At dusk on the 14th, the aircraft carriers of both sides still did not search for each other. It was not until the sun fell into the sea and night enveloped the sea that the first day of sea-air battle came to an end. At this time, the Changping fleet was also close to Tianquan.
The two fleets met in the night. The entire fleet continued sailing southeast, deeper into the Western Pacific.
At the same time, the Japanese Akagi squadron was also ordered to rendezvous with the Mutsu battle fleet. The entire fleet also continued to sail westward in the night, facing the Ming fleet. The Japanese fleet continued to send destroyers and light cruisers to
They were conducting reconnaissance in several directions at high speed, hoping to encounter the Ming fleet tonight and start a night battle. Night battles are a strength that the Japanese Navy has always boasted of, and now they are even more eager to put their usual hard training on the occasion of this decisive battle.
Bring it into play.
At about 11 o'clock in the evening, the "scouts" of the two large fleets encountered each other first. At this time, it was cloudy on the sea, and some stars could barely be seen. The Japanese light cruiser "Isuzu" and a Ming army destroyer were separated from each other.
At a distance of three thousand meters, the opponent was discovered almost simultaneously. The Ming destroyer immediately fired a row of torpedoes, turned the rudder at the same time, and quickly evacuated. The Isuzu opened fire immediately, and the first salvo only aroused a few water columns on the side of the Ming destroyer.
, but the second round of salvo was extremely accurate, and a 139 mm caliber shell hit the Ming army destroyer. Suddenly, the destroyer was filled with thick smoke and blazing fire.
At this time, the destroyer was already as eye-catching as a Christmas tree in the dark, making it easier for the Japanese ship to target. In the next ten minutes, the Isuzu avoided torpedoes and chased and fired. The Ming destroyer was covered in a sea of fire, and the ship tilted at a large angle.
It slowly stopped on the sea and gradually sank.
At the same time as this battle was going on, both sides had already reported the situation back to their respective fleets. A large number of reinforcements from both sides were rushing here at full strength.
Half an hour later, a light cruiser "Leyi" and two destroyers of the Ming army arrived first. What came into view was a miserable scene: one of our destroyers had become a floating "flame island"
, the living sailors struggled in the oil slick and corpses. In the distance, a dark light cruiser was cruising quickly, looking quite unkind.
Apparently the Isuzu had discovered the Leyi first and opened fire first. Seeing a flash of orange fire on the opposite side, the Leyi knew that something was wrong and someone had opened fire. The Leyi immediately fired back, accelerated, and
The Isuzu ran side by side. The two Ming army destroyers fired torpedo barrages at the Isuzu while heading around the destroyed destroyer to rescue the sailors.
The two light cruisers sailed at high speed and fired several rounds at each other. The Leyi was hit first again, and a 139mm shell exploded on its side. But the Leyi was not a light and thin destroyer after all.
It could still withstand the shells. The captain of the Leyi knew that the Japanese navy was powerful in night battles, so he did not intend to just bombard him from several kilometers away, which would bring no advantage to him. He ordered to accelerate towards the Isuzu in an attempt to follow him.
As the distance decreases, the artillery skills of both sides also decrease.
But just as the Isuzu's target became larger and larger, the Leyi's own target also became larger and larger. When the distance between the two sides narrowed to about 1,000 meters, the Isuzu was hit by one bomb, and the Leyi was hit by a bomb.
It had been hit three times, the hull was covered in fire and smoke, and it was close to being seriously injured.
Seeing that if the battle continued, the ship would inevitably be sunk. The captain of the Leyi resentfully ordered to cast a smoke screen, turned left and quickly retreated, and left the battlefield with the two destroyers.
The Japanese light cruiser Isuzu, at this time, was like a slightly decorated warrior who had won two battles in a row, proudly walking across the dark ocean, firing continuously, and the shells were still chasing the butt of the Le Yi.
Whistling past. On the Isuzu, the Japanese officers and soldiers' wild shouts of "Long live" became louder and louder.
…
The commander of this large Japanese fleet is Lieutenant General Takasu Shiro, commander of the First Fleet of the Combined Fleet. The successful news of the first battle reached the flagship Mutsu, and the staff applauded. Takasu himself was also very encouraged. Because he had
Having served as the captain of the Isuzu, it was the Isuzu that made a majestic appearance in the first battle. Takasu was naturally very happy and thought this was a good omen.
He analyzed that as the main fleets of both sides continue to come into contact, the Ming army will soon find that it is no match for the Japanese army in night battles, and will then make a wise choice: keep a distance from the Japanese army at night, break away from the battle, and wait until daytime for a decisive battle. Gao
It was necessary to decide not to let the Ming army succeed, and to strive to conduct a decisive battle with the main force at night to maximize the Japanese army's advantages. He ordered the main battle fleet to speed up and move up quickly. Once the location of the main force of the Ming army was clear, he would immediately go up to seek for it.
decisive battle.
Just as the light cruiser Leyi of the Ming Army retreated, the first wave of "main forward forces" from both sides met. The first to enter the battlefield was the heavy cruiser fleet of the Ming Army. The three ships were the Sun Wu, the Yue Fei, and the Shi Zhong.
The heavy cruisers lined up in a line and emerged from the night menacingly, puffing out black smoke. Immediately, the three warships turned at the same time, the line turned into a column, the original front changed into a side, and all the main guns were released.
The Isuzu was still chasing the Leyi, and suddenly saw a bright spot flashing in front of it, and in the flash were three tall figures. Then the air roared, and dense water columns jumped up more than ten meters ahead.
Only then did the Isuzu realize that it had collided with three big ships of the Ming Army. Knowing that it was not good, she immediately turned the rudder and fled. But the three heavy cruisers of the Ming Army had already seen it. The Isuzu was hit by Le Yi
The main gun shell of No. 1 was still in flames on the deck. It was extremely conspicuous in the dark night. It was locked by the fire control system of three Ming Army heavy patrols from a long distance. The Ming Army heavy patrols themselves were in the darkness.
, it was not discovered by the Isuzu until it opened fire.
However, the Ming army's artillery skills at night were indeed inferior to the Japanese army. The three heavy cruisers aimed for a long time and fired at the same time, but not a single shell hit in the first round. But now the distance was very close after all, and the Isuzu was as dazzling as a torch. Chapter 1
After one round of test firing, the three Ming army cruisers made corrections. In the blink of an eye, the second salvo fired, and at least three shells hit the Isuzu. There was a violent explosion on the Isuzu, black smoke rose into the sky, and flames spurted out far away.
The sea surface for several kilometers was illuminated like daylight.
This was obviously an ammunition depot that had been ignited. After the big explosion, the Isuzu hull was broken into two pieces and quickly sank into the water. The oil slick on the sea was still burning, and the piece that had just sunk was
The water surface was stirring in a large whirlpool, a large number of bubbles and white gas rose up, and even the sea water boiled.
…
At this time, the Japanese heavy cruiser fleet also arrived on the battlefield. The first round of four ships appeared, Mogami, Mikuma, Myoko, and Haguro. The Ming army called for reinforcements and took the lead in opening fire. The two ships brought
The destroyers were not idle, galloping in front of the two armies at high speed, constantly firing torpedoes at the enemy fleet's positions, and constantly firing flares over the enemy fleet. Soon, the entire sea area was illuminated by magnesium light as if it were daytime. Heavy cruisers on both sides
The waves were breaking, the cannons were rumbling, the firelights flashed in the night sky, and the air was filled with the harsh whistling of artillery shells.
In this way, the first wave of main battle between the fleets of both sides began.