Probably due to the strong wind, the dark clouds in the sky gradually began to dissipate, but the waves were bigger, and the badly injured Yamato tilted so badly under the shaking of the waves that it seemed that the next wave could make it sink over

Since the radar and communication systems had returned to normal, Rear Admiral Ugaki gave the order to evacuate, and just as the Japanese battlefleet was hobbling and converging in the waves, the heavy cruiser Chokai suddenly sent a report that they were engaged with the Chinese fleet

The Atago sent a telegram that it was engaged with two battleships of Shina, and an officer reported to Rear Admiral Ugaki

The wind and waves were too strong, and their attack would not have any effect, so they would come back immediately, and Major General Ugaki said with some annoyance

He was furious at the thought of the torpedoes fired by the Japanese heavy cruisers that had hit the battleship Mino and sent the wounded battleship Kii to the bottom of the sea

The successful test of the Type 93 oxygen torpedo at the Kure Naval Factory marked that the Japanese torpedo was ahead of the world level at that time by more than 20 years in terms of performance, which is not an exaggeration. 5 to 2 times plus the advantage of track concealment, as a weapon, it is undoubtedly excellent, but also Japan's unique oxygen torpedo is the Japanese Navy's 80 years of history relying on technological innovation to produce a new weapon, the Japanese Navy regards it as a treasure, oxygen torpedo as a decisive weapon used in the decisive battle with the Chinese and American navies, but in the Pacific War, the oxygen torpedo performance did not meet the previous expectations

Fundamentally, the oxygen torpedo is still a product of the Japanese Navy's deep-rooted doctrine of big ships and giant guns, and in the eyes of the Japanese, the ultra-long range of 40,000 meters makes the oxygen torpedo a means of attacking beyond the range of the enemy's battleship's main guns, and they dream of destroying their opponents outside the enemy's circle of fire without being scathed, and in this respect the Japanese are too idealistic, because this distance greatly exceeds the distance between the two sides, on the other hand, the Pacific War has been a new form of naval warfare, traditional artillery warfareAs a means of fire delivery, the long combat distance, the speed of maneuvering, and the flexibility of combat use are not comparable to oxygen torpedoes, and the large-scale lightning warfare conceived by the Japanese is simply impossible to occur in this new type of war

Although in the early days of the war, the ultra-long range and concealment of the Type 93 oxygen torpedo, coupled with a group of elite troops trained by unconventional methods before the war, gave it a great advantage in night battles. Accurate coordination of powerful torpedoes has made the Chinese and American navies suffer, but these tactical advantages may decide the outcome in one or two naval battles, but they cannot reverse the situation of the entire war, the Chinese and American navies have gradually overwhelmed the Japanese torpedo superiority by virtue of radar and tactical improvements, and have mastered the initiative in night battles, and at the same time, the oxygen torpedo has also exposed some technical defects in practical use, such as the problem of easy self-detonation, and the oxygen torpedo as an effective naval weapon has indeed played an important role in some naval battles, but from the perspective of this Dragon Delta naval battle, the Japanese Navy's idea of relying on it to achieve a strategic victory has completely failed, and this result is not caused by the technical defects of the oxygen torpedo itselfIt is not caused by the technological progress of the US military in radar and other fields, but should be attributed to the lag of the Japanese Navy's strategic guiding ideology and the change in the form of naval warfare

And this time, because of the unpredictable wave effect of the Dragon Triangle, the Jiusan Oxygen Torpedo actually made such a big oolong, how could it not make Major General Ugaki feel annoyed

If it weren't for this history-changing lightning strike, the Mino Super Battleship would still be able to fight, and the outcome of this naval battle would probably have been different...,

But at this time Rear Admiral Ugaki did not know that this would be the last time he received a report about these heavy cruisers

The Japanese Heavy Cruiser Fleet and Shinano Formation, which broke into the Dragon Triangle, can be said to be a microcosm of the chaotic command of the Japanese Combined Fleet Command, because several unrelated units were used at the same time on the same battlefield, and no commander was appointed to serve as a unified command, thus dooming the Japanese army to the final defeat

The wind was high and the waves were strong, the sky was still cloudy, and it was pitch black all around, and the Japanese heavy cruisers quickly followed the Chinese fleet after completing the rendezvous, and after the rain stopped, visibility became a little better, and the radio communication and radar systems also returned to normal, and Kondo Nobutake ordered the pursuit, with the Atago as the guide, the Chokai, Myoko, Haguro, Shima, and Hane lined up in a single column behind to accelerate and continue the assault

The Japanese heavy cruisers kept moving forward in formation, and there was a terrible silence on the sea, and the Chinese battleships seemed to have disappeared in an instant, and because the sea warning radars on the Japanese heavy cruisers could not clearly identify the enemy ships, the Japanese officers and men were extremely nervous and waited for the beginning of the next battle

Suddenly, the lookout of the Atago noticed a ship shadow flashing in the distance, and hurriedly reported: The enemy ship shadow was found 10 degrees 8,000 meters away from our position

As soon as the lookout's voice fell, Kondo Nobutake recognized the other party's identity

Those were two Republican-class battleships

In fact, the two battleships were the Independence and the Nation, which were wounded and left behind due to excessive wind and waves

After discovering the enemy ship, Nobutake Kondo ordered the attack to begin

At this time, the Independence was the first to spot the Japanese fleet, first sounded the horn to warn, and then opened fire on the Japanese heavy cruiser and began to assault, and when it was about 12,800 yards away from the target, Nobutake Kondo ordered a smoke screen and turned the rudder to fire torpedoes, and his own ship, the Atago, and the follow-up ships, the Torikai and Myoko, aimed at the Independence, the Haguro, Shima, and Hane, and aimed at the Minok

At a distance of 10,000 yards, the Japanese heavy cruiser fired 12 torpedoes at two Chinese battleships in less than two minutes, then turned to the left and withdrew at high speed under the cover of a smoke screen

The battleship Nation also discovered the enemy, and the captain Peng Chunhua immediately ordered to prepare for evasion, and the Nation found a mine trail at a 40-degree azimuth, and soon the searchlight of the Chinese battleship was concentrated on the vanguard ship Atago in the smoke screen, and opened fire on the Nation, and after discovering the lightning trail that was coming quickly, it turned the rudder urgently, and with a sharp turn, the huge hull also tilted to the left greatly, and the torpedo finally sailed 5 to 6 meters in front of the bow

The Japanese are not bad at what they do

Peng Chunhua ordered to urgently turn the rudder 90 degrees to the right and began shelling, but the sight was poor, and the Japanese ships frequently set off smoke screens, which could not be effectively aimed and fired at all, in order to avoid torpedoes, Peng Chunhua ordered to turn back to the original course, and at this moment, the Japanese heavy cruisers began to attack torpedoes from a long distance again

When the course was restored, the port side position suddenly had a torpedo quickly, it seemed that there were about 10, although the visibility was low, but because of the torpedo wake wave stirred up the water, we can still see very clearly, Peng Chunhua recalled that the situation at that time was very dangerous, we had to turn again to avoid, which affected the shelling of the enemy ship, but the waves helped us, there were several torpedoes suddenly disappeared under the slap of the waves, and at this moment our main gun hit the enemy ship

The Atago and the Torikai were shot almost simultaneously, and the port side of the Atago engine room was hit by a 406 mm super-heavy shell, and the Torikai was bombarded by the main gun of the Nation, and there was a large explosion, like a piece of red-hot iron thrown into the water, and it quickly sank, followed by another hit under the front main gun of the Myoko, and the bow of the ship was cut off and could only sail at a low speed of about 12 knots

At this time, there were only two heavy cruisers Shima and Hane, although the Atago was more seriously injured this time, he still did not retreat, he sent a telegram to the main fleet: No. 2 urgent battle report: Our ship intercepted two enemy battleships, and two of our ships were drifting after being hit by enemy artillery, but it did not hinder the battle, and his report was obviously inconsistent with the actual situation, but the reason why he did it is not clear to anyone...,

After repelling the Japanese heavy cruiser's attack, the Independence took the lead and the Nation continued its voyage northward, and about 20 minutes after the previous attack, the Japanese heavy cruiser caught up again

The uninjured Shima and Hane drove to the east side of the Chinese Battlefleet to the launch distance, at this time the waves gradually subsided, and they took advantage of the cover of dense fog to fire a total of 14 torpedoes, of which the torpedo fired by the Shima hit the middle of the port side of the Independence, reducing its speed to 5 knots at once, and it took several minutes for the Independence to recover, and the Independence issued the call sign of the mines in the ship, which made the Independence finally avoid the fate of destruction

Myoko and Haguro, who caught up later, also fired 9 torpedoes in about 7 minutes, but unfortunately none of them hit, and after the launch, several Japanese heavy cruisers were not in a hurry to return, but changed course and began to shoot at the Independence floating on the water with artillery, at which time the Nation suddenly began to turn around, and a fierce salvo dispersed the Japanese heavy cruisers

Although the view was still poor, the officers and men of the Japanese heavy cruiser could still see in the distance flares that were like fireworks, and the hull of the Chinese battleship Independence, which was burning like a molten iron furnace in the skyrocketing fire, seemed to be still exploding, and the mast seemed to be toppling due to the fire

But the Japanese did not know that the next moment was their destruction

The Japanese telegram for help went unanswered, but the Chinese battleships received timely support

The 6th cruiser came

In the smoke-filled bridge of the Independence, a staff officer coughed and handed a copy of the telegram to the captain, Colonel Du Kun

It's Lao Li, they came quickly, Du Kun took the telegram, glanced at it, and smiled bitterly, this time I'm afraid I owe them a favor

At this time, the main force of the 6th Chinese cruiser, 6 large cruisers of the Zodiac class, had already appeared on the radar screen of the Independence

The commander of the flagship, the Inhu, was staring at the display, and the Japanese formation was already being displayed on the screen

As soon as the Japanese fleet came within 20,000 yards, it immediately began firing, and the commander of the fleet, Rear Admiral Lee Hsien Yang, said in a deep voice

Although Chu Yang ordered the cruiser fleet not to enter the Dragon Triangle, due to the loss of communication with the main fleet for a long time, Li Xianyang, who was worried about the safety of the main fleet, gathered four large cruisers and entered the Dragon Triangle to search for the whereabouts of the main fleet

After the Chinese cruiser fleet entered the Dragon Triangle, it also encountered terrible winds and waves and whirlpools, and once lost its way, fortunately, this fleet was composed of nearly 30,000 tons of Zodiac-class large cruisers, these large cruisers had excellent navigation performance, and thus successfully withstood the test of the mad dog wave of the Dragon Triangle (the Chinese naval officers and soldiers are a nickname for the bad waves).

It may be that soon after the Chinese cruiser fleet entered the Dragon Delta, the storm gradually subsided, and the once dysfunctional radar system and radio communications were restored, so that they successfully made contact with the main fleet, and after receiving the news of the attack on the battleships Independence and Nation, they rushed to the rescue as soon as they received the news of the attack on the battleships Independence

At this time, the formation of the Chinese cruiser fleet was a single column, and the flagship Yinhu took the lead, followed by the Maotu, Chenlong, Sisnake, Wuma and Weiyang

The Japanese heavy cruiser discovered these new huge shadows, the captain of the Myoko, Myoko, found the Chinese battleship that appeared on the starboard side, and immediately ordered to open fire, the Chinese fleet broke through under the approaching water column, calmly occupied a good launch position, and in an instant, the huge water column began to rise suddenly around the Myoko, and Captain Du Kun, who was standing on the bridge of the Independence, looked back, and in the darkness in the distance, one after another dazzling fireballs continued to flash out, which looked extremely spectacular

Captain Mitani ordered loudly in a deafening loud noise, and with his order, the four 203 mm front guns of the Myoko began to aim at the flash in the distance, and made a counterattack as much as he could, and the Haguro was also surrounded by a column of water at this time, and Captain Fujimoto also gave the order to shoot at the flash target...,

The final battle of the Dragon Triangle finally sang countless bright spots in the night sky, and Colonel Li Xianyang, who was charging forward at that time, recalled clearly afterwards: This is the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen, tracer bullets have drawn arcs in the night sky, just like one after another brightly lit night trains speeding past the hills, the vicinity of the Japanese fleet stirred up a wall of water that almost did not fall, and the deafening explosion simply made everyone lose their senses, the main force of the Chinese cruiser, 6 Zodiac-class large cruisers lined up in battle columns, and bombarded these only remaining Japanese remnants with fierce broadside artillery fire

These large cruisers are all equipped with observation and sighting optical equipment: two advanced Zeiss optical 10-meter baseline firing commanders and two Nord unified firing commanders, after the refit, after the refit, one anti-air search radar, one sea search radar, one main gun fire control radar, two anti-aircraft fire control radars, three main gun firing commanders, two secondary gun firing commanders, four 10 40 mm anti-aircraft gun automatic controllers, and two ballistic computers, are extremely accurate

Under the orders of the captains, these large cruisers turned their heavy turrets, raised their 280 mm barrels, and fired 280 mm armor-piercing shells first, successfully caught the Myoko with the first firing and observed an explosion at the target, and then fired a volley about every 40 seconds, and at about the time of the second or third salvo, the salvos of the Utu, Tatsuryu, Snake, Wuma, and Miyang also began, and they waited for the best time to attack

Just as the Inoko was firing, the heavy cruiser Shima suddenly rushed towards the Chinese fleet and fired torpedoes at the Independence and the Nation, at this time Myoko and Haguro had been hit by various shells fired by the Chinese cruisers, Myoko was first hit by a 280 mm shell between the starboard anti-aircraft guns, and soon another 280 mm shell hit the right side of the No. 3 turret, and soon after, another shell hit the middle port engine room, the engine stopped and caused a fire, within 5 minutes the Myoko was shot one after another and could not resist, and fired 4 torpedoes at the Chinese battleship in the distance, and then cast a smoke screen, and finally began to turn the rudder and fled, but at this time the Myoko was fatally attacked, TakaryuThe 3 280mm shells of the ship hit the bridge directly, and the main commanders, including the chief and deputy captains, navigators, and mine chiefs, almost all of them were killed, and the gunnery Chang Baishan Shaosa became the supreme commander, but the nimble Shima dodged left and right, and miraculously was only hit by a dud shot from a Chinese cruiser, causing the failure of the steering gear (to be continued, if you like this work, you are welcome to come (.) Vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support is my biggest motivation)