The predictions of some of the staff officers did not come true, the battle ended before 7:20 a.m., and the 3rd Task Force did not suffer any losses, but two battleships were seriously damaged, two cruisers were sunk, and four were seriously damaged. 600 officers and men were killed or wounded. In addition, it was the shortest battle of the battleships in the war, starting at 6:36 and ending at 7:12 a.m., in just thirty-six minutes!

In these 36 minutes, the six battleships consumed a total of 2488 armor-piercing shells from their main guns, with an average of 1.28 shells per minute per gun, which can be regarded as a new record for the rate of shelling. A total of 1,321 shells hit the target, with a hit rate of 53%. The number of shells that pierced through the armor and exploded was 183 (217 in other accounts), and the dud rate reached 86.1%, showing how fierce the fighting was at that time. Or rather, how fast the gunner needs to move in this battle, how close the engagement is, and how flawed the design of the Type 26 armor-piercing projectile is

The losses of the American army were even more staggering. At that time, in addition to the more than a dozen destroyers that hid in the harbor and did not come out, the 21st Task Force was completely destroyed, and > 8,900 were killed and missing: 5,878 were captured, and there were only more than 200 officers and men. ~Walk. Moreover, the last few destroyers did not escape the catastrophe. It was sunk by bombers that morning. Judging by the ratio of losses to the duration of the operation. This can be regarded as the fastest and most painful naval artillery battle in which the US military failed. This speed even exceeds the ground aviation combat between aircraft carriers, which can be regarded as a particularly rare example of artillery warfare.

In fact, in history, there have been two similar battles in the port of San Diego. Before this campaign. In another battle of the same nature, and which shocked the navies of the time, the United States was also on the side of the war, and it was the victorious side. It was in the Spanish-American War that Spain's Caribbean Fleet was blocked in the port of Santiago by the home fleet commanded by Admiral Simpson (at that time, Simpson was on shore to discuss with the Army about attacking Santiago, and it was Brigadier General Shelly who actually commanded the fleet), and the Spanish fleet was ordered to do so by Madrid. Broke through in a hopeless situation, only to be surrounded and annihilated by the American home fleet. It was still the era of ironclads, and that battle was the most disparity in losses in the era of ironclads. And this "Battle of San Diego" was definitely the most disparity in losses in the battleship era. The only difference is that a few decades ago, the US Navy was the winner, and now, the US Navy is the loser.

The smoke has not yet cleared. Chang Jianxin had already ordered the salvage of officers and men floating on the sea as soon as possible, including officers and men of the Imperial Navy and the US Navy. It just so happened that the 1st destroyer formation rushed back and was immediately sent to participate in the salvage work, but this formation did not be able to fire a single shell in the battle (which was not the case), but became the formation that captured the most prisoners of war, to be precise. It is the fleet that scooped up the most officers and soldiers of the US army overboard.

The aftermath was also being carried out rapidly, and the most important thing at that time was to get the few wounded warships to retreat as quickly as possible. Just after 7:20 a.m., Chang Jiexin ordered the 2nd Ship-by-Ship Formation, which had been in charge of anti-submarine vigilance and patrol to the south of the fleet, to escort the "Wuhan" and "Guangzhou" and five seriously damaged cruisers (the "Lidong" sank on the way back) back to the port of Cologne. The formation broke away after ten minutes, but it was not the port of Colón that arrived first, because the four cruisers were in very bad condition on the ground and there were many wounded who needed timely treatment, and the formation turned to the port of Limont in Costa Rica during the voyage. After the transfer of the wounded, and a simple repair of the battleship was carried out. Then we headed to the port of Cologne.

The anti-aircraft alert warship was also quickly arranged. At that time, the 1st Destroyer Formation was salvaging the people who had fallen into the water, and Chang Zhixin could only ask the 1st Cruiser Formation to send cruisers to conduct air defense alert on the periphery of the fleet, and as a result, one cruiser was almost plotted by the US submarine, and by the time the destroyer rushed over, the US submarine had already slipped away. At this time, the fighters sent by other task forces were hovering around the fleet, and in order for these fighters to play a better role, they had to be guided by warships on the sea, which the "reconnaissance eagles" could not do, and they had to be completed by warships.

The seaplanes that had been hovering over the port of San Diego also returned to the fleet at this time, some of them were responsible for salvaging the wounded who had fallen into the water, and two of them, after refueling, flew over the port of San Diego again to continue to monitor the movements of the US warships in the port. Although it is only a few destroyers, Chang Zhixin will not let these destroyers slip away. Even if Chang Jianxin didn't think about letting the fleet approach and shelling those destroyers at that time, as long as the US destroyers rushed out of the port and fled, he would definitely not stand idly by, and it would be easy to kill a few destroyers.

These arrangements were not all newly made by the permanent recommendation, but the senior staff officers of the fleet command, especially the nautical staff, the combat staff, the communications staff, and the air defense staff, played a large role. These senior staff officers have been working with Chang Jianxin for several years, and they all have extremely rich experience in actual combat, and they know very well how to arrange the aftermath work, which work is most important and must be carried out immediately, and which work is secondary and can be dealt with later. With the assistance of so many staff officers, the pressure on Chang Xin is much lighter. In particular, when the chief of staff of the Third Task Force returned to China to recuperate from illness, and the new chief of staff had not yet been arranged, these senior staff officers had the opportunity to be promoted to chief of staff, and they had to perform well in order to win the favor of the fleet commander and thus gain the opportunity to soar to prominence.

When arranging the relevant work, Chang Jianxin has always been a little anxious, or rather uneasy, and what makes him most uneasy is that the fleet is too close to the US airfield, and the two aircraft carrier task forces of the Atlantic Fleet have not yet appeared, and the water reconnaissance plane he sent out has not sent back any report, nor have Tan Renhao and other fleet commanders

The telegram, that is, has not yet found the whereabouts of Spruance. I bombers could arrive at any time, and if Spruance was ready to strike back, he would have known that Task Force 3 was outside the port of San Diego before the battle began, shortly after dawn, and then the bombers would be dispatched. Even if there were five squadrons of fighters providing air defense cover for the third task force at this time, it would be impossible to stop the hundreds of American bombers from bombing in turn!

After thinking about it, Chang Jianxin only thought of one way, that is, to leave this place of right and wrong as soon as possible, he didn't want to become a ghost of the American bombers after he had just killed the US battleship fleet. If Task Force 3 suffered another major loss, his previous gains would be unsafe, and the tactical defeat of the American forces would not be so obvious.

Thirty-six plans, go for the top! With this idea in mind, Chang Zhixin immediately started to act. Just after half past seven, that is, after the 2nd ship-by-ship formation had just left the fleet and headed south, Chang Jiexin gave the order for the fleet to turn and accelerate. He only left two destroyers to continue to salvage the officers and men who fell into the water, and let the two destroyers raise the red cross flag, which is the mark of the medical ships of Western countries, according to the laws of war of Western countries, such ships cannot be easily attacked, maybe the US bombers will let those two destroyers go.

It would take at least fifteen minutes to get the fleet back into its arms and turn and accelerate. It was during this period that Chang Zhixin decided on a new course for the fleet, which should be the course of the retreat to be precise. After all, a clear sailing route contains a lot. Even professional sailors need more time to settle down if they are prepared. Determining the course is much simpler, especially when it comes to tactical evasion, where the fleet commander will quickly change course after avoiding danger. Take the time to set up a new course.

At that time, it was certainly not feasible to follow the wounded battleship formation south, after all, those wounded battleships could not get up fast, and it was impossible to maneuver to evade when they were bombed. Even if the fleet were able to escape, the wounded ships would be bombed and completely destroyed. However, the best route of retreat is to go south, for the sake of a few wounded warships, and let more warships that can continue to fight go on an adventure?

On this question, Chang Zhixin hesitated for several minutes. Let's be honest. At this juncture, any commander has to weigh the gains and losses, weigh the dangers that may be encountered, and judge the best and worst outcomes, and what are the probabilities of both, and how likely there are other outcomes in between, and ultimately make a decision based on these judgments and speculations. It takes a lot of brain power. It is also necessary to make decisions quickly, and it can be said that this is the time when the fleet commander is most tested, and at the same time, it is also the time to determine the decision-making ability of a fleet commander, as well as the key qualities such as courage, will, determination, etc.

"General, the fleet has completed its formation, in what direction should we retreat?" It wasn't until the other warships sent a message that they were ready to retreat that the nautical staff officer found a new recommendation. Now, it is up to the new ones to make the final decision. It is also the most critical decision.

"New course ......" Chang Jianxin paused slightly, "265, run as fast as you can, and in addition, contact the air defense fighters and let them all follow up and prepare to communicate with the first task force." ”

The nautical staff officer immediately went to give the order to turn, and then the communications staff officer came over.

"Brief Task Force 1 on our operations and the final results. In addition, it was requested to bomb the port of Santiago to prevent the remaining warships from escaping. Ask Task Force 1 and the rest of the task force when they will be able to arrange for bombers to take off, and if they have found the whereabouts of the other U.S. task forces. Chang Jianxin gave a lot of orders in one breath. Finally, contact all seaplanes searching the perimeter, confirm their location and situation, and inform them of the new course of the fleet. ”

The communications staff officer sent telegrams several times, mainly because some orders needed to be reorganized and emphatically explained, and these were all matters within the scope of the staff officer's duties, and it was impossible for him to send telegrams according to the original words of Chang Zhixin, otherwise the commander of the fleet in other places would feel that Chang Jianxin was giving orders. Within ten minutes, all the telegrams to Task Force 1 had been sent, and then it took about five minutes to contact the seaplanes on the search and reconnaissance mission. At this point, all the telegrams that Task Force 3 was supposed to send were sent, and the fleet went into radio silence. In the case of being so close to the US military base, radio silence is not very significant, but it has become a key issue of attention and a habit when the fleet enters a state of covert navigation.

At this time, it was almost eight o'clock, and there were no other UFOs in the sky except for those "Peregrine" fighters. Chang Jianxin breathed a sigh of relief, but before leaving the strike range of the US tactical bombers, he did not dare to relax at all, that is to say, during the entire daytime on the 24th, it was impossible for Chang Jianxin to completely relax. 12dc7de

At that time, Chang Jianxin first thought that the US military might have discovered the First Task Force in the south, as well as other task forces, so he first considered attacking the aircraft carrier task force instead of Chang Jianxin's new command of the Third Task Force. Therefore, Tan Renhao has not taken the initiative to contact Chang Recommend, which has deepened Chang Recommend's suspicions. If this is the case, then the problem is a bit serious, because before dark, the US military still has enough time to send bombers to pursue the third task force, and those fighters circling over the third task force are unlikely to hold out until dark, and will return at the latest at half past nine. Without the rotation of anti-aircraft fighters, then Task Force 3 simply cannot withstand an air strike of any scale!

However, after thinking about it, Chang Jianxin also felt that Tan Renhao and them were unlikely to be in danger, otherwise, those fighters hovering above his head would have flown away long ago. So, why haven't the bombers of the US military appeared until now?