Chapter 1035 America Strikes Back

A coal-burning European Solidarity-type cargo ship (a bulk cargo ship modeled after the American Liberty Ship) arrived at the Palembang dock on the Musi bank, which was experiencing its worst moment since the beginning of the Japanese occupation. The once busy port has now become deserted. On the dock, there are only Japanese soldiers in yellow-green uniforms, holding long rifles with bayonets, patrolling back and forth aggressively. It gives people a feeling of facing a great enemy.

Several powerful Taisho 14-year type 105mm anti-aircraft guns were placed in a corner of the dock, surrounded by sandbags, forming an anti-aircraft gun position. Several Japanese army soldiers, also wearing khaki uniforms, were conducting routine training around the anti-aircraft guns. The muzzles of the anti-aircraft guns shook and changed directions constantly with each command.

Next to the anti-aircraft gun position is a dock built by several Dutchmen. It is not too big and can only repair small boats of several thousand tons. Even the European Solidarity ship with a displacement of more than 10,000 tons cannot be loaded. However, none of these small docks are empty. In each dock, there is a cargo ship damaged by a mine.

Because the water depth of the Strait of Malacca is too shallow, it is the best place to lay bottom mines. Moreover, it is a water transportation hub connecting Europe and East Asia, and it is also the oil export channel of the Palembang Oilfield with a huge annual output. Therefore, since Japan entered the Dutch East Indies in 1942, the British and American navies have laid a large number of mines in this area, including bottom-sinking magnetic mines and floating anchor mines. I wonder how many have been laid?

The Japanese Navy has also deployed a number of minesweepers, submarine-driving ships, special cruisers, second-class destroyers, and some patrol aircraft with anti-submarine and minesweeping functions in Malacca, including the "East China Sea" anti-submarine patrol aircraft equipped with a magnetic detector.

However, compared with the strength of the British and American anti-shipping, the Japanese Navy's investment in anti-submarine and minesweeping is really too little.

After all, the investment in preventing thieves is definitely many times greater than that of thieves!

For example, sometimes even submarines and aircraft don't need to be deployed to lay mines. A disguised mine-laying ship flying the flag of a neutral country or the European Community can do it. Unless every foreign cargo ship traveling through the Strait of Malacca is carefully searched, Japan has no way to prevent the activities of disguised mine-laying ships.

Strict searches not only waste time, but also easily cause unnecessary friction (in the war years, when supplies were scarce, it was the time when smuggling activities were the most profitable. Who of those sailors who ventured out to sea would be completely clean?), making many European sailors reject the Malacca route from the bottom of their hearts, which was dangerous and unprofitable.

Another reason why European sailors were reluctant to come to the Strait of Malacca was that this shallow strait would be blocked by mines every now and then, and no one knew when it would be able to resume passage. Therefore, merchant ships coming from the Indian Ocean or preparing to sail to the Indian Ocean could only wait endlessly in the port.

However, for Lieutenant Commander Knopman, the captain of the "Walsberg Mountain" which had just entered the port and was flying the flag of the neutral Netherlands, but was actually under the jurisdiction of the European Joint Transport Command, traveling to and from the Strait of Malacca was just his contribution to winning the war for the German motherland.

This German old man with a round face, blinking eyes, and short and fat was an old German navy who participated in the last World War. However, he was not a militarist. In fact, he turned to anti-war at the end of the last World War. When the sailors in Kiel Port revolted, he not only sympathized with the sailors, but also provided them with a lot of help.

Therefore, he was expelled from the navy immediately after the end of the world war, and he was not recruited again when the German navy began to expand. It was not until Germany defeated Britain in 1943 that he was recalled to the navy and served as the captain of a cargo ship running the Eastern route.

By then, he had completely changed his anti-war stance, from an anti-Nazi and supporter of the Social Democratic Party in his early years to a glorious Nazi party member... Such a change of stance was very common in Germany. Now Germany was about to win, and the ideal society of National Socialism seemed to be just around the corner. Everything was so beautiful, which also proved the correctness of Chancellor Hitler and Reich Marshal Hessmann.

The "Walsberg Mountain" had already docked at the dock, and the gangway was lowered. Several Japanese in yellow-green tropical uniforms walked up quickly.

The leader was a captain in his thirties, with a beard and a very arrogant expression. Although the Netherlands gave up the Dutch East Indies without a fight, in the eyes of most Japanese, this long-declined small European country was also defeated by the Great Japanese Empire.

"Who is the captain? We need to board the ship for inspection!"

A Japanese sergeant who was probably doing business in the Dutch East Indies before the war asked the Indian sailors on the ship loudly in stiff Dutch. Although the ship was flying the Dutch flag, the captain, first mate, second mate, chief engineer and other main crew members were all Germans, but most of the sailors were recruited from India. They could barely understand English, but definitely did not understand Dutch.

Knopman had been to Malacca more than once and knew the temper of the Japanese very well. He had a stern face at this time, put on a red cuff with a Nazi swastika on his sleeves, walked quickly to the deck, stood at attention when he saw the Japanese, and then raised his right arm: "Hi! Hitler!"

It turned out to be a Nazi!

All the Japanese immediately put away their arrogant faces and saluted Knopman.

Then Knopman handed over his ID and the identity document of the "Walberg Mountain", as well as the ship inspection exemption order issued by the Southwest Fleet of the Japanese Navy.

The ship was loaded with electromagnetic minesweepers produced in Germany, which were ordered by the Japanese in March. Before March 1944, the Americans had basically not used magnetic mines, so the Japanese were not prepared. After encountering trouble, they asked Germany for help and ordered a large number of electromagnetic minesweepers and diesel generators to power them.

Starting from April, various minesweepers accounted for a certain proportion of the cargo list shipped to the Strait of Malacca and Yangon, Myanmar.

By the way, Yangon, the capital of Japanese Burma, is a relatively safe port in Eurasian trade. After occupying Burma, Japan also forced Allied prisoners of war to build a Thai-Burma railway, connecting Yangon and Bangkok, the capital of Thailand. However, the transportation capacity of the Thai-Burma railway is limited. In addition to the oil (Yenangyaung oil field) and important minerals produced in Burma, only aircraft engines, radars and high-quality aviation fuel (since 1944, Germany has begun to export a small amount of high-octane aviation gasoline and aviation kerosene that Japan cannot produce) can be transported via the Yangon route.

However, even the Yangon route is not absolutely safe, because the route from Bangkok to the Japanese mainland is also full of various mines and submarines laid by the Americans.

Therefore, various minesweeping equipment and light escort destroyers are the most urgent things for the Japanese Navy at present.

The former is easy to provide. Now American submarines are also laying mines everywhere near the Atlantic coastline of Europe and North Africa (German submarines are doing the same thing), so electromagnetic minesweeping equipment has been mass-produced.

But the latter cannot be provided immediately if you want it, because the impact of American submarines on the economy of the European Community is not too great, and Germany and France do not have enough naval officers and soldiers available.

In addition, the US Navy did not completely lose its command of the Atlantic Ocean. They could still send surface ships and even aircraft carriers to disrupt commerce from time to time. Therefore, the 1000-1500 ton light escort destroyer could not complete the Atlantic escort mission. The 1936 D-type destroyer was the cheap multi-purpose destroyer most needed by the European Community Navy.

Therefore, in the European Community, except for the United Kingdom, which had a "Hunter" class light escort destroyer, no other country had ever made such a thing.

However, the Japanese themselves developed a "Matsu" class D-type destroyer with a standard displacement of 1260 tons and a maximum speed of 27.3 knots in the second half of 1943. It can be used for anti-submarine escort and fleet combat (with a 4-unit 610mm torpedo tube) - the Japanese Navy divided destroyers into four types according to their functions, namely A, B, C, and D. Among them, the D type is similar to an escort destroyer. Currently, there is only one "Matsu" class, and the first ship "Matsu" was just completed on April 28.

While building the Matsu class on its own, the Japanese Navy was also discussing a deal to order a large number of Matsu class destroyers with German and French shipyards.

Because the German and French shipyards required that the power combination of the heavy oil-fired boiler + steam turbine used in the Matsu class be changed to a diesel engine (the production of steam turbines is more difficult than that of diesel engines, and the price is also more expensive), the design modification was not completed until early May. The first batch of 5 Matsu class modified destroyers started construction (according to the contract, 8 ships will start construction every month starting from June) and the keels were laid before the end of June. According to the plan, all will be completed within 5 months.

It is expected that starting from 1945, Japan's anti-submarine minesweeping operations in the South Pacific Islands will be greatly improved...if Japan has not withdrawn from the war by then.

However, at present, starting from the Strait of Malacca to the east, it is a dangerous sea for the Axis ships.

The elderly German captain Knopman is now just thinking about unloading the cargo on the ship as soon as possible and leaving here.

Just as he was about to ask the Japanese officer who came to inspect the ship when to start unloading, a shrill air defense alarm suddenly sounded at the dock in Palembang.

"What's going on?" He asked loudly in Dutch amid the whining alarm.

"It's an exercise!" The Japanese sergeant replied with a smile, "It must be an air defense exercise. Air defense exercises are often held here."