Iron Cross

"It's broken!" Halsey and McCain's hearts suddenly sank to the bottom.

I'm really unlucky today. It was originally planned to evacuate just after 7 o'clock, so now the escort carriers, cruisers, and destroyers have all slowed down to prepare for the response. Not only has their evasion capabilities been greatly reduced, but they haven't even set up air defense arrays. The Japanese army has Wouldn't it be fatal to launch an attack at the right time?

He quickly ordered: "Stop the actions of all ships and use all-out air defense..."

The telegram was sent, but it was of no use. The Japanese attack had already begun. There were flares everywhere on the sea, illuminating the entire night sky as if it were daytime. All large and small warships could be seen at a glance. Excited Japanese pilots rushed down in groups to attack - —At night, there are finally no annoying US fighter jets coming to fight. As long as they avoid the anti-aircraft fire, the US warships can be taught a lesson.

"Disperse, disperse immediately..."

With hoarse shouts, 250 kilograms or 400 kilograms of bombs have fallen: the former against escort carriers and other warships, and the latter against Essex and South Dakota classes.

At 18:57, the USS Alabama, which was the most advanced, became the first victim. Four Meteors tracked it down and dropped eight 400-kilogram bombs. Although the ship sprayed extremely fierce anti-aircraft firepower, Instead, it had a guiding effect on attack aircraft at night - there must be a warship under the fire. Within 18 seconds, the USS Alabama received three bombs in a row. Although the heavy armor blocked the damage to the engine room by the bombs, The superstructure and anti-aircraft gun positions were completely destroyed. There were screams and broken limbs flying everywhere. What was even more heartbreaking was that the bombs also caused fires.

The raging fire illuminated the fleet like a torch. Not only was the Alabama itself exposed, it even reflected the Indiana next to it. Soon more attack aircraft rushed over to attack, using continuous bombs to destroy the Indiana. The number was also lit.

Seeing the pilots attacking the two South Dakota-class ships, Takanobu Egusa, who was commanding from the air, became anxious. He had just bombed the front deck of the Wasp. Although he blew a big hole in the opponent and disabled the opponent's take-off and landing capabilities, It failed to detonate more aircraft and fuel, and the captain of the ship strangely did not order the anti-aircraft guns to fire, because this would reveal the position of the warship - the Wasp, which had escaped a disaster in South Africa, was indeed very knowledgeable about escaping. I saw the ship escaping at a high speed of 32 knots. Jiang Cao Tongfan watched the ship leave but was unable to do anything. He had thrown away all the bombs and fired two flares in succession to indicate the attack of the fleet, but no one paid attention. He was so anxious that he turned on his earphones. Li scolded his group of red deer...

Finally, someone was awake enough to hear the captain's cry and immediately jumped down to attack. After Jiangcao Takashima released the flare for the third time, two more planes successfully dropped bombs on the rear deck of the Wasp, one of which was very rare. 2 consecutive hits, under the continuous attack of three 400 kilogram bombs, a large hole was blown out of the Wasp, and the hangar also exploded and burned quickly, and then the flames of Lao Gao burst out. Because it was mixed with aviation fuel, The fire was more intense than the South Dakota class.

Seeing the torches burning again, more pilots pounced on them as if they had woken up from a dream - before setting off, the commander repeatedly stated that the first attack target was the fleet aircraft carrier, so why did they pounce on the battleship without risking their own safety as soon as they saw the battleship on fire?

After circling for a few times, Jiangcao Takanobu, who was angry just now, calmed down: It is human nature to seek light in the dark. If he had not been staring at the fleet aircraft carrier, he might have been attracted by the two battleships. Now when a fire breaks out, won’t the attacking crowd come? After thinking about it, he sent a telegram to remind subsequent attack waves to pay attention to this matter, and suggested that some aircraft be selected to carry a batch of incendiary bombs!

"What, the fleet is now under night attack? The Alabama, Indiana, and Wasp were all hit and set on fire?"

Hearing such shocking news from the front line, Spruance and Nimitz felt dizzy and at a loss for a moment. Turner jumped to the side and shouted: "Disband the formation, disband the formation, disperse immediately, disperse immediately, Fire warships put out the fire quickly! Put out the fire!”

He had been beaten in Cape Verde, so he naturally knew how terrible it was to catch fire in the dark - many warships were closely watched after they caught fire, and eventually became the victims of S-boats. The situation is the same now. The warship that caught fire must be a key target of the Japanese army.

"Sir, the first wave of attacks has been launched. Three US battleships caught fire, but the speed was not slow. Takashi Egusa reminded subsequent pilots not to be too attracted by the fire and abandon other targets. It is also recommended that some aircraft carry incendiary bombs."

Tsukahara nodded with satisfaction: "Tell Fuchida and Murata Shigeharu the telegram and remind them to take a warning! Leave the incendiary bombs to the third wave..."

The second attack wave sent by Tsukahara was the most elite and elite team of carrier-based aircraft pilots in the combined fleet. Since it was related to the complete annihilation of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, even Mizuo Fuchida, who was no longer prone to attack easily, personally took command, and Colonel Shigeharu Murata Then he brought a formation of lightning strike aircraft to prepare for finishing blows to several U.S. battleships.

The American warships were too strong to be sunk without torpedoes. Tsukahara was determined to rely on his reputation as the King of Lightning Strikes to kill them—a man who could even blow up the piers of the Brooklyn Bridge.

As for why the first wave of attacks was not launched into the battlefield immediately with an interval of more than an hour, it was also a plan decided by Tsukahara and his staff after deliberation: after the US military was caught off guard and attacked, the instinctive reaction was to disband the formation and run for their lives. Although this increased the It reduces the difficulty of searching, but once found, it is relatively easy to deal with it with torpedoes, so it is necessary to "leave" time for the opponent to evacuate.

As for setting an hour and a half, it is also the result of fully considering the actual situation and considering tactics - the time is too short, and the enemy fleet has not completely dispersed; the time is too long, and the search will be too difficult. An hour and a half is neither too long nor too short, just right!

Since the Japanese army was relatively short on fuel, the first round of attacks ended at 19:17. Although the US military was very passive, the actual losses were not too great:

The Alabama and the Indiana were both moderately damaged and lost some anti-aircraft guns. The other effects were not significant and the speed was not reduced. It could still maintain 27.5 knots. The fatal fire was also caused by the efforts of hundreds of damage control team members after the Japanese troops left. The fire was finally put out.

The Wasp was seriously damaged. Not only was the deck completely destroyed and it lost its ability to take off and land, but the hangar was also blown to a mess. However, the power cabin had little impact. It only lost 4 knots and the speed was still maintained at more than 28 knots. The captain ordered the ground crew and The sailors put out the fire, and at the same time had people throw all the aircraft, fuel, and ammunition that could cause the fire into the sea. The Japanese army's concentrated fire attack just now really scared everyone;

The Franklin, where Halsey and McCain were, had the best luck. Except for two near-misses, it was unscathed! However, the two night fighters that took off from the ship were not very lucky. One was shot down by Sugita Shoichi, and the other collided with a Japanese aircraft and both crashed into the sea. They barely achieved a victory.

A total of 112 aircraft were dispatched in the first attack wave of the Japanese army. Except for 32 fighter jets, the rest were all Meteor Kais carrying bombs. The overall loss was 14 aircraft. The battle damage rate was smaller than expected. Now Takashimage Egusa took them to the grave. The original aircraft carrier landed.

In addition to the battle results of the battleships, the first attack wave also sank 2 Casablanca-class escort aircraft carriers and severely damaged 1 Cleveland-class light cruiser. Overall, if it had not poured too much ammunition on the two South Dakota-class ships, the Japanese army would have had a chance. Achieve greater results, but even the current results are basically satisfactory.

20:24, Mitsuo Fuchida, under the guidance of Ye Caiyun, successfully found the TF50 fleet. Now the entire fleet is in complete chaos. Escapes are escaping, evacuations are evacuating, and transfers are being transferred. The sea is noisy. There was much more fuel than the first attack wave. Mizuo Fuchida did not rush to attack, but searched carefully and inspected carefully. At the same time, he asked everyone to pay attention to the lone US warship and sank it at the first opportunity.

In less than 3 minutes, the three escort aircraft carriers that fled in panic were found by the Japanese army. The latter used only 22 aircraft to sink three of them cleanly.

At 20:29, the first unlucky South Dakota-class battleship USS Indiana was found. Mizuo Fuchida fired a string of flares, shrouding the entire warship in white light, and then ordered the bombing team and lightning strike team to coordinate. The 400-kilogram bomb was It could not destroy the battleship, but it could attract U.S. military firepower and cause the superstructure to burn. Taking advantage of this moment, the 12 torpedo planes had lowered their altitude, slowed down their speed, and rushed towards the Indiana along the sea.

Now all the firepower of the ship was poured into the air, and it did shoot down two aircraft, but it paid no attention to the surprise attack on the sea. Within 5 minutes, all 12 torpedo planes successfully dropped mines, showing a 120-degree sector facing 2,500 meters. The warships outside pounced. The Indiana twisted its body to avoid the bombs falling from the sky, but it could not avoid the torpedoes coming from all angles. When several sailors shouted "torpedoes" in horror, these big men had already rushed to the ship only more than 400 meters away. .

"Boom, boom, boom", in less than 20 seconds, three violent explosions occurred on the starboard side of the ship. Each time, a column of water shot up into the sky. Everyone was staggered and fell into the sea. Although the South Dakota class was carrying out the attack on the North Carolina class, In order to improve its defense, it is the battleship of the US military after the Iowa class, but after all, it is only a 35,000-ton treaty battleship. Under the hits of three consecutive torpedoes, a huge gap was opened on the starboard side, and the sea water surged wildly. After entering the vehicle, it experienced a roll of more than 15 degrees within a few minutes.

Although the opponent has not sunk yet, Fuchida is convinced that the opponent is hopeless, and even if it is saved, there is no chance to drive back. At such a slow speed, it is quite good to use it for live-fire target shooting by new pilots after dawn. American taxpayers will probably be furious when they learn this news: a cutting-edge battleship worth tens of millions and less than 5 years old is now just a target ship in Fuchida's mouth!

ps: It’s the end of the year. If you have a monthly ticket, please support it...