New World War II Eagle Strikes the Sky

The last ray of sunlight in the setting sun was finally swallowed by the deep blue sea.But the sea is not completely dark, a crescent moon has risen in the sky, so that the captain of the King Kong battleship Fuji Koyanagi can barely distinguish the boundary between the sea and the sky.

A few hours ago, a US reconnaissance plane appeared near the artillery formation, which made Fuji Koyanagi very nervous.Fortunately, God Bless the Empire, the American bombers did not appear.

This reconnaissance plane not only made Koyanagi Fuji nervous, but the commander of the bombardment fleet, Kurita Takeo, was so nervous that his hands were sweating.If it wasn't for Yamamoto's strict order, if it wasn't for the fact that there was not much time before dark, Kurita Takeo almost planned to run away again.

Speaking of the Japanese army, in the impression of ordinary people, they are all cruel, brave, and desperately eager to die-whether it is someone else or themselves.Look at the Japanese military song "Crossing the Sea" and look at the lyrics: "Crossing the sea, corpses float on the surface of the sea; crossing mountains, corpses are everywhere".It makes people feel that the job of escaping seems to have nothing to do with the Japanese imperial army.There is nothing wrong with this view. It is true that the Japanese imperial army will not flee. They have a more professional term for this kind of thing called "transfer".Almost all countries illuminated by the light of Chinese civilization are particularly good at using this kind of concealed language, and Japan is no exception.But in general, there are indeed not many times when the Japanese army voluntarily escapes.But black swans exist, and there are exceptions to everything.Lieutenant General Takeo Kurita is the most typical exception. He is the black swan in the Japanese Imperial Army.

As early as February 1942, 2, Kurita had been ordered to cover the 28th Army of General Imamura Jun in Banten, Java. In the dark, two Allied warships escaped through the Banten Strait. Safely, without knowing the strength of the enemy, he left the transport fleet he was protecting and withdrew from the battlefield, and "turned" in a safe direction.Later it became clear that the enemy forces consisted of only two cruisers.He shot back again, sinking the American heavy cruiser Houston and the Australian light cruiser Perth, but the torpedoes fired by his fleet also sank 16 Japanese transport ships, including Commander Imamura's ship, and drowned A large group of the Japanese army was captured, and General Imamura was almost drowned in the sea.Of course, he concealed the fact that he launched the torpedo to Imamura afterwards, and lied that it was the torpedo launched by the US military.But since then, he has been nicknamed "Kurita the Escape".However, he did not receive any punishment afterwards. Firstly, if he was punished for fleeing the battlefield, it would affect the image of the navy.Anyway, people still killed the carbine; secondly, it didn't cause any serious consequences, didn't they just kill some army bumpkins?Is it still necessary for the navy to punish its own people for those idiots of the army?So there's nothing wrong with "Escape from Kurita".Later in the battle of Midway Island, Kurita's fleet inadvertently collided when it was "turning in" at night. The heavy cruiser Mogami and her sister ship Mikuma had a romantic relationship in this dark night. Surging confrontation.This lily story between the sisters finally ended in tragedy. The poor Mikuma was knocked off the bow, and the speed dropped to 4 knots. "Escaping Kurita" immediately ordered after learning of the situation: all run away, and Mikuma breaks the rear.As a result, Mikuma never returned.However, the Midway light aircraft carrier sank 12 ships, and no one cares about one more Mikuma.

But this is not the most exciting performance of "Escape from Kurita". The battle of Wright Bay in the future will be the most typical battle of "Escape from Kurita".Of course we will save this for later.

This time, Yamamoto put on a posture in front of Tsuji Masanobu that he would desperately want to help the army take Guadalcanal Island down.He even issued an order saying: "In case the two battleships are hit by enemy submarines or destroyer torpedoes during the bombardment process, they must try to rush to the beach and run aground, and the crew will go ashore as the Marine Corps to fight." A [-]-type rifle was issued.But "Escape from Kurita" has its own views.He believes that carrying out such an action under the advantage of the enemy is undoubtedly a suicide action like "a mouse tying a bell around a cat's neck", and it is "a dead end".He accepted such a task entirely out of compulsion.It is impossible for Yamamoto to be ignorant of Kurita's thoughts and Kurita's consistent style. He still let Kurita lead the team. I am afraid that only some guys in the navy know what kind of idea he is playing.

"General, we found the beacon!" A message came from the lookout post, "It's the beacon at Cape Esperance!"

This shows that the goal is now within reach.Kurita issued an order: "The destroyer is on alert, the battleship slows down to 18 knots, and enters Iron Bottom Bay along the South Waterway of Savo Island." It was 13:22 at this time.For the first time in history, the bombardment of an airfield by a battleship is about to begin.

The US military airport has been strictly implementing blackout since Ron arrived, and the entire island is now completely dark.To carry out accurate and effective shelling, it is necessary to find the target first.So a Zero water reconnaissance plane flew out from the King Kong.The pilot of this plane, Isamu Oshima, is also an old pilot.Although the island is completely dark now, relying on years of experience, he quickly found the airport and dropped the flares.

In the pale light of the flares, Oshima clearly saw the airport—it was right below him, and he could also see the aircraft bunkers not far from both sides of the runway, which were full of all kinds of aircraft. airplane.

After getting the target data, the battleship King Kong opened fire first. The 356mm main gun let out a deafening roar, and the warship weighing more than 3 tons also trembled violently.Huge shells were thrown out one after another, and these high-explosive shells weighing 625 kilograms streaked across the air, making a rumbling sound, just like the sound of a speeding train.In a blink of an eye, Colonel Yanagi Fuji, who was standing on the bridge, observed the flash of the shell as it hit the target.

Judging from the position of Colonel Liu Fuji, the artillery shells landed only a few flashes.But for a closer observer, the scene is much more exciting.

Ron and his pilots have moved to a small hill farther from the airport to seek refuge every night these days.Now Ron is at the entrance of the bomb defense tunnel. From his perspective, the entire airport is already in flames.Every shell exploded on the ground could make all the furniture in the shelter more than one kilometer away from the airport jump up.Dust also rained down from the top of the blasthole, which was supported by wood and steel bars.The people inside have a mouth full of earthy taste.

"Fortunately, I moved here!" Someone sighed in the darkness.

"If you don't move away, I'm afraid it's all over now." Someone sighed.

But Ron knew that if he didn't move away, he wouldn't be finished.In the original history, only 32 people including members of the 41nd Naval Air Force Command were killed in this bombardment of the US military.There was even a man who was near the runway when the bombardment took place. The man did not run after being shelled, but knelt down and prayed to God non-stop.I have been praying very devoutly until the shelling is over, but I still haven't been able to be called by God, and my soul and body are still left in the world.He is also safe and sound with a newly built fighter runway.

Ron paid attention to the impact points, and they basically hit the runway and the flight bunkers where the fake planes were placed.This also means that compared with the bombardment in history, this time, the loss of aircraft will be much smaller.In addition, the fuel has been dispersed and diverted.After the bombardment in history, the embarrassment of using a siphon to suck the oil out of the abandoned aircraft will probably not appear.The only regret is that several missed shells fell in the direction of the newly built bomber runway, and the damage caused is unknown.All this can only be known after the shelling is over.

Farther away, the Japanese Army is also watching this grand fireworks display. The officers of the No.17 Army of the Japanese Army happily cheered with their binoculars, cheering for the navy from the bottom of their hearts for the first time in their lives.Before the shelling was over, Commander Hyakutake Haruki impatiently sent a telegram of thanks to the navy: "The shelling of two battleships is better than a thousand field guns."

The King Kong and Haruna battleships fired a total of 356 rounds of 38mm large-caliber shells.At this time, the U.S. military who reacted also began to launch a counterattack.The four torpedo boats of the US Navy PT46, PT58, PT60 and PT1000 on Florida Island in the north of Guadalcanal, serving as cargo ship defense missions, sailed out of the port like the Japanese fleet in the dark.However, these torpedo boats didn't see the Japanese fleet clearly.They mistakenly regarded the Japanese destroyer escorting the battleship as a battleship (nai bottles admire this very much, they can see something more than 3 tons as more than [-] tons. Even though it is night, the eyes are really embarrassing) and shot torpedo. (Of course, none of the shots hit)

The Japanese destroyer also found these torpedoes, but the watchmen on the destroyer looked around and did not see the enemy ship (the torpedo boat was very short and completely disappeared in the shadow of the island in the dark).But torpedoes exist. Where did the torpedoes come from without enemy ships?

The destroyer's soldiers didn't know where the torpedo came from, but Kurita knew immediately when he heard the report: "Is there any need to ask? It must be a beautiful submarine!" Just now, Kurita was habitually nervous when the shelling started.For some reason, an ominous premonition always made him uneasy.When all the people were cheering for the shelling, he was the only one who stood silently on the bridge.Now, the fears have been confirmed: the Americans actually ambushed the submarine to assassinate him!He immediately remembered Yamamoto's words: "In case the two battleships are torpedoed by enemy submarines or destroyers during the bombardment..." Tsuji Masanobu would think this order meant a decisive battle, but Kurita knew it was a reminder He, don't let people black out with torpedoes at night.Besides, Marshal Yongye (that) self-cultivation also specifically reminded: "Don't damage the warship."

So Kurita immediately ordered: "Stop the shelling and retreat!"

A combat staff officer surnamed Hattori asked: "But General, we haven't determined the extent of the damage on the shore yet?"

Kurita turned around and stared fiercely at the staff officer until he flinched away from his gaze.When did the navy staff dare to question the chief officer like those bumpkin staff officers in the army?

"What do you know! The reconnaissance plane has reported that 'the targets are all covered', what is there to be sure! If you want to be sure, then pick up the 38 rifle issued to you, and I will send you to the island yourself Go for sure!"

After Kurita taught the poor staff officer a lesson, he scanned the surrounding officers with tiger-like eyes.

"I plan to return immediately, who of you agrees and who opposes?"

Naturally, there will be no opponents at this time.The Imperial Navy is not brave, and the Imperial Navy is not afraid to take risks.When necessary, the Imperial Navy can take risks for many reasons. When necessary, the Imperial Navy will even launch a deadly board charge like the Army.But there is no doubt that the army's reasons are absolutely not included in these many reasons, and when it is necessary, there is absolutely no time when the army needs it.Idiots like Hattori don't even understand this, and they deserve the scolding.