At 18:27 in the evening on July 11, 1940 AD, less than a hundred nautical miles away from Fuzhou, the sun seemed to disappear on the sea with a trace of reluctance. Although the sun has officially announced that it is off duty, the visibility on the sea here is still very high, because there are several raging fires burning on the sea here.
These fires were accompanied by streams of black smoke swept up into the sky by the sea breeze, and the sea was filled with a strong smell of unburned engine oil. Through the black smoke floating everywhere, you can see more than a dozen ships of various sizes driving hard on the sea.
Looking carefully through the black smoke, it turns out that there are rising sun flags flying on the masts of the ships. It turns out that these ships are the task force commanded by Endo Kiichi who rushed to Fuzhou to meet the retreat of the 2nd and 3rd Divisions. This is how the current task force looks extremely miserable. Originally, this fleet had thirty warships of various sizes and nearly twenty troop carriers. But now, at a glance, this originally quite spectacular fleet now has There were less than twenty large and small ships left, and even most of the ships that survived were more or less injured.
There are leaking fuel and wreckage from warships floating everywhere on the sea. Many sailors are struggling on the sea while shouting desperately. From time to time, some sailors sink to the bottom of the sea because they can no longer hold up.
On the deck of the Kaga aircraft carrier, Kiichi Endo stared blankly at the Chinese fighter jets that had disappeared without a trace in the sky, his expression extremely dull.
For a long time, he looked at the sailors struggling like ants on the sea. At this moment, there was only an emotion called despair in his heart. In the air strike just one hour ago, most of the task force he led was destroyed by a group of sudden fighter planes. Nearly twenty destroyers and cruisers were bombed and more than ten were sunk. Among the three aircraft carriers, the Gale was sunk. , Kaga and Akamai each suffered a torpedo. Fortunately, the aircraft carriers were relatively durable. After some rescue, the fate of silence was finally avoided. However, the unarmed troop carriers became the targets of dive bombers during the battle. All sixteen troop carriers sank into the sea. The fleet's mission this time was a complete failure. Even if it rushed to Fuzhou tonight, it would not be able to pick up the second and third divisions.
Endo Kiichi's right hand tightly grasped the Showa Twelve-style command sword at his waist, his face was twitching constantly, and behind Endo Kiichi, the fleet chief of staff U Hwant¨ was staring at him closely. On the occasion of this great defeat, he was very afraid that his commander would suddenly take out his command knife and give him a blow. After all, according to convention, if the fleet's top commander died in battle or committed suicide. As the second-in-command of the fleet, he will definitely have nothing to gain after returning to Japan. The huge black pot will definitely fall on him. Therefore, whether it is for humanitarian reasons or for his own sake, nothing can happen to Endo Kiichi. Well at least nothing happens until we return to Japan.
Seeing Endo Kiichi's painful look, Yu Huanwan took a deep breath and said: "Endo-kun, let's go back. Although the China plane has left, the sea area in this area is still unsafe. After all, we don't know what China submarines are." The time will come. It's up to you to lead the remaining Imperial soldiers back to Japan."
Endo Kiichi smiled sadly and said: "I know, Yuhuan-kun, don't worry, I will not commit suicide by caesarean section before bringing the remaining warriors back to Japan. I will definitely bear the responsibility that I have to bear. I will not harm you." of."
Yu Huanmao's old face turned red. He knew that his petty attitude had long been seen through by the other party. However, he did not feel any embarrassment about this. This defeat had nothing to do with him. After all, the top military commander of this operation was Endo Kiichi. As the chief of staff, he is only responsible for providing plans for decision-making. It is best to put yourself aside in time. As the saying goes, if a person does not serve himself, he will be destroyed by heaven and earth.
Endo Kiichi took another deep look at Yu Huanmao. He said earnestly: "Yu Huanjun, if I can return to Japan this time, I will tell the truth about the battle to the base camp. No matter what, I will not shirk the responsibility for this defeat, but in the future, Yu Huanjun If you encounter the China Air Force again in the future, you must be careful. Judging from today's battle, the coast of China is no longer a place where the Imperial Navy can roam freely. I have a hunch that the Empire's actions in China will become more and more serious in the future. It¡¯s getting more and more difficult.¡±
Seeing Endo Kiichi¡¯s sad look, Yu Huanmao¡¯s lips twitched and said: ¡°Your Excellency, Commander, I¡¡±
"Stop talking." Endoki raised his hand to stop Yu Huanmao from speaking, "After this defeat, it will be impossible for me to serve in the Navy again after I go back. No one will appoint a defeated general. But Yu Huanmao Huan Jun, you will take on heavy responsibilities in the future. You must remind the die-hards in the base camp that although China does not have any decent surface ships now, the power of their submarines and air force is?You have seen it. You must be cautious when you go to China to perform missions in the future. Before the empire develops a new fighter plane that can compete with China's aircraft, you must keep your tail between your legs, otherwise my day will be yours. Lessons from the past. "
Hearing this, Yu Huancuan couldn't help but feel desolate in his heart. Although there are no victorious generals on the battlefield, this is the fact. Especially in the navy, a general who has lost a battle will have a bleak future. , and there is no future at all. If Kiichi Endo is lucky enough this time, he won't have to go to court-martial, but his final fate will be to take off his military uniform and retire early.
Slowly, the smoke in the sky gradually faded away, and the shadows of the battleships that could still be seen vaguely were also surrounded by the night. The scarred fleet slowly sailed towards the northeast
Thousands of kilometers away in Guangzhou, Su Rui, who had won a big victory, should have been overjoyed, but at this time, Su Rui was dumbfounded when he heard the casualty report of the battle that Liang Zhi had just finished reading.
"In this battle, our army lost 12 fighter jets of various types, accounting for 0.6% of all dispatched fighter aircraft, 34 dive bombers were lost, and 45 torpedo bombers were lost. Sixty-five point eight percent of the quantity!¡±
"Sixty-five point eight percent loss!" Su Rui couldn't help but stand up, with an unbelievable exclamation in his voice, "Isn't this a mistake?"
After hearing the report, Su Rui's first reaction was that the data in the report sent by the Navy must be wrong.
There was a trace of bitterness in Liang Zhi's eyes in front of Su Rui, "Sir, I also hope that the people from HNA made a mistake. Later, I checked it several times, and finally I was sure that this report was indeed true."
¡°Plop!¡±
Suri sat heavily on the sofa behind him and made a heavy sound.
Sitting on the soft sofa, Su Rui felt a sense of powerlessness emanating from his body. Although he had expected that the losses of the Marine Division would not be too light, when he heard the casualty figures with his own ears, his heart I was still extremely shocked inside, and at the same time, an uncontrollable feeling of distress also surged into my heart.
This time, the Navy Division dispatched 60 Dauntless dive bombers and 60 Avenger torpedo attack aircraft, 180 F6F Vixen fighters, F4U Corsair fighters, and 180 Mustang fighters reinforced by the Second Air Division, for a total of 400 fighters.
The losses of fighter jets were negligible, but the losses of bombers and torpedo planes made Su Rui feel a heartache. There were seventy-nine of them, accounting for 6.50% of the total number of bombers and torpedo planes. What is this? concept? This also means that the naval division that Su Rui has worked hard to build for more than half a year has been paralyzed for more than half. If a battle like today happens again, the establishment of the naval division can be cancelled.
Seeing that Su Rui's face turned pale with distress, Liang Zhi sighed softly and comforted: "Sir, the losses in today's battle were a bit heavy, but our results were also very brilliant. We sunk an aircraft carrier." , three light cruisers, six destroyers and 16 troop transports. It can be said that it completely destroyed the Japanese plan to rescue the 2nd and 3rd Division. The sacrifice of the soldiers was not unrewarded. Besides, the Marine Division Although the losses are a bit bigger, as long as we wait until the next batch of flight cadets graduates, we can organize another group of bomber pilots."
After a long time, Su Rui's mood slowly calmed down. He shook his head and sighed: "Zi Ran, I used to think that fighter pilots have the shortest life span among pilots, but now I know that bomber and torpedo plane pilots have shorter life spans. This loss is really too great." Big.¡±
At this point, Su Rui remembered a post he had seen online before. Someone calculated the lifespan of World War II pilots. In this post, the average combat survival time of fighter pilots was 1 hour and 46 seconds. Minutes, the combat survival time of a bomber pilot is 19 minutes, but there is another type of pilot whose combat life is shorter than the survival time of the above two pilots, that is, the transport glider pilot, their average survival time is only 17 seconds bell.
Thinking of this, Suri felt better. He comforted himself in his heart. Even the Americans lost tens of thousands of pilots in World War II, and his own number was nothing. Although he understands this truth in his heart, Americans are rich and can afford to spend money, but Su Rui cannot compare with Americans. They are rich and have big businesses, and their high-quality talents are everywhere, but China cannot. The people who graduate from Huaxia High School these days are only one in a hundred high-quality talents. It is too difficult to replace the lost people.
"We can't continue to fight with the Japanese like this, otherwise the Japanese will not fight hard."?, but he spent all his talents first. It seems that the Japanese have to look elsewhere. "Sir Su said this. (To be continued)