Episode 80 Smashing Hakodate

The Shotoku slowed down and traveled at a moderate speed about 1,000 meters off the port of Hakodate.

Seeing that the battleship had slowed down, it seeming that it was not purely passing by, panic quickly spread in the harbor. And at this distance, many people can tell with the naked eye that the Ming military flag on the warship is the Ming military flag.

The battleship drove from west to east at a speed of 10 knots, its huge body splitting the sea, and white waves lined up on both sides. Like a large shark cruising outside the beach, the battleship cleaved the waves with its huge iron-gray dorsal fin, leisurely patrolling the entire panicked coast.

The captain and officers stood high on the bridge and held binoculars, carefully observing the ships and facilities in the harbor, as well as the city in the distance.

The bay of Hakodate is about ten kilometers long from west to east. And a third of them belong to the port part. There are three large cargo ships, a dozen or so small cargo ships, and a large oil tanker moored in the harbor. On the other side of the harbor, dozens of fishing boats and small sampans are tied. Waterfowl quacked, hovering and stopping near the fishing boats.

Judging by the size of this port, it is still quite crowded with so many ships.

Three large cargo ships, one is the 8,000-ton Japanese "Matsukaze Maru", the other is the 5,000-ton Japanese "Big Rope Maru", and the other is the 5,000-ton Soviet "Mir". An oil tanker, the Soviet 10,000-ton "Freedom". The remaining dozens of small cargo ships and small fishing boats are all Japanese. From a few tens of tons to nearly a thousand tons.

Now, the Japanese on the dock have put down what they are doing and looked at the behemoth of the sea in alarm.

After some observation, the captain confirmed that there were no batteries or anything like that in the harbor, so he ordered a stop and prepared to attack. The propeller of the Zhengde stopped, and its huge body was still gliding forward by inertia, but the speed was getting slower and slower.

At this time, the intentions of the Ming battleships had been revealed. Sharp air raid sirens sounded inside the port of Hakodate. Suddenly, there was chaos on the docks, workers and sailors were in a mess, and countless people threw down boxes of goods and fled in all directions like a swarm of ants. The ship's sailors were also running quickly from the gangway to the shore. The loudspeakers on the pier echoed the urgent Japanese language, which should have been an emergency evacuation or something like that.

……

On the bridge of the Zhengde, the second officer observed several huge ships in the harbor with a telescope, and asked the captain:

"Captain, is it possible to capture these cargo ships and capture them back to Daming? You see, that oil tanker has tens of thousands of tons, and which of the three cargo ships also has thousands of tons, plus the goods inside, it is much more cost-effective to escort them back to Daming than to sink them here. ”

The captain shook his head:

"No! The cargo ships are slow, and with them on our way home, our speed will be dragged down to only a dozen knots. Japan will send fleets to pursue us, as well as planes and submarines...... Our task now is to return home safely. The war has just begun, and I don't know how long it will take to fight. These precious warships and valuable officers and men are the capital of the future contest between the Ming Dynasty and Japan. We can't afford to lose too much for the sake of small. …… Besides, here are either Japanese or Soviet ships. It is impossible for the crews of both countries to sail with us back to China. ”

He stretched out his arm, made a circle in front of him, and said lightly:

"These ships, all sunk. And this port, too, will be completely smashed. …… Let so many ships sink in the port, this port will not be usable for a while. ”

The second mate and the other officers also laughed, and looked at the port with binoculars as if it were in ruins.

At this time, Li Guanghao also came from the west. The captain of the Zhengde looked at his watch and said:

"Hurry up, we can't afford to delay. The Fuso could appear from the west at any time, and the Kongo could appear from the east at any time. Send a signal to the Li Guang and let it choose a position and shoot at the target of its choice. ”

"Yes!"

The captain said to the gunner:

"First of all, destroy 'Matsukamaru' and 'Oshomaru'. When you're ready, start firing. ”

"Yes!" The gunnery officer replied loudly, "The main gun of the No. 1 turret is locked to the 'Matsukaze Maru', and the main gun of the No. 4 turret is locked to the 'Big Rope Maru'!" High explosive shells ready! ”

The chirp of turrets turning sounded in front and behind the battleship. The two giant turrets in the front and rear slowly turned around, and the barrels of the four main guns rose slightly a few degrees before stopping.

On the bridge, there were reports on the phone that the two turrets had been prepared. The gunners took the earpiece and commanded in a loud voice:

"Put !!"

The battleship trembled, and two large balls of flames in front and behind erupted with black smoke. A few seconds after the loud bang passed, two Japanese freighters thousands of kilometers away exploded one after another, large fireballs and thick smoke rose more than ten meters high, and all kinds of twisted steel plates, parts, and burning wooden decks were thrown into the sky and scattered in all directions. Countless ripples splashed on the surface of the nearby sea, and all sorts of things smoked and fell into the sea. The glass of other ships in the harbor was shattered, and countless pieces of broken glass splashed in mid-air, emitting thousands of points of light in the sun, like a crystal world for a moment.

These two cargo ships of several thousand tons were each hit by two 15-inch shells, and the 5,000-ton "big rope pill" had broken in two, and it was upturned and sank rapidly. Although the other 8,000-ton "Matsukaze Maru" has not yet broken, it has basically blown off half of its hull, and the sea water is pouring in like a torrent and is turning over at a rapid speed.

Two thick black plumes of smoke went straight up into the sky, forming two huge black shadows under the light of the morning sun, lying diagonally on the pier, very miserable. And the alarm in the port is getting worse and worse. All kinds of cargo, wooden boxes, broken wooden boards, diesel fuel float on the water surface of the dock, undulating with the waves.

The captain of the Zhengde commanded again:

"Three turrets, shoot the 'Mir'."

The gunners took the phone again and gave the order to fire at turret No. 3. There was another loud bang, and a few seconds later, the 5,000-ton Soviet cargo ship was also shot and exploded.

It's just that the power of the explosion this time is beyond the imagination of the Ming officers and soldiers.

After the "Mir" was shot, there was a massive explosion that shook the ground and the mountains. Like a volcanic eruption, there was a loud bang in unison, followed by one violent explosion after another, and more than a dozen fireballs rushed into the sky one after another. The sea water was pushed by the shock wave like a small tsunami, and the two small cargo ships nearby were violently undulated by the sea twice, all the glass was shattered, and half of the chimney of one ship was also broken by the huge shock wave.

The officers and men of the Zhengde all craned their necks and looked at the scene in the distance in amazement. Where is this explosion of a cargo ship, it is the explosion of the ammunition depot of a battleship, and it is not so powerful.

Obviously, this "Mir" is loaded with munitions. A shipload full of munitions.

……

At this time, Li Guanghao also rushed to the nearest place and stopped about 600 meters away from the Zhengde. Li Guang turned a rear turret, aimed at one of the remaining large ships, the 10,000-ton Soviet tanker "Freedom", and opened fire.

The effect of this explosion was no less than just now. Although the 10,000-ton tanker did not explode violently, the fireball was spectacular. Giant fireballs were caught in inky plumes of smoke and soared into the sky. Soon, the whole ship was enveloped in flames, and more flames flowed out of the cracked hull, and wherever they went, the sea began to burn.

By this time, the first three freighters had already sunk. However, half of the wreckage was still exposed to the water, skewed. At this time, a large amount of oil had leaked from the oil tanker, and the raging fire was spreading in the harbor, and many small cargo ships and small fishing boats were burning. The burning oil surrounded the wreckage of the ship, scurrying up the hull and mast of the ship, and finally all the exposed parts of the water were burning.

Several of the main large ships have been destroyed. The captain of the Zhengde gave an order at this time:

"Each artillery group chooses its own target and shoots freely!"

Suddenly, on the two battleships Zhengde and Li Guang, large and small artillery roared intensively, and the huge main guns rotated and bombarded various buildings in the harbor, while the auxiliary guns and even machine guns fired at will, firing at the targets they chose. All the small cargo ships and small fishing boats in the harbor did not escape the catastrophe, and they were shot one after another, caught fire, and sank. For a time, the water column in the harbor rose one after another, and the smoke of the flames continued to rise.

From a distance, the whole harbor was in shambles, and the water was littered with wrecks of ships, stranded in the water. The unsunken ship was burning, emitting black smoke, tilting and tumbling crookedly. There were large fires in the bay, oil burning violently, and black smoke constantly drifting into the sky. Many of the boats were not sunk by shells, but by burning oil.

On the shore, there is not a single intact building left in the harbor. Just like in the water, there was smoke and fire on the shore. The oil depot at the port was also opened, and a radius of several hundred meters became a sea of fire. The trains in the port were blown to scrap metal, and the underground water pipes were blown up, spraying high jets of water in several places. The white dust from the collapse of the building and the black smoke from the burning of oil mixed together, and the whole sky was filled with smoke and dust, covering almost half of the port. In short, it was miserable.

……

The captain of the Zhengde looked at the hellish harbor, smelled the burnt smell wafting in the wind, and nodded in satisfaction. Then, looking into the distance with his binoculars, he commanded:

"Raise the barrel, extend the shot, shell the city!"

In normal times, this order would certainly be questioned. But now the officers and soldiers below are extremely happy and answer the order in a loud voice. The main guns of the two warships were slowly raised, aiming at the approximate range of the city.

"Put !!"

At the sound of an order, there was a thunderstorm, and more than a dozen huge cannonballs flew into the air and slashed towards the city of Hakodate. Dozens of seconds later, more than a dozen columns of smoke rose in the distance in the urban area.

Through the smoky port, it is difficult to see the city several kilometers away from the ship. But I think it's supposed to blow things up. The current shelling of urban areas is actually symbolic, not to kill many people, nor to kill many people, and it has no military value. The purpose is to show the tough attitude of the Ming Navy, and to let Japanese civilians taste the horror of war as soon as possible.

The main gun was reloaded, and the gunnery officer gave the order to fire again. A few dozen seconds later, another cloud of black smoke rose from the city of Hakodate in the distance.

After a few rounds of firing like this, the urban area in the distance was also filled with black smoke. As for the extent of the destruction, it is not visible from the ship. And not because of this special seaplane. So, the captain looked at his watch, and felt that it was almost there, so he ordered:

"Stop shooting. Command the entire fleet: return. ”

……

The order was given, and the stern of the Zhengde and Li Guang re-churned up in white waves, and the huge steel body began to move slowly, gradually accelerating, and increasing to a medium speed of 15 knots, leaving the smashed Hakodate behind him, and heading towards the entrance of the Pacific Ocean in the northeast. The Doumu Hedgehog, which was still holding the wind at the entrance to the Sea of Japan, also received the order and sped up to catch up. Three warships round in the strait, then at the exit of the Pacific Ocean and the Moon Fox round. The four warships reformed the Zhengde detachment and sailed into the Pacific Ocean.

After the Zhengde detachment went eastward into the Pacific Ocean for dozens of nautical miles, it turned south, chopped through the waves, and sailed in the direction of the Ming Dynasty with scars all over its body.