The sinking of the Japanese fleet flagship Mutsu gave all the officers and men of the Ming fleet a shot in the arm, and the morale of the Ming army reached its peak. As a Nagato-class battleship, the Mutsu, together with the Nagato, became the hero of all Japanese
The steel idol is regarded as a symbol of the Japanese navy. Now that the Mutsu has sunk, it can be said to be a heavy blow to the morale of the Japanese fleet.
But at this moment, the Ming fleet turned twice to port and increased its speed. Soon, the distance between the two sides became wider and wider.
At this time, the Japanese fleet was still in a mess. Hundreds of Japanese officers and soldiers who jumped from the Mutsu were still struggling in the water. Among them were Takasu Shiro and the command team of his fleet headquarters. Among them
Before they were all transferred to the "Hyuuga", the entire Japanese fleet was in a leaderless stage. During this gap, the Ming fleet gradually disappeared into the darkness.
Finally, the Japanese fleet commander Takasu Shiro moved to the "Hyuuga" in embarrassment, and the Hyuga became the flagship. Now the strength of the two sides was evened out again. The Ming army's Changping, Yanping, and Yongle faced off against the Japanese Hyuga and Kongo.
, Haruna, Kirishima. However, the main fleets of both sides have broken away from contact, and only some destroyers and light cruisers on the periphery are still exchanging fire sporadically.
Takasu Shiro quickly guessed why the Ming fleet wanted to leave the battlefield. Obviously, now that the Japanese Mutsu with 16-inch main guns has been sunk, the remaining five battleships only have 14-inch main guns.
However, the remaining four battleships of the Ming army all have 16- and 15-inch main guns. Moreover, the Ming army has fewer artillery doors, while the Japanese army has more artillery doors. Close combat is beneficial to the Japanese army, but detrimental to the Ming army. This is what the Ming army has
The plan was to disengage a few hours before dawn and then resume the artillery battle at a distance after dawn, giving full play to the advantages of the large-caliber main gun.
Takasu knew that he could not let the Ming army succeed. Now the "close-to-face battles" in the dark were like this. If the Ming army could fully take advantage of the long-range advantage of large-caliber naval guns at dawn, it would be okay! Now only
It sank a Ming army battleship, the Tokunaga, and the Japanese army itself lost three battleships, the Mutsu, the Ise, and the Yamashiro. If the battle situation was not brought back, Takasu would have had to have a caesarean section when he returned.
He immediately ordered the entire fleet to speed up and pursue forward, so as not to let the Ming army escape from the battle. But then he discovered that his fleet could no longer move fast. The armor of the three King Kong-class battleships was thin, and the side vertical armor belts were damaged in the close battle.
The damage was serious and a lot of water was taken in. Now it can sail to a little more than 15 knots at most, and it can no longer catch up with the Ming fleet at 17 or 18 knots. Even if the Hinata is relatively intact, it can still sail to more than 20 knots, but in any case
Can't we pursue it alone?
…
At this moment, something more terrifying happened. The "underwater ghost" came out again.
Just when Takasu Shiro was restless, two torpedoes hit the right side of the Hyuga almost simultaneously. Ten seconds later, a destroyer not far from the Hyuga also hit a torpedo. The destroyer was immediately destroyed.
, began to sink.
Takasu Shiro was furious and ordered the entire fleet to speed up and drive as fast as they could. At the same time, they turned on searchlights and used flares to search the water. Now that the Ming fleet had left, they could conduct anti-submarine warfare without interference. Now the Japanese army
The officers and soldiers all know that there is really a "monster submarine" underwater, which can not only drive more than ten knots, but also maintain more than ten knots for a long time. Now, no one doubts it.
However, Takasu Shiro concluded that even if these submarines can drive to more than ten knots, they are still close to the limit speed, and it is impossible to drive faster. If his fleet can also maintain a speed of more than ten knots, then what Ming submarines can do
At most, they can only keep up with the fleet, and other actions will be greatly restricted. For example, it will be difficult to freely shuttle among the fleet and select targets. Then they will fall behind. The faster Japanese destroyers can find them and drop depth charges.
Soon, the Japanese fleet increased its speed, and the three King Kong-class battleships also worked hard to maintain their maximum speed. The sea surface between the warships was brightly illuminated by flares, countless searchlight beams swept across the water, and the destroyers sprayed black
The smoke was racing at high speed, searching for any pipes that were exposed to the water.
But the underwater submarine seemed to be a "ghost". At this time, it completely disappeared without a trace, and not even a pipe could be seen on the water.
The Japanese fleet searched for more than an hour, but found nothing. The sea returned to calm.
It seems that the Ming army submarines have completely thought of moving forward. Now that the naval battle has stopped, the sea is no longer in chaos, and the destroyers can also conduct anti-submarine warfare. Now is not a good time for submarines to engage in aggressive activities. Therefore, the submarines also followed the Ming army fleet.
The two torpedoes just now were probably the "last souvenirs" left before leaving. The Hyuga was lucky, and only hit two torpedoes. Obviously, there were more than two torpedoes fired.
The unlucky destroyer suffered a "stray bullet" as proof.
…
20 nautical miles to the west, the Ming fleet was gathering ships, reorganizing, and repairing damaged areas. Destroyers and light cruisers were sent out again to be on guard to ensure that the Japanese fleet would not follow.
There was a festive atmosphere on the flagship Chang Ping. The champagne was rolled out, and the officers opened the corks and toasted to each other. Then, the fleet commander spoke to the entire fleet, encouraged the officers and soldiers, and praised each of them.
Participate in making history.
Then, the commander specifically praised the illustrious military exploits of several submarine captains, gave them high praise, and gave them the lead in tonight's naval battle. In fact, they deserved it. The three Japanese battleships basically
All of them were sunk because they were struck by torpedoes in succession. Otherwise, given the number of Ming battle fleets and the level of night artillery warfare, the result might have been the other way around.
But for the sake of confidentiality, the fleet commander only said "submarine force" and did not reveal what was different about tonight's "submarine force".
Four "Orca-class" high-speed submarines have now entered the fleet and emerged from the water. The officers on board the boats all stood on the deck, standing upright and neatly, bathing in the sea breeze, with short hair fluttering in the wind, looking heroic. The commander of the fleet said:
The speech was carried through the loudspeaker and floated on the sea around the flagship. When he talked about the submarine force, the searchlight hit the four submarines. The young men on several surrounding warships cheered excitedly, stamped their feet, and whistled, achieving unprecedented success.
The excitement of the victory, the admiration for the girls, and the high mental tension in the middle of the night were all vented at this moment.
Only a few attentive officers and soldiers discovered that there seemed to be something unusual about the submarine in the beam of light. First of all, it was long enough, which meant that the submarine was large enough and classified as a cruise-class submarine. However, there was no main gun on the front deck. Secondly, the command tower did not
It's too high, but it's very long and has a certain streamline shape. Also, the bow is not ship-shaped, but round, extending into the water in an arc. The shape of the entire submarine is like being soaked in water.
of a cigar.
…
About two hours later, the sky began to light up. The fiery red sun emerged from the east above the sea level. Suddenly, the entire sea and sky were covered with morning glow. All the officers and soldiers could see that the core of the entire fleet, except for the four battleships,
There were two more behemoths - the two aircraft carriers, Tianquan and Tianshu. And those submarines were gone again.