Danwu was humming a song while driving the Izumo, while Japanese artillery fire continued to bombard the Izumo's hull.
The Izumo's external armor was indeed hard enough, but in front of the Japanese's large-caliber main gun, it was still torn off piece by piece from the hull.
At this time, the Izumo was riddled with holes, with smoke and fire burning everywhere.
But for some reason, this battleship was driving faster and faster.
The two engines that had been shut down before suddenly started operating normally, perhaps due to the constant vibration of the hull, causing the Izumo's speed to reach more than 23 knots per hour again.
"Nani?"
Lieutenant Colonel Minamikawa's eyes widened, he couldn't believe this was true. The originally weak Izumo suddenly accelerated.
The distance between the two sides is less than 500 meters. Although the Nanchuan ship has slowed down, it is still more than 15 knots.
And five hundred meters, at a speed of 15 knots plus 23 knots, is reached in the blink of an eye.
"Turn the rudder, turn the rudder!"
Commander Nanchuan gave a loud order. The Nanchuan began to change course.
But it was too late at this time, the Izumo was already less than 200 meters away from the cruiser Nanchuan.
Boom! Boom!
The other two destroyers and the frigate opened fire at the same time, hoping to prevent the Izumo from continuing to approach.
However, the external armor of the Izumo was simply too hard. Although it was attacked by dozens of various artillery shells and punched through hundreds of holes, the power system still survived tenaciously.
The hull was vibrating and shaking violently. The machines in the power room were also vibrating, with air leaking everywhere.
But the speed of the Izumo remained unabated, even though the raging flames outside the door were burning the door of the power room.
In the distance, the soldiers still floating in the water looked at the Izumo, which was constantly being baptized by enemy fire, and everyone's brows condensed into a knot.
Because he was Danza, he piloted the Izumo to attract the attention of the Japanese, which gave them hope of escaping this time.
Their eyes were moist, and their hearts were filled with incomparable sorrow. Everyone could imagine what the fate of the Izumo and the Tuanzao would be under so much artillery fire and under siege by so many fighter planes.
"Team seats!"
A soldier roared loudly.
At the same time, the other soldiers could no longer control their emotions and sobbed.
Xie Jinyuan, Zhao Beishan, Zhu Shengzhong, Captain Wang, etc. all covered their eyes with their hands.
They are commanders, and they cannot let the soldiers see their tears, because soldiers, especially commanders, should not shed tears.
They are tough soldiers. Even if they shed every drop of blood on their bodies, they will not shed tears.
But at this time, they really couldn't control their emotions.
After Xie Jinyuan wiped his face, he roared majestically: "Everyone, charge towards the river bank. We cannot waste Tuanzuo's hard work. All of you must believe that Tuanzuo will definitely come back."
!”
"Yes, Tuan Zuo will be back. Maybe he is waiting for us on the shore."
"That's right, Tuan Zuo is a general from heaven who will descend to earth. He will not die. He will not abandon us!"
"Brothers, go ahead, Tuan Zuo is waiting for us on the shore! We can't let him down!"
"Brothers, rush!..."
·············
The soldiers roared one after another, and then all of them, both those who knew how to swim and those who couldn't, swam to the river bank with all their strength.
At the same time, the Izumo was less than thirty meters away from the Nanchuan, and the entire hull burned like a fire dragon suspended on the river.
The Japs' cannonballs continued to attack, and the ship's hull was riddled with holes.
The hatch of the Izumo's power room was burned red by the flames and finally couldn't bear it anymore and fell inwards.
Fierce flames burst into the power room.
The heavy oil stored in the power room and the oil stains on the pipes were first ignited.
The flames burn along the large and small pipes towards the engine.
But even so, the Izumo was still moving forward at full speed, and collided with the Nanchuan when it turned its rudder at a thirty-five-degree angle.
Boom!
The huge impact was deafening, and the two battleships were shaking violently and even tilted.
The Japs' fighter jets stopped bombing, opened fire, and hovered in mid-air.
Because the two battleships were already entangled, if they continued to shoot, it would be easy to accidentally damage the Nanchuan.
On the plane, Lieutenant Colonel Yamato cursed Nanchuan for being a pig, why he suddenly came to kill him and caused unnecessary trouble to him. He also got a ride on an Imperial cruiser in vain.
The two battleships collided, and the huge impact force directly caused the bows of the two battleships to be deeply dented.
A large hole was torn open on the port side of the Nanchuan, and a large area of the hull's iron sheet was torn off.
In comparison, the Izumo is much stronger. Although it is dented at this time, it has not been extensively damaged.
But at this moment, a fierce explosion came, and a violent explosion occurred in the power room of the Izumo.
The impact of the explosion directly penetrated the seventh and eighth floors of the ship and completely shattered one of the large chimneys.
The flames were like a blowout, soaring more than thirty meters into the air before rising and falling back.
The Nanchuan was affected as a result, and a large amount of burning material was sprayed on the Nanchuan and another frigate.
The two battleships caught fire one after another, and some of the Japanese on board were set on fire and kept screaming.
The Nanchuan Japanese were still making their final struggle. He gave a loud order to separate the Nanchuan and the Izumo.
But at this time, the two battleships were entangled with each other due to the violent collision, and the Nanchuan's bow position was leaking a lot of water. It was impossible to move.
Boom!
Just when the Nanchuan Japs were at a loss, there was another explosion. The heavy oil in the power room, the engine, and the fuel in the fuel depot all exploded. The Izumo was blown in half from the center.
The fierce flames raised a huge mushroom cloud above the Izumo.
The Nanchuan was hit by this explosion and broke directly at a third of the battleship. Immediately afterwards, the ammunition depot exploded, and a small mushroom cloud rose again.
At this time, thick smoke was billowing, and the Little Japanese plane hovering in the sky was unable to dodge, and the two fighter planes actually collided with each other.
Boom! Boom!…
There were endless sounds of explosions in the sky and in the sea. The terrifying scene was like the end of the world.
The Izumo and Nanchuan slowly sank in the explosion, and the little Japanese on the Nanchuan jumped ship to save their lives.
The Nanchuan Japanese were helpless and fled in a lifeboat to another destroyer.
The frigate on the left wing, because it was relatively close to the Nanchuan, was affected by the explosion. Many places on the surface of the ship were on fire. It had to be evacuated, and there was no time for rescue.
In this battle, it can be said that the Little Japanese suffered heavy losses. Not only were seven battleships sunk, but six aircraft in the flying group crashed for different reasons.
The Yamato Japanese were very angry. He cursed Nanchuan as a stupid pig. If the Nanchuan had not intervened, he would not have suffered such heavy losses! . . .