The smoke cleared again, and when everyone found that the "Yamato" was still stubbornly floating on the sea, although it had tilted to the left about 10 degrees, it was still sailing at a speed of about 10 knots. The deck of the battleship had been cut several large holes, and it was clearly badly damaged, but it did not sink and there was no major explosion.

"Damn, the third team will go up to me and kill 'Yamato'!" Deng Zichao scolded.

Twenty-four bombers, who had been waiting a little impatiently, pressed up immediately. Before the second batch of bombers had withdrawn, the first four Kingfishers had already begun to dive.

Although the first two rounds of bombardment did not kill the "Yamato", so many bombs and torpedoes were enough for this huge ship to endure. The biggest loss is those anti-aircraft guns, and there must have been a torpedo or bomb that destroyed a power supply center on the battleship, and most of the anti-aircraft guns that can still be used can only be operated manually because of the loss of power, which is much less efficient and much less accurate.

Three of the bombs dropped by the four bombers landed accurately on the deck of the Yamato, and all four bombers escaped the battle safely. Within two minutes, eight other Kingfishers also dropped bombs, and five bombs landed on the Yamato, adding five huge holes to the battleship.

When the dive bombers dropped their bombs, the 12 "Ospreys" quickly circled to the starboard side of the battleship. This batch of "Ospreys" was divided into two echelons, each echelon of six. And it is taken to intensively throw mines. The length of only two battleships for every six torpedoes was covered, so that at least three torpedoes were guaranteed to hit the battleship. By this time, the speed of the "Yamato" had been reduced to less than ten knots, and it was certain that there was something wrong with the servo, and it was simply not possible to turn quickly. The pilots of the "Osprey" were not afraid that it would slip away, so they resorted to this method of intensive mine-throwing.

At least six (maybe seven) torpedoes hit the "Yamato", opening several large holes in the starboard side of the battleship. The violent explosion even lifted the hull out of the water. Moreover, at this time the battleship was leaning to the left. The right side of the underboard was completely exposed, and the torpedoes hit near the bottom of the ship. The damage caused by this should be even more severe.

"Damn, it's up to you to see if you're still dead!" Deng Zichao shouted loudly. The "Yamato" received at least twenty bombs, and there were no fewer torpedoes than this, and even an island would have been flattened by a few feet, not to mention just a battleship floating on the sea. But after that, Deng Zichao was so surprised that he couldn't even shout.

The third batch of bombardment did cause great damage to the giant ship "Yamato". In the short term. The torpedoes that really played a role in the third batch of bombardment, but these torpedoes did not immediately sink the battleship, but allowed the "Yamato" to survive for a while.

Originally, the port side of the "Yamato" was torpedoed first, which caused a large number of compartments to be flooded, and the final result was that the battleship began to tilt to the left, when the left tilt reached a certain level. The battleship will capsize. And if it capsizes, the battleship will be completely finished. Under normal circumstances, in order to prevent overturning, reduce left tilt, or at least control the speed of doing left tilting, the method of pouring water into the right compartment of the battleship will be adopted to restore the lateral balance of the battleship. This will increase the amount of water intake from the battleship. But as long as there are enough pumps on the battleship. And there's enough electricity to drain the seawater, so you can hold on and get repairs back to port. In order to give the officers and men on the battleship time to evacuate, it was also necessary to adopt the method of reverse water injection.

Obviously, the torpedoes dropped by the third group of bombers were actually helping the "Yamato" to reverse the water. These torpedoes destroyed at least half of the watertight compartment on the right side of the "Yamato". In less than five minutes, the starboard side of the "Yamato" reached 1500 tons, and the left tilt of the battleship was leveled. Although, by this time, the "Yamato" had already sunk by at least 5 meters. But it still floats tenaciously on the surface of the sea. The ship's hull was heavily flooded, and it also happened to flood the most dangerous ammunition compartments. The fact that the fire caused by the bomb could not reach the ammunition bay actually helped the Japanese damage control team members on the battleship.

The only damage inflicted on the "Yamato" by 72 bombers may have been the complete disabling of the ship's power system. At the time when the last bomber left the sky over the "Yamato". The giant ship was only floating on the surface of the sea. Deng Zichao was also surprised to realize that the "Yamato" was already equivalent to the end. The battleship, having lost all power, had actually lost its salvage value, and the battle was not over, unless the Japanese could carry the battleship back, they would have to abandon it. But Deng Zichao must not leave this most "fatty" prey to Zhang Naiding. Last time, Zhang Naiding grabbed the first credit, if the "Yamato" was left to Zhang Naiding this time, then he wouldn't want to raise his head and be a man in the future.

By this time, the bombing had been going on for ten minutes. Deng Zichao's group was followed by 72 bombers that had taken off from the "Yangtze River" aircraft carrier. Because the captain of the "Yangtze River" aircraft carrier group was Jiang Wenhan, and Jiang Wenhan was a fighter pilot, the task of commanding the "Yangtze River" aircraft carrier bomber group fell to Deng Zichao.

"The third brigade, don't waste time, immediately concentrate on bombing the 'Yamato', drop all the torpedoes and bombs on the 'Yamato' of the dog day, don't be afraid of wasting, kill this damn battleship." Seeing this wave of bombers arriving, Deng Zichao didn't do anything, and immediately gave an order.

Dozens of bombers are like a flock of sea eagles, and the "Yamato" is a whale that is about to die. The pilots of the Tang Empire were also red-eyed at this time, and they did not expect that the "Yamato" would not be finished after receiving so many bombs and torpedoes. The bombs were overwhelmingly smashed, and the torpedoes dropped by the "Osprey" were like sharks galloping under the surface of the sea.

A huge column of water, thick smoke of gunpowder again enveloped the battleship "Yamato". Deng Zichao didn't dare to have any superfluous thoughts anymore, he just wanted to see this dog-sun-earth battleship disappear from the sea. Completely gone!

Five minutes after the bombing ended, the smoke that enveloped the "Yamato" began to gradually dissipate, and the third wave of bombers led by Zhang Naiding also reached the sky over the Japanese Combined Fleet.

Deng Zichao first asked the other bombers to form a formation to return home, and he only set out on the way back when the tall cage bridge of the "Yamato" was only the last part of the sea surface.

According to local statistics at the time, the "Yamato" received at least forty bombs and forty-five torpedoes (this is the result of the statistics made by the pilots after their self-statements of the battle). As for how many bombs and torpedoes hit the battleship, I'm afraid no one knows. The site of the sinking of the Yamato is north of South Iwo Jima. To the east of Iwo Jima, the depth of the sea is about 3,500 meters. Moreover, the location of the sinking recorded at that time was not exact, and the Tang Empire never released relevant data. It is difficult to find the largest battleship in history that was sunk, and it is even more difficult to know how many bombs and torpedoes the "Yamato" was hit by at that time.

Deng Zichao also made the greatest contribution to this battle, and this credit did not belong to him alone, but to all the pilots of the two aircraft carrier aircraft groups of "Taizu" and "Yangtze River". In the end, who owns the result has also caused a debate, and Tan Renhao's way to deal with it is. The results of the battle belong to the entire First Task Force, and the fleet will give individual commendations.

This time, it was Zhang Naiding's turn to clean up the mess. Tan Renhao didn't care much about the battle that followed, since even the "Yamato" had been killed, the Japanese Combined Fleet was one step away from being finished. When he received the telegram from Deng Zichao, he couldn't have been happier. The staff officers were even more excited than him, and some even hugged each other.

"Renhao, now we can declare victory." Lei Shaoqing was also very excited. After fighting for so long, they finally caught the biggest fish.

Tan Renhao smiled and nodded, but he didn't relax his nerves. "Calculate the time for Deng Zichao to return to their home, and before that, let the fighters on the two aircraft carriers take off first, and then let the bomber group land. The air defense of the fleet cannot be relaxed, maybe. The Japanese bomber group was already on its way. ”

Lei Shaoqing also immediately raised his vigilance, the First Task Force suffered losses several times, and he also thought of one point, that is, anti-submarine. In both battles, the First Task Force was attacked by Japanese submarines at the last minute, and if such a tragedy were to be staged again, he, the chief of staff, would be held accountable for his dereliction of duty.

"Everyone, if you've had enough of celebrating, go back to your posts, the battle isn't over yet!" Tan Renhao shouted.

There was an immediate silence in the command cabin. The staff officers, who were excited at first, returned to their positions. If it was the chief of staff to remind them. They won't feel much pressure yet, and now it's up to the fleet commander to come forward and remind them. Naturally, these staff officers were much more honest.

Lei Shaoqing quickly went to arrange the task, and then returned to Tan Renhao's side. "Now, do you need to send the results back?"

Tan Renhao hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. "Wait until Zhang Naiding's news comes back, and then send a war report to the headquarters. By the way, did a seaplane be arranged to search for officers and soldiers who fell into the water during the night battle? ”

"It has been arranged, and the 'Duan Zhixuan' and 'Liqiu' are also searching for the officers and soldiers who have fallen into the water. I told them to return around nine o'clock. ”

Tan Renhao nodded, and his expression suddenly darkened. When Deng Zichao and the others were bombing the Japanese Combined Fleet, the large air defense cruiser "Duan Zhixuan" sent back a battle damage report. The large cruiser "Qin Qiong", the heavy cruiser "Xia Zhi" and the heavy cruiser "Xiaoxia" were sunk, and the other five cruisers were all heavily damaged. Among them, the "Great Heat" had already returned to the fleet 15 minutes earlier, and the large cruiser "Wei Chigong" and the heavy cruiser "Mangzhong" were still on their way home. The "Duan Zhixuan" and "Liqiu," which were also heavily damaged, were able to continue to hold on because of the little damage to their power systems, and were looking for officers and soldiers in the areas of battle who had fallen overboard.

This loss was extremely heavy, and it can be said that the 1st Task Force suffered the heaviest loss since the "Kerama Waterway Naval Battle." A few sunken battleships are nothing, and seriously injured a few are nothing. The Empire's war machine is already running at full speed, and lost ships can be quickly replaced, while battered ships can be repaired when they return to port. What makes Tan Renhao uncomfortable is that under Luo Zhongyong, at least 1,500 officers and soldiers have been killed or their whereabouts are unknown, and this number will definitely increase. These officers and soldiers are all experienced veterans, and they are the essence of the real fleet, and such huge losses are the most heart-wrenching for Tan Renhao.

However, Tan Renhao also figured out that the road to victory is not smooth, sacrifices are inevitable, and these sacrifices bring great victories, so the sacrifice is worth it. Tan Renhao believed that Luo Zhongyong and the more than 1,000 imperial officers and soldiers were also smiling. Their deaths were valuable, and they were of great value, and it was their sacrifice that gave the First Task Force the opportunity to annihilate the Japanese Combined Fleet.

Lei Shaoqing could see at a glance what Tan Renhao was thinking, and for this friend who grew up playing with mud since childhood, Lei Shaoqing could see his thoughts at a glance.

"Come on, smoke one, you haven't smoked at first, I thought you quit!"

Tan Renhao took the cigarette with a smile, and then let out a sigh. "At least, no one will trouble us when we go back this time."

"Why do you want to do that? Are you fighting for someone else? ”

Tan Renhao glanced at Lei Shaoqing in surprise.

"I never think about it so much, fighting a war is a war, and it is not someone else's credit to fight well, and it is not someone else's responsibility to fight badly. We are soldiers, fighting wars is our profession, and we just need to do our job. Lei Shaoqing sat down, "Those patriotic words are all said to others, to put it bluntly, if you fight, you will fight a war, when you fight every battle seriously, you will naturally be patriotic, isn't it?" ”

Tan Renhao couldn't help laughing, Lei Shaoqing is still so tendoned, but this is also a good attitude, at least there won't be so much trouble, and there won't be so many troubles. He couldn't do that, at least not so directly and simply as he became commander of Task Force 1. Even if he doesn't say anything about the country's righteousness, his decision is related to the life and death of tens of thousands of officers and soldiers in the fleet!