The Beacon of Laiyang Metal

Chapter 73 The Destruction of the Mixed Fleet

Following Weiyuan's launch order, the 10 drone operators pressed the red launch button on the top of the flight joystick with their thumbs almost at the same time.

伴随着无人机的猛地一下颤动，只见10台无人机地面终端的显示屏内，10枚长7.8米、重1.35吨的俄制SET-72轻型鱼雷瞬间就从武器挂点上脱离。

Under the action of the deceleration tail, they showed a 30-degree oblique angle and fell rapidly towards the sea.

The moment it touched the sea surface, the deceleration tail originally fixed on the tail of the SET-72 torpedo spread out automatically, and the torpedo continued to sink under the influence of gravity acceleration until it sank to a depth of 30 meters below the sea surface. An internal battery began to power the gyroscope and unlock the control surface control mechanism (operated by a compressed gas bottle).

At this time, the power system of the SET-72 torpedo also started to activate.

The SET-30 torpedo, which had originally sunk to a depth of 72 meters, floated up to a preset working depth of 10 meters below the water surface under the action of the depth-fixing device, rudder surface and propeller.

It was only then that the propeller installed at the tail of the torpedo began to rotate at high speed, pushing the SET-72 torpedo along a straight line toward the target directly ahead at a high speed of 52 knots.

Under the double cover of night and seawater, the SET-72 torpedo was like a black and gray swimming fish, silently passing through a depth of 10 meters under the sea surface, and began its first killing in this time and space.

Three seconds later, the fuze safety located at the head of the torpedo was released.

At this moment, time in the UAV combat room seemed to have stopped. Everyone, including Wei Yuan, Gao Zhihang, and the UAV operator, had their eyes fixed on the real-time images coming out of the UAV ground terminal screen. .

Looking at Hayakawa who was leaning against the fence and closing his eyes again, Ishimoto always felt that he heard it correctly. The sound was not just like the "buzzing" sound made by a bee with its wings flickering.

Instead, it was more like the sound made by the rotation of an airplane propeller heard in the distance.

Thinking of the danger of being attacked by an airplane during the day, Ishimoto, who was unwilling to give up, continued to turn the searchlight and carefully searched the sky.

At this time, the drones completed their collective turn and were already flying towards the temporary runway 30 kilometers away, preparing to replace the battery panels and reload the torpedoes to launch a new wave of attacks.

After the beam of light from the searchlight circled over the fleet, Ishimoto, who found nothing unusual, began to focus on the sea.

"Huh? What is that?"

The SET-72 torpedo forms a straight track along its path under the high-speed rotation of the propeller.

The moment Ishimoto turned the searchlight toward the sea, it appeared clearly in the aperture of the searchlight.

"Torpedo. It's a torpedo. Avoid it."

Ishimoto, who served on a warship, naturally knew the tracks left on the water after torpedoes were launched.

Before he even had time to wake up Hayakawa, he sounded the alarm next to the guard post, waved his arms and shouted loudly, trying to get other Japanese sailors on the deck to find a safe place to avoid the incoming torpedoes.

However, the speed of the SET-72 torpedo was too fast, and it was too close to the Japanese flagship "Izumo". It was so close that Japanese sailor Ishimoto only had time to shout the first warning of the incoming torpedo, and the first torpedo launched It has successfully hit the intended target.

"Boom..."

The total weight of the warhead was 240 kilograms of high explosives, which instantly triggered a violent explosion that shook the earth.

The moment after the explosion, a huge gap was torn out from the middle of the "Izumo" hull.

Under the huge water pressure, seawater began to pour into the cabin crazily, followed by the second torpedo, the third torpedo, and loud noises in the sky one after another on the three ships "Izumo, Kaga, and Kawauchi" The bottoms of the Japanese main battleships were fired one after another.

Just like a volcanic eruption, the fire produced after the explosion soared into the sky. Even people on the shore of Anton Port, 30 kilometers away, could clearly see the fire produced after the explosion with the naked eye without the help of a telescope.

The huge kinetic energy generated by the almost simultaneous explosion of the SET-72 torpedoes even threw the "Izumo", a steel behemoth that had anchored and was firmly anchored on the sea, upwards. The entire warship seemed to be floating on the sea. Like a leaf on the tree, it began to tremble violently.

Due to the large influx of seawater, the hull began to tilt and continuously made a "crunching" sound that was heart-breaking. Some unstable items and equipment also continued to fall as the hull tilted, and made loud noises after colliding with the steel floor. A cacophony of "clinking" sounds.

The bodies of the Japanese sailors also struggled to keep their feet as the warship continued to tilt. Some Japanese soldiers in the warship cabin who were shocked and fell to the ground were struggling to get up using their hands and feet.

But at this moment, the cabins of the three cruisers were already in chaos.

The light bulbs originally installed in the cabin for lighting were suddenly interrupted due to the violent explosion, causing the entire cabin to be dark.

The Japanese sailors who were already asleep in the cabin seemed to have a "camp roar" at this moment, scrambling to run up through the narrow passage in the middle of the cabin.

Judging from the current tilt angle of the ship, everyone has realized that it is only a matter of time before the ship sinks. If they continue to stay inside the cabin, there is only a dead end waiting for them.

At this moment, all the Japanese sailors in the inner cabin just hated their parents for losing two legs, and they were tearing and pushing them for fear of falling behind.

As for those Japanese officers at all levels who had regained some sense and had just begun to maintain order, they were knocked down by the swarming soldiers because they blocked the path of soldiers who wanted to escape.

Then people kept trampling on the fallen Japanese officers or fallen Japanese sailors.

At this moment, all military disciplines and military ranks were forgotten by these Japanese sailors who wanted to escape. There was only one thought in everyone's mind, and that was to escape quickly and stay away from this land of death.

In just a moment, the Japanese officers and sailors who fell to the ground died because they were severely trampled, causing their internal organs to be squeezed and their orifices to bleed. Ishimoto, who was the first to notice the incoming torpedo, closed his eyes and subconsciously grasped the guardrail in front of him with both hands the moment the torpedo touched the hull.

As the ship's hull shook violently the moment after the explosion, Ishimoto was thrown out of his standing sentry position and hung in mid-air.

Hayakawa, who was sleeping secretly on the side, was thrown up high without any protective box and was thrown directly into the dark sea.

Finally, after touching the sea surface and causing a wave to stir up, he was no longer seen.

At this moment, Ishimoto was holding on to the guardrail with both hands and his feet dangling on the sea. While struggling desperately, he cried out loudly the names of the Japanese sailors who were closer to him on the deck, hoping for someone to rescue him.

It was just that the angle on the deck continued to widen as the cruiser tilted. Under the light of the sky-high fire, the Japanese sailors who were panicking and trying to grab life jackets and lifeboats had no time to take care of him.

Some Japanese sailors were even vying for a spot on the lifeboat. They held their light machine guns and fired indiscriminately at their comrades who had already boarded the lifeboat.

Shouts, cries for help, cries, explosions, and gunfire echoed in the night sky over this sea area.

Even if some Japanese soldiers are lucky enough to survive, the explosion will become an eternal nightmare in their hearts.

Tokuo Hirata, whose commander's cabin was located on the upper level of the island, was also thrown off the bed the moment the torpedo exploded.

Suddenly waking up, Tokuo Hirata staggered and struggled to push open the hatch, regardless of his head being smashed like a pig's head.

When he staggered, he finally opened the hatch, stood on the island and looked down. The sight in front of him almost made him faint. He saw that the lower half of the hull of the entire "Izumo" facing Anton Port had already It was a fire. As the combustible materials inside the hull continued to be ignited, the fire spread rapidly, including the upper deck, and the flames licked the hull, making constant "crackling" sounds.

Smoke filled the entire fleet, and the air was filled with thick smoke and the smell of burnt items, which made Tokuo Hirata feel suffocated.

To make matters worse, the "Izumo" under his feet began to tilt backwards and was accurately hit by four torpedoes. After the explosion, four huge gaps with a diameter of nearly 4 meters appeared. At this moment, seawater was pouring in continuously. As the water continued to pour in, the tilt angle of the "Izumo" also continued to increase. In just a few minutes, the capsized angle of the "Izumo" exceeded 4 degrees.

With such huge damage to the hull and the continuous influx of seawater, the sealed compartment of the hull to prevent water leakage can no longer play any role.

Although some damage management team members braved the scorching heat of the fire to try to seal the leak, as the fire became more and more intense, the hole in the hull's rupture also continued to expand as the seawater pressure squeezed it.

In the end, these damage control team members had no choice but to give up rescuing the warship and join the ranks of other Japanese sailors to snatch life jackets and lifeboats.

At this moment, in addition to the debris caused by the explosion and items falling from the ship, there were also a large number of Japanese sailors who had not grabbed the lifeboats and began to abandon the ship and escape.

Under the light of the warship's soaring flames, densely packed Japanese sailors wearing life jackets undulated with the waves on the sea and began to swim towards other warships in the fleet that had not been attacked, trying to find a way to survive through the rescue of other warships.

"Amaterasu, are you going to abandon your people?"

From the moment he discovered that the warship began to take in a large amount of water and gradually capsized, Tokuo Hirata knew that he was doomed.

Even if he is lucky enough to survive after the warship sinks, not only will he not be able to avoid the fate of caesarean section, but his family will also be humiliated, from a warrior of a naval family to a laughing stock in the mouths of others.

No one can afford the cost of three cruisers sinking at the same time, and one of them is His Majesty the Emperor's ship.

Someone has to take responsibility for this loss. As the supreme commander of the fleet and with the rank of rear admiral, Tokuo Hirata will be the best scapegoat for this loss on the grounds of poor command.

For a moment, Hirata Tokuo's inner pain was beyond words, his face was extremely pale, and his eyes were full of shock and despair.

The hands that tightly grasped the guardrail in front of him had veins bulging from the excessive force, showing how angry he was feeling at this moment.

He really couldn't understand why these Chinese people managed to successfully attack the three main battleships of their own fleet without getting any warning.

Judging from the damaged position of the warship, it can be seen at a glance that the damage occurred after being hit by a torpedo. "Could it be a Chinese submarine?"

However, as soon as this idea popped into his head, Tokuo Hirata dismissed it because judging from the information coming out of the Special High School Division: there was no sign that the Seventh Division was equipped with submarines at all.

And judging from his many years of service in the navy and the fact that the 7th Division's maritime power is completely blank, even if there are submarines, they will not be able to form combat effectiveness in a short time.

Not to mention being able to destroy three main warships of his own fleet "without anyone noticing".

"Russians, they must be Russians! Only Russians have this strength in the waters of the Far East. It must be those despicable Russians who are unwilling to fail at Luda, so they secretly attacked the imperial fleet!"

Tokuo Hirata was convinced of his guess.

At this time, the Kremlin was thousands of kilometers away.

The "Steel Father" sneezed a few times inexplicably, which made him wonder if he had accidentally caught a cold recently. Then he ordered the attendant standing on the side to ask his health doctor to come over and give him a good check-up.

It's just that this "steel father" doesn't know yet that after tonight, Russia will once again face a "death-to-death" situation with the little devils.

(End of this chapter)