In the next two days, the submarines spent most of their time sailing on the sea. In fact, when sailing at depths of the snorkel, the U40 submarine was less likely to be affected by waves, but on the contrary, the speed was the highest. However, it was obvious that most crew members were not willing to stay underwater for a long time and would rather float on the sea and endure the pain of bumps.

The Fifth Submarine Force's combat destination this time is not the fiercely contested Nanyang waters, but heading to the Bashi Strait and Balintang Strait between Taiwan and Luzon to find fighter jets and wait for an opportunity to attack the Japanese transport fleet. Since the United States and Japan deployed a large number of land-based combat aircraft in Taiwan and Luzon, the surface fleet of the Axis powers is not currently active in this area and can only use submarine forces to carry out the war.

The Japanese Navy suffered significant losses in the Battle of Sumatra, especially after the Axis fleet entered the South China Sea, the Japanese Navy had lost its control over the South China Sea and could only rely on the protection of the island chains and land-based combat aircraft in the South China Sea to maintain fragile maritime ties with the Malay Peninsula.

Now, it is difficult to see Japanese warships moving from the Beibu Gulf to the waters of the Dongsha Islands, and the American Far East ships have never even left Manila Bay. Only after entering the Bashi Channel will there be more prey on the water.

According to the plan, the Fifth Submarine Force first went to the Bashi Channel, because it is now the busiest area for maritime transportation between Japan and the South Ocean. However, it is reported that the Japanese, with the help of the United States and Britain, have begun to establish their own escort system, and the United States has provided Japan with thirty old-fashioned destroyers to escort the transport fleet.

If there are a lot of Japanese escort warships on this route, the Fifth Submarine Squadron will continue to sail eastward and continue to "hunting" in the Northern Mariana Islands, because a large part of Japan's strategic materials are transported back to the country through this route.

On the third day after leaving Fangcheng Fangcheng Port, the Fifth Submarine Squadron finally arrived at the Balintang Strait. However, Lin Feng was not in a hurry to sneak into the battlefield, but was waiting quietly away from the channel. It was not until the sun was west that he directed the submarine formation to carefully sail towards the route from Manila to Tokyo.

If the depth of the submarine sails on the surface snorkel is carefully distinguished in the air, you can still see a white track brought out by the periscope and the surface snorkel. However, the sky began to darken at this time, and it would be difficult for the enemy's patrol aircraft to find traces of these submarines unless they were cruising at an ultra-low altitude of less than 300 meters.

The Bashi Strait and the Balintang Strait are maritime channels connecting the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean. The width of this sea area is more than 220 nautical miles, which is actually nearly twice the width of the Adriatic Sea. This sea area is currently the main channel between Japan and the South Ocean, and maritime transportation is indeed busy. However, the Japanese have significantly strengthened the escort force in this area. The transport fleets are all in groups through this sea area during the day under the strict protection of the escort fleet. Shipping at night has completely stopped.

The Fifth Submarine Squadron patrolled the Bashi Strait and the Balintang Strait for two days, but could not find a suitable attack opportunity. So Lin Feng ordered the entire submarine formation to continue to advance eastward and turn to the Mariana route to look for opportunities.

After seven days of boring sea navigation, the Fifth Submarine Squadron finally arrived in the south of the Mariana Islands. At dusk, Lin Feng commanded the submarine force to carefully sail towards Saipan, the most important maritime transit base in Northern Mariana.

When the sun sets in the west and the sky is getting darker, the entire submarine formation has approached the northwest of Saipan. In the periscope, the black outline of the Cape Canavera appears at the end of the sea under the sky in the evening.

"One-half speed, all boats are ready for combat!" As commander Major Lam Feng issued a new order, the four submarines lined up in fan shape and began to approach Tarapege Port.

Saipan is about 21 kilometers long from north to south and about 7 to 12 kilometers wide from east to west. It is the largest island in Northern Mariana. Northern Mariana was originally a German colony in the Pacific Ocean. It was occupied by Japan during World War I. However, after World War I, the Japanese were forced to return all occupied German colonies, and Germany and Austria took the opportunity to blackmail up to 500 million marks of war compensation.

This is one of the main reasons why the Japanese have always hated Germany and Austria. The Japanese have never reflected on their strategic mistakes in taking the opportunity to invade German colonies during World War I. Instead, they have always been worried about Germany and Austria because of this war compensation, although they only paid less than 200 million marks of compensation before World War II.

The Germans had always wanted to build a naval base on Saipan, but due to strong opposition from the Americans, an agreement was reached between Germany and the United States. Germany and the United States did not build fortresses and military bases on islands in the Western Pacific region, so the defense forces on Saipan and Guam occupied by the United States were very weak, which also caused the place to be easily occupied by Japan again after the war broke out.

This is like they slapped the German again, making German Emperor William II furious, but they were helpless for the time being.

The Chinese submarine slowly approached Tarapege Port at the depth of the snorkel. Under the guidance of the sergeant commander on the 1048 submarine, Sa Shijun learned from the auxiliary periscope on the boat and kept searching the sea surface through the auxiliary periscope on the boat.

In the periscope, a gray outline appears, like a matchbox swimming at the entrance of the port.

"What is this? A warship or a merchant ship?" Sa Shijun's eyes left the periscope's eyepiece, raised his head and asked.

Lin Feng pointed the main periscope at the other side, glanced at it and said, "It's a Japanese torpedo boat, patrolling near the port, sir!"

According to Sa Shijun's experience, it is about 6 nautical miles away from Tarapege Harbor, and the Japanese patrol boat could not find itself at all.

"Stop the diesel engine and move forward by one third of the speed!" Lin Feng shouted to the microphone, "Other submarines are on guard outside the port, we need to approach and reconnaissance near the port!" After about two minutes, he issued a new order again: "Keep the current course, put away the periscope, and dive to 30 meters!"

It seems that he is preparing to personally direct the submarine to conduct a close-range dangerous reconnaissance operation.

Apart from torpedoes, submarines have no self-defense weapons, and have weak defenses and very slow movements. Even if they encounter a 100-ton gunboat, they may suffer danger.

When it sails on the water, its maximum speed is only half that of those destroyers, frigates or gunboats. The U40 Ocean Attack Submarine is currently the most advanced submarine in the world. This class of submarine adopts a double-hull structure, the cross-section of the pressure-resistant hull is in a figure-eight shape, and the lower half of the pressure-resistant hull is a battery compartment. The battery capacity has increased by 4 times compared to the past, greatly increasing the underwater speed and range of the submarine of this class. When submarine is submersible under the water, it can run continuously for an hour with a maximum speed of 175 knots, which gives it a great opportunity to get rid of the pursuit of the destroyer.

In short, these weaknesses of the submarine make it a surprising force on the sea like an assassin hiding in the dark, but it is not enough to control a sea area like a surface ship force.

Now, this adventure game has just begun. (To be continued.) r1052
Chapter completed!