Chapter 382: The Ancient Eagle

Immediately after the sinking of the Nagato, a huge whirlpool rolled up on the surface of the sea, and this whirlpool was so huge that it swept all the floating objects around it and the Japanese people who were struggling around it into the bottom of the sea!

"Sunk? Is the once flagship of our Combined Fleet, the pride of the Great Japanese Empire, so sinking? On the Akagi, Rear Admiral Ugaki saw that the 39,120-ton battleship had sunk into the sea in just a few minutes, and more than 1,300 officers and men, including Captain Jiro Saito, were not spared, and his eyes were red with excitement, and he shouted almost hysterically.

"Ugaki-kun, there are casualties in war, you are a soldier, don't you even understand this truth?" Yamamoto Fifty-six held the command knife with both hands, his face was gloomy, and he pretended to be calm and scolded, but no one noticed that Yamamoto Fifty-six's hands holding the command knife were trembling slightly, and because he was too hard, even his fingertips were white and his muscles were exposed.

In fact, how could Yamamoto Fifty-six not be surprised in his heart, when he saw Nagato being besieged by dozens of torpedo planes just now, he had a bad premonition in his heart, he really didn't expect the thick-skinned battleship to be sunk so quickly.

No, it can't be fought like this, one-third of the elite of the Combined Fleet of the Great Japanese Empire is here, and it must not be buried in my hands like this. Thinking of this, Yamamoto Fifty-six hurriedly issued an order: "Order the carrier-based aircraft group in the sky not to entangle with the Shina fighters, and hurry back to the sky above the fleet to be responsible for attacking the Shina torpedo planes over the fleet!" There must be no more losses! ”

"Hello!" Ugaki enduring his grief and hurriedly issued an order.

The Japanese carrier-based aircraft group that received the order was worthy of being the elite of the Japanese naval aviation, and they immediately got rid of the entanglement of the Huaxia aircraft group and returned to the skies above the task force and retracted into the fleet's air defense network. At this time, Yamamoto 56 had the opportunity to count the remaining Japanese planes, but he was surprised that in less than an hour, only 42 of the 92 Type 96 Mitsubishi fighters remained, and the loss of fighters reached 55 percent.

This result made Yamamoto Fifty-six feel dizzy in his head, and his body couldn't help shaking, and the chief of staff of operations behind him, Yokota Mitsufu Daisa, hurriedly supported him and comforted him in a low voice: "Your Excellency, the loss of fighters in China is much more than that of our army. ”

Yamamoto fifty-six stabilized his figure and smiled bitterly, "But you must know that they are several times more numerous than me, they can afford to consume them, but we can't!" ”

Yokota Sanfu hurriedly helped Yamamoto Fifty-six to sit down, took out a kettle and handed it to Yamamoto, "Your Excellency Commander, you drink a glass of water first." ”

Yamamoto Fifty-six slowly drank the cup and felt a little more energetic, he lowered his head and pondered for a while before saying in a deep voice: "It seems that this mission cannot be completed, we have the great trust of the emperor!" Order the fleet to shrink its formation, increase the density of firepower, and hold out until we evacuate as soon as it gets dark! ”

"No, you can't! Your Excellency, Commander, if we retreat, how will we explain to His Majesty the Emperor? Yokota said in fear.

"Your Majesty, I'll explain it, and now our biggest problem is how to survive until dark." Yamamoto's tone was full of worry. "The people of China will not let us retreat so easily."

As if to verify Yamamoto's words, at this time, under the command of Li Guidan, more than 40 "Avenger" torpedo bombers launched attacks in all directions of the Japanese task force.

Seeing that the Japanese task force began to slowly move closer to the two aircraft carriers, Li Guidan immediately understood the Japanese army's intentions, and he quickly ordered the torpedo bombers to step up their attacks, and some of the 'wildcats' rushed to the front of the Japanese carrier-based planes to entangle the Japanese carrier-based planes, and the other part rushed to the sky above the Japanese fleet, constantly dodging artillery fire, they were dancing on the tip of the knife with their own lives, so as to attract the Japanese firepower to open up a channel for the 'Avengers'.

The firepower of the Japanese task force suddenly weakened after the loss of the Nagato, but the remaining warships simply went crazy, and the vacancy of the Nagato was quickly filled by the heavy cruiser Furutaka, who was pouring fire into the air frantically.

At this time, the Furutaka had not yet been refitted as in history, and the ship was not equipped with 127-mm large-caliber anti-aircraft guns like the 'Nagato' battleship, but it was equipped with 42 25-mm anti-aircraft guns. When the 42 25-mm anti-aircraft guns opened fire together, they were like hedgehogs covered in thorns and struggling to defend themselves, and all kinds of weapons were erected all over their bodies, blocking the surrounding waterways tightly.

"Report 6023, the enemy ships 'Furutaka' and 'Kagu' blocked the attack channel of our troops, and the enemy fighters are not entangled with our fighters, they are desperately attacking our torpedo planes, so that our torpedo planes cannot attack, and ask the fighters to cover them." The voice of a plea for help rang out in Li Guidan's headset.

Li Guidan looked at the fuel gauge, the battle had lasted for an hour and a half, if we did not return within forty minutes, then the group would not have enough fuel to return, thinking of this, he immediately ordered: "Order the 1st Division and 1st Regiment of the HNA to immediately expel the Japanese planes entrenched in the sky over the enemy fleet, and the 2nd Regiment to attract enemy planes at medium and high altitudes to open up a passage for the 'Avengers', our fuel is running out, and the battle must be ended within 30 minutes." ”

"Understood!"

The 1st and 2nd Regiments of the HNA immediately pounced on their respective targets, and the 'Wildcat' fighters were much more professional than the cumbersome 'Avengers' in the job of luring the enemy.

Immediately after the firepower of the Japanese task force was attracted by the "Wildcat" fighters, more than 40 "Avenger" torpedo bombers took the opportunity to press the Japanese task force from all sides at a low altitude.

Although the anti-aircraft firepower of the Japanese fleet was very fierce, because there were fighters flying in the high, medium, and low altitudes this time, it was inevitable that there were some loopholes in the anti-aircraft firepower of the Japanese army, and these loopholes were immediately seized by Li Guidan.

"The 1st Torpedo Squadron immediately attacked from the west, the 2nd Torpedo Squadron from the east, remember to move quickly, run after the torpedo is released, and there must be no delay!"

"Understood!"

More than 40 'Avengers' immediately approached the Japanese fleet from the east and west, and although they could completely escape the eyes of the Japanese army flying at low altitudes, they were too busy dealing with the fleet of planes in the sky at the moment to take care of themselves, and they did not have the time and energy to take care of these low-flying torpedo planes, so the opportunity came.

The commander of the torpedo plane caught this optimal moment to drop the bomb in the long air, and the pilots only heard the commander's unequivocal voice coming from the headset: "Torpedo attack, torpedo attack"

"Attack the belly of the enemy ship, attack the belly of the enemy ship!"

"Shoot the horizontal attack!"

No matter what the phrase is, it all means the same thing: drop a torpedo!

As the target in the sight zoomed in, the torpedo operators sitting in the back pressed the buttons next to them.

"Brush Brush ......."

One after another, the torpedoes broke away from the fuselage and rushed towards the target, and nearly 50 torpedoes rushed towards the Japanese task force.

"Torpedo torpedo"

"Hurry up and avoid it, hurry up and avoid it!"

The commanders of the ships in the task force saw so many torpedoes with white trails rushing towards the fleet, and they were all in a hurry for a while, and they all commanded the ships to evade, and the formation of the task force became a little chaotic for a while.

"Good chance!"

Li Guidan, who was high in the air, hurriedly ordered: "All torpedo planes attack, all attack!" ”

The torpedo planes, which were originally out of range of the battleship's fire, immediately pounced from the sky and rushed down at the task force.

"Not good! The people of China are about to launch a general attack! Yamamoto Fifty-Roku, who was originally quite calm on the Akagi, also put away his usual somewhat melancholy expression: "Quick, order all fleets to pay attention to low-altitude defense, the people of China are all torpedo planes this time, and they must attack from a low altitude." ”

For a while, the artillery fire of the ships seemed to be a little more intensive, and from time to time fighters fell into the sea with black smoke from the sky. But even so, the pilots of the torpedo planes launched an attack without hesitation.

"Boom ......"

A 'Avenger' that was preparing to drop a mine was shrouded in the barrage when a 76-caliber antiaircraft gun of the 'Guying' exploded, and this 'Avenger' exploded at a low altitude with its crew and aircraft.

But the Avengers behind did not hesitate to rush through the barrage and continued to rush towards the ship firmly.

"Brush Brush ......"

Rows of torpedoes were thrown into the water, and white waves broke out on the surface of the sea.

After Li Guidan's unremitting thunder throwing and heavy sacrifices, this young HNA unit finally achieved results.

"Boom ......"

The heavy cruiser 'Furutaka' was hit by two torpedoes in the tail, and the main propeller was seriously deformed after being hit, and suddenly the 'Furutaka' slowly stopped like a dead fish. Smoke began to rise from the place where the battleship was shot in the stern, as if a dying fish was unwillingly spewing its rage.

"Your Excellency, the Furutaka reports that their propeller has been destroyed and has lost power!" A staff officer hurriedly reported to Isoroku Yamamoto in the command room.

Yamamoto Fifty-six slowly closed his eyes in pain, he knew what it meant for a ship that lost power in the heat of battle, the 'Furutaka' was finished! R