Chapter 2609 Little Abacus
The current situation is that both sides are killing time with non-armor-piercing bombs. After the Benson fleet is in place, the Japanese fleet can still ensure that it has enough armor-piercing bombs to fight another battle. The 343MM side armor of the strongest battleship in the U.S. fleet is not so reliable. Considering the U.S. fleet's smaller artillery, poor gunnery, and even worse dispersion, Su Xiong was really worried about an accident. Therefore, based on the conservative principle, Su Xiong suggested that Benson just drive away his opponent and stop fighting.
Of course, this is the case from the battlefield analysis, but Su Xiong must not tell it, otherwise it will be a political mistake. Think about it, the Americans suffered such a big loss tonight, you want him to give up? is it possible? If you can't come across it, forget it. If you come across it, you'll definitely have to fight! Even if Su Xiong's fleet can no longer help at all, Benson must fight to the death for the sake of the U.S. Navy's last face!
Therefore, Su Xiong did not want to get involved in these very complex political issues. Even if he figured it out, he would not do it. All he had to do was try to delay his opponent while waiting for the arrival of Benson's fleet.
"Actually, I think the Japanese fleet seems to be waiting for Benson's arrival?" Redel said, looking at the Japanese fleet fighting in the distance with the same absentmindedness. He wasn't sure what he was thinking because the idea was too unbelievable! The Japanese fleet was also paddling when fighting Su Xiong. They kept their distance and occasionally released smoke. The salvo speed was also very slow. This was obviously a delay. It was the kind of thing where I don't expect to hurt you, but you don't expect it either. The kind that hurt me. Drag the awakened fleet to fight with them. Another Japanese fleet is also slowly hunting transport ships, but now, they are more inclined to get closer and attack with secondary guns instead of main guns.
"If we follow the normal script, the Japanese should actually evacuate at this time. They must know when the Benson fleet will return, and then they can calculate the time based on the estimated speed. It should be fast now, but they still have not evacuated. That’s not normal,” Redl said.
"This idea is a bit crazy," Su Xiong said. "Order, all naval guns reduce the rate of fire again, fire one and a half salvos every minute and a half. If the Japanese army attacks, we will evacuate. Make sure that each usable artillery has at least 20 rounds of armor-piercing shells!" Although Su Xiong also He was a little shocked by Redel's statement, but he also adopted Redel's suggestion to further save ammunition in order to deal with possible Japanese counterattacks.
"Your Excellency, Commander, the German fleet has once again reduced its rate of fire. They are just maintaining contact with us now." Soon the German actions fell into the eyes of the Japanese. After receiving the report, Motaro Yoshimatsu looked at Betty, meaning, what do you think?
"The Germans have realized what we are thinking, and there is no point in staying any longer." Betty said with a long sigh. Redl guessed right, Betty and the Japanese navy's top brass were indeed bolder! They are now deliberately reducing their own ammunition consumption, just to allow the Su Xiong fleet to run out of ammunition first and then withdraw from the battlefield, and then they will still be able to compete with the US fleet!
The Japanese were well aware that the American fleet was in poor condition.
After a long period of pulling and pulling, the old ships of the U.S. fleet will definitely be left behind. If the number of U.S. fleet warships present does not exceed 9, then the Japanese fleet will really dare to turn around and bite the U.S. fleet after Su Xiong withdraws from the battlefield. of!
In fact, the Japanese have this idea largely because of the additional effects brought about by Haruna's shocking explosion just now! The sinking of the Haruna directly stimulated the Japanese people's desire to risk their lives. What? Feeling surprised? Think of Yamaguchi's behavior in the Battle of Midway in history when he rushed towards the U.S. fleet when the situation was unfavorable. In fact, if the Hiryu released the carrier-based aircraft at this time and tried to distance itself as much as possible, it would have a chance of escaping and ascending to the sky. As a result, Yamaguchi Duowen's charge was abnormal. This kind of behavior is difficult to explain rationally.
As a result of this battle, the Japanese indeed achieved a strategic victory, sinking or destroying at least more than 80 transport ships of various types! Hundreds of thousands of tons of ships and supplies on them, as well as more than five-digit casualties! It is true that the Japanese army won this time, but at the same time, it must be noted that the Japanese navy also paid a heavy price!
The battlecruiser Haruna was sunk, the only two remaining quasi-dreadnought battleships of the Satsuma class were sunk, and the Kaigiri was sunk in a high-speed quasi-dreadnought battle. Four light cruisers have been sunk so far! 1 Ryuda, 3 Kuma-class light cruisers. We have lost 20 destroyers so far! That’s right, 20 ships! Half of the destroyers that came out to fight with the Japanese navy could not return. In addition to the contribution of the German fleet, in the final stage, although the American fleet was unable to cause much damage to the Japanese battleships, it was still possible to destroy some destroyers. !
So what about the losses of the U.S. Navy? Although the U.S. Navy's transport fleet suffered heavy losses, the fleet losses were really not significant. They only sunk 1 dreadnought, 3 semi-dreadnoughts, and 4 armored cruisers. (Later, Old Fletcher tried to continue to prevent the Japanese massacre, and ended up sinking another Baltimore-class armored cruiser.) A lot of destroyers and torpedo boats died, but unfortunately, the Americans didn't care about these trash fish!
From this perspective, the losses of the Japanese fleet are actually no less than those of the U.S. fleet. Looking at the impact, the battle losses seem to be greater for the Japanese fleet, because after this battle, the Japanese light cruisers were only a squadron, and the destroyer fleet lost half! It can be said that in addition to the main fleet being relatively intact, the auxiliary fleet was almost crippled! This is such a painful thing! You know, according to Japan's industrial level, it may be faster to replenish destroyers, but it is not easy to replenish light cruisers! Because, a large amount of materials and manpower are still ensuring the construction of the two Nagato battleships and aircraft carriers.
As a result, Betty's previous prediction was verified. Even if the Japanese fleet achieved a decent result, it would only serve as a delay. It would be difficult to completely change the situation of the war. Because of the support of the German fleet and the help of the powerful industry of the United States, the U.S. fleet will definitely recover much faster than its own! The Japanese can win this wave, but they cannot win the next wave. So, even though the current situation of the Japanese fleet is very bad, but thinking about the situation that they may face in the future, do the Japanese think it is a good idea to fight the Benson fleet now?
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