Task Force 3 did win, and it was a decisive victory. Eight battleships of the "Z Fleet" were completely destroyed, and at least four cruisers, and nine destroyers were sunk (some of which were part of the "Washington Express") but it was also a victory with blood and sacrifice, a victory based on great sacrifices, a very tragic victory!

After the "Arizona" was defeated, the "Z Fleet" was already at a disadvantage, and now there was no way to go to the sky and no way to enter the sea. The five battleships of the Third Task Force were all holding on to the battle, and the firepower of each battleship was more than seventy percent. In a situation where four to five, all four battleships were heavily damaged, the "Z fleet" was already lost.

Kimmel's fate also came to an end, and at 5:40 a.m., two shells landed on the bridge of the commander of the "Pennsylvania" almost simultaneously. One shot was fired from the armor turret of the "Guizhong", while the other was fired from the C turret of the "Kunming" (the main and auxiliary sighting equipment of the "Kunming" was damaged, and each turret could only rely on spare sighting equipment to aim at the target, and the luck of this shell can be said to be good) Both shells penetrated the main armor of the commander's bridge, and the first shot hit directly into the compartment where Kimmel was. Before the shells exploded, Kimmel had already returned to the west. Two shells killed all the personnel on the bridge of the commander's ship, and also swept away the officers and men on the bridge of the battleship's navigation. The role of these two shells was decisive.

The "Z fleet" lost its command, as did the battleship "Pennsylvania". Perhaps, if Kimmel ordered a breakthrough at this time, it was possible to run back two ships, but after losing command, none of the other ships received the order to retreat, so naturally they could not retreat easily (this kind of behavior of fleeing from the battle is treason in the navy of any country), which made the remaining four battleships lose the chance to escape.

Immediately after the destruction of the bridge of the commander of the "Pennsylvania", it became the target of all-out attacks by the two battleships "Kunming" and "Guiyang". Dealing with a ship lost command. The battleships that could not do evasive maneuvers, the "Kunming" and "Guiyang" fired shells were deadly. In the next four rounds of shelling, at least a dozen shells hit the "Pennsylvania", and more than eight of them managed to penetrate the main armor and enter the hull of the ship to explode. At 5:58, the "Pennsylvania" sank into the sea in a series of explosions, and the battleship lasted only eighteen minutes!

Immediately after the "Pennsylvania" lost its combat effectiveness, the (in fact, second-in-line) "West Virginia", which was in front of it, was immediately bombarded by the main guns of two battleships. Originally, the opponent of the "West Virginia" was the flagship of the third task force "Guangzhou". Now the "Kunming" has three turrets on the ground (in fact, only six main guns can continue to fight) have also been added. The "West Virginia" actually had only five main guns left to fight. Its A turret has been destroyed, B turret has been implicated, and the gun pitcher on the right has been damaged.

At 5:54 a.m., the first lethal shell hit the engine room of the West Virginia, and the ship's speed plummeted to 12 knots, and it continued to slow down. Three minutes later, a shell fired from the "Kunming" hit the ship's waterline below, and finally exploded in the steering engine room, destroying the battleship's steering gear power system. "West Virginia" immediately lost control and began to spin on the surface of the sea. It was past six o'clock. Batches of shells almost turned the "West Virginia" into a hornet's nest. The battleship began to retreat at 6:12. In the end, because the water ingress was too serious, it overturned at 6:24.

The USS Tennessee and USS California began to flee for their lives at this time. The American commanders on both battleships saw the flagship explode and sink, and apparently the fleet commander Kimmel was finished. "West Virginia" has also retreated. The captain of the "Tennessee" became the supreme commander of the fleet at this time, and if he did not escape, he would have to stay and die! But now it's too much to escape.

Yan Shiqi will not let go of a US battleship. Immediately after the successful destruction of the "West Virginia", the "Canton" began to turn right and accelerate, preparing to go around to the front of the "California" and intercept its way. The "Kunming," which was a little slower, immediately followed, while the "Guizhou" quickly shifted its firepower and assisted the "Chengdu" in besieging the US ship that was about to flee for its life.

At 6:18 a.m., the "California" suffered at least eight shells, and the fourth-oldest standing part of the American fleet could no longer bear it. The officers and men on the battleship had not yet had time to fill the ammunition compartment of the main gun. One of the shells from the "Guizhou" hit the ammunition compartment of the main gun under its B turret. The bow of the battleship was completely blown away, and it only lasted until 6:22, two minutes faster than the "West Virginia", and disappeared from the sea!

"Tennessee" only lasted 15 minutes longer than its sister ship, the "California". And at the end of the day, it was five battleships besieging the USS Tennessee. At 6:33 a.m., the muzzles of the five battleships were aimed at the "Tennessee", and the first salvo was fired. By 6:45 a.m. (when Ellsloer saw Task Force 2 return to the battleship ground), the Tennessee had suffered at least twenty shells, and almost all of the superstructure had been destroyed. 6:48 a.m. The last salvo was fired, and the "Tennessee" was in a catastrophe, but it did not last even five minutes, and was blown into three pieces and disappeared from the sea before 6:50. At this time, Ansler and the others were still ten minutes away from the sea area of war.

The fate of the "Tennessee" was the worst, but it was also the most rewarding. When it confronted the Dignity alone, it had already badly wounded the Dignity. Two armor-piercing shells that hit the starboard side waterline of the "Dignity" almost killed the "Dignity". These two armor-piercing shells not only killed more than 100 officers and soldiers, but also caused serious flooding of eight adjacent compartments, while the watertight doors of the other four nearby compartments were damaged and soon flooded. Within five minutes (about 6:38 a.m.), the right compartment of the "Dignity" was filled with more than 2,500 tons of water, and the battleship was tilted to the right by 18 degrees, which could capsize at any time. As a last resort, the captain ordered the right compartment of the same part to be filled with water to help the battleship be leveled. At 6:45, the left tilt of the battleship recovered to about 5 degrees, but the water intake had already exceeded 6,000 tons, which was one-seventh of the battleship's full load displacement! What's worse is that. The hit part happened to be one of the two electric engine rooms of the battleship, that is, the battleship had lost half of its power at that time, and this could not ensure that all the pumping machines were running at full power, and the amount of water entering the battleship would only increase, not less!

The hard work of the officers and men of the "Dignity" only reduced the speed of the battleship's sinking, and although two heavy cruisers quickly arrived to provide power to the battleship, the damaged parts of the battleship could no longer be repaired. Water inflows are still increasing. By the time they arrived, the battleship had already reached 8,000 tons of water, and its bow deck was almost level with the sea!

At 6:55 a.m., Yan Shiqi had already ordered the officers and men of the "Dignity" to abandon the ship. The officers and men on the battleship did not give up, this is a battleship salvaged from the ruins, this is a battleship that symbolizes the dignity of the empire, if they just give up, then they are not the imperial navy!

All eight U.S. warships sank by 6:55 a.m. (the last one was the escaped "Arizona," which sank at 6:53 a.m.), and there were more than 12,000 U.S. Navy officers and sailors on board these eight warships. More than 2,800 of them were killed. More than 5,200 people were captured (including 3,800 wounded) and nearly 4,000 officers and soldiers were missing (most of them were buried at sea with the warships, and some were not recovered by the Tang Army and American rescue forces). drowned in the sea) The losses of the two task forces of the Don Empire were not small. The "Furious" sank at 6:58, sacrificing more than 300 officers and men, and seriously wounding more than 500 people (the Tang Imperial Navy generally does not count the number of missing people, these will be temporarily recorded in the list of the dead, if it is determined that it was not captured by the enemy after the war, it will be considered killed) The "Dignity" also sank in the afternoon of the same day, sacrificing 287 officers and soldiers and wounding 359. The other four battleships were all badly damaged, with the least injured "Guizhou" taking three months to repair, and the most seriously injured "Kunming" taking half a year to repair. A total of 696 officers and men were killed on these four battleships. 1,277 were seriously injured. In addition, two heavy cruisers were sunk and three were heavily damaged. Three destroyers were sunk and five were heavily damaged. A total of 673 officers and men were killed on these ships, and the Second Task Force was seriously damaged, losing one large cruiser and two ships. Four heavy cruisers were lost and four were heavily damaged, eight destroyers were lost and eight were heavily damaged. A total of 1,278 officers and soldiers were killed. Seriously wounded 764 people (the armor on the cruiser was weak, almost all the officers and men in the vicinity of the shells were killed, and there were very few survivors) Tactically, this can only be regarded as a crushing victory, a crushing victory in exchange for great sacrifices. As a result of the fierce battle, although the "Z Fleet" was completely annihilated, the second task force and the third task force of the Tang Empire were either killed or wounded, and almost all the warships had to return to the shipyard in the rear for repair (the cost of repairing these warships was enough to build three "Yangtze River" class aircraft carriers) Of course, the result of the battle could not only look at the comparison of the tactical losses and gains of the two sides, but the impact of this battle on the entire battlefield from the perspective of the entire battlefield.

The destruction of the "Z Fleet" effectively declared the loss of the US Navy, at least until the end of March, the loss of sea control in the Mariana Islands. Although the reinforcements from the Atlantic had arrived at this time, after this fierce battle, Nimitz had realized that it was impossible to seize sea supremacy by the battlefleet alone. The two task forces of the Tang Empire were beaten back, but their first task force never showed up. The striking force of this fleet is definitely above that of the 3rd Task Force!

By the end of March, the Don Empire was investing more and more in the Mariana Islands because there was no threat from the American fleet, and the entire Mariana Islands campaign had already made decisive progress before the end of March. And in the final analysis, it was the destruction of the "Z Fleet" that opened the door to victory for the Tang Empire, if Kimmel was not so impulsive, if the "Z Fleet" could escape back a few battleships, or if the Third Task Force could not completely annihilate the "Z Fleet", then the result could have been completely different. As long as the Don Empire has not been able to achieve a decisive victory before the end of March, then the battle for the Mariana Islands is still uncertain!

Of course, this does not mean that Nimitz has given up on the Mariana Islands. The "Washington Express" in the United States can still operate at night, and the navy of the Don Empire still controls the sea and sky during the day. Nimitz did not commit to the Atlantic Task Force, but left it at Pearl Harbor, but that did not mean that Nimitz had given up on holding out until the end of March, until the return of four carriers.

The battle for the most important islands in the southern Mariana Islands continues. The battle on Anatahan Island is basically locked. With the arrival of the third marine division of the Tang Empire on this island, with the arrival of a large number of combat materials and heavy equipment, it is impossible for the US army to drive the Tang army into the sea. But Anatahan Island is not the end in itself. In order for the Tang army to lock in the battle, it must capture Saipan, use Saipan to bomb the other three islands in the south, and build Saipan as the most important stronghold of the Tang army in the western Pacific!

Saipan's status is arguably the most important of the entire Mariana Islands, and indeed of the entire western Pacific islands. The first is that the island is large enough to accommodate thousands (or even more than 2,000) warplanes, and has a natural harbor that can accommodate dozens of large warships, and can also provide these warships with the necessary supplies to become the home port of the fleet. Secondly, the Imperial fleet departed from Saipan and could capture Wake Island, Midway, and eventually the Hawaiian Islands to the east. To the north, it can completely blockade Japan, cut off the sea lanes between the United States and Japan (submarines are based on Saipan and spend at least ten days patrolling in the North Pacific than they are based on Ryukyu Island) and to the south, it can threaten the sea routes from the United States and the Hawaiian Islands to Australia, sweep the Marshall Islands, the Gilbert Islands, and go straight to the Bismarck Islands, laying the foundation for the southward movement of the imperial army. Of course, tactical planes taking off from Saipan could easily blockade Tinian, Rota, and Guam.

That is, if the Don Empire wants to determine the final outcome of the battle for the Mariana Islands, then it will have to capture Saipan, and not just Anatahan!