"Torpedo compartment!" Covered in blood and dying, Xu Guodong, the captain of the Jianli, crawled out of the ground with difficulty. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 Info raised his hand tremblingly, picked up the communication microphone, and roared in a hoarse voice: "Launch a torpedo!" ”

The whole ship was on fire, and the Jianli, which was in a semi-submersible state due to serious water ingress in the first half, did not turn and break away after firing the torpedo, but gradually began to sink.

All the officers were killed in the battle, the boiler room was quickly hit and ineffective, and only seven of the more than 200 naval officers and men of the entire battleship were rescued, including Chen Ahu and He Qinian, who fell into the sea because the battleship tilted.

The two lucky lookouts miraculously found a lifeboat that had fallen from the ship nearby after falling into the sea! This saved them from freezing to death by the sea or dying of exhaustion.

Don't look at the distance from the surrounding islands that are only a few dozen nautical miles, but relying on human physical strength to swim this distance is dreaming, especially when it rains heavily.

Chen Ahu and He Qinian were lucky, they were not only saved themselves, but also rescued several colleagues along the way. The lucky ones were saved by turning their lifeboats to the shore after dawn. In the end, only a few dozen people were rescued on the four destroyers. The officers and men of the Ming Navy used their heroic spirit of sacrifice to severely shock the Japanese who should be excited about the success of the action.

Inside the bridge of the King Kong, the carnivalesque cheers of the past were gone. The officers in the bridge looked at the burning and sinking Ming warships and were silent. There was a hint of fear in the eyes of many people.

The four light destroyers did not have the slightest fear in the face of a whole battleship formation, and bravely launched a decisive charge. This naval spirit greatly stimulated the Japanese officers. Many people's hearts invariably rise in the minds of how to deal with such an opponent.

This is just four destroyers, and in the face of the battleship formation of the Ming Dynasty, will they still be able to win?

"Gentlemen." Lieutenant General Takasu Shiro broke the silence on the bridge with a voice, and said in a deep voice, "For the future of the Imperial Kingdom, please fight hard!" ”

"Hey!"

The decisive attack of the four Ming destroyers did not achieve much success, and all the torpedoes were dodged. However, their torpedo attacks disrupted the Japanese formation, forcing the Japanese fleet to disperse in order to avoid torpedo attacks. More than twenty minutes were wasted regrouping. And this time gave the battleship formation of the Ming Navy time to meet the battle.

The battleship formation of the Daming Navy had eight battleships, twelve heavy cruisers, one light cruiser and more than fifty destroyers.

Their main task was to carry out artillery support on the opposite shore, but at this moment, in the night battle in which the enemy battleship formation took the initiative to kill, they also had the responsibility to meet it.

The commander in charge of commanding this large battleship formation was Vice Admiral Wang Haibo. This is a traditional old-school naval officer who has lived on a battleship all his life. Mastering the tactics of artillery bombardment and navigation, he has been waiting for his own decisive naval battle all his life.

Unfortunately, with the rise of aircraft carrier tactics, battleships, which were originally the hegemons of the sea, quickly fell into the role of corners. Now it has been reduced to a floating battery to provide fire support for the landing force, and this huge gap makes an old-school soldier like General Wang Haibo feel very uncomfortable, and at the same time, his heart is inevitably sad. It's just that the development of science and technology and the updating of tactics are not something that some people can change if they are unwilling.

Originally, Wang Haibo was silently waiting to finish his military career, but he didn't expect to encounter a battleship duel of such a scale at this moment! This made Wang Haibo, an old-school soldier, feel that his chest was burning. After a lifetime of waiting, I finally got it!

At the southern exit of the Kerama Waterway, the battleship formation of the Ming Navy had begun to set up an ambush here to prepare for an ambush on the Japanese fleet. As for Task Force 12 and the transports, they had already begun to flee the anchorage through the northern exit.

The dense rain clouds that hung over the Ryukyu Islands showed no sign of dissipating, and the rain in the sky was getting heavier. Visibility on the surface of the sea drops so quickly that even the lookouts, who eat cod liver oil every day, find it difficult to see too far away in such weather conditions. At this time, it is necessary to rely on large optical sights.

The level of science and technology of the Japanese can be regarded as second-rate in this era. After all, it is very close to Daming, and many Japanese have studied and worked in Daming. When they returned to Japan, they naturally brought back everything they had learned. And with the previous relationship between Daming and Japan, Daming will not have any restrictions on these technologies and people.

It is difficult for people in modern time and space to imagine the firm belief in the hearts of these people in this era. Basically, international students from all countries choose to return to their home countries after graduation, except for those who want to continue their studies and internships.

Even if the conditions in Daming are good, it is extremely rare that there will be international students who choose to stay in Daming forever. This is true for every country, strong and weak, rich and poor. Before globalization, many people were willing to give everything for their country.

Japan's optical sight technicians were taught by the Ming Dynasty, but they were definitely not as good as the Ming Dynasty. This is true not only on optical sights, but also in other areas. The same is true not only for Japan, but also for other countries.

Maybe countries can be on par with the Ming Dynasty in some aspects, or even surpass the Ming Dynasty. But no one can compare with Da Ming in terms of overall technical strength. This is actually the reason why Zhang Cheng was able to develop so many technologies smoothly. The foundation in all aspects has been laid very solidly, and Zhang Cheng only needs to provide some directional points to complete the breakthrough in science and technology.

If Zhang Cheng travels through the people of modern time and space history. In the era of the country, even if he was given equipment that could directly produce weapons, no one would produce or use it. The foundation of a country's overall strength lies in education and the quality of its population.

The impact of this heavy rain, which shows no signs of dissipating, is fair on both sides. It is difficult for Japanese night owls to detect information from a long distance as usual on such rainy nights. And the first-generation fire control radar equipped by Daming will also be greatly discounted in such night rain. No one has been able to take advantage of God.

"Takasu-kun, what should I do now?" The distance of thirty nautical miles is just over an hour for a battleship traveling at high speed. By the time it was about one o'clock in the morning of 4 August, the Japanese fleet had already arrived at the entrance between the outer islands and the island of Toka-ao in the south of the Kerama waterway. Vice Admiral Nobutake Kondo, who was the chief of staff of the fleet, stepped forward a few steps and came to Vice Admiral Takasu Shiro and asked aloud.

According to the regular establishment, the chief of staff of the fleet can generally only have the rank of rear admiral, and it is rare for the chief of staff to ask the commander in charge directly in a highly hierarchical navy. Staff officers generally only carry out orders.

It's just that Nobutake's identity is somewhat special, in addition to being the chief of staff of the First Fleet, he is also the chief of staff of the entire Combined Fleet. Therefore, he not only holds the rank of lieutenant general, but also theoretically is still Takasu Shiro's boss.

As for why this happened, the main reason is that this war has a bearing on the future and destiny of the entire Japanese Navy and even the whole of Japan. Yamamoto Isoroku himself can be called a handsome talent, but his front-line command ability is very average. He was good at strategy, and he was far inferior to those front-line commanders in terms of tactics.

Put the hope and final fortune of the entire country and the navy in the hands of Takasu Shiro. Not to mention Yamamoto fifty-six, it is difficult for any Japanese naval top brass to accept. But Takasu Shiro, as the best commander of artillery in the Japanese Navy, was the best choice in the event that Yamamoto Isoroku would not go in person.

In the end, Yamamoto decided to let Nobutake Kondo, who was only the chief of staff of the First Fleet on a temporary basis, and the chief of staff of the entire Combined Fleet actually performed his duties.

Takasu Shiro paused slightly, put down the binoculars in his hand and said, "Kondo-kun, the battleship formation of the Ming army must have been waiting for us in ambush inside, the waterway here is narrow, and it is not suitable for the battlefleet to spread a wide battle line. Moreover, if you rush in, you may be torpedoed by the light warships of the Ming army and cause unnecessary losses. ”

"What Takasu-kun said is extremely true." Kondo Nobutake nodded, and said, "But our time is limited, so we have to kill it as soon as possible anyway." ”

Although the 6th and 7th Sentai had already been sent with a number of destroyers to block the northern exit of the Kerama waterway, the most important thing for the Japanese was time.

No one knows how long this heavy rain will last. The weather department said it could last until tomorrow night, or it could end during the day tomorrow. This uncertain report made the Navy angry and wanted to kill.

For the Japanese Navy, their biggest uncertainty is that they do not have air supremacy. Once the clouds and rain dissipate after dawn, the hordes of Ming fighters will drown the entire fleet with an endless rain of bullets. So for Takasu Shiro, even if he wants to be ambushed, he must hurry up and rush in!

The Japanese Navy is very confident in its own artillery battles, and the daily brutal training is not for nothing. They thought they could defeat their enemies even if they were at a disadvantage, not to mention that they still had an eleven-eight advantage.

"Order the Ninth Sentai to lead the Sixth and Seventeenth Expulsion Squadrons to enter first, and the other warbands will line up in battle formations and prepare to attack!" Takasu Shiro did not raise his command flag on the Yamato or Musashi. Those two super battleships, like Nagato Mutsu, have always been under the direct jurisdiction of the Combined Fleet. Takasu Shiro was reluctant to put his headquarters on an unfamiliar battleship when the war was about to begin. Therefore, he still chose the King Kong, which he had followed for many years, as his flagship.

"Takasu-kun, since you're ready to start, I'll leave first. Hopefully we can celebrate the victory together in Tokyo! "Armageddon is about to begin, and Nobutake Kondo steps forward to say goodbye to Takasu Shiro. (To be continued.) )