afterglow

Chapter 529 The end of the fierce battle; let them go to hell!
The decisiveness of the US military's night attack far exceeded the imagination of the Ming army generals. Who would have expected that after losing two entire battleships, the US military would let another battleship wash ashore?

The seventeen-year-old USS West Virginia once ran aground due to a chart recognition error during training. However, no one expected that this giant ship would perform its final mission in a similar way.

The West Virginia ran aground on the beach east of Waialua Bay. After violent jolts, the steel giant finally came to a stop.

According to the order of the captain, Colonel Mervyn Kenyon, she continued to attack the Ming army battleships on the sea with the rear C and D turrets, while the forward A and B turrets poured all their strength towards the Ming army beachhead around Kenaka Bay. Explosive bombs.

At the same time, the captain also ordered a telegram to be sent to the US military on Oahu, requesting that a unit be sent to cover it.

"Everyone, this is not a small gesture. It is unprecedented. If we are really driven into the sea, all our efforts will be in vain."

The light bulb emits yellow light, making the person's shadow long. A group of officers, including Zhou Changfeng, were studying the current battle situation at the headquarters of the 17th Division and thinking about how to adjust their deployment.

He stretched out his index finger and clicked on the middle of the map, and said: "We still have to consider the known (enemy's) trump cards. Those dozen train guns have not been exposed yet. The scale of this counterattack is huge. These trump cards I will definitely not hide it anymore.”

The Chief of Staff of the 17th Division had a headache and helpless expression, and said worriedly: "A decisive battle like this is a big gamble. There will be an air attack 90% of the time when daybreak comes."

"The enemy's counterattack force should be about 8,000, including two regiments of infantry, two tank battalions... Oh, and the paratrooper regiment." A major intelligence staff member listed this.

Zhou's performance with ease greatly influenced everyone. The officers, who were greatly emboldened, followed the order and performed their duties.

Gradually, the sea level in the east turned fish-belly white, and it was almost dawn.

Anyway, the air force of the Ming Army on Kauai is abundant. Once the supplies are in place, they can immediately attack with high intensity to see which side can't hold on first!

The Arizona, which was hit by the Longshuo in the forward ammunition depot and exploded, had not yet sunk. Her front half was submerged below the sea surface, and the rear half was still above the sea surface.

The combat effectiveness of the 21st Regiment of the Korean Army is worrying, and I am afraid that it can only be qualified for the task of maintaining security and stability in the rear. Their biggest role at the moment is to help dig field fortifications.

"Yes!" More than a dozen people in the shelter responded loudly.

"Boom! Boom!"

As the night gradually faded, a tragic and desolate scene came into view.

The USS Malphite and the USS Benson, whose engines were damaged and stalled, still insisted on firing. The two ships' 127mm high-level dual-purpose guns had all fired their shells, and only a few Chicago Piano anti-aircraft guns were still firing intermittently.

Zhou Changfeng was deeply disdainful of the large-scale counterattack launched by the US military. It was just a desperate struggle that showed signs of decline.

The night battle between the naval forces of the two armies of the United States and China continues. Both sides are unwilling to give up and vow to fight until dawn.

An hour ago, several planes taking off from Weiyuan Airport on Kauai arrived here. However, due to darkness, low visibility, and the extremely chaotic battlefield, the pilots did not dare to take action rashly and had to return after circling for a while.

Today, the fifth batch of transport fleet will arrive on Kauai; the 1st Marine Brigade and the 38th Division are scheduled to arrive in five and 12 days respectively.

One after another, the wreckage of the warships was still burning with flickering flames, and wisps of black smoke shot straight into the sky. Many warships on both sides lost power and were floating on the sea, moving slowly with the waves.

Zhou Changfeng stared at the map without saying a word. After a long time, he gave instructions, "The positions of the 3rd Marine Brigade and 5th Regiment can be abandoned, leaving a small number of observation posts, and the rest of the troops will cross the Kaukonawa River at night and rely on the river to reposition their defenses; 17 The division's engineer battalion and the Koreans went to the foothills northwest of Waianae Ridge to step up the construction of fortifications."

The sea surface within a ten-kilometer radius of Haleiwa's offshore and offshore waters is covered with thick and thick black oil. There are scattered debris and debris floating everywhere, as well as the bodies of officers and soldiers from both sides.

"Some guys are very bad and like to enjoy the process of extinguishing a person's last hope. Let's be the bad guys today." Zhou Changfeng looked around and threw the red pencil on the table, "Is everything clear? Let's get started!"

We now have a large number of troops in the Haleiwa area and good morale. The worst we can do is withdraw to the mountains of Waianae Ridge and rely on the complex hilly terrain to resist and delay.

Time passed by minute by second, and the sailors were completely exhausted, and the men made of copper and cast iron could not help but fight hard for several hours in a row, and their fatigue showed.

The rate of fire of many artillery pieces dropped significantly, and all battleships, without exception, were riddled with holes and tattered, and some battleships even ran out of shells.

At this time, several loud noises came from the distance in the north, which was the violent shelling of the West Virginia on the beach.

Unlike the unprepared attacks in history, the Arizona, which was in combat mode tonight, at least closed its watertight doors. The remaining reserve buoyancy allowed her to survive with her keel damaged.

In fact, the Arizona was no longer worth saving, but the crew just didn't want to give up.

In another corner of the battlefield, the captain, deputy captain, and gunnery officer of the Ming army destroyer Pingshun were killed. The smoke and mine officer suffered from blood loss and shock. Now the slightly injured navigation officer is in command.

Previously, the Ping Shun and the Hughes were entangled one-on-one for a full four hours. The latter was finally abandoned because the fire was out of control. The Ping Shun won the duel at a painful cost - now her hull compartments are flooded in many places. , no part of the superstructure is intact, and only a solitary turret is still functional.

What's more serious is that because several oil tanks were penetrated, the Pingshun, which had little fuel, now has its boiler stalled and cannot move.

At 5:27, the lookout post discovered an enemy ship slowly approaching three kilometers away on the starboard side, and immediately opened fire on it with the only remaining No. turret.

This enemy ship is the USS San Francisco, the flagship of Task Force TF-37.1. Her three triple 3mm main gun turrets were all damaged, one of the two chimneys was also blown off, and the left main shaft tunnel was filled with seawater. , the speed is only 203 knots.

The San Francisco, which was under attack, was unable to fight back. She originally had three single-mounted 3mm high-level and flat dual-purpose guns on her port side, but now they cannot be used without exception.

The Farragut, which was the first to withdraw from the naval battle, hurriedly withdrew from the battle after being damaged, but did not return and rushed back a few hours later.

Seeing that the flagship was lost, the Farragut fired fiercely at the Pingshun, completely silencing the latter's remaining turret six minutes later.

At 5:38, the light cruiser Haihe, whose bow was blown off by a torpedo, staggered back to the battlefield, trying to provide help to the battleships that could still be saved.

However, whether it was the Kunlun Mountain or the Yongping, the conditions of both were so bad that they couldn't decide which one to help for a while.

In the end, the Haihe chose the battleship. The headless light cruiser slowly docked next to the Yongping, set up a water gun and sprayed water on her to extinguish the fire on the deck and superstructure.

Almost a quarter of an hour later, a group of small black dots appeared in the twilight sky. They were the attack waves released by the Saratoga and Enterprise.

Almost at the same time, a fleet of dozens of aircraft also came from the southwest. It was a fleet of the Kauai Ming Army Aviation Organization. Both sides chose to have their fleets airborne at dawn, so their arrival times were similar.

One wave after another, the bloody sea battle has not subsided, and the air battle involving hundreds of aircraft has come again.

The naval forces of the two armies basically ran out of ammunition in the fierce battle that lasted for the entire second half of the night. Almost everyone was injured and the ships were damaged. They were really helpless in the face of the fleet of aircraft that covered the sky and swept in like locusts.

At this point, the battle has turned into a brutal contest of willpower.

At 6:06, the San Francisco was hit by a heavy bomb on the middle deck of the ship. Thick smoke towered into the clouds, and the remaining power was lost.

At 6:20, the Helena took over the responsibility of the flagship, and the San Francisco, which was approaching the crippled position, picked up Lieutenant General Raymond Spruance.

At 6:21, the Yongping restored its engine operation after emergency repairs, and its speed recovered. However, it was attacked by multiple US torpedo aircraft. Haihe resolutely sacrificed his life to block the mine, and was subsequently sunk by two torpedoes.

At 6:30, the Yongping was attacked again by a group of torpedo planes. Two planes successfully broke through and dropped torpedoes. The stranded West Virginia also began to fire on her.

The brave move of the Haihe failed to save the Yongping. The captain of the Yongping wanted to lead the ship to evacuate to Kauai, but he was forced to abandon the ship due to multiple watertight failures midway.

The air battle did not last long. The aircraft from both sides fought to a close. The Ming Air Force, which was slightly superior in quantity and quality, repelled the fleets of two US aircraft carriers.

As of this time, the naval and air battle between the Chinese and American armies in the north of Oahu has finally come to an end.

The U.S. military directly lost 2 battleships, 5 destroyers, 1 light cruiser, 1 heavy cruiser, and 31 aircraft of various types. A total of 2377 people were killed in the naval force, 34 crew members were killed, and the number of injuries was countless.

明军损失战列舰1艘、驱逐舰6艘、轻型巡洋舰1艘、登陆舰2艘、两栖指挥舰1艘、货轮7艘、布雷舰1艘、扫雷舰2艘，海军官兵统共有1505人阵亡，空军方面损失机组成员23人。

The light aircraft carrier Fomalhaut and the two other seaplane carriers escaped in time from the beginning and were spared the spread of the war.

The Kunlun Mountain miraculously did not sink, but the fire caused by the electrical fire destroyed almost all of her internal equipment. The ammunition magazines of the main and secondary guns were filled with seawater to avoid being killed.

In other words, this previously majestic heavy cruiser is now like an empty shell, dark inside and full of burnt things.

The West Virginia cannot be counted as a loss yet, but her life has entered a countdown since the moment she washed ashore.

From a tactical point of view, this night attack was unsuccessful. The Ming army, which had suffered losses on Guadalcanal last time, anticipated the possible situation in advance.

However, it still makes sense for the US military to pay such a huge price - using a battleship to beach and run aground as a fixed fortress to suppress the landing troops? This was unexpected by the Ming army, and it went beyond normal thinking.

The naval battle in the early morning of July 7 was rare in the history of world wars, but the heavy-cost effect was immediate.

A large number of military supplies piled up on the beachheads of the Ming troops who landed on the island were destroyed by the fierce shelling. The beach was littered with flour bags, cans, biscuits, cigarettes, magazines, and magazines.

Zhou Changfeng asked the 136th Division to send hundreds of Korean and Japanese troops to rush to transport supplies despite artillery fire. The former brought back 230 boxes of ammunition and 190 boxes of food, and the latter brought back 225 boxes of ammunition and boxes of food. There were a total of more than a hundred casualties. .

The sea and air battle sounded the clarion call for a counterattack, which was basically consistent with Zhou's expectation. The U.S. ground forces began a massive counterattack at noon that day, and the Ming army in the Haleiwa area suddenly felt the pressure doubled.

The early morning sortie exhausted the last remaining aerial bombs of the Ming Army aviation unit on Kauai. Next, the Ming army aircraft could only dive and strafe the stranded West Virginia to suppress her as much as possible.

In the afternoon of this day, the long-awaited transport fleet of the Hawaiian Expeditionary Force arrived belatedly. As soon as the cargo ship docked at the dock, soldiers from the naval service detachment swarmed up and began to unload the cargo.

Boxes of aerial bombs were hoisted to the dock by cranes, then loaded onto trucks and headed straight to the airport. In the words of the ground crew, these aerial bombs are still very fresh.

At 15:30, the distant and loud rumble of artillery suddenly sounded, and explosive points appeared on the Ming army's position one after another.

This aroused Zhou Changfeng's high vigilance, and a seaplane subsequently took off from the seaplane carrier Taihu in accordance with the order.

Half an hour later, a telegram was sent back indicating that the US military had used the train gun that had been hidden. The situation was beyond doubt.

Because the railways and railway yards in central Oahu were ravaged by the Ming Dynasty Air Force and were in complete ruins, and lacked enough locomotives, the US military tried its best and could only invest nine of the sixteen at a time.

Amidst the frightening screams, one after another 91mm high-explosive bombs weighing 203kg fell on the defense line of the th Infantry Division of the Ming Army. The smoke and dust raised by the explosion were tens of meters high, which could be described as shaking the earth. shake.

On the beach east of Waialua Bay, the stranded USS West Virginia was also firing intermittently, forcing the Ming army's field artillery group not to dare to fire.

Zhou Changfeng could only order the mountain artillery regiment of the 17th Division to be deployed dispersedly, with each howitzer doing its own thing, to support the defense of the frontline troops as much as possible.

17：05，美军一口气投入了第32团、第184团、第501空降团、第703坦克营、第707坦克营等部队，在前所未有的炮火支援下发动强攻。

Every position on the front line was visible to the naked eye being flooded by artillery fire. Zhou Changfeng, who was at the rear command post, felt the ground beneath his feet shaking.

The four field phones had not been interrupted for an hour, either ringing or answering.

The disgraced commander of the 49th Regiment ran over and said, "No way, Commander, you fucking set up three blocking lines. The reserve team can't rush through, and the diagonal position is cut off in the middle!"

"Keep trying." Zhou Changfeng replied without raising his head.

"The situation of the 50th Regiment's right-wing position is unknown. No enemy troops have been observed to continue advancing, and wired and wireless communications have been interrupted." The Chief of Staff of the 17th Division reported calmly.

At the same time, in a forward observation post southwest of Haleiwa Army Airport, officers of the 501st Airborne Regiment were extremely excited.

"here you go!"

"Lieutenant Colonel! Our people have rushed up, and the Chinese defense line is disintegrating."

Lieutenant Colonel Ivley, the chief of staff, clenched his fists and said solemnly: "No matter what, they will go to hell before us."

(End of this chapter)