It is called the United Fleet, the aircraft carrier "Pancheng".

Sanhe Yiyong looked at the smoke billowing out the window, closed the notebook in his hand, and his eyes were full of melancholy.

Just now, the "Pancheng" received a terrible blow.

“…… As I sat in my cab and wrote about the morning's battle, I felt a violent shock, more powerful than any explosion in the battle. Then, a muffled rumbling explosion was heard from the depths of the ship. At that time, the only person in the cab besides me was the helmsman Ishikawa Shaosa. I looked at him, and he looked at me. We both had an unspoken question in our eyes; 'What's going on?' I hurried down to see if it was a mine, a torpedo or our own ammunition that had exploded. ”

"There was no one in the officers' room, and I moved to the junior officers' room, which was on the second floor below the flight deck. There was also a fire here, and a group of people were busy with hand-held aircraft chemical fire extinguishers and water hoses. The smoke was so thick that I didn't have a smoke mask with me, so I had to go back to the senior officers' room, where I met a few officers who had just finished their inspections. ”

"They told me: 'There's a bomb dropped by a Chinese plane that has exploded with a delay. It could have been a bomb that we hit when we were attacked, burrowed into the lower deck, and only now exploded. ’”

But soon it became clear that this statement was not true. Twenty minutes after this explosion, another explosion occurred. Each time a fire was caused, and the fire began to spread throughout the lower area. It was not long before the extent of the damage caused by the explosion in Neidu became fully apparent. ”

"The explosion occurred near the central part of the damage tube. The central part of the damage control is the cabin where all damage control duties are directed, and it is the office of the Otba Navy Lieutenant, who happened to be present at the time. Oba and a few others who were on duty here were killed. ”

"Over the next five hours, we suffered more casualties than we had in the entire previous operation. The bravery and fearlessness of the crew are far from being able to describe how they fought bloodily in words such as bravery. ”

"We have been bombarded indiscriminately by one hundred and three enemy planes, but now the oil and ammunition stored on the ship have become a great enemy, and this heroic warship is constantly being ravaged. The crew rose up for a second desperate battle. All the crews, regardless of their positions, with incomparably firm determination and courage, unswervingly plunged into this long, arduous and dangerous battle. ”

"They didn't know that the first internal explosion had already sounded the death knell of the Pancheng! They really don't know and refuse to admit it. The explosions became more and more frequent for several hours, some of them were charred in their flesh and skin, and some were washed into the steel deck or bulkhead several times, but their efforts finally prevented the heartbreaking tragedy of the Pancheng. ”

"Many of them had only been in the Navy for a few months, and they had the courage to fight, even though there were no earth-shattering feats, and the fighting did not bring them much benefit (such as the addiction to fighting back). They wrestled silently in the smoky lower deck aisles. Everyone knew very well that the Pancheng's own ammunition could explode at any moment, sending them to the bottom of the sea, but no one flinched and still fought selflessly. ”

"There were at least 600 people on board for the first time. After the battle, all the tried and tested sailors, from the military cao to the navy, unanimously praised the recruits. ”

"No one was able to see everything that happened in the last few hours of the Pwaki. I was observant as much as I could, and I made hastily notes, which later served as reminders. I've talked to a lot of people on the Iwajo, including Nakasa Genda. He was standing in the passage in the center of the tube when we received the main shock. ”

"He said to me: 'It was as if there had been an explosion in the ship's communications room (telephone exchange) or in the center of the damage tube, and it was terrible. I was rushed to the railing, breaking it all and hitting the changing table. With the explosion, a huge wave of air blew through the door in the center of the damage tube, slamming me against the wall. This wave of air seems to be formed by countless flames and sparks, similar to the flames of a gasoline engine cylinder exploding. ’”

"The flames reflect cherry red and white, and the sparks are deep red. The wind blew for only a few seconds, and it was full of smoke, which was really choking. My eyes were shaken by the flash of the explosion, and the smoke choked on me. There were people in the surrounding cabins shouting, and I shouted at the loudest voice: 'Don't panic, hold your breath, let's all get out!' ’”

"The lights are still on, but the hallway is full of smoke, and you can't see far. He climbed through the manhole to the hangar deck with the others and called for help. The crew rushed to evacuate the wounded and stunned people in the central part of the damage tube. At this time, according to Genda, a second explosion occurred. ”

"After about five minutes, I want to go down and have a look. I hadn't gotten down the hole yet, probably because there was an explosion in the machine shop, which wasn't too bad, but the smoke and flames hit the deck. Someone reported to the chief of electrical and mechanical that it must have been a gasoline vapor explosion and a fire. With the efforts of Xiping Jun Cao and Wen Yong Shaozuo, eleven people were rescued. Xiping was smoked and fainted twice, but each time he woke up and went to command. ”

"The crew used trailers that pulled planes to carry wounded and burned people to the back of the hangar deck. During this time, there were two more shocks below. The electromechanical personnel analyzed and proved that the previous view was correct, which was a gasoline vapor explosion. After investigation, it was found out that one hundred octane gasoline tanks were damaged when the torpedo exploded, and the outflow of highly volatile gasoline vapors caught fire, causing the first explosion. ”

"The first violent explosion knocked the sturdy steel watertight door off the folding blades, and the sturdy steel hatch cover was twisted off the bolts, so that the decks below the waterline were all opened. In particular, the steel doors of each compartment from the central damage section and the lower officers' meeting rooms and sergeants' meeting rooms in front to the bow central hospital about 100 meters above deck were washed away by the blast airwaves. ”

"As soon as the air waves swept away the pressure chambers, the air flowed freely through the breaches, causing the fire to burn more and more throughout the lower deck, and the watertight doors and hatch covers that had been washed away by the air wave could no longer prevent the fire from spreading. The main anti-elimination pipe, which supplied water to the hoses on deck, was blown up, and the fire could not be extinguished with water. Small auxiliary electric fire extinguishing pumps scattered throughout the ship can be used to extinguish fires, but they are useless because the water source is cut off. ”

Then, before the water hose could be brought from the undamaged part of the ship, the fire burned out the power lines, depriving the people of the lighting and power they needed most. The auxiliary electric fire extinguishing pump in the distance is constantly on, but the water of the hose belt pulled over is very small, and the supply exceeds the supply. All the chemical fire extinguishers were used, and to no avail, because damage management personnel had just extinguished a large fire, and a new explosion had expanded the fire. ”

At this time, the electromechanical personnel found that the fire was mainly from some large oil tanks that could not be watered. The increasing frequency and intensity of the explosions indicates further damage to the tanks and a faster outflow of fuel and gasoline. The oil evaporates into the scorching air, either directly to combustion, or forms a steam trap, which quickly causes an explosion and increases the level of damage. ”

The first shock wave that reached the hospital sent Dr. Kobayashi through the door onto the aisle deck, breaking one of his ankles and seriously injuring his shoulder. The doctor struggled to his feet, and for the next three hours he refused to let anyone take care of his injuries while continuing to direct the hospital. ”

"Shortly after the first internal explosion, smoke poured into the hospital through the destroyed cabin. All the wounded were transferred to the captain's quarters in the middle of the warship on the first deck below the flight deck, where temporary wards were set up. Two hours later, as the fire continued to spread inside the Pancheng, they were driven out of there again, withdrawn to the forward flight deck, and finally boarded a destroyer on standby. ”

"The explosion on board destroyed the telephone exchange and disrupted the entire ship's communications, so that the navigation of the warship began to be disrupted. The microphones leading from the bridge to the engine room and one or two other departments were not damaged, but they had to keep in touch with the other departments through the heralds. An hour later, the main cable burned out, and the electric rudder controlled by the bridge failed. ”

"The Pancheng is usually sailing without the use of steering wheels and steering chains. On the bridge is a small longitudinal bar (unlike the wheelwheel used by trolleybus drivers) connected to two electric motors in the engine room at the bottom of the stern. As soon as the longitudinal rod was moved on the bridge, one of the electric motors was activated to push the rudder on the warship with a large hydraulic cylinder. Now that the main cable has been burned, the only way to control the ship's movement is to use an auxiliary servo or a steering wheel mounted near the hydraulic barrel. As long as the auxiliary microphone on the bridge leading to the wheelhouse steering wheel could be used, Captain Aoki Daisa thought that the 'Iwashiri' would still be able to ride freely. But this microphone was quickly destroyed by fire as well, and there was a complete loss of contact between the bridge and the steering wheel. ”

"Captain Aoki's temporary decision was to build a living line from the bridge to the steering wheel, separated by four decks, one hundred and fifty meters long. The officers instructed everyone to pass on the rudder order verbally as soon as possible, but the delay between the issuance of the rudder order and the execution of the rudder order was unavoidable. Vice Admiral Inkai on the aircraft carrier 'Yunryu' knew that we were in trouble, and he ordered the fleet to slow down. The 'Cloud Dragon' was initially able to maintain a formation, but soon the bow began to swing its head from side to side, and it became more and more powerful, and finally posed a threat to the other ships in the vicinity. ”

"Vice Admiral Inkai gave the order to the fleet to abandon the 'Panjo'. Because we gradually lost control of the warship, he instructed the other ships to leave us. ”

"Repairs to the wires leading to the rudder were underway, and an electrician volunteered and bravely took on the job. These main cables are threaded through one of the masts of the tripod mast. The mast is a hollow steel tube with a diameter of 0.6 meters. The electrician asked someone to put him on a rope where the cable was broken to see if it could be repaired. ”

A rope was quickly prepared, a phone call was answered on him, and he disappeared into the pitch-black steel pipe. People quickly loosened the rope for him. He managed to cut the wire, but when he went down to the outside of the pipe, it was full of fire and couldn't stand it. He choked a word or two into the phone, and just after being dragged up, he fainted. ”

"With the loss of the main cable, not only was Captain Aoki unable to control the rudder, but the power supply to the thousands of lighting robes on the ship was also cut off. The whole ship was pitch black, and the lighting never recovered. ”

"The crew knew where the corridors and aisles were with their eyes closed, but now they were full of debris and smoke. The battery-powered emergency lights were turned on, but the bullseye electric light with a high-powered condenser could not penetrate more than a metre in the thick smoke. The crews fighting on the deck below were wearing smoke masks, but some were still smoked. ”

Soon after, there was another extremely violent explosion, and the whole warship suddenly trembled. The explosion destroyed the ventilation system in the boiler compartment and engine room. Usually, electric fans circulate air and the temperature is kept at a tolerable level, between 38 and 40 degrees Celsius. Now the electric fan has been blown up, the ventilation equipment has stopped working, the oil in the main boiler is burning, the main engine continues to rotate, and the temperature has suddenly risen to 63 to 70 degrees Celsius. ”

"A boiler crew later told me: 'We felt the explosion not far in front of the stern, more powerful than the middle of the ship. After the fan stopped, we were so hot that we couldn't clear our heads, and we started to get dizzy and had terrible headaches. ’”

"Captain Aoki asked the Navigator, 'The distance from here to the nearest land and the distance to the nearest cape in California.' A few minutes later, an order was given to mark a route to a cape off the coast of California, and the helmsman was doing the route calculations, when it became clear that there was no room for any more people in the boiler room. Captain Aoki finally gave the order to turn off the boiler and abandon the engine room. ”

The order was passed to the Hakusan Navy Major, who was in charge of observing under the cabin at that time. He personally inspected every nook and cranny of the boiler room and engine room to see if all the engine room personnel had heard the order. He ordered them to extinguish the fire (or to turn off the supply lines for the Pancheng), open the safety valve, and let the steam out of the boiler. When the steam from a dozen main boilers was exhausted from the chimney, the exhaust steam above was frighteningly loud. ”

"Everyone on the flight deck understands the sound. The four huge bronze propellers in the stern of the ship stopped turning, and the large ship gradually stopped. All normal exits from the engine room to the deck were cut off by the fire, which had already spread backwards to the hangar deck and was actually burning above the engine room. In order to ensure that every crew member below came out, Captain Aoki persevered until the end, directing the crew to the back deck through the labyrinth of narrow aisles and emergency escalators. ”

"The firefighters, under the leadership of Nakasa Genda, continued to fight the fire tenaciously. I ran into Genda and his fire and ambulance teams at several places on the ship. There were some casualties in each explosion, and others were filled with smoke in their lungs or their eyes were so smoky that they couldn't see. When the wounded or the unsighted were carried to the flight deck for treatment, others rushed up, put on the smoke masks of the wounded, and went down to work one after another, extinguishing fires and participating in ambulances, never greeting anyone, and there was no need, there were always people waiting to get a smoke mask so that they could go down to fight. ”

"Twenty-five percent of the decks below were now in flames. The bulkhead near the fire burned red, and the thick layer of paint began to peel off, and the pieces of burning paint became the spark that spread the fire, passing through the bulkhead next to it and setting fire elsewhere. The fire engulfed the machine shop, where twenty heavy bombs were still stored, which had been prepared to be loaded onto the bombers that afternoon to attack the enemy. There were also forty-eight torpedoes with tons of high-explosive charge, which only the Navy knew how to make. This cabin is located on the hangar deck, very close to the fire. ”

Just as Genda was drilling out of one of the holes, another violent explosion occurred, and he was blown back like a feather in a wind tunnel. Genda and others narrowly escaped death several times that afternoon. He laughed at himself and said, 'Several times I have been swept out of the watertight doors and holes through which I have passed, like a champagne cork. ’”

"The number of burns is incalculable, at least half of them are burns and blows. Most of the wounded were either burned or washed onto the bulkhead by the air waves, and were burned and hit and injured. Captain Aoki sent a herald to tell Genda to tell all the people below to come up. In order to ensure that everyone fighting in the chambers received this order, people searched the smoky aisles. Under normal circumstances, it would have been easier for a warship to convey this order through a loudspeaker, but now there is no electricity, so it has to be touched door by door, deck by deck. Some heralds went down to the perimeter of the fire and the deck below to convey the order, as the bilge watchers were to be informed by the water level and the pumping station. When Genda Nakasa asked who knew the way to a compartment separated by fire, many moving scenes appeared. An orderly stepped forward and said he was going. ”

"'Surely you know the way?' Genda asked, 'Probably you'll never come back, you know?' ’”

"'I understand, sir.' The orderly replied. ”

"Genda said, 'Okay. Thank you so much for volunteering. Go ahead and have good luck. I'm right here, report back to me when you get back. He found his way, found the men, and came back safely. ”

"A destroyer approached to pick up the wounded and help extinguish the fire. When the hose was brought over, it was found that the amount of water was very small. At this moment, an order was given to assemble the entire crew on the flight deck. ”

(To be continued)