One Thousand One Hundred and Nineteen Lives and Dies with the Fleet

The combined fleet of the Japanese Navy was indeed defeated, and the defeat was not so miserable. This huge failure shocked everyone, even Akado, who was far away in Germany, was shocked and speechless when he knew that the Japanese had once again played a fiasco like Midway Island. He thought that he had changed the course of the war. Even if the Japanese navy lost to the U.S. navy, there would be no such fiasco of instant blood loss.

But he did not expect that the Japanese, who are more willing to give it a go, would resolutely choose stud in adversity. Almost all the guys in the entire combined fleet were thrown into the waters of the Bismarck Islands by the Japanese Navy, and fought the largest naval battle with the US Navy in human history.

At first, the assault fleet led by Takeo Kurita attacked the U.S. Navy whose position was exposed under the cover of the Japanese Navy’s carrier-based aircraft, and then the U.S. carrier-based aircraft beat the Japanese Zero fighter to save the defeat and took control of the air. The Japanese fleet was divided into three in an attempt to encircle the American fleet—all this seems to be still being performed according to Koga Mineichi's script.

However, the situation took a turn for the worse. The U.S. Navy desperately attacked the Japanese Navy's aircraft carrier fleet. As a result, it just completed the feat of sinking 7 warships of the Japanese Navy's aircraft carrier fleet before sunset. The aircraft carrier property that the Japanese managed to get together was wiped out by the U.S. Navy in one go.

Yamamoto Fifty-Six's Nagumo Tadaichi, who had the most experience in aircraft carrier combat, died in the battle. All the air forces that the Japanese Navy had painstakingly accumulated were almost wiped out... By the time this naval battle hit here, Japan had lost all its pants. It seems that the complete annihilation of the US Navy fleet can only be regarded as lingering.

But Koga Mineichi, who lost his mind, chose an even crazier gamble. He ordered Kurita Takeo's assault fleet and the interceptor fleet led by himself to continue the attack, trying to take advantage of the gap when the US aircraft carrier fleet could not counterattack at night, complete the counterattack and continue to linger on. go down. He felt that there was no problem with the Japanese navy's night combat capabilities overwhelming the U.S. navy, and the current battle situation was still favorable to Japan.

So Kurita Takeo and Koga Mine, one or two fleets, began to pinch the main US fleet, one from the left and one from the right, and the largest night-time battle between naval guns and torpedoes in history kicked off.

The essential difference from the German Navy is that the U.S. Navy does not only have destroyers and aircraft carriers, and does not have much counterattack capability at night-on the contrary, the U.S. Navy has a large number of destroyers, cruisers and battleships, and the aircraft carrier fleet has relatively complete all-round protection capabilities. So when the Japanese fleet came to kill, what the Americans had to do was not to wait for death, but to start a heroic fight back.

The sound of artillery in the waters of the Bismarck Islands shrouded in night was rumbling, and both sides used radar as a means of guidance to kick off the prelude to artillery fire at a long distance. Relying on the advantage of high radar accuracy, the Americans were the first to attack at the longest distance. However, because of the lag in the training level of the gunners, none of their shells hit their opponents in the first few rounds of shooting.

On the other hand, after the Americans fired and attacked the Japanese navy,

There is no sign of Americans on their radar screen, so Kurita Takeo and Koga Mine can only grit their teeth and move on, hoping to persist until the time when their fleet discovers the American fleet. And their persistence finally achieved their goal, and Japan's radar subsequently discovered its enemy.

So the Japanese navy immediately began to fight back, and the fleets of both sides began an unusually massive artillery battle. However, due to luck, until 8:30 in the evening, the two sides still had a lot of thunder and rain, and they couldn't make any decent progress. At 8:34, the balance of the Goddess of Victory seemed to be in favor of the Japanese army. The King Kong, which took the lead in the fleet led by Takeo Kurita, finally hit an American battleship. The fire became the best way to indicate the attack, so the Japanese fleet took the lead. The firepower sank the American battleship that was shot first.

However, because Kurita Takeo's fleet was chasing and killing the American battleship and the nearby US Navy destroyer unit supporting the battleship, it separated from the flank of the main force of the US fleet, and its position deviated a bit. This also laid the groundwork for the subsequent decline and escape of the United States.

Koga Mineichi's attack fleet was attacking Halsey's fleet fiercely at this time, and the battleship Yamato did not miss its naval battle this time because the United Fleet was declining. The 460mm caliber cannon also showed full power in the night battle, sending the hit American cruiser directly to the bottom of the sea.

This naval battle at night fully demonstrated the ferocious combat effectiveness of the Japanese navy. In terms of traditional naval power, the Japanese navy does have a superior training level. If it weren't for the fact that the number and replenishment speed of naval aviation is not as good as that of the United States, the Americans in the Pacific battlefield will have to pay a heavier price.

However, as the fleets of both sides gradually approached, the destroyers of the US Navy stepped forward and exchanged their own sacrifices for the fleet to escape. They rushed in front of the Japanese navy fleet and fired torpedoes to force the Japanese navy to focus on these mad dog-like small ships.

"Compared to torpedoes and bayonets, the Japanese are the ancestors of the Americans!" I don't know who said this in the confusion, so Kurita Takeo's squadron made a fate-determining decision when the course deviated slightly. Second bad decision: They estimated the speed at which the American fleet was sailing, and fired all the spear torpedoes they could at a banked angle.

It is a pity that their estimated speed of the US fleet was wrong, or Kurita Takeo greatly underestimated the determination of the US fleet to escape. With General Halsey's fleet at the rear, Spruance led the aircraft carrier fleet to drive at the highest speed possible regardless of the formation, and even abandoned the three escorting aircraft carriers in order to maintain the speed.

So the spear torpedoes launched by these Japanese hit the scattered ships behind the US fleet, including 11 warships including three escort aircraft carriers. However, the remaining torpedoes that missed the target rushed towards the intercepting fleet of Koga Mineichi, who was aggressively chasing and killing the main force of the US fleet, because of the angle.

Ever since, dozens of Japanese spear torpedoes rushed into the Japanese navy fleet's own people, suddenly blocking the way for the Japanese navy fleet to continue to pursue the US Navy. As soon as Koga Mine was hit by the battleship Nagato on the outskirts of the fleet, he paled and forgot to give an order. It was not until another cruiser was sunk that the Japanese fleet began to panic to avoid these deadly threats.

So when zero o'clock came, the American fleet easily broke away from contact with the Japanese fleet and began to maneuver northward to avoid the pursuit of the Japanese navy. While the Japanese Navy's Kurita Takeo Assault Fleet is rejoicing for its shocking results, the Koga Mine Ichi Intercept Fleet is doing various serpentine maneuvers because it was "ambushed by a U.S. Navy submarine", and it is impossible to pursue the enemy in front at full speed.

Before dawn, the Japanese navy had to leave the battlefield and retreat towards the island of New Guinea. Takeo Kurita proudly reported his feat of severely damaging the US fleet, while Mine Koga sadly performed seppuku in the commander's cabin of the battleship Yamato, escaping with death. blamed for his own defeat. It's a pity that he committed suicide too early, and closed his eyes before the base camp investigated the truth of the torpedo attack.

It's no wonder that he committed seppuku. Who would have thought that the torpedoes of his own people passed through the enemy's fleet and attacked his own people? That is because the spear torpedo has an astonishing range. Even if a torpedo is launched in another country, it may not have such a long range.

After the Japanese fleet returned to New Guinea, the Nagato, which was shot first by the Koga Mine fleet, and the battleship Mutsu, which was subsequently hit by a spear torpedo, both moved slowly due to serious injuries and were sunk by counterattacking US carrier-based aircraft. The news was sent back to the base camp, and the Japanese navy completely collapsed. The two battleships were damaged by the United States in the night battle and finally sank, and most of the fleet was lost-this was an intolerable failure for the proud Japanese navy.

Although Kurita Takeo performed well in the entire naval battle and achieved the result of sinking most of the American warships, he fell into a passive position in the subsequent investigation of torpedo accidental damage. The dud actually hit the battleship Yamato, and the Yamato returned to Kure Harbor with the torpedo, and the truth surfaced.

Kurita Takeo really didn’t complain about his death. This torpedo was actually launched by the destroyer Nakashigure in his fleet. The number on the torpedo body made the investigation go very smoothly. Maybe he won't bring such a beast-like friendly army with him when he dies.

In short, the battle of the Bismarck Islands caused the Japanese naval fleet to die instantly again. The powerful United Fleet is declining, and the Japanese Navy can no longer find a commander who can provoke the leader. So when Yamashita Fengwen learned that the 232nd Division was rushing to help Malay, Yamamoto Fifty-Six met the "begging peace" special envoy sent by the high-level navy in his office.

"Marshal Yamamoto Fifty-Six! I have ordered you to continue to command the joint fleet and continue to serve His Majesty the Emperor... Our navy has now reached the most dangerous moment. Please put aside your prejudices and serve the Great Japanese Empire..." Then The man bowed in front of Yamamoto and sincerely persuaded him.

"My life, Yamamoto Fifty-Six, is destined to belong to the Navy." The former commander of the United Fleet also bent down and interrupted the other party: "Please rest assured, His Majesty, Yamamoto will live and die with the United Fleet! "To find this site, please search"" or enter the URL: