Kondo Nobutake chose a strong man to break his wrist, and he chose to give up the King Kong. But the fate of the King Kong is not something he can decide alone, at least Mikawa Junichi has always been unwilling to give up the King Kong, since Kondo Nobutake does not listen to him, then he will react to a higher commander.

Mikawa Junichi sent a telegram to Yamamoto Isoroku with a strong request to continue saving the Kongo, and he even promised that he would definitely be able to bring the Kongo back to Japan.

When he received a telegram from the Mikawa Army, Yamamoto Fifty-six felt very uncomfortable, after all, the King Kong was the capital ship, and now life and death were unpredictable, how could he, the commander, be better? After some thought, Yamamoto agreed to Mikawa Junichi's request and ordered him to continue rescuing the Kongo.

This order made the Mikawa army breathe a big sigh of relief, because just now, Kondo Shintake, who was on the way to retreat, kept ordering him to scuttle the King Kong as soon as possible and retreat as soon as possible, and he was almost unable to delay. It can be said that Yamamoto Isoroku's telegram can be regarded as timely rain.

However, even with Yamamoto's permission, the situation of the Kongo was still not optimistic, and the damage had been so severe that all the main guns had been destroyed, and the hull was leaking up and down. Two boiler compartments were already soaked in water, only one or two boilers were still functional, and the more important rudder was broken, and even with the destroyer towing, it could barely move at a speed of about 10 knots.

At this time, there are not only "American Animal" cruisers and destroyers in the sea area where the King Kong is located, but also in the monitoring range of Midway, and once discovered, the B17 and B25 taking off from Midway Island will swarm in. Let's put it this way, as soon as it's dawn. The King Kong may go to hell!

But no matter how difficult it is. Mikawa Junichi was not willing to give up. He placed a chair on top of the B turret that had just been extinguished, and he sat on it and watched the repair work. With him supervising the officers and men of the King Kong, they were much calmer, and at dawn, the fire on the surface of the ship's hull had been basically extinguished, and the speed had recovered to about 15 knots for a time.

However, at this moment, the bad luck of the King Kong came again, and soon Katarina, who took off from Midway, spotted him, and a large wave of B25s and B17s arrived. Began to frantically drop bombs on the King Kong. In the midst of the heavy bombardment, the King Kong ate three more aerial bombs!

Seeing that the King Kong seemed to be a pill, the officers and men of the whole ship fell into inexplicable restlessness and chaos, and at this time, the Sanchuan military played the role of fixing the sea god needle. Sitting on the B turret, he calmly watched the bombing of the US planes, turning a blind eye to the rain of bullets!

Mikawa Junichi's actions boosted the morale of the officers and men of the Kongo, and they quickly got out of the panic, but this did not mean that the Kongo could get out of danger. Because after Kondo Nobutake learned of the bombing of the Kongo, he thought that it was a waste of death, and categorically demanded that Mikawa Junichi abandon the Kongo, and demanded that the destroyers Shiranui, Kasumi, and Hatsukaze evacuate immediately. Among them, Kasumi and Hatsukaze couldn't withstand the pressure of Kondo Nobutake. It had to retreat immediately, and only the Shiranui continued to run away with the difficult towing of the Kongo.

This continued until eleven o'clock at noon. After the end of the Second Midway Air and Sea Battle, the Kiev and Minsk on the way back discovered the King Kong - this is not a wolf that went out to fight a wolf and ran into a rabbit that had been lame, naturally Kuznetsov and Sukhoi would not be polite, and immediately took off again Ro-2 to attack King Kong.

At 11:30, the Ro-2 group dropped five torpedoes and hit three of the King Kong, but unfortunately, two of them hit its main armor belt because of a mistake in depth fixing (in fact, it was not a mistake, but the King Kong was flooded with more than 3,000 tons at that time, and a considerable part of the hull was in the water), causing little damage. However, the torpedo that worked well still caused considerable losses to the King Kong - **** ten degrees, and the stern sank.

At this time, the King Kong was still able to struggle forward, but after the bombing was known to Kondo Nobutake, the latter once again gave the Mikawa army the strictest orders. He demanded that the Mikawa Army should no longer refuse to carry out the order under any pretext, and that the King Kong must be abandoned immediately. At this time, Mikawa Junichi really had no choice but to order to abandon ship.

At two o'clock, Mikawa ordered the Kim Sea Valve at the bottom of the ship to be opened, and all the crew gathered at the bow of the ship to shout three long live three times, lowered the flag, transferred the emperor's photo, and climbed along the rope net to the returning Kasumi, Hatsukaze, and the Shiranui, which had been accompanying him all the time. By half past two in the afternoon, all the crew of the Kongo had been evacuated, and even the captain, who was determined to live with the ship, was ordered by Nobutake Kondo to take out of the half-burned bridge.

Originally, according to Kondo's order, after evacuation, the destroyer should launch a torpedo to speed up the sinking of the King Kong and prevent it from falling into the hands of the enemy. However, this order was canceled by Yamamoto Isoroku because Yamamoto wanted to use the Kongo to attract the attention of the already victorious US Navy and Air Force in order to cover the retreat of the other ships.

However, in fact, it doesn't make sense for Yamamoto to cancel Nobutake's order to cancel Kondo, because the King Kong has already tilted 19 degrees, and the middle and rear parts of the hull have completely sunk below the surface of the sea, and there is not much time left before the final end.

The Red Navy has also been observing the condition of the King Kong, and the air raids have continued, during which many crew members of the King Kong have also been killed. When he found out that the King Kong was doomed, he had no interest in dealing with this "dying dog".

At four o'clock in the afternoon, Mikawa Gunichi left the Kongo with three destroyers and returned to Truk a few days later. As for Nobutake Kondo, who ordered to abandon the Kongo, he returned to Hong Kong earlier than Mikawa Junichi. However, when he returned to Truk, the first order he received was that he was relieved of all duties by the angry Yamamoto Isoroku. Four months later, Nobutake Kondo was forced to retire from the Navy and transferred to the reserve because of the loss of the Kongo and Hiei. As for Mikawa Junichi, he was exempted from accountability because he showed full bushido spirit when rescuing the Kongo.

Let's talk about the Hiei again, it actually has nothing to say, it was surrounded by four Red Navy battle patrols that caught up, and **** sank in the northwest waters of Midway. It is mentioned because the battleship had a special significance for the Red Navy, the second time since 1905 that the Russians sank a Japanese warship. And it's different from 1905. This time, they won a big victory and shaved their opponents' bald heads!

It's not just the Hiei that has been sunk. The heavy cruisers Haguro and Torikai, which were covering the Hiei's retreat, were also tragically sunk. It was on this tragic night that the Red Navy paid the price of heavy damage to one destroyer and serious damage to three heavy cruisers, but in exchange for the brilliant result of sinking two enemy battleships, two heavy cruisers, and two destroyers.

Kuznetsov was quite satisfied with this result, because it was not only revenge for the Battle of Tsushima in 1905, but more importantly, the Red Navy once again proved itself after disappearing from the world-class stage for more than 30 years. The Red Navy has shown with practical actions that even in the face of the world's first-class Japanese Combined Fleet, they can gain the upper hand and win in battle!

When the good news reached Moscow. Even Trotsky could not help but be excited, and he personally ordered the Kremlin to fire a 21-gun salute to celebrate this great victory. It's just that the only thing that makes the Russians have some regret is that because of secrecy, this victory cannot be written about, and it can only be prevaricated with the fact that the Red Navy won a major victory in the Great Patriotic War.

Of course, not being able to make a big noise does not represent politics. The bureau will not honor those heroes. Lord of the Soviets. The delegation immediately unanimously approved the commendation of the Red Navy's task force. All the ships of the Red Navy that participated in this campaign were awarded the Order of the Red Banner, and there may be comrades who do not know what the meaning of this is, but in fact it is quite weighty.

For example, when talking about the Minsk aircraft carrier in the past, she was directly called the Minsk aircraft carrier. But after being awarded the Order of the Red Banner, the title will change. To become a "Minsk aircraft carrier awarded the Order of the Red Banner", in fact, this is a collective honor.

In addition to collective honor. Personal honors were also indispensable, and the two commanders-in-chief of the campaign, Kuznetsov and Sukhoi, were awarded the Order of Lenin. To be honest, these two are already a little tired of the Order of Lenin, and the only thing that excites them is the Order of the Golden Star and the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

But the Supreme Soviet Lord. Xi Tuan believes that the performance of these two is not up to the standard of Heroes of the Soviet Union, so Sukhoi and Kuznetsov have to continue to work hard. Of course, the Red Navy task force was not without the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, Lord of the Supreme Soviet. The group thought that the performance of Yurisic and Gorshkov was worthy of this honorary title, and their performance was too good in naval warfare, so they did not hesitate to award them the Order of the Gold Star and the Order of Lenin.

It is also worth mentioning the Kokang, a small destroyer that can be said to be the brightest star of the fleet, because of its heroic and resolute fighting and the active and fearless rescue of friendly ships, the Supreme Soviet Lord. Xi Tuan believed that a mere Order of the Red Banner was no longer enough to commend all its crew, so he was specially awarded the Order of Lenin, so the title of the Kokang became "the destroyer Kokang who won the Order of Lenin", you must know that this honor can not be light, because in the history of the Red Navy, this is the first time that a warship has won the Order of Lenin!

And this directly led to the Red Navy after the end of the war to change the Kokang into a memorial, this destroyer will forever serve in the Red Navy sequence, she will pass on the honor and revolutionary spirit of the Red Navy, forever!

Of course, these commendations are all afterthought, because after dawn, there is still a sea and air battle waiting for the officers and men of the Red Navy.

After the night battle, Kuznetsov learned about the situation in the fleet, which, to be honest, was somewhat shocking. The Venerable was still struggling to get closer to Midway with the help of the Kokang, and by this time the tiny destroyer had been filled with nearly a thousand tons of seawater. The sailors had no choice but to throw everything they could throw away from the ship into the sea. First personal belongings, then various furniture, then fuel and shells. By the afternoon of the next day, the ship had managed to reach Midway at a speed of three knots, and its deck was almost level with the water!

The American officers and men on Midway were dumbfounded by this scene, they had never seen a destroyer without a bow float on the surface of the sea and travel such a long distance. However, this did not prevent them from enthusiastically cheering the stubborn destroyer, because it represented the indomitable fighting spirit and the tenacious fighting spirit.

The repair ship working on Midway Island immediately engaged in emergency repairs to the Honorable, first using a water pump to help the Honorable pump water and help the dying warship regain its buoyancy. Immediately afterwards, the bow of the blown up ship was temporarily sealed. A week later, the Honorable, which was largely restored, left Midway and headed home for Hawaii. Upon arrival in Hawaii, the ship was immediately docked. American engineers added a temporary bow to the Honorable. Then the stubborn destroyer continued to sail east. Cross the Panama Canal. Crossing the Atlantic Ocean and entering the Arctic Ocean, a month later arrived in Murmansk!

When the Noble arrived in Murmansk, it was greeted with the warmest welcome, and every lad could effortlessly hook up with a beautiful local girl after going ashore, which was probably the best recognition of the warrior. After that, the Prestige was docked again, repaired for three months, and returned to active service in November 1943.

After that, the ship went to the United States again with the second batch of volunteers to join the Red Navy fleet of the US Navy. Continue to fight in the Pacific theater for more than a year ahead. In August 1945, the ship had the honor of entering the Gulf of Tonkin with other Red Navy ships to participate in the epic surrender.

With the exception of the Honorable, which suffered the most damage, the other damaged Red Navy ships did not return to their homeland, but were repaired in the United States. It is worth mentioning that the Red Navy specially sent two 40,000-ton working ships to participate in the support. These two working ships with large floating docks basically undertook the repair work of the Red Navy's participating ships, and unless they were too badly damaged, they would generally be able to regain their combat effectiveness quickly.

The Americans were also shocked by the tragic night battle of the Red Navy, because the Red Navy ships that returned to port were so miserable that most of the heavy cruisers' upper hulls and main guns were destroyed. The deck and upper cabins were covered with flesh and remains, and after the battle, the Red Navy was counted to have lost more than 1,000 people in this terrible night battle.

Nimitz wrote in his diary: "Judging by what happened to the Russians. The Japanese are capable of night warfare, and the Russians were lucky enough to come back, which is really lucky! ”

Nimitz immediately reminded his officers and enlisted men that they must be more vigilant at night and that they must be careful of the Japanese ability to fight at night. It's just that the admiral's reminder effect is not particularly large, and then in the Iron Bottom Bay of Guadalcanal, the Allied navies (excluding the Red Navy task force), mainly the US Navy, still underestimated the enemy, and were brutally beaten in several night battles and suffered heavy losses.

Returning to the next day's battle, Kuznetsov, when he regrouped his fleet at four o'clock in the morning, found that four heavy cruisers were largely incapacitated. In desperation, he could only order the four ships to withdraw from the battle, and retreat in the direction of Hawaii under the cover of two ships, the Storm and the Unforgettable. At this time, the Red Navy's task force had two aircraft carriers, four battle cruisers, four air defense cruisers, and four destroyers, and the loss of strength was still quite serious.

Therefore, Kuznetsov demanded that the formation be compressed and a relatively compact air defense formation should be adopted to make up for the loss of strength. At half past four in the morning, that is, when the sky was just dawning, Sukhoi ejected twenty Ro-2s in one go for aerial reconnaissance, on the one hand, in order to refine the search sector and not miss every suspicious target, and on the other hand, the admiral felt that the position of his fleet had been exposed, so he released more reconnaissance planes, and in case he encountered an incoming enemy plane in advance, he could also prepare early.

As for the remaining Ro-2s on the aircraft carrier, they are all torpedoed or bombed and refueled, and they can be immediately put into battle as soon as they give the order. It has to be said that this decision is very correct, precisely because the Red Navy task force is well prepared and can be so calm when facing the air raids of Japanese aircraft.

Why? Because the first thing to be discovered the next day was the Red Navy task force. Didn't I say it earlier, Yamamoto 56 asked Kondo Nobutake to step up the search and find out whether the "American Animal" fleet in the west had aircraft carriers. Although Nobutake Kondo almost fought, he had no problem carrying out the order, and he sent all his air power to search the relevant sea areas, and finally found the Minsk and Kiev at about six o'clock.

This discovery surprised Yamamoto Fifty-six, because the situation was too passive for them, why? Because this illustrates two possibilities, the first possibility is that these two aircraft carriers are the Hornet and the Enterprise, and the Americans have only two aircraft carriers in the waters off Midway. Even so, this is not something to rejoice, because it shows that yesterday's report from Yamaguchi Tarumi was unreliable, and it is clear that his carrier-based aircraft did not sink two aircraft carriers!

Even this possibility is the best outcome for the Japanese, because no one can guarantee that the two discovered aircraft carriers are the Hornet and the Enterprise, if not? That means that the Americans have at least three aircraft carriers in the relevant sea areas! And this is still yesterday, Yamaguchi heard a lot, and there is no mistake, and it is possible that two enemy aircraft carriers were sunk. If Yamaguchi heard that something went wrong there, then the American Beast might have four aircraft carriers in this area!

Four large aircraft carriers fighting two small and medium-sized aircraft carriers is an overwhelming advantage, and Yamamoto Isoroku only needs to do a little calculation to know that this gap is too big, and there is almost no way to fight this battle.

But what made Yamamoto Fifty-six feel depressed was that at this time, the carrier-based aircraft of the Second Mobile Force had already taken off, and the first wave of more than fifty planes had already flown towards the Flying Dragon, and it was impossible to cancel the operation at this time.

What Yamamoto Fifty-six can do is pray that Nagumo Tadaichi's side can bring him good news, if Nagumo Tadaichi's side does not find the aircraft carrier of the American animal, then this battle can still be fought, otherwise...... Otherwise, it can only depend on whether God gives you a way to live...... (To be continued.) )

PS: Bow and thank you to zz120, Rain Leak, Bag Kuroko, Guerrillas, Giants of Giants, Ghoul Kiss Ink and Comrade Juventus!