On the vast ocean surface, a formation of six light cruisers sailed from north to south.

From a distance, these six warships formed a standard one, two, two, and one formation navigation formation. The mast on the top of the bridge tower was hung with the blue sky and silver eagle flag. It can be seen that this fleet belongs to the Royal Navy of the Tang Empire.

On the deck, a group of sailors wearing blue and white naval uniforms unique to the Royal Navy of the Tang Empire were working hard to scrub the deck.

These six light cruisers were temporarily leased to the Royal Navy of the Tang Empire by the Royal Navy, and the Royal Navy, headed by Major General Stephen, personally responsible for the daily training of the Royal Navy officers of the Tang Empire on each ship.

After six months of training at the Manchester Naval Training Center in the United Kingdom, Major General Stephen sent the Tang Empire to the United Kingdom to select the first batch of 2,000 outstanding naval officers and soldiers led by Lieutenant Colonel Li Haichen, and then took them together to drive six light cruisers loaned from the Royal Navy to return to the Tang Empire.

These six light cruisers formed the First Fleet of the Royal Navy of the Tang Empire, with flagships being the Leander, fleet commander Lieutenant Colonel Li Haichen, and the other five were the Anphion, Alixiusa, Falta, Iris and Mercury.

Along the way, Major General Stephen conducted rigorous training on these two thousand Royal Navy officers and soldiers of the Tang Empire, and successively conducted joint formation navigation, fleet supplies, and most important joint military exercises in major waters such as the Mediterranean, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean, and Australia's offshore.

Through a series of close-to-actual training, under Major General Stephen's strict training, Lieutenant Colonel Li Haichen and two thousand officers and soldiers mastered the common naval fleet operations and combat tactical key points such as fleet command, combat, supply and search and rescue, and became the first batch of qualified naval combat and command personnel of the Royal Navy of the Tang Empire.

On the flagship Leander, the fleet commander Li Haichen, the Lieutenant Colonel Li, was asking Instructor Stephen for some tactical issues in naval battles.

Suddenly, Sonar Staff alerted Li Haichen.

"Azip 071, 3 chains from 11 nautical miles, 30 meters deep, 8 knots of speed!" The sonar soldiers reported and found a submarine that was approaching the fleet quickly.

Li Haichen immediately stopped the conversation with Instructor Stephen, and the two immediately came to the bridge command room.

"Combat alarm! Connect the fleet channel and notify other ships to prepare for anti-submarine!"

"Yes! Battle Alert!"

As the rapid combat alarm sounded, an emergency notice rang over the flagship Leander light cruiser.

"Level 1 Combat Alert! All personnel enter the combat post immediately! Repeat! Level 1 Combat Alert! All personnel enter the combat post immediately! Repeat! This is not an exercise!"

"Radio clear warning!"

"This is the Royal Navy of the Tang Empire. You have been discovered. Please immediately float in Shanghai and surrender! Repeat, you have been discovered. Please float up immediately, otherwise you will sink!"

Under the sea, Captain Howard Cambridge, the Royal Navy Submarine Fleet of the Tang Empire, was about to approach the Liander light cruiser, and inside the submarine Barracuda, the captain Captain Howard Cambridge, heard the other party's clear notice and immediately smashed the table hard.

"Sir, we have approached them very carefully, why are they still discovered?"

“It should be ASDIC!”

Captain Howard Cambodia was trained in the submarine department of the Borland Maritime Training Center in the United Kingdom. As one of the few intellectuals with university degree among the members of the Royal Navy of the Tang Empire, he was very interested in advanced equipment from all over the world, so he paid special attention to the latest technological revolution of the Royal Navy.

In 1916, Canadian physicist Robert Boyle undertakes a sonar project belonging to the British Invention Research Association. In mid-1917, Robert Boyle produced an original model of active sonar for testing. Since the project was quickly placed under the jurisdiction of ASDIC (Anti-Submarine/Allied Submarine Detection and Investigation Committee), this active sonar is also called "ASDIC" by the British. In order to distinguish it from SONAR, ASDIC is translated as "submarine detector".

In 1918, both Britain and the United States produced finished products. In 1920, Britain tested the sonar equipment they still called "ASDIC" on the Royal Navy HMSAntrim, and started production in 1922. In 1923, the Sixth Destroyer Detachment was equipped with ships with ASDICs.

In 1924, an anti-submarine school, the Royal Navy, was established in Portland, the British Navy, and a training fleet of four ships equipped with submarine detectors was established.

Unfortunately, Zhang Meng also attached great importance to anti-submarine operations, so the anti-submarine officers and soldiers on Li Haichen's fleet all received the most advanced anti-submarine training in the world before the 1940s in Portland.

"We're in trouble!"

Captain Howard Cambodia knew that he had encountered a powerful opponent and immediately ordered: "Left rudder 25, combat speed, and two rounds of bow torpedo were prepared!"

"Yes! Left rudder 25!"

"The speed has reached the limit of 10 knots!"

"Bow Torpedo No. 1, No. 2 is ready!"

Knowing that the other party had ASDIC anti-submarine equipment, Howard did not hesitate and was prepared to take action first.

At this time, the Leander scanned the Barracuda again.

"The enemy submarine turns to 070 and continue to approach me!"

Only Li Haichen knew that this was an exercise, and everyone else thought it was a practical battle. This was Zhang Meng's request to the Tang Empire's army, navy and air force to treat every exercise with practical battle as the background. Under this guiding ideology, the officers and soldiers could no longer tell whether it was an exercise or actual battle, and they could only do their best every time.

"Prepare for anti-submarine operations!"

"Yes! Anti-submarine combat preparation!"

With a command, all the officers and soldiers of the ship entered the anti-submarine combat readiness state, and the combatants took their place. Deep water bombs were sent onto the conveyor belt of the anti-submarine bomber in turn, waiting for the next order.

The other five warships of the formation also entered the anti-submarine combat state one after another. The ships quickly dispersed and formed an alternate cover formation to advance toward the sea area where the target submarine was located.

"Sonar Report on the Situation!"

"Azip 075, distance 4 nautical miles, depth 20 meters, speed 9~10 knots!"

The Barracuda has entered the combat speed and is still floating up while moving, which means the opponent is preparing for a torpedo attack.

Li Haichen guessed that the other party was preparing to go all out and tried, and immediately shouted: "Fighting speed! Increase the anti-submarine identification circle to the maximum!"

The anti-submarine projectiles carried on the Lyander light cruiser were equipment from the late stage of World War I, and could only shoot deep-water bombs 200 meters away. Therefore, when the opponent's submarine did not reach the range of the anti-submarine bomb, other ship-based weapons were needed to attack.

"Primary gun is ready!"

"The main gun is ready!"

"Main gun fire!"

With a command, the sound of cannons suddenly roared.

The three twin-mounted 203mm main guns and twin-mounted 88mm rapid-fire guns of the Leander light cruiser suddenly exhaled, and the main guns of other ships also opened fire, and dozens of shells roared and shot towards the waters where the Barracuda submarine was located.

The moment the shell penetrated into the sea, it did not have the expected explosion scene, but only caused waves about one meter to rise.

It turned out that all the shells had been replaced with one-third of the charge and rubber bullets. Although they did not affect the range, they could not rely on the shock wave of the shell explosion to attack the submarines underwater.

In actual combat, even if the intensive shelling of the past round of just now does not hit the Pike directly, it will cause the Pike to be severely damaged by the sea water shock wave.

But the exercise cannot truly simulate the actual combat environment after all.

Sure enough, Howard Cambodia continued to order the Barracuda to advance without caring, on the grounds that his submarine was not directly hit by a rubber shell.

"Report, the opponent's speed is still 10 knots, and the course remains unchanged. Continue to approach our ship!"

Li Haichen smiled helplessly, so he gave up the bombardment and prepared to defeat his opponent with overwhelming strength.

"One full rudder, go forward at full speed!"

"Yes! Full rudder right once! Go forward at full speed and speed up to 33 knots!"

The 33rd knot is the battle speed of Leander, which can only last for about half an hour.

But for Li Haichen, this half hour was enough for him to push the enemy submarine out of the water.

"Enter the anti-submarine identification circle, the target is 35 meters underwater, the course is 020, the speed is 6 knots, the countdown begins!"

4 chains!

3 chains!

...

Li Haichen knew that the biggest weakness of a submarine was insufficient underwater endurance and no air replenishment. It could only last for about ten hours by relying on the motor. If you submarine at high speed, it would not exceed two hours.

Obviously, in order to quickly get to Leander, the Barracuda adopted the tactic of being underwater high-speed approaching and preparing to escape at high speed after one strike.

"Prepare two deep-water bombs! Calibrate 30! Prepare!"

Li Hailiang picked up the sonar headphones, listened intently, and suddenly ordered: "Let it go!"

With two bangs, the catapult on the rear deck of the Leander light cruiser fired two barrel-shaped deep-water bombs into the target waters. The bomb sank in the sea at a speed of 7.5 meters per second.

"The countdown begins!"

4!

3!

2!

1!

Boom! Boom! Two explosions came from under the water.

"Target steering, 045, depth 55, is diving quickly!"

"Fixed depth of 70, launch at 3 seconds, right rudder 5, ready! Let it go!"

“Target turn, 090, 75!”

"Fixed depth 80, left rudder 20, ready, put it!"

"The target is still diving, it has reached 90 meters!"

Li Haichen was stunned. This had reached the maximum safety submarine alert depth of the V4 submarine. They were desperate!

Still not dropping deep water bombs?

All the personnel in the bridge command room looked at Li Haichen. Even if the bomb was dropped by one-third, it would easily cause danger to the opponent's submarine.

After all, I am my own person, what should I do if something really happens?

At this moment, a clear code communication came from the Fleet Channel.

"I am Lieutenant Howard Cambodia, the commander of the third submarine fleet of the Royal Navy of the Tang Empire. Congratulations on your hesitation, so that my crew and I can safely float up and become your captives!"

When Li Haichen heard Howardi took the initiative to admit defeat, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

At this time, warm cheers came from all the ships, and it was obvious that they had successfully completed the anti-submarine mission again.

The voice in the fleet channel was silent for a while, and then said, "Don't be proud. This time I admit that I lost to you ASDIC. I will definitely beat you all over the ground next time!"

Until the last moment, Howard Cambodia was still dissatisfied and found a powerful step for himself.

In response, Li Haichen still smiled helplessly, but responded without showing any weakness.

"I'm waiting for you!"
Chapter completed!