Hong Kong Island: From a small stall to a global supplier

Slaughter Island was lost too quickly; its communication facilities were destroyed in the first round, and it didn't even have time to send out a distress signal.

After occupying Pig Slaughter Island, Chen Yuanchao immediately contacted 0, which was anchored in the Gulf of Thailand, and the operation could begin!

With the removal of Tuzhu Island, there are no more obstacles on the route to Phu Quoc Island. According to information from Hu Zhiming, a transport fleet mainly composed of American-made LSIL tank landing ships departed at around 4 a.m. this morning.

According to the information in Wang Yaotang's possession, these old landing ships were already quite dilapidated, with only 70% of their performance remaining. Based on their speed, it was estimated that they would arrive at Phu Quoc Island in about 12-15 hours, just before sunset, making it convenient for them to dock.

Ten hours have passed since the transport fleet departed. At the earliest, it will take one hour, and at the latest, four hours, for the fleet to reach the ideal ambush position.

The biggest problem when lying in ambush at sea is how to quickly approach the target. If there are no islands nearby for cover, the best way is to sail in the opposite direction of the target, which is the fastest way to close the distance between the two sides.

After bypassing Pig Slaughter Island, this time without small gunboats, the two warships proceeded at full speed along the route, one after the other.

In less than an hour, the radar detected a transport fleet 20 kilometers away. There were many ships, and the target was large, so it could not escape the radar scan.

At this moment, the two 0 ships maintained a speed of 30 knots, while the LSIL tank landing ship was traveling at around 22 knots, heading in opposite directions at a speed exceeding 50 knots, or 93 km/h.

In three minutes, in the blink of an eye, the distance between the two sides closed to about 15 kilometers, and the radar operators of the Annamite Fleet finally spotted the ship ahead.

This is a shipping route, so spotting ships is normal. The radar operator didn't think much of it and reported it up the chain of command. Conflicts are a civilian matter, and the sea creatures weren't attacked. Besides, this route has been running for many years without any incidents.

Three to five minutes later, the distance between the two sides had been reduced to about 8 kilometers.

The colonel in charge of the fleet was quite vigilant and immediately arranged for the escorting gunboats to go forward to scout ahead, while also ordering the other side to clear the way.

The gunboat was fast, and in just 3 minutes, the distance closed to about 4 kilometers. When the observer on the gunboat saw through his binoculars that it was a warship approaching, he was stunned for a moment. "Signal, what kind of warship is this? I don't think I've ever seen it before."

"You bastard, you can't even remember what your own warships look like? Let me see." The company commander snatched the binoculars and looked inside. Good heavens, he'd never seen anything like it before. They were all Soviet-style. But why didn't they have hull numbers?

Sensing something was wrong, the company commander immediately reported it. With this delay, the distance had already narrowed to within 3 kilometers. The observer on the LSIL tank landing ship, who was standing higher, had already spotted a warship rushing up and immediately shouted loudly into the intercom system.

There are Annamese warships on this route, but they should communicate with each other before encountering each other, instead of rushing at full speed!

Different responsibilities lead to different focuses.

When the fleet colonel heard that it was a warship, his mind went blank. He immediately thought of the group that had been harassing Hu Zhiming. Although the military had never seen this group of enemies, they were certain that it was a warship.

The colonel gripped the communicator and loudly ordered the fleet to enter a state of war. All escort ships were to protect the transport ships, and the transport ships were to slow down and give way. The escort ships were to engage the enemy. However, the sudden order still plunged the fleet into brief chaos.

Adjusting positions takes more than just two or three minutes, but two or three minutes is enough for 0⑶⒎ to close the distance between the two sides to within 2 kilometers.

Once the battle commenced, Wei Jinzhong took command, and the two ships, 0, separated to the left and right.

"Boom boom boom——"

"Boom boom boom——"

"Boom boom boom——"

"Boom boom boom——"

When two armies meet on a narrow path, they unleash their full firepower!

The design of 0⑶⒎ was for close-range combat. It abandoned larger caliber cannons and used dense firepower to increase damage and hit rate. When it explodes at this moment, one is stronger than three.

From the air, 0⑶⒎ looked like a porcupine spewing fire, charging into the middle of the Annamese escort fleet like a boar charging forward. Taking advantage of being larger and more resilient than the escort ships, its radar and fire control systems began to target each ship one by one. Two twin-mounted 57mm rapid-fire guns focused their fire on the gunboats, which were over 20 meters long, unleashing 80 rounds per minute. In just over 10 seconds, more than 50 shells were fired.

At a distance of about 1500 meters, the Annamese gunboats were unable to maneuver around the target effectively and were hit by nearly 20 armor-piercing shells in an instant.

The 57mm tracer capped armor-piercing rounds, weighing approximately 6.47 kg and with an initial velocity of 1000 m/s, were completely ineffective against the gunboats' armor protection. The immense kinetic energy of the armor-piercing rounds instantly tore them apart. The metal fragments from the torn armor of the bridge guns, side armor, and deck armor swept across the ship's deck, wheelhouse, and cabins like a storm. Humans caught in the blast instantly turned into a bloody mist. The engines were destroyed by the armor-piercing rounds, and the fuel tanks were penetrated. The tracer rounds directly ignited the fuel, and a large fire quickly broke out on the ship.

It might have taken seven or eight seconds, or maybe a dozen seconds. Perhaps the tracer rounds detonated the ammunition depot, or perhaps it was caused by combustion. In any case, the gunboat exploded twice in a short period of time.

Wei Jinzhong waved his hand fiercely, "Done!"
Without his order, the radar and fire control system quickly locked onto the next target, the turrets rapidly rotated, aimed, and began a frenzied barrage of fire once again.

"Boom boom boom——"

"Boom boom boom——"

"Boom boom boom——"

"Boom boom boom——"

同一时间，另外4座 61式 25毫米双联装舰炮，8个炮口对准那些12-15米炮艇同步疯狂集火，同样使用最贵的穿甲弹。

Every design of a warship is the result of repeated weighing of options. The reason for choosing a 25mm twin-barreled gun was to deal with these smaller ships. They are smaller, more agile, and harder to target. The downside is that their armor is thinner, and using a 57mm gun would result in a significant firepower spillover. Therefore, a 25mm gun was chosen. The rate of fire of 270 rounds per minute makes the bullet spacing smaller, and the net of 32 bullets per second from the 8 muzzles covers the target, making it easier to lock onto it.

The faster rate of fire also largely compensates for the lack of firepower. Once it gets on your heels, a dozen to thirty or fifty shots can easily tear the target to shreds!
Of course, all of this resulted in a massive consumption of artillery shells!
However, Wang Yaotang replaced all the anti-submarine reserves on the warship with cannon shells, and this crazy consumption was enough to keep the war going for half an hour!
In just one minute, the two 037 gunboats, firing at full power, destroyed two gunboats of about 25 meters in length and five smaller gunboats of about 12 meters in length. The burning hulls of the gunboats were slowly sinking, but no one on the battlefield had time to take a second look.

The firefight continued. The combined firepower of the two 0 ships firing at full power, along with the dozen or so escort vessels of the Annam transport fleet, made the sea within a one-kilometer radius boil over. Dozens of water columns of varying heights shot into the air every second, filling the field of vision with boiling seawater. The obscuring effect was greater and denser than the dust and smoke rising from the land, making it impossible to see the enemy ships with the naked eye.

Wang Yaotang couldn't see any of this; he was ordered to go down to the engine room, the most heavily protected area on the entire warship.

Upon seeing this, Wei Jinzhong immediately ordered a ceasefire. The full-force burst of fire for one minute had already put immense pressure on the artillery, which needed to cool down a bit.

He's under a lot of pressure, but those Annamese bastards are under even more!
They belonged to the 128th Transport Team, and their hypothetical enemy had always been Cambodian fishing boats, which were relatively similar to the threat of pirates. They had never seen the full force of the 0, their fearless charge and close-quarters combat, and their dense and ferocious firepower that made people's scalps tingle. They had stunned the Annamese soldiers.

The extent of the damage was obscured by the vast expanse of seawater, but they were still frantically firing at the previous positions.

Of course, 0⑶⒎ was also in a bad situation at this time. After all, it was a dozen gunboats firing at the same intensity. The difference was that the gunboats' radar fire control systems were not non-existent, but rather non-existent. The hit rate of manual operation was truly pitiful.

In addition, there is the protection capability. The phrase "thin-skinned but large-capacity" refers to the size of the frigate. Compared to these gunboats, it is much better. At least the damage caused by the Annamese 30mm cannon's high-explosive fragmentation shells to the 0 is very limited.

Their primary target was pirates, so the ammunition they were equipped with certainly wouldn't be tracer armor-piercing rounds, which cost more than ten rounds per shot.

This is a crushing victory in size, design, and firepower, but even more so, it's a crushing victory in terms of money!

The two 0s adjusted their course and charged towards the three transport ships. The Annamese soldiers noticed the cessation of fire and also stopped firing. By the time the water jets subsided, the 0s had almost broken out of their encirclement. The transport ships had just turned around and were less than 2 kilometers away, already within firing range. This forced them to focus their fire on the 0s again before they could assess their own losses.

0⑶⒎ Having seized the initiative on the battlefield, these small gunboats were no longer allowed to use more flexible tactics and could only carry out suicide attacks!
"Boom boom boom——"

"Boom boom boom——"

"Boom boom boom——"

"Boom boom boom——"

After a brief respite, the cannons roared wildly again, tracer rounds trailing clear trajectories in the air, lashing out at the Annamese ships on the sea like whips of divine intervention.

Whether it was a 57mm cannon or a 25mm cannon, they could easily send Annamite ships flying in pieces!

A few lashes and the bridge would be destroyed, the deck would be pierced and the interior damaged. If you were unlucky, the fuel tank would be pierced and a fire would start. If you were unlucky, the engine room would also be pierced and the gunboat would lose power.

The renewed fierce firefight caused the sea to boil once again, but this time 0⑶⒎ did not continue to fight the gunboats, but instead charged straight at the three transport ships.

Both sides were giving it their all in the chase and escape, and the old American-made LSIL tank landing ship was getting closer and closer to the enemy, feeling a chill run down its spine.

The tank landing ship also had weapons and was retaliating, putting in a very strong effort.

Just like a rich princess fighting back against robbers, it made Wei Jinzhong even more excited!
During the pursuit, the Annam escort fleet finally realized that its companions were dwindling. In just over ten minutes of fighting, only five of the dozen or so escort ships remained intact.

This discovery completely shattered the morale of the Annamese soldiers. They lacked the courage to fight to the last man. It was unclear which ship slowed down first, but each one moved slower than the last, and within minutes the distance had increased to over 5 kilometers. At that moment, perhaps influenced by Wang Yaotang, Wei Jinzhong almost instinctively picked up the communicator and answered the persistent communication requests from the other side, shouting, "Hahaha, even if you scream your lungs out, no one will come to save you!"

Everyone in the operations command room looked over at the same time. Holy crap, is the captain really that crazy?
Then came a burst of laughter, which made Wei Jinzhong's face stiffen.

However, the captain was still the captain, and at this moment he was able to speak in a deep voice as if nothing had happened: "Despicable Annamese, you have detained the cargo ship and people we are protecting. You had better release them immediately, or these attacks will never stop!"

This is the excuse that was prepared long ago.

After repeating this three times, ignoring the chatter on the other end, Wei Jinzhong hung up the call.

"Aim at the waterline, fire!"

"Fire!"

"Boom boom boom——"

"Boom boom boom——"

"Boom boom boom——"

"Boom boom boom——"

As a tank landing ship, its armor thickness and draft are far superior to those of gunboats. Even after being fired at 1.5 kilometers away with armor-piercing shells, the landing ship withstood at least 150 shots before losing power and gradually sinking.

The last landing ship, two 0s, fired wildly for 3 minutes before turning around and running away. The entire attack lasted for nearly 40 minutes. Hu Zhiming's side has a military airfield!
In 79, Russia provided Annam with 40 Su-22M3s, which could be equipped with K-25L air-to-ground missiles. If an attack occurred, they would start reporting it, and 40 minutes should be enough time for them to check the aircraft, equip them with ammunition, and take off.

The Su-22 is not like those junk aircraft from Annam. This thing has a combat radius of 1100 kilometers, and the current fighting location is only 350 kilometers away from Hu Zhiming's airport.

Of course, I had considered this possibility when making the plan, so I wasn't too afraid.

The K-25L is a second-generation general-purpose tactical air-to-ground missile with semi-active laser guidance. It is mainly used to strike static targets such as ground fortifications and radar stations. Its range is only 10 kilometers. Considering the pursuit and escape, and the fact that 10 kilometers is only a theoretical figure, the missile needs to be launched within 5 kilometers. It also requires the Su-22 to provide continuous illumination. The hit rate is relatively low when striking dynamic targets, and the aircraft that is continuously illuminating the target is also easily shot down by the machine gun.

Moreover, they can launch smoke grenades for cover, and they can also fire explosive grenades at the sea to create splashes for cover. Unless the Annamese go crazy and send out a swarm of aircraft, one or two Su-22s are not much of a threat.

It's unprofessional!

Moreover, the transport team is unlikely to report immediately, and it takes 5-10 minutes for the tractor to pull the fighter jet out of the hangar, 20-30 minutes to refuel, about 20-30 minutes to load weapons and calibrate fire control for four missiles, and about 15-20 minutes for a complete power-on check.

Given the training level of the Annamese soldiers, they're most likely still working hard right now...

This isn't a Cold War NATO border region that requires high vigilance, so the air force won't be kept in a "high level of combat readiness" state for extended periods to respond to combat missions at any time.

Annamese people don't have the ability, the financial resources, or the qualities.

Even with countermeasures, it would take half an hour to replace air-to-air missiles with ground-to-ground missiles.

Everything was planned; once we won, we'd split up and escape!

One in the northwest, one in the west.

From the northwest, go to Pattaya, Siam.

Go to Koh Samui from the west.

Just over 200 kilometers away, we entered Siamese airspace. Even if the Annamese chased after us like madmen, there were plenty of islands once we crossed the border, making it easy to hide.

The Su-22 is not a reconnaissance aircraft; it only has one pilot. While it can be said to have no ground observation capability, it is certainly very poor.

Fifty minutes after leaving the scene of the firefight, Annan's Su-22s arrived late, flying rapidly over a thousand meters in the air. On the sea, there was only a tank landing ship struggling to stay afloat.

Some ships did go to Phu Quoc Island to carry out rescue operations, but they were still quite far away.

After flying around the area of ​​conflict within a 100-kilometer radius, the pilot, who could only glance at the ground from time to time, could only do his best and leave the rest to fate.

After checking that the fuel was half used up, we contacted the base and returned to base immediately.

What does the attack on Haijun's idiots have to do with their air force...?

Protect?

revenge?

Could we transfer a portion of next year's military budget to this area?
……

The conference room at Hu Zhiming Haijun Command Base was deathly silent; from the generals above to the officers below, everyone wore stern faces and remained silent.

A dozen gunboats and three tank landing ships—the supplies were practically free.

How many years!

We have never suffered such heavy losses, not even in previous conflicts with Laos and China!
Now look what's happened! Their transport fleet was completely wiped out in a firefight with an unknown force. It's a laughing stock!
What truly broke the defenses of General Haijun was that it was all caused by his men secretly hijacking two old Chinese transport ships more than half a month ago.

Damn it, can't these idiots just die already?!

Of course, this couldn't have been arranged by the higher-ups. The higher-ups had no idea. They did know that the people below Haijun occasionally acted as pirates, but it's fine to steal some money or supplies, but why the hell do you have to kill people?
Now things are really messed up. They've gotten themselves into trouble and are being retaliated against. Although the news is currently being suppressed by Haijun, it can't be suppressed forever. Who knows how Kongjun and Lujun's people will laugh at them when they meet at the next meeting?

There's also pressure from the municipal government...

No shame!
Having finally calmed his anger, the general gritted his teeth and looked around at his men, "Who launched this retaliation? Is there a target?"

"Our people reported that the enemy ship did not have any hull number or other identifying marks, nor was it flying any flags. Based on their information, the General Staff can almost confirm that it is the Chinese 0, but its specific identity is still uncertain."

"Could it be an old Chinese man?" The general frowned even more deeply.

"It's unlikely. Only two 0 ships were operating alone. We suspect the target is a Hong Kong man named Wang Yaotang."

"Wang Yaotang? A Hong Konger?" The general had never heard of this name before.

The chief of staff glanced at the lieutenant colonel below who had committed the offense. "This matter is related to Lu Jun. About two months ago, Lu Jun was in a reinforced company on the Siamese border... His men acted impulsively, so..."

"You robbed merchant ships because you were so angry?" The general was so angry that his nostrils flared up. He really remembered this incident; he had used it to make sarcastic remarks about Lu Jun's people before.

Little did he expect that his foolish subordinate would have a brilliant idea... and now he's getting his comeuppance.

After a long tirade, the general gritted his teeth and said, "Tell me all about Wang Yaotang and his protectors."

"Protective umbrella..."

"Chinese equipment? Chinese buzz cut? Isn't that just Chinese?!" The general's eyes widened.

“We learned through some Annamese underground forces in Hong Kong that most of these people are now Hong Kong citizens, and a small number are Siamese, Malay, and Burmese citizens. The Umbrella Corporation has no such ships registered in Hong Kong. The contracts between China and Laos are for selling to Somalia. Even if they really caught people, it was Hong Kong people who stole the Somali ships to commit the crime.” The staff officer explained in a low voice, “It has nothing to do with Laos and Laos.”

"Go to hell!" the general slammed his fist on the table in anger. "This is clearly a trick by the Chinese; these are the people they've been keeping abroad!"

The staff officer lowered his head and remained silent. That was the situation, but given the current state of relations between Annan and the Chinese...

There's nothing we can do. There's absolutely nothing we can do. (End of Chapter)