Episode 165 Get out of embarrassment

The Weiqing turned to the southwest, and the captain calculated that it was four o'clock in the afternoon, and there were still two and a half hours before dark. Even if they tried to sail for two and a half hours at a limit speed of 36 knots without a boiler, they could only drive 90 nautical miles, and they could not run the combat radius of the Japanese bombers on Okinawa Island at all. Now we can only count on the time it takes for the Japanese base in Okinawa to take a little longer from receiving the news, to completing preparations, and then to searching at sea. It's best to get dark before the day machine finds itself, or when it just finds itself.

At six o'clock in the evening, the last thing that the captain of the Weiqing wanted to see happened. A twin-engine plane flew far to the east, and it quickly flew above the head of the Weiqing. It can be clearly seen that the plane is a Japanese reconnaissance plane.

The Wei Qing immediately fired a salvo of artillery, and the reconnaissance plane was slightly injured and quickly climbed away from the battlefield.

Now the exact location of the Weiqing has been discovered by the Japanese army. The officers and men of the whole ship entered the most tense state. They all knew that soon a large group of Japanese dive bombers and torpedo planes would be coming. However, it is also dusk now, and it is too dark to be attacked by air strikes, that is, within a snap of a finger. The officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty threw off their arms and worked hard, while cheering God in their hearts, praying that God and the Japanese army must win the race against time.

At about half past six, taking advantage of the last rays of the sunset, a small black spot appeared in the distance in the sunset between the sea and the sky. The battle alarm of the Weiqing sounded throughout the ship, all the guns shook their barrels, the anti-aircraft shells were loaded, and the rangefinder reported the precise coordinates of the enemy aircraft to the fire control console, which in turn informed all the gun crews.

There were about two squadrons of enemy aircraft, half of dive bombers and half of torpedo bombers, and there were no fighters. It seems that the Japanese army is quite confident in its air supremacy in this sea area.

The 8-inch main gun of the Weiqing opened fire first, sending large-caliber anti-aircraft shells to the sky several kilometers away, and a large barrage was fired in front of the Japanese planes. The Japanese aircraft group also increased its horsepower at this time, and rushed to a considerable distance before the main gun of the Weiqing could fire again. At this time, a series of anti-aircraft secondary guns of the Weiqing opened fire. The heavy cruiser was flickering with tongues of fire all over its body, and with a high speed of 25 knots, the smoke and white waves were dragged far behind it, and the sunset was like a fire, which was magnificent.

After being shot down by one of the bombers, the Japanese squadron of dive bombers climbed above the head of the Weiqing and began to dive. Soon, white water columns rose one after another around the Weiqing. The Weiqing sailed at high speed in an S-shaped route, not giving the Japanese aircraft a chance to aim.

Just a few minutes after the dive bombers began dropping bombs, the Japanese torpedo bomber squadron began to try to get close to the Weiqing. The captain of the Wei Qing was covered in sweat, but he was still quite calm. He knew that torpedo machines were a more lethal threat than dive bombers. Using dive bombers to attract the fire of warships and create opportunities for torpedo planes to get closer was an old trick of the Ming navy to attack Japanese ships. The naval officers of the Ming army had long been repeatedly warned what to do if they were bombed by Japanese aircraft.

The captain of the Wei Qing resolutely ordered to lower the muzzles of most of the guns, fire sideways and give priority to bombarding torpedo machines.

Although the torpedo plane is deadly, it is slow and low-altitude, more cumbersome than the dive bomber, and it flies head-on horizontally, and the route does not change much, but it is very easy to hit. Under intensive artillery fire, four torpedo planes were shot down on the way. But the remaining eight torpedo planes still dodged artillery fire and flew closer.

Four of the torpedoes entered the water one after another, dragging a straight white line towards the Weiqing. At the same time, four torpedo machines scattered to climb and break away from the battle.

Captain Wei Qing was in the command room, staring at the eight white lines on the sea through the glass, his face was slightly pale, but he still ordered in a calm voice:

"Left full rudder."

"Yes! Full rudder left! ”

With a sharp turn of the steering wheel handle, the warship's hull began to tilt to the left, and the scenery outside the porthole also quickly moved to the right. Originally, the eight torpedo white lines were perpendicular to themselves, but now they quickly became horizontal. The Weiqing's lateral line narrowed rapidly, and the bow was aimed in the direction of the torpedo.

"Whoosh......"

With a sharp thud, a torpedo dragged a white mark and brushed past a few meters away from the bow of the Weiqing. At this time, there was a muffled sound in the sky on the right side, and a torpedo plane was hit when it threw a torpedo and tried to fly over the head of the Wei Qing, exploded into a fireball, rolled and fell on the sea not far away.

However, the torpedo plane that was shot down on the starboard side, along with three other torpedo planes, had just dropped their torpedoes, and the four torpedoes dragged the white line and rushed straight towards the right side of the Weiqing.

The captain of the Weiqing was extremely nervous. He knew that although this kind of light airborne torpedo would not kill at once, if he was hit by this one, he would not want to go back to Daming. Before entering the dry dock for overhaul, the speed of the ship would be very slow, and even if the overnight voyage barely exceeded the combat radius of the Okinawa Japanese planes, it would be overtaken by the Japanese fleet that arrived from Okinawa overnight.

He stared at the torpedo line outside and ordered again:

"Right full rudder!"

"Yes! Full rudder right! ”

At this moment, the entire warship shook violently, accompanied by a loud noise. The captain's heart sank, and he secretly screamed that it was not good. But at this time he couldn't care about anything, and directing warships to dodge torpedoes was the first of all problems. He continued to stare at the rapidly approaching torpedo outside, and was relieved until he saw the bow turn to the right and give way to another torpedo a few meters to the left.

At this time, the bridge officer on duty took the microphone and reported to the captain:

"Captain, there was a call from the damage management center, a bomb was hit in the aft deck, a fire broke out in the rear, the aft deck was completely damaged, the crane and two seaplanes were completely damaged, the fifth anti-aircraft gun crew was all killed, and a 40-mm Bofors was completely damaged. Moderate damage to the No. 4 main turret. Now the fire is being extinguished in full force. ”

The captain nodded:

"Okay."

In any case, a squadron of Japanese torpedo planes had finished throwing torpedoes, and now the threat of torpedoes was evaded, as long as they were taken care of overhead. At this time, all the guns were also raised and shelled the Japanese dive bombers with all their might.

Now the sun has mostly set, and the sea is already dark. From a high altitude, the dark gray Weiqing almost blends with the sea, and if it weren't for the white waves dragging behind it and the flickering tongue of anti-aircraft guns, it would be difficult for the Japanese to find out where it was at once.

The fire on the back deck of the Weiqing had been brought under control, and the scattered flames had been extinguished one by one, leaving only billowing smoke trailing behind, constantly rising into the air. Now the visibility of Japanese planes is even more difficult to maintain, and dive bombers often make two or three dives without dropping bombs. Because I can't see the target clearly, it's hard to aim. There have been no bombs around the Weiqing for a long time. The pressure on the officers and men of the whole ship gradually relaxed. As we all know, today is the end of the day.

Soon, it was darker, and the Japanese dive bombers did not even dare to dive, for fear of rushing into the sea. The captain of the Wei Qing glanced at the dark sea and sky and decided to change the mode.

"A ceasefire on the whole ship," he commanded, "cast a smoke screen!" ”

"Yes! Ceasefire on the whole ship! Cast a smoke screen! ”

After a while, the rumbling of guns and cannons around fell silent, and only the roar of the planes above and the mechanical operation of the Weiqing ship could be heard. The boiler room activated the "smoke mode", and a large cloud of excess black smoke billowed out of the chimney, merging with the injured black smoke from the rear deck, like ink, polluting a large area of the sky behind him. At the same time, a batch of cigarette canisters around the hull also spewed out a large amount of white smoke. The black and white smoke screen was put together, wrapping the Wei Qing almost together.

Seeing that there was no more to gain, the Japanese fleet finally decided to return. Fortunately, he also injured Wei Qing, which can be regarded as a result.

Listening to the sound of the Japanese planes getting farther and farther away until they disappeared, the officers and men of the whole ship breathed a sigh of relief. …… It's so hanging this time.

After a night of sailing, the Weiqing was completely away from the threat of the Japanese fleet and aviation, and finally returned safely. At this time, it was only 200 nautical miles from the Philippines.

In the early morning of the next day, facing the rising sun, a solemn sea burial ceremony was held on the foredeck of the Weiqing. The military band played mournful music slowly, and all the officers and men who were not on duty stood straight in white dresses. In the volley of rifles, the bodies of several fallen soldiers were wrapped and covered with national flags, and they slid into the sea one after another.