"Cat's eye warrior" Niwa Saburo is the lookout on the Zero three-seat water reconnaissance aircraft on the Yamato, and he is also one of the best "cats" in the entire Japanese Navy - everything on the Yamato is the best, and the "cat" is of course no exception. This is what qualifies as a "cat of Yamato". Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Saburo Niwa leaned sideways, holding a telescope, and with the help of the faint moonlight, he searched back and forth on the pitch-black sea. Suddenly, a large black shadow appeared in Niwa's sight.

"At 11 o'clock, fly over and have a look." Niwa hurriedly instructed the pilot Kato to drive the plane over the group. As soon as the plane approached, Niwa realized that there was not just one black shadow below, but a long line, and it was still moving. First of all was a relatively small shadow. Niwa thinks it's a destroyer (the Syms equipped with a sea-detection radar), and behind this destroyer are three huge black shadows like mountains, either battleships or heavy cruisers!

"Found it!" Niwa excitedly shouted, "Throw the flare!" ”

With Niwa Saburo's shout, two flares hanging under the wings of the Zero Hydro Reconnaissance were dropped. Two dazzling "little suns" suddenly appeared in the sky, hanging on parachutes and slowly descending, illuminating a large area of the sea below as if it were day. Under this shrouded light, it is an American battleship that looks like a floating city!

"We've been discovered!" Kimmel seemed to know that he would be the first to be spotted, and he looked at the battleship Nevada, which was illuminated by flares in front of him, and then calmly said to Fletcher, "But it's not a big deal, the Nevada is very strong and can withstand it for a while." We can take advantage of this opportunity ......"

Before he could finish his sentence, his neck seemed to be stuck in something, his face suddenly changed, and his eyes were fixed on the front - several huge fireballs suddenly burst out of the darkness there!

"Boom! Rumble! Boom ......"

Less than 1 minute after the battleship "Nevada" was illuminated by flares, the 460mm main gun of the "Yamato" fired. Because it was a bow against the enemy, there were only 6 460mm cannons firing at the same time. But these 6 giant cannons still hit the feeling of the sky falling apart!

Kimmel, who has worked in the Navy for most of his life, certainly knows what the muzzle flame of a 356mm caliber cannon looks like, and he also knows how loud a cannon of this class is when fired.

"This can't be, it's not a 14-inch (356mm) cannon firing!" In the midst of Kimmmel's shouting, a 460mm shell had already landed 60 meters away from the port side of the battleship Nevada, and then exploded into a column of water tens of meters or hundreds of meters high!

"This is also not a 16-inch cannon, and there are 6 ...... God, what is this thing firing? Kimmelton felt cold in his hands and feet, and even panic in his eyes. How high and how high a 16-inch shell can hit a column of water, and how loud it fires, Kimmel also knows exactly how high.

But the muzzle flame he saw now, as well as the tall water column from the shells, obviously exceeded the level that a 16-inch cannon should have, and it was certainly not something that a Nagato-class 410mm cannon could fire. Moreover, the Nagato class has 4 twin main gun turrets, which means that both the bow and stern are 4 cannons instead of 6.

In other words, it is not the Nagato-class battleship that is firing now, but a cutting-edge battleship that is even more powerful than the Nagato-class. In the distance, in the darkness, several more blinding and bright balls of light rose up, which were flares fired by the destroyer Syms.

Under the light of the flares, a huge and incredible battleship suddenly appeared, it was the Yamato! Seeing the huge hull of the Yamato, Kimmel only felt his scalp explode suddenly...... He knew that his fleet was going to be finished, and the battle of Hawaii was going to be lost!

……

"Parameters, inform the shooting parameters!"

"Angle 25."

"Northeast wind, 11.6 meters per second."

"The wave height is 2.6 meters."

"18,000 meters away."

"The muzzle of the gun deviates 5 degrees to the left, and the roll ......"

The telephone brings a steady stream of parameters measured from the ship's exterior observers into the fire control compartment, and the gunners calculate the next round of firing elements based on these parameters, which are then distributed to the turrets using the ship's internal telephone.

Immediately afterward, the turrets of the Yamato and Kirishima spun automatically, and the barrels of the guns moved up and down like a wave, aiming at the battleship Nevada, which was invisible under the flares in the distance.

At the same time, the same thing was happening on board the USS Nevada, USS Pennsylvania and USS Tennessee.

Because both sides chose to rush towards each other head-on in a single column after discovering each other with radar, the US and Japanese fleets are now facing each other head-on. Due to the problems of distance and angle, only the bow guns of both sides are now able to fire.

Moreover, both sides chose the method of firing with concentrated fire. On the Japanese fleet's side, the 6 460mm cannons of the Yamato and the 4 356mm cannons of the Kirishima could fire. All 10 large-caliber guns were aimed at the American battleship Nevada.

The U.S. fleet had five 14-inch guns on the Nevada, six 14-inch guns on the Pennsylvania, and six 14-inch guns on the Tennessee. The 17 14-inch guns were also fired at the super-battleship Yamato on Kimmmel's orders.

Although 6 huge guns of 460mm caliber had already decided the absolute superiority of the Japanese fleet in firepower. However, at this time, the comparison of the number of main guns that can be fired by the two sides is 10 guns on the Japanese side vs 17 on the American side, and the United States has an advantage. Therefore, in terms of the density of firepower, it is also the US Pacific Fleet that has an advantage.

"Boom ......"

The fifth salvo of both sides was fired almost simultaneously, and with the light of the destroyer's incessant flares, Admiral Kimmel saw a huge column of water rising around the battleship Yamato. It's a straddle shot!

Kimmel and Fletcher's faces looked a little better, and hitting a straddle shot meant they were not far from hitting the target. It seems that the first to be shot today was the Japanese cutting-edge battleship! Just as the two of them were thinking of this, the three American battleships fired the fifth salvo, only to see a huge ball of fire flash from the hull of the huge Japanese battleship.

The Yamato was hit first by an American battleship!

But before the people in the Pennsylvania Battleship Commander's Tower had time to cheer, the huge ball of fire suddenly dispersed, leaving no scars on the Yamato's huge, sturdy hull, except for a scorched black mark.

"The Japanese ship has turned!" Fletcher suddenly shouted, "It wants to close the distance between us!" ”

The Yamato only turned slightly to the left, turning the nearly parallel course into two straight lines that would gradually close the distance and eventually intersect.

"30 degrees to the right!" Kimmel ordered loudly. He ordered the fleet to turn to the right not to flee the battlefield, because he could not choose to flee now, otherwise the convoy of transports that were heading for the port of Hilo would become victims of the guns of the Japanese battleships. And Kimmel also knew that his 3 slow battleships would not be able to escape at all! The Japanese were significantly faster than the three American battleships.

So the purpose of the American fleet turn was to allow all the main guns to aim at the Yamato and fire.

"Commander, the Americans want to grab the T-shaped position."

Ugaki in the Yamato Command Tower had already noticed the change in course of the American fleet at this time, so he reminded Yamamoto Fifty-six in a low voice.

"It's okay, keep going, get close to 10,000 meters and then turn around." Yamamoto Fifty-six smiled coldly, "The Yamato will be fine, if even the 356mm shells can't withstand it, then the engineers who built the Yamato should have a seppuku." ”

Ugaki nodded, he knew that Yamamoto wanted a quick victory - even if the Yamato was hit by a few 356mm shells, he would sink all three American battleships as soon as possible, and then go to drive away the American convoy and blow up the port of Hilo. Lest the Americans have the opportunity to send planes to the island of Hawaii.

Seeing that the two Japanese battleships did not turn, but were heading straight for him, Kimmel's heart was already in his throat. Now the Japanese gave up the T-line in exchange for quickly closing the distance to the 3 American battleships. When the Japanese felt close enough, they would turn around and concentrate their heavy artillery on the Nevada until it sank, then the Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

"Boom ......"

The three American battleships fired their eighth salvo at this time, and the Yamato was shot again, and a 14-inch armor-piercing shell was mounted on the starboard armor belt of the Yamato, and a huge fireball exploded, but still did little damage to the Yamato.

Seeing the Yamato so strong, both Kimmel and Fletcher's hearts sank to the bottom of the sea. At the same time, the 8th salvo of the Yamato and Kirishima fired, and the shells fell around the Nevada.

It's a straddle shot!

"10,000 meters away!"

The navigator of the Yamato loudly reported the distance from the enemy ship formation, and Takayanagi Yai Daisa, who personally operated the ship, turned the steering wheel violently, and the huge hull of more than 70,000 tons began to turn to the right.

"Now, all the main guns are aimed at the first battleship of the enemy formation!" Yamamoto Fifty-six then ordered loudly, "Be sure to sink it!" (To be continued.) )