Canteen System Assistance Notes

At that moment, to the south of the enemy ships were two heavy cruisers of the 7th Squadron and six destroyers of the 3rd Torpedo Squadron (Miyuki of the 11th Destroyer Squadron was gone, and Ling Nan of the 19th Destroyer Squadron was injured in the previous battle and was being repaired), while he was leading the second naval battle squadron from north to south, circling to the rear of the enemy ships.

If the enemy ships tried to escape eastward, the US Navy's standard battleships, with a speed of around 21 knots, could not match the Yamato at its maximum speed, and would be blocked by their own retreat. If the enemy ships tried to escape westward, they would enter the Imperial Army's trap within the Marshall Islands, and there would be no shortage of opportunities to sink them.

Therefore, he did not need to hastily use "one cup" (L)o (total L, referring to full speed) to seize the artillery position, so he ordered the gunner to aim the oversized rangefinder on the top of the Yamato's mast at the enemy battle line and began preparations for shooting.

"Ammunition type change, Type 91 loading—loading completed!"

After firing the last round of Zero high-explosive shells from its gun barrels and contributing a round of splash, the Yamato began to fine-tune its course, aiming its nine guns at the three New Mexico-class ships that were also turning. At this time, the rest of the battlefield had already begun.

Suzuya and Kumano on the south side reported that they had started exchanging fire with the US Navy's "Omaha-class" (Richmond), and their subordinate destroyers were also engaged in artillery battles with four US destroyers and were prepared for torpedo attacks.

During this time, the 203mm cannons of the two Japanese ships put the Omaha-class ship under great pressure. The Suzuya also successfully scored a hit, penetrating the high middle freeboard of the Richmond, causing damage to its B flue and causing a decrease in speed. However, the Kumano was counterattacked by a US ship - the 152mm shell penetrated her armor belt and then exploded in the soy sauce warehouse at the rear of the ship, smashing the rice vinegar, mirin and soy sauce inside, and injuring an unlucky accountant.

Um... With so many ships, it shouldn't be a problem for them to defeat a US light cruiser, right?

On their side, the situation was reversed. The US Navy, seemingly intent on preventing the Yamato from advancing further into the fleet's rear, dispatched the Northampton-class heavy cruiser USS Louisville, which was positioned in the middle of the ship, to turn and fire repeatedly at the Jintsu. Although the Jintsu actively returned fire, the US Navy's 203mm heavy cruiser guns proved more potent, temporarily suppressing the Jintsu.

Several other destroyers also turned north and began to form what seemed to be a torpedo formation.

"Prepare for the second water battle and torpedo attack! Let Tanaka seize the opportunity. We must stop the US destroyer!"

With Yamamoto incapacitated, Ugaki Matome became the official fleet commander. "Our secondary guns will support the Jintsu and drive back the American guerrilla fleet. Main guns, aim at the enemy flagship, fire, fire!"

The Yamato's unmodified hull was equipped with three triple 155mm and three twin 127mm secondary guns on each side. The three 155mm guns, derived from the Mogami class, were used for anti-sea fire in non-emergency situations. Soon, under the gunnery officer's command, the 155mm secondary guns, comparable in firepower to that of light cruisers, began to engulf the Louisville, which was engaged in a firefight with the Jintsu, bringing the situation back to a level playing field.

However, this one-sided pursuit soon ended. As the Yamato fired her Type 91 missiles at the American ships, measuring their range and engaging in a near-simultaneous "co-naval engagement," the 14-inch guns of the three New Mexico-class ships finally let out a dull roar. A full 36 14-inch shells flew in from nearly 20,000 yards away, creating a much shorter, but more numerous and denser forest of water columns around the Yamato.

"Enemy ship bombardment incoming, all personnel prepare for impact!"

Boom boom boom boom!

While the New Mexico-class's shells were smaller in caliber and less powerful, they held a three-to-one numerical advantage. Combined with their 4x3 turret layout, their projectile density was far greater than that of the Yamato. Furthermore, in the previous engagement against the Nagashima, the Yamato had already emptied its turrets of three Type 91 rounds, resulting in a slight decrease in its rate of fire. Furthermore, the need for observation and calibration during naval battles meant that the theoretical rate of fire was far less than that achieved during training. For a moment, the Marines, who had undergone a "spiritual infusion," were unexpectedly outclassed by the high-spirited American crews.

Within a few minutes, when the Yamato had only fired two or three rounds, the three New Mexico-class ships had already fired a full five rounds of shells at the Yamato.

Under such intensive delivery, the iron law of probability finally began to take effect - accompanied by a loud bang, an orange smoke exploded on the front deck of the Yamato, and flying shrapnel and debris flew around.

The USS Idaho scored its first hit on the Yamato!

Chapter 727 Sunrise Islands Naval Battle (5) Knock the Super Crossbow-level Halberd Left Knock (Cun!

(The New Mexico-class's rate of fire has been corrected. It is actually roughly the same level as the Yamato. During training exercises, its rate of fire was even a few seconds slower. Thanks for the correction.

We hit the demon!

Observing the fireball rising from the Yamato, the American crew erupted in cheers. They chanted "Kill the Japs!" and prepared to reload faster, using more and denser shells to drown the moving island opposite.

However, as the smoke from the exploding shells gradually dissipated, a gleaming metallic piece appeared on Yamato's No. 1 turret, which emerged from the smoke. Its rotation and elevation were unaffected. The 14:00 shell had struck the front of Yamato's turret, failing to penetrate her 650mm thick frontal armor.

"We couldn't penetrate her armor!"

The lookout's horrified cry hadn't even died down when the "devil" in the distance once again spewed out the smoke of hell. After a short delay, nine 18:9 shells with shrill screams and a scorching breath of destruction flew towards them mercilessly.

"Incoming! "

Boom! Boom! Nine 460mm shells created eight water columns around Idaho!

The Idaho, momentarily rejoicing, plummeted from heaven to hell. A devastating .460mm shell slammed into the base of the main bridge, crushing the fragile structure before piercing the shoulder of the armored box. It destroyed several anti-aircraft guns and a row of compartments before detonating, turning the hapless crew around it into ash. Another near miss, as it passed over the Idaho's bridge, ripped off her "eyes"—the rangefinder atop the bridge.

But before long, the Idaho, blinded and relying only on its turret rangefinder and friendly fire signals, met with misfortune again: minutes later, at the head of the battle line, it dodged another salvo, but failed to dodge the next—a heavy Type 91 armor-piercing shell struck its main armor belt, piercing all the way to the ship's heavy fuel oil storage tanks and exploding in the peripheral pipes. The next second, the pipes filled with heated heavy fuel oil instantly ignited.

Then, the blast wave quickly developed in the opposite direction along the pipe and penetrated into her boiler room!

The speed of the Idaho dropped immediately, and a raging flame began to spread inside her hull, and suffocating black smoke began to spread everywhere.

And spread outward along the destructive openings in the cabin and hull, as if it was constantly losing

Bloody wound.

During this time, the three New Mexico-class ships scored two more hits on the Yamato, but one of the shells was blocked by the Yamato's main armor belt and ricocheted due to the angle of impact; the other shell bounced off the turret armor of the rear turret and exploded on the rear deck. It only blew off some teak decks and lifeboats on the Yamato, causing no substantial damage.

And every salvo fired by Yamato is a gamble of life - every hit of hers is fatal.

The enemy is not on the same level as us!

The bone-chilling cold enveloped everyone, and the severely damaged Idaho, whose speed had been reduced, could no longer serve as the leader of the battle line. Its captain, Roscoe

--Colonel Ernest Shulman had to order his ship to signal and yaw to the right.

Leave the battle line. Amid the blasting alarms and choking black smoke, he grabbed the microphone of the TBS system and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"We're being attacked by an 18-inch beast! Do something, Commander!"

The new information is accurate, the Chinese are right, these damn Japanese guys really created an 18-inch monster!

However, just as a dying cry for help is rarely answered, so too is salvation often difficult for the unfortunate. This desperate TBS voice became the Idaho's final cry. As she signaled her departure from the battle line, the distant behemoth still held her claws. After dodging three more salvos, the Yamato finally scored a final hit on the unfortunate ship.

The shell struck the aft hull, and the 343mm thick main armor belt was as thin as a crisp in a pancake before the Type 91 armor-piercing round. Before the long-delayed Type 91 armor-piercing round could react, the 1.3-ton armor-piercing shell, wrapped in terrifying kinetic energy, penetrated downwards and penetrated into the crucial port engine room.

Then, the fuse at the bottom of the bullet moved.

With a roar that seemed to come from deep underground, shrieking steam and flames burst out from almost every open door and window in the rear half of the Idaho! Whoosh—boom!

"The scholar who surpasses the level of crossbow and halberd is knocking on the bamboo!"

Seeing the Idaho's speed drop sharply, black smoke billowing out, and then breaking away from the battle line, Ugaki Matoi knew that his first battleship victory was basically achieved. However, compared to his excitement, the situation of the Yamato was not perfect.

Although the New Mexico-class 14-inch shells couldn't penetrate the turrets and main armor belt, they couldn't be completely ignored like the destroyer's 127mm guns. Just now, a shell fired by the Mississippi finally caused substantial damage to the Yamato - the shell fell at a sharp angle and hit the No. 3 155mm secondary gun turret on the starboard side.

The triple-mounted 155mm turret originally installed on the top stage, which had almost no defense, was almost immediately blasted in the head by an American artillery shell. Fortunately, the armor belt at the rear withstood the subsequent damage, and the timely closure of the ammunition well also blocked the possibility of a secondary explosion, but the turret was also twisted into a knot and could no longer be used.

"Captain! The number three secondary gun is severely damaged, the entire crew is destroyed, and the function is lost!"

The alarm bells indicating damage control operations flashed and rang inside the ship. The shouts of the damage control captain came from the brass tubes, but these sounds seemed to be completely filtered out by Ugaki's ears. He shouted loudly, "Don't worry about those! Give priority to attacking the American and livestock warships!"

Ship!" He let go of the telescope and rushed to Takayanagi Gihachi who was holding the phone and communicating with someone.

"Captain, what are you doing! Don't waste time!

Our ship is outfighting three! We've already destroyed one enemy warship! If we don't quickly destroy the remaining enemy ships, once our sights and sights are compromised, the favorable situation will be reversed! The 155mm turret is useless in sinking the enemy warship, don't let it distract you! "I am the captain of the warship, and the decisions regarding this ship's operations rest with me!" Takayanagi Gihachi held his breath and said, then lowered his voice, "Sir! It's not just the number three secondary gun that's at stake!"

"Just now, the No. 1 and No. 3 turrets were hit by shells. Although they did not penetrate, the turret crew members suffered head injuries, and their operations are restricted. I need to confirm the situation before continuing the battle!

"So what's the situation with the turret now? Do the turret members need medical attention?"

Upon hearing about the turret issue, Ugaki Matome calmed down. Right now, all his hopes for victory and sinking the enemy ship rested on those three powerful turrets; there couldn't be a problem! "The gunnery commander reports that the crew members only suffered collision injuries from the impact and are operationally sound!"

"That's good... That's good, that's good!" Ugaki turned away, paced slowly a few steps, and muttered this three times. Then, his face suddenly became stern.

Loudly said,

"How's the situation with the Second Water War and the Seventh Squadron?"

Report! The 7th Squadron destroyed one US light cruiser and one destroyer. Kumano, Shirayuki, and Miyuki were slightly damaged and are flanking the enemy ships. The Second Squadron destroyed two US destroyers in a naval battle, including Asashio, and is preparing for a mine warfare campaign! "Yoshi... continue the bombardment, fire accurately, and quickly destroy the enemy warships!"

He turned around again, took a few big steps, snatched the phone from Captain Gao Liu's hand, and repeated loudly to the gunnery officer on the other end: "We must quickly destroy the enemy warship!

Sensing the situation was still good and victory was becoming apparent, Ugaki Matome regained control of the telescope. In the gradually easing rain, the enemy ships in the distance had shrunk from three to two. Closer still, the Jintsu was flashing its lights, directing the destroyers to flank the enemy and, along with the Yamato, suppress the firing of the American heavy cruisers.

And the Yamato, the invincible Yamato, had just finished reloading at a fixed angle and once again raised the barrel of the massive cannon that symbolized destruction; a dense barrage of secondary guns was pounding the advancing US destroyer... Wait, a US destroyer was advancing?

Before Ugaki Matome could think about it, a huge fireball suddenly rose from the Jintsu, which was blocking the Yamato; then, the whistling sound of the falling 14-inch shell came again, as if it passed from the front to the side and behind him, and then fell into the water, exploding a series of water columns.

Humph, a mere soldier of the rice-beast master, missed the target again...

But the next moment, the steel floor beneath Ugaki's feet vibrated violently, and a muffled explosion echoed through the steel! BANG!!!

Chapter 728: Battle of the Sunrise Islands (6) Reloading the Second Stool, and then Breaking In!

Compared to the "New Mexico" class, the Yamato has much better armor and defense: the thickest part is 410 mm armor belt, 650 mm turret front armor, as well as reasonable armor layout and underwater defense... However, this does not mean that the Yamato has no weaknesses.

One of them is the extension of the armor belt below the No. 3 turret in the rear half of the Yamato.

This is located at the rear edge of the torpedo bulge, which is the junction of the torpedo bulge and the hull armor. Here, the Yamato's welding strength has certain defects. If it suffers a fierce attack, it will be easy for the cabin to rupture and the torpedo bulge to break. In the original time and space, this weakness of the Yamato was hit by a torpedo fired by the American submarine "Quackfish", resulting in serious water ingress.

Now, a 14-inch shell fired by the New Mexico changed direction after hitting the water, and hit the Yamato's vulnerable spot in the form of a "water bullet", severely opening a large hole under the starboard side of this "pride of Showa"!

The surging sea water immediately poured into the cabin of the Yamato.

While the damage here wouldn't immediately affect the critical power plants or ammunition depots, and wouldn't be fatal with proper damage control, the massive flooding and underwater holes in the hull forced the Yamato to reduce speed and conduct damage control operations. Meanwhile, facing the remaining two ships, which had broken away from the Idaho and activated all-head Bendix (overloaded boilers beyond their limits, with the clock hands pointing to the clock manufacturer's trademark "Bendix" mode), pushing their limits to 23 knots, the Yamato's reduced speed meant the victory would slip away before her very eyes!

This time, the burden of saving the situation fell on the destroyers in the "mine house".

In the Battle of the Sunrise Islands, in addition to the powerful Yamato, the Japanese Navy also participated in the Second and Third Water Battles. The Second Water Battle, led by the 7th Fleet's Suzuya and Kumano, successfully pursued and destroyed the American Omaha-class ship USS Richmond. The Third Water Battle was now circling the battlefield from the southwest to the south, intending to block the American ship's flank and disrupt its artillery formation.

The battle there was not much suspense due to the disparity in both numbers and quality between the two sides. The Richmond's 6th Destroyer Division, consisting of four destroyers, was no match for the two heavy cruisers and six destroyers. They could only release smoke screens and retreat in a dodging manner to avoid being annihilated.

But on the Yamato's side, the situation of the torpedo squadron was not so optimistic.

While this Second Naval Battle, known as the Second Naval Battle of China, was characterized by superior tactics and techniques, the US Navy was facing the 9th and 10th Destroyer Divisions, escorting the New Mexico-class destroyers and the Louisville, and was outnumbered. Because many of these destroyers were older models, the US Navy even had a slight advantage in torpedoes over the Japanese.

Even though the torpedoes of the US military at this time were quite "iron rods", there were too many of them and they could still kill people!

Rear Admiral Tanaka Raizo, the commander of the Second Water War, was a competent mine warfare commander, but he seemed somewhat mediocre compared to the highly skilled captains of his ships. After receiving his order to "deploy left and right, prepare for torpedo warfare," the Second Water War, relying on light signals and the tacit understanding gained from training, began its operation independently.

In short, it means "the flagship moves forward to repel flank attacks."

In the mine room, as the flagship, in addition to having the power to command the entire fleet, he also has the responsibility of holding the front line during wartime and attracting hatred for the destroyers in the fleet.

This responsibility is reflected in the first person to turn on the light in the night battle.

Concentrating fire on the target during the day means frantically sending light signals to coordinate the fleet's actions.

After all, the Japanese lacked a short-range voice communication system like TBS. Fleet-to-fleet communication relied on lights and flag signals, in addition to telegraphs.

For a moment, the flagship, the Jintsu, was ablaze with light signals and radio traffic, becoming the most conspicuous target on the battlefield. Even with the Yamato's secondary guns, it inevitably came under concentrated fire from the American ships. A barrage of 203mm and 127mm shells rained down, leaving the light cruiser, whose protection was barely better than a destroyer, like a hapless dancer on a tightrope.

Shortly after the Yamato's No. 3 15mm gun turret went airborne, the Jintsu, already struck by several 127mm shells, was hit again by an 8mm shell. A violent explosion erupted through the ship, jamming its fragile underbody structure and rudder together. This time, the Jintsu's steering was disabled, forcing it to circle in circles for a short while.

At this time, the four ships of the US 10th Destroyer Squadron, Cushing, Perkins, Smith, and Preston, which were attacking, had already entered the 8-kilometer range of the Shentong and were about to enter the torpedo range!

"To all ships in the Second Fleet, this ship requires no support. Maintain a detour and only launch torpedo attacks after reaching your position!"

Despite being hit by multiple bullets and billowing thick smoke, the Jintō continued firing, its six operational 140mm guns continuing to fire at the approaching US destroyer.

He used light signals to direct the destroyers while directing the secondary guns of the Yamato.

aims.

Finally, after two consecutive hits on the advancing destroyer USS Cushing, blasting a large hole in its hull, the Japanese destroyers, having reached their positions, and the American destroyers, whose attack momentum had been drastically reduced, launched their torpedoes almost simultaneously. Powered by air pressure or gunpowder, the MK15 torpedoes and the Type 93 oxygen torpedoes were flung into the water, leaving distinct or faint white streaks as they raced towards their respective targets.

Bang bang bang—boom boom!

Shentong's "hatred-mongering" behavior brought serious consequences to her. Within a short period of time, she was hit by three torpedoes fired by the destroyers Perkins and Preston. The first torpedo was a dud, breaking its fuse and sinking to the seabed. The second torpedo successfully detonated in the engine room in the ship's bulge, destroying Shentong's ship-type boiler and causing a major power outage across the ship. The third torpedo hit her hull, creating a huge, almost unrepairable breach.

A massive fireball soared into the sky, accompanied by a towering column of water. The 5500-ton "large destroyer" seemed to slightly jump from the surface of the sea before sinking irreversibly, much like the Warabi at Miho Pass. The sailors on board were forced to abandon ship and escort the injured and unconscious captain, Captain Kawanishi Toranosuke, to evacuation.

But objectively speaking, her sacrifice was worth it.

At this moment, like speed skaters on ice, the 8th Destroyer Squadron and the 7th Ship of the 16th Destroyer Squadron threw a cross-shaped "torpedo soup" towards the US fleet. Although the dense Type 93 torpedoes are more likely to explode, their only advantages after entering the water are their great power, high speed, long range and strong concealment.

The Shentong's "suicidal" behavior made it so that there were almost no ships to stop it except for a few destroyers.

By intercepting the destroyers divided into two teams, the seven ships, Asashio, Mitsuchō, Arashio, Ohashio, Hatsukaze, Amatsukaze, and Tokitsukaze, were able to comfortably carry out torpedo warfare, demonstrating the authentic skills of the "Two Naval Battles of China".

The Cushing, whose ship channel was damaged and whose speed was reduced, was hit first. The powerful Type 93 almost blew her ship to pieces. The Smith, who was unable to dodge, followed closely behind. Her boiler, which was running at full speed, was destroyed in one pot. After the explosion, she was bathed in her own steam cloud and ignited a fire. The Porter, who was escorting the New Mexico-class formation, suffered the most tragically. She was known for her artillery fire and her ammunition depot was detonated.

After a loud noise like thunder, the entire ship disappeared from the sea.

The face disappeared completely!

Later, Louisville, which was continuing to bombard and suppress the Shentong, followed the same path as these destroyers.

She dodged the torpedoes fired from one side, but failed to avoid the torpedoes fired from the other side - a Type 93 torpedo hit her engine room, causing flooding to the hull and simultaneously destroying one of the power shafts, causing its speed to drop sharply to 14 knots. Although its captain and damage control team fought hard, they quickly controlled the out-of-control hull by balancing the course with the steering gear and began effective damage control operations, but the Jintsu's dying "ripple" - a Type 90 torpedo - hit her boiler room on the other side again, destroying all remaining power and creating a large hole on the other side of the hull that was flooded with water.

In this short mine battle, the Japanese successfully damaged/sank three US destroyers and one heavy cruiser at the cost of one light cruiser!

—--——―-—

Thanks to the dedicated efforts of their respective escort vessels, neither the Yamato nor the three New Mexico-class ships were hit by torpedoes. The Yamato was able to avoid the American torpedoes, which were short of range, by making minor adjustments to its course. The New Mexico and Mississippi, still in action, were forced to steer to starboard and head south to avoid the Japanese torpedoes.

This created a great opportunity for a gunnery engagement for the Yamato—the enemy's main guns would have to drastically adjust their direction and recalculate their fire control to effectively crossfire, allowing the Yamato to continue its aggressive pursuit of the enemy. By now, the Yamato had circled eastward, while the American ships fled south, right where the 7th Fleet and Sanshui were flitting.

If the Americans want to launch an effective artillery attack, they can only turn to the west!

On the other side, they were greeted by Taiying's carrier-based aircraft and land attack waves!

"Catch up! Keep up the bombardment!" "Ugaki Matome was so excited when he saw the torpedo squadron's powerful performance, forcing the enemy ships into an even more deadly abyss, that he almost fainted. He shouted while staring at the American warships with his eyes fixed on the telescope, "Precise bombardment, give priority to attacking the enemy ships in the rear!"

During this time, the Yamato finally resolved the flooding problem caused by the underwater shells and balanced the hull by reverse injection of 50 tons of water, restoring its speed. The massive optical rangefinder and the Imperial Empire's inherent artillery technology were once again put to good use, hitting the Mississippi with two consecutive shells.

The two Type 91 shells not only overturned a row of her secondary guns and blew up the secondary gun rangefinder, but also damaged her rear bridge, destroyed the sailors' mess, and killed a large number of wounded soldiers, medical staff and damage control team members on standby. Now, the fuel in the water engine warehouse at the rear of the Mississippi was also ignited. Although the speed of the entire battleship was not affected, her rear deck was covered with blood and thick smoke, like an old cow running away with flames.

Charge! We're going to sink her! Wait until she turns! Then we'll give her a good hit! Ugaki Matome had already jumped up. If the staff officer hadn't held him tightly, he would have rushed towards Captain Takayanagi again and snatched his command phone, "Bombard! Bombard!