"Kiyooka is taking a private shot, reciting the data of our ship's firing at the enemy's airfield on Guadalcanal." The main gunner, the gunner Iwata, gave the order. Captain Iwata was an avid war buff, and from an early age, he was able to memorize the warships and tactics of the Battle of the Yellow Sea and the Battle of Tsushima between Japan and Russia.

He asked his subordinates to train non-stop: carrying shells, loading fuses, measuring ranges, and firing. "A cannon with 100 rounds is not as good as a cannon with 100 shots. Because they waste nine thousand nine hundred shells and require a hundred times more soldiers to maneuver. He didn't know how many times he repeated the words of Admiral Heihachiro Togo. It seems that he was born into the world for naval battles.

Unlike Iwata, he has little interest in war. Since he was a child, he has been fond of all kinds of plants and small animals, and he fantasizes about becoming a biologist in the future. He was finally admitted to Keio University, and was enthusiastic about his scientific future, when the war broke out and the Japanese army invaded Southeast Asia, all college students could be called up for military service at any time.

He decided to join the Navy. He had heard of the bad deeds of the army and the gendarmerie in killing people in the occupied areas, and he felt that the navy's hands were still clean, and that the war was fought openly against the enemy's fleet.

Later, he finally suspended his studies and joined the battleship Mt. Fuji in the 3rd Battleship Squadron of the Combined Fleet (I wrote about it earlier, but I forgot to mention it in the first two chapters. Pawn a private.

"Kiyooka Masagu, the firing range of our ship at the enemy's airfield?"

"Twenty thousand and five hundred meters when entering the shooting. The course was 75, the speed was eighteen knots, the firing section was 15,000 kilometers, the firing lasted forty-five minutes, and the exit was 21,000 kilometers. ”

"Use projectiles and angles?"

"Type 91 armor-piercing projectiles. Destruction of airfield runways, firing angles 15 degrees, zero incendiary bombs, timed fuses, three-type grenades, ricochets, delayed fuses, destroying aircraft, firing angles 30 degrees. ”

I memorize it at a stretch. For a college student, that's a lot of data. But he wasn't interested. However, Captain Iwata is extremely demanding. often pushes him to wake up from his dreams and forces him to shoot Zhu Yuan on his back. He had to memorize these boring numbers like Linnaeus's taxonomy, and to load cannonballs into the chamber and take them out like the robots written by the Czech writer Chapek. Put it in again....

The Mt. Fuji ship was launched in the eighth year of Showa (1933). A new capital ship that joined the Japanese Navy for ten years. At that time, the Allied Navy was proud of the fact that it was, after all, a main warship designed with the Chinese Kunlunshan-class battleships as the combat object. And it was also at the time of the naval confrontation in the waters off Sakhalin Island in Suzh. Gave the Japanese Navy an advantage.

However, many industries in Japan at that time did not support the construction of battleships with a displacement of more than 50,000 tons at once, and problems continued after they entered service. In the thirteenth year of Showa, it had to be docked in Kure Port for overhaul and refit. The time for the modification dragged on for two years, and when it was relaunched, it was completely new. However, the automatic ammunition losers of the Mt. Fuji often failed, and the basic skill of the sailors was hand loading. Now, whether it's shooting the Yuan, or hand-loading, it's all used.

Playing with fantasies about getting through the war and going back to school, these thoughts are all shattered by the ruthless reality.

The Mt. Fuji and its sister ship, Yaeyama, formed the Third Battleship and, under the cover of six destroyers, headed southeast along the Solomon Islands. The Solomon Islands are two parallel island groups, the southern one is many and fragmented, the large of which is Bhuuville, Guadalcanal and San Cristobal, and Bougainville and Kuah have been stationed by Chinese troops.

There are also several important small islands: Shortland, Vila Lavilla, Korobangela, and New Georgia, where Japanese troops are stationed. To the north, there are large islands: St. Bazelle, St. Isabel and Malaita, and because of the rugged terrain, neither the Japanese nor the United States have troops stationed there, and China has no interest in stationing these islands of little value.

The average width of the strait between the two strings of islands is about 50 kilometers, and the narrowest point is only more than 10 kilometers, like a water canal. It's called the "Narrow Mouth Strait", and the Americans simply call it the "Groove Sea".

Fifty-three-year-old Rear Admiral Keno Kurita led the battlefleet. As intended, he opposed sending precious battleships to venture into the narrow "trough sea", since enemy aircraft, submarines, and torpedo boats could threaten the battleships. This practice of shelling airfields with battleships is not at all in keeping with the rules of naval warfare.

However, the new commander of the Combined Fleet, Admiral Nagano Shusei, strictly ordered him to do it. The reason for Nagano's cultivation is simple, the main forces of the Allied Navy have been operating near Kuah Island all the time, and if the airfields are not destroyed, enemy aircraft will threaten aircraft carriers that are more important than battleships.

"The airfield has become the center of the world's attention, so destroy it and do it, Kurita-kun." Nagano Shushen came to a conclusion.

After several months of training and running-in, the US-Japan joint fleet finally formed a joint combat capability. At this moment, China's Pacific theater has advanced its offensive to Australia. As the last line of defense in the South Pacific, neither the Japanese nor the Americans have retreated.

Once the Chinese army appeared in Australia, the last interests of the Allies in the Pacific became China's bag.

In order to protect the last defensive ground, the combined fleet of Japan and the United States can only launch a sea offensive against China in this regard. As long as the Chinese navy is weakened as much as possible, Australia will not only be able to ensure that there is no hindrance, but also be able to change the posture of the war. Guarantee the final outcome of this war.

The Japanese and American armies also pinned high hopes on the shelling of battleships. After the failure of the Allied forces on the island to attack the Chinese-occupied airfield many times, Lieutenant General Baiwu Jingji, commander of the 17th Army stationed in Rabaul, gritted his teeth and sent the Sendai Division, the second division of the empire that had repeatedly made great achievements in the Russo-Japanese War, to Kuah Island to conquer the airfield within a time limit.

General Baiwu said to General Kurita: "Your battlefleet is topped with a thousand field guns, and I wish you success." ”

Before dark, the Third Battlefleet had sailed into the waters off Santa Isabel Island, the ultimate range of the Chinese Air Force reconnaissance planes on Kuah Island.

On 13 May, at 7:40 a.m. in the latitude of the Solomon Islands, it was dark and the sun was setting, and Kurita gave an order: "Advance at high speed and enter the Kuah Island Theater!" ”

Kuah Island is approaching. Kurita's fleet approached Savo from the north at a speed of twenty-eight knots. When the black mountain shadow of Savo Island was on the port side of the Mt. Fuji ship, even the main photos, who had no interest in the war, felt a burst of excitement.

The distance between Savo and Cape Esparnes on Kuah Island is only sixteen kilometres. Crossing from the center line of this waterway, in front of which is the airport at Cape Lunga on Kuah Island. In the bay between Cape Esparnes and Cape Longa, the Chinese, Japanese, and American fleets fought many naval and air battles, and because of the multipolar number of shipwrecks, both sides called it the "Iron Bottom Bay."

The main light has been seen on the port side of the Mt. Fuji ship, on the island of Esparnes on the island of Kuah, with a yellow light. It was the Allied Army unit point, specifically for the Allied fleet navigation.

Kurita gave the order: "Left rudder 50, speed eighteen knots." ”

The Third Fleet turned its ship around and entered the waterway between Kuah and Savo. This area is densely populated with reefs and shipwrecks. Be extra careful when sailing.

An hour later. Kiyooka Masagurus saw a bonfire in front of the Mt. Fuji ship. According to the information he had memorized, it was the village of Tasa Falonga, the first correction point of the fleet's shelling. As soon as he thought this, he heard Iwata order loudly:

"Prepare for shooting. Incendiary bomb two. ”

Kurita gave another rudder order: "Left rudder 75." The guns of the ships are ready to fire".

Masato has seen Kurita. And talked to him. He told Masazhao that he had been to the United States before the war, and that he was the same as Nagano Xiu. It can be regarded as pro-American.

"In that place in New York, I said I was going to install a phone in the morning, and I did it in the afternoon. What is missing in the market today, it will be available in large quantities tomorrow. Can Japan achieve this kind of high efficiency? When we unite, China will be less terrible. ”

Masato looked back at the bridge, it was dark and he couldn't see anything clearly, but he imagined that Rear Admiral Keno Kurita must be very powerful. Since the beginning of the war, the battleships of the Allied Navy have not been officially engaged in war. General Kurita was about to command the first shot. He wiped an incendiary bomb and waited for the order.

The Third Battlefleet turned again and entered the "Iron Bottom Bay", and all the officers and men, both Iwata and Masazhao, were so excited that they seemed to be drunk.

In the dark darkness of the night, another bonfire appeared, and its position was on the starboard side of the fleet. The campfire site is the mouth of a river called Matanikao.

The Matanicau River is the dividing line between the Japanese and American armies on Kuah Island, and the place of the mouth of the river is called Cape Santa Cruz, which is the name of the Spanish Catholic color.

This bonfire was lit by Allied forces and was used specifically for fleet ranging. "Fifteen thousand two hundred meters," Iwata shouted. "The main artillery is offset 30 degrees to the right with the campfire as the base, at a distance of 20,000 and 500 meters, the target, the enemy airfield, the incendiary bombs, the ready-"

Having already adjusted the fuse, he immediately fed the shell into the chamber of the 420-millimeter-diameter cannon, and the bolt snapped shut, and his job was over.

He heard Major General Kurita shouting over the loudspeaker: "Open fire!" Almost at the same second, Iwata shouted, "Fire!" Open fire!"

The 52,000-ton Mt. Fuji ship shook violently, and the nine giant cannons of a caliber of more than 16 inches spewed out long dazzling flares and spat out steel projectiles. Bullet Nine drew an arc-shaped trajectory in the air and landed on the grass of Kuah Island, immediately bursting into clusters of fire.

A minute later, the rumbling explosion came from the island. At this time, the Japanese artillery observation station on Mount Osteng on Kuah Island had already detected the deviation of the impact point and immediately reported the data to Kurita. After the third row of artillery fired, Kurita ordered the artillery:

"No corrections, twenty rapid shots each. Open fire!"

The fleet sailed slowly, firing non-stop, and the sound of artillery echoed in the Iron Bottom Bay. At the end of the arc trajectory, flames rose one after another, and the flames were connected together, and in the flames flashed the strong light of the explosion of the cannonball. The flashes and flames are like Chinese fireworks in the movie frame, like the fireships on Kanagawa during the Obon Festival.

In a moment, a shell hit the oil depot, and countless bright fires splattered into the air, and the fire was so fierce that even the earth and the sky were reflected red. The sailors of the warship cheered, and Captain Iwata shouted: "Onboard! Onboard! ”

When the course of the fleet was at an angle of 90 degrees to the direction of the fire, the airfield was at the nearest distance, only 17,000 kilometers, and the secondary guns on the side of the battleship were also fired. Countless shells flew towards the airfield, burrowed into the sea of fire, and burned even more fiercely.

The voice of Major General Kurita praising the troops was heard over the loudspeaker, and the sailors fought more vigorously. Iwata stripped off his shirt and wore only an officer's hat, ran up to each of the gunners, and waved his fists: "What the hell." Let the Chinese pigs eat the shells of the battleships."

Half an hour later, the fleet reached the end of the ultimate range of the main guns. It is like walking the bottom of an equilateral triangle, the airport is at the apex of the triangle, and the distance between the two waists is 21,000 kilometers.

Kurita ordered to turn 180 degrees, the fleet returned and shooting resumed. At this moment, the airport is scorched with smoke and flames, and the burning oil depot has long become the best target. The secondary gun fired from the other side of the fleet began to fire. An ammunition depot was hit, and numerous shells and torpedoes exploded. Iwata shouted, and Masaaki felt that the American troops on the airport were like beetles on a hot iron plate at the moment. And the enemy's planes are like wax dragonflies. It's melting away at a rapid pace.

――――――

Yes! North Africa. North Africa is always a fascinating dream. The ruins, remnants, stone aqueducts of ancient Rome and Carthage, the green olive trees, and the beautiful historical stories and legends haunted Second Lieutenant Chen Mincong. He was supposed to be sent to North Africa. Ready to aid Rommel, who is struggling in North Africa.

His Warhawk-3 jet fighter. The upper part has been painted in the same desert camouflage as tawny. Loaded onto a ship and transported from Yangon to Casablanca. He himself held a copy of Appian's History of Rome and imagined the dunes and oases on the southern shores of the Mediterranean.

The Ministry of Defense issued an order. The convoy was diverted south to the Pacific Ocean and headed for the Solomon Islands front. Fighting the Japanese, Second Lieutenant Chen Mincong was at a loss. He studied European history and English, and was accustomed to seeing Europe and the U.S. Air Force as his opponents. He studied all the materials on the Battle of Britain, and even the Eastern Battlefield air combat materials that he could get his hands on, and his enemy was the British Meteor Jet Fighter.

There are also very important American Sabres, American jet fighters, and he even plans to face the British and American jet fighters with the German jet fighters. Now it has been replaced by a small Japanese Zero fighter or an orange blossom jet.

He has no fear, only helplessness, as if he has to learn everything from scratch.

Second Lieutenant Chen Mincong, a small man, twenty-four years old, has a quick and accurate response, a reliable sense of feeling, and an impeccable balance organ.

He was told: the Zero and Tachibana have a high speed, they are very flexible in high-speed air combat at medium altitudes, and little Japan likes to fight one-on-one, and its weakness is that it has poor hovering at low speeds, and Japanese pilots often do not care about the front and the back.

It's the same with whomever you fight. Chen Mincong believes that the key is to establish meritorious service.

Along the way, he felt that everything was completely different from what he imagined: bombed during the day, shelled at night, gnawed mildew, bitten by insects, and the smoke rising from the cooking of the Japanese army around the airport gave him a naked feeling.

The worst thing is that planes are blown up every day, and those who can fly are poor. Fly the Warhawk-3 today, fly the H-2 tomorrow, and maybe change to a Warhawk-2 the day after tomorrow, what's the use. Everything that can go up to heaven must be used against the transports and warships of the little devils, and it will be difficult to get them to carry more soldiers and weapons to Karnal.

In the Napoleonic Wars, artillery was God, and in World War II, pilots were God.

In the past, their airport was located in the back of security, with comfortable lounges, alcohol, strong tea, and entertainment in most cases. But in the fierce competition of Guadalcanal, there was nothing but an endless stream of Allied shells and bombs.

However, these things aroused the great hostility of Second Lieutenant Chen Mincong. He was bent on taking revenge on Little Japan, his skills, his bravery were beyond his imagination.

He became Karnal's most popular Chinese pilot. He has already shot down ten enemy aircraft and two troop carriers, including the Japanese Zero and Mustang, as well as four jet fighters, three Japanese Tachibana, one of which is an American Sabre. In his words, "I've enough." ”

Man is really a very adaptable animal. Chen Mincong has adapted to life in Guadalcanal: he can't take a shower, he simply showers in the rain, he doesn't have shaving cream, he simply grows a beard, he doesn't sleep well at night, he sleeps hard during the day, he does exercises and massages, he tries to prevent terrible diseases in the tropics, he strips naked and sunbathes as soon as the weather is clear, and he doesn't care about the dangers, otherwise he will suffer from all kinds of skin diseases and trench feet in hot and humid environments.

On the night of May 13, Chen Mincong thought his luck had come to an end. The shelling of the little devil battleship shook the ground, his eardrums were broken, his internal organs were pulled together, the 420-millimeter earth was as dense as a machine gun, the fire was everywhere, the sky was red, the shells exploded around him, and the earth that fell from the fox hole almost buried him.

He had never felt so close to death, and every second would be so hard. Like a lonely boat in the stormy seas, like a lamb in a blizzard, one thought is calling, just come and hit the fox hole with a cannonball, and the other thought is resisting: you must take revenge!

I don't know how much time passed, but the shelling finally stopped. Chen Mincong has been buried in the void. He was groggy and almost dead. Later, soldiers of the 1st Marine Division near the airport arrived and desperately dug him and his companions out. Many were already corpses, others were blown to the ground. The soldiers of the defense team protect the pilots like queen bees. They knew that the pilots were deciding the fate of Guadalcanal.

Chen Mincong felt that the usual hot and spicy liquid flowed into the stomach and intestines. The stomach and intestines wake up. Evokes the brain: "Where is this?"

"It's not the underworld, you're still in the world. Get up, young man, waiting for you to get on the plane! A voice replied.

"Who are you?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Li Siyu. Marine battalion commander. Do you want some more two-pot heads?"

Only then did Chen Mincong recognize a thin face with sideburns and beard. He knew Lin Siyu. I also played chess and chatted with him when I had time. He knew his brain was normal.

Lieutenant Colonel Lin Siyu helped him up, and he felt the world spin, and it took a while to regain his balance. At this time. He found a general standing before him; Major General Liu Qing, commander of the 1st Marine Division.

"How?" The division commander asked the Army Aviation members with concern: "Are you feeling better?"

"Thanks, alright." He was touched by the concern of the highest military governor of Karnal.

"Second Lieutenant Chen Mincong, originally, you should have taken a good rest, but Little Japan won't let us rest. Their troop carriers are approaching Karnal. If you don't object, I hope you, Second Lieutenant Chen Mincong, give them punishment. The army needs you. The general held out his hand. He had wounds on his face, large patches of red mercury, and gauze around his feet, from which blood oozed out.

A forty-five-year-old general, with gray hair on his mane, and such a fighting spirit, Chen Mincong's blood surged. He got rid of Lin Siyu's support and said to Liu Qing:

"General, you and I are both from Jiaozhou. We have not produced a bad seed in Jiaozhou. I'm going to take off. I won't be cheap dog said little Japan. I'm dead, General, the 225th Flying Squadron has the address of my home, and if it's convenient for you, please give my mother a bouquet of dogwood flowers. ”

"I'll wait for you to come back so I can put a lieutenant epaulette on you. Don't be so pessimistic, kid, aren't we all fine!"

Chen Mincong rushed onto the smoke-filled runway. The runway was littered with craters, some as deep as ten feet. The grass was littered with fragments of airplanes, some of which were burned to the point of skeletons, and the scene was bleak. At first glance, it seems that there is not a single good plane left.

"Hey, Min Cong, come on, there's also a Warhawk-3 here, it seems that the little devil specially left it for you." Chen Mincong heard his mechanic Gao Bo calling him. He saw Gao Bo burrowing into a machine nest, desperately tearing off the camouflage net, and then sweeping down the clods and metal fragments on the Warhawk-3.

Gao Bo checked the plane, and it was basically in good condition, but there was no gasoline. He was in a hurry, looking for oil everywhere. The aviation fuel depot at the airport was opened, and now it is still burning, and not a drop of oil can be found.

Chen Mincong had already found several 250-kilogram bombs, and it took a lot of effort to hang them under the wings.

He lit a cigarette. There is no gasoline. Nothing can be done.

Suddenly, he heard a cheer from Gao Bo in the distance. It turned out that he found oil in the wing fuel tank of a H-2 heavy bomber with the nose cut off. He summoned an airport jeep, sucked a large poke of gasoline with a plastic tube, and returned to Chen Mincong.

Ten minutes later, Chen Mincong had already flown over Iron Bottom Bay.

Second Lieutenant Chen Mincong and a few other sporadic fighters searched northwest along the trough sea. The weather is clear, the visibility is ten kilometers, and the two clusters of islands in the Solomon Islands, covered with rainforest, sweep backwards from the ends of the wings like two emerald necklaces. The trough sea was clean, and sometimes one or two small barges of Japanese soldiers appeared, and before they could see clearly, they disappeared in the shade of the trees next to the shore.

PS: Last time, the gorgeous computer Kabida was gone. After finding a time,Gorgeous and re-straightened the outline of the end.,This month is not finished.,It's expected that it may take another half a month to complete the book.。

Gorgeous doesn't want an unclear ending, and there are many questions to be explained. Fast forward at full speed, and it seems to be keeping a running account, which is very awkward.

Regarding the next book, in fact, Gorgeous has already listed the basic outline some time ago, and now I have to find time to re-list the outline, which is very speechless and annoying. (To be continued......)