.
The chief of staff's face was etched with tension and terror: "General, this is a catastrophe! The enemy is launching a coordinated attack against us!"
"The Nagakura has taken a hit and is sinking rapidly!"
Upon hearing this, Vice Admiral Koike's face betrayed utter incredulity, his eyes dazed and astonished. "How is this possible? Are we being attacked even in the deep sea?"
His voice carried anger and doubt: "Those insignificant Chengyun naval forces actually dare to launch an attack on us!"
Faced with his aghast superior, the chief of staff lowered his voice and continued, "General, the current tactical situation remains unclear."
Before he could finish speaking, yet another violent explosion pierced the night sky, sending pillars of fire soaring into the heavens.
Vice Admiral Koike's complexion turned instantly pale, a flicker of dread crossing his eyes: "Oh no, the armored cruiser Wunan has also been attacked!" At this moment, Vice Admiral Koike acutely felt the severity of the situation.
Confronted with wave after wave of relentless strikes, he felt completely helpless, unable even to catch a glimpse of the Chengyun forces' faces.
His voice laced with fury and despair, he roared: "What is going on here? Where are the Chengyun forces attacking from?!"
The surrounding staff officers exchanged glances, every single one of their faces painted with confusion and fear.
Indeed, they had no idea where the Chengyun attacks were originating from.
Continuous explosions kept echoing across the sea surface, each blast inflicting heavy damage upon the warships of the Third Fleet.
Yet what drove them to despair was their utter inability to pinpoint the precise location of the Chengyun forces.
High-powered searchlights swept back and forth across the water, failing to reveal the slightest trace of any enemy submarines.
Even as they desperately searched, the Phantom-class submarines commanded by Shen Honglie continued their relentless assault.
Within a mere ten minutes, several more warships were struck.
Amidst wave upon wave of deafening roars, the Third Fleet was plunged into absolute chaos.
Warships turned frantically to evade the incoming strikes, and their tight formations resulted in multiple vessels colliding with one another.
Vice Admiral Koike wore an expression of despair, his hands clenched into tight fists as he cried out, his voice choked with emotion: "What on earth is happening? We can't even see our attackers!"
His tone was laden with helplessness and rage. "Can someone tell me where the Chengyun forces are!"
In the span of just five minutes, three capital ships had been heavily damaged, and two light cruisers had already sunk.
Faced with such staggering losses, Vice Admiral Koike's face revealed extreme agony and despair, for he knew full well that only one path lay before him—to commit seppuku.
While enemy soldiers frantically searched for their phantom enemy, a wave of jubilation erupted inside Submarine Number One.
Its crew had just witnessed the magnificent spectacle of the armored cruiser Wunan being consumed by flames.
Executive Officer Zhou Hang could not conceal his excitement. Wearing a brilliant smile, he reported the victory to the captain:
"Sir, our torpedoes have struck the target!"
"Both torpedoes scored direct hits!"
Although the Wunan was a massive warship weighing nearly ten thousand tons, under the brutal impact of two 600-millimeter heavy torpedoes, it inevitably began to list, pushed to the very brink of sinking.
Two massive, six-meter-high breaches allowed seawater to rush in like a tidal wave. Enemy sailors aboard were desperately struggling with damage control, but this cruiser, in service for nearly two decades, was doomed to sink by the sheer size of those gaping holes.
The ship's tactical staff officer, his face pale and bearing an expression of utter despair, reported to the captain:
"Reporting, Captain! The breach is too large; we cannot plug it! Even sealing the other compartments cannot stop the influx of seawater!"
Hearing this report, the captain felt his heart sink into despair; he had never imagined he would face such a hopeless predicament.
"Damn it! You bunch of useless fools, you're only good for wasting rations!" the captain roared.
"Seal the compartments immediately! Save the Wunan at all costs!"
Watching the dazed tactical staff officer, the captain was consumed by fury and lashed out with a kick.
"What are you standing around for? Move if you don't want to die!"
Realizing the gravity of the situation, the tactical staff officer tumbled to the ground, his heart filled with terror and urgency as he scrambled back up to carry out the order.
Yet no matter how hard they tried, the attempts to seal the compartments proved entirely futile.
Though bulkheads were battened down, they still failed to stem the massive torrent of incoming seawater.
The Wunan's list grew increasingly severe, making its eventual sinking an inescapable fate.
When the Wunan finally slipped beneath the ocean waves, the captain was forced to give the order to abandon ship.
Hundreds of officers and men scrambled to leap into the sea in a desperate bid for survival; however, due to a severe shortage of life-saving equipment, only a handful were ultimately rescued.
The officers and men aboard the submarine witnessed this tragic scene. Although the environment prevented them from cheering aloud, the joy on their faces could not be concealed.
Confirming that the Wunan had completely sunk, Shen Honglie immediately issued a directive:
"Reload the torpedoes at once. We need to lock onto our next target as quickly as possible!"
His voice revealed unwavering resolve and urgency. The order was rapidly relayed through the submarine, and the crew hurried to reload the heavy torpedoes.
Although current technological constraints meant the reloading process relied primarily on manual labor with only minimal mechanical assistance, making the entire operation excruciatingly arduous,
Shen Honglie wore a resolute expression, determined not to let slip this hard-won opportunity.