To deal with the Japanese fleet, the People's Navy dispatched all 36 of their submarines, forming a wolfpack. To maximize stealth, the submarine force did not use snorkels but instead relied on chemical air regeneration for internal circulation. The air quality in the enclosed space of a submarine was already poor, and the use of chemicals made the smell even worse. However, the officers and men of the force endured it in silence.

Several Chinese submarines were positioned right beneath the joint British and Dutch fleet. Fortunately, the force was cautious enough not to launch an attack immediately. Using periscopes, they saw that the numerous reinforcing warships on the sonar were actually British and Dutch vessels. The comrades in the force were quite surprised; the original plan had not anticipated British and Dutch participation. This was not the time to act on their own initiative. The submarine force prepared for battle at any moment but held their fire. After careful observation, they saw no signs of the British and Dutch fleets joining the fight, which allowed the comrades of the force to breathe a sigh of relief.

The surface battle had now entered its final stage. With fire-control radar, the accuracy of the People's Navy battleships' shelling had improved significantly. The three Japanese battleships also realized the situation was extremely dangerous, and all their guns began firing desperately. Even the listing *Hiei* abandoned any intention of continuing to sail. While damage control personnel frantically tried to control the flooding, *Hiei*'s main and secondary guns were firing with all their might.

The British were truly astonished by the Chinese battleships' gunnery level. They had assumed the Chinese navy's shooting skills would be limited, but what they saw was that the directional accuracy of every Chinese naval shell far exceeded British imagination. In a naval battle, both sides are constantly changing positions, separated by at least ten thousand meters. The British observed that every Chinese shell landed within two hundred meters of the enemy, with excellent directional accuracy. This was simply not the standard of a navy that had been established for only a dozen years.

The gunnery level that surprised the British was a disaster for the Japanese. The approaching Chinese battleships concentrated their fire on the disabled *Hiei*. The very first shell hit *Hiei*'s mast. Of the next eight shells, one hit the bow and three were near misses. Amidst towering water columns and violent explosions, *Hiei*'s two forward turrets fell silent.

The *Kongō* was the first to be hit by a torpedo, but because of this, it had the most time to adjust. At a time like this, how could the Imperial Japanese Navy choose to retreat? The *Kongō* charged at full speed toward the Chinese battleships, attempting to join the melee. This choice led to a fatal error. The *Kongō* believed its speed would allow it to shake off the accidental encounter with Chinese submarines. For the Japanese, this line of thinking wasn't wrong. The mistake lay in the *Kongō* commander's belief that there were few Chinese submarines and he was just unlucky.

In reality, *Kongō*'s luck had been quite good; there were only two submarines in its vicinity, and one was quite far away. But this turn sent it straight toward the position of four Chinese submarines. The commanders of the four submarines were not about to let such an opportunity slip by. With a 3-degree spread, all four submarines launched torpedoes at the onrushing *Kongō* from a distance of 600 to 900 yards. By the time *Kongō*'s lookouts spotted the torpedo tracks, it was too late. Five of the eight torpedoes hit *Kongō*, and four detonated. The port side of *Kongō*'s waterline, already damaged by a torpedo, was blasted open with four more gaping holes, and seawater poured in.

The *Kongō* was an old battleship built before World War I, using British technology. Its torpedo defense was already poor, let alone against five hits. Watching the *Kongō* list rapidly, the British fleet commander had mixed feelings. The *Warspite* he was sitting on was also an old battleship built before WWI, though it had been refitted with anti-torpedo bulges. Japan had originally intended to do the same, but after losing its source of iron ore, steel production plummeted, and such plans vanished into thin air. If it had been refitted, perhaps it would have fared better.

The *Kongō* was now incapable of combat, unable to even maintain navigation. The flooding on one side was beyond the control of damage control teams. Forcing the guns to fire while the list increased only accelerated its sinking.

Ten minutes after *Kongō* lost combat effectiveness, *Hiei*'s luck also ran out. The Chinese submarine force, aided by the smoke screen, closed in for the kill. Six torpedoes hit *Hiei*, and three exploded. *Hiei* had already suffered three near-misses from high-explosive shells during the duel with the Chinese battleships. After taking three more torpedoes, *Hiei* broke in two amidships following a tremor. The bow and stern rose high into the air as it sank into the sea. The British naval observers had good eyesight; they could even see the unexploded torpedo stuck in *Hiei*'s stern.

The only ship still capable of returning fire was the *Haruna*. *Haruna* had bad luck; its propeller had been destroyed, severely damaging its propulsion. However, *Haruna* did not give up. It had received a telegram stating that other warships chasing the Chinese transport fleet were rushing over desperately after receiving the call for help.

After receiving news of the Chinese fleet landing in southern Taiwan, the Japanese Combined Fleet set out immediately. Part of the fleet unloaded the Army "horse dung" in the north, while the fleet centered on the three *Kongō*-class battleships went south to find the Chinese fleet. They actually found them. The Chinese battleships engaged briefly, saw the situation was unfavorable, and immediately abandoned the transport fleet to flee.

After all, the opponents were battleships; light cruisers, destroyers, and frigates couldn't withstand a single hit. Light cruisers and destroyers were more suitable for dealing with the fleeing Chinese transport fleet. With three Japanese battleships against one, once a dogfight started, victory was assured. This led to the pursuit scenario the British initially witnessed.

Upon receiving news that the battleships had been attacked by torpedoes, the Japanese fleet chasing the Chinese transports couldn't bother with the few transport ships that had fled beyond the range of Chinese shore batteries. They turned and rushed toward the battlefield. Although they would be facing a fleet led by Chinese battleships, and it was doubtful how much use light cruisers and destroyers would be, having one more gun and one more torpedo tube was better than nothing at this moment.

"What a perfect target!" The British fleet commander sighed inwardly. The Japanese Navy's luck was terrible. If *Haruna*'s propeller hadn't been destroyed, the entire situation might have been very different. But no matter how one lamented the twists of fate, the reality was that *Hiei* had sunk, *Kongō* was listing and sinking, and *Haruna*'s hull and surrounding water were constantly exploding with shells. After ten minutes of fierce bombardment by the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army battleships, a massive flame shooting hundreds of meters high suddenly erupted from *Haruna*'s deck. That must have been the result of a magazine hit. Watching the giant pillar of fire and the trajectory of two turrets blown into the sky, all the British and Dutch naval officers and men gasped.

However, the Chinese battleships did not stop firing. The completely immobilized *Haruna* took several more hits from 360mm shells, and in the blink of an eye, it broke into four pieces and sank into the sea.

"Too cruel!" Most of the officers and men of the joint British and Dutch fleet were seeing a battle between battleships for the first time, and it was the first time in their lives they had witnessed battleships being sunk. Except for the captain who was eagerly hoping for *Kongō* to finish quickly, the other naval personnel felt very uneasy. They all ate from the same naval bowl and were relatively close to Japan; the feeling of the fox mourning the death of the hare could not be dismissed.

However, they finally saw the true "culprits" of this naval battle. The Chinese submarine force surfaced and began to withdraw from the battlefield according to the pre-arranged plan.

"There's one here! Another one over there!"

"Three appearing to the northeast!"

"...My God! How many submarines does China have?!"

One after another, dark gray submarines surfaced and began heading northwest. On the sea surface, still shrouded in smoke not yet dispersed by the sea breeze, Chinese submarines seemed to be everywhere. The British and Dutch officers and men finally understood that the destruction of the Japanese fleet was not due to bad luck, but because they had been tricked by the Chinese navy into a submarine ambush. Let alone three Japanese battleships, even if the British and Dutch Grand Fleet had intruded into this formation, their fate wouldn't have been much better.

Some officers responsible for photography began taking pictures of the Chinese submarines, especially those very close to the joint British and Dutch fleet. The surfacing of these submarines had startled the British and Dutch personnel. They hadn't expected the underwater reapers to be so close to them.

The People's Navy submarines didn't surface to scare the British and Dutch; submarines have very low speed underwater. To reach maximum speed, they must surface. The battle was over, and it was time for a general retreat. Even if they had to fight again, they needed to exchange the foul air inside the submarines first.

They did not specifically target the *Kongō*, which was listing continuously and whose deck was almost touching the water. The Chinese fleet signaled the British and Dutch fleet, suggesting they rescue the Japanese survivors. Then, with the battleships at the core, the destroyers and submarines followed behind as they disengaged from the battlefield toward the northwest.

"Were the Chinese battleships not hit?" the British fleet commander asked the staff officer beside him.

"Uh... yes," the staff officer replied after waking from his shock and thinking for a moment. This should have been a battle worth studying carefully, but the British naval staff officer's heart was filled with negative emotions. Originally, he thought that no matter how hard the Chinese tried or how powerful they were on land, they were not a force worth taking seriously at sea. Now, that idea had vanished. The elusive submarine force had always been a headache for surface fleets. Judging by the massive size of those Chinese submarines, these warships must displace at least 500 tons, and some of the particularly large ones probably approached or exceeded a thousand tons. If such submarines sortied from North Vietnam or even Cambodia, the entire South China Sea would be within their attack range. This was by no means good news for the British Far East Fleet.

The British and Dutch fleets were not saints either. After the Chinese fleet left, they began sending destroyers to fish out the Japanese naval personnel from the water. As the rescue operation neared its end, a large number of Japanese warships appeared from the north. Just then, the *Kongō* capsized completely; the deck sank beneath the water, and the keel rose above the surface. A moment later, the flagship of the Japanese Combined Fleet sank into the waters of southern Taiwan.

The British captain who had won the bet was grinning from ear to ear. He had wagered 5 pounds on this gamble, and now he would collect 2500 pounds. Even for a British naval officer, this was a huge sum.