Yamamoto Fifty-six slammed into the hard floor of the Yamato's command tower, and a large bag bulged out of his head, and Venus appeared in front of him. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

He was so embarrassed because a 16-inch (406mm) armor-piercing projectile hit the side wall of the 500mm-thick conning tower on the Yamato. Of course, it didn't break through, otherwise Yamamoto Fifty-six would have become a god by now.

Once again, the Yamato's sturdy armor withstood the test, and although it was hit several times, not a single 16-inch armor-piercing bullet could penetrate the Yamato's key protective zone. Only the bow of the ship was pierced by a 16-inch shell, but it was not a big deal.

"Commander, the distance is already close to 15,000 meters, close enough!"

Ugaki fell lightly than Yamamoto, but he broke his nose and got a lot of nosebleeds. So he also got up before Yamamoto Fifty-six, and after calling the management of the damage to confirm that the battleship was fine, he immediately suggested that he change course and parallel the two Carolina-class. Although the Yamato was quite strong, it was best to keep a certain distance from the enemy's 16-inch cannon.

"Okay, then let's turn." Yamamoto Isoroku didn't want to risk his life and the precious Yamato anymore.

The Yamato's turn meant that all nine 460mm cannons could concentrate their fire on the North Carolina (Yamamoto Isoroku had chosen the enemy correctly), but it also meant that the Yamato's bomb area would be greatly increased. Although both the Yamato's conning tower and the frontal front of the main gun turret (turret 1 was also hit once) withstood 16-inch (406mm) armor-piercing shells. However, the thickest part of its main armor belt on the side is only 410mm (at a 20-degree inclination), and at a distance of 15,000 meters, it should be difficult to block 16-inch (406mm) armor-piercing shells. As for the bow, stern and superstructure (with the exception of the conning tower), it is even more difficult to resist.

Knowing that the time to fire happily was coming to an end, the 18 16-inch cannons of the USS North Carolina and USS Washington began to fire wildly, firing four salvos in just 2 minutes, sending 72 kilograms of super-heavy armor-piercing shells, two of which hit the huge hull of the Yamato.

One hit the main armor belt of the ship's amidships, and the 410mm armor steel plate was actually pierced in an instant! The shell then slammed into the 90mm thick bulkhead of the No. 1 boiler compartment and exploded, although it did not destroy the No. 1 boiler room, but the huge shock caused the explosion to break one of the pipes in the boiler room (temporarily, of course), and the scorching steam surged everywhere, turning the No. 1 boiler room into a living hell. At the same time, the explosion also caused a fire inside the Yamato's hull, and flames erupted through the breach that had been pierced by the armor-piercing shell, turning the Yamato into a striking target.

Another 16-inch super-heavy bomb hit the chimney and stern of the Yamato, blowing the Yamato's chimney into two pieces!

Although they were not fatal injuries, they also made the super battleship Yamato suddenly look a little embarrassed.

However, the time for the Yamato to only be beaten and not fighting back came to an end, and after the distance between the two sides was close, its 460mm cannon began to wield its might.

At 3:25 a.m., a 460mm shell struck the front of the North Carolina's aft C turret, and the 18-inch (406mm) steel plate was instantly shredded like a thin piece of paper, and the shell exploded inside the turret, and incidentally detonated a 16-inch shell that had just been filled into the chamber. The explosion was so powerful that it shattered the entire turret to pieces, and if the turret base wasn't strong enough, it could have reached the ammunition depot!

Only 1 minute later, another 460mm armor-piercing shell pierced the USS North Carolina's 12-inch (305mm) rear side armor belt, and then the shell penetrated directly into the boiler room, exploding in the No. 4 boiler room, destroying 2 heavy oil boilers (a total of 8 in 4 compartments). With the loss of 2 boilers and the shattering of several steam pipes, the North Carolina's power was instantly reduced by more than half, and its speed was about to reach 15 knots.

At 3:30 a.m., the Yamato's 460mm shell hit the USS North Carolina again below the amidships, not only penetrating the armor belt but also penetrating four compartments in a row and exploding outside the bulkhead of the engine room, directly blowing through the engine room, hundreds of tons of seawater rushed in, and North Carolina immediately tilted 5 degrees to the left.

In just a few minutes, just 3 460mm armor-piercing shells inflicted fatal damage on the battleship USS North Carolina with a standard displacement of 36,600 tons.

When Nimitz learned of the ship's damage, he already knew that the USS North Carolina was finished.

Now the question is how long this battleship can hold out and how much damage can it inflict on the "80,000-ton battleship" of the Japanese?

While being hit by the Yamato repeatedly, the USS North Carolina and its sister ship, the USS Washington, were fighting back with all their might. Their 16-inch shells hit the Yamato twice more, once below the waterline of the Yamato's bow, which was not a fatal vital position. However, it caused a large influx of seawater, which caused the bow of the Yamato to sink somewhat, and the speed of the ship was further slowed down to 15 knots.

Another 16-inch shell hit the main armor belt on the port side of the Yamato again, and this time the shell penetrated Yamamoto's commanding office, where it exploded and ignited a fire. The fire spread in the senior officers' cabins of the Commander's Hall, the Commander's Cabin, the Captain's Cabin, the Chief of Staff's Cabin, the Staff Cabin, and so on, turning all the senior officers of the Combined Fleet into "homeless".

However, the Yamato's main guns quickly avenged its commander for the destruction of the family, and the B turret of the Carolina's bow was knocked out with one shot. Now 2 of the Carolina's 3 main gun turrets have been destroyed, 1 boiler room has been blown up, and the engine room has been flooded so much that the speed has dropped to 10 knots.

The first captain of the North Carolina, Admiral Hurstvedt, knew that he was probably the last captain of the battleship.

"Admiral, I beg you to transfer the command." Admiral Hurstvedt said loudly to Nimitz.

"Okay!" Nimitz nodded and said to Frederick, "Order the USS Washington to retreat at full speed in 3 minutes." ”

Then he solemnly said to Admiral Hurstvedt, "I order you to return alive to San Diego, and in April I will put a brand new South Dakota-class battleship under your command!" ”

With that, he strode out of the command tower with Chief of Staff Frederick and several staff officers. Admiral Hurstvedt summoned an Atlanta-class cruiser with a lantern for Nimitz to use.

While Nimitz left, the battle between the three battleships continued. Now it's the 12 16-inch (406mm) cannons of the USS North Carolina and the USS Washington against the 9 460mm cannons of the USS Yamato. In just 3 minutes, Yamato hit the USS North Carolina twice, while USS North Carolina and USS Washington hit the USS Yamato once each.

This is simply three battleships stabbing each other with more than 400 mm barrels! A poke is a big hole! The rear main gun firing command post of the Yamato was destroyed, and a triple 155mm secondary gun turret was knocked away. The North Carolina was even worse, with one shot each in the bow A turret and at the bottom of the bridge. The A turret was shattered on the spot, the bottom of the bridge was pierced, and the shells exploded inside the bridge, killing or injuring the people on the bridge. The captain, Admiral Herstvedt, broke his legs and became lame, and reluctantly gave the order to abandon the ship before he lost consciousness.

"Commander, one North Carolina-class seems to have been abandoned, and another is on the run, do you want to chase after it?"

Yamamoto raised his binoculars and glanced at the Washington, which was about to disappear into the darkness. Shaking his head, he said, "I can't catch up...... Let the destroyers torpedo the crippled North Carolina-class and get out of here. After dawn, let Nagumo's plane blow up and sink the North Carolina-class. ”

The North Carolina-class 16-inch (406mm) cannon is not as powerful as a 14-inch cannon. Although the Yamato won the battle with one enemy and two enemies, it was also beaten all over its body and had to be driven back to the mainland for overhaul. It seems that although this Yamato is powerful, it is not really invincible!

"Commander, Nagato's battle report!" The communications staff officer of the Combined Fleet shouted at this time, "Sink a Colorado-class ...... But the Mutsu was broken! ”

"What?" Yamamoto Fifty-six couldn't help frowning when he heard the news, "Nagato and Mutsu actually broke the Mitsu against a Colorado-class, what the hell is going on?" ”

The communications staff officer replied: "Commander, Vice Admiral Takasu reported that the Mutsu was hit by a concentrated attack by enemy ships during the firefight, and the main armor belt was pierced shortly after the exchange of fire began, and a 16-inch shell exploded outside the No. 2 boiler compartment, causing a large fire. Five minutes later, another 16-inch shell exploded outside the No. 3 boiler compartment, causing extensive electrical damage, breaking all four main steam pipes, losing power to the ship, and igniting the fire again, as well as causing the chief engineer, the captain of the damage pipe, and a large number of casualties......"

In short, the battleship Mutsu was unlucky. Two shells exploded one after the other at a close distance, with an interval of no more than 5 minutes. Moreover, when the second shell exploded, the chief engineer and the damage management captain of the Mutsu were leading people to repair and rescue the case. As a result, they were all killed, leaving the battleship without most of its maintenance and damage management personnel. Moreover, the second shell also broke all the steam pipes, leaving the battleship without power. In the end, the damage was caused and could not be repaired in a short period of time, and the fire was difficult to extinguish for a while. (To be continued.) )