bookrandom Chapter 283 Avukuma, 80,000 Steel (Part 2)
Chapter 283 Avukuma, 80,000 Steel (Part 2)
Inside the bridge, Takuo Hanada gripped the rudder tightly, staring nervously ahead.
At the junction of the sea and the sky, the silhouettes of the Anmin Army fighter planes gradually grew larger, like vicious wolves pouncing on their exhausted prey.
His breathing was slightly rapid and cold sweat broke out on his forehead, but he suppressed his inner panic and forced himself to remain calm.
"Damn it, they're here again." Huatian cursed under his breath, but it was of no use.
Next to the Abukuma, the petite destroyer Haruzuki rushed up and bravely tried to use its four twin 100mm dual-purpose main guns to disperse the attacking Anmin Army aircraft group for the flagship.
However, just like the Yamato's 460mm anti-aircraft type 3 incense shotgun shells, the Japanese's 100mm dual-purpose main gun had no radio proximity fuse, so all the fixed-altitude fuse shells fired became air-launched fireworks.
In the sky, black smoke clouds exploded below the fleet of aircraft, but it was useless.
Instead, it was the Haruzuki's stubborn resistance that brought about its own demise.
Hanada turned the rudder to the right and found in despair that the Abukuma did not change its direction at all and continued to turn to the left.
He could only stare blankly as several blue-painted F6Fs in the sky changed course, flew towards the Haruzuki, and launched six Tiny Tim rockets in succession.
The dazzling fire dragon dyed the sky red. Under the watchful eyes of Takuo Hanada, six huge rockets smashed straight into the Haruzuki, triggering a series of explosions.
"Damn it, Haruzuki." Takuo Hanada's voice was almost choked with fear in the bridge.
After the smoke cleared, the bridge of the Haruzuki had completely disappeared, and only two of the four main gun turrets remained intact, while the other two had large holes blown open above their heads.
Billowing black smoke poured out from the hole above the turret and headed straight into the sky.
Then, it seemed that the ammunition in the ammunition compartment was ignited, and an even more violent explosion occurred. The dazzling white light even left a flare on Takuo Hanada's retina.
One second, ten seconds, it felt like a century had passed, and finally, Takuo Hanada slowly opened his eyes.
After the explosion, was there any trace of the Haruzuki destroyer on the sea?
"Bagana, how is that possible?"
Navy Captain Takuo Hanada couldn't believe what he saw.
"What on earth is going on?" he muttered to himself, fear and anxiety spreading rapidly in his heart.
The pride and confidence I once had collapsed in an instant.
You know, whether it is airdropping torpedoes or dive bombing high-speed moving warships, it requires long-term practice.
Even the Japanese navy, which was richer than the army, spent several years and countless money before the war to train elite carrier-based aviation soldiers on the 1st Carrier Aircraft Carriers Akasei and Kaga, and the 2nd Carrier Aircraft Carriers Soryu and Hiryu.
It was precisely because of the complete annihilation of the four ships Akagi, Kaga, Soryu and Hiryu in the Battle of Midway, and the loss of a large number of elite carrier-based aviation, that the Japanese navy was completely devastated.
After all, thanks to the powerful shipbuilding industry of the Japanese, aircraft carriers can be rebuilt if they sink, but there is no time to train elite carrier-based aviation forces.
Moreover, the backward engine industry also meant that the Japanese carrier-based aircraft had not been updated. The promised new fighter planes turned out to be nothing but a piece of cake, which lasted for another three years.
Ultimately, the combination of these two factors led to the spectacular "Mariana Turkey Hunt," where the Japanese naval aviation was treated like turkeys and easily shot down from the sky.
Now the Anmin Army's air force used torpedoes, bombs, and rockets to easily force his fleet into a desperate situation, which was unacceptable to him.
Why are the enemy's air force pilots trained so quickly?
Could it be that the White Eagle's elite air force is playing as a substitute?
Takuo Hanada didn't know that Zhang Chi's back-up system provided him with unparalleled training conditions and sufficient resource supply.
Zhang Chi directly and generously let the flight trainees train crazily without paying attention to the consumption of aircraft parts and oil.
After all, a scrapped aircraft used in training can be completely repaired by throwing it into the system with only a small amount of Silver Lions.
At the same time, the price of high-end aviation fuel in the system is shockingly cheap.
In addition, in order to ensure that the Japanese fleet could be defeated in one wave, Zhang Chi simply let powerful synthetic pilots fly many fighter planes.
This is how we achieve the effect of an elite force that has fought many battles.
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On the other side, the fleet in the sky saw that the Haruzuki's ammunition exploded, quickly broke into two sections, and sank into the sea, so they turned their attention back to the Abukuma, which was still struggling in circles.
After communicating on the radio channel, the commanders of each squadron quickly reached a consensus. A formation of four SB2C dive bombers immediately opened the speed brakes and began to dive at a large angle from high altitude, locking onto the Abukuma like the god of death falling from the sky.
"Abu Kuma, it's over."
Takuo Hanada knew clearly that his time had come. There was no chance of survival for a half-destroyed light cruiser facing a diving bomber.
The next second, a 1000-pound armor-piercing bomb broke free from the belly rack of the SB2C dive bomber and fell straight towards the bow of the Abukuma.
The Abukuma, with its steering gear stuck, had no chance of dodging. Takuo Hanada clearly saw a black dot falling from the sky and diving into the front deck next to the No. 1 turret.
The air in the bridge suddenly froze, and Takuo Hanada could no longer control his emotions and closed his eyes in pain.
He could almost hear the countdown of every second, each second approaching the end with a heavy rhythm.
The hard warhead of the armor-piercing bomb easily penetrated the wooden deck under the action of gravity acceleration, and then penetrated 30mm of horizontal armor, and then several layers of cabin partitions.
Finally, the 1000-pound armor-piercing bomb penetrated the most critical position - the ammunition compartment under the No. 1 turret.
At the same time, the Japanese sailors in the ammunition compartment suddenly saw the arrival of this uninvited guest.
They were stunned by this uninvited 'surprise'.
The electric bomb hoist was still humming, tirelessly supplying ammunition to the turret above, but the bomb with the small propeller at the tail spinning seemed to have doomed their fate.
After a moment of daze, the delay fuse in the armor-piercing bomb was triggered on time, and hundreds of kilograms of TNT were immediately detonated by the fuse, and a violent shock swept over.
Then, the explosion ignited hundreds of 140mm main gun ammunition in the ammunition depot, and a sharp explosion tore everything apart.
"Boom!"
Takuo Hanada felt like he was flying, flying towards eternal darkness.
The 5500-ton Nagara-class light cruiser No. 6, Abukuma, was turned into a headless knight in the violent explosion, and the entire front hull was shattered like broken porcelain.
Then the seawater quickly poured in through the front fracture, and the entire ship sank completely into the water in just a few breaths.
In the sea, Army Colonel Yosuke Futagawa, who was holding a lifebuoy thrown by someone unknown, was pulling another major who could not swim, watching everything in despair.
"Abukuma..." The major's voice trembled, as if he had not yet fully realized the reality and cruelty of everything before his eyes.
On June 6, most of the 447 Japanese soldiers on the Abukuma, including the captain, Colonel Takuo Hanada, sank with the ship.
Until this time, 36 Type 0-22 fighter planes that were supposed to be responsible for providing air cover for the fleet finally arrived after taking off from the Lion City Airport near Malacca.