The Beacon of Laiyang Metal

Chapter 62 Target "Izumo"

Sure enough, the Japanese commander of the fleet below was fooled by Dai Xingzhou's plan, or not completely fooled, because the main target of the "Skylark 2" feint attack was the three cruisers headed by the "Izumo".

Correspondingly, the anti-aircraft firepower of the fleet below was mainly concentrated on the three cruisers and several surrounding destroyers. At least half of the remaining anti-aircraft firepower of the remaining dozen ships was suppressed.

Holding the anti-aircraft gun muzzle high, he kept searching for the five enemy fighters that suddenly disappeared in the clouds.

"The commander of the little devil is quite smart. He also knows to leave some anti-aircraft firepower waiting for me."

Seeing that the little devil in the fleet below did not completely fall into the trap, Dai Xingzhou muttered to himself, with a pity in his tone.

However, I saw that the firepower of the warships that had just opened fire was getting weaker and weaker, and it gradually began to stagnate.

The own fighter plane below that was responsible for the feint attack had also given up the attack route and began to leave the airspace above the cruiser. It turned its nose upward and flew towards high altitude at full speed.

The opportunity was not to be missed. The battlefield itself was full of uncertainties. Dai Xingzhou immediately issued an order:

"Brothers, the work of "Skylark 2" is done. It's up to the brothers of our squadron to take action. Whether they are mules or horses, they will be pulled out today. Pay attention to avoid the remaining anti-aircraft firepower of the enemy fleet, and let the labor and management go to fight the Japanese." After finishing speaking He took the lead and flew toward the fleet below at full speed in a diving posture.

The Japanese gunner, who had just driven away two enemy planes and was still busy reloading, was surprised to find that several enemy fighters that had disappeared reappeared above the fleet. Different from the previous hovering flying posture, this time they directly It flew straight towards the location of its own warship in a high-speed dive.

"The enemy is attacking~, the enemy is attacking~, speed up reloading quickly"

Before they had time to breathe a sigh of relief, the gunners at each gun position immediately hurriedly urged the loaders to speed up the reloading, and raised the Cao Changjing hanging on their chests to always pay attention to the location of the enemy planes, but the Japanese's Nine-Six The anti-aircraft gun is really a bit tricky. Not only is the rate of fire low, but the modified triple-mounted magazine in the middle makes it difficult to load it into the slot at once in an emergency. Many rapid-fire cannons in gun positions no longer care about the magazine in the middle. Whether the magazine is installed in place or not, the second wave of attacks has already begun.

However, of the original 3-gun rapid-fire cannons, only the left and right batteries were actually engaged in the attack at this time. In many gun positions, only one gun barrel was outputting attacks. The Japanese air defense firepower points that had just been launched into the attack could really show their strength in the second attack. Less than %. If the rapid-fire gun positions of the rear supply ships and troop carriers were not also engaged in the attack, relying solely on the anti-aircraft firepower of the cruisers and destroyers would not be able to form a sufficient air defense barrier.

At this time, Dai Xingzhou, who was the first to launch the attack, finally felt the treatment of the "Skylark 2" that had just carried out a feint attack mission. He only felt that there were dense explosions everywhere around his cockpit, and he could see through the windshield of the cabin. He could clearly see that anti-aircraft shells were constantly coming toward him with their dazzling light. The sharp sound of the shells cutting through the air made his heart beat faster and his adrenaline surge.

Dai Xingzhou could clearly feel the violent shaking of the aircraft in the anti-aircraft fire. He was not sure whether the fuselage had been hit by the gunfire. He could only hold on to the joystick with both hands and try his best to keep the fuselage stable and keep the nose of the plane diving downward. posture, and firmly locked on the priority target of this attack - "Izumo" through the aiming ring on the front windshield.

He knew very well that as long as he could withstand this wave of Japs' attacks, the time it took for the Japs to reload the anti-aircraft guns would leave him plenty of time to attack. However, the further down the map, the higher the density of Japs' attacks. The fuselage made "bang bang." metal collision sounds from time to time, letting Dai Xingzhou know that shrapnel must have hit the fuselage this time, but fortunately there was no big problem with the aircraft's controllability and it still maintained a high-speed direction. swooping posture.

1500 meters, 1000 meters, 500 meters. Finally, amidst the dense Japanese anti-aircraft fire, Dai Xingzhou approached the 200-meter bombing distance of the Japanese warship. At this time, his right hand also changed from the joystick he was holding tightly to driving. Above the bomb release handle in the cabin, be ready to pull down the bomb release handle at any time to release the two 2kg aerial bombs under the wings.

Kintaro Uemura is an ammunition supply soldier on the rapid-fire gun emplacement of the "Izumo". He comes from an Osaka merchant family and has just completed the three-month recruit training period after joining the army. He was dispatched to this battleship to become a full-time A supply soldier transporting ammunition, he will never forget the scene when he saw the "Izumo" for the first time.

It was a glimmering morning. The "Izumo" cruiser, which was more than 120 meters long and more than ten stories tall, was docked quietly at the Tokyo Bay dock like a steel behemoth. After stepping on the deck, he could I could clearly see every detail on the ship, including the huge turrets, precision instruments, and the flying sun flag. Everything looked so solemn and sacred.

As a gust of sea breeze blew, Kintaro Uemura smelled a unique smell of sea salt, which was mixed with the smell of engine oil and steel.

Although the smell was not fresh, it made Uemura feel strength and courage. Kintaro Uemura's heartbeat began to speed up unconsciously, and he felt his breathing became a little short. He knew that this battleship was the pride of the Imperial Navy. , he is eager to follow this giant ship on the ocean and bring honor to his Uemura family.

But reality soon gave him a blow. With the rank of private, he became one of the lowest status people on the entire ship. In addition to transporting ammunition during training, daily maintenance of the warship and other physical tasks such as cleaning the deck were also required. They were assigned to a group of new low-level soldiers, and it was common for the Japanese army to be scolded and beaten. It wiped out Kintaro Uemura's original ambition to make contributions and bring glory to the family. All that was left in his heart at this time was obedience and endless twisted psychology. As his military rank increased, this twisted psychology would take the previous humiliation in another, more harsh way. To the next wave of recruits coming on board. As the rapid-fire shells on the gun emplacement were rapidly consumed again and again, Kintaro Uemura also began to carry ammunition boxes back and forth between the inner cabin and the gun emplacement.

When the "P39" piloted by Dang Xingzhou was diving faster and faster, and it was getting closer and closer to the "Izumo", a sharp whistling sound enveloped the entire cruiser. The rapid-fire gunner on the warship, He also quickly turned the height of the gun to keep the muzzle moving with the direction of the enemy planes in the sky. The golden 25mm shells, filled with gunpowder smoke, kept jumping out of the ejection port and rolling on the deck.

The sharp whistling sound and the deafening sound of the artillery made Kintaro Uemura turn pale. Under the urging of the gun commander, he hurriedly moved the ammunition box. His hands were trembling. Suddenly, a shell casing under his feet made him stagger. A box instantly slipped from his hand and hit the deck. The cannonballs in the box were scattered all over the ground.

"Baga, Shangcun, you loser!"

On the rapid-fire artillery position more than ten meters away, the shells piled up in the ammunition box seemed to have bottomed out. A commander Cao waited eagerly for the supply soldiers to send new shells. As a result, he saw Kintaro Uemura more than ten meters away from the artillery position. At a certain distance, he slipped and took out the ammunition box. The whole box of 25mm shells was mixed with the shell casings scattered on the deck. It seemed that this box of shells was no longer needed.

After the scolding, the Japanese leader Cao was about to give the inferior soldier a profound lesson with a palm as big as a cattail leaf fan. Suddenly, a harsh whistling sound that cut through the air came. It was different from the whistling sound of a fighter plane when it dived. The whistling sound was fast and urgent, similar to the sound of a cannon being ejected from the chamber. The Chief Cao stopped abruptly and looked up towards the sky.

Kintaro Uemura's face turned red at this moment, and he was extremely panicked. He lay on the deck and collected the scattered shells, while silently muttering in his heart: "It's over, it's over." He knew that this mistake would make him suffer extremely serious punishment. Fasting and beatings would definitely be unavoidable. He was even ready to close his eyes and prepare his face to receive the huge slap from Chief Cao.

The piercing whistling sound also made Kintaro Uemura temporarily forget his fear. He opened his eyes again, lay on the deck and raised his head to look curiously at the sky. He saw two black spots falling rapidly from far to near, and even Before he could see clearly what it was, there were two loud "boom" noises, and he felt as if his body was flying out. Then his whole vision went black and he lost all consciousness.

Dai Xingzhou released one aerial bomb on each side under the wing at an altitude of 200 meters, and then quickly pulled it up to launch a second attack. Two 2-kg aerial bombs dragged the tail used to control the direction of the fall, and one fell. In the sea on the left side of the bow of the "Izumo", a huge splash of water arose after the explosion rushed straight to the deck, and the entire front half of the bow was filled with a burst of water mist generated by the explosion.

Another aerial bomb accurately hit the No. 3 gun position on the left deck of the bow, which was the rapid-fire gun position commanded by the Japanese sergeant who had just rebuked Kintaro Uemura.

The flames and thick smoke generated after the explosion shot straight into the sky. The Type 3 triple rapid-fire artillery battery on the No. gun position that had just been firing at Dai Xingzhou was instantly destroyed. The Japanese sergeant who had just left the gun position was destroyed. , the air wave generated by the explosion was instantly rolled up to the sky, and the shock wave tore apart the Japanese military uniform and superficial skin in just an instant. The whole person was like a broken humanoid doll, rolling up and down in the air. It hit the steel deck below hard, leaving only a ball of broken flesh.

At this time, other fighter planes also roared in one after another. Unlike Dai Xingzhou, the Japanese's first wave of air-to-air shooting basically consumed all the shells in the rapid-fire artillery magazine. It was obviously too late to reload again. Some Japanese soldiers even put down their rapid-fire cannons, picked up their rifles and fired wildly at the approaching enemy fighters.

Seeing the Japanese anti-aircraft firepower, the remaining four fighter planes all shut down one by one, and even lowered their altitude to less than 4 meters before dropping bombs. Some were closer and directly dropped the four aerial bombs under the wings. A clean cast in one go.

One after another, aerial bombs fell from the sky. Because they were close enough, most of the aerial bombs could accurately hit the ship. Each impact was accompanied by a deafening explosion. The Japanese sailors on the ship were shocked. They were almost unsteady on their feet. Even though they had been brainwashed by Bushido, their hearts were filled with panic and despair at this moment, and for the first time, the fear of death began to show in their eyes.

The explosion caused fire and thick smoke that began to spread above the deck. Although the 50-kilogram aerial bomb could not pose a fatal threat to the -ton cruiser for the time being, the damage control team also immediately began to put out the fire and make emergency repairs. However, the explosion caused by The fire and thick smoke intensified the panic of the soldiers, making it impossible for them to see clearly the situation on the deck for a while. The screams of the injured soldiers on the deck due to the explosion made the remaining sailors really feel the threat of death. .

The Japanese sailors on other warships were also stunned by the continuous explosions of the "Izumo", and even forgot to reload the rapid-fire cannon in their hands.

"Each aircraft reports its bomb load!"

“2号机剩余载弹量2枚，3号机剩余载弹量0，4号机剩余载弹量0”

Dai Xingzhou, who had returned to a high-altitude position, began to count the remaining ammunition load of the formation, preparing to take advantage of the chaos of the Japanese flagship to launch a second wave of attacks.

(End of this chapter)