"Torpedo attack!"

When the alarm sounded, Tan Renhao was startled, and he immediately rushed to the porthole on the right. About 800 meters away from the aircraft carrier, six gray shadows were rushing towards the aircraft carrier high under the sea surface. "Yangtze River" once again turned to evade torpedo attacks. Almost at the same time, the anti-aircraft guns, whose barrels had not yet cooled, opened fire again, pouring shells on the incoming torpedoes.

It was a "spear" torpedo fired by a Japanese submarine. During the Battle of Jeju Island, the fleet was plotted by Japanese submarines. The "Lance" torpedo was the most powerful submarine-launched heavy torpedo in the world at that time, which not only had a fast range, but also had a very powerful warhead. Its biggest feature is that it replaces compressed air with oxygen, and the exhaust gas can be quickly dissolved into the seawater, and there is almost no wake, so it is difficult to be seen in time. And by the time the torpedo appeared, it was already close at hand.

The "Yangtze River" was like a bulky beast that had been attacked suddenly, and the best way to avoid a torpedo attack was to reduce the projection of the battleship and aim the bow at the torpedo channel, and the hull of the ship was parallel to the torpedo channel. This way the chances of being hit by a torpedo are much smaller. However, it takes at least 40 seconds for an aircraft carrier to turn to 90 degrees from the current fish, and it takes about 25 seconds for the "Spear" torpedo, which is close to 5o knots, to complete the last 800 meters. The interval between the six torpedoes is probably only the width of the hull, and if the aircraft carrier cannot fully adjust its course, it will be attacked by at least one torpedo. This is also the main reason why the submarine will fire a salvo of six torpedoes at the time of the attack.

"Everyone's hurrying up!" Lei Shaoqing roared loudly.

Tan Renhao immediately grabbed the handrail next to him, he didn't want to be admitted to the hospital for the same reason for the second time, and he would never leave the First Task Force at this time.

"Commander, Chief of Staff, look!" A staff officer pointed outside: "That's the 'Cheng Zhijie', look, it's the 'Cheng Zhijie'!" ”

The two large air defense cruisers, "Cheng Zhijie" and "Li Jing," were the personal bodyguards of the "Yangtze River" aircraft carrier. "Li Jing" is responsible for the safety of the aircraft carrier in the port direction, while "Cheng Zhijie" is responsible for the safety of the aircraft carrier in the direction of the starboard side. By the time the "Cheng Zhijie" began to evade the bombing, it had already killed three bombers attacking the "Yangtze River" and had come to a place less than 5oo meters away from the port side of the "Yangtze River." And according to the regulations of the time of operation, large air defense cruisers should be at least one chain away from the aircraft carrier, and not 5oo meters. It was this mistake that made the "Cheng Zhijie" appear in the most critical position at this critical moment.

The main guns on the foredeck of the battleship were roaring, and the anti-aircraft guns behind were also pouring shells on the torpedoes on the sea. The degree of the battleship reached more than 3o knots. Swiftly blocked between the aircraft carrier and the torpedo. "Cheng Zhijie" protected the aircraft carrier with its own hull and blocked the "dark arrow" fired at the aircraft carrier with its own body.

At the moment when the two torpedoes hit the "Cheng Zhijie", Tan Renhao closed his eyes in pain, and the sound of the explosion was immediately heard. Tan Renhao knew that this large air defense cruiser would definitely be finished. Perhaps when the captain of the "Cheng Zhijie" gave the order, the officers and men on the battleship did not expect that they were exchanging their lives for the safety of thousands of officers and men on another battleship, and the safety of the main warships of the Imperial Navy.

The "Yangtze River" turned exactly 45 degrees, and the "Cheng Zhijie" was nearly 200 meters long, and the hull completely blocked the front of the aircraft carrier. Two torpedoes grazed the tail of the "Yangtze River". When Tan Renhao opened his eyes. The "Cheng Zhijie" was already rising with smoke and fire.

Two torpedoes hit the front of the ship near the ammunition compartment of the main gun. and near the engine room on the rear side of the lump. The battleship lost at least half of its ground power system and was beginning to tilt to the right. At this moment, the dull sound of a depth charge exploding in the sea was heard in the distance. The sonars on several destroyers had already seen the Japanese submarine that had sneaked up, and they were all surrounded.

"What now?" Lei Shaoqing was also a little panicked, and no one expected such a big mistake at this time.

"Go all out to rescue, if ......," Tan Renhao hesitated, "If it really can't be saved, then order the ship to be abandoned, and we must leave this sea area as soon as possible." ”

Lei Shaoqing was about to convey the order, and there was a violent explosion in the ammunition compartment of the main gun on the "Cheng Zhijie". The ammunition compartment stored thousands of 24o mm shells, each weighing more than 3oo kilograms. It was filled with hundreds of kilograms of explosives. When thousands of shells are detonated, you can imagine how powerful it is.

The two turrets at the bow of the ship, A and B, were rushed out by a huge force, fell to the sea dozens of meters away, and then disappeared quickly. When the smoke dispersed from the battleship. The bow of the "Cheng Zhijie" was blown away, and the bridge was also affected. The bow began to sink, and the battleship's ass cocked.

"Commander battleship on ......"

"Immediately ordered to abandon the ship. Let the officers and men on the battleship be transferred immediately, damn it, should those excellent officers and soldiers be buried with the battleship? Tan Renhao shouted: "Arrange for the destroyer to salvage the overboard, and the officer and soldier fleet will continue to retreat to the southwest." In addition......" Tan Renhao glanced at Lei Shaoqing. "Kill that Japanese submarine 1 must kill that Japanese submarine!"

As the order to abandon the ship was issued, hundreds of officers and men on the "Cheng Zhijie" began to leave the battleship in 6 consecutive years. The abandonment order is actually to abandon the salvage of damaged warships. This can be decided by the captain of the ship or the commander of the fleet staff based on the actual damage to the ship. And the purpose of abandoning the ship is to save the fleet and save the officers and men on the battleship. It is not difficult to build a battleship in wartime, but it is far more difficult to train hundreds of experienced and excellent naval officers and sailors than to build a new warship.

Five minutes later, before the last crew could leave the ship, another violent explosion occurred in the engine room of the battleship. This is an explosion created by leaking fuel. Dozens of officers and men who remained on the deck of the battleship were all shocked and flew out. Then the sinking of the "Cheng Zhijie" increased a lot, and it disappeared from the sea within three minutes.

Tan Renhao closed his eyes at this time, and was attacked by a Japanese submarine when he was about to win!

"This is a loss report." Lei Shaoqing was a little haggard, "The Japanese submarine has been sunk, and the destroyer is returning to the formation." ”

Tan Renhao glanced at the navigation clock, which was already twelve twenty-five. The fleet had sent war messages back an hour earlier, and radio silence had been restored. According to Tan Renhao's estimate. The Japanese Combined Fleet must have left the waters north of the Ogasawara Islands and is heading south. The Japanese bombers stationed on the islands suffered heavy losses, and no new bombing could be carried out today. Before looking for an opportunity to take out the Japanese Combined Fleet, you must first hide yourself, see the right time, and deal a fatal blow to the Japanese, and then you can declare the end of the Japanese Navy.

"Arrange anti-aircraft patrol fighters according to the normal situation." Tan Renhao sat down, "In addition." Try to fix the broken planes as much as possible, so that the pilots can take the time to recuperate. The battle had just begun, and the annihilation of the Japanese First Air Fleet only opened the door to victory for us, and we still had a long way to go. Also, let the staff officers all be on duty in normal shifts, so you don't have to stay here. ”

Lei Shaoqing immediately went to arrange the task of the staff officer. The battle lasted all morning, but many people were exhausted. The intense and exciting battle made most of the personnel's energy exhausted in transition, and only a few hours of fighting were on top of the fatigue accumulated in the usual days.

Wait until Lei Shaoqing arranges all the tasks of the staff officers. There was silence in the command cabin. Staff Officer 6, who had been rotated to rest, left the command cabin. And the staff officers who changed the guard were quietly doing their own thing. Tan Renhao called Lei Shaoqing to the chart table.

"Our mission is to take out the Japanese Combined Fleet and lay the groundwork for the 6th Sentai to ascend to the Volcanic Islands and the Ogasawara Islands." Tan Renhao lit a cigarette for Lei Shaoqing, "Therefore." We had to find a way to lure the Japanese Combined Fleet out to fight. You can also see in the morning round of bombing, although those Japanese shore-based bombers are not very threatening to the fleet, but in addition, there are other unpredictable factors in the Japanese submarines. If we were to deal with the Japanese Combined Fleet with Japanese bombing, the risk would be too great. ”

"And their shore-based fighters, if the Japanese shore-based fighters provide air defense cover for the combined fleet, then it will be more difficult for us to take out the combined fleet!"

Tan Renhao nodded slightly. "So the best thing to do is to drag the Japanese Combined Fleet out and fight."

"But Yamamoto Sixty-Five is not stupid, he will be fooled?" Lei Shaoqing bit his cigarette butt: "After the First Air Fleet is finished." Sixty-five Yamamoto, even if he was superstitious, the battleships would inevitably attach great importance to us, and they would not necessarily come out to fight us. ”

"The question is here, how can we force the Japanese Combined Fleet south to fight a decisive battle with us?" Tan Renhao sat down on the chair next to him, "If the Japanese Combined Fleet has been operating under the cover of shore-based fighters, we have almost no chance to take out the Combined Fleet. ”

"Unless we put on a posture and are ready to land on Iwo Jima or some other island!"

As soon as Lei Shaoqing reminded him of this, Tan Renhao immediately thought of a little. He immediately climbed to the chart, looked at it for a moment, and then laughed.

"What do you think?"

"This island!" Tan Renhao pointed to the isolated island on the chart. "Although South Iwo Jima is less than one-tenth the size of Iwo Jima, there is no place to build an airport on the island, and there is a lot of volcanic activity nearby. But the Japanese army deployed a force of about 5oo people here, and the occupation of South Iwo Jima can be used as an outpost to ascend 6 Iwo Jima......"

"You want to take the island?"

"No, it's not a matter for the fleet, and the capture of the island should be done by the 6th team, and we don't have the 6th team, right?" Tan Renhao smiled and grabbed Lei Shaoqing's shoulder: "If we shell the island and prepare to shell this island with the firepower before the 6, what will the Japanese think?" ”

"But our 6th Sentai is still on Ryukyu Island, and the 6th Sentai will not come out until the Japanese Combined Fleet is finished, won't the Japanese intelligence agencies find out about this?"

"How many troops do you need to capture Iwo Jima? With the support of the fleet, one battalion is enough, and the Japanese will think that it is impossible to arrange a battalion of 6 squadrons on our battleships? Tan Renhao lit a cigarette again, "As long as we come to Yamamoto 65 with the posture of ascending 6, we will suspect that we will occupy South Iwo Jima first, and use it as a base to attack other islands." When the combined fleet can sit idly by? ”

"But ......"

"It's risky, it's risky, and it's valuable." Tan Renhao sat down again: "As long as we can take out the Japanese Combined Fleet, then the Japanese Navy will only have an empty shelf. At that time, Japan will lose even its sea power, and what qualifications will they have to compete with us for islands in the Pacific Ocean? So the key to our battle is not how many Japanese facilities on the island can be destroyed, but to take out the Japanese Combined Fleet. ”

Lei Shaoqing nodded, and Tan Renhao knew better than him in the order of the purpose of the battle. Every campaign is actually moving towards a strategic goal, and if it serves the strategic purpose, then it is worth the loss.

"So it was decided." Tan Renhao didn't let Lei Shaoqing put forward any more opinions, and he didn't need anyone's opinion when making decisions. "When the fleet reaches a safe sea area, organize an artillery formation and send a few more heavy cruisers over. Then, bombers were dispatched to bomb the Japanese facilities on South Iwo Jima, and the artillery formation was responsible for the shelling. If Yamamoto Sixty-Five dares to go south, then let's give him some color and let him go to the Dragon Palace to meet Yamaguchi Wenta! ”

Lei Shaoqing laughed, talking about Renhao's appetite, it was really not a small matter to kill the Japanese First Air Fleet, and now he is going to deal with the Japanese Combined Fleet. Now Lei Shaoqing is also thinking so, since he has the opportunity, why not kill the Japanese Navy in one go?

Two days later, the fleet reached the sea about 75o nautical miles from Iwo Jima, which was already out of range of Japanese bombers, and Japanese patrol planes could not fly so far. According to Tan Renhao's request, the fleet rested for two days and rendezvoused with a supply fleet to complete the replenishment work. The next thing they have to do is force the combined fleet out!