"Hell! Close the hatch! Fast! The sea is pouring in! In the small cabin, an officer shouted loudly and ordered his men to close the hatch quickly.

They are a substation here, and if it gets into the water, it will affect the power supply of the battleship. But now they have no choice but to evacuate and let the sea water fill the substation.

The torpedo exploded under water, the side of the battleship was greatly damaged, and some of the waterproof compartments that prevented the torpedo from being damaged were also damaged by the huge explosion.

A non-main power room is flooded, and American sailors on the lower deck are retreating to avoid being trapped on the bottom floor where the sea is raging.

The repair force is desperately trying to repair the damaged area, but unfortunately they are constantly squeezed by the sea and have to abandon several areas.

"Damn it! What about welders? I need a welder! Fast! The officer who led the repair unit shouted in frustration, desperate to stop the spread of the sea.

It's a pity that too many of his soldiers have not even been trained, so they are assigned to the battleship and serve as damage control soldiers.

To expand the army on a large scale, many positions can only use novices. In normal times, it is impossible to see the influence of these novices on the war, but at the critical moment, they will become the key to the victory or defeat of the war.

The drawbacks of the US Navy's desperate expansion of forces are highlighted at this moment. The low combat effectiveness of the damage management units has directly affected the emergency repair work of warships.

"I'm a welder! I am! A soldier rushed over, but he didn't have anything in his hand - his tools were long gone, and he could only stare at the iron door in front of him.

"Quick! Get his welder! Our battleships are losing power! The planes of the Japanese are right over our heads! The annoyed officer shouted loudly.

He didn't dare to scold the welder who came with his tools, for fear that the welder would make another mistake if he became nervous.

So he could only say something else, so that these damage management recruits standing beside him would not collapse because they were too nervous.

In fact, this group of emergency repair and damage management workers has only been on this battleship for only one month.

Just above the heads of these damaged soldiers, beyond several layers of thick steel plate armor, the speed of the American battleship North Carolina was slowly decreasing.

The speed of the original speed of up to 25 knots has now been reduced to 15 knots. The Japanese planes in the sky rushed down with a roar, carrying out a new round of bombing.

"Boom!" While the U.S. soldiers in the corridor of the cabin were busy preparing to repair their warship, the battleship was once again hit in the torso by a bomb.

A previous aerial bomb, which exploded in the middle of the hull, destroyed two anti-aircraft gun turrets and tore through the anti-aircraft fire net of the battleship North Carolina.

The second bomb, which hit almost the same place directly. A huge hole was left there, destroying several turrets in the surrounding area.

After such a new explosion, the battleship North Carolina seemed to have little left of its heavy anti-aircraft guns on the left side.

In this way, the Japanese planes could drop bombs in a more suitable position, and in the blink of an eye, two more torpedoes rushed towards the North Carolina.

"Torpedo attack! We can't avoid it! In the lookout post responsible for observing the sea, the officer holding the phone reported in despair.

In his eyes, two white tracks were approaching the side of the American battleship little by little. And his battleship, however, was slowly slowing down at this time.

"It's over! Shock-resistant! The captain of the battleship North Carolina hugged a handrail beside him and reminded everyone loudly.

Spruance also had to grab the handrail beside him and wait for the violent impact. Just as he grasped the handle, a violent vibration came from under his feet.

Because of the relatively adequate preparation, Spruance did not fall this time, but only gradually stopped after the battleship shook violently for more than ten seconds.

"The second torpedo hits!" Someone had just gotten up and reported to Spruance.

"Send a telegram to the Army Aviation! Ask them why they haven't arrived in our war zone yet! Spruance asked, annoyed.

"I'm going to rush it!" One of the chiefs of staff beside him got up and wanted to go outside. As a result, all the lights on the bridge suddenly dimmed at this time.

"What's going on? What's going on? Spruance asked incredulously.

The captain of the battleship North Carolina smiled helplessly and said, "The bridge just lost power......

As a fleet commander, and a fleet commander specializing in electrical appliances, Spruance certainly knew that the power was off, and this was not what he wanted to ask.

What he wanted to know was where it broke down again - whether the ship would make it up to the arrival of army air force was already unknown to him.

"Oh God! Is something wrong with my senses? The U.S. Navy staff officer, who had not yet had time to step out of the bridge, stared at Spruance in the distance with wide eyes.

Then, he barely held on to the edge of the chart table beside him, and looked at General Spruance, who was also dumbfounded, not knowing what to say.

Because just now, everyone felt under their feet, this huge battleship was leaning a little, which was definitely not a good sign.

After a few seconds, Spruance came to his senses and commanded, "What about the damage management personnel?" Let them hurry up and fix it! Damn it! ”

"The emergency repair force is on the scene! The torpedo just now killed more than a dozen soldiers...... This is not good news for us. ”

"Damn army aviation! Even if I die, I want them to know how powerful our navy is! Hearing that the plane still hadn't arrived, Spruance didn't even dare to give the order to abandon ship.

Because he didn't know if the second group of Japanese bombers would come and continue the attack on his battleships, he didn't even have the courage to continue fighting.

"We're done...... I really want to know if we have any hope of winning this naval battle......" Spruance complained in desperation.

He had felt that drawing up such a joint operations action plan would be very troublesome in command and dispatch.

Now, as expected, his fleet really did not wait for land-based aviation that should have rushed over to join the war.

If there are a few more such problems, maybe this naval battle will not have to be fought, and the United States will directly admit defeat.