readx; The periscopes on the two submarines were closely fixed on the "Big Blue Fish" and "Big Yellow Fish" of the 18th Submarine Detachment of the US submarine force, and after the ship fleet was far away, the two submarines surfaced and sent an alert to the 5th Task Force by telegram. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

At dawn the next day, the fleet had sailed to the high seas south of Kyushu Island, and the fleet was lined up in a circular anti-aircraft formation, with the "Yamato" in the center and destroyers scattered around. The fleet went south on a zigzag course with a speed of 24 knots per hour.

After a while, the coastline of Jiuzhou disappeared, and only these warships remained on the sea. At about 8 o'clock, the weather turned sour, with birds overheading and heavy rain pouring down, which seemed to indicate that the future of the fleet was not good. Sure enough, the first non-combat attrition occurred around 9:10 a.m., when the destroyer "Asassu" gave the signal that its boiler had failed, and the destroyer slowed down and began to fall behind. But its crew did their best to make repairs and try to troubleshoot the problem, but soon it disappeared from view of the advancing fleet.

In the waters off Okinawa, the U.S. fleet underwent a reorganization, and the entire fleet was renumbered and named Task Force 5. Two sub-fleets were subordinated. Vice Admiral Halsey commanded Task Force 58. John. a。 Rear Admiral Mitchell commanded Task Force 32. "Enterprise" was assigned to Task Force 58. At 8:25 p.m. that night, Vice Admiral Spruance received a telegram from the "Big Herring" and "Big Yellow Fish", and the Vice Admiral immediately sent a telegram to Vice Admiral Halsey, and General Spruance had the opinion to 'let the enemy ships continue south, and let the battleships and cruisers use their cannons against them.' But the aggressive 'Bull' Halsey couldn't wait. He didn't think it would be a pleasure to shoot at a super battleship like the Yamato with a cannon. He wanted to use this opportunity to prove once again that he could sink the "Yamato" with carrier-based aircraft at minimal cost. If the Musashi could have been sunk in the first place, why couldn't the same method be used against the Musashi's sister ships? This is a great opportunity to prove that the aircraft is superior and more effective than the artillery, if it still needs to be proven!

Halsey immediately sent a telegram to the "Enterprise", in which he ordered Liu Xirui to send a group of planes to attack the "Yamato" fleet, which was still 250 nautical miles away. He also sent a telegram to General Spruance that he had ordered Colonel Cole to lead a group of planes to attack unless otherwise instructed. Lieutenant General Spruance wrote in the blank space of the telegram sent by Halsey:

"Good luck! God will bless you all! ”

At 12:10 a.m. on 8 April, Liu Xirui, who was aboard the "Enterprise," received a telegram from General Halsey from the battleship "Missouri." The message was not long, but it was an order: "Send planes, blow up and sink all enemy ships, don't let them escape, especially the 'Yamato', I wish you well!" ”

This was a relatively simple naval attack mission, and the enemy did not have aircraft carriers, which meant that the fleet had no air cover. This battle is much better! The only thing to deal with was the anti-aircraft fire of the enemy fleet itself. This is not too difficult for the US pilots who have experienced countless such battles. Liu Xirui and Kauft only briefly discussed, and did not even make any plans or plans. They left only the "Varps 2" and "Hancock", as well as nearly 1,000 aircraft on eight aircraft carriers, to serve as a guard over the fleet and to support General Barnack's landing force. The remaining 3,000-odd planes were dispatched in five groups, each batch of 150 "shrew-style" cover, and an attack fleet of about 250 dive bombers and 200 torpedo attack planes was formed to ensure that they could continuously attack the fleet.

Liu Xirui didn't need Halsey's order, he had already made up his mind to completely annihilate this fleet.

Since the Sino-Japanese Naval War, the Yuben Navy has oppressed China for more than half a century, and today, we, the Chinese, have borrowed the hands of the Americans to destroy all the navies of the little Yuben devils, and let the Xiaoyuben taste the taste of not having coastal defense!

Damn it! It is particularly important to find an opportunity to resolutely destroy all of his warships, for this fleet is his last possession, and at least while the Americans are now fighting with him, he will wipe out all of his navy and buy some time for the Chinese navy to be dug up. As for whether this fleet will pose a threat to the US fleet or even beat the Americans severely, this is none of Lao Tzu's business! I am Chinese, fighting for China's future! It's just to borrow the power of the old United States, in fact, this also involves the security of the Yankees themselves, I think the Americans are willing to fight side by side with the Chinese!

At about 1:10 p.m. on 8 April, Liu Xirui led the first assault echelon composed of 600 Chinese and American planes to set off. The planes roared up to Lan Tian, and the planes formed a formation over Task Force 5. The 150 "shrew" fighters led by Liu Xirui took the lead, followed by a large group of bombers and torpedo attack planes. The task of the fighter is to clear the sky, and at the same time, it is responsible for destroying the anti-aircraft fire of the Japanese fleet. Then bombers and torpedo attack aircraft attacked. This is a standard textbook mode of warfare. It is said that this fleet does not have aircraft carriers, which means that this fleet has lost its air cover, and for the Americans, this battle will be won or lost, and the question is only how long it will take to clear out these warships and whether their own losses can be minimized.

At 2:35 p.m., a huge group of US planes led by Liu Xirui flew over the Second Attack Fleet of the Navy. Looking out to sea from the distant sky, the ant-like warships were lined up in a square formation. There were 8 warships evenly distributed around the perimeter, and in the center of the square formation was a tall and mighty warship, which was a battleship. Almost half of the US pilots in the air felt that this huge battleship was very familiar, and it was the "Yamato," the sister ship of the super battleship "Musashi," which had already been sunk by US carrier-based aircraft. Liu Xirui did not hesitate at all, he immediately sent out the signal to attack, and more than 150 "shrew" fighters swooped down from the clouds and began to attack this fleet that had traveled nearly 300 nautical miles.

On the bridge of the cruiser "Yaji", General Furumura first spotted the American plane. The sirens on the "Yaji" screamed loudly, and then all the warships of the fleet sounded the air defense siren, and the terrible screams resounded through the sky. All the ships in the fleet began to maneuver, and the formation spread out even more, and the sailors on the ships rushed to their respective posts in a hurry. The sailors put on their life vests, the anti-aircraft gunners put on steel helmets, and the deck was hurried and chaotic. But at this moment, it suddenly began to rain heavily, and a large thick cloud enveloped the sea.

It is said that the soldiers praised Amaterasu with their hands and foreheads. It was said that the fleet was covered by rain and fog, and the US plane had to climb to an altitude of more than 6,000 meters to avoid the torrential rain, and there was not a single US plane in the air. I don't know if Amaterasu blamed him for being unreligious or if he intended to play an adult joke on his followers, but it only rained for about 10 minutes, and the rain clouds drifted away, and the bright sunlight shone down from the blue sky, and the second attack fleet looked exceptionally clear against the blue backdrop. The officers and men, who breathed a sigh of relief, became nervous again. As soon as the heavy rain stopped and the bird clouds drifted away, a large group of US planes swooped down from the direction of the sun's rays, and these US planes rushed straight towards the "Yamato" without stopping.

On the bridge of the "Yamato", an observation post shouted:

"Air raids! Air raid! Enemy aircraft spotted 15 degrees in front of the left! Height 4000 meters! ”

Yuan Osa turned around, and in the binoculars he saw the first batch of about 40 enemy planes swooping down from the direction of the sun, and the 150 antiaircraft guns and more than 300 antiaircraft machine guns on the "Yamato" opened fire at the same time. On the gun emplacement, the gunners were struggling, and the guns that were spitting tongues of fire fiercely moved quickly with the commander's command knife. The warship wriggled its body and quickly changed directions, while spewing out a thick and dense barrage. Hara Daisa thought that at least more than half of the enemy chances would be shot down, and no plane would be able to rush through this fire net. If the Americans want to attack by force, it is tantamount to sending them to death!

But he immediately realized that he had thought wrongly, and he was surprised that a US fighter led by him actually penetrated the barrage unscathed through the barrage with its fuselage sideways. It wasn't until the machine guns on the wings of the US plane fired ferociously and a string of sparks erupted from the starboard anti-aircraft gun position of the "Yamato," that Hara still did not believe that this scene was real. But the bullet hit the armor and issued a "pounce!" The muffled sound of the "flutter" and the people in the anti-aircraft artillery position turned their horses and told him that this was not a dream! He was amazed at how nimble the US fighter plane, numbered "E9," was so flexible. Whether it was the plane rushing head-on in the face of ferocious artillery fire, or whether it passed the warship like a meteor, not a single bullet or shrapnel hit it in the dense artillery fire on the "Yamato." It's nothing short of a miracle. Anti-aircraft artillery fire could not stop US planes. Four anti-aircraft machine guns and two 40-mm anti-aircraft guns on the starboard side were silent, and someone was shouting "Sanitary soldiers!" ”。 An observation post next to Hara Osaku shouted hysterically:

"Airplanes! Plane! It's the bombers of the Americans! ”

He pointed to the starboard side and yelled.

Hara raised the binoculars on his chest, and in the lens he saw a terrifying picture. Behind the group of US fighter jets, there was a large row of dense black dots, and I didn't know if it was a bomber or a torpedo attack plane. These black dots were lined up and clinging to the sea, and they were coming straight towards the Yamato from the starboard side. The anti-aircraft guns, twin guns, and anti-aircraft machine guns on the Suga ship were firing incessantly, and clouds of smoke were blown up in the air. But these beautiful planes don't seem to care at all. The black dot is getting bigger and bigger, and you can already see the outline of the plane with the naked eye. At a distance of about 100 meters from the "Yamato," about 10 planes in the front row rose together, and it became clear that these were a group of American 'dive-Diver' carrier-based dive bombers. Until these American planes roared past the towers of the warships, Yuan Dazuo didn't understand what was going on? A U.S. plane was hit, and Hara Dazuo saw a ball of fire burst out of the right wing of the U.S. plane, and then the wing broke, and the plane spun and fell into the sea not far from the port side. Yuan Dazuo thought to himself, it turned out that the Americans were just as brave as himself, and he silently prayed in his heart for this brave American pilot, hoping that this guy could get out of the plane that was shot down and planted in the sea.

At this time, there was a violent explosion on the warship, and Hara Osa saw three bombs jumping towards the "Yamato" like leather balls on the sea, and these three leather balls grazed the bow of the ship, and Hara Osa just breathed a sigh of relief, and a large explosion occurred near the No. 1 turret on the front deck of the warship tower where he was standing. 'Ricochet attack! Yuan Dazuo can be regarded as understanding. He had only heard of such attacks before, but today he had seen it. Two 500-pound bombs exploded under the mainmast of the "Yamato", and a torpedo also hit the starboard side of the superbattleship. All the warships of the Second Strike Fleet on the surface of the sea were firing anti-aircraft fire and maneuvering, resisting as resolutely as they could, trying to dodge the whistling bombs and torpedoes that dragged their long trails through the water.

The swarms of the American planes were like a large number of industrious honey-collecting bees, buzzing incessantly, and every dive of the planes made the scalps of the sailors tense. In order to avoid the attack of the US plane, the 8,500-ton cruiser "Yaji" rushed into the rainstorm area. But the heavy rain soon stopped, and the heavy cruiser was exposed. At 3:05, a 500-pound bomb hit the heavy cruiser, and the hull shook violently in the explosion. Almost at the same time, three American torpedo planes launched a second attack on it, and two torpedoes went off course after entering the water, but the other torpedo hit the portside hull of the "Yaji" squarely below the waterline, and a column of water rushed up brightly against the side, and the torpedo just exploded the boiler room of the heavy cruiser.

The sea rushed in, the power room was submerged, and the warship lost power and collapsed on the surface of the sea. Ten minutes later, the US planes that attacked it for the third time dived again, and the "Yaji" was hit by another bomb on the foredeck and stern, followed by another torpedo hitting the bow again. The "Yaji" was blown up almost in a circle, and the fire burst into flames. Standing on the bridge of the "Yamato", Hara Osa, thought that this warship looked like it was made of paper.

The US planes flying between the clouds seem to be a little triumphant and forgetful! As long as it flies a little higher, the anti-aircraft artillery fire of the fleet will not be able to reach it at all. General Furumura's uniform had been stained with gunsmoke, but he didn't care anymore. All the sailors on board the "Yaji", except for some who were still firing into the air with various weapons, the rest were trying to extinguish the fire. But it didn't work. The warship has lost all power, and the electric water pump cannot be used, and relying on a hand-cranked artificial water pump will certainly not help. Some sailors died like moths in the fire. From the "Yamato" came an order from Vice Admiral Ito, demanding that General Furumura immediately transfer to a destroyer, and together they would continue to Okinawa. The destroyer "Isokaze" approached the "Yasu" with the intention of rescuing the remaining survivors of the warship, but the destroyer was immediately captured by the third group of US attack planes rushing out of the clouds. It was first attacked by U.S. fighter jets with machine guns and rockets, then at least five dive bombers "took care of," and the "Isokaze" was surrounded by tall columns of water. But it seems that the attack was not effective, the destroyer was not seriously damaged, but a US bomber was hit, the plane fell with black smoke in tow, the pilot and tail gunner parachuted to escape, and two white parachutes appeared and disappeared in the smoke.

General Furumura watched all this with interest with his saber in hand, as if he was not in the heat of battle, but on the sidelines, watching a war movie. The destroyer "Isokaze" approached, but General Furumura refused to leave the ship, preferring to die on the "Yazuki" rather than die on an unnamed boat.

Three nautical miles away, the "Yamato" had been hit by 4 torpedoes and 6 bombs, and a large number of dead and wounded were lying on the deck, some of them were disemboweled, their intestines were sliding on the wet deck, some were missing feet and hands, and blood was flowing outward along the drainage holes on the deck. The hull of the "Yamato" has begun to tilt, and the speed has dropped to about 18 knots per hour. However, Lieutenant General Ito still gave the order to move at full speed in the direction of Okinawa. In addition to the heavy cruiser "Yaji", one destroyer of the Second Attack Fleet was sunk, two were wounded, and they lagged behind a lot. Another one was on fire, and although the fire was extinguished, the entire warship was burned black, but it was still barely able to move with the team. Liu Xirui, who commanded the air fleet in the air to carry out air raids on the Yue army fleet, could not help but have a trace of admiration for Yue himself's tenacity.

Knowing that you can't do anything, but still trying your best to do it, regardless of the consequences, even though you are still honoring death, it's really a fucking standard "iron brain". In any case, for the sake of the victory that will be born, these warships must not be allowed to float on the water. At this time, the fourth batch of 600 US planes that carried out echelon attacks arrived, and Liu Xirui commanded 150 bombers and torpedo attack planes to concentrate on attacking the starboard side of the "Yamato," which had been seriously damaged. The US fighter planes rushed down, and machine guns and rockets poured into the deck of the "Yamato" like crazy, causing wolf smoke to splash everywhere on the wide and long deck of the battleship, and a large group of dive bombers launched a ricocheting attack, and the torpedo planes took the opportunity to launch torpedoes in the chaos. When the "Yamato" was hit by three more 500-pound bombs and four torpedoes, the large warship could no longer move forward. It began to turn and run away. But after a while, two more torpedoes were hit on the port side, and a violent explosion broke out again on the deck. The machine gun bullets fired by the diving US fighters were like a torrential rain, and almost all the antiaircraft gunners were shot and killed. The rudder of the warship has been blown up, and a large amount of seawater has been poured into the ship, and the warship has tilted about 15 degrees.

At 3.45 p.m., the officer in charge of the displacement reported to the bridge that the starboard side had reached the maximum level of water and that in order to maintain balance and prevent the warship from capsizing, water had to be filled into the engine room on the port side. This means that the speed will be reduced even further, reaching a maximum of 9 knots per hour. And the air defense officer also repeatedly asked to correct the tilt of the hull, since most of the anti-aircraft guns were no longer able to fire. Vice Captain Jiro Nomura thought for a moment, and he ordered the engine room to be filled with water.

The hull of the "Yamato" gradually tilted to the left, and the hull of the ship tended to balance again. But within five minutes, another torpedo was hit on the starboard side, and the torpedo exploded a large crack under the storage compartment of the "Yamato", and more seawater poured into the crack, and the sailors fought to the death, but they could not plug this big hole by all means. "Yamato" again began to tilt to the right. In less than 10 minutes, the "Yamato" hit two more torpedoes and three bombs, the bombs blew up the mainmast of the warship, and the torpedo exploded on the starboard side. This is the 12th bomb and the 9th torpedo. A telephone call from the wheelhouse to the command bridge said that the wheelhouse was filled with water and could no longer be used for the cabin. Then the phone snapped off.

General Ariga knew that the "Yamato" would probably not survive today. The sky was full of dense US planes, and they would never allow the "Yamato" to continue sailing to Okinawa Island. The "Yamato" will not be allowed to return to the Seto Inland Sea. The US plane is still attacking non-stop, and with such serious injuries, it is only a matter of time before it sinks. Ariga commanded loudly:

"Attention all! The bow turns to the north! ”

To the north is the direction of the Honhonto mainland, which is also the direction of the Emperor. According to naval tradition, if a warship is likely to sink and a dead officer or soldier, the head should be turned north to show allegiance to the Emperor and respect for the Emperor. But Shogun Araga's order could not be carried out, and the helmsman was drowned in the cabin. The warship spun to the left. The officer's duty room in the bow of the ship had been knocked out by a 500-pound bomb. However, Liu Xirui did not intend to let go of the dying battleship, and he still commanded the US planes to attack the warship without stopping. Five minutes later, two more torpedoes hit the stern of the "Yamato" at once, and the tilt of the "Yamato" accelerated, the hull of the ship had been tilted to 18 degrees, and the speed dropped to 7 knots per hour.

At a distance of 1 nautical mile from the "Yamato", the heavy cruiser "Yatsuki" was sinking. A large group of US planes did not let it go because of this, and the bombs still kept falling, so it was better to kill the tiger, or it was better to chase the poor with the remaining bravery! Anyway, it is an ironclad fact that the Chinese and US planes beat it. The Yaki was once again surrounded by a bright and tall column of water. The deck has begun to flood. General Furumura looked at the surrounding sea, but no matter which direction he looked, all the destroyers and cruisers of this fleet, and of course their flagship "Yamato", were being attacked by American aircraft. The situation is hopeless, the warship is either burning or sinking. Two destroyers, small in size and seemingly undamaged, were circling the "Yamato" and were constantly firing into the air in an attempt to defend the "Yamato." General Furumura was submerged in his thighs by the rising seawater, and he looked at his pocket watch, which was nearly 4 o'clock in the afternoon. At this moment, the "Yaji" sank violently, and General Furumura was sucked into the whirlpool of the sunken ship. Furumura muttered to himself, "I can finally be free!" ”

Furumura was relieved, but he didn't lose consciousness, he choked on a few mouthfuls of bitter and astringent water, and a big wave pushed him back to the surface, and he began to swim in the heavy layer of oil. He saw a few sailors, their faces were all black, but in fact, the ancient village was the same as them. When he was thrown to the crest of the sea, he saw the "Yamato" one nautical mile away, and the American plane circled around the warship like a swarm of wasps. But the "Yamato" is still moving, "what a solid warship this is!" General Furumura sighed in his heart.

On the second bridge of the "Yamato", the red lights on the warning board lit up one after another, and in a short time, all six warning lights were turned on. Vice Captain Nomura knew that the No. 1 and No. 2 turrets had started to alarm at the same time, and the two turrets had more than 2,300 large-caliber shells coexisting, and these shells were about to explode? You know, only 3 shots were fired! If the remaining shells exploded at once, then the Americans would have saved much trouble, and the "Yamato" would have been split into two parts. Before Nomura could come to his senses, a backup siren screamed, and then all seven alarms on the bridge went off. Captain Ariga shouted to him loudly:

"Nomura-kun! Is it possible to pour water into the ammunition depot? ”

To Nomura's ears, Captain Araga's voice was a little hysterical, as if his throat had been torn open by shrapnel, and the sound was squeezed out of the cracks. The captain's request was simply not possible, the water injection system and the power system had long been blown up, and no one could fix them. Nomura quietly waited for the big explosion that would blow them all up, and he was very satisfied, this was a very good ending, equivalent to samurai seppuku, which was incomparably glorious, but the big explosion did not happen for a long time.

At about 4:10 p.m., the starboard side of the "Yamato" was hit by another torpedo, whether it was the 20th or the 22nd, Vice Captain Nomura could not remember. He felt that the "Yamato" should be sunk soon, because it had taken too many bombs and torpedoes, and this should be the last "most merciful" blow! The captain should have given the order to abandon the ship, and let all the officers and men who are still alive leave the ship and escape. But for some reason, Captain Ariga didn't react. Nomura climbed up the narrow spiral staircase to the third bridge, where it was a little higher and could be seen more clearly. Generally speaking, the "Yamato" should be about 10 meters above the surface of the water under normal circumstances, that is, 25 feet high, but the ship itself was seriously tilted, the starboard side was less than two meters above the water, and part of the stern part of the ship was flooded into the water. Some sailors had given up their efforts to save the ship, and they sat in piles at the bow of the ship, some smoking, some eating compressed food, waiting for the order to abandon the ship.

The Chinese and American fighters in the air attacked again, but all the officers and men did not care, only the two anti-aircraft guns on the port side were still firing indiscriminately. Two more water columns splashed on both sides of the hull, indicating that two more torpedoes had been hit. Nomura glanced at the third bridge, and he always felt that something was wrong, as if something was missing. Yes! That's right! The mainmast is gone, the naval flag is gone, and there are photos! The big picture of the emperor and empress is also gone! Nomura made a phone call to the gun commander in charge of the bridge, and the call turned out to be successful. The gunner said that he had locked the photograph in a compartment with himself so that it would not drift away with the sea when the warship sank, and that he had decided to be with the photograph forever. Nomura wordlessly put down the phone.

The "Yamato" had tilted by 30 degrees, and it was time to abandon the ship. Captain Ariga gave the order, and he said to Deputy Captain Nomura:

"It's almost over! Let all the officers and men assemble on the deck! You lead them away immediately! And please report to the commander of the Combined Fleet! Please! ”

Nomura was furious, and he protested loudly. But Captain Ariga ignored his protests and said:

"I'll stay on the ship, you must try to get back alive!"

Nomura insisted:

"Nope! Your Excellency, I should stay with you! ”

"Your Excellency Vice Captain, this is an order!"

Ariga replied coldly: he had a sailor tie him to the compass firmly. When the other officers wanted to do the same, Shogun Ariga was furious, and he yelled:

"What are you doing here? Yaga! Bastard! Young people should be alive and swim to escape. The war continues, and I command you all to go back to your roots! ”

Vice Admiral Ito, commander of the Second Attack Fleet, must have refused to leave the ship, and he said goodbye to the chief of staff, Rear Admiral Ariki Morishita, and walked to the door of the lower cabin alone, barely maintaining his balance, and he opened the hatch and stepped in without looking back. His adjutant was also about to follow up, and Morishita Chief of Staff said angrily:

"What? Young man! Do you want to escape? Stay alive! Continue to serve the Emperor! ”

At about 5 p.m., Liu Xirui, who had visited the skies over the "Yamato" again, saw with his own eyes that the "Yamato," a giant warship, was leaning more and more and more, and finally capsized after some struggle. The sea gradually submerged it. "Yamato" lay on his side on the surface of the Pacific Ocean, like a big whale that was about to breathe, and there was no need to attack it again. The US planes circled over the "Yamato," and the pilots saw the wreckage of countless cannons, ammunition, corpses, and some debris sliding mercilessly into the sea and being swallowed up by the waves, the lights of the warships were all extinguished, and the ant-like sailors struggled to climb up to the deck almost perpendicular to the sea, and these black spots slipped and fell into the waves from time to time. They climbed over the railing and squeezed into the hull of the left bulkhead of the warship.

Vice Captain Nomura was sucked into the sinking whirlpool of the Yamato with a tremendous force, and he even saw the sailors who had fallen into the water in the clear and transparent water. Beneath his feet was a bottomless pit of deep blue. Suddenly, a bright pink light pierced through the water, and a huge shockwave struck him like a giant hammer, and savagely lifted him to the surface of the sea, rolling a large fireball underwater. The ammunition depot of the "Yamato" exploded. Nomura thought desperately:

"The Yamato is coming to an end! I'm afraid the empire is coming to an end! ”

On board the destroyer Yukikaze, the captain of the ship, Masamichi Nakasa Terauchi, watched in despair as the Yamato, which was 1 nautical mile away, disappeared. "Yamato" means "Yamato", does this mean that the book is also finished? He sent a signal to Yoshida Masayosa, the highest-ranking officer on the destroyer Fuyutsuki, to ask about his next move, and Yoshida called back to say that he would determine his next move after rescuing the survivors.

The "Yukikaze" lowered its dinghy and began to rescue the people who had fallen into the water, but the American planes showed noble chivalry and did not continue to attack them. But the Americans do not intend to leave and are still watching from the air. The temple ordered that only the officers and soldiers who were still useful in the battle should be rescued, and that the wounded should not be treated. Of the 2,332 officers and men on board the Yamato, only 269 survived.

When the "Yamato" sank, he was floating on the sea, and he saw a US "Kadalna-type" seaplane landing on the sea, and it roared and glided through the dark green waters, and the two downed US pilots climbed into the plane from the life raft, and the plane flew into the sky like a seagull. Yuan Dazuo secretly applauded in his heart, he was very envious of the Americans who cherished and loved the lives of the nurses and soldiers so much.

Little Benz was hovering in the air, and he saw with his own eyes the sinking of the giant warship "Yamato", and he shouted loudly over the radio intercom with great joy:

"The Yamato is sinking! We won the war! I said that I had given up resistance! I gave us their biggest warship! Long live the Emperor! ”

Liu Xirui roared angrily:

"Shut up! If you sink the Yamato, swallow it all back to my stomach! ”

It was almost dusk, and the Chinese and American fighters returned and flew away. The sky was quiet again. Hara Osa and General Furumura were rescued from the destroyer "Hatsufrost", and there were only these two small destroyers left in the entire Second Attack Fleet, and they were more or less wounded. But General Furumura didn't care about this, he borrowed a uniform to put on, and unhurriedly wiped the oil off his face. Then he sent a telegram to the command of the Combined Fleet, which read:

"The 2nd Assault Fleet continues to Okinawa to complete the mission of attacking the enemy!"

However, the telegram sent by the "Yamato" to Vice Admiral Toyoda at the time of its sinking made it clear to the Combined Fleet Command the difficult situation of the Second Strike Fleet. General Furumura received the order to reply:

"Mission canceled, fleet returned."

On December 8, 1941, during the Pearl Harbor Incident, it was the first reconnaissance plane sent by General Furumura to fly to Pearl Harbor first. Now he took part in the last sortie of the naval fleet, and miraculously survived. "Yamato" is the book, the "Yamato" sank, and the book was finished! Furumura muttered to himself:

"I've had enough!"

On April 2, 1945, the Sino-American coalition began to land on Okinawa Island in the Ryukyu Islands. At 8 a.m., naval artillery began shelling the landing site in the vicinity of Wataguchi Beach. Heavy shelling lasted almost two hours. The Marines on the landing craft felt that time was passing very slowly. They wore steel helmets. Check each other's backpacks and sapper shovels on their backs, and the water bottle on their right to see if they can interfere with their movements. However, the laces on the land combat boots must not be loosened, and if something goes wrong at a critical moment, it is very likely to kill them. In the midst of a hail of bullets, no one wants such a fatal oversight. At 10:10, the shelling finally stopped, and the deafening thunder gradually subsided. In front of the Marines was a wall of smoke screens that was tall and wide.

"Damn it! It would make us invisible to anything! You can't see the road or the terrain, you can't see yourself, and you don't even know where the shells and bullets are coming from! However, I won't be able to see us! ”

Many of the team members who were about to land thought so in their hearts. But the smoke is still being produced. At 10:15 a.m., about 2,000 dive bombers and torpedo attack planes, under the cover of fighters, again enthusiastically cleared the way for the Marines with bombs and rockets to remove obstacles. The work was carried out by several batches of aircraft for more than one hour. When it was the Marines' turn to put on the stage, it was nearly 12 o'clock at noon on April 2.

Eight landing craft carrying 120 Marines from the 4th Marine Division rushed to the beach. A shrill whistle sounded, and all the landing craft lowered their front hatches almost in unison. Marines poured out. They jumped into waist-deep water and rushed to the beach in groups. To their surprise, no one had fired at them, but the surrounding area was still noisy and busy, with the roar of the waves crashing on the beach, the roar of the landing craft engines, the whistling of the planes in the air, and the shouts of the marines for their courage, coupled with the angry scolding of the commanding officers at all levels, forming a multiplicity of amphibious landings that the American GIs were very familiar with. The only thing missing is the absence of the explosion of shells and the "chirp!" of bullets tearing through the air. Chirp! This smorgasbord of sound is missing something, but of course the GIs would rather listen to a simple symphony than be too perfect! Joke! If you don't get that sound right, you'll have to pay for it!

In front of the landing Marines is Wajichi Beach, a wide stretch of sand in the shape of an arc. Now the beach is full of craters, some of which are still steaming and smoking. At the edge of the beach is directly opposite the landing craft, that is, the first place that the Marines will occupy is a small sand dune about 5 meters high overgrown with wild grass, behind the dunes is a green plant forest and a flat field, which can be regarded as a small plain. The botanical forest behind the dunes is now black instead of green, and many of the trees are still burning and emitting smoke. The entire landing site was desolate, and one Marine muttered:

"I can't doubt we're in the wrong place! It's basically landing on Mars on a spaceship. It's terrible to be desolate! Can there be a person here? If there had been, it would have been blown up! ”

As soon as he finished speaking, more than 10 soldiers wearing khaki military uniforms and steel helmets appeared on the top of the sand dunes by the beach. The soldiers stood on top of the small sand dunes and did not intend to hide their bodies at all. As if they were hunting, they fired at the Chinese and American forces on the beach with their rifles. The sparse bullets that hit the sea only caused a small splash. This makes many Chinese and American soldiers feel even more strange! What is this non-targeted, careless shooting? Does this count as resistance? One of the soldiers said to the soldier who had just muttered:

"You're really a crow's mouth! Well, now I'm out! Are you satisfied? ”

As soon as he finished speaking, a large group of fighter jets rumbled overhead, and sand fog immediately rose from the dunes. The fighters began to dive and strafe. The more than 10 soldiers of the Chinese army, who were still pretending to shoot at the beach, disappeared all at once. In this way, the marines, who had only encountered this little resistance, successfully rushed to the beach of Wajichi and began to set up a beachhead.

The soldiers occupied the surrounding heights and dunes without any trouble.

The landing operation was unbelievably successful, with no casualties, not a single landing craft destroyed, or even a single shot fired. In short, nothing!

(To be continued)