Nine Hundred and Ten Sunset

Of course, this is not the only bad news for the Japanese navy. What happened next caused the entire Japanese navy to collapse. The U.S. carrier-based aircraft finally broke through the defense line of the understrength Japanese aviation force, dropped bombs and torpedoes and kept doing it. S-type mobile Kaga. See

First, a torpedo hit the side armor of the Kaga impartially, leaving a huge hole in the side of the battleship, and then the second torpedo completely scrapped the stern of the Kaga aircraft carrier. The two propellers were twisted into a ball due to the explosion, and the water entered the Kaga's roll to a degree.

The damage control personnel on the Kaga aircraft carrier frantically rescued their battleship. In the end, they succeeded in rescuing the Kaga, which had two holes in the deck by the bomb, and the roll reached 21 degrees. They were all shocked.

However, this is not a rush repair exercise, but on a real battlefield, the Kaga has basically lost all its power and cannot continue to flee with the fleet at all, so even if the Kaga did not sink, everyone's mood is not. I couldn't be happier.

In the end, Nan Yunzhong gave an order to let the destroyer shoot torpedoes. I "shot" the aircraft carrier Kaga, which was still struggling on the water and unwilling to leave. As Japan's own four torpedoes hit the target, the two aircraft carriers of the Japanese First Fleet were wiped out.

A few minutes after the Yukikaze left the battlefield, the flagship Kaga of the First Air Fleet of the Japanese Combined Fleet under the command of Nagumo Chuichi was sunk by an American carrier-based aircraft. Nagumo Chuichi, the right-hand man of Yamamoto Fifty-Six, finally had no stubborn choice He committed seppuku, but with the support and support of his subordinates, he transferred to the heavy cruiser Mogami and left the battlefield that belonged to him in a state of embarrassment.

Yamamoto Fifty-Six received a telegram from Chuichi Nagumo when the sun was about to fall to sea level, and the news in the telegram made him fall into despair. The complete destruction of the decoy fleet could not shake Yamamoto's decisive battle, but the loss of the First Air Fleet made the admiral seem to be ten years old all of a sudden.

"The U.S. Navy sank three aircraft carriers and severely damaged one... The Kaga and Hosho sank, and the Akagi aircraft carrier was severely damaged. The remnants of the First Air Fleet joined the remnants of part of the decoy fleet and are retreating to the Philippine Islands." Yamamoto repeated the contents of the telegram, and then handed the telegram to his adjutant. After all, he "won" this naval battle, but it was too ugly to win.

The Fengxiang aircraft carrier is nothing, and if it is lost, it will be lost... But the Kaga aircraft carrier is one of the few main aircraft carriers in Japan's hands. Such a loss will definitely make the entire Japanese navy regret it. Fortunately, he still won, at least on the scene, Yamamoto was able to stabilize the situation - as for other things, he really doesn't want to think too much now.

What Yamamoto Fifty-Six still doesn't know is that one of his submarines responsible for detecting the movements of the U.S. Navy accidentally infiltrated the inner circle of the U.S. fleet, and while the U.S. Navy was in chaos, it fired four torpedoes in one go , sank the US Navy aircraft carrier USS Hornet.

Therefore, in this battle, four U.S. aircraft carriers were finally sunk by the Japanese Navy. If three battleships are added, the Solomon Islands can be said to be the grave of U.S. Navy ships-a total of 7 capital ships sank here, and the U.S. Navy The Pacific Fleet lost almost three-fifths.

Of course, the Japanese navy at this time was not very comfortable: the two battleships Ise and Hyuga were sunk, and the two aircraft carriers Hosho and Kaga were sunk. After such a settlement, the Japanese navy was also sunk by 4 In terms of the overall ratio, it is indeed a big victory.

However, there are unpredictable things in the sky, and people have misfortunes and blessings. Yamamoto Fifty-Six did not know that the USS Hornet aircraft carrier was sunk by him, so what he knew was that the US still had 4 aircraft carriers watching from the sidelines. Unfortunately, the Japanese submarine that sank the USS Hornet was subsequently sunk, so the news of the sinking of the USS Hornet did not reach Yamamoto's ears until the end.

"Report! Your Excellency the Marshal! Just... the news just came. On the way back... on the way, the aircraft carrier Akagi was discovered by an American submarine. After hitting four torpedoes, the rescue was ineffective. Finally, all personnel were evacuated and sank... ..." Under the influence of the law that good fortune and misfortune never come singly, Yamamoto Fifty-Six received even worse news - the First Air Fleet was also wiped out at the last moment.

"..." The Americans are really lucky to a certain extent, and they can sink another Japanese aircraft carrier at this time. Yamamoto Fifty-Six really wanted to yell at Baga Yalu loudly, but he gritted his teeth and couldn't utter this classic Japanese curse in the end.

Forcibly swallowing the swear words on his lips, Yamamoto finally defeated his impulse rationally. He glanced at the officers on the bridge and issued an order to end the naval battle in the Solomon Islands: "Turn around, the fleet is out of contact with the US Navy, We left Solomon at night and returned to the Philippine waters overnight."

Yamamoto knows that the current night battle is not good for him. He only has two battleships, and the Americans still have a new battleship. With Nagato and the two battleships Liuao, there is no chance of leaving.

So Yamamoto resolutely gave up the idea of ​​continuing to fight. At this time, he can still use "winning" as a prevarication. If Nagato and Luao are really ruined, then he has no choice but to go by seppuku.

It's just that Yamamoto still doesn't know that his decision not to fight night battles in front of American ships equipped with a large number of radars is undoubtedly a decision that saved the Japanese Navy. So when night fell, the Solomon Islands returned to their former calm, and the entire battlefield suddenly fell silent.

The American fleet suffered heavy losses, but it occupied the entire battlefield. The retreat of the Japanese navy's troops finally gave up the peaceful sea area that they seemed to want to fight desperately at first.

At this time, everyone seemed to remember the purpose of the naval battle between the two parties involved in the war: the Japanese navy wanted to annihilate the main force of the U.S. navy in World War I, and buy time for the waning Pacific situation; while the Americans wanted to capture the Solomon Islands, Pave the way for the strategy that follows.

Suddenly, an interesting thing happened: the Japanese achieved their attempt to severely damage the U.S. Navy; the U.S. Navy also completed the idea of ​​seizing the sea dominance in the Solomon Sea that it hoped to achieve in advance.

Ever since, the Japanese base camp received a telegram from Yamamoto Fifty-Six on the way to retreat, claiming that Japan won a complete victory in the Solomon Islands naval battle, and finally sank three US aircraft carriers and three battleships at the cost of three aircraft carriers and two battleships . Successfully wiped out the main force of the US Navy's Pacific Fleet. Such a "great victory" may be the heaviest victory of the Japanese navy over the years, but it really gave the Japanese navy a short rest period.

But the scapegoat for the heavy losses must be borne by someone, and this person must have enough "weight" to do it. On the way back to the Philippine waters, Yamamoto Fifty-Six received a telegram asking him to return to the Japanese mainland, and ordered him to immediately hand over the command of the combined fleet.

The joint fleet of Yamamoto Fifty-Six came to an end, and the Japanese Navy also ushered in the longest large-scale rest after their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Of course, this rest has a price, and the price is very huge.

As the United Fleet ran away without looking back again, the Japanese army on the Solomon Islands suddenly began to face supply difficulties, as well as the huge pressure of the US Navy. Seven days later, the U.S. Marine Corps began a large-scale landing in the Solomon Islands, and the two sides launched a fierce battle.

In the end, the helpless Japanese army lost the Solomon Islands, and the hundreds of thousands of Japanese troops far away in Australia raised the American flag on the flanks. At the same time, 100,000 American troops landed in Australia, and the good times of Japanese troops in Australia finally came to an end.

So in terms of strategy, Spruance gritted his teeth and persisted until the end. The U.S. Navy achieved their goal of counterattacking Australia and regaining the Solomon Sea. So Spruance also telegraphed back, claiming that although they suffered heavy losses, they still won the battle of Lomon.

After such a development, historians of later generations discovered an interesting phenomenon, that is, both sides in this naval battle insisted that they were the winners—of course, after knowing that the Hornet was sunk, Japanese historical research They are more confident in their own ideas.

However, Solomon's sun set on the sea level on time on this day, bringing endless darkness to all the soldiers here. There are still a large number of corpses of the Japanese navy floating on the sea, and the rescue work of the U.S. Navy did not start until noon the next day. Therefore, among the Japanese soldiers who fell into the water, the survival rate was very low.

And Akado, who was preparing his own press release, frowned when he heard the news of the end of the naval battle, because he felt that the Japanese navy had squandered its fleet and had almost lost to the U.S. Navy. Thinking of this, he smiled wryly, and then said, "The sun is setting."

Then, under the reporter's flashlight, he stepped onto the podium, and together with Chamberlain standing beside him, he confirmed the fact that American troops had landed in Australia to Axis reporters. Akado supported the podium with both hands confidently, and slowly said to the reporters below: "From now on, if the American troops do not leave the territory of the Axis allies, the war will never end!"

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