Chapter 186: Movements at Yokosuka

Chen Qiming fell silent. He was young and hot-blooded, but he also understood the weight in the captain's words. This was no ordinary voyage; this was a test — a test of Lanfang's navy's courage, a test of this newborn nation's will.

"I understand, Captain." He straightened his back. "Whatever lies ahead, we face it together."

Forty nautical miles behind the Fuxing, four Bismarck Class battleships were sailing in single Column. For concealment, they had not even turned on their navigation lights, relying entirely on radar and gyrocompass to maintain formation in the darkness.

On the bridge of the Yangtze, formation commander and Rear Admiral Zhang Zhen was listening to reports from each ship.

"Yellow River reports all systems normal, speed fifteen knots, heading 025."

"Huai River reports no abnormal radar contacts, sonar monitoring normal."

"Pearl River reports Fuel reserves sufficient to sustain current speed for four thousand nautical miles."

Zhang Zhen nodded and walked to the chart table. The staff officer had already marked the Fuxing's real-time position, as well as the estimated positions of Japanese submarines.

"At this speed, we'll reach the waters east of Taiwan by noon tomorrow," the Chief of Staff said. "That's an international shipping lane; merchant ships will increase. Our concealment will become more difficult."

"Then adjust the formation," Zhang Zhen ordered. "Switch to diamond formation, expand the Distance between ships to five nautical miles. Disguise as a merchant convoy; during night sailing, follow merchant ship light signal regulations."

"Yes, sir!"

The orders were passed down. Soon, the four great ships began adjusting their positions, shifting from a tight single Column to a loose diamond. The Yangtze was in the center, the other three arranged in the front, left, and right directions. Each ship had turned on navigation lights conforming to merchant ship standards — red on the left, green on the right, a white anchor light on the mast.

From a distance, it looked like an ordinary merchant convoy, though a bit larger in Scale.

But beneath the decks of these "merchant ships," the first batch of propellant charges was already loaded in the breeches of the 380mm Main Guns, and Shells sat ready in the hoists. Fire-control radar continuously scanned the surrounding waters, and sonar monitored every suspicious underwater noise. The boilers maintained eighty percent pressure; at a single command, these four "merchant ships" could accelerate to thirty knots within ten minutes, reverting into a fearsome battleship formation.

Zhang Zhen stood on the bridge, watching the disguised navigation lights outside. He knew that from now on, every step had to be taken with extra care. A single mistake could expose the entire plan.

"Sir," the radar officer suddenly reported, "southwest, Distance sixty nautical miles, multiple surface contacts detected. Very slow speed, appears to be a fishing fleet."

"Continue monitoring. As long as they don't close within twenty nautical miles, ignore them," Zhang Zhen ordered. "Tell all ships to maintain radio silence, but strengthen visual lookout. Whatever appears in these waters at this time isn't necessarily all fishermen."

Meanwhile, thousands of nautical miles away around the Japanese archipelago, twelve submarines lay in wait like ghosts in the deep sea.

Submarine U-19, whose captain was Li Wenbin, thirty years old, originally a fisherman from Fujian who later emigrated to Lanfang and joined the navy. At this moment he was bent over the periscope, eyes fixed on the eyepiece.

Outside was the entrance to Yokosuka Harbor. Even in the dead of night, the port was still brightly lit. In the dry docks, several warships were under repair, and alongside the piers sat several destroyers. Most striking of all, at the deep-water berths, were the two enormous Kongo-class battlecruisers — the Vajra and the Hiei.

"Captain, what do you see?" the executive officer asked quietly.

"The Vajra and the Hiei are both here." Li Wenbin did not look away. "There's a lot of personnel activity on deck, looks like they're moving supplies. The cranes on the pier are also working, hoisting wooden crates onto the ships one by one."

"That's battle preparation." The executive officer made the call. "They're replenishing ammunition and supplies."

Li Wenbin nodded and raised the periscope a little, scanning the entire port. It wasn't just the two Kongo-class ships — several cruisers and destroyers were making similar preparations as well. The atmosphere in the port was clearly different from usual — no sailors strolling about, no leisurely tugs; everything was proceeding in tense, orderly fashion.

"Record: local time 0200, inside Yokosuka Harbor, observed the Vajra, the Hiei, and at least four cruisers and eight destroyers conducting emergency sortie preparations. Large quantities of supplies being loaded; estimated departure time within the next six to twelve hours."

The sonar operator wrote down the record, then asked, "Captain, should we report to superiors?"

"No, not yet." Li Wenbin retracted the periscope, and the submarine dove back to a depth of one hundred fifty meters. "Headquarters orders: report only after confirming they have actually departed. Continue monitoring; surface to periscope depth once every half hour to observe."

"Yes, sir."

Silence returned to the submarine, with only the low hum of the electric motors and the crew's suppressed breathing.

Li Wenbin walked to the chart table and studied the channel chart of Yokosuka Harbor. U-19's current position sat right at the mouth of the main channel. Any warship departing Yokosuka would not escape their eyes.

"Captain," the executive officer came over, his voice very low. "Do you think it'll really come to a fight?"

Li Wenbin glanced at him. "Scared?"

"Not scared." The executive officer shook his head. "It's just... if we really fire torpedoes here, it's tantamount to starting a war on Japan's doorstep. The consequences..."

"The consequences will be that they won't dare provoke us lightly again." Li Wenbin cut him off. "Exec, you're an old navy man too. You should know that sometimes baring your teeth is more useful than reasoning."

He walked to the torpedo room and patted the cold torpedo tubes. "These fellows are our teeth. If the Japanese don't come provoking us, they'll sit quietly right here. If the Japanese dare make a move, they'll tell them — Lanfang's seas aren't so easy to enter."

The executive officer fell silent. He looked at those torpedoes, at the submarine's cramped space, at the young, resolute faces of the crew.

"You're right, Captain," he finally said. "When it's time to bare your teeth, you bare them."

Time was passing. In the South China Sea, the Fuxing continued sailing north. In the East China Sea, the Bismarck formation followed quietly, disguised as a merchant convoy. Around the Japanese archipelago, twelve submarines lurked like hounds in the deep sea.

And in Yokosuka, in Kure, in Sasebo, the officers and men of the Combined Fleet were making final preparations. Ammunition was being loaded into turrets, Fuel pumped into bunkers, and battle orders distributed to every ship.