The most populous town on Kuah is Honiara, which had more than 5,000 inhabitants before the war and has now been transferred to Australia. There is a natural harbour to the north of Honiara, and about 20 kilometres to the south, there is a natural harbour.

The Imperial Marines who landed on Kuah Island first occupied Honiara Port, and only after taking control of the port did they send a large number of troops, supplies, and equipment to Kuah Island. The U.S. military firmly controlled the bay to the south, which became an anchorage for U.S. transport ships and a place to unload supplies.

And this has also become the place where the Tang Empire and the U.S. Navy fleet have fought fiercely for several months.

From the time the Tang Imperial Marines landed on Kuah Island and occupied the port of Honiara, the U.S. military mainly relied on this natural harbor in the south of the island to transport supplies. The Tang Imperial Navy, on the other hand, concentrated on blockading the harbor (due to geographical constraints, the marines were never able to penetrate it). Over the course of several months, more than eighty percent of the dozens of skirmishes between the fleets of the two sides were fought here. At least dozens of warships were sunk here, which is why the harbor is also known as "Shipwreck Bay".

The name "Shipwreck Bay" does not have any good meaning, whether it is a naval officer or a sailor on a merchant ship, as long as they eat at sea, they are very taboo about words such as "sinking" and "turning", and even try to avoid using these words when communicating in ordinary times. Obviously, the name "Shipwreck Bay" not only indicates that this is the battlefield of fierce battles, but also that it is the graveyard of warships.

The name "Shipwreck Bay" was taken by the naval officers of the Tang Empire, and in the mouth of the US Navy, it was called "Iron Bottom Bay", which means that the sunken warships have been covered with the bottom of the sea, and the bottom of the sea has turned into steel. The title may be a little more elegant, but it is even more cruel.

Judging from all aspects of intelligence, the US military transport fleet will once again enter the "Shipwreck Bay" and deliver supplies to the US troops on the shore here. The fastest route set by Tan Renhao for the navigation staff was to go straight to the "Shipwreck Bay". Tan Renhao himself is not allergic to anything taboo or anything like that. All he had to do was to stop the enemy from sending war materials to Kuah Island, and he hadn't thought so much about who would sink into the sea again.

The "Washington Express 38" also went straight to the "Shipwreck Bay", and this fleet arrived at the "Shipwreck Bay" at four o'clock in the morning, and to the fleet's commander's little disbelief, they did not find any trace of the Tang Empire warships nearby. More than a dozen warships patrolled the perimeter of the "Shipwreck Bay", and neither of the two cruisers equipped with radars found any signs of activity of other warships. By 5:10 a.m., the commander of the US fleet gave the signal. Let the convoy rush over at once, ready to unload the supplies, and they will set up a defensive line northwest of the "Shipwreck Bay".

At this time, the first task force led by Tan Renhao had just arrived in the waters northeast of Kuah Island, and the radar on the battleship had been activated, and the first thing to be discovered was not the US warship, but the huge mountain with an altitude of more than 2,000 meters on Kuah Island. The fleet is still about 00 nautical miles away from the "Shipwreck Bay", and needs to bypass the salient on the east side of Kuah Island and then turn southeast, which will take more than two hours.

"Let's get into combat mode!" Tan Renhao glanced at the navigation clock. Four twenty minutes. "I will make contact with the enemy fleet in two hours, and after half an hour the fleet will advance in two columns, leaving Wei Dongbei to command four cruisers behind. We are in front and always in touch. ”

The order was swiftly conveyed. "Wei Chigong", "Chai Shao", "Heavy Snow"

, "Winter Solstice" was organized as the first cruiser formation, "Duan Zhixuan", "Dahan", "Qingchenghe", and "Fenhe" were organized as the second cruiser formation, and the two destroyer formations followed behind the two cruiser formations.

4:50. The fleet bypassed the salient to the east of Kuah and turned to the southeast five minutes later.

At 5:50 a.m., the fleet was only about 15 nautical miles from the "Shipwreck Bay". At this time, the "Wei Chigong" ground radar first discovered several battleships in the southeast direction, and then the radars of the three cruisers following behind all discovered those US warships.

"Keep up the speed, the direction, and don't stop." Tan Renhao didn't want to start the battle immediately, "Let the fleet disperse, and the destroyers back a little." Prepare for a torpedo attack. ”

"The enemy fleet seems to be turning, and they didn't spot us?" Hao Dongjue didn't even have a chance to give his opinion at this time.

"No matter so much, bring the distance closer to 5 nautical miles, and then let the destroyers launch a torpedo attack, and we will take the opportunity to press up." Tan Renhao glanced at his partner, "If the U.S. military doesn't evade the torpedo attack, then they will be beaten down, if they dodge the torpedo attack, then our cruiser can quickly rush up and then solve the battle." 1. The distance must be shortened. The battleship maintains a good speed and expands the separation distance to five chains. ”

"Chain" is a nautical term, which belongs to the length alone, one chain is equal to one-tenth of a nautical mile, and five chains are half a nautical mile. In fact, this distance is not long enough, in a battleline decisive battle, the distance between the warships will sometimes be more than two nautical miles, if this interval is too short, there is a great restriction on the maneuver of the battleship, and there may even be an accident of collision between the battleships in the battle.

At 5:58 a.m., the distance between the two sides had been shortened to 12 nautical miles, and at this time, the US fleet suddenly turned to the southwest and sailed towards the south of the "Shipwreck Bay." At this time, even Tan Renhao was a little puzzled.

"They didn't find us?" Hao Dongjue was very puzzled.

"Maybe, or you're running away." Tan Renhao sneered, "Unless they temporarily change the place where the supplies are unloaded, the US military transport ships will definitely come here." Now, if these ships escape, their transports will be left to their knees. ”

The "Washington Express 38" did not run away, and after sending a telegram to the convoy, the fleet commander ordered to turn to the right and aim the port side of the fleet in the northwest direction, for the simple reason that the guns on the three cruisers in the American fleet at that time could not be rotated to the right to the maximum angle, so the port side could only be aimed at the direction where the enemy fleet might arrive in order to fully exert the firepower of the battleship. But the American commander forgot that if he turned to the right like this, the fleet would first have to sail south, and the whole turn would take at least fifteen minutes longer than the left turn! It was precisely because of this that the radars on the two cruisers in the US fleet at that time did not detect the rapidly approaching Tang Imperial fleet.

The battle has reached the point where it is on the verge of breaking out. At 6:18 a.m., the U.S. fleet had completed its right turn and was sailing northward, and a 30-degree turn to the right would form a battle line. At this time. There was no need for radar on the battleship, and the lookouts at the top of the cruiser's mast had already seen the battleships in the north-west, rapidly approaching in the faint morning light. Then, the battle alarm sounded on the American warship.

Tan Renhao ordered the destroyers to strike at 6:10, and the 12 destroyers of the two formations quickly broke out of the formation and rushed towards the US fleet at the fastest speed of 34 knots. And the two cruiser formations still did not turn, and continued to maintain a speed of 31 knots and rushed towards the American fleet. By 6:18 a.m., the 126th Area ship-by-ship formation was only 5 nautical miles away from the US fleet. The ship-by-ship formation of the 1st Antle District, which followed behind, was only 7 nautical miles away from the US fleet, and the two parallel cruiser formations at the rear were 9 nautical miles away from the US fleet.

When he discovered the rapidly approaching Tang Empire fleet in a "scattered" formation, the US commander was first taken aback, and what puzzled him was that when it was so close, why didn't the Tang Empire's warships fire their guns? He would not hesitate any longer, and when he found that there were more than a dozen destroyers running at the forefront of the Tang Imperial fleet, he immediately ordered the fleet to turn 30 degrees to the right, and at the same time let the cruisers fire first. Then the 127-mm guns on the destroyer also rang out.

The 155-mm and 127-mm guns of the American battleships did not pose much of a threat to cruisers at a distance of 9 nautical miles. But there is a great threat to the destroyers ahead. Tan Renhao still did not give the order to open fire, in fact, at a distance of 9 nautical miles. And the battleship was still sailing at a speed of 31 knots, and even the accuracy of the 240-mm heavy gun was frighteningly low.

"Ren Hao, quickly fire back!"

Tan Renhao didn't move, but Hao Dongjue was so anxious that he was about to jump.

"Open fire to cover the destroyer." Tan Renhao only hesitated for a few seconds, "The destroyer formation decides the launch distance of the torpedo according to the situation, and the fleet continues to maintain speed and course to close the distance as soon as possible!" ”

At 6:27 a.m., the ship-by-ship formation in the 126th Area began to turn, and at this time, only three nautical miles from the U.S. fleet, seven destroyers fired torpedoes almost simultaneously, and then quickly withdrew from the battle in a southwesterly direction. And the guns on the battleships were also constantly firing at the American battleships, suppressing the guns on the American cruisers. When they withdrew from the battle, three destroyers were hit by shells from the US battleships, and two of the destroyers suffered damage to their power systems, and their speed dropped rapidly, and they could only withdraw from the battlefield at a speed of more than 10 knots.

The five destroyers of the 1st Squadron pressed the distance to within three nautical miles, and at 6:31 a.m., when the first rays of light appeared on the eastern sea, they turned and fired torpedoes. Two destroyers were hit by a dense range of artillery shells from American warships as they withdrew from the battle, and one of the destroyers, the Commander of the Ground Bridge, was destroyed. Both turrets in the bow of the other destroyer were destroyed.

By 6:30 a.m., the cruiser formation was less than 5 nautical miles from the American fleet.

Tan Renhao still did not give the order to turn so that the side side was aimed at the American battleship. The cruiser was still moving at high speed. At this time, the American fleet also began to turn, and they had to avoid the torpedoes that were already approaching. It was too late for the fleet to turn collectively, and it could only turn with a single ship, which led to the fact that the firepower on the battleships could not be fully exerted, and as a result, it was not able to prevent the ship-by-ship formation of the 1st Ant District from firing torpedoes.

Seeing that the US fleet began to evade torpedo attacks, Tan Renhao sneered. He glanced at his partner. Three of the first five destroyers were out of battle, but the price was worth it.

In order to avoid the two groups of torpedo attacks in front and behind, the US fleet should not want to resume the battle line within 10 minutes, and within 10 minutes, the cruisers commanded by Tan Renhao have already killed the US battleships, and those destroyers that had withdrawn from the battlefield before can also turn around and kill back; at that time, the US fleet will face the embarrassing situation of a single-ship duel, and compared with the combat effectiveness of a single ship, those light cruisers and destroyers of the United States will never be the opponent of these large cruisers and heavy cruisers in Tan Renhao's hands.

This was indeed the case, and it was not until 6:40 a.m. that Tan Renhao gave the order for a decisive battle with the enemy fleet, and this order was very simple: each battleship shelled the nearest enemy ship separately, and shelled the vital parts of the enemy ship, striving to cripple the enemy as quickly as possible.

At this time, the distance between the two sides was already within two nautical miles, and at this distance, the gunner did not even need any sighting equipment, and could hit the shells on the vital parts of the enemy ship with visual aiming alone.

The battle was extremely brutal, the 200-mm and 240-mm heavy guns on the battleships of the Tang Empire were a mortal threat to the American battleships, those light cruisers could not withstand the blow of such a shell, and those destroyers could not withstand it. But in the same way, the 155 mm and 127 mm guns on American battleships were able to penetrate the armor of the cruisers of the Tang Empire at this distance, posing a threat to the cruisers of the Tang Empire, but, to a large extent, it was not a lethal threat.

The artillery battle was carried out in chaos, Tan Renhao did not rush to order the destroyer formation to return to the battlefield, but let those destroyers reload the torpedoes outside the battlefield, he had to deal with not only the American fleet, but also the American transport fleet, and the torpedoes on the destroyers were of good use against the transport ships. In addition, in this chaotic battlefield, one Imperial cruiser could often single-handedly take on two American battleships. And the first to be hit were the American destroyers who did not have time to launch their torpedoes.

The accuracy of the shelling was frighteningly high, and an artillery battle at a distance of 2 nautical miles was like a battlefield on land, where soldiers on both sides fought to the death with bayonets. There is no longer a need for a unified command, let alone a salvo. The gunner's mission is to find the nearest enemy ship and fire the shells as fast as he can. Of course, it was not only heavy artillery on the battleship that bombarded the enemy, but also anti-aircraft guns of various calibers joined the battle.

Tan Renhao was forcibly taken to the armored protected cabin below, the command cabin is too dangerous, if any American ship is lucky and fires a shell, then Tan Renhao will completely leave the battlefield!