The Beacon of Laiyang Metal

Chapter 74 The Destruction of the Mixed Fleet 2

By the time Fleet Chief of Staff Captain Kazuhiko Kishida hurried over with several Japanese military officers and found Tokuo Hirata standing alone on the island in a daze, the entire "Izumo" had sunk by more than 50 degrees due to severe flooding.

According to the Japanese Navy's "Sailor's Code of Conduct", once a warship capsizes by more than 40 degrees, the fleet commander must consider ordering all crew members to be prepared to abandon the ship and escape.

At this moment, the tilt angle of the "Izumo" is still increasing. According to this trend, in less than ten minutes, the entire warship will completely capsize and eventually sink to the bottom of the sea.

Kazuhiko Kishida's face was full of worry and anxiety, and he shouted to fleet commander Tokuo Hirata:

"Your Excellency, while there is still a chance to evacuate, give the order to abandon the ship!" After saying this, he waved his hand and signaled the Japanese officer behind him to force Tokuo Hirata to evacuate.

But Tokuo Hirata just glanced at them coldly, so frightened that the two Japanese officers who were about to step forward to help him stayed in place for a while, not daring to make any move.

Looking at the capsized warship under his feet that was still increasing, Tokuo Hirata slowly pulled out his general's command sword and took a deep breath. When he looked at them again, there was more determination in his eyes:

"The crime of this war is my fault alone, not the fault of you all. All punishments will be borne by me alone. I have made up my mind to sink with the 'Izumo'. This is also my responsibility as the commander. The remaining ships All ships are under the command of Kishida-kun."

"Kishida-kun, it's better to escape with the surviving soldiers!"

Seeing that Kishida Kazuhiko was confused and wanted to come forward to persuade him, Tokuo Hirata continued:

"The fleet was attacked this time. It is basically impossible for the existing maritime combat power of the Seventh Division to accomplish this task. I infer that it must have a lot to do with the Russians. Even if the Russians themselves did not send people to sneak attack, it must be them Provided intelligence and equipment to the Seventh Division. Kishida-kun, please report this information to the base camp immediately after abandoning the ship, and order the Special High School Division to conduct a thorough investigation of the matter to avoid similar incidents from happening in the future. Please!"

After finishing speaking, he bowed deeply to Kishida Kazuhiko and said no more words. Instead, he took out a white handkerchief from his pocket and wiped it repeatedly on the command knife with a cold light in his hand.

A trace of astonishment flashed in Kishida Kazuhiko's eyes, and he was stunned for a moment. He originally wanted to persuade Hirata Tokuo to abandon ship, but he didn't know how to say it.

Seeing Tokuo Hirata's figure facing them sideways, his heart was filled with sourness and reverence for a moment.

He knew that since Tokuo Hirata had made up his mind to sink with the flagship, he could not change it no matter how much others tried to console him.

Moreover, the top priority now is to organize the orderly evacuation of the officers and soldiers on the attacked ship, rescue the crew members who fell into the water, and then report to the base camp the inference that the Russians were involved in the attack.

Seeing the capsizing of the warship becoming more and more serious, Kazuhiko Kishida did not dare to delay in reacting.

After he and several Japanese officers behind him bowed to Tokuo Hirata, he hurriedly turned around and left to arrange matters related to abandoning the ship and calling for help.

Seeing Kishida Kazuhiko and others beginning to organize the crew to evacuate, Tokuo Hirata sighed deeply. He knew that his last moment had come.

Tokuo Hirata first unbuttoned his military jacket with one hand, and then tore open the white lining shirt. He held the long wooden handle of the sword in both hands, kneeling and facing the direction of Japan.

At this moment, the saber in Tokuo Hirata's hand suddenly became heavy. The saber that was originally intended to stab his abdomen fell from his trembling hands several times and fell to the ground.

It's just that the losses in this battle were too great. Even with the relationship between the Hirata family in the government and the public, they could not excuse their mistakes and incompetence.

Finally, Tokuo Hirata picked up the saber on the ground again and pointed the tip of the saber at his abdomen with trembling. Then, he exerted great force and shouted: "His Majesty the Emperor, ten thousand years ago..."

The one-meter-long general's command knife instantly pierced deeply into his abdomen. The huge pain caused by the knife blade piercing his abdomen made even Tokuo Hirata, an old devil, couldn't help but groan. Finally, after shaking his body, he The saber stuck in his belly fell limply on the deck.

But even though he was exhausted, Tokuo Hirata's eyes were still open angrily, as if he was telling the resentment and unwillingness in his heart.

Kazuhiko Kishida, who had already evacuated to the lifeboat at this time, used the firelight of the ship to see Tokuo Hirata, who had fallen to the ground and died after caesarean section. In addition to admiring his courage, he also felt a sense of sadness for the death of a rabbit. feeling.

Because although the fleet commander Tokuo Hirata has taken most of the blame through caesarean section, as the chief of staff of the fleet, he still cannot escape the blame for the attack on the fleet. Now Kazuhiko Kishida can only pin his hopes on dealing with the incident. In terms of the fleet's aftermath, the base camp can be lenient to itself.

Thinking of Tokuo Hirata inferring to himself that the Russians might have caused the attack before he had a caesarean section, Kazuhiko Kishida, who was originally full of uneasiness, suddenly felt lucky:

"Yes, the target of this fleet's battle was originally only the Chinese Seventh Division. Who would have expected that there would be a sneak attack by the Russians in the middle? Conspiracy, this is definitely a Russian conspiracy."

In order to shirk responsibility, Kishida immediately affirmed the idea that the Russians were involved in the attack. Regardless of whether there was evidence of Russian participation, Kishida had already determined in his heart that it was the Russians who did it, and it must be the Russians. .

At the same time, he also secretly decided that after being transferred to the destroyer, he would immediately join the officers on the other ships that were attacked and telegraph the attack to the base camp that the Russians had caused the attack.

From this moment on, what was originally just a conflict between the Seventh Division and the Kwantung Army suddenly became dramatic, because after Kazuhiko Kishida made this decision, the Russians would inevitably be involved in the Japanese mixed fleet encounter whether they wanted to or not. In the midst of the conflict.

While Kishida Kazuhiko was deep in thought, there was a sudden "bang", which was many times louder than the sound made after the explosion of the previous torpedo attack. Explosions sounded suddenly and continued in succession. As the fires on the attacked cruiser continued to burn and the high temperature scorched, the ammunition depot stored inside the ship began to be detonated. The huge kinetic energy generated after the explosion of the ammunition instantly brought the 10,000-ton giant ship like the "Izumo" to the ground. Cut off at the waist.

The cruiser that had been broken into two sections was "cracking" and burning like a sea of ​​fire, and the debris produced after the violent explosion was flying everywhere. Even Kishida Kazuhiko, who escaped 500 meters away from the cruiser in a lifeboat, could still feel being trapped. The debris thrown by the explosion was falling from the sky, and with the sound of "plop...plop" after falling into the water, it hit the sea around the lifeboat.

Less than 2 minutes after the ammunition explosion of the "Izumo", the "Kaga" and "Kawauchi", which were also burning with fire, also exploded one after another. With deafening loud noises, the "Kaga" and "Kawauchi" The two cruisers No. 2 were also engulfed by the shock wave generated by the explosion, and the decks, masts, turrets and other facilities on the cruisers were destroyed in just an instant.

Some Japanese sailors on the deck who were waiting for rescue by lifeboats also began to flee in panic, trying to escape from this behemoth that was about to sink.

However, the huge shock wave generated after the explosion not only destroyed the equipment on the ship, but also instantly pushed the Japanese sailors waiting for rescue into the seabed. Even some Japanese sailors who were lucky enough not to be thrown into the seabed by the shock wave were also affected by the rapid spread of the fire. , and the billowing smoke from the violent burning made it difficult for them to breathe.

Many people were trapped in the cabin and could not escape. Under the thick smoke and flames, they were either choked to death by the thick smoke, or were directly stuck to the burned red steel plates, accompanied by a "sizzling" sound. Grilled directly on the steel plate.

Not far from the cruiser where the explosion occurred, some Japanese sailors standing on the decks of destroyers, supply ships, and troop carriers, busy releasing small boats for rescue, felt a huge force pushing the anchored warship at their feet. He was moving and shaking from side to side, unable to stand firm at all.

Some sailors who had just been rescued and were shivering from the cold were desperately climbing up using the net ladder released by the rescue ship when the explosion occurred.

The sudden violent shaking caused the drowned sailors who had just climbed up the ladder to be thrown into the sea again before they could even scream.

Under the influence of huge inertia, these Japanese sailors, exhausted from hypothermia, never had the chance to reappear on the surface of the sea.

All Japanese soldiers, including Kishida Kazuhiko, were also shocked by the sudden explosion. Each explosion made them feel a violent vibration, as if the whole world was shaking.

They stared dumbfounded at the end-of-the-world scene in front of them. Even though they had abandoned the ship and escaped, they suddenly saw the pride of the Imperial Navy. Three cruisers were burning and sinking at the same time. They couldn't believe themselves for a moment. With eyes wide open, many Japanese officers and soldiers knelt on the lifeboat and cried loudly as if their parents were dead.

Five minutes later, as the fire after the explosion continued to burn, the three cruisers rolled violently several times and sank completely to the bottom of the sea, as if unwilling to do so, leaving only billowing smoke and unburned wreckage. .

At this moment, in the Gushan Town Military Airport, a hundred kilometers away from the attack on the Japanese warships, in the drone combat room, a drone was still hovering above the Japanese fleet, assessing the effect of the first wave of torpedo strikes. Real-time footage of the Japanese main battleship completely capsized due to ammunition explosion.

"Long live! Long live!"

At this moment, the entire drone squadron war room was boiling: everyone who was originally nervous, when the drone reported that the Japanese warship was detonated, one by one took the documents, pens, maps... they could catch in their hands. Everything was thrown into the air like crazy, trying to express their inner excitement and excitement.

Everyone's faces were filled with joy after victory, and cheers and applause resounded throughout the war room.

They hugged each other, jumped and jumped, shouting slogans such as "Long live the Master! Long live Commander Gao!" and "We are victorious!".

When their emotions reached their peak, they lifted both Wei Yuan and Gao Zhihang into the air.

At the moment when he was thrown into the air, Wei Yuan, who was also very excited, felt like he wanted to cry, not because of his busy life these days, but for the Chinese people who had been suffering from many disasters and wars in modern times.

Now the wings of my little butterfly finally play some role.

At this moment, even Gao Zhihang, who had always been serious about his words, had a rare smile on his face, and tears were shining in his eyes.

The huge noise of celebrating the victory made even the sentries on guard outside the door look sideways: I don't know what happy things happened in the war room. Even the division commander and regimental commander Gao Dare to make such a noise.

This short victory celebration finally ended. At Wei Yuan's signal, Gao Zhihang, as the top commander of the Air Force of the 7th Temporary Division, issued a new round of orders in accordance with the plan designated before the war:

"I order: The UAV squadron, except for the UAVs responsible for battlefield surveillance missions, the rest of the UAVs that have returned to the temporary runway, immediately reload the torpedoes and replace the battery panels, and prepare to carry out the second wave of strikes against the Japanese destroyers. .The rest of the conventional squadrons, as long as they are equipped with pilots equipped with night vision devices, are all fully loaded with aerial bombs and waiting! After the second wave of drone strikes, they will start to launch aerial raids on the supply ships and troop carriers of the Japs to ensure that they are not missed. A warship and a Japanese soldier!"

After the order was issued, the drone operator, who was still immersed in the victory of destroying the Japanese cruiser, took quick action and began to prepare for a new round of torpedo attacks on the Japanese destroyer.

At the same time, pilots equipped with night vision goggles in each squadron immediately took action after receiving the order and rushed to the aircraft as quickly as possible to prepare for the tower's instructions to launch a final blow to the Japanese fleet.

(End of this chapter)