The aircraft carrier "Antietam" was besieged by 22 bombers, and at least 4 of the 10 bombs dropped hit the aircraft carrier, and 2 fell on the sea less than 20 meters from the aircraft carrier. And out of 9 torpedoes dropped, at least 5 hit. According to the design standards of "Essex", as long as it is not directly hit by the vital point, the aircraft carrier will not sink immediately. But this aircraft carrier only lasted five minutes on the sea, becoming the first aircraft carrier sunk by the US military in this battle!

At that time, Qiu Gengbo did not have time to record the impact point and the torpedo hit point, and the other Imperial Navy bomber pilots only roughly recorded the location of the impact point, and could not know from the information they provided which fatal part of the aircraft carrier was hit, but judging from the violent explosion that occurred three minutes after the aircraft carrier was hit, there must have been at least one ammunition depot that exploded, otherwise, the aircraft carrier would not have sunk quickly.

The water depth of the sea area where the aircraft carrier sank was more than 4,000 meters, and it was not until more than 50 years later that a US deep-sea research ship found the aircraft carrier lying on the bottom of the sea at a depth of more than 4,300 meters above the sea surface, and sent a deep-sea submersible to explore the specific situation on the aircraft carrier. Only by this time did the real cause of the sinking of the aircraft carrier "Antietam" be found.

One of those 4 bombs hit the No. 3 ammunition depot under the aircraft carrier's hangar. This is one of the largest ammunition depots on the aircraft carrier, and it is all stored with aviation ammunition, including 1000 pounds, 500 pounds, and 250 pounds of aerial bombs. This is precisely a flaw in the design of the "Essex" class aircraft carrier. The armor of the horizontal main deck of the aircraft carrier is not thin, and it is difficult for the aerial bomb to continue to penetrate the horizontal main deck after penetrating the armored flight deck. But the armored deck is not a single steel plate, but a large number of steel plates welded. There is a weld above the No. 3 ammunition depot. At that time, there was no ultrasonic inspection equipment, so whether the weld was strong or not could only be judged by the experience of the workers. The bomb passed directly through this weld point and exploded only when it entered the ammunition depot. The result can be imagined, a hundred tons of bombs stored in the ammunition depot were detonated, not to mention an aircraft carrier, even a stronger battleship would have to be finished!

The rapid explosion not only brought the "Antietam" to a complete end. And it also buried more than 2,000 officers and men on the aircraft carrier. The standard number of officers and men of the "Essex" class is more than 2,300 people, and in wartime, in order to improve combat efficiency and add a large number of anti-aircraft guns, the number of officers and men on the aircraft carrier is generally about 2,900 people, judging from the records of the US military at that time, the "Antietam" had 2,918 officers and men when it left Pearl Harbor last time, and when it was sunk. There are about 2,900 people. Later, only 214 US officers and soldiers were recovered, and the bodies of 181 US officers and soldiers were recovered. In other words, about 2,500 US officers and men on this aircraft carrier sank along with the aircraft carrier, and there was no time to escape at all!

The war was devouring lives, not only the lives of American officers and soldiers, but also the lives of naval pilots of the Tang Empire. Qiu Gengbo witnessed the sinking of the Antietam after the explosion, and there were several explosions of much smaller scale when the aircraft carrier sank, and even several explosions after the aircraft carrier was submerged in the sea. But the battle is not over, more and more bombers are concentrating on his side. After taking out the "Antietam". The last aircraft carrier in Task Force 51 was not bombed, and that was the Bennington.

"Leave that battleship alone, escort fighters to entangle the battleship. Come on two squads and take out the next aircraft carrier first! ”

The USS Bennington had escaped more than a dozen nautical miles by this time, and it was the most heavily protected aircraft carrier of Task Force 51, with one battleship and two cruisers on each side of the carrier. When Qiu Gengbo caught up with his bomber group, he immediately realized that it was almost impossible to attack the aircraft carrier directly.

"Colonel, on the right is the USS Kentucky, on the left is the USS Nebraska, and four cruisers, damn it. It seems to be all air defense cruisers. ”

"Damn, isn't this nonsense?" Qiu Gengbo gritted his teeth, "Enter from the right side first, attack the 'Kentucky', each team is on a team, don't let the son of a bitch run away." ”

The USS Kentucky was the sixth battleship of the Iowa class, numbered BB-66, and the construction of this battleship was also temporarily halted after nearly a third of the construction was completed, and construction resumed after a delay of nearly a year. Like its sister ship "Illinois", at the time of the resumption of construction. The ship added a large number of anti-aircraft gun emplacements, and at the same time strengthened the ship's electronic equipment. When more than twenty bombers swooped down on the battleship, the anti-aircraft guns on the battleship immediately roared wildly, as if a large and bulky bear was roaring at the besieging bees, as if the angry roar could drive the bees away. On the contrary, the bee did not leave, but continued to move forward, ready to take out the big and bulky bear!

"Go in separately, don't get together, damn it, do you want to be a target for the enemy? Spread out, split into a two-plane formation, enter in a group of two formations, don't get together, don't enter from the side direction, keep a certain angle, yes, keep an entry angle of 30 to 60 degrees! ”

Qiu Gengbo's guidance was just right, and the secondary guns on the "Iowa" class battleships were all 127-mm high-level dual-purpose guns, which was also the usual style of the US military, that is, instead of setting up larger-caliber secondary guns for the battleships, the 127-mm high-level dual-purpose guns were directly used as secondary guns. The 1 twin 127-mm secondary guns on the battleship were concentrated in the front and rear of the middle of the battleship, which were responsible for the defense in four directions. If the bombers enter directly from the side direction, it is easy to be hit by the collective attack of two secondary artillery groups, and if they maintain a certain angle to the course of the battleship, then only one secondary artillery group can deal with the bombers, and the enemy's anti-aircraft fire will be reduced by half, and the assault will be easier to succeed.

The scattered torpedo bombers and dive bombers entered from the right side of the battleship, with one group entering from the right front of the battleship and the other from the right rear of the battleship. This is the most effective means of attack, and it is also the easiest to receive results. The roar of the "Kentucky" continued, and in Qiu Gengbo's ears, the shelling of the anti-aircraft guns on the battleship was no longer an angry roar, but a groan of despair.

"Go in, drop the bomb quickly, don't let the son of a son of a son continue to be arrogant!" Even the navigator got excited.

"You fucking pay attention to your surroundings. Don't let the other brothers scatter, let's take out the Yankee battleships one by one! Qiu Gengbo told the navigator, who had been watching the battle in the open air on the left side of the sea.

Nine of the 11 dive bombers that entered in turn successfully dropped bombs, and in the end eight managed to withdraw from the battle, losing only three bombers. Of the 12 torpedo bombers, 8 successfully dropped mines, but only 6 withdrew from the battle, and the losses of torpedo bombers were still greater than those of dive bombers, probably because the anti-aircraft gunners on American battleships knew that the threat of torpedoes was greater. So at the point "greet" the torpedo bombers.

Four violent explosions in a row indicated that four bombs hit the battleship. Then, three more muffled explosions were heard, and at least three torpedoes hit the starboard side of the battleship. Qiu Gengbo recorded the hit point, and he also sighed, almost all four bombs smashed in the middle of the battleship, and this is also the place where the anti-aircraft guns on the battleship are concentrated, even if this is not enough to solve the battleship, it is enough to destroy eighty percent of the anti-aircraft guns on the battleship. How much of a role the three torpedoes played, Qiu Gengbo was not sure, he only knew. The battleship now posed no threat to the bomber group.

"Keep the assault. Attack the USS Bennington, move quickly, don't give the a chance to adjust the formation! ”

The "waterbirds" of the two groups that had been wandering outside the battlefield before. and 7 other "Sea Eagles" immediately killed the aircraft carrier "Bennington". After the heavy damage to the battleship "Kentucky", a huge hole has already appeared in the air defense network in the starboard direction of the aircraft carrier. The two cruisers, which were still covering the front and rear of the battleship, quickly approached the aircraft carrier, hoping to block the channel for the bombers to attack the aircraft carrier, but the speed of the battleship was very slow, and it was impossible to fill this loophole in time. The torpedo bombers hit the side of the aircraft carrier without hindrance, and the dive bombers were not slow, and they all quickly entered the attack channel.

"Yes, drop the bomb immediately, don't hesitate!"

The "waterbirds" of the two groups quickly dived, and the "Bennington" also made a sharp left turn. Trying to avoid the dive bombers, this exposes them to the torpedo bombers that have already been killed. Seven "Sea Eagles" were arranged in an oblique echelon, all of which entered the ground from the starboard side of the aircraft carrier. When the carrier began to make a full left turn at full speed, the torpedo bombers quickly approached, and all of them dropped torpedoes on the sea about 800 meters away from the carrier, and then withdrew from the battle.

The Bennington's dying throes were somewhat futile, although the carrier managed to avoid the four bombs dropped by the first group's "waterbirds" and even shot down one of the "waterbirds" in the second group. But the aircraft carrier could not avoid the seven fanned torpedoes, no matter how the aircraft carrier turned. In the end, at least two torpedoes will hit the aircraft carrier, moreover, three more "waterbirds" did not give up the attack!

Qiu Gengbo's eyesight was very good, he almost saw the bomb get into the chimney on the aircraft carrier island, this bomb was more or less a bit of luck in it, the chimney mouth was so big, it seemed that there was never a record of dropping a bomb into the chimney of the aircraft carrier before. The ensuing torpedoes hit the aircraft carrier at least twice. In fact, there were three hits, as evidenced by the trajectory of the torpedoes, and one of the torpedoes did not explode. The aircraft carrier also lost its combat effectiveness and may not sink immediately, but the aircraft carrier lost almost all of its power, and it was impossible to escape from the battlefield, and the result can be imagined.

"Don't fucking grind, attack another battleship first!" Qiu Gengbo did not feel satisfied, in his eyes, the battleship also belonged to the primary target, "while the enemy's cruiser has not yet adjusted, besiege the battleship 'Nebraska' and kill that battleship!" ”

All the remaining bombers surrounded the brand-new "Iowa"-class battleship, and the US fleet, which had already been disrupted in formation, could no longer organize an effective air defense network, and no matter how powerful the anti-aircraft firepower was, the battleships had dead ends in air defense, so it was necessary to form a fleet to defend against air threats. Battleships were no exception, and when fighting alone against groups of bombers, even if there were hundreds of anti-aircraft guns on the battleship, it could not be an opponent of a group of bombers.

The siege of the Nebraska was the fiercest, and it was the last of the battleships and aircraft carriers of the 51st Task Force to be besieged. Qiu Gengbo was too busy, he could only lead a maximum of four groups of bombers to attack, and at this time, almost all the bombers that did not drop bombs or torpedoes rushed forward.

"Fuck, don't huddle around, divide into several groups to deal with the nearby cruisers!" Qiu Gengbo was so anxious that he cursed, his subordinates had the same virtue as him, and no one would obey his command in this time of competition for credit.

The bombers killed one after another, and the American anti-aircraft gunners on the battleship also went crazy, and many anti-aircraft guns even hit the barrels until the barrels turned red, and they continued to fire. This is a contest between life and death, this is a choice between life and death. No one wants to die on the battlefield, and no one wants to be buried in the sea, but the result is not up to themselves, when the battle starts, everyone on the battlefield is just a very ordinary member, only when the cannon is over, the smoke clears, only know who will survive, who will be left in the sea forever.

The battle lasted five minutes, and by the time 16 "Shooting Birds" and nearly 20 "Sea Eagles" dropped their bombs and torpedoes, the battleship Nebraska was already riddled with holes. Even Qiu Gengbo was surprised, the frenzied pilots were simply ravaging the battleship, although a few bombers were shot down by the anti-aircraft guns on the battleship, but more American GIs were killed by bombs and torpedoes, and the tens of thousands of tons of battleship was almost at the end of its life, if the battleship had any life.

"Colonel, Task Force 4 has arrived."

Qiu Gengbo looked in the southeast direction, and a large group of bombers was coming.

"It's Colonel Hao Lingheng's fleet, and he asked us about the situation on the battlefield."

"Situation?" Qiu Gengbo sneered, "It's okay, let them clean up the mess, have all our bombers used up their bombs?" ”

"It's all gone."

"Then let's go back and tell Hao Lingheng that they came one step late, but I still left them some leftover soup, don't say that I eat alone."