PS: Struggling to code 4000 words, readers, appreciate the monthly pass......

The first to fire the first cannon for the Combined Fleet was the famous Type 3 projectile, which carried many incendiary bullets in its body. Taking the artillery shells used in the main gun of Yamato as an example, the overall length of the shell is 1.6m, the weight is 1360kg, and the body contains 996~1200 submunitions, which will explode into 470 small incendiary bombs in the air after being launched, and then land, which can cause large-scale damage with a diameter of nearly 500 meters and cause serious fire to the target. Taking aircraft as an example, due to the sticky material of the missile body, hitting the rear of the fighter fuselage can deform or melt the metal skin, and it is also quite destructive to the rubber of the self-sealing fuel tank. Another deformation of this kind of artillery shell is the three-type anti-aircraft bomb, which uses a time-delay fuse, and after the explosion, the internal small fragmentation shells and small incendiary shells will explode in the air, which may not be able to directly hit the enemy plane, but the destructive power of the dense formation of the aircraft is strong.

Although the Japanese had shelled the airfield twice and knew its location very well, Nobutake Kondo was very cautious in sending seaplanes to drop large flares, then marking the impact area with tracer bullets, and finally correcting the moto through the plane report and conducting a school firing.

"Distance measurement: twenty-four thousand one hundred and thirty meters!"

The Yamato's forward turret was the first to fire, and three 460mm shells whistled out, followed by the remaining two turrets. The timekeeper held the stopwatch: "Ready-to-play!" As soon as he finished speaking, a white-hot flash of light in the darkness rushed up, and the umbrella-like fire quickly spread into the surrounding jungle. According to the impact point data sent by the observer. The firing disc used at the starting point corrected the shot, and the shells began to fall accurately on the Henderson airfield. A few minutes after the Yamato fired, the Nagato fired as well. The airport was in flames.

When the first shells fell, Vandergraft didn't feel anything special, because although the sound was particularly scary, the power of the explosion seemed to be very average. Mistaking it for the work of the rats of the "Tokyo Express", he immediately called the 127mm shore artillery group at Cape Longa to counterattack.

But the news that the artilleryman replied made him stunned: "Sir, that's not the fire of the destroyer, this is at least the fire of the heavy cruiser." All the shells were fired from 20,000 yards from the coast, which was almost the limit of shore artillery, and we couldn't hit them at all. ”

The artillery fire is getting more and more intensive. The direction of the airport has been plunged into a sea of fire, and occasionally there are "bang, bang, bang" muffled explosions, fuel depots, ammunition depots, etc. Huge pillars of fire and explosions followed.

"No...... It is necessary to fight back. If you can't hit them, you have to scare them. Vandergraft was determined to fight back.

But he soon knew that this order was useless, as the Japanese warships began to fire volleys into the rest of the country, and the Longer Point shore artillery group became a priority target.

There was a loud "boom", followed by a collapse of the sky, and a shore artillery battery was destroyed.

"Earthquake ......" This was the subconscious feeling that swelled up in Vandergrift's heart, although he immediately reacted that it was the result of a salvo of naval guns, could it be the sound of his own ammunition depot being hit and exploding? But he soon learned that it wasn't, because the sound of explosions began to sound again. This is definitely a "masterpiece" of large-caliber naval guns, judging by the sound of the explosion and the force of the impact. At least 356mm caliber or higher artillery.

"Salvo fire...... The three main guns of the Yamato finally began to fire a salvo after taking turns firing, and the nine main guns were fired at the same time, and the people in the command tower could clearly feel that the hull of the ship was pushed to the other side by the recoil force of up to 8,000 tons at the moment of firing.

Horikichi himself was also taken aback by the power of the Yamato's full firepower, and he laughed at himself: "The power of naval gun salvos is really stronger than those flying shelves that look loose and may fall at any time, if I am not responsible for the overall situation as the commander of the combined fleet, I would also like to be a giant ship......

Everyone in the Commander Tower laughed.

Nobutake Kondo thought to himself: Let's fight, let's fight as much as you want. For this bombardment, the ships had already carried an excess of ammunition before departure, and even some of the adventures were piled up around the turrets. If these shells are not knocked out now, they will be dangerous for the rest of the operation.

Yamato's firing ignited a firing frenzy of the artillery fleet, and then the main guns of various calibers of various ships also began to fire in a salvo, and every time the shells landed, a large fire was triggered, and after a full 90 minutes of firing, the shelling fleet poured nearly 3,000 shells of more than 203mm caliber on the airfield, beachhead, shore artillery group and other first-line targets, and nearly 1,400 large-caliber artillery shells of more than 356mm alone, the airfield and the beachhead became a sea of fire, and the shore artillery group was also destroyed one after another. At this moment, more than 60 F4F fighters, more than 30 SBD dive bombers, nearly 20 B-17 bombers, and more than 10 reconnaissance planes have been destroyed on Henderson Airport, and the stored aviation gasoline has also been burned out.

Although Van Greavest's 1st Marine Division had an absolute advantage on the island, with a large number of tanks and artillery, and its strength was undoubtedly able to crush Hyakutake Haruyoshi's army units, it was still as vulnerable as a blank sheet of paper in the face of the bombardment of nearly 300 giant guns of 203mm caliber or more from the Combined Fleet.

"What about our fleet? …… Let them come to our aid! Van Greavest glared at a pair of blood-red eyes and roared at a bunch of earth-colored staff officers in the headquarters, "We can't just be beaten and not fight back. ”

"Sir, a telegram has been sent to all the fleets, but they have not answered yet."

"What, the Japanese fleet shelled Kuah Island? Bastard, damn it! The devil's target is indeed Kuah Island. Kincaid, who received the telegram, scolded and became angry, "Tell the specific location, number, and type of enemy ships at present, and see if you can let the TF64 formation deal with them." ”

In order to facilitate the maximum concentration and unified dispatch of troops, according to Halsey's orders, Kincaid commanded two task forces (TF16\17) 16th and 17th. There are 2 aircraft carriers (Enterprise, Wasp), 1 battleship (South Dakota), 6 cruisers, and 14 destroyers. The central location is in the South Solomon Sea, which is too far away from Kuah Island to catch up. The 64th Task Force (TF64) commanded by Rear Admiral Lee consisted of one battleship (USS Washington), three cruisers, and six destroyers, and its center was about 180 nautical miles southwest of Kuah Island.

"Sir, TF64 General Li also sent a telegram: This fleet has received a request for reinforcements from the troops on Kuah Island, and is currently rushing to the target sea area, and intends to meet the enemy at dawn. Request for air cover ......"

Kincaid was just about to nod his head in agreement, when Van Griffst's second telegram came: "The enemy fleet has at least 4 or more battleships and 8 or more heavy cruisers. The rest of the ships numbered more than 30 ships, and the Tulagi torpedo boats attacked and were repulsed by the destroyer forces on the enemy's perimeter without any success......"

"What?" Kincaid was taken aback. "This is the main fleet of the Japanese army?"

The staff officers looked at each other. Then they all nodded their heads again and again.

"Did you find an enemy aircraft carrier?" As soon as the words came out, Kincaid knew that he had asked a stupid question: Where to find the aircraft carrier in the dark? Aircraft carriers will not participate in the shelling again!

Judging from the report of the 1st Marine Division, it is obvious that the strength of the enemy fleet is greater than that of the TF64, but what Rear Admiral Li said is also very reasonable: He will lead the fleet to meet the enemy at dawn and take advantage of the favorable opportunity of the TF64 fleet to entangle the main fleet of the Japanese army, so as to create an opportunity for the aircraft carrier formation to give priority to strikes -- there is no need to send reconnaissance planes.

He thought about it for five minutes, and finally found that all eyes were on him, and there was eagerness in everyone's eyes—they had waited so many days not to see the Japanese fleet. I can't let it go easily this time.

"Call back Major General Li and agree to the request. Considering the huge disparity in strength between the enemy and us, be sure to wait until dawn before engaging in battle, and find out whether the enemy fleet has aircraft carriers, and this fleet will provide air cover. ”

"Sir, the fleet called back. The battleship formation is currently rushing to the main island, and it is expected that the aircraft carrier formation will provide air strikes as soon as it is expected to meet the enemy in the morning. ”

Van Greaves nodded, and a hanging heart finally let go: "Let everyone pay attention to concealment, and let the fleet teach them a lesson after dawn." ”

Just as the U.S. positions on Kuah Island were in flames, Hyakutake Haruyoshi's 17th Army and the rest of the Maruyama Division were boarding ships and retreating. In the face of such fierce artillery fire, he reluctantly said to the commander of the 8th Fleet, Mikawa Gunichi, who commanded the retreat: "If we can land and reinforce 1-2 divisions under such fierce artillery fire from the Combined Fleet, we don't have to retreat at all, and we can completely wipe out all the US troops." ”

"Reinforcements?" Mikawa glared at him angrily, "In order to cover your retreat, Chief Horikichi pulled out all the main forces of the Combined Fleet, and even the Yamato was shelling...... How many shelling of this magnitude can last? As soon as the morning dawns, the American plane will come to the door......"

Hearing that the navy had even taken out the Yamato, which was regarded as a treasure, Hyakutake Haruyoshi was speechless, and silently bowed and found a place to sit in the command tower. Although nearly 10,000 people boarded the ship, and there were more than 2,000 wounded in between, because of the effective dispatch and the superiority of the Combined Fleet, the crowd did not make a noise and only silently boarded the ship -- under the cover of the sound of artillery bombardment, the 1st Marine Division did not know that their opponents were quietly withdrawing.

Of course, even Van Griffst knew that the Japanese were going to withdraw and he was not in the mood to trouble them, because after the shelling fleet completed the shelling of the first-line airfields, beachheads, and ports, the firepower began to extend in depth, and more and more types of ammunition were replaced with high-explosive shells. His face gradually turned pale, and he saw with his own eyes that a shell hit the tank stop, and then the turrets of the four Sherman tanks were lifted high and fell heavily, and the rest was directly smashed into parts, which was not the power of the shells of the Yamato's main guns - it was later realized that it was a shell fired by the Mutsu.

Many soldiers of the 1st Marine Division hid in the trenches to avoid the shells, and the shells did not hit the places where they were hiding, but when they were covered in mud in the trenches and rescued by soldiers from other companies, it was discovered that none of them survived - not by suffocation, but by being shocked to death by the shock wave.

As the area of the shelling continued to expand, Van Greavest received more and more reports of casualties, and it was not uncommon for entire squads and platoons of soldiers to be reimbursed by shells. He can't do better, for the army, 155mm is a large-caliber artillery, and trenches and general fortifications can at most prevent bombardment of this level, but for the navy, more than 305mm is considered a large-caliber naval gun, not to mention that there are behemoths like 410mm and 460mm.

"Report, Kuah Island has become an island of blood...... The whole island is covered by fire...... The number of enemy ships is very large...... Occasionally, there are extra-large caliber guns. Halsey, who was in the rear, also received a call for help.

"Didn't the Japanese pull the Nagato out?" Halsey was anxious but there was no way, the black light was blind and there was no way to let the carrier-based aircraft out to fight, and Kincaid's coping strategy he also said that he couldn't find fault with it after reading it - letting the TF64 entangle the enemy first, and then let the aircraft carrier formation annihilate is undoubtedly the best choice now.

But as a higher-level commander, he could not just think about the fleet like Kincaid, he also had to think about the big picture, and he was thinking hard: what exactly were the intentions of the Japanese to bombard on a large scale? Is it going to be a large-scale landing? Thinking of this, he called Kincaid again: "Please pay close attention to whether the enemy forces send a large-scale landing fleet, and if so, try to annihilate it; If an aircraft carrier formation is discovered, it will be the highest priority target. ”

His thinking is clear, the first priority: aircraft carriers; Second priority: landing fleet, as for the importance of the battleship formation, it can be placed in the back row - the defeat of the aircraft carrier formation against the battleship is not handy?

At about 1 o'clock in the morning, Nobutake Kondo reported to Horiyoshi: "Sir, the enemy's positions on the northern front of Kuah Island have completed the entire line of firing, and our troops have poured more than 20,000 rounds of ammunition in five hours...... The extra ammunition has been depleted, and only 80 per cent of the normal base remains. (Author's note: There are many ridges and sharp mountains in the central part of Kuah Island, the southern line is dense jungle and overhanging rock cliffs, and only the northern line is plain, so covering the northern line is almost equal to the whole island)

One of the grass deer reported: "The 8th Fleet has sent a telegram that it is expected that the personnel will be boarded and retreated in 1 hour. ”

"Very good, let the 4 Kongo-class return to the mobile fleet, send Fuso and Shancheng to cover the retreat of the 8th fleet, and the main force of the rest of the fleet bypasses the western end of Kuah Island and advances to the southwest......"

At 3:25 a.m. on November 5, 1942, Horikichi commanded the artillery fleet to leave Kuah Island and sail southwest, unbeknownst to everyone, and the two sides were less than 95 nautical miles apart from each other, and this distance was sharply reduced by the opposite direction of the two fleets...... (To be continued.) )