"早くします! Ha Ya pants! ”

The voice of the commander's scolding lingered in his ears, and many naval sailors were busy in the ship, and no one dared to take it lightly at the last moment of going to sea.

The wharf was crowded with people, and the laborers who were captured by the Japanese to do coolies were densely packed, like a group of industrious ants, silently enduring oppression and abuse, and carrying all kinds of supplies and ammunition and equipment to the warship.

On the morning of June 6, in the war room of the Yamato ship tower...

The commander of the fleet, Ito Junichi, who was full of gloom, stared at the battle map and was silent, and for some reason, the inexplicable uneasiness in his heart lingered.

The fleet is sailing at 17 knots per hour in the South China Sea, and the day after tomorrow it should be able to pass through the Spratly Islands and the Balabac Strait, and then sail to the Sulu Sea to reach Mindanao in the Philippines.

It had been a day since he left the port, and the fleet was moving in the predetermined direction, but he still felt unstable, and his right eyelid was jumping, as if to indicate that something bad was about to happen.

Looking out the window of the war room, the three triple guns reflected the cold metal light under the scorching sun, which gave Ito a little comfort and confidence.

The Yamato is the largest battleship in the world today, with a full load displacement of more than 70,000 tons, nine 460-mm main guns, twelve 155-mm secondary guns, twelve 127-rapid-fire naval guns, and dozens of anti-aircraft guns of more than 25 mm, and more than 150 guns alone.

In addition, the whole ship is covered with a large amount of armor, important parts of the hull can withstand the bombardment of 460 mm cannons, and its chimney is also equipped with honeycomb steel plates and protective armor at the openings and sides, far exceeding other naval warships of the same period, it can be said that the main guns of any other warship in the world can not easily penetrate the armor of the Yamato.

With these hardware strengths as a guarantee, even if the Americans sent Iowa-class battleships, they would not want to bargain in front of the Yamato.

Ito tried to cheer himself up mentally and walked out of the war room and stood outside the tower looking at the sea ahead.

As far as the eye could see, many soldiers on board the ship were waiting at their posts, and there were four light cruisers and eight destroyers around the Yamato to escort them.

Ito held on to the guard pole and smiled with satisfaction, the bow of the ship broke through the waves, the waves continued, and the mighty fleet looked so majestic in the sun.

At this moment, a figure on the lower deck, also lying on the railing, caught Ito's attention, it was a low-ranking sailor, and the lonely figure looked a little abrupt on the edge of the deck.

However, when he regained his confidence, he didn't want to pay attention to it, just watched two and returned to the war room...

……

The sea breeze swept across his face, and Kikujiro Kamio, who was only fifteen years old, stood on the deck of the Yamato and looked into the distance, and his thoughts were gradually carried into the distance by the endless sea in front of him.

"Dead to death? Kamio-kun? ”

At the same time, the soldier Uchida hurriedly ran over and patted him on the shoulder, looked left and right, and hurriedly said: "Shao Zuo has just gone to the second floor, hurry back and don't let him find out that you are lazy again." ”

The reminder of his companion made Kamio's face appear a little afraid, although he often sneaked around, but it was not once or twice that he was discovered by the chief, and each time he was cleaned up quite miserably.

In this way, the two and a half children hurriedly ran back to their squad's posts.

Over there... More than a dozen Japanese soldiers with the same immature faces were maintaining a triple anti-aircraft gun, but their clumsy and unfamiliar methods soon attracted a lot of scolding from the commander.

After all, these soldiers are still underage children, they were only students two months ago, and they have not even completed the basic training of recruits, but they have been placed in the most important positions.

Because there is really no one in the Japanese army now, let alone these fifteen or sixteen-year-old boys, even the female dolls and those younger children have to be pulled to the army to do logistical support work, and they also have to undergo a certain amount of military training so that they can go to the battlefield at any time.

Of course, the Japanese high-level does not expect how much combat power these children will have in the future, as long as they can pull out the grenade and die with the enemy, even if they exchange one for one, they will earn it, this is the little devil's crazy plan of 100 million jade pieces.

Kamio and Uchida were among the baby soldiers, who had been sent to the Yamato as supplementary soldiers two months earlier.

Here, they train day and night, endlessly repeating the ship's air defense missions, in order to integrate into the battle as soon as possible and become a qualified naval soldier.

Although it was hard work, many people did not resist it at all, because the status of the Yamato in the hearts of the Japanese is very sacred, which is their national pride, and it is a very proud thing to be able to work on the ship.

Young people, their minds are simple and pure, and they were slightly fooled by the chief, coupled with the relatively good treatment on the Yamato, which made their blood boil one by one, and they wanted to die for the empire immediately.

But the sober-minded Kamio didn't think so, his father was in the navy, and he had already died in battle during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

And his brother, who was far away in the battlefield in China, has not heard from him since the last letter sent back last year, and the family is left with him and his mother to rely on each other.

Unexpectedly, the Japanese military could not contain the rout, and at the beginning of this year, students such as Kamio, who were still in middle school, were ordered to suspend classes, and then they were drafted into the army without even having a chance to say goodbye to their families.

Whether it is the former teacher or the current prefect, they are constantly instilling in them the spirit of dedication to the empire and the victory of the Yamato nation, but Kamio no longer has any hope for this war, and their family has paid a considerable price for it.

He still remembers that before he joined the army, his family's situation was very bad, and he could still receive a certain amount of subsidies at school as a science and engineering student, but it was only enough for one person to barely eat.

My mother could only feed on wild vegetables and wheat bran every day, and she couldn't even eat brown rice, and she had to go to the factory to do a lot of tedious work.

Let's ask if the country has reached such a point, what kind of capital do you use to turn over the war?

But as a Japanese, he had to obey the arrangement and endure the reluctance to be separated from his family.

Kamio, who was full of thoughts, couldn't help but open his jacket pocket and took out a photo of a girl from it, and the person in the photo was his lover at school, Sakurako Ueno.

Looking at the delicate and lovely girl in the photo, the corners of Kamio's mouth are also rising unconsciously, this should be his only love now.

"What are you doing, Shenwei, take it quickly!"

Companion Nanjo struggled to bring a box of anti-aircraft artillery shells, and Kamio should have gone to pick it up and get the position of the ammunition man, but because of the stunned situation just now, the matter was delayed again.

Nanjo was already thin, and a box of 25-mm shells weighed dozens of pounds, and it was all his strength to be able to carry them up from the lower ammunition depot.

Kamio hurriedly ran over to help, but Nanjo's forehead was bruised, and the arms carrying the ammunition box were almost out of strength, and the two of them couldn't avoid the mistake in a hurry, and the box fell to the ground with a clatter, and the yellow, orange and orange shells inside rolled down the deck.

"Bastard! What are you doing!? ”

The chief not far away heard the movement, and walked over very angrily and scolded angrily.

After seeing the ammunition all over the ground, he was angry, rolled up his sleeves and took the rattan whip in his hand to slash the two of them.

The two of them drooped their heads, and they were beaten next to each other and said sorry in their mouths. After the commander vented his anger, he immediately knelt on the ground and picked up the scattered cannonballs......

(End of chapter)