"Old Xue, do you think the commander is making a mountain out of a molehill?" Xia Quanyong, commander of the Second Air Division, looked at the Japanese supply fleet not far away and said loudly on the public channel,
For 60 new fighters to deal with such a fleet with only three main warships, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a trivial matter.
Xue Changkong ignored him, but calmly began to issue orders. Under his control, 24 Baijis and 24 other medium bombers separated to both sides, and 12 Sky Fortresses rumbled towards the Japanese ships.
"What a big plane." On the Japanese warship, the Japanese who witnessed this scene looked at the cluster of flying fortresses approaching rapidly, and many people exclaimed in despair.
Before the enemy plane cluster appeared, Cheng Shang still had a glimmer of hope in his heart, thinking that the enemy plane that suddenly appeared was probably on a reconnaissance or cruise mission. In that case, although the fleet's whereabouts were exposed, it would not be immediately available. After being attacked, when densely packed fighter planes appeared in the northern airspace, his heart beat wildly, and his mood became hysterical due to despair.
"That's the Chinese flying fortress." Sakurai looked up at the 12 enemy planes that were the first to approach the fleet and murmured,
"Order all ships to prepare for battle and snipe them at all costs..." Jongami stood at the door of the captain's room and roared at the signal soldiers. In his roar, the signal soldiers frantically waved flags, and then each ship Start moving,
The Japanese ships were just about to disperse when Xue Changkong had already issued the order to attack. Immediately, the twelve air fortresses lowered their fuselages and began to press down on the supply fleet below in a Taishan style.
The largest tonnage of these supply ships organized by Kobayashi is only about 12,000 tons, while the smallest is only 3,000 tons. This includes nearly thirty merchant ships that he temporarily mobilized.
The Japanese navy has dominated the South China Sea for a long time. Relying on the powerful force of its own navy, Japanese merchant sailors have never thought that any country or organization would dare to attack them. The recruitment order from the Taiwan Governor-General's Office arrived At that time, everyone from the boss to the sailor on the merchant ship felt proud and proud to be able to contribute to the country. But now, when the scythe of death has been placed on their necks, this huge psychological contrast has made many people feel heartbroken. Like ants on a hot pot, running back and forth on the ship, or pointlessly raising the small naval guns originally used in naval battles...
"Hush." One after another, the air fortresses opened their belly magazine hatches, and immediately, hundreds of bombs fell down like hailstones.
In order to increase the accuracy of bombing as much as possible, the Aerial Fortress dropped from the cruising altitude of 8,000 meters to about 3,000 meters before starting to drop bombs. At an altitude of 3,000 meters, 12 Aerial Fortresses dropped nearly 1,500 bombs, instantly A tsunami set off in the sea area where the supply fleet was located,
"Rumble" explosions sounded one after another, and huge mushroom-shaped fireballs rose up from the ships that were directly hit. Some ships were hit in the power compartment, and exploded the next moment. Amidst the continuous explosions, the bow of the ship Suddenly it tilted up, and soon, only the bow of the ship was left exposed on the sea.
In this round of bombing, one of the three escort battleships and one frigate was hit by four bombs. One of the bombs hit the high-rise building of the ship. After a loud noise, including the captain of the ship, Many Japanese soldiers were torn into pieces, and then, in the continuous explosions, one-third of the ship's anti-aircraft weapons were destroyed, the control system was damaged, and the steering ability was lost.
Compared with this unlucky frigate, the "Jiagu" was much luckier. Although it was hit by a bomb, it only lost one anti-aircraft machine gun and three Japanese soldiers.
A round of bombing by 12 flying fortresses sank nineteen supply ships, including the largest merchant ship "Xu Yu" that was originally used to carry coal. However, only three were almost unscathed in this round of bombing. a small merchant ship,
Nineteen supply ships sank slowly, and hundreds of Japanese soldiers struggled on the burning sea.
12 Sky Fortresses flew over the burning sea. Xue Changkong carefully observed the results and said on the public channel: "It's not ideal. We only achieved this result."
Fang Jiyun, captain of the Second Brigade of the 1st Air Division, responded: "Master, what you said is a bit excessive. You can't just take advantage of your own happiness and let us go all the way in vain."
Xue Changkong laughed and said, "Okay, now it's up to you. Don't be mean, show some real skills."
"Hey, take a look."
After the bombing of the 12 Sky Fortresses was completed, except for the 0008 piloted by Xue Changkong who served as the commander, the other 11 began to return. Following them, the 24 Baijis spread out in twos and began to surround the "Jiagu" and two others. A battleship began a precise strike,
Each Baiji only carried two bombs. These fifty-pound bombs had almost no ability to directly sink any of the ships below, so their main combat mission was to crush these three ships through machine gun and machine gun fire. The air defense capability of the capital ship creates a safe environment for the subsequent bombing groups to carry out dive precision bombing.
In the round of bombing just now, a quarter of the nearly fifty anti-aircraft weapons of the three battleships were damaged. What was left was not enough to completely block the airspace on a certain side.
The 24 Whitebacks shuttled back and forth. Once they found a gap in the anti-aircraft fire, they dived down. The two machine guns and one cannon equipped on the fighter planes fired at the same time. Often, one dive could kill all the Japanese in an air defense position. , the battle lasted for about five minutes. Although most of the anti-aircraft weapons on these capital ships were intact, there was a serious shortage of soldiers. Many battle positions were not replenished, and some sailors and even officers began to participate in the battle.
One after another, shining silver in the sun, the fighter planes shuttled up and down. From a distance, it looked like a group of seagulls circling the fish flood waters looking for opportunities to eat.
So far, the battle has gone smoothly, and none of the fighters have been injured. However, after calculating the time, Xue Changkong became impatient. He suddenly shouted: "Fang Jiyun, can you do it? It's been ten minutes, fifteen minutes." If you can't resolve the battle, drop the bomb and go back."
Among the 60 fighters, 12 Flying Fortresses and 24 new bombers of various types have the longest stay in the air, while the 24 Baijis have a relatively shorter stay in the air. Considering that they have been adopting a frequently mobile combat method, this It will increase fuel consumption, so in order to avoid the unexpected incident of being unable to return to Baiyunshan Airport due to running out of fuel, Xue Changkong had to limit their combat time.
Fang Jiyun was obviously deeply stimulated by Xue Changkong's words, and he cried out: "Brothers, if you heard what Master said, please show me your special skills. We only have five minutes."
On the "Kakoko", Narumi Shirogami and Tetsuaki Sakurai were worried that the towering bridge target would be too obvious and would become a priority target for enemy aircraft, so they all moved to the deck to direct operations.
Under the continuous attacks of 24 Whitebacks, the air defense personnel were severely damaged. Knowing that if they persisted for a while longer, the enemy aircraft would have to return due to lack of fuel, Shiromi Narumi and Sakurai Tetsuaki had already rushed to the air defense position. The two people and an adjutant on the city personally operated a 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine gun. The city leader was personally responsible for aiming and shooting. He pulled the trigger crazily while shouting something, completely acting like a desperate murderer.
A Baiji dolphin had just been shot in the city and "ran away" (his own feeling). Hearing this, he immediately turned the muzzle of his gun. Then, just as he used the sight to find the target mentioned by Sakurai, his eyes suddenly lit up. In an instant, his chest was hit by more than a dozen bullets, and he flew backwards...
Fifteen minutes passed, and the white-tip dolphin clusters had to leave the battlefield one after another. Fang Jiyun did not know that the round of strafing he had just killed had killed the commander of the supply fleet, so when he suddenly realized that the bomb had not been dropped yet, it was not too late. , and sighed repeatedly: "Grandma, I'm so embarrassed now."
The 24 Baijis did not achieve the mission assigned before the war and completely destroyed the anti-aircraft weapons of the battleships. However, compared to the 24 bombers, the only remaining ten anti-aircraft weapons on the three Japanese ships were still in combat condition. , but it is not enough to pose any threat to Wang Yong and the others.
After twenty minutes passed, as the ammunition compartment of the "Kakko" was ignited by an explosion that penetrated the armor and exploded, the "cook-cutting" operation came to an end.
In this battle, thirty-one of the forty-six Japanese ships were bombed and sunk on the spot. In the following days, five more ships were sunk successively, and only one armed supply ship of more than 3,000 tons finally arrived at Hainan Island. ,