In the middle of the night on April 25, 1941, a jaw-dropping night battle at sea was in full swing around the control of Hipiya Island and the western barrier of Ryukyu Oshima.

On the open sea, dozens of warships on both sides chased each other, artillery shells, torpedoes and even heavy machine guns were used, and the sailors opened their eyes angrily, gritted their teeth and fired at each other, swearing to defend their pride and fight for the blue sea power related to the country and the nation. On the island, there is also a mountain of corpses in the sea of blood. After the Mikawa Army launched an artillery bombardment with four Kaohsiung-class heavy cruisers, more than 2,000 Japanese soldiers who came to support from Sulfur also carried cannons and ammunition and landed on the island on destroyers and speedboats called the "Tokyo Express." The arrival of the navy and the arrival of reinforcements greatly boosted the 42nd Wing of the Japanese Army defending the island, and thousands of Japanese soldiers who had been beaten hard before came out of caves, rain forests, and rice fields, frantically shouting 'Long live the emperor', and launched wave after wave of charges against the 5th Marine Division and the 223rd Division of the Army that were bombarded by naval artillery. The shells exploded around the soldiers, mud and rubble splattered hundreds of meters high, and blood and flesh mixed together in a flickering fireball that made the night sky light and dark. The hideous cheeks, accompanied by the continuous sound of machine guns and automatic weapons, shook people's hearts. The corpses that could not be distinguished from each other covered the hillsides and rainforests, and the trickling blood spurting from the corpses gathered into a river.

On the flagship Kaohsiung, Mikawa Junichi, who has always been known for his calmness, stared at the navigation clock, and the time consumed minute by minute was becoming more and more unfavorable to the fleet. You know, this is the East China Sea! There are quite a few bombers on Kume Island. Although the dive bombers and torpedo planes, which pose the greatest threat, are basically unable to be dispatched at night, army attack planes and horizontal bombers also pose a certain threat to the fleet. If it is not possible to withdraw to the Philippine Sea east of the Ryukyus before dawn, then a steady stream of bombers from the mainland will be enough to tear the entire fleet apart.

"Lieutenant General, Sato Nakasa asked us to extend the shelling, and there is a boom in Shina on Nofu Island." Before the staff officer finished saying that there was a heavy artillery position on Yefu Island, several water columns suddenly rose around the Kaohsiung. "West, they are on the west side of the island! Ikeda went up. ”

23:15. Yang Zhikai, who surrounded the Ligen-class heavy cruisers in the night battle of Qingliang the day before yesterday, returned to the battlefield, and this time, he not only had two Taiwan-class heavy cruisers and two Yangtze River-class light cruisers, but also two additional Brahmaputra-class light cruisers, the 'Nujiang' and 'Jinshajiang', and 10 Qinling-class destroyers.

The Brahmaputra class was a first-class light cruiser built in the 1936 naval program to replace the earliest Tumenjiang class. Eight ships were built in the first batch, and eight more were added after the outbreak of war. The construction of the first ship began in January 1937 and was commissioned in March 40. Six ships have been delivered so far. The latter two will be delivered in July, and the second batch is already halfway through. At the beginning of construction, the goal of the Navy was very clear, it should have the multi-purpose of accompanying the aircraft carrier, breaking the diplomatic relationship, escorting and formation command, etc., and it should also have strong protection and anti-sinking. To meet these conditions, the light cruisers of this class have a final displacement of up to 11,300 tons / a full load of 13,900 tons, a maximum speed of 32 knots, a cruising range of 8,500 nautical miles at 15 knots, and four triple 155 mm/L55 main guns. 6 twin 120 mm/L56 high-level dual-purpose guns, as well as 4 quadruple 40 mm anti-aircraft guns and 12 twin 25 mm rapid-fire guns, 2 triple 550 mm launchers, 2 24 hedgehog shells. The electronics consisted of three radars. One hull passive sonar, one active sonar.

After Yang Zhikai asked the 'Yangtze River' and the 'Yellow River' to lead four destroyers to deal with the four destroyers sent to the west of the island by the Sanchuan Army, he commanded two heavy cruisers and two Brahmaputra-class light cruisers to bombard Sanchuan's second squadron across Yipingya Island. In particular, 2 ships of the Brahmaputra class that participated in the war for the first time. Although the 24 155mm guns are worse than the Kaohsiung-class heavy patrol, they can win at a very fast speed. The two light cruisers fully gave the Japanese heavy cruisers a taste of what it means to cover the shelling, and the shells were like raindrops. Smash it down.

In just five minutes, the deck of the 'Bird Sea' under fire was like a dog gnawing, and if it were not for the strong turret protection, I am afraid that it would have lost its combat effectiveness. The heavy fire made Mikawa unbearable, and after the four heavy patrol companies were shot one after another, they immediately changed their tactics, rushed to the middle of Goto's fleet, and continued to attack across the island. This change made Yang Zhikai very passive, because the 125th drive patrol formation had already been mixed with Goto, and the two sides were separated by an island three kilometers wide, and the radar could not distinguish the target at all. On the contrary, the west of the island where he is located is very quiet, and Mikawa, who is hiding in Goto's fleet, can steadily aim and attack.

At this time, he had only one choice, to go around from the north end of Iheiya Island to the east, and intercept Mikawa's 'ass', but at this time he had already received a telegram from the battleship that secretly detoured, and Yamamoto's four battleships were in the north, as long as he made a detour, the port side would inevitably be attacked by four battleships! "Sir!" The vice-captain knew how dangerous this bypass was.

"Don't think so much! Our mission is to lure Yamamoto to the south! Order the ships to speed up to 28 knots and go around! Yang Zhikai took a deep breath. Iheiya Island is a decoy, and the 126 Patrol Formation is also a decoy, whether Yamamoto can be left behind tonight depends on this bypass! So he stuffed the telegram into his pocket and drew two arcs with his finger on the chart: "The cruiser will take the inner route, let Gu Kai lead the destroyer to the long course." Remind him to attack before Yamamoto fires, and to torpedo when he has the chance, to buy us time to pass! ”

At 23:40, the 126th Patrol Formation quickly headed north, rounding the tail of Sanchuan.

At this time, the east side of Iheiya Island has been slaughtered into a pot of porridge, and from a distance, the sea seems to be flowing with a layer of 'magma', fiery red. The dark red trajectory of the rapid-fire cannon filled the entire retina, and the end of the trajectory was full of exploding fireballs, and the smoke drifted to the island with the sea breeze, and many army officers and men were attracted by the fierce confrontation at sea.

At 23:43, when Yang Zhikai ordered a byslaught, Pang Haitao joined the 'Fuchunjiang' in the chaos, and the two ships penetrated into the left flank of the Goto fleet at a high speed of 40 knots, and at a distance of 3 kilometers, they bit the two Japanese Muzuki-class destroyers, and used 16 120-mm rapid-fire guns and 4 torpedoes to beat them into flames. This brave surprise attack made Goto realize that the two Xinyae-class fast mine-laying cruisers, which could reach a maximum speed of 41 knots, were too much of a threat to him, so he immediately used a light signal to contact the nearby heavy cruiser "Atago".

At 23:55, a 203-mm shell from the "Atago" hit the "Fuchunjiang" Houjian Island, causing a fire on the deck. Pang Haitao didn't dare to play raid anymore. Hurriedly led two ships to retreat in the direction of Isina Island. The Japanese destroyers 'Makiba', 'Qinshio,' Rutsuki', and 'Yayoi,' immediately pursued and fired 24 'Spear' oxygen torpedoes at a distance of 5,000 meters. Although it had a high speed of 41 knots, the 'Fuchunjiang' rushed left and right, and still ate a torpedo. After the torpedo exploded on the starboard side, a large amount of seawater poured into it, killing 47 sailors and reducing its speed to less than 30 knots.

Seeing that the lightning strike had worked, the four Japanese destroyers immediately rushed towards the 'Fuchunjiang' like hungry wolves on the grassland. clamoring to sink the cruiser. But just as they were about to catch up, there was a glimmer of light in front of the 'Fuchunjiang'!

It turned out that Pang Haitao had ambushed six slow-moving territorial water-class frigates on the retreat route early on, and the sea was dark at this time, so the Japanese destroyers did not find the frigate seven kilometers away at all. Seeing that the Japanese ships were approaching, Pang Haitao immediately ordered a torpedo attack. 30 Fish-5 thermodynamic torpedoes pierced through the dark and dreary waves and rushed head-on to the four pursuing Japanese destroyers.

At 0:10, the foremost 'Qin Chao' was hit by two torpedoes, and it swirled around the sea with raging flames. The 'Ruyue Horn' following it was so frightened that it hurriedly turned right with a full rudder. Although the collision was avoided, another torpedo hit the stern, and the Yayoi was also cut off by a torpedo, and all three ships sank ten minutes later. Then an unexpected scene appeared. The Japanese spear torpedo that crossed the 'Fuchun River' also sailed continuously for 20,000 meters (calculated at the time of launch) and hit an ambushed territorial water-class frigate. What's even more exaggerated is that one of them actually ran 40 kilometers and accidentally hit a small naval oil and water ship that was evading Kume Island.

The sight of four warships exploding on both sides at the same time. Push the naval battle to the **.

Although the torpedo ambush was effective, severely damaging the three Japanese destroyers, the speed of the 'Fuchunjiang' was already less than 22 knots by this time. The deck also slopes more than seven degrees. His 4 Qinling-class ships were also killed and injured 2 before before, and they also boarded a frigate. Facing the four heavily patrolled Goto fleets, Pang Haitao had no choice but to give up the attack and release smoke to retreat to Kume Island.

Seeing the rout of the 125th Patrol Formation, Goto immediately asked the two seaplane carriers hiding far behind to come up and unload the army. At this time, Mikawa was also ecstatic, because he had received a report that six Chinese cruisers in the west of the island were speeding around from the north. So he immediately ordered 4 heavy cruisers to adjust their course, and waited for Yang Zhikai to appear with great ambition.

The officers and several captains around him were also excitedly gearing up, because Admiral Yamamoto's four battleships were in the north. This means that as soon as 6 cruisers of the Chinese Navy appear, they will be jointly flanked by 16 410-mm, 32 356-mm and 40 203-mm heavy naval guns! The thought of the enemy ship being blown up by 88 main guns in an instant made the officers feel hot. If this was an American warship, it might have whistled long ago.

"The observatory has completed the correction of the target, corrected the wind speed, and the armor-piercing bullet loading electric survey, but the target has not been found."

At the same time, the battleship Nagato to the north also shouted incessantly, this war machine in the Japanese navy, second only to the Yamato-class, slowly bared its fangs like a grinning beast under the operation of Japanese sailors who emphasized discipline. However, when the indicators of the four main turrets were lit up one after another, the final report made Yamamoto's face suddenly unhappy.

Reconnaissance of Japanese radars.

As mentioned earlier, the Japanese Navy noticed radar very early, but because of the drag of technology and war thinking, it has not paid attention to it. It was not until the Chinese Navy popularized it to destroyers that it realized its inadequacy.

The Sino-Soviet war accelerated the pace of Japan's radar research, because of the need to contain China, Stalin approved the sale of a batch of advanced weapons to Japan, including three Soviet-made Rus-1 long-wave radars. This radar has a wavelength of 4 meters and a maximum detection distance of 40 kilometers, and its performance is poor, so the Soviet army began to equip it with the more advanced Rus-2 pulse-wave radar last year. Although it is not the most advanced model, it is precious to Japan, which is in dire need of radar samples. So on the day of the shipment, we concentrated manpower and material resources on research, and finally officially installed it on two Nagato-class battleships for trial three months ago.

Before leaving, Yamamoto had hoped that they would work. But now, these two radars have failed to live up to his and the Navy's expectations. Without the 'clairvoyant eye', it would be impossible to grasp the opponent's battleships and Kumejima Air Brigade at the first time. It made Yamamoto a little uneasy.

This uneasiness soon became a reality.

"Report, destroyer found!" During the staff officer's report, the light cruiser Changliang on the port side issued a series of emergency light signals, in which six Qinling-class destroyers led by Major Gu Kai appeared 15,000 yards away. Thirty-year-old Gu Kai is a new generation of naval officers who have participated in the naval battles of the Ryukyus and the Marianas, and has rich experience. Knowing that he couldn't get close to Yamamoto's main force with the protection of the patrol, he simply pretended to be an accidental discovery and pretended to turn the rudder. 48 torpedoes were fired.

The torpedoes fired forced Yamamoto's four battleships to evade to the east, and Yang Zhikai's six cruisers and four destroyers also quickly turned the rudder in an attempt to quickly bypass the northern tip of Iheiya Island. But just as the fleet finally turned its rudder for the second time to the south, the main guns of the Nagato opened fire!

"Boom, boom."

A thick column of water rose around the 126th Formation, and the officers jumped impatiently in the battleship Peking, which was 27 nautical miles west of Yamamoto, making a northward detour. "Captain!"

"No! Wait! Yang Guochun, the captain of the Beijing, gritted his teeth. Stopped the clamor of the officers. It's not that he doesn't dare to fight Nagato, but firing the cannon now will inevitably alert Yamamoto. For the sake of greater gains, he and thousands of soldiers could only force themselves to turn a blind eye.

"Shot! 126 formation reported. The Yellow River was shot and caught fire! ”

Four minutes later, the telegraph operator rushed into the command tower out of breath and stabbed Yang Guochun and other officers in the heart.

0:15 a.m. The 126th formation, which was rapidly circling, suffered its greatest losses since the start of the battle, and the light cruiser Huanghe was hit by a 410-mm armor-piercing shell from the Michinoku, which pierced through the thin armor from the amidships. The compartment below the waterline exploded. The powerful shells not only hit the light cruisers hard, but also led to fires. In the dark of night, the flame is the best coordinate. For the safety of the fleet, the captain of the Yellow River decisively turned to the left with full rudders, and with a large fire, broke away from the formation and accelerated northward. Because the radar did not work and the vision was too far, his fearlessness and decisiveness made the 4 Japanese battleships subconsciously think that the 126 formation was rushing towards them, and changed the shelling parameters.

Dozens of heavy shells per minute made the speed of the Yellow River slower and slower, and finally after a huge fireball more than 1,000 meters high, the 10,000-ton light patrol quickly sank seven nautical miles north of Yipingwu Island, and 1,033 officers and men did not survive.

"Target, Kaohsiung Heavy Patrol fire!" Five minutes later, the 126th formation bypassed the northern headland, and after Yang Zhikai and the officers and men wiped their tears to see the Yellow River detonated, they quickly closed the distance with Sanchuan and vented all their anger on the four Kaohsiung-class heavy cruisers.

At 0:27, the "Bird Sea" was hit again, and the "Hainan Island" heavy patrol and the "Jinshajiang" light patrol used four 210-mm armor-piercing shells and 17 155-mm armor-piercing shells to turn them into "torches" at a distance of 8,000 meters. Just like the encounter with the 'Yellow River' just now, the Bird Sea, which immediately turned around, was also caught in the fire of five light and heavy cruisers, and was beaten into a sieve in just a few minutes.

At the same time, Yamamoto also received a message from Mikawa that after learning that the 126 formation had disabled the Torikai under the noses of his four battleships, he immediately ordered a pursuit to the north. "Order Mikawa-kun to block this fleet." Yamamoto yelled and gave the order to pursue. Because he really can't let go of such a big temptation, you know, he still has 4 battleships, 3 heavy cruisers and 3 light cruisers, if he can eat the 126 formation, it is enough for the Chinese Navy to be unable to gather cruisers to protect Yipingya Island in the short term.

Knowing that Yamamoto finally turned around and pursued the 126 formation, the big stone that pressed on the hearts of the officers and men of the battleship formations of the Beijing and Nanjing was finally moved away, Yang Guochun immediately took a long breath, let go of the big hand exposed by the green tendons, and waved fiercely: "Full rudder, turn right!" Send a telegram to Shandong, 'Typhoon head-on'. ”

In the waters east of Iheiya Island, a chase battle has officially begun. After the 126th Formation merged with the 125th Formation on Isina Island, 17 warships formed a high-speed cruising formation and fled south in an "embarrassed" manner. Behind them, four Japanese battleships, three heavy cruisers (the Torikai was damaged and evacuated to the Ryukyu Islands), and three Nagara-class light cruisers also split through the fine waves, spewing billowing smoke, and pursued in the direction of Kerama in the south in a 'kill all' attitude.

During this period, Yamamoto also wanted the destroyers to shell Kume Island, but more than a dozen bombers attacked. Let him abandon this idea and decide to destroy the 126 formation first. But he didn't know that just behind him, two Beijing-class battleships had turned around and pursued parallel behind his 'ass' from the waters west of Ipingya Island. In front, the three battleships "Shandong", "Shanghai" and "Chongqing" had also accelerated from the far sea 60 nautical miles southwest of Kume Island.

At 2 o'clock, the light cruiser of the "Yangtze River" and the heavy cruiser of the Japanese ship "Atago" both caught fire in the pursuit and withdrew from the battle. Taking this opportunity, Yang Zhikai deliberately exposed his flaws. Let Mikawa's 2 heavy cruisers and the 3 Nagara-class light cruisers that caught up with him go around to the west of him, and put his fleet under the 'flanking' of the Yamamoto battleships and heavy cruisers.

Yamamoto Daiki, 4 battleships quickly passed through the Ie Island Strait, and in front of him, Zhang Xiaoyu adjusted course for the second time.

At 3 o'clock sharp, Yamamoto passed Cape Remnant.

At 3:30 a.m., Yamamoto passed through the sandbar of Kamiyama Island outside the port of Naha, and Mikawa again caught up with the remaining three cruisers of the 126th formation, 'forced' it impossible to retreat to the country. At 3:40 a.m., under the radar guidance of the 'Night Owl' reconnaissance plane, the 'Shandong' took the lead in moving sideways to seize the T-shaped position.

******

"Navy, Navy has defeated the Shina fleet on Iheiya Island!"

East of the Ryukyus. Deep in Jinmu Bay, a Japanese shozo, waving a telegram, excitedly ran past 47 Hayabusa fighters tightly packed in the rainforest. Amid the loud shouting, Yamada, a nineteen-year-old aviation school student, came out of the grass shed with his comrades in his shirt.

"Great!"

"Onboard!"

Get the news. Yamada and everyone jumped and shouted excitedly. "Gentlemen! It's up to you now! Get ready to go, go and give the final blow to China! Destroy the Shina fleet! Before the excitement passed, Umezu Mijiro and Ushijima Mitsuru and other officers walked over.

"General!" It was the first time for Yamada to see so many generals, so he hurriedly lined up with everyone.

"Is this your sister? It's beautiful. This knife is very loyal to the soul, it is well written, come, I will help you bring it. "Umezu Mijiro was very kind, pulling up these aviation school students who were less than 20 years old on average, had not yet graduated, and only had 20 hours of flying experience, and finally put a white cloth strip with the word 'loyal soul' written in blood, and personally carried Yamada to the door of his head.

Umezu Mijiro's kindness, in the strict Japanese army, was like the gospel of God, which made Yamada very excited and raised his hand feverishly: "General, I will definitely hit the battleship of Shina!" ”

"Hehe, good, good!" Umezu Mijiro patted him hard, his face happy. "Ready, I'll be here, and I'll send you off in person."

"Hey!"

Forty-seven fighter jets were pushed out, and the soldiers carefully poured the precious aviation gasoline into the tanks, and when the fuel gauge reached a third of the way, they immediately removed the fuel pipes. Then 250 kg was hung under the belly of the aircraft, and large and small explosive blocks were stuffed in the cabin, and even large mines were stuffed into the gaps in the fuselage.

Drinking, screaming, noisy, boiling. The entire field airfield was in a frenzied atmosphere, and hundreds of girls who had been forcibly brought by the garrison stood on the runway of the airport to see off Yamada and other sortie pilots. The young girl, which stimulated the hormones in her body even more, Yamada respectfully handed the suicide note to the officer, bowed deeply three times, took a white cloth with the word "kamikaze" written on it, glanced at the parachute that was thrown in the corner, and got into the cockpit full of explosives.

Umezu Mijiro also asked the officer to pour rice wine for himself and the pilot, strode forward, handed them the wine glasses one by one with a smile, and finally walked to the front and held it high: "God bless you!" Long live the Emperor! Long live the Great Japanese Empire! After throwing out the wine glass, the ground crew slowly closed the hatch, then locked it with an outer lock, and finally saluted Yamada and the other pilots.

"I'll sink the battleship!" Yamada breathed hard and slowly operated the plane into the runway.

*******

At 4:15 a.m., off the coast south of Keiroma, in almost the same position as the night battle three days ago, the battleship 'Shandong' took the lead in slowing down. "Report, found Japanese battleship, 42000 yards away! Approaching. ”

"Watchtower?"

"The watchtower is ready."

"Ranging?"

"The rangefinder tower is ready, and the search is underway."

"Power?"

"The power compartment is complete, and the pressure of the whole ship is normal."

On the decks, the sound came and went. The watchtower, the rangefinder, the sea state collection team, the fire control ballistics calculation team, the deck gun captain, the gun squad members, the damage management team wearing gas masks, and the sailors in the power cabin who don't see the sun all day long are doing their best. In the radar cabin, the electronic officer looked at the rapidly approaching bright spots on the radar, and his whole body was hot with excitement. "Sir, the fire control radar has found the target." When I picked up the phone, the voice had already changed tone. The eyes in the command tower instantly converged, Zhang Xiaoyu stared still, and after a long time, he stretched out his hand and lowered his military hat slightly, his eyes seemed to penetrate the dark twilight: "Report the number." ”

"35,000 yards! 32000 yards! 28,000 yards! ”

In the midst of the announcement, Yamamoto stepped on the deck of the Nagato, pacing back and forth, his eyes repeatedly scanning the chart, and a strong uneasiness was rising rapidly: "Haven't you found the battleship of Shina yet?" ”

Ugaki shook his head.

Something is wrong, something is so wrong! After a three-hour pursuit, Yamamoto sensed something was wrong. It stands to reason that five Chinese battleships will never go far, and if at a minimum speed of 28 knots, they should also appear, why haven't they come yet? Could it be that you went to the Great Eastern Islands? It's possible. One thought after another flashed through his mind quickly.

At this moment, a loud shout suddenly came! "Enemy ships!" Beyond starboard, two destroyers burst out of the darkness, and four large flashbang grenades lit up almost simultaneously.

When the four battleships were exposed to the blinding white light, Yamamoto was so frightened that he suddenly exclaimed: "Not good! Right full rudder! Yamamoto quickly adjusted his stance and tried to retreat, but it was too late.

"Boom, boom." The Shandong opened fire! The thick muzzle of the cannon burst out with huge fireballs, and the smoke of gunpowder suddenly enveloped the deck behind the turret. The 70,000-ton hull of the ship trembled slightly, swaying so slowly that the bilge could not even feel that it had been shot, and only the starboard observer could see the ripples of the ship's outboard being shattered by the shock wave.

Three seconds after the fire was fired, the 'Shanghai' and 'Chongqing' beside him also fired the first volley at the same time. The landing point of the shells detected by the radar is not accurate, and the eyes hiding behind the narrow optical rangefinder on the roof of the mast are more trustworthy. "A column of water was observed, and the starboard side of the target was 1700 yards away. Correct. "The lookout, who witnessed the most magnificent and blood-pumping scene in the world, quickly pinched the phone and reported loudly after identifying the target with the help of the flash grenades fired by the destroyer in the distance.

The sound was transmitted to the bilge fire control calculation team, and two minutes later, the new firing element arrived in the turret.

"Second round! Fire! ”

"At 4:57, the second round of salvos, three armor-piercing shells, and the target port side far bomb was corrected again!"

"Round three! Fire! ”

"Straddle shot! Near-missed. ”

At 4:30 a.m., the turning 'Nagato' was on the left and right sides, and a huge column of earth and water rose into the air at the same time.

Looking at the water column, Yamamoto's hands and feet were cold!

At 4:31, the 125th and 126th Patrol Formations, which had fled for their lives, suddenly turned around and launched a counterattack against the five cruisers of Mikawa, while at the same time, the 127th Patrol Formation, which had secretly arrived from Ie Island, also entered the battle circle from the west.

At 4:32, the first kamikaze attack aircraft left the dirt runway, and the improvised landing gear slowly detached from under the belly.

At 4:32, four lightning fighters were the first to leave the deck of the escort aircraft carrier Li Jing.

At 4:35 a.m., the Shohe hoisted the signal flag.

At 4:36, 230 nautical miles east of Nandadong Island, 24 escort lightning fighters, 32 Yaksha dive bombers, and 24 Osprey torpedo planes circled the 21st aircraft carrier battle group of the Chinese Navy and flew in the direction where the sun was sinking...... (To be continued......)