Iron Cross

Chapter 177 The Fury of the Combined Fleet (8)

With a loud bang, the Yamato's shells exploded on the starboard side of the Washington one after another, stirring up six water columns.

"420 meters to the right!"

Although the Washington did not cause any substantial damage, the power of these six water jets made Li, the commander of the battle, break out in a cold sweat. He screamed, "18-inch guns!"

The Washington was equipped with 16-inch guns. He certainly knew the power of 16-inch guns, but the power of Yamato was obviously far greater than that of 16-inch guns. The fact and the comparison of strength finally made him sober up - the opponent was not at the same level as him. Just now, Yamato and Nagato looked similar in size at a distance, but when the distance was shortened, it was clear at a glance what the opponent's strength was. The lookout also sent a message: "The displacement of the super-Nagato class is expected to exceed 60,000 tons..."

Mutsu and Nagato's first round of shelling did not hit the target, but in the eyes of the crew of San Francisco and Salt Lake City, the opponent was undoubtedly no different from a terrifying troll. You must know that the current shelling distance of 26,000 meters is almost the limit of the range of two heavy cruisers, and they can't fight back at all. Now everyone understands that, let alone the three battleships of the opponent, the Yamato alone is unbearable for Washington.

Seeing that the distance between the two sides was still getting closer and the opponent's strength was beyond his ability to contend with, Major General Li made up his mind and issued a second order: "The fleet turns left 20 degrees again, disengages at the highest speed, and the destroyers launch torpedo attacks..."

Seeing the TF64 array change again, and the destroyers behind it advancing forward, Kondo Nobutake calmly issued an order: "The heavy cruisers accelerate forward and destroy these ants, the battleships turn left 15 degrees, and focus fire on the Washington - paralyze him first."

"Distance: 25740 meters."

At this distance, the Washington's 406mm can also hit Yamato, Nagato or Mutsu, but now Major General Li is eager to retreat, and his accuracy is far behind. On the other hand, the three Japanese battleships are getting more and more fierce, and the 410mm and 460mm caliber armor-piercing shells are constantly exploding around the Washington.

"Straddle the enemy ship..." After two and a half salvos, the Yamato's observer reported this result in surprise at the third salvo, and there was jubilation in the command tower - the straddle was successful, and the next step was to hit the target.

The Washington was like a leaf falling in the wind, moving forward on the sea surface with splashing water. The destroyer formation behind it had already passed the flagship and was ready to use suicide torpedoes to save it, but they had to pass through the fire network blocked by 9 heavy cruisers with 203mm naval guns first.

"Boom!" In the fifth round of salvos, two shells from the Yamato were first hit. One shell hit the front turret of the Washington. The 460mm armor-piercing shell mercilessly penetrated the turret armor and caused a violent explosion. 87 sailors around were killed instantly and the turret was completely scrapped. The other shell hit the main armor belt of the ship. Fortunately, this time it didn't penetrate because of the angle, but the impact was still extraordinary. The people in the command tower felt like they were pushed hard and couldn't stand steadily.

At this time, the Yamato's hit distance was about 24,100 meters. With its first record, Mutsu and Nagato's shells also hit the Washington in turn. Although their power was not as good as Yamato's, they were also terrifying 16-inch guns, which made the Washington a mess. The latter released smoke screens while trying to escape, and occasionally fired a few shots in return, not to hit the enemy ship, but to interfere with the opponent's shooting.

At 5:18, the No. 4 reconnaissance plane of TF64 formation reported: the enemy landing fleet was found, including 2 battleships, 2 light cruisers, 8 destroyers, and 11 transport ships of various types. They found the 8th Fleet commanded by Mikawa Gunichi to retreat, but still could not find the aircraft carrier formation that Kinkaid had been looking for. Major General Li gritted his teeth and reported the news to Kinkaid.

At 5:19, the Washington lookout reported that a group of aircraft was approaching. TF64 thought they were saved, but half a minute later, the moment that made everyone extremely desperate came - that was not Kinkaid's air strike formation, but Japanese aircraft.

"It's over..." Only such a thought came to Major General Li's mind. He thought it was an attack group released by the Japanese aircraft carrier formation, but in fact it was just a Zero fighter cover group that came to support the Munda Island Air Force, and it had no anti-sea attack capability.

He smiled bitterly and said to the chief of staff: "Turn right 20 degrees, shoot at the three enemy battleships with three turrets, block their attack route, and cover the retreat of the three cruisers..."

"Sir..." The chief of staff hesitated for a moment, but still executed the order.

The San Francisco, Salt Lake City, and Atlanta received telegrams from the Washington, "This ship covers your retreat", and several captains almost cried out - everyone saw that the Washington was no match for the three Japanese battleships, and the flagship was using its remaining life to provide cover for itself!

Although the re-turned Washington blocked the attack route of the Japanese artillery fleet, it also completely exposed itself to the firepower of the Japanese ships. Beginning at 5:21, Yamato's shells hit Washington's side and tail one after another. This time, the main armor belt, which was inclined at 15 degrees and 324mm thick, could no longer bring good luck. It was penetrated continuously without ceremony. Within 2 minutes, 3,000 tons of seawater poured in. The speed of Washington, which originally broke away at 26 knots, suddenly dropped to 17 knots, and at the same time it tilted 9° to starboard. The damage control team members tried their best to save this fast battleship, which had only been in service for a year and a half, but it was unable to withstand the successive attacks of the three Japanese ships. More and more parts were hit, and the tail turret was also destroyed during the battle. Only the remaining central turret was still firing tenaciously, and one of the rounds caused a near-miss to Mutsu, causing great tension on board the Mutsu.

At 5:26, the Washington took on more and more water, its speed further dropped to 11 knots, and the hull had tilted 15 degrees to starboard. Even if it was filled with more water, it would be difficult to restore balance. Rear Admiral Li, who had nothing to do, ordered the ship to be abandoned. At the same moment, the destroyers that launched a desperate attack returned in vain under the blockade of the heavy cruiser group of the Japanese bombardment fleet. Except for one warship that hurriedly launched a torpedo at the maximum range of the torpedo, the other warships were shot before they had time to launch. Shen.

At 5:29, the USS Washington, with its damaged hull and more than 7,000 tons of water, suddenly capsized to the right. Then its stern tilted up and began to sink slowly. Only 184 of the ship's 1,943 crew members, including Rear Admiral Li, escaped in the end. A minute later, the last retreating destroyer was also hit and destroyed. At this moment, except for the three cruisers of San Francisco, Salt Lake City, and Atlanta, all the other ships in the TF64 formation were sunk. The three cruisers that had the chance to escape relied on their higher speeds and the cover of the USS Washington and the destroyer group to widen the distance between themselves and the Japanese fleet to more than 35,000 meters, and the distance was still widening, but all the destroyers who witnessed it The American soldiers whose flagship was destroyed were filled with tears.

It only took more than half an hour to achieve such fruitful results, and the Yamato command tower was filled with joy. However, Horikichi smiled very little. He was just thoughtful after witnessing the self-sacrifice of the Washington and the desperate attack of the US destroyer group throughout the whole process. Said: "Americans are far less greedy for life and afraid of death than we said before the war..."

It was very embarrassing to say such words when he was victorious, but important officials including Kondo Nobutake and Kusaka Renichi all nodded in approval. After all, no one was blind. Kondo Nobutake mustered up the courage to step forward and said: "Sir , we can do what the Americans can do, and we can even do it better than them - aren't you personally serving as the bait with the dignity of the commander of the combined fleet..."

Horikichi smiled and nodded: "Yes, let's see who can fight to the end! In order to fulfill the enemy's spirit of sacrifice, gentlemen, please work hard to sink the last three cruisers."

"yes!"

Although the three American cruisers temporarily widened the distance with their speed and cover, the bombardment fleet had no intention of letting them go, and still hung behind them to pursue them with all their strength - the Munda Island sea attack force was about to arrive soon, even if it could not be exploded. To sink them, just reduce their speed, then these three cruisers will definitely not be able to escape.

With 36 zero-fight cover, Kusaka Renichi felt more confident and less nervous than before. He smiled and said to Horikichi: "Sir, what you said is completely correct. The enemy aircraft carrier formation is indeed There is some distance from us... Look, it's already 5:38, and the attack aircraft group hasn't appeared yet. "

But Horikichi frowned: "This is not a good thing. It means that they are farther than I thought. Let alone 100 nautical miles, I am afraid it is 200 nautical miles..."

As soon as he finished speaking, a shrill siren suddenly started sounding: "Report, a large fleet of aircraft was sighted in the west-southwest direction, suspected to be an enemy formation..."

"Okay!" Horikichi patted the armrest and stood up excitedly, "It's finally here..."

Kusaka Renyi and Kondo Nobutake looked at each other helplessly, what good is this? Horikichi ignored the expressions of the two men, turned his head and shouted to the combat staff: "Use the current location of the Yamato as the center of the circle, and compose the picture with the enemy SBD bomber flying for 50 minutes as the radius... No, expand it to 70 minutes."

With a "crash" sound, the combat staff picked up the compass and drew a large circle with a radius of approximately 250 nautical miles on the chart. Everyone's eyes were suddenly projected on this circle.

"The enemy fleet is most likely to be in this circle." Horikichi pointed to the chart and said, "The northeast is Guadalcanal, where we came from last night, and the aircraft carrier formation is not expected to be there; the northwest is Munda Island, and the enemy fleet is not there either. Maybe go there. Considering that the enemy aircraft group is attacking from the south-west direction, the enemy aircraft carrier formation is focused on the west, especially the southwest. Of course, it is also possible to go to the south... In addition to the original aircraft, additional reconnaissance aircraft will be immediately dispatched to increase the detection of the above directions. The search intensity was expanded to 300 nautical miles, with two aircraft in a team, each team carrying out a two-stage search for the enemy in a 10-degree sector, and a total search area of ​​about 120 degrees."

Chapter 177/1109
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Iron CrossCh.177/1109 [15.96%]