Episode 187 Decisive Battle at Sea (6)

The battleship Izai was hit by three torpedoes in succession, and thousands of tons of seawater poured into the right hull, causing the Ise's hull to tilt to the right. The damage management unit on the Ise immediately opened the valve and poured water into the left side in an effort to balance the hull. Within ten minutes, the speed of the ESY was rapidly reduced from 17 knots to 8 knots.

But now in the midst of a fierce battleship duel, the Japanese fleet now faced a dangerous choice. Either the fleet will continue to move forward at its current speed and leave the Isai behind, or the entire fleet will also slow down and maintain an artillery battle at a speed of 8 knots.

If you get rid of the Essee, then it is equivalent to losing another capital battleship. The Japanese originally had 7 battleships, but now that the Yamashiro has sunk and the Ishii has been wounded and left the ranks, the Japanese fleet has only 5 battleships left, 3 of which are still Kongo-class with thin armor. Then in the face of the 4 heavily armored battleships of the Ming army, the advantage can be said to be gone. What's more, if the Ise is to be left behind, then it must not be left alone, there must be a few destroyers to escort it, and I am afraid that a cruiser must be left behind to provide towing for the Ise when necessary......

If the entire fleet slows down and continues to sail while fighting with the Yishi, it will be too dangerous in this sea area where the Ming army frequently infested with submarines. Although 8 knots has exceeded the maximum underwater speed of submarines in the current era, because the entire battlefield is moving slowly, the Ming army has the opportunity to mobilize more submarines from the surrounding waters to participate in the battle. …… Besides, many captains, officers, and even soldiers now have a terrible thought swirling in their minds: the Ming army seems to have a kind of monster-like submarine that can sail underwater at a high speed of more than a dozen knots, and can chase it for hours, biting the Japanese fleet to the death......

Takasu Shiro walked briskly in the command room of the Mutsu, his face grim and his breathing short. The staff officers around him were staring at him nervously, and they could all feel the tremendous pressure of being the commander of the fleet at the moment.

By this time, the Mutsu was tilted slightly, the pencil on the chart table was clinging to the edge of the table, and the water in the cup was tilted. At this moment, the Mutsu has been hit by 16 main gun shells of the Ming battleship, as well as countless secondary artillery shells, and two heavy torpedoes. As the best and most powerful "Nagato-class" battleship of this era, these injuries certainly won't kill it, and they can't even be called "serious injuries". But even so, there was more and more seawater in the hull. What's more, who knows when the next torpedo will hit?

In the midst of a rapidly changing battlefield, Takasu Shiro certainly couldn't hesitate for long. But these few minutes are as long as days.

Five minutes later, Takasu Shiro made up his mind and ordered the heavy cruiser Ashigara and four destroyers to accompany the Isse, while the rest of the fleet kept its original speed unchanged and left the sea as soon as possible.

Until now, he was still inclined to believe that it was a coincidence, and he ran into three submarines of the Ming army three times in a row. He knew that the level of the Ming army's organization of the "wolf pack" was quite high, and it was still possible to lay a few submarine nets outside the ambush circle. As for what "monster submarine", capable of driving a dozen knots underwater and chasing for hours on end, this is too nonsense.

……

With the fall of the Japanese ship Isei, the strength of the Japanese fleet was drastically reduced. At this moment, the strongest Mutsu was moderately damaged, and the second Hyuga, the least damaged, not only did not take a torpedo, but also only hit about 10 main gun shells. But the situation with the three King Kong-class ships behind is not good. The firepower was weak and the armor was thin, and although none of them had been torpedoed, all three were already in flames, covered in bruises, and the hulls were tilted.

The Ming fleet on the opposite side was also scarred at the moment. The Changping was moderately damaged, the Yanping was slightly injured, the Yongle and Deyong were both seriously injured, and now the fireworks are rolling and the hull is tilted.

The specific opponent of the Tokunaga was the Hyuga. At this time, the Hyuga clearly had the upper hand, and it was fortunate that not only did it not suffer any serious damage to the armor belt, but also that all of its turrets were still undamaged and were still firing fiercely so far in the naval battle. The Hyuga and the Isei belonged to the same class of battleships. Although the caliber of the main gun was only 14 inches, there were 12 guns, which was 4 more than the Tokunaga opposite, and the rate of fire was much faster. At close ranges of several thousand meters, the 14-inch caliber is enough.

On the opposite side, the Tokunaga is now incapacitated by the two forward turrets. The No. 1 turret was almost blown off, and the No. 2 turret, although it was not much damaged, was stuck by the wreckage of the No. 1 turret in front of it, and could not be rotated, which meant that it could not be used. Now, the only thing that can fight is the two turrets on the aft deck. Although it was a 16-inch cannon, there were only 4 left, and there was almost no power to parry in front of the Hyuga's 12 14-inch guns.

By three o'clock in the night, the Tokunaga could no longer hold on. Thousands of tons of seawater had been poured into the belly of the ship, and most of its body was sunk crookedly, and the fourth turret on the aft deck was almost submerged by the sea. The deck, the towers, were riddled with large torn holes and bullet holes, and fire erupted from every crack. The Tokunaga slowed down and finally came to a halt.

The captain of the Tokunaga gave the order to abandon the ship, and a large number of sailors began to jump from the flames into the sea, and the lifeboats began to be lowered. Several officers lowered the Ming flag on the mast and carefully wrapped it before transferring it to the lifeboat.

In the distance, the Hyuga was still flashing fire, and the dense shells were still falling around the Tokunaga. The column of water that was lifted almost obscured the dying ship.

The aft half of the Tokunaga sank completely into the sea, and the bow was raised all at once, and the hull sank at an even faster rate. Floating flaming oil slicks were everywhere, the sea water around the hull was boiling, and a large amount of black smoke and steam rose into the sky, obscuring the sky.

Seeing that the Tokunaga was really sunk, and the distance was getting farther and farther away, the Hyuga ceased fire at this time, turned its gun and chose another Ming battleship as its opponent. On the Hyuga, at this time, there were also earth-shattering cheers and "long live" sounds.

……

The Ming army lost the battleship Tokunaga, and at this time the Japanese battlefleet regained the upper hand. The Ming army had to use three battleships, the Nagahei, Yanping, and Yongle, against the five Japanese battleships Mutsu, Hyuga, Kongo, Haruna, and Kirishima.

But Takasu Shiro's good mood didn't last long. Just as the Hyuga reported to him that it had sunk the Tokunaga, a telegram came from the Ashigara, 12 nautical miles away, saying that the Isai had been hit by three more torpedoes and was now sinking. And the Ashigara himself, which was also hit by two torpedoes, was already seriously injured. Now four destroyers are saving people and anti-submarine.

The communications staff officer behind him nervously finished reading the message, and Takasu Shiro just clenched the binoculars on his chest with both hands, and his gloomy eyes stared at the fire-like battlefield outside the window, and he did not speak for a long time.

I don't know how long it took, but Gao Su sighed deeply and said in a low voice:

"Since the Yishi was left alone to face the siege of the Ming submarines...... Well, this result is also expected. …… However, the Esai did not die in vain. It attracted the submarines of the Ming army for our main fleet, and won precious time for the main force to get out of the dangerous sea area. Now, we can finally fight a decisive battle without submarine harassment. ”

……

Before he could finish speaking, a huge shock almost knocked him over. Takasu Shiro took a few steps back and slammed into the chart table. He clung to the chart table so he didn't fall.

Before he could straighten up, there was another strong earthquake. This time, Takasu didn't hold on anymore, and fell down all at once.

The officers in the command room shouted and tried to rush to their respective posts, some to grab the phone, and some to pounce on the microphone...... As soon as Takasu got up on the table, there were two violent tremors, accompanied by a deafening explosion and the sound of water like a tsunami.

Takasu and the other officers struggled to get up from the ground, and saw that the flames had reached several stories high and had already licked into the porthole of the chart room. The entire floor beneath him was tilting to the left at a rapid rate, and it was no longer easy to stand firm.

Everyone knows what that means. The flagship Mutsu is capsizing on its side and will soon sink. The giant ship had been hit by two torpedoes earlier, but it was not a big deal, and it was still holding on to the fight...... Now, four more torpedoes have been hit in succession.

Even a supergiant ship like the Nagato-class, which has been hit by six heavy torpedoes and nearly twenty 15- and 16-inch shells, has only one possibility: sinking. And it's sinking fast.

Shiro Takasu's face was covered in blood, and his hands were pierced with glass shards. Leaning against the bulkhead, his lips blue, he ordered:

"Herald...... Abandon the ship! ”

Faced with a warship tilted by 1 degree every two or three seconds, a staff officer next to him did not hesitate, immediately grabbed the microphone, and shouted:

"Abandon ship——! Abandoned ship——!!! ”

Then he rushed over, grabbed Takasu Shiro, and shouted loudly in a series of loud noises:

"Commander!! Please retreat!! ”

Takasu Shiro shook his head, pushed the staff officer away, and was about to pull out his pistol.

The staff officer was shocked when he saw this, and immediately grabbed Takasu's hand, and called another staff officer, and the two forcibly dragged the commander out, shouting:

"Your Excellency! You're not the captain of the Mutsu, you're the commander of the fleet! The fleet still needs you to command! ”

When Takasu heard this, he stopped struggling and let them help him walk. An officer with a fire extinguisher cleared the way in front, and several men rushed down the gangway in the smoky command tower.

……

Three minutes later, the Japanese flagship Mutsu completely flipped on its side. The huge bottom of the boat floats on the water, like an island. Bubbles and heavy oil poured up, and several lifeboats paddled hard in the midst of the corpses and the fire.

Shiro Takasu's face was covered in blood and burned blisters. He sat in the lifeboat, looked gloomily at the two pipes that were moving rapidly on the water in the distance, and muttered:

“…… We're tonight, actually...... It's a battle against underwater demons......"