Chapter 2603 Bloody Battle 3
At the last moment, U.S. Navy personnel continued to use lights to tell everyone that this was a hospital ship and should not be attacked according to international practice. They even flew a white flag of surrender at the final stage to pray that the Japanese Navy could be preserved. Thousands of lives left. However, all this was ultimately ignored!
The Japanese neatly sank this poor hospital ship with tons of artillery shells and at least three torpedoes. When this transport ship with a displacement of 15,000 tons sank, it even formed a huge whirlpool on the sea. Some people who tried to escape were taken to the bottom of the sea by the whirlpool. So that tonight, in just 7 minutes of attack time, the total number of dead and missing people on the Angel was as high as 1,350! It set a record for the highest loss of personnel in U.S. military history. This record lasted until World War II when it was broken!
"Damn it, the Japanese just sank the Angel! There are nearly a thousand of our wounded on it! These demons!" Pershing was furious after receiving the news! At this moment, he swore that he would never forgive any enemy!
"Order, so some shore guns should shoot into the sea immediately! Even if we can't penetrate their armor, we must use our actions to tell those demons that we will never give in!" As the order was issued, a large number of people The US heavy artillery began to attack the high-speed hunting Japanese fleet, 155MM cannon, 203MM heavy howitzer! Even the 105MM howitzer has joined the sea attack, but what is the effect? It did distract the attention of the Japanese navy and allowed a small number of transport ships to escape, but for the Japanese battleships, the actual lethality of this shelling was really limited!
"The artillery skills of the U.S. Army are so bad. I really don't know how useless the Army's red deer must be to be suppressed by this kind of firepower." A Japanese naval officer looked at the face of the U.S. artillery position that was constantly shining with fire in the distance. Showing disdain. However, just when the ridicule on his face had not faded, a huge fireball suddenly burst out from a destroyer not far away from him! No doubt the poor fellow had been hit by a heavy artillery shell!
This was a shell fired from a 203MM heavy howitzer. Because the howitzer's trajectory was relatively curved, the shell hit the deck of the Japanese destroyer at a very large angle! The penetration power of the 8-inch high-explosive grenade is rubbish, and the projectile body is very fragile, but the deck of the Japanese destroyer is also undefended! So, after the two crispy shells collided, the cannonball finally proved that it was harder! It directly penetrated two layers of steel plates and then exploded in the boiler room! Accompanied by a violent explosion and a plume of smoke rising into the sky, this poor Japanese destroyer also set a record! The first naval warship sunk by U.S. shore artillery in this war!
"Be prepared to dedicate part of the artillery to suppress the artillery positions on the shore." Shimamura Hayao suggested.
"Okay, let's do that, but remember, our first target is still the US military's transport fleet." Yoshimatsu Motaro said.
When the initial attack was launched, the Japanese navy was still worried about the possible appearance of the American fleet around it.
However, more than 20 minutes after the attack was launched, there was still no large-scale resistance. This made their nerves that had been tense all night relax instantly, so the Japanese fleet, which became more and more bold in the bloody killing, began to pursue it more unscrupulously. , the scope of the destroyers' activities is getting farther and farther away from the fleet they need to protect, and the formations composed of capital ships have also become loose! Before, the Japanese Navy was an army, but now, it has become a bit like a group of bandits! They were confused by the "treasure" in front of them and became more and more arrogant!
"There is a fable that is right. Whoever God wants to perish will definitely make him crazy! But now, the Japanese have gone crazy, and our task is to make them perish! I hope that in the next battle, We abandon all pity and redemption, we are warriors, only responsible for killing, no mercy and no forgiveness!" Old Fletcher said categorically.
Just now, old Fletcher witnessed the massacre and atrocities of the Japanese army and the sinking of the Angel hospital ship. Deep down in his heart, he was angry about all this! But he still suppressed the urge to explode, and completed his hunting steps step by step. After the Japanese army approached the coast, they launched an outflank from three directions! And now, it’s time to close the net!
Five armored cruisers launched attacks from two directions at the same time! And a large number of destroyers blocked the last gap! When the six 10-inch guns on the San Francisco fired long flames, the U.S. Navy fired the first shot of tonight's counterattack!
The three armored cruisers San Francisco, Portland, and Atlanta formed a neat battle line and sailed parallel to the north side of the Japanese light cruiser detachment. They had 18 10-inch guns and a large number of 6-inch guns. Roaring, every minute, cannonballs weighing several tons can be smashed into the Japanese light cruiser fleet!
This time, the American fleet really fought hard. They suppressed the anger in their hearts and carefully tried to get as close to their opponents as possible! They used the night background to cover their whereabouts. Even before the attack, they did not launch flares or turn on searchlights as usual, because at this time, the burning battleship wreckage in the offshore area and the firelight from the Japanese light cruiser were enough to guide the American fleet. Attacked! Before launching the final attack, the U.S. Navy's armored cruiser was only about 4,600 meters away from the target!
10-inch armor-piercing projectiles weighing 250KG roared from a distance. When the Japanese saw the orange fire when the heavy artillery fired, they didn't even react. These shells with a muzzle velocity of more than 800 meters per second were fierce. Smashed into the Japanese fleet! Even though the Americans' artillery skills were relatively poor, at such a close range, the Japanese were still beaten to a bloody head!
The first one to suffer was the Kiso! The side of this poor light cruiser was aimed right at the side gun array of the American armored cruiser that looked like shark teeth! Two 10-inch shells hit the target one after another. The violent impact and explosion made the poor light cruiser shake like chaff!
A 6-inch gun on the bow was directly connected to the turret and was blown into a burning iron box, while another shell opened a huge hole in the stern, directly bringing more than 200 tons of water to the warship. ! The seawater squeezed and tore at the damaged opening, making bursts of tooth-searing sounds.
Here comes the second update~~~! Please subscribe and reward~~~! !