Chapter 953: The "Primary School Students" Are Still the Best

"Sir, Atlanta, Savannah and Dell were hit by torpedoes! Oh, God, Dell is broken in two..."

Inside the bridge of the heavy cruiser Indianapolis, the flagship of the 51.7th Squadron of the United States, Rear Admiral Wright's face turned pale as he listened to the report of the staff. It was originally thought that the 51.7th Squadron, which had advanced radar and superior numbers, could teach the Japanese devils a lesson at Midway Island, but it was unexpected that not long after the war began, they had already lost two "flush decks" and a "Farragut" class. Moreover, the sunken "Dell" (Farragut class) was broken in two from the middle... This means that the ship will sink soon, and the 250 US Navy officers and soldiers on it may not be able to escape. This is really a heavy loss!

"Disband the formation!" Rear Admiral Wright prayed for the 250 brave American sailors in his heart, and then focused his mind on the battlefield. "Order each ship to fight on its own... Be careful of the Japanese torpedoes!"

The lesson Wright learned from the last "Ice Sea Night Battle" was that formation operations were prone to torpedoes, so after being hit by the Japanese, Major General Wright immediately ordered the formation to disband. But he had no intention of retreating.

Behind him was Midway Island. On the three bare coral reef islands with no shelter, there were more than 2,000 American engineers and a large number of "Caterpillar" bulldozers and motor graders. If the Japanese heavy cruisers bombarded them, the work of repairing the Midway Airport would be delayed - this matter is now the top priority!

Because Major General Wright and Lieutenant General Mikawa Gunichi both ordered the disbandment of the formation, this battle, which was later called the "First Battle of Midway" in history, began to enter the stage of a thrilling night melee.

The Americans had powerful radars and the Japanese had sharp torpedoes. This was really a bit like meeting a match.

After entering the "night melee" stage, the engagement distance between the two sides also quickly shortened, from more than 20,000 meters at the beginning of the exchange of fire to several thousand meters. At this distance, Japan's cat's eye tactics also began to play a role. However, the American Mk11 torpedo can also play a role.

The two Japanese heavy cruisers that were hit and caught fire in the previous battle became targets to attract shells. In particular, the "Furutaka", which was relatively close to the US fleet, was hit by 8 127mm shells in less than 5 minutes. Two of the three main gun turrets were destroyed, and the whole ship was shrouded in fire. Another shell drilled into the power compartment, blew up two heavy oil boilers, and broke a steam pipe, causing half of the power to be lost. Now this 8,700-ton heavy cruiser has no possibility of escaping the battlefield!

At 10:45 p.m., the half-dead heavy cruiser Furutaka was hit below the starboard waterline by a Mk11 torpedo fired by a Farragut-class destroyer. The torpedo tore a huge gap and began to surge in, causing Furutaka to tilt severely to the right.

Two minutes later, a torpedo fired by another American destroyer hit the starboard side of Furutaka again. The scarred heavy cruiser finally could not hold on and slowly sank into the sea while turning sideways.

However, the Japanese soon returned the favor and avenged the unfortunate Furutaka. At 10:50 p.m., the radar of the American heavy cruiser Quincy, which was firing at the Toriumi, found that two ships of unknown origin appeared 23,000 meters outside the port side and were approaching at a speed of more than 40 knots.

The captain of the heavy cruiser Quincy immediately realized that these were two Japanese destroyers, and he immediately ordered the guns to turn and aim at the enemy. However, the two Japanese destroyers were running too fast, and the target was too small, so the Quincy's guns missed one after another. It was not until 10 minutes later that the first collided shot was fired, and at this time the distance between the two sides had been shortened to about 10,000 meters, which was enough for the 16 Type 93 oxygen torpedoes on the two Shimakaze-class destroyers that came from elsewhere to support (there are 30 torpedo tubes on the two Shimakaze-class destroyers, and theoretically 30 Type 93 torpedoes can be fired in one salvo, but the destroyer's ammunition capacity is limited. Even Japan, which attaches great importance to torpedo warfare, can only install 15 spare ammunition on the Shimakaze-class, so it has to be used sparingly and cannot be used up at once) to become a formidable weapon!

At about 11:05 p.m., the Quincy heavy cruiser was hit on the port side by two powerful Japanese Type 93 torpedoes, which immediately tore open two huge holes, and the Quincy soon appeared at a large angle. Because the seawater poured in too fast and could not be blocked at all, the captain had to order everyone to leave the ship at 11:10. Less than 5 minutes later, the Quincy heavy cruiser with a standard displacement of more than 10,000 tons sank, and 215 of the 708 officers and soldiers on board did not have time to evacuate.

At the same time that the Quincy was sunk by Japanese torpedoes, the flaming flagship Chōkai heavy cruiser, on which Mikawa Gunichi was riding, also became the prey of torpedoes fired by American destroyers. This heavy cruiser with a standard displacement of 13,400 tons is one of the four Takao-class ships and one of Japan's best heavy cruisers.

However, it is now in a desperate situation, because it has been hit by more than 20 203mm shells, and Chōkai has basically lost its combat effectiveness, and its speed has dropped to less than 10 knots. It can only watch two American destroyers fire torpedoes at itself...

"Summon the Shimakaze... Now, give up Chōkai!"

At 11:10, Commander Mikawa Junichi of Japan's 8th Fleet reluctantly issued an order to abandon the heavy cruiser "Chori Kai". Fifteen minutes later, the destroyer "Shimakaze" used a powerful 93 torpedo to end the heavy cruiser Chokai that had become scrap metal.

However, the shipwreck competition between the two sides did not end with the sinking of the "Chokai". At 11:15, the light cruiser USS Atlanta, which had previously been hit by a 93 torpedo, was hit again by a torpedo fired by the "Nadakaze". The nearly 10,000-ton large light cruiser suffered fatal injuries and sank after struggling at sea for more than ten minutes.

At 11:20, the Japanese heavy cruiser Aoba approached the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis, the flagship of the US 51.7th Group, and was hit one after another by the opponent's 203mm main gun when it attempted to launch 93 torpedoes. Although it did not explode the 93 torpedo, it knocked off a turret on the bow of the ship, caused a fire, and turned itself into an eye-catching target.

However, 5 minutes later, a 93 torpedo it launched hit the stern of the USS Indianapolis. Not only did it open a big hole in the butt of the American heavy cruiser, but it also caused the rudder to be damaged by something unknown. Something is stuck. As a result, this 10,000-ton treaty ship had to sail straight towards Midway Island. Later, with the help of a "flat deck" class, it ran aground near the sand island of Midway Island and turned into a "fixed turret".

Due to the profound lessons learned by Chokai and Furutaka, Aoba, which was hit by a bomb and caught fire, did not dare to fight and withdrew from the battlefield under the cover of sister ship Kinugasa.

After the Aoba retreated and the Kinugasa temporarily left, the Japanese heavy cruiser on the sea near Midway was left with only one Kako, while the United States also had the "Wichita", "Vincens" and "San Francisco" and three other heavy cruisers.

Of course, the Kako was no match for the three American heavy cruisers. In less than 10 minutes, she was beaten to a point of rage and hurriedly withdrew from the battlefield.

However, the three American heavy cruisers were unwilling to let go of the "Kakko" and followed behind them while chasing. Just when the Kako was about to be crippled, the two Japanese fast destroyers Shimakaze and Nadakaze emerged from nowhere and launched 20 93 torpedoes in one go, two of which hit "Wen" respectively. Sens" and "San Francisco" caused these two American heavy cruisers to suffer heavy damage immediately. Later, like the "Indianapolis", they were stranded at Midway Island and used as turrets.

Seeing that two American heavy cruisers were severely damaged, the Wichita, with a standard displacement of more than 10,000 tons, did not dare to fight anymore, and retreated to Midway Island in dejection while protecting the two injured heavy cruisers.

At this time, Shimakaze and Nadakaze had already fired most of the Japanese ships on the sea with 93 torpedoes, and they lost the capital to fight again.

At 11:30, Commander Mikawa Junichi of the Japanese 8th Fleet issued an order for the entire fleet to retreat. At the same time, he used the radio on the Shimakaze to report the battle situation to the Combined Fleet Headquarters and Military Command, and requested punishment...

…

"The Chokai sank, the Furutaka sank, the Kako was severely damaged, the Aoba was severely damaged... Baga, the night battle actually ended like this, Mikawa Junichi, this big idiot, can commit seppuku!"

After receiving the report, Nagano Shushen went berserk on the spot. He lost two heavy cruisers at once and severely damaged two others. Moreover, this was the result of a night battle in which the Japanese Navy was "good at"!

If this continues, what will happen in the Battle of the Hawaiian Islands? How many heavy cruisers does the Japanese Empire have that can be used to fight like this?

This way of joining a boat...

"Nagano-kun," Yamamoto Isoroku spoke at this time. He said to Nagano Osamu: "Why don't you send three heavy cruisers, including Takao, Atago, and Maya, to Hawaii, and send 10 Yugumo-class destroyers to Hawaii? The two heavy torpedo-armed light cruisers Kitakami and Oi should also be dispatched in advance."

Nagano Shushen was shocked when he heard what Yamamoto said. Not only was he not prepared to punish the defeated Mikawa Junichi and Kami Shigetoku, but he also affirmed their record at Midway Island and sent 10 soldiers. A precious Yugumo-class (with 2 4-unit 610mm torpedo launch tubes) and 2 "heavy mine-armed light cruisers" to be used in the counterattack stage of the Jie-1 operation, Kitakami and Oi were transferred to the Mikawa Army one.

Yamamoto looked at Nagano who looked surprised and said with a smile: "Nagano-kun, the night battle at Midway Island is just the beginning. Suffering some setbacks does not mean that Mikawa Junichi's tactics are wrong... and I have already seen it from the temporary defeat. The way to win, so now you can use the heavy thunder tactic!"