Shortly after the departure of the Japanese planes, Major General Willis Lee gave a decisive order. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

"Fleet command is now in the hands of the Indiana, and you guys leave the USS Washington at full speed."

By the time the telegram was sent, the battleship Washington, which had seriously stalled, had broken away from the fleet and was advancing alone on the sea.

"Let the boys of the anti-aircraft artillery work hard, and hopefully we can buy the fleet some more time."

After Rear Admiral Li finished speaking, he handed over all the command of the battleship to the captain, turned around and left the bridge, walked back to his cabin, and wrote the last logbook.

After writing the logbook in neat handwriting, Major General Li sat in his chair and waited for the final moment to come.

"I hope to be able to knock down a few more Japanese planes, relieve them of some pressure, and fight for one more chance of escape."

Rear Admiral Lee was full of expectations for the young gunners on the USS Washington.

However, Rear Admiral Lee and the USS Washington did not wait for the second arrival of the Japanese planes, but waited for a periscope sticking out of the sea.

As the Washington slowly moved slowly across the sea, the periscope slowly turned.

When the mirror surface of the periscope was almost perpendicular to the starboard hull of the USS Washington, four torpedoes surfaced and rushed towards the USS Washington with eerie ripples in tow.

"Torpedo found on the starboard side, torpedo on the starboard side."

A cry of panic rang out aboard the Washington, which struggled to turn its hull to avoid the torpedo.

The anti-aircraft guns on the starboard side also lowered their muzzles and fired at the sea, trying to save themselves with a last-ditch effort.

Hearing the sound of gunfire outside the cabin, Major General Li, who did not know the truth, looked at the porthole suspiciously.

Enemy planes came so fast? Why isn't the engine noise heard?

Before Major General Li could find out the truth of the matter, three huge explosions sounded in a row.

The hull of the ship shook badly, and Rear Admiral Li's body was involuntarily thrown out and sat on the floor.

Shaking to his feet, Major General Li was horrified to find that the deck was slowly but distinctly tilting to one side, and his body was also swaying to the right.

He reached out and grabbed the desk that was fixed to the ground, steadying himself.

However, the floor tended to tilt to one side faster and faster, and Major General Li clung to his desk to stabilize his body.

"The Washington is over・・・・・・ no, I can't die, I'm going to live, I'm going to keep the boys safe, I'm going to take them with me until the war is over, and then I'm going home."

In a trance, Rear Admiral Li suddenly remembered the contents of the best-selling book "Rabe's Diary", what kind of abuse would have been suffered if the surviving crew members of the Washington fell into the hands of the Japanese?

As a high-ranking officer, the Japanese should treat him differently, and when the time comes, he can use his special status to protect a group of prisoners and let them persist in living until the end of the war.

The love for the crew has become a strong motivation for Major General Li to survive.

I want to live!

With strong conviction, Rear Admiral Li dispelled the idea of living and dying with the battleship and rushed out of the hatch・・・・・・

On the blue sea, the slender periscope rises steadily, and a submarine rushes out of the water like a deep-sea monster.

The sea water on the submarine had not yet completely slipped to the surface, and a figure had flashed on the submarine's control tower, pointing at the USS Washington in the distance.

At this time, the Washington ship was tilted to the right, lying on the sea, surrounded by panicked sailors.

The sailors swam away from the USS Washington in escape boats or life jackets with all their might, avoiding being swallowed up by the ship's sinking whirlpool.

When the second group of attack planes flew over the sea, all the pilots saw was a huge whirlpool and undulating U.S. sailors on the surrounding sea.

As the group swept over the sea, the sailors on the submarine waved their military caps and cheered loudly at the group, and did not stop until the group was far away, turning their attention to the American crew members who had fallen overboard.

The crew members of the American overboard were aware of the presence of the submarine and desperately swam in the direction of the submarine.

On a lifeboat, Major General Li sat on it, and around the lifeboat, five or six crew members who had fallen into the water, carrying the lifeboat with one hand, desperately tread the water, and followed the lifeboat to slowly approach the Japanese submarine.

Enduring the feeling of humiliation, Rear Admiral Lee took off his military jacket, took off his close-fitting white shirt to act as a white flag, and desperately waved it at the Japanese crew on the submarine.

The Japanese crew on the submarine first pointed at the American sailors on the surface of the water for a while, and a man who seemed to be an officer said a few words to the people around him.

Subsequently, Major General Li saw a scene that made him creepy.

Groups of Japanese sailors got out of the submarine and walked around the deck, fiddling with the ship's guns on the deck.

Seeing one deck gun and two anti-aircraft guns on the deck turning their muzzles and pointing to the sea, Major General Li let out a terrible shout: "For God's sake, you can't do this・・・・・・・

However, at this time, it was the Japanese god Amaterasu who dominated the sea, and the Japanese submariners fired mercilessly at the sea.

25-millimeter anti-aircraft shells swept across the sea, and American sailors were either shot in the head or smashed in the chest, and large swaths of blood stained the sea.

The deck guns quickly turned and called the lifeboats on the surface one by one, smashing them to pieces with the crew above.

Major General Li plunged a fierce man into the sea and quickly swam into the distance, and soon an explosion was heard behind him.

Looking back, the lifeboat he had just ridden in was shattered.

"God will punish your ・・・・・・"

It seems that after hearing Major General Li's protest, the Japanese submarine did not kill all the American troops who fell into the water on the sea.

After taking out all the lifeboats on the surface, the submarine restarted and headed in the direction where the group had disappeared.

Major General Li looked at the sea around him, the dead bodies, the broken pieces of wood from the lifeboats, the howling wounded, and the shocking redness.

"God will punish your ・・・・・・," Rear Admiral Li cursed word by word as he stared at the departing submarine.

"Shark, shark is coming・・・・・・ oh my God, shark is coming・・・・・・"

Desperate shouts echoed on the sea, and Major General Li's gaze swept across the sea, and sure enough, he saw a fish fin crossing the sea.

"Shit."

Major General Li scolded bitterly.

When Major General Li and the shark were fighting wits and courage, Yamaguchi received one good news after another.

First, the USS Washington was sunk by the I-26 submarine, followed by a second wave of air raids on the USS Indiana, ravaged by torpedoes and aerial bombs.

Before dark, Yamaguchi Tawen carried out the third and final wave of air raids. The battleships in the NB-14 fleet were all destroyed, and none of them were spared.

Approaching twelve o'clock, on the pitch-black sea, the 2nd Mobile Fleet rendezvoused with the capture fleet led by the Musashi.

Of the two surviving escort carriers, one was so wounded that it sank before the capture fleet arrived.

After an afternoon and half a night of encirclement and interception, the capture fleet captured a total of eight transport ships and one escort aircraft carrier.

After rendezvous with the captive fleet, Yamaguchi felt that life was full of hope, and with the joy of a great victory, he wrote a battle report with his own hand.

"Inform the communications room that the report will start at 5:30 a.m. tomorrow morning, and it will not be delayed by one minute."

・・・・・・

In the early morning of the next day, in Japan, Yamamoto Fifty-six washed up, took the adjutant, and walked into the officer's cafeteria with a straight face.

An afternoon and a night were enough for the contents of the Second Mobile Fleet's battle report to reach the ears of the officers.

Yamamoto walked into the dining room and walked to the long table full of food, just in time to hear the two officers talking with their backs to him.

"General Yamaguchi's tactics of winning in the air went bankrupt, and with the Musashi to his aid, his fleet did not sink a single enemy capital ship, burying the Haruna in vain."

"The battle is not over, maybe the weather was bad at that time, and the aircraft carrier could not function, so the enemy ran away. When the weather improves, the Americans' doom will come. ”

"The biggest drawback of aircraft carriers is here, it doesn't work when it's dark, it's not good for bad weather, unlike battleships, which can exert strong combat effectiveness no matter what the weather."

Yamamoto didn't say a word, walked to the table and sat down.

In yesterday's battle report, Yamaguchi only coldly wrote that our battleship was sunk, that the battleship was wounded, and that the enemy's warship was destroyed, and that the specific course of the battle was not mentioned.

Yamamoto sent a telegram asking about the battle, but all he got was Yamaguchi's silence.

Those guys who have already promoted Lieutenant General Yamaguchi to make an exception for themselves, as well as those who are conservative in their thinking, will definitely take advantage of the topic.

Yamamoto sulked and saw a plate of his favorite dorayaki on the table.

Yamamoto picked up the plate and slammed it in front of the officer who was talking strange things.

"Kameda-kun, let's give this plate of dorayaki to you to eat, remember not to waste it, eat it all."

Kameda looked at the dorayaki on the plate in a daze.

Four dorayaki is enough to fill oneself, five dorayaki makes oneself feel a little stretched, and now there are six dorayaki on the plate・・・・・・

Yamamoto ignored Kameda's sweet pain, didn't say a word, and ate breakfast in silence. Until a captain walked up to him briskly and happily handed him a telegram.

After reading the telegram, Yamamoto raised his head and looked at Kameda, who was struggling with the dorayaki.

Yamamoto stretched out his hand and brought the plate containing the dorayaki back to him.

Under Yamamoto's watchful eye, Kameda struggled to eat the third dorayaki.

"Kameda-kun, stand up and read this battle report to everyone."

Kameda took the telegram, glanced at it quickly, and then read it with a red face.

"Be louder and let everyone hear." Yamamoto said in a deep voice.

Kameda straightened his waist and read aloud: "After a great battle, the Second Mobile Fleet sank the opposing battleships USS Washington, USS Indiana, and USS Massachusetts. Sinking the US escort aircraft carriers Sangamon, Chernango, Suvanti, light cruisers ・・・・・・ "destroyers・・・・・・transport ships・・・・・・

At this point, Kameda paused, and then read: "The capture of the US escort aircraft carrier USS Santi, eight transport ships, and the total annihilation of the US Navy's NB-14 fleet." Our side lost four Zero fighters, six Type 97 torpedo attack planes, and seven Type 99 dive bombers. ”

When Kameda finished reading, Yamamoto Fifty-six said, "Sit down and eat." ”

After saying that, Yamamoto picked up a dorayaki and put it in his mouth.

"Well, dorayaki is really the best food in the world."

Yamamoto said vaguely.