General Kurita stood on the bridge of the battleship Kongo, feeling the constant trembling of the battleship beneath his feet. His command ship had just been hit by a bomb dropped by an American plane, and the position of an anti-aircraft gun on the port side was still burning with flames and billowing smoke.

The battleship Haruna had been seriously injured an hour earlier when it was besieged by U.S. Navy carrier-based aircraft. To what extent was the serious injury? Even the destroyer Shiyu, which wanted to come up to rescue some of its personnel, was unable to get close to this behemoth because of the intense burning and explosion.

The entire hull was covered in billowing smoke, and the fire spread from the boiler room to the chimneys and anti-aircraft guns above the hull, and the huge explosion lifted the tail turret of the Haruna, and the originally slender and majestic gun barrel now seemed to have lost its soul, hanging on the deck of the battleship at an eerie angle.

The once invincible 356 mm cannon never had a chance to meet its opponent, and those powerful shells had no target and could only stay in the ammunition depot at the heart of the battleship's hull from beginning to end, unable to make a contribution with a devastating explosion.

The sound of explosions from time to time can be heard clearly even on friendly warships in the distance, although now everyone has no heart to care about the life or death of Haruna in order to avoid American planes, but Kurita, as the commander of the fleet, clearly knows that the battleship Haruna can now be said to be completely finished.

"The radio on the battleship Haruna is still silent, and we can't contact Uedanaka Daisa. Kurita's lieutenant walked up behind his boss, bent down, and reported another piece of bad news that had brought Kurita down. Tanaka was Kurita's confidant and favorite general, and he was also an ardent supporter of large ships and huge guns, and the sinking of another senior general of the Japanese Navy along with his warship at this time was definitely a matter that made the current unfavorable war situation worse.

"Your Excellency, the Commander-in-Chief has called, ordering us to leave the battlefield to the north, join the vigilant fleet on the flanks, and leave the sea areas of engagement. Another officer from the telegraph room hurriedly walked in from outside the bridge, bent down, and respectfully delivered the telegram in his hand to Kurita Keno.

Hearing a call from Koga Mineichi, Kurita's anger didn't come anywhere. His fleet struggled for 40 minutes under the indiscriminate bombardment of US carrier-based aircraft, but Koga Mineichi still failed to achieve the task of driving out the US planes and escorting his fleet into the US fleet formation. The direct consequence of the weakness of the Japanese aircraft carrier fleet's attack was the end of his battleship attack fleet.

The hematopoietic capacity of the Japanese Navy is not much stronger than its naval aviation, and because the navy is all expensive big guys, it is even inferior to naval aviation in terms of equipment replenishment. Unlike the United States, which sank one warship to supplement the powerful production capacity of one warship, the Japanese Navy's large warships are basically the rhythm of sinking one and one less.

And occupying the dock to modify warships is even more extravagant, and it is necessary to desperately squeeze the remaining production capacity to be able to do it. Therefore, the refitting of four Kongo-class battlecruisers in one go was a big move that pinned the hopes of countless people in the Japanese Navy.

The old battleship Yamashiro sank off the coast of Australia in a daze, the Hyuga and the Ise were lost in the Battle of the Solomons, and now the battleship Haruna, which had just been refitted, was about to sink, and the battleship superiority that the Japanese Navy barely maintained was about to be wiped out with this battle of the Bismarck Islands.

Looking at the sea not far away, the Haruna battleship could only stand still and wait for death because it had lost all its speed. After the stall, it was overtaken by the Hiei, which was following behind the Kongo, and stayed farther and farther away from the main force of the fleet. Kurita gritted his teeth, and finally gave the battle order to run away: "Let the Kirishima turn, leave the cruiser Aoba alone, and leave the sea area at full speed to the predetermined sea area on the 4th, and leave the area of engagement!"

"The Americans' carrier-based aircraft have always been haunted, and whether we can get away depends on the aircraft carrier fleet behind. Kurita sighed as he stood in his command position after giving his battle order. The last thing he believed about now was the aircraft carrier fleet behind him, because from the time the two sides fought until now, the results achieved by the Japanese naval aviation were really not satisfactory.

Just as Kurita was turning with his battleship fleet, Koga Mineichi and his second battleship fleet were also turning. He knew that his fleet could not get close to the US aircraft carrier fleet, so he could only abandon the decisive battle plan this time and quickly change his tactics when the losses were bearable.

Under his command were the more elite battleships Yamato, as well as Nagato and Mutsu, which had been repaired and refitted to regain their combat effectiveness. These three battleships were originally intended to be the receiving forces, but later joined the U.S. aircraft carrier fleet with Kurita's fleet. But now Koga can only lead these giant warships to turn hurriedly, avoiding the edge of the US naval aviation.

The only thing that supported Koga Mineichi now was not the stubborn Japanese Navy aircraft carriers behind him and the heavy losses of the air forces above, but the sky that was gradually beginning to darken. From noon to the beginning of the exchange of fire with the American fleet, until now, five or six hours of torment made Koga mine extremely painful, but the night was coming, as long as he persisted, he could get a long night to cover the next operation of the combined fleet.

"Send another telegram to Kurita-kun! After letting him join the Fuso on the flank, turn around again, use the night as cover from the flank, and return to the battlefield again! Flank the American fleet with our two wings!" Thinking of this, Koga Mine gave another battle order, and then began to anxiously wait for good news from the air force in favor of the battle situation.

The second group of suicide planes smashed into the center of the U.S. Navy fleet, which really added countless problems to the U.S. Navy, as these Japanese planes crashed into all kinds of warships they could see, causing the U.S. Navy to lose seven combat ships of all kinds in one go.

Halsey's fleet was already ready to step forward to entangle Kurita's assault fleet, but because of the Japanese suicide planes, it had to retreat again to ensure the foolproof of the aircraft carrier fleet. The vast sea was full of Japanese planes dragging smoke down, and there were also groups of U.S. Navy pilots taking off to meet the battle.

"Yo Xi!" After receiving a telegram from Koga Mineichi, Kurita finally regained some confidence. He also saw that time seemed to be in favor of the Japanese navy, and as long as the losses dragged into the night, then any few warships in his fleet rushed into the American fleet, and they could inflict incalculable losses on the other side.

At this time, he simply forgot about the Haruna battlecruiser that had begun to sink slowly, forgot about the heavy cruiser Aoba that was beaten into a sieve by American planes not long after the war began, and began to fantasize about his Kongo wolf entering the flock, and the majestic scene became in all directions. After fantasizing for a while, Kurita pulled his thoughts out of the beautiful nothingness and began to reassemble the wounded fleet and move closer to the battleship Fuso on the flanks.

At this time, Koga Mineichi, who claimed to be flanking the U.S. Navy with the Kurita fleet, also began to speed up in the other direction with his huge fleet, preparing to find a better attack position before dark to annihilate the U.S. Navy in one fell swoop.

At this moment, the Japanese fleet, as if it was a giant, opened its arms and threw two heavy punches from the left and right, ready to beat the US Navy in front of it into a pig's head. However, the U.S. fleet is still responding to all changes, frantically sending carrier-based aircraft, hoping to sink more Japanese warships before it gets dark and lay the foundation for its own victory.

......

On the bridge of the American fleet, Admiral Spruance received information from his assistant that the air reconnaissance plane had brought back, and he knew that the Japanese Navy's forward fleet was being defeated just now, and the Japanese aircraft carrier fleet behind this fleet had revealed its position.

"General, now that we are retreating, we have already achieved the result of sinking one of the enemy's battleships......" The staff officer beside him looked at the charts and suggested to his superiors with some concern: "Time is very unfavorable to us, if we continue to attack recklessly, then we will suffer even greater losses in the night." ”

Spruance looked at the position of the Japanese Navy marked on the chart, and then shifted his gaze to the empty sea on the other side. He guessed that there would be another Japanese naval fleet there, and that fleet was also a deadly threat. It was clear that it would be in the U.S. Navy's interest to retreat now, but the order he had just received made it difficult for him to make a decision to retreat—the situation in the Atlantic theater had deteriorated, and the German Navy, a formidable adversary, had finally relented and begun to stir up trouble.

"Tom, I heard that the aircraft carrier Essex will be launched soon?" Suddenly, Spruance asked another topic, "And we are building this aircraft carrier very quickly, and there are ten of them under construction at the same time?"

"General?" Staff Officer Tom was stunned by Spruance's question, and then looked at his commander with a puzzled expression.

"I mean, even if we all die here, the United States will be able to build such a huge fleet in a few months?" Spruance asked calmly.

"I see, General! Continue to take off carrier-based aircraft and attack the Japanese aircraft carrier fleet!" The staff officer named Tom looked at General Spruance and suddenly laughed: "General Halsey, this time, I won't say that you are too cautious. ”