Spruance was overjoyed when he received the report from the Barracuda, and without hesitation, he sent all the planes out, and 21 Wildcats covered 69 SBDs and rushed towards the Wyvern. However, the only regret is that his actions were discovered by Japanese reconnaissance planes, which turned Spruance's planned sneak attack into an out-and-out assault.

I have to say that at this time, the escort force of the Flying Dragon was still very strong, and a large number of Zero Battles transferred from the Second Mobile Force had just been refilled, and the Wildcats were really a bit inadequate compared to Zero Battles, so when the two air formations collided head-on more than two hours later, the Americans did not take advantage of it at all.

The tragic aerial battle covered the entire airspace, and the American pilots, eager to avenge the Yorktown, were entangled with the Japanese pilots who swore to defend the Wyvern, showing the courage of soldiers in the most primitive way.

Fighter planes were shot down almost every minute, and the sky was filled with tracer bullets, and Japanese pilots who had run out of ammunition would frantically chase the wildcat and try to knock it down. And the Americans are also willing to show weakness, and they will not hesitate to collide with each other if they kill red-eyed. According to the recollections of American pilots, this situation was widespread, and the pilots on both sides were really desperate!

However, the Japanese still have an advantage overall, first of all, their aircraft are better, and secondly, the Japanese pilots are more skilled, and for most American rookie pilots, many of them are actually engaged with the enemy for the first time.

So after this tragic aerial strangulation battle, most of the wildcats were either shot down or forced to retreat. The Japanese pilots had the last laugh. However, the sacrifice of American pilots is not without significance. Under their desperate battle. Zero was unable to harass the SBD with all his might, which caused a considerable number of SBDs to penetrate the Japanese air defenses and rush in the direction of the Wyvern.

The escort ships surrounding the Wyvern began to shoot, and the shells weaved a large net in the sky, and the "fish" in the net seemed so unyielding. Minoru Genda witnessed one wing of an SBD being knocked off, but the pilot still managed to steer the plane towards the Wyvern. Although he plunged headlong into the sea after dropping the bomb, the courage and determination to fight to the death still made Minoru Genda feel emotional, and he began to think that the Americans were not as weak as previously advertised.

However, the effect of this wave of air strikes is still not particularly ideal. Most of the munitions dropped by the SBD were off target, and the only two that hit the Wyvern did not explode because their fuses failed. This made Yamaguchi, who was shocked into a cold sweat, shout for the blessing of the gods.

After the American plane in the sky finally disappeared, Nagumo Tadaichi also breathed a sigh of relief, and when the SBD began to dive, he really suspected that yesterday's scene was going to be repeated, especially when the Wyvern was hit, he hid his face and didn't dare to look at it again.

Nagumo Zhongyi impatiently ordered: "The loss of the Flying Dragon! I want to know about the Wyvern's losses right away! ”

The vice admiral really couldn't afford to lose another aircraft carrier, and when he heard the report that the bomb that hit the Wyvern had not exploded, and that the Wyvern had only lost ten people and had no impact on its combat effectiveness, his whole body was relieved.

Although this wave of air raids did not sink a single battleship of the 1st Mobile Force. But it solidly destroyed Nagumo Tadaichi's courage to continue fighting. The thought of the enemy having four more aircraft carriers made him feel that the future was bleak. As soon as he reported to Yamamoto Isoroku and asked to stop the battle and return home.

Standing in the bridge of the Wyvern, he scolded Nagumo Tadaichi for his incompetence and cowardice, and immediately telegraphed Yamamoto Isoroku asking him to continue to command the Wyvern. In Yamaguchi's words: "No matter how many aircraft carriers the enemy has, the Wyvern does not lack the courage to fight a war." Allow me to keep fighting until I destroy all the enemies! ”

Nagumo Tadaichi's report made Yamamoto Fifty-six feel terrible, and the worst case scenario appeared, facing an unprecedentedly powerful enemy, even he felt troubled. Do you continue to fight with the Americans, or do you retreat quickly?

After some thought, Yamamoto Isoroku decided that it was of little point to continue fighting, the enemy's advantage was too great, and even if the Wyvern could sink an American aircraft carrier, it was very likely that the Wyvern would be destroyed under the enemy's second blow. The Combined Fleet has already lost three capital carriers, and the Wyvern can't afford to lose it easily!

So at 10:15 a.m., Yamamoto 56 rejected Yamaguchi's request and ordered the 1st Mobile Force to retreat immediately, the sooner the better!

This decision made Nagumo Zhongyi breathe a sigh of relief, he finally didn't have to listen to Yamaguchi's chirping, he categorically ordered to retreat. But at this moment, the always arrogant Yamaguchi Tawen gave him a big problem, Yamaguchi Tawen knew that the current situation was not good, and once Yamamoto Fifty-six agreed to Nagumo Tadaichi's request, he could only retreat. Therefore, without waiting for Nagumo Tadashi to give an order, let alone Yamamoto Fifty-six's reply, Yamaguchi Tashi's self-asserted order had already been refueled on the Flying Dragon and the ninety-seven ships with torpedoes hung up to attack!

So when Nagumo Tadaichi's order to retreat was given, Yamaguchi Tamon replied: "The attack aircraft has set sail, and if it retreats, the group will not be able to return to the aircraft carrier." ”

One can imagine how angry Nagumo Tadaichi was, and Yamaguchi's self-assertion made him unable to retreat at all, unless he didn't care about the life or death of those pilots. What is even more infuriating is that when Yamaguchi Tawen set sail for this batch of 97 ships, he also emphasized radio silence and demanded that all planes not turn on the radio before the battle began. And this made it impossible for Nagumo Tadaichi to recall these planes.

Nagumo Zhongyi, who was so angry that he was almost crazy, had no choice, and he couldn't care about the life or death of these pilots, so he could only postpone and retreat. However, he would not let go of Yamaguchi Duowen easily, categorically deprived Yamaguchi Duowen of the right to command, and telegraphed Yamamoto 56 to ask Yamaguchi Duowen to be held responsible.

But this doesn't make any sense, because Yamamoto Fifty-six can't easily hold Yamaguchi accountable before the battle is over, even if his behavior is really bad, because once this batch of 97 ships has achieved unexpected results? If this sortie destroys two American aircraft carriers in one fell swoop. That mountain pass is a hero. There is no way to blame him for disobeying military orders. In order to avoid passivity in the future. Yamamoto Fifty-six can only pretend to be deaf and dumb for the time being, and everything will have to wait for the results to come out.

I have to say that Yamaguchi Tawen is too familiar with this set of rules within the Japanese army, in Japan the victor and the strong are naturally correct, if you disagree with the winner, then the fault can only be you, not the victorious strong.

Yamaguchi thinks he must be the victor, so he doesn't worry about being reprimanded. And even if you are blamed, everything is for the sake of the imperial kingdom. It doesn't matter if he even lets him die!

Not long after the 97 ship attack took off, the 99-type ship explosion was finally late, and Yamaguchi still ignored Nagumo Tadaichi's interference, and ordered the plane to be refueled and hung up immediately. In his opinion, as long as the American aircraft carriers in the east are killed, these planes will be immediately used to attack the American aircraft carriers in the south.

So the crew of the Wyvern began to play with their lives again, but after a whole morning of tossing and turning, their physical strength was really a problem. The vast majority of the aircrew were busy from five o'clock in the morning, and until ten o'clock, let alone eating and drinking, they didn't even have time to pee. Even if the Japanese are very patient, they have basically reached their limit at this time.

Therefore, it took a lot of time to refuel and hang bombs for this batch of Type 99 shipblows. It took two hours without any effort. At this time, it was already past 12 o'clock, and there was no news from the 97 ship attack force attacking the US aircraft carrier. This made the entire Wyvern look extremely anxious up and down. At about 12:40 p.m., the news of the 97 ship attack finally arrived, and they finally found the American aircraft carrier and launched an attack.

However, what made Yamaguchi Tashi and Nagumo Tadashi entangled was that after this batch of 97 ships attacked and sent back the news, there was no news, and no one really knew what the result of the attack was.

In fact, the attack effect of this batch of 97 ship attacks was very unsatisfactory, and the reason was very simple: these pilots were too tired. The tactics of the Black Island Turtle Man were really only suitable for robots, and the pilots got up at four o'clock in the morning and then sat in the cabin at five o'clock to take off. After landing on the Wyvern for several hours, it was only an hour's rest before it was time to fly again. This is too demanding for physical strength and energy, not to mention the fact that they also lack air cover, and under the encirclement and interception of the Wildcat and American naval guns, all the torpedoes dropped missed, and even the hair of the Hornet and Enterprise was not injured.

What's worse is that after returning home, in order to avoid the pursuit of the US plane, these pilots had no time to report the results of the battle, and it was not until they got rid of the US plane that they made a wrong and outrageous report to Nagumo Tadaichi: "At least sink one US aircraft carrier!" ”

The so-called sinking of at least one American aircraft carrier, that is, probably two. The result was amazing, and Yamaguchi jumped in surprise anyway, and he thought he had made the right bet. But he was a little overjoyed, because this result was so outrageously wrong, why would the Japanese pilots come up with such a wrong and outrageous result?

The reason is simple, in high-tension battles, people will unconsciously miscalculate, and many seemingly huge water jets and splashes will give them the illusion of hitting an enemy ship.

However, this illusion did not last long, because the water reconnaissance plane, which had been tracking the US fleet, poured cold water on Yamaguchi after half an hour: "The attack effect is better than nothing, and the US aircraft carrier is not harmed!" ”

This almost made Yamaguchi vomit blood, he knew very well that this time the gamble failed, and what was even more terrifying was that if something went wrong on the Wyvern, he would die a hundred times to atone for his sins. Unfortunately, Yamaguchi's premonition will soon come true!

At about half past one o'clock in the afternoon, a slowly moving black cloud appeared on the south side of Nagumo Tadaichi, this black cloud was composed of 30 Ro-2 attack aircraft and 20 Yak-3Ks, which was all Sukhoi could bring out in a hurry.

When these planes flew over Nagumo Tadaichi's fleet, Colonel Zaitsev, the commander of the flight regiment leading the group, was shocked to find that the Japanese could not come up with effective air defense to intercept them. The reason is also very simple, the limited Zero Battle was either consumed by the Spruce Wildcat before, or the fuel had just landed on the Wyvern to refuel. This air defense gap was caught up by the Russians so that the next air raid turned into a textbook target operation.

Minoru Genda recalled: "The twin-engine bombers that did not have any harassment began to dive one after another, and the torpedo planes on the other side also began to reduce their altitude and prepare to drop mines, and even the enemy's fighters dared to dive and strafe our escort ships...... Bullets clanged on the deck. From time to time, people get shot. But none of us pay attention to that. We're all staring at the Wyvern, whose fate will determine the outcome of this battle......"

Thousands of Japanese prayed that the "beautiful animal" would miss as the last time, but it was useless, and Zaitsev, who first began to dive, dropped a bomb on the deck of the Wyvern, and the 1,000-kilogram armor-piercing bullet easily penetrated the deck of the Wyvern, then through the hangar deck and horizontal armor, and rushed all the way to the Wyvern's boiler room before exploding.

It can be said that this first bomb basically paralyzed the Wyvern, and what is even more terrifying is that the Russians' next bomb is surprisingly accurate. Rogosyan, who followed Zaitsev in his dive, also easily hit the deck of the Wyvern. After destroying the elevator, the bomb went all the way to the stern of the ship, and the violent explosion almost completely destroyed the Wyvern's shafting. The third and fourth bombs missed, but the fifth and sixth accurately pierced the Wyvern's small body. With a single explosion, the Wyvern's hull shook violently, and pieces of armor began to curl up at a speed visible to the naked eye, and then peeled off in large chunks.

Just as the Wyvern was blazing, the torpedoes arrived again, and the first six torpedoes were missed, and the other five all hit, one by one, rising from the water line of the Wyvern. The violent explosion nearly toppled the Wyvern.

The influx of large amounts of seawater extinguished the fire in the boiler compartment, but it also caused the Wyvern to tilt badly. In just fifteen minutes, the Wyvern tilted fifteen degrees, which shows how fast the water is ingesting.

At this time, even the most optimistic people would not think that the Wyvern would survive, and the captain of Calaitsu stood on the island with a dead face and looked at the burning Wyvern without saying a word, and Yamaguchi Tashi, who was dancing happily before beside him, was also silent.

On the afternoon of June 5, 1943, just as this long day was coming to an end, the Wyvern was completely paralyzed on the sea, the ferocious fire was completely uncontainable, and the explosions continued to explode inside the Wyvern.

Calais Zhinan helplessly reported to Yamaguchi Tawen: "Commander, this ship has run out of gas, and I will order all members to leave the ship." Please leave the ship with the commander and the staff of the headquarters! ”

Faced with Calais's request, Yamaguchi Tawen calmly replied, "Calais-kun, I will stay too." ”

"The commander still wants to command the future battles, and I can stay alone!" Calais refused.

Yamaguchi still replied lightly: "The Second Air Force has been completely wiped out. It's my responsibility and I'm going to stay! ”

Calais didn't continue to insist, because he understood Yamaguchi's mood very well, and the other staff officers couldn't do anything when they saw that the two of them were bent on death. A few minutes later, Calais ordered all survivors to assemble on the back deck. At this time, the deck of the Wyvern was distorted and deformed by the explosion and fire, and the crew who were lucky enough to survive were also in tattered clothes, stained with sweat, oil and smoke, and the snow-white uniforms were long since the color was difficult to distinguish, and everyone's faces were tired and lifeless.

Yamaguchi Tawen stood on several cookie boxes (small in stature) and made a final speech to the crew: "The 2nd Air Force participated in all the battles and built great achievements. Outstanding results were also achieved in this battle. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all of you who have fought hard for your country since the beginning of the war. I will say goodbye to you forever, but I will always pray for you to have a long future of martial arts. Now everyone worships Miyagi from afar and shouts Long live His Majesty the Emperor! ”

After shouting three times in the direction of the mainland, the trumpeters blew their horns, and the military flag and the flag of Yamaguchi's much-heard command were lowered from the mast. At this time, it was already sunset, and it looked so bleak.

The crew of the Wyvern was evacuated by transport boat to the destroyers Fengyun and Cirrus, while Tamon Yamaguchi and Jio Kalai stood on the bridge to watch the crew leave the ship and wave their hats goodbye. The last to leave were Ito Seiroku Nakasa and other staff officers of the headquarters, who opened a bucket of fresh water, used an empty canned box as a cup, and used water instead of wine to say goodbye to Yamaguchi Tawen and Calais.

At that time, Yamaguchi Tawen suddenly looked at the sunset and exclaimed, "The sunset is so beautiful!" Captain! ”

Calais also smiled: "I haven't seen such a scene for a long time." ”

"Well, let's enjoy the sunset and chat together!"

"Before, the Comptroller came to me and asked me what to do with the ship's vault, and I told him to leave it where it was."

"Yes, there are also bridge tolls in that world. And you need money to eat and drink enough in hell! ”

It can be seen that Karai knows where he and Yamaguchi Tawen will go, and what greets them and Japan is definitely not heaven, but only hell or purgatory, and the devil should stay where the devil should go. Hell is for them!

When the sun had completely sunset, the last dinghy had left the side of the Wyvern, and Yamaguchi Tawen and Ka Lai Jio could be seen still standing on the ruined island, and then slowly disappearing into the darkness.

An hour later, the destroyer was ordered to launch torpedoes at the "Wyvern" in order to accelerate the disappearance of this iron coffin into the sea...... (To be continued.) )

PS: Bow and thank zhouyu1976, Orphein, Pig Chic 2, I am Road Rageer, xzxing, Southern Rangers and Comrade Juventus!