At 5:50 a.m., when the sun rose over the sea level in the east, the right flank capital ships of the Pacific Fleet were all finished.

The battleship USS Washington, which is barely floating on the water, is still alive, mainly because the Japanese want to capture the battleship with the name of the President of the United States.

The crew of the ship, which had been damaged by the bombing, was jumping into the water like dumplings. A destroyer, the Yukikaze, approached and began salvaging the officers and men who had received the ship.

In the vicinity of the New York and Tennessee ships, there were also Japanese ships salvaging American sailors who had fallen overboard. Compared with the Japanese Army, which was full of beasts, the Combined Fleet was relatively disciplined in this regard. Although Isoroku Yamamoto also supported a war against the United States, he did not want the war between Japan and the United States to continue to fight to the death. I also want to follow the example of the Germans and treat the prisoners of war of the US Navy kindly, so as to accumulate more capital for forcing the United States to the negotiating table in the future.

In accordance with Li Huamei's orders, more than 30 British torpedo boats that had run out of torpedoes also approached the sunken or soon-to-be-sunk US ships at this time, making every effort to rescue the American sailors who had fallen into the water. The reason why the torpedo boats lent by Britain to Japan were sent to carry out this mission was a small means that the Japanese Navy did not use well. On several destroyers that received American sailors, the Japanese Navy deliberately placed foreigners who understood English provided by the Germans. These "foreigners" pretended to be British observers and stayed on the Japanese warships, and in the days of the future voyages on the sea, the captured American sailors would have the opportunity to see the "British" "hooking up" with the Japanese on the ships, and at the right time, these American sailors who knew too much would be released for various reasons, and then their "discoveries" would be passed on to the "US government."

This trick of framing the British is not very clever, but what matters is that the Americans want to believe and are willing to believe it.

Last night's naval battle. The original protagonist was to launch a large-scale sneak attack war, with a large number of torpedo boats and destroyers forming a lightning strike force, but with the appearance of naval aviation, the protagonist of the second half of the naval battle was gradually replaced by FW190TF flying in the sky.

And in the battle in the last hour before dawn, naval aviation became the absolute protagonist of this naval battle. More than a hundred dive bombers and torpedo aircraft appeared in the skies over the right flank detachment of the Pacific Fleet. It took less than half an hour to completely destroy the last resistance of the right flank fleet.

The Yamato-class sisters, who were supposed to be dynasties and stars in naval battles, only had time to fire fifteen rounds of cannonballs at their opponents during this time. The greatest credit of the two ships was that the Yamato once hit the Washington with a 406 shell, destroying the bow of the ship, and the Shinano, after firing four salvos, saw the plane appear, and took the initiative to "give way" very "consciously." Divert the muzzle and turn to bombarding an American heavy cruiser.

And the Yamato fired only two more salves at Washington than the Shinano, and then, like the Shinano, shifted its guns to bully the more vulnerable cruisers.

Finally, at the end of the battle on the right flank before dawn, the battleship Yamato used a 460-mm cannon to sink the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis and a destroyer on the right flank of the United States with one shot. And the result of the Shinano was to cripple a Brooklyn-class light cruiser and two destroyers in one shot. Its table xiàn can only be said to be "qualified". The limelight never showed up on the sea, and the carriers released by the aircraft carrier fleet hiding far away were all stolen.

The final ending of the battleship Washington. It was not sunk by a Japanese destroyer -- the Japanese Navy was very eager to capture this new American battleship. But the ship's sailors quietly opened the sea valve before abandoning the ship. Finally, the ship sank into the Pacific Ocean at 11:11 a.m. that morning. However, due to the timely rescue of the Japanese Navy. More than 600 sailors were rescued on the ship, the largest number of rescued sailors in the Pacific Fleet.

"The era of big ships and huge cannons has come to an end today!"

After this scene, even representatives of the "fleet faction" such as Chiaki Matsuda, the captain of the Yamato, had to admit to Commander Isoroku Yamamoto that in a future naval battle. Aircraft carriers are the real kings.

Li Huamei disagreed with him.

"The Air Mother is indeed the king of future naval warfare, but for the Empire, to completely defeat the US Navy, which is ten times more powerful than the Empire, it is impossible to fight with them, and the only way to fight is to rely on battleships. Only in a decisive battle with the U.S. Navy on a specific battlefield and time can we find a chance to win. ”

Before dawn, the Japanese coalition had completely torn apart the right flank of the Pacific Fleet. After dawn, the last five capital ships of the left flank of the Pacific Fleet, which had lost air supremacy, were only caged birds and could not escape the pursuit of the Japanese ships, although they were desperately fleeing with full horsepower.

The five ships in the left flank fleet, except for the battleships South Dakota and North Carolina, which could travel at high speeds close to thirty knots, the remaining three battleships were all "iron turtles" left over from the treaty era, with thick armor and fierce firepower, but extremely slow speed, that is, around twenty-one knots.

What has Admiral Kimmelly been doing after last night's attack?

The answer is that he is "dancing" to the rhythm of the Japanese Navy.

He initially transferred the frigate to the right front flank when it was attacked by the right front, and when the right rear was assaulted, he hurriedly transferred the frigate to the right rear.

When attacked, his biggest miscalculation was the frenzied belief that the British and Japanese navies had set a trap for his fleet to ambush here. Admiral Kimmelly's idea was to "stabilize" the fleet first, and then "fight to the death" with the opponent.

However, he "danced" to the rhythm of his opponents, and until the middle aircraft carrier fleet was completely annihilated, and the right wing fleet was completely destroyed, he could not find a chance to "stabilize". The seemingly astonishingly large Pacific Fleet is like a fat pig blindfolded, constantly stabbed and bled by its opponents by various means. In the two hours following the attack, Admiral Kimmelly's command and decision-making can be described as "like sleepwalking."

It was not until 5:30 a.m., after receiving the news that the right flank fleet had been completely destroyed, that he realized that the general situation had turned, and hurriedly ordered the ships to disperse and escape.

In order not to drag down the fleet, three slow-moving old treaty ships were abandoned as outcasts, and Admiral Kimmel took the battleship North Carolina, followed by ten cruisers and more than 20 destroyers, and fled at full speed in the direction of the Philippines.

Mistakenly believing that the British Navy was also involved in the attack on the American Navy, he did not dare to transfer his fleet south into the British island group to the south. It was just a vigorous westward attempt to join the Philippine fleet, which was still thousands of kilometers away.

However, no matter how fast his surface fleet runs, it is not faster than the planes. Near the equator, in the Pacific Ocean in June, it dawns early and darkens late. The Japanese fleet that pursued him had thirteen hours to launch air strikes.

Yamamoto fifty-six who pursued him. Split the combined fleet into two routes.

The two ships Yamato and Shinano, two Kongo-class battle cruisers, plus a heavy patrol and light cruiser went to pursue the high-speed fleet of Kimmelly, and they were accompanied by the aircraft carrier Musashi and the newly launched two aircraft carriers Soryu and Wyveryu.

The remaining three ships, the USS New Mexico (BB40), the USS Mississippi (BB41), and the USS Pennsylvania, were handed over to the two battleships Nagato and Mutsu and the remaining two Kongo-class battlecruisers. In addition, carrier-based aircraft from the three aircraft carriers Akagi, Shozuru, and Zuizuru launched air strikes.

It attacks simultaneously in the sky, sea, and underwater in the early hours of the morning, and a variety of means take turns to play, which can be called a textbook classic battle. The naval battle that took place in the waters off Guam during the day on 22 June was a very dull battle in comparison.

At the beginning of the battle, the aircraft carrier first dispatched a large number of carrier-based aircraft. The enemy fleet was bombarded indiscriminately, severely damaging the fleet and slowing down its escape, and then the main fleet approached and continued to bombard, while the cruiser cooperated with the destroyer to launch another lightning strike to "replenish the gun".

Whether it was the pursuit of the Kimeli flagship or the siege and annihilation of the Pact-class ship, the tactics used by the two Japanese fleets were similar, and the course of the battle was similar.

June 22nd. Although the Combined Fleet also dispatched two battleships, Nagato and Mutsu, due to their slow speed. Both ships were never able to reach the battlefield in time - both in the destruction of the Pacific Fleet's right flank and the left flank battleships. Every time the two ships rushed to the battlefield panting, the battle had already been settled in advance by friendly lightning strikes or bombardments.

The last expression of the Nagato and Mutsu ships in this naval battle was to barely rush to the battlefield at 11 o'clock in the morning, and then at a distance of 17,000 kilometers, they carried out more than a dozen rounds of long-range firing at the three dreadnoughts of the treaty era with a fleet tilted to show off their "sense of survival". But it was the torpedoes fired by the destroyers in the fleet that completely sank the three treaty ships.

And the number one contributor to the annihilation of American battleships. Carrier-based aircraft that took off from aircraft carriers that were still far behind. With aviation torpedoes and bombshells, they completely ended the era of big ships and huge guns.

The faster Yamato-class sister ships barely caught up with the "last train" to annihilate the Nantakota and North Carolina.

Because the South Dakota "resisted" effectively, he ate two aerial torpedoes and several aerial bombs when the large sister ship approached. But he still insisted on floating on the surface of the sea, but his speed was greatly reduced.

As for the North Carolina, another last treaty ship, it was unfortunate enough to suffer from five aviation torpedoes on one side before the Yamato sister ships could catch up, and the hull of the ship was tilted to the right, and it had already completely lost its combat power and could only wait for the fate of capsizing.

At this time, the US Pacific ships were no longer in formation, and the last order given by Admiral Kimmeli was that all the warships should disperse and escape freely, while he would stay with the South Dakota to "break off."

The Shinano, possessed by the Katyusha, once again shamelessly picked a heavy cruiser as the object of "pursuit". And the battle to solve the South Dakota was left to the Yamato.

At 25,000 kilometers, Yamato opened first fire on the South Dakota.

At this time, the speed of the South Dakota had dropped to only eighteen knots, and only two of the three turrets could fire normally, but it also tried its best to return fire with six 406 mm main guns.

The battle between King and King lasted fifteen minutes, and the South Dakota ate four eighteen-inch bullets from the Yamato, and one cannon destroyed the turret before it could still fire, and in the face of the Yamato's 460 mm heavy shells, the 40,000-ton South Dakota's armor was not enough. The shells fired from 17,000 kilometers lightly tore through the frontal armor of the turret and exploded in the silos, igniting a large fire. Due to the effective management of the damage, the ammunition depot was not ignited

The artillery battle began at 11:45 a.m., and at 12 o'clock sharp, when naval aviation reappeared in the air and began to "grab meat," a blow from the main gun in front of the Yamato, one of the shells hit the command room of the South Dakota. The 400 mm thick armor could not withstand the blow of the Yamato's shell, which entered the command room and killed all the officers, including the fleet commander and the captain, on the spot.

After that, the rest of the time was again a big drama of naval aviation performing air raids and grabbing points. Although the nine 460-mm guns on the Yamato were still roaring, they were still unable to catch up with the planes carrying heavy bombs and torpedoes in terms of the efficiency of sinking the capital ships.

Although the Yamato hit four more South Dakota shells in succession for the remaining ten minutes, the Nanda and his population were not blown up by the opponent - although one 460 mm shell entered the South Dakota's former ammunition depot and exploded, the ammunition depot was already filled with water at this time, and there was no effect of the explosion.

After scrapping the South Dakota's combat power, the battleship Yamato departed in a huff and turned to the pursuit of other American cruisers. And the task of solving the battleship South Dakota was entrusted to the auxiliary warship.

However, the blow of the Yamato, which destroyed the South Dakota battleship finger system, still achieved an unexpected effect.

After the Yamato left, the rest of the Japanese ships approached the Nantakota, which had been crippled and lost power, and after picking up the American sailors on board, the Japanese Navy sailors took the opportunity to board the ship and capture the battleship, which was tilting to the right.

Due to the lack of command from their superiors, the ship's sailors only cared about escaping when they abandoned the ship, and did not open the sea valve, and were eventually captured by the Japanese Navy.

The Japanese Navy then attached the ship to the ship with steel fiber and towed it, in the hope that it would be able to capture the ship. However, the ship was too badly injured and had too much water. Eventually, the Japanese had to find a shoal in the nearby waters to tow it to the beach, where it ran aground to await future support.

The capture of the battleship South Dakota was the greatest gain of the Japanese Navy in this naval battle.

When the sun set in the west at seven o'clock in the evening of June 22, the naval battle, which lasted for 16 hours, finally ended with the annihilation of the entire main force of the US Navy. (To be continued......)

PS: I wrote it in the middle of the night, I updated it first, and I'll proofread it tomorrow when I wake up.