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Text Chapter 1001 Typhoon (10)

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    Following Gao Xiaolei's gaze, Nan Yun's flagship 'Flying Eagle' was blazing with flames.

    The 'echo wave' hit the stern flight deck of the Flying Eagle, where there were more than ten 97 attack ships waiting to take off. As a result, after the bomb exploded, it also detonated two torpedoes and aviation gasoline, so the fire gradually increased.  The 41st Squadron dozens of kilometers away could see it clearly.  Fortunately, the 'Echo' did not use an armor-piercing warhead, so the explosion and fire did not spread to the interior.

    Because it was night and the opponent's fighter jets were taking off one after another, the 41st Squadron did not stay to check the results.  It was later learned that in addition to the "Flying Eagle", the heavy cruiser "Miao Ko" also suffered a missile, but the damage was not serious. The other ships were able to continue sailing, but the destroyer "Lingbo" sank twenty minutes later.  .  Although the damage was not serious, the attack frightened the Nagumo fleet.  The Japanese sailors couldn't figure out how the bomb fell on them even though the plane was still far away.  The unknown always brings fear, and all kinds of rumors quickly spread in the fleet, and even some officers became frustrated.  Nayun did not dare to stay any longer, and immediately ordered an acceleration to the southwest, trying to leave the attack radius of Taiwan's land-based bombers.

    At this time, off the coast of Hualien, Taiwan, an outpost formation of six Taishan-class destroyers, grouped in twos, split six waves on the sea at a rare high speed of 40 knots.  This is the fastest formation sailing speed in the history of human naval forces. Only this kind of destroyer, jointly built by China and France and modeled after the Utopia class, can continue to race on the sea for several hours.  Behind them are the renovated aircraft carriers "Guizhou", "Beihai" and "Balkhash", protected by 2 Xi'an-class heavy cruisers, 4 Xiangjiang-class light cruisers and 12 destroyers.  "At this location." The flagship heavy cruiser Guiyang has received a report from Squadron 41. Commodore Feng Guoru, chief of staff of the fleet, leaned on the chart table and marked the location of the hit aircraft carrier: "The reconnaissance plane has confirmed that the hit aircraft carrier  It¡¯s an aircraft carrier, but I can¡¯t tell which one it is.¡±

    Like his name, Feng Guoru is a rare Confucian general in the navy.  Wearing gold-rimmed glasses, he has an elegant temperament. When he speaks, his voice is soft, but his words are very clear and orderly, and people can understand them at a glance.  Pointing to the dotted line moving towards the Philippines, he pushed up his glasses: "According to this analysis, the radio signal moving towards Leyte Gulf must be Narumi Inoue. Because Nagumo's loss is still unknown, we temporarily assume that its speed remains unchanged, then it will  The fastest speed is 25 knots. Above this speed, three escort carriers cannot keep up. Calculate it this way. It will take 20 hours to take a straight line back to Ryukyu. It will take about 26 hours to turn back to the west. Our current speed is 30 knots. If  He took a straight line, and we encountered him seven hours later. If he took a detour, I'm afraid it would be delayed until around 4 p.m., which would only be enough for one wave of attacks."

    Zhang Zhaoyang asked: "Then which line do you think he will take?"

    "Detour!" Feng Guoru said resolutely: "Nanyun is a navigation expert. If it hadn't happened just now, he might have forced a straight line home. But now even if the aircraft carrier is not seriously injured, it will definitely affect the takeoff and landing.  . And the 41st Squadron hit him without getting close. It will make him more worried about the shore-based bombers, so he will inevitably take a detour to avoid it."

    Zhang Zhaoyang clasped his hands behind his back and slowly frowned.  In terms of strength and experience, the 121st aircraft carrier battle group is higher than the rookie pilots of the Nanyun Fleet.  But it would be a bit tricky to destroy the entire Nagumo fleet in one wave.  There are now a total of 248 combat aircraft on his three aircraft carriers, including 92 'Lightning' fighter jets.  88 Yaksha dive bombers and 68 Osprey torpedo bombers.  These numbers are enough to attack three aircraft carriers, but what about other ships?  Especially the four extremely fast Myosen heavy cruisers, if they were to use the darkness to escape.  It will threaten the main battlefield of Ryukyu.

    Feng Guoru also understood what he was thinking. Heavy cruisers were regarded as such capital ships in the Japanese Navy. It was basically impossible to destroy seven capital ships in one wave of attacks.  So he stepped forward and reminded with a smile: "Commander, have you forgotten? The two Anhais and the two French Dunkirks of the 23rd Battle Group set off from Guam the day before yesterday to support the 21st Fleet. If nothing goes wrong, they should  I can catch up.¡±

    "Yes!" After sinking the battleship Haruna, Gilbert was basically in his hands, and the Navy Department transferred four battleships from the 23rd Fleet back to participate in the Ryukyu War.  After refueling in Guam, they are already on their way back. They can cooperate with themselves to eat Nagumo first, and then go to Ryukyu.  So Zhang Zhaoyang clapped his hands vigorously: "Send a seaplane back to Keelung and be sure to contact them."

    "I'll go right away." Feng Guoru nodded and turned around to ask the signal soldiers to contact the light cruiser to send a water reconnaissance aircraft. At this time, the communications staff also came over: "Sir, I received a telegram from the headquarters and the battle has begun on Ipingya Island."¡ª¡ª

    "Hidden, well hidden! Drag all the cannons into the caves." At five o'clock in the morning, on the Heyang Mountain position southwest of Iheiya Island, Sasato Kunihei, a member of the 42nd Regiment of the Japanese Army, looked at him with horror and loudly told the soldiers to hide.

    Ipingya Island is located 40 kilometers northwest of Okinawa.It is long and narrow, only 3 kilometers at its widest point.  There are three rocky mountains on the island: Awadake, Kayo and Kuye, but the mountains are gentle and the entire island is surrounded by gentle coral lagoons, which is far less steep than Kume Island.  There are two small islands, Nofu Island and Gushigawa Island, in the south of the island. They are only 5 kilometers away from Izena Island in the southeast. They are known as the northwest gate of Ryukyu, and their strategic location is very critical.

    Stationed on the island is the Japanese 42nd Infantry Regiment, as well as a 150mm heavy artillery brigade and an engineer regiment, with a total strength of 8,147 people.  News of the fall of Kume Island has spread throughout Ryukyu, so Sato has been fully prepared.  But when five battleships appeared in the high seas, he realized that his so-called preparations were really vulnerable in front of the giant cannon.

    "Boom, boom, boom." Clouds of smoke would rise from the Heyangshan position every minute.  Deeply dug fortifications were overturned by artillery shells, trenches could be paralyzed with just one artillery shell, and the woods that were originally thought to be usable had long been burned away by fire, leaving only bare tree trunks. The soldiers could only be exposed in the wilderness, praying that the artillery shells would not stop them.  Fall next to you.

    After Kumejima¡¯s summary, Zhang Xiaoyu adopted more direct bombardment tactics today, intentionally bringing the battleship formation closer to 18,000 meters before starting bombardment.  In this way, the accuracy of the main gun is higher, and he also uses armor-piercing projectiles to accurately strike caves and fire points hidden in the mountains.

    "Where is the navy? Where is our navy?"

    "Forget them, those cowards won't come."

    "These damn Satsuma clan! Cowards!"

    Facing the completely invincible heavy artillery of the battleships, the Japanese soldiers cursed their own navy.  Just when they hated iron, a group of bombers from Ryukyu appeared on the sea to the east.  "Look! It's our H-Haga! China fighter jet!" After waiting and waiting, he finally saw a dozen bombers from Ryukyu, but before Sato could be happy, a large group of J-Hak aircraft took off from Kume Island.  Quan' rushed forward.  Within a few minutes, the plaster flag was no longer visible in the sky.

    "Zhongjiao! Zhongjiao, look quickly." Sato sighed, there was no hope for support.  Just as he was about to let the soldier continue to hide, the officer next to him suddenly pulled him: "A cruiser is coming."

    "Cruiser?" Sato looked around, and sure enough there was a cruiser-sized warship crossing the battleship formation and heading towards the island.  Battleships are too rough to defeat.  This small warship of three to five thousand tons can always be repelled.  "Baga, the cruiser dares to get close! Quick, push out the cannons." Sato gritted his teeth and ordered the soldiers to push out the four 150mm heavy cannons hidden in the cave.

    As an island country, Japan is severely lacking in resources and needs to maintain a large fleet, so the Japanese Army is seriously lacking in heavy firepower.  The four 150mm cannons at this moment are already Sato's most valuable weapons.  Seeing an artilleryman trembling, he flew over with one kick: "Baga. Hurry up and reload!"

    "Hi!" The Japanese artilleryman staggered two steps, not daring to argue and hurriedly carried the shells.

    "Wait, what is that? Quick, give me the telescope." The four cannons turned their muzzles little by little.  While trying to attack the 'cruiser', Sato suddenly discovered that the rear bridge of the 'cruiser' seemed to have rotated, and he quickly picked up the telescope to see clearly.  But he hasn't lifted it yet.  When he saw what he thought was the 'rear bridge', a huge fireball suddenly erupted.

    Sato and several officers' eyes immediately widened. Such a big fireball How could this be a 'cruiser'?  It's clearly a 'shallow water heavy gunship'!  Before he could remind him, there was a whistling sound in the air like a violent high-speed train, and then a dull sound seemed to hit the eardrums directly. All the sounds on the battlefield disappeared in the ears, and then He Yang at his feet  Shandu seemed to tremble.

    "What caliber is this?" Sato broke into a cold sweat.  He stared blankly at the 'shallow water heavy artillery ship' and even forgot to give the order to fire.  He knew that the ship opposite was not a 'cruiser' or a 'shallow-water heavy gunship' at all, but the Qingdao test ship specially transferred by the Navy after learning from Kume Island's lack of sustained firepower experience.

    As for the heavy gun he saw, it was the 480mm experimental gun that briefly showed its power in North Korea.

    The power of the special low-velocity high-explosive bomb weighing 1.5 tons is really terrifying, especially when the distance is shortened. With only seven rounds, the most dangerous section of the Japanese army's permanent fortifications in Heyang Mountain was completely smashed.  "Zhongsao! China has landed on Nopu Island." "Nopu Island?" Sato was dumbfounded again. He never expected that his opponent would attack Nopu Island first.

    Under the fierce bombardment of 5 battleships, 1 gunboat and several fire support ships, the entire sky above Iheiya Island was shrouded in dust and smoke.  This time, Liao Changfeng changed the previous method of landing after the artillery cover was over. He organized two commandos early and quickly completed the beach landing from Yefu Island and the protruding shoal to the west of Awadake Mountain under the cover of artillery fire.

      By 12 noon, the 5th Marine Division and an Army Infantry Division had all arrived on the island.

    "The 42nd Regiment is ordered to fight to the end and delay the time. The headquarters and headquarters will send troops to support as soon as possible" In the underground headquarters of Yusendong on Ryukyu Island, Umezu Yoshijiro looked gloomy.  After the staff officer recorded what was sent to Iheiyajima, he quickly ran out.  Thump thump the heavy and nervous footsteps echoed in the empty underground, giving people a dull and depressing feeling of an imminent rain.

    Umezu Yoshijiro is short in stature and has an elegant temperament. He is considered in the Japanese military circles as a flexible, shrewd and capable senior officer. In the eyes of his subordinates, he has a kind attitude and no arrogance. His words also give people a sense of humility and elegance.  But this person was a true die-hard member of the Imperial Dao Sect, and he was gnashing his teeth with hatred for the navy's delay in coming.  "General." Speaking of grievances, all the Japanese army officers in Ryukyu hate the navy. Kume Island and Iheya Island are the western gates of Ryukyu. Once they are, Ryukyu Island will open up the door and allow China to use the two islands to do things.  Springboard shortens the landing and navigation distance.  Michutaro Komatsubara was one of the representatives, and he said angrily: "Iheiya Island is only 40 kilometers away from Oshima, which is too close! So we should no longer rely on the navy to rescue, but we must find ways to support Sato."

    Although Umezu Yoshijiro was angry, he was not confused yet.  Although Oshima is only 40 kilometers away from Iheya Island, the Army only has a few usable warships, and they are all east of Ryukyu. How can it break through the sea blockade composed of hundreds of warships?

    "You can use fast small torpedo ships and destroyers." When Umezu Yoshijiro was worried, Toyoda, who was sent to Ryukyu by Yamamoto Isoroku as the commander of the garrison fleet, walked into the cave. He held the telegram in his hand with an arrogant expression and glared.  Komatsu who just spoke: "Komatsu-kun! Please pay attention to your position and don't spread discord in the army at this time!"

    The entanglement between Deputy Toyoda and the Army is well known in the Japanese military circles. Originally, he was unwilling to cooperate with the Army to defend the island, but for the sake of the country's survival, he reluctantly agreed.  It was certainly not polite to hear Army officers including Komatsu insulting the Navy.  Afraid of causing another quarrel, Umezu Yoshijiro quickly changed the subject: "General, what did you mean just now?"

    "This is a telegram from Admiral Yamamoto. The combined fleet is coming"

    Hearing that the main force of the navy had finally arrived, Umezu Yoshijiro quickly grabbed the telegram, and with excitement beyond words, he asked: "Admiral, what did you mean by small warships just now?"

    "It's only 40 kilometers, and small ships can arrive at full speed in one hour, so I can dispatch small torpedo ships and destroyers, carry the army, and use the night to cover you to the island." At the moment of life and death, Toyota's deputy military officer did not care to continue quarreling with the army.  , pointing to the northwest corner of Iheya Island: "So, please tell the 42nd Wing to hold on to the northeast corner."

    ====

    PS: Sorry, I got home too late yesterday and forgot to ask for leave.  Today is the last holiday of the year, so you need to buy all the New Year stuff.  There is no way, my mother's fracture has not healed yet, and Hippo is a dual-income family, so I have to work until the afternoon of New Year's Eve before I can take a holiday.  We won¡¯t be able to prepare until then, as there will be no time for the New Year¡¯s Eve dinner, so today we treat ourselves as two people and drive back and forth all day to visit supermarkets and stores.  (To be continued)
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