ps: This chapter is 4000 words, thank you readers for your support, can you vote for some monthly tickets?

What made Mitsuo Fuchida helpless was that although Essex had already been hit by 1 torpedo, it seemed that it had little impact, the evasion action was still very flexible, and the speed was maintained at more than 23 knots. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

As a last resort, he could only choose to let Tianshan change all the remaining torpedoes, and then strive to form a chaotic scene to launch a critical battle, but at this time the Honolulu (Brooklyn class) had already tried his best to block, 8 torpedoes that were fan-shaped and spread out were blocked by the ship 2, the remaining 5 were deflected, and Essex hit 1, a large amount of sea water poured in, and the inclination intensified, taking advantage of the chaos of the US army, the last batch of comets pounced down and dropped bombs, and 1 bomb was hit on the front and rear decks of the ship, rising black smoke into the sky.

But to everyone's surprise, the Essex had obviously been hit by 2 torpedoes and 2 bombs, but it was still floating on the water, refusing to sink, at this time the Japanese planes had exhausted all the bombs and torpedoes, Fuchida Mitsuo had no choice but to end the mission, and led the remaining planes back to the ship in a gloomy manner.

This round of attacks almost killed Essex, the bombs near the bridge on the foredeck directly killed more than 200 ground crews and sailors, and the aft deck blew up the stern of the ship into a mess, and two torpedoes made the warship more than 4,000 tons into the water.

However, at this time, the speed of the warship dropped to only 8 knots, and its footprints were staggering and crumbling, and it was in danger of capsizing at any time.

"Sir, the captain suggests that we replace the flagship."

"Retreat, you can't beat it." Halsey looked up to the sky and sighed.

The generals, led by Nimitz, boarded the lifeboat in disarray and moved to the battleship Alabama.

Nimitz was silent during the transfer, and only after a long time did he say: "Retreat, keep the Essex as much as possible!" ”

"What about the attack aircraft that have been released?" Giffin wanted to suggest abandoning the mission and returning home, but looking at Halsey, who was thundering, he didn't express what he meant.

"Continue the mission and return to the ship, land on the Saratoga as much as possible, and at the same time arrange for 1-2 destroyers to pick up the parachuted pilots, and bring back as many people as possible, the fleet cannot afford to lose them." Halsey gave the order.

"Do you want to inform the Japanese fleet that is going to attack the west?" Giffen proposed again.

Nimitz refused after much deliberation, because the troops did not know the situation in the west, and rushing to the west would only invite unnecessary losses.

At 15:05, Murata Shigeji led the Japanese army's third attack wave to set off, this wave only brought a total of 53 aircraft, Tsukahara to cover the mobile fleet, leaving 27 air defense fighters, at this time there was not a single air defense fighter over the guerrilla fleet, and there were only 8 fighters in the sky over the shelling fleet - after hearing that the fleet aircraft losses were large, Horiyoshi once again reduced the number of air defense fighters, and finally left only 8 aircraft for the shelling fleet.

15 minutes after the departure of the third wave, the last group of attack groups released by Essex arrived, and 27 Zero Combat changed to intercept with all their might, and all attempts to attack Zuihe were intercepted, but the accident happened quickly: a TBF saw that the dive bombers could not take advantage of the Zuihe direction, and looked at the air to attack the Dragon Phoenix, although only this aircraft dropped a torpedo on nearly ten TBFs, and the plane was soon shot down, but this torpedo hit the amidship of the Dragon and Phoenix impartially, and easily penetrated, The Dragon Phoenix, which is only more than 10,000 tons, could not withstand this kind of destruction, and a large number of people entered the water and tilted, and the whole ship floated on it like a dead fish.

"Sir, the Dragon and Phoenix can't be saved."

"Abandon ship." Tsukahara looked at the more than 10 US planes that were retreating piecemeal, and said with a wry smile, "I don't know what the results of the battle are in Fuchida, tell him about the situation here, let him go to the guerrilla fleet to replenish, and transfer all the attack planes that can fly here to Tsunoda." ”

Tsunoda had received a report on the situation, and on the one hand, he was surprised by the loss of the mobile fleet, and on the other hand, he was shocked by the strength of the Essex, and said to the people around him fiercely: "If you fight again, you must send the Essex to the sea!" ”

At 16:38, Shigeharu Murata arrived over the battlefield, and his mission was to find and destroy the two heavily damaged aircraft carriers of the US army. But perhaps the pilots who were on consecutive missions were too tired, and by mistake, they did not find the large force of Nimitz and Halsey, but found the New Mexico and Saratoga, which were sailing separately in the other direction, with less than six destroyers by their side.

At 17:03, the Pacific Fleet veteran, who had been on the front line since the Battle of Pearl Harbor, was finally sunk by three torpedoes in the rough Central Pacific, accompanied by New Mexico, the nearly 30-year-old World War I veteran finally followed in the footsteps of the ships of the same class, the USS Mississippi and the USS Idaho, and its sinking also announced the complete destruction of the battleships of this class.

At 17:54, the Japanese army, which had become the end of the crossbow, put together the last 45 attack planes to prepare to carry out the fourth wave of offensive missions, wanting to finally solve the Essex, but Tsukahara thought twice, considering that the sky was too dark when he returned, and the pilots were too tired, and it was likely that the losses would be too great, and despite the persuasion of Takashi Ekusa and Minoru Genda, he announced that he would abandon the fourth wave of attack, but agreed to fight again tomorrow.

At the last moment, when the Pacific Fleet suffered heavy losses, the American troops in Tarawa also reached the final moment, and when they learned that the Pacific Fleet had retreated and they could no longer receive any support, the morale of the American Marine Corps, which had lost nearly half of its strength, finally collapsed and chose to surrender in the evening.

In the early morning of the next day, Kusaka reported the overall battle situation to Horikichi with a sad face.

"Sir, the situation is very bad......"

"Say, I'm mentally prepared."

"The Xianghe was badly damaged and is expected to need to be repaired for 5-6 months; Ruihe is minimally invasive; The Dragon Phoenix and Bolzano sank; The Bayane was created and needed to be docked for overhaul, losing nearly 180 aircraft, and 84 pilots (groups) did not return to the team, and there was almost no chance of survival...... Haruna ......"

As soon as he was halfway through speaking, the confidential staff officer quietly handed him a telegram, and Caolu's face turned white after seeing it, and his hands trembled, and he said after half a day: "Xuefeng and Shiyu sent a telegram, encountered a US submarine, and the Haruna, which was the first to leave the battlefield and go to Truk yesterday, was hit by three mines at dawn today, and finally was unable to save it and sank ......."

"Haruna doesn't matter, the loss of the pilots is too heart-wrenching, the battle loss rate is more than 3 percent, and I originally said that I would take them all back to rest......" Hori Yoshichi sighed, "There are always sacrifices in battle, forget it...... Let's talk about the results. ”

"Sink the regular US aircraft carrier Saratoga, 1 Independence-class light air carrier, 6 escort carriers, 1 New Mexico-class battleship, 2 Brooklyn-class light cruisers, 1 Kent-class heavy cruiser, 1 unknown cruiser, 8-9 destroyers, heavy damage to the USS Essex, and there may be some other achievements, but the details are unknown, shooting down nearly 400 enemy planes......"

In addition to the above-mentioned statistics, the most painful thing about the losses of the US military is the loss of carrier-based pilots: Excluding the A fleet, the loss rate of more than 200 pilots (groups) of the B fleet is nearly 75 percent, and more than 30 of them have successfully made a forced landing or parachuted on Tarawa Island, but because the island was eventually occupied by the Japanese army, these people also became prisoners. If you add in the loss of pilots of the A fleet, the loss rate of the entire Pacific Fleet's aviation into the campaign is as high as 86% - almost all of them are gone.

In addition to the pilots, the Pacific Fleet also suffered significant losses among its sailors, with the combined personnel losses of the ships amounting to more than 3,000 men, not counting the army and army losses on Tarawa and Tuvalu. The victorious in the Battle of Gilbert was the Combined Fleet, both strategically and tactically—although their losses were no small amount.

Horiyoshi's eyes lit up after hearing this: "Very good, this means that the main force of the Pacific Fleet currently has only 2 South Dakota-class ships left, and Nimitz can only hide in Pearl Harbor for the next 6-8 months, and he can't do anything else." ”

"But we can't move, Dafeng won't be able to serve until December, and Ruihe will have to rest for at least 1 month."

"Tsunoda with 2 light air carriers is enough to go on the rampage." Horiki laughed, "We don't have to go to Hawaii, we can cut off the shipping of the US military by getting a detachment, and without material replenishment, can the US military in Australia and New Zealand still jump?" Taking a step back, even if Australia and New Zealand can barely sustain themselves, will the US military still have the ability to intervene in the situation in India? ”

Cao Lu figured it out and turned his worries into joy.

"Everyone, be happy, we are the winners! After the battle is over, the next step is to go home. When I get back home, I'll invite everyone to drink! After a drink, Prime Minister Mussolini gave me several bottles of precious red wine. Horikichi waved his hand in high spirits, comforting everyone, "At least Shozuru is still there, isn't it?" I was ready to send it to the shipyard for repairs and catapults; Bolzano came for nothing, and if he lost it, he lost it; It's a pity that the Dragon and Phoenix are a pity, but there is also the Bayane to offset it, which is completely fine. It's a real victory, and you don't have to go back and put you in a naval hospital to whitewash the peace. ”

As soon as this joke came out, everyone burst out laughing.

"I helped Minister Yamamoto do what he wanted to do but didn't do - completely destroy the Pacific Fleet aircraft carriers!" Horikiyoshi's face was full of pride, "What's not to be satisfied with?" You can't surrender without a fight, right? If the Americans are so weak, can they still be called the hegemon of the two oceans? ”

Everyone in the commander tower saluted respectfully: "I would like to congratulate the commander!" ”

"Everyone, let's go to the island, let's go see where the Marines hold out to the end......"

Although the Marine Corps inquired about the whereabouts of the prisoners and Shibasaki as soon as they accepted the surrender of the US troops, the US officers and men said that they did not know, and inferred that they might have died directly from the artillery fire - there were no bones left, and the Japanese army was inclined to accept this explanation.

Listening to the complete story of the bloody battle of Tarawa told by the prisoners of the Perfect Army, and inspecting the fortress fortifications of the bloody battle between the two sides, the listeners all sighed with emotion, and Horikichi said, "It's a pity! It was my fault! I'm late! Gather the bones of the dead, bring them home, and let their souls be at peace! ”

"Playing music!"

The military band played the stirring "March of the Warship", and from the second que, led by Hori Yiji, more than 1,000 officers and men who landed sang loudly:

……

Corpses float on the surface of the sea with the waves;

Trekking over the mountains;

The body withers and has no weeds;

I am the king's death;

Die without regrets!

Coal burns in the Pacific Ocean and smoke billows;

Float in the wind and fly with the dragon!

The heavy guns on the side of the board roared loudly in unison, shaking the Pacific Ocean;

Like thunder, the ears are suddenly like lightning, and the momentum is like breaking through thousands of bamboos;

waves across thousands of miles;

……

"Sir, it's a military song, a naval anthem, it's "March of the Warships"!" The remnants of the soldiers in the cave cried and jumped, almost going crazy, "The Combined Fleet has won!" Won! Come to our rescue! ”

"Couldn't it be the enemy who tricked us out in disguise?"

"No, where can Mi Ying's ghost beast sing "March of the Warship", this must be our own people, our own people."

Shibasaki waved his hand weakly: "Get out!" If we don't go, we'll all be doomed. ”

"Damn, the hole in the ground is sealed by a big rock and can't be dug open!" Someone cried, "Are we going to die here like this?" ”

During the large-scale shelling of Tarawa by the Combined Fleet, the hole where the remnants of the Japanese troops in Tarawa were located was lucky not to be hit directly, otherwise they would have all hung up, but stones and wreckage elsewhere inevitably covered the place.

"Don't you still have grenades, blast! Explode! ”

"I can't blow it up."

"Stupid, whoever told you to blow it up, just make a noise."

"Boom" A muffled and sullen voice came out

"What sound?"

"Protect the sir!" Someone next to him shouted anxiously, and a bunch of lieutenants and junior staff officers protected Horiyoshi Tuan Tuan Tuan Tuan, and almost trapped him to death

"Go and see, maybe there are still remnants of US troops, be careful!" Horiyoshi gasped and explained to his subordinates, "The battle is over, don't kill people at will, focus on humanitarianism, and take prisoners." ”

Saying that it was humanitarian, the Marines drove tank No. 4 directly over - who knows what was hidden.

Half an hour later, someone rushed over to report: "Sir, good news, good news, General Shibasaki is still alive, he and more than 20 officers and soldiers are trapped in a hole in the ground, but the state is very bad." ””

"What?" Horiyoshi was overjoyed, "I'll go over and take a look." ”

"Doctor, doctor, beckoning the doctor." Kusaka thought about it and then ordered, "Use the special medicine on the Musashi, be quick!" ”

When Horikichi arrived at the scene, the hole had been dug up, and the officers and soldiers who were still able to walk were rescued first, and Shibasaki, who could no longer walk, was carried out of the hole.

Seeing Shibasaki and the 22 surviving officers and soldiers struggling on the edge of life and death, like skeletons all over their bodies, almost no different from the "living dead", Horikichi bent down deeply and bowed his head: "Contemptible Horiyoshi, it is too late to lead the combined fleet to rescue, look at Haihan!" Gentlemen, hard work! ”

The surrounding officers all bowed their heads and bowed: "I'm very sorry that I'm late for rescue!" ”

Shibasaki raised his trembling hand on the stretcher and saluted: "Humble Shibasaki Keiji...... He was ordered to hold on to Tarawa and fight hard...... The army was defeated and the division was lost, please ask the commander to punish the crime......"

Then he passed out...... (To be continued.) )