The Masantoku slowed down and traveled at a medium speed on the sea about 1,000 meters outside Hakodate Port, observing the port.
Seeing that the battleship had slowed down, as if it was not just passing by, panic spread quickly in the harbor. At this distance, many people could tell with the naked eye that the warship was carrying the flag of the Ming Dynasty.
The battleship drove from west to east at a speed of 10 knots, its huge body splitting the sea water, and white waves lined up on both sides. The battleship was like a big shark swimming outside the beach, its huge iron-gray dorsal fin sliced through the water, leisurely
patrolling the entire panicked coast.
The captain and officers stood on the high bridge, holding binoculars and carefully observing the ships, facilities in the harbor, and the city in the distance.
Hakodate's bay is about ten kilometers long from west to east. One-third of it is part of the port. There are three large cargo ships, a dozen small cargo ships, and a large oil tanker moored in the port.
On the other side, dozens of fishing boats and small sampans were tied up. Waterbirds squawked and circled and stopped near the fishing boats.
Judging from the size of this port, it is quite crowded with so many ships.
Three large cargo ships, one is the 8,000-ton Japanese "Matsukaze Maru", the other is the 5,000-ton Japanese "Oso Maru", and the other is the 5,000-ton Soviet "Mir". One oil tanker,
It is the 10,000-ton "Liberty" of the Soviet Union. The remaining dozens of small cargo ships and small fishing boats are all Japanese. They range from a few dozen tons to nearly a thousand tons.
Now, the Japanese on the dock have put down what they are doing and look at the behemoth on the sea in panic.
After some observation, the captain confirmed that there were no forts or anything like that in the harbor, and then ordered the car to stop and prepare to attack. The Zhengde's propellers stopped, and its huge body was still gliding forward pushed by inertia, but the speed was getting slower and slower.
.
At this time, the intentions of the Ming battleships were clearly revealed. A sharp air defense siren sounded in Hakodate Port. Suddenly, there was a chaos on the dock. Workers and sailors were in chaos. Countless people dropped boxes of goods and fled everywhere like a group of ants.
The sailors on the ship were also running quickly from the gangway to the shore. Urgent Japanese words echoed from the loudspeakers on the dock, which should be for everyone to evacuate urgently.
…
On the bridge of the Zhengde, the second officer observed several giant ships in the port with a telescope and asked the captain:
"Captain, is it possible to capture these cargo ships and take them back to Ming Dynasty? You see, that tanker weighs tens of thousands of tons, and each of the three cargo ships weighs several thousand tons, plus the contents inside
It is much more cost-effective to escort them back to Ming Dynasty than to sink them here."
The captain shook his head:
"No! The cargo ships are slow. If we take them back to China, our speed will be reduced to only about ten knots. Japan will send a fleet to pursue us, as well as aircraft and submarines... Our mission now is to return home safely.
.The war has just begun. I don’t know what will happen next.
How long will the fight last? These precious warships, precious officers and soldiers are the capital of the future competition between Ming Dynasty and Japan. We cannot lose the big for the small... Besides, this is either a Japanese ship or a Soviet ship. The crews of the two countries
It’s impossible for them to drive the boat back to China with us.”
He stretched out his arm, drew a circle in front of him, and said calmly:
"All these ships will be sunk. And this port will also be smashed... Let so many ships sink in the port, and this port will no longer be usable one day."
The second officer and other officers also laughed, looking at the port through binoculars, as if it was in ruins.
At this time, the Li Guang also came from the west. The captain of the Zhengde looked at his watch and said:
"Hurry up, we can't afford to delay. The Fuso may appear from the west at any time, and the King Kong may appear from the east at any time. Send a signal to the Li Guang and let it choose a location and then shoot at the target of its choice."
"yes!"
The captain said to the gunnery officer:
"First destroy the 'Matsukaze Maru' and the 'Otoko Maru'. Once you are ready, open fire."
"Yes!" the gunnery officer replied loudly, "The main gun of No. 1 turret is locked on the 'Matsukaze Maru', and the main gun of No. 4 turret is locked on the 'Otoko Maru'! Prepare high-explosive bombs!"
The sound of rotating turrets was heard from both the front and rear of the battleship. The two giant turrets at the front and rear slowly turned around, and the barrels of the four main guns were slightly raised a few degrees and stopped.
On the bridge, reports came over the phone that the two turrets were ready. The gunnery officer held the receiver and ordered loudly:
"put!!!"
The battleship shuddered, and two large masses of flames at the front and rear spurted out with black smoke. A few seconds after the loud noise passed, two Japanese freighters one thousand meters away exploded one after another. Fireballs and thick smoke rose more than ten meters high, and various twisted shapes appeared.
Steel plates, parts, and burning wooden decks were thrown into the sky and scattered in all directions.
Falling. Countless ripples were splashed on the nearby sea surface, and all kinds of things smoked and fell into the sea. The windows of other ships closer to the port were all shattered, and countless pieces of broken glass splashed in the air, emitting a ray of light in the sun.
Thousands of rays of light, for an instant it was like a crystal world.
Each of these two thousands-ton freighters was hit by two 15-inch shells. The 5,000-ton "Big Rope Pill" had been broken into two pieces, and its tail ended up tilting up and sinking rapidly. The other 8,000-ton "Big Rope Pill" sank rapidly.
Although the "Matsukaze Maru" has not broken yet, half of its hull has been basically blown off. Sea water is pouring in like a torrent, and it is turning over at an extremely fast speed.
Two thick black smoke pillars went straight up into the sky, forming two huge black shadows in the morning sun, lying diagonally on the dock, very miserable. And the alarm in the port became more and more shrill. Various goods, wooden boxes, broken pieces
Planks and diesel oil float on the water at the dock, undulating with the waves.
The captain of the Zhengde ordered again:
"Turret Three, shoot Mir."
The gunnery officer took the phone again and gave the firing order to the No. 3 turret. There was another loud bang, and a few seconds later, the 5,000-ton Soviet cargo ship was also hit and exploded.
It's just that the power of the explosion this time was beyond the imagination of the Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers.
After the Mir was hit, a huge explosion shook the earth and the mountains. Like a volcanic eruption, there was first a loud bang, then another violent explosion, and more than a dozen fireballs shot into the sky one after another.
The seawater was pushed by the shock wave like a small tsunami. Two nearby small cargo ships were violently undulated by the seawater. All the glass was shattered. Half of the chimney of one ship was also broken by the huge shock wave.
The officers and soldiers of the Zhengde stretched their necks and looked at the scene in the distance in surprise. Whether it was an explosion on a cargo ship or an explosion on a battleship's ammunition depot, it was not so severe.
It was obvious that the Mir was loaded with munitions. A ship full of munitions.
…
At this time, the Li Guang also arrived nearby and stopped about 600 meters away from the Zhengde. The Li Guang turned a rear turret and aimed at the remaining large ship, which was a 10,000-ton Soviet tanker.
"Liberty," fired.
The explosion effect this time was no less than the previous one. Although the 10,000-ton oil tanker did not explode violently, the fireball was spectacular. The huge fireball was caught in the ink-like smoke column and went straight into the sky. Soon, the entire giant ship was
Wrapped in flames, more flames flowed out from the cracked hull. Wherever it flowed, the sea began to burn.
At this time, the first three cargo ships had sunk to the bottom. However, half of the wreckage was still exposed on the water, tilted. At this time, a large amount of oil in the tanker had leaked, and raging fire was spreading in the harbor. Many small cargo ships, small
The fishing boats all started to burn. The burning oil surrounded the wreckage of the giant ship and ran upwards along the hull and mast. Finally, all parts exposed on the water were burning.
The main ships had been destroyed. The captain of the Zhengde gave the order at this time:
"Each artillery team chooses its own target and fires freely!"
Suddenly, the large and small artillery on the two battleships Zhengde and Li Guang roared intensively. The giant main guns turned and bombarded the buildings in the port, while the secondary guns and even the machine guns opened fire at will.
They shot at the targets they selected. All the small cargo ships and small fishing boats in the harbor did not escape the disaster. They were hit by bullets, caught fire, and sank. For a time, water columns rose and fell in the harbor, and flames and smoke continued to rise.
Viewed from a distance, the entire harbor is in a mess. There are shipwrecks everywhere on the water, and they are stranded in the water. The ships that have not yet sunk are burning, emitting black smoke, leaning crookedly, and rolling.
.There were large areas of fire in the bay, the oil was burning fiercely, and black smoke continued to float into the sky. Many small boats were not sunk by cannonballs, but were burned and sunk by the burning oil.
On the shore, there was not a single intact building in the port. Just like in the water, there was thick smoke billowing and fires rising into the sky. The oil depot at the port was also hit, turning hundreds of meters around into a sea of flames. The trains in the port were all blown into pieces.
Scrap iron was removed, and underground water pipes were also
It exploded, spraying high water jets from several places. The white dust from collapsed buildings mixed with the thick black smoke from burning oil. The smoke and dust floated across the sky, blocking out the sun and almost covering most of the port. In short,
The scene was miserable.
…
The captain of the Zhengde looked at the hellish port, smelled the burnt smell drifting in the wind, and nodded with satisfaction. Then, he looked into the distance with his binoculars and ordered:
"Raise the barrel, extend the fire, and bombard the city!"
In normal times, this order would definitely be questioned. But now the officers and soldiers below were extremely happy and responded to the order loudly. The main guns of the two warships were slowly raised and aimed at the general range of the urban area.
"put!!!"
With an order, there was thunder, and more than a dozen giant artillery shells flew into the air, heading towards the urban area of Hakodate. A few dozen seconds later, more than a dozen smoke pillars rose in the urban area in the distance.
Through the thick smoke in the port, the situation in the urban area a few kilometers away could not be seen clearly from the ship. But I think it must have hit something. The shelling of the urban area now is actually symbolic. It does not mean to kill many people, and it will not kill many.
People, let alone military value. The purpose is to show the tough attitude of the Ming Navy and to let Japanese civilians taste the horror of war as soon as possible.
After the main gun was reloaded, the gunnery officer ordered another shot. Tens of seconds later, another black smoke rose in the distance in the Hakodate city.
After launching several rounds like this, the urban area in the distance was also filled with black smoke. As for the extent of the damage, it could not be seen from the ship. It was not necessary to launch a seaplane specifically for this reason. So, the captain looked at his watch and felt that it was almost done.
, then ordered:
"Stop shooting. Order the entire fleet: Return."
…
The order was issued, and white waves rolled up at the sterns of the Masanori and Liguangs again. The huge steel bodies began to move slowly, gradually accelerating, and increased to a medium speed of 15 knots. They left the smashed Hakodate behind and headed northeast.
After sailing towards the entrance of the Pacific Ocean.
The Doumuji, which was still guarding the entrance to the Sea of Japan, also received the order and sped up to catch up. The three warships made a round in the strait, and then rounded with the Xinyuehu at the exit of the Pacific Ocean. The four warships regrouped.
He joined the Zhengde squadron and sailed into the Pacific Ocean.
After the Zhengde squadron went eastward and penetrated dozens of nautical miles into the Pacific Ocean, it turned south, cut through the waves, and headed towards the mainland of the Ming Dynasty with scars all over its body.