afterglow

Chapter 528 Kill! See who can do anything to whom; if the situation is not good, shrink your position!

The squadron's anchorage is at Cape Kaina, and it only takes more than a quarter of an hour for the fleet to make a straight line from there to join the battle.

However, Mei Xuan, the captain of the Longshuo who commanded the fleet, did not intend to rush over just like that. He led the fleet to circle north first, and after a large circle in the open sea, he cut in from top to bottom.

The CXAM radars equipped with the USS San Francisco and the USS West Virginia actually detected the anomaly very early, but the US military radar soldiers ignored this situation - the two destroyers of both sides that were fighting confused their judgment.

Before the naval battle began, the destroyer Ping Shun was performing a patrol and alert mission eight kilometers north of the landing fleet anchorage. After the US assault fleet was exposed, she bravely approached and fired continuously.

The US assault fleet obviously did not want to be delayed by this small destroyer, so it only separated the USS Hughes (DD-410) to intercept it.

While the fleets of both sides were fighting fiercely, the two destroyers were fighting alone outside the battlefield, as if they were fighting one-on-one.

The two virtually erased the US military's radar advantage. After a detour, the squadron maneuvered to the north of the battlefield, about 20 kilometers away from the coastline.

During this process, the Longshuo selected the nearest Arizona and conducted continuous calculations for several minutes. The gunnery officer Lin Xunzhen personally took action and commanded the main gun to fire a full salvo at 2:45.

A distance of about eleven kilometers is considered a relatively close situation. During daytime battles, artillery battles between battleships often begin when they are more than twenty kilometers apart.

The West Virginia hurriedly turned its guns to deal with the Longshuo, which had just killed the enemy with one shot; the California also hurriedly stopped bombarding the Ming army's beachhead targets and opened fire on the Zhanghe.

The bridge of the San Francisco was filled with words of panic and surprise.

The lightning strike squadron in the squadron launched a charge without hesitation, and the Jinghai-class super destroyer Changle and three Penglai-class destroyers rushed straight into the chaotic battlefield.

Nine rounds of 400㎜ armor-piercing projectiles fly out at a speed of 770m/s. At this distance, the 982㎏ armor-piercing projectiles can pose a fatal threat to any part of the old Pennsylvania-class battleship.

Nanxi is the No. 15 Penglai-class ship, built by Dagu Shipyard and delivered for use in the 38th year of Changchang.

Under the captain's order, her turbine began to overload. Superheated steam of up to 400 degrees poured into the turbine. The large gear reduction mechanism drove two copper propellers with a diameter of more than three meters to rotate rapidly.

A large number of 356mm high-explosive bombs exploded, causing the propellant pack in another cabin to deflagrate. The horrific series of explosions shattered the Arizona's hull, and the deck and hull above the armored box structure were completely lifted off.

The big explosion completely disintegrated the structure of the front section of the ship. Without the support below, the A turret and B turret immediately fell downwards. The bridge and the front mast also began to collapse, slamming heavily into the sea...

Except for these two shells, which were effective hits, the other seven rounds were all close misses.

"Oh my God! The Arizona looks bad!"

"I see the Arizona listing..."

Under the overload condition, the surging power of 10.2 horsepower allowed the destroyer to gallop forward at a top speed of 45 knots, like an arrow leaving the string.

As the squadron arrived, the battlefield situation instantly reversed.

One of the rounds was a water bomb, destroying a hydraulic pump room below the waterline on the right side of the hull; the other penetrated the main armor belt, penetrated into the ammunition depot under B turret, and exploded.

"Sir! A large number of Chinese ships are approaching from the north!"

In standard assault tactics, the Jinghai-class as the leader needs to suppress the enemy's destroyers or cruisers and cover the Penglai-class to break into the enemy's position.

The other two Horai-class ships were doing similar things. They fired anti-explosive bombs and arson bombs at the California and San Francisco, thus maximizing interference with the enemy ships' self-defense firepower.

"God is helping me! I want to ask for credit for that guy Lin Xunzhen!" Mei Xuan was extremely excited. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth and said: "There are no enemies but no self. The time has come to work hard. Don't even think about a ship." escape!"

"Their reinforcements must have been waiting nearby. Maybe we have become the rabbits in Chinese proverb." Raymond Spruance moved to the platform outside the bridge and carefully observed the situation to the north. "In any case, We must do our best to destroy the beach supplies."

"We have finally waited for this day, a night attack? Don't let them succeed! Kill them! See who can do anything to whom!" Hu Yaosheng, the captain of the Nanxi, was so excited that his hands holding the telescope were trembling slightly.

The armor box was like a can that had been violently pried open. Thick black smoke and hot flames spurted into the sky under the shock wave. Densely packed metal fragments and broken limbs were thrown in all directions!

The Ming Navy's previous doctrine required destroyers to give priority to firing white phosphorus arson bombs at enemy ships during assaults. White phosphorus will emit a large amount of smoke when it spontaneously ignites. In theory, this can greatly interfere with the normal operations of enemy ships.

For a long time, naval forces have been trained in this way, but many experiments and exercises later showed that the effect of this style of play is not as good as theoretically, so there has been no hard requirement since the thirty-seventh year of Zhichang, but now Many veterans and generals still retain this habit.

During the charge, the super destroyer Changle, which was responsible for covering, was attacked by concentrated fire from the USS San Francisco heavy cruiser and multiple destroyers. Shells continued to explode on the hull and superstructure.

In just three minutes, the Changle was hit by dozens of bullets. The one that caused the most damage was a 203mm conventional bullet, which directly destroyed the No. turret of the Changle and caused the No. turret to malfunction.

The U.S. warships opened fire desperately in an attempt to intercept the Ming army destroyers rushing towards them.

At 2:51, one of the Horai-class destroyers, the Nayama, was hit by multiple artillery shells from the light cruiser USS Philadelphia (CL-41). While maneuvering to avoid it, it was attacked by the high-level dual-purpose guns of the USS Chicago.

The ship was severely damaged, and the chart room was also blown up by a 127mm normal bomb. The captain and many officers were seriously injured. They had to rush to fire all the torpedoes at the target four kilometers away in advance, and then turn to withdraw from the battle.

It can be said that the Nanxi was quite lucky. The other three ships shared most of the firepower for her. She attacked all the way to a place more than 3,000 meters away from the California with almost no damage.

Only then did more and more shells come towards the South Stream.

Captain Hu Yaosheng raised his head and shouted: "Check the torpedoes! Check the torpedoes!"

Subsequently, the captain's order came over the radio, and the torpedo soldiers on the middle deck conducted a final inspection of the torpedo in a turbulent condition.

The Horai class is a high-speed torpedo ship in nature. The torpedoes used are very special - 480mm medium-sized torpedoes. Because the standard 512mm ship torpedoes are too heavy, the upper limit can only be five-pack.

Her launcher is even more terrifying. It is a seven-unit torpedo launcher arranged in an isosceles trapezoid shape. It has a special steel protective shell to prevent damage from bullets or fragments.

Each Penglai-class ship carries four such terrifying heavy-duty launchers. In order to balance the weight and avoid overweight, the gun configuration of the Penglai class was reduced to four single 4mm naval guns (a weak lightweight fully enclosed turret that can only withstand bullets and fragments), and the anti-aircraft guns and depth charges were also significantly reduced.

At 2:53, a roaring 127mm normal bomb hit the bottom of the Nanxi's bridge and exploded. The No. turret was disabled on the spot. The shock wave and high-speed fragments also shattered the bridge windshield.

"Gan Lin's mother!" Hu Yaosheng's face was scratched and his whole face was covered with blood. He shouted sternly: "Send the order! Left rudder, turn fifteen degrees! Get ready to take action. The smoke and thunder officer will make his own decision. It's a dog's day. Go to the bottom of the sea!"

Half a minute later, the smoke and mine officer holding the telescope said calmly: "The lightning strike is aimed at 175, set the depth at three meters, prepare No. 1 and No. 2." The Nanxi was less than two kilometers away from the California, and the latter was on the starboard side. The large and small artillery pieces were firing like crazy.

The enemy's artillery shells fell into the sea nearby, splashing with seawater all over their bodies; or they passed by at high speed just a few meters above their heads, and the harsh sound of breaking through the air made people's ears buzz.

Someone asked anxiously, "Sir, aren't you going to fight?!"

"Now, No. 1 and No. 2, let go!"

At 2:54, following the order from the smoke and mine officer, the Nanxi first launched a salvo with launchers No. and . The compressed air pushed out the torpedoes, and a series of torpedoes plopped into the sea.

More than thirty seconds later, launchers No. 3 and 4 also completed their salvos, but one torpedo failed to be launched due to a malfunction in the launcher pipe.

The sea was extremely lively at this moment, and the exchange of fire between the two sides was dizzying. Shells and torpedoes of different calibers shuttled above and below the sea.

The Nanxi's first and second attacks launched a total of twenty-seven 480mm torpedoes, and they headed straight for the California, which was about meters away.

The tracks of so many torpedoes racing together dragged out many long white wakes on the sparkling sea, like two huge combs drawing from two directions.

"I saw it, I saw it, it was launching torpedoes!"

"Captain! A large number of torpedoes are approaching from the starboard side!"

"God, this is too much!"

"Shut up! This is not a movie theater! Right steering wheel! Do it now!"

But this is of no avail. Faced with numerous incoming torpedoes, even the most extreme maneuvering evasion can only be called a desperate struggle.

The Tennessee-class battleship was the first U.S. battleship to attach importance to underwater protection. The five-layer bulkhead underwater protection system can withstand the explosive power of 180 kilograms of TNT. This may not have been bad at the time, but it is now outdated.

"Boom—boom—boom—"

At 2:55, a series of loud noises resounded across the sky and sea, and towering water columns shot up to a height of dozens of meters.

The California's right side was hit by six torpedoes in a row, at least five of which successfully detonated. Five large irregular-shaped holes were torn from the bow to the stern, and tons of seawater poured in.

The damage caused by multiple mines at the same time was too great, far beyond the endurance limit of this old battleship. The captain ordered water to be injected into the left hull to avoid capsizing, and at the same time, it turned towards the coastline and ran aground.

However, the water was coming in so fast that after just two minutes, the California was already listing sharply to starboard.

She managed to change course and headed towards Haleiwa Beach a few kilometers away, but the speed was getting slower and slower, and the angle of inclination became larger and larger...

On the bridge of the San Francisco, the captain hesitated and said: "Sir, I think we should leave. The enemy fleet has suffered great losses, and a lot of supplies on the shore must have been destroyed. This is enough."

"No." Raymond Spruance glanced at him and said meaningfully, "If we lose Hawaii, we lose the Pacific Fleet."

Without the base in Hawaii, the departure base of the Pacific Fleet will be limited to the West Coast. How much strategic significance will it have?
After a while, he ordered in a calm tone: "Let the West Virginia run aground and the fleet continue to fight until the sun comes up."

The officers were stunned - the commander's order was that the two old battleships Arizona and California could be beached if necessary, but the West Virginia was not included.

"Any effective measures to protect Oahu are reasonable and feasible. We have no more choices." Raymond Spruance's eyes revealed helplessness and determination.

After learning of the order, Captain Mervyn Bennion, the captain of the West Virginia, did not seem surprised.

He took a deep breath and said: "Left rudder, turn to 170, grounded course."

As the battleship headed toward land, he lowered his head and said to himself: "Her grave should be the sea..."

At 3:05, the California had tilted as much as 20° to the right. Severe flooding caused the turbines to stall and the propellers gradually stopped.

This behemoth of more than 30,000 tons used its inertia to slide forward for a certain distance, and finally overturned and capsized only a few hundred meters away from the land.

There were leaked heavy oil and various debris floating on the sea, as well as densely packed lifeboats...

The sailors of the Nanxi had cheered a few minutes ago, but now they could no longer laugh because the super destroyer Changle not far away had been severely damaged and was floating on the sea without power.

The US destroyer USS Winslow (DD-359) caught fire in many places, and the second chimney and mizzen mast were blown off. With her body covered with bruises, she fired the only two torpedoes towards the immobile Changle.

Three minutes later, one of the torpedoes accurately hit the middle of the Changle's hull, and the violent explosion almost cut the battleship in half.

At 3:13, the captain of Changle issued an order to abandon the ship and evacuate, and the ship sank into the sea a quarter of an hour later...

The ground forces of both the enemy and ours were like spectators sitting in an opera house, watching the whole naval battle between the two fleets.

Both sides stopped the exchange of fire in unison, and the infiltration and counter-infiltration at night were not carried out. The officers and soldiers were in tacit understanding in the trenches and foxholes, admiring the once-in-a-lifetime spectacular scene.

A lieutenant of the 501st Airborne Regiment of the US Army wrote in his diary: "I saw the shadow of the warship shooting a bright orange object, the sea surface was flashing with flames, and a big explosion in the middle made me feel the ground shaking, Sirui Sergeant Er said it was like a volcano erupting."

In the headquarters of the 17th Division deep in the land, someone couldn't help but sigh: "Mother Xipi, this is really a big fight, it's so hard!"

Shortly afterwards, Zhou Changfeng and his party arrived. They had been avoiding the fierce bombardment of the US fleet after evacuating the stranded Lu Xun.

Among them, the communications staff officer, a major wearing glasses, cursed as he walked: "The Americans are stupid. The battleships are rushing ashore one by one! This is a waste of money and life!"

Zhou Changfeng was covered in dust, his face was stern and his eyes were stern.

He glanced around and said seriously: "The situation is not good. I think the enemy is going to make a big counterattack, so we need to be prepared. Is there any change in the deployment of the 17th Division? Retract the position immediately!"

(End of this chapter)