Chapter 2787: A Glimmer of Hope 1
"The probability of success in a destroyer lightning strike is not high. The Japanese protect their core battleships very well. Even in the worst time, they still left three destroyers for the Tosa, while we only had five," Redl said. , at this time, his words were very dry, and there seemed to be no emotion at all. Now Redel was like a sophisticated machine, reason dominated his brain, and he did not give up even in the darkest moments. !
"Is the telegraph still available?" asked Redl.
"Communications within the fleet can still be maintained," an officer said.
"Very good, if I read correctly, it is the Arizona that is dealing with the Ibuki now, right?" Reidel asked.
"That's right." Nimitz nodded and said after observing.
"Send a telegram to Captain Kimmel, the captain of the Arizona, and tell him that I will hand over all the destroyers to him and ask him to sink the Ibuki within 25 minutes! This is our last chance!" Lei Del said categorically: "After killing the Ibuki, let the Arizona join our ship immediately to deal with the Tosa! Don't worry about anything else and carry out my orders!"
"What if Colonel Kimmel refuses to execute?" someone whispered.
"Then let's all die together!" Reidel's answer was very decisive and stern! And a minute later, Colonel King received a telegram from Redel! When the colonel picked up the telescope and looked into the distance, he did see five destroyers heading towards the Arizona. The signal from the leading destroyer also showed that Redel had handed over command to Colonel King. !
"It seems that this time, I will either become the savior or the sinner who ruined the U.S. Navy!" Colonel Jin took a deep breath to calm down his excitement. He never thought that he would be given such an important task! Although the person who issued this order was not his immediate superior, he was even a German! But what does it matter? He must solve this problem, otherwise everyone will be ruined!
"Two! Only 2 destroyers?" Colonel Jin once again confirmed his opponent, an Ibuki-class battleship and 2 destroyers. It was clearly 4 just now, but now there are only 2, and he has 3 destroyers. , plus the 5 destroyers provided by Redel, that’s 8 ships! The Ibuki in the distance had been severely damaged, and the battleship was even seen tilting seriously! Previously, if three of his destroyers launched lightning strikes, they might not be successful, but now, a sneer appeared on Colonel Jin's lips!
"Concentrate all the main guns to attack the destroyers escorting the Ibuki! Then all the destroyers of our fleet launch lightning strikes on the Ibuki! That's it!" Colonel Jin issued his most valuable order in this battle! Some even said after the war that the U.S. fleet was able to escape and ascend to heaven largely because of this decision. Although it is a bit exaggerated, it has to be said.
This order also had an extremely far-reaching impact on the battle situation!
The salvo of nine 14-inch guns was simply fatal to the unprepared destroyer. The first destroyer that was targeted fell into the water column falling from the barrage almost instantly. The attack came so suddenly that the destroyer could not even He didn't expect that he would be taken care of by a battleship. The destroyer began to speed up and evade, leaving curved traces on the sea. However, the shells followed closely and got closer and closer!
"Are the Americans crazy?" Kantaro Suzuki said on the Ibuki, looking at the Arizona turning its guns in the distance. The Japanese here were not slow in their actions. While the Arizona was diverting its firepower, the Ibuki used only its own The remaining three 14-inch guns fought back hard, and with the help of luck, they scored two hits. However, this had little impact on the thick-skinned Arizona!
In the end, the destroyer that was stared at by the behemoth sank. A 14-inch shell hit the middle of the destroyer's hull, smashing the superstructure of the destroyer like a heavy hammer. The chimney, The torpedo's launch tube and half of the bridge were blown into the air. The shell exploded inside the hull, not only destroying more than 60% of the boiler, but also breaking the thin hull into a sieve, accompanied by the influx of a large amount of seawater. Enter, this destroyer is dead!
"It's our turn now!" Halsey said excitedly, looking at the Ibuki, which was guarded by only one destroyer. Six destroyers formed the first wave of offensive. They didn't care about the Japanese destroyers and the missiles fired from other directions. The shells rushed directly towards the Ibuki, and the entire destroyer squadron rushed towards the opponent at a speed of up to 33 knots. Every minute, they could escape 2 kilometers! Facing these assassins armed with sharp blades, Ibuki fought back hard while dodging!
However, in the end, the Arizona's muzzle turned again completely destroyed the Ibuki's hope of escape. A shell hit the Ibuki's steering gear compartment. This shot made the Ibuki unable to operate effectively for ten minutes. However, for these For an assassin, 5 minutes is enough!
The last Japanese destroyer bravely rushed forward. However, under the storm-like shells of the three destroyers, the Japanese destroyer was also severely damaged, floating on the sea with flames all over its body. In the end, Halsey's destroyer squadron We arrived at the lightning strike position, and then fired 8 torpedoes at a distance of 1,500 to 900 meters!
The almost unavoidable Ibuki finally met its end. Five torpedoes successively focused on the severely damaged battleship! The power of a ship-based torpedo weighing more than 1 ton is not comparable to that of an aviation torpedo. The worst thing is that two of the torpedoes hit very close to each other, accompanied by a thunderous explosion. The water column rose from the sea, cutting through the battleship with a displacement of up to 25,000 tons like a white sword! These two torpedoes directly cut Ibuki in half! Before the water column fell, you could clearly see the rear half of the hull being lifted up by the huge explosion, and the bow of the ship piercing the water like a long knife! The two torpedoes that hit subsequently shattered the front hull of the ship! Countless fragments were thrown dozens of meters into the air! In the end, the battleship broke into several pieces and sank into the sea!
"We seemed to have overfulfilled the task. It took less than 15 minutes in total." Colonel Kimmel said, wiping the sweat from his head. He was extremely calm at this time, and was not excited at all because he had sunk a Japanese Super Dreadnought, because he knew that this victory was only a foundation and gave the American fleet a chance to survive. The situation was still difficult, and he still needed to work hard.
Here comes the second update~~~! ! Please subscribe and reward~~~! ! !
rise of empire