"Can we be sure it's an enemy ship?"

On the bridge of the battleship Shinano, Hikosuke Kato couldn't help but ask with some worry when he saw that the front main turrets of the battleships "Shinano" and "Mino" had started firing in unison.

"Of course I can't be sure!" Inoue Narumi shook her head in annoyance, "Isn't the gunner crazy!" ”

On the orders of Narumi Inoue, the battleship "Shinano" stopped firing.

As the No. 3 and No. 4 ships of the "Yamato" class super battleships, the "Shinano" and "Mino" are undoubtedly the new forces that the battleships of the Yomoto Combined Fleet that are fighting hard with the Chinese fleet are eagerly awaiting to arrive.

Probably eager to fight, after discovering the shadow of the ship in front of them, the gunners of the "Shinano" and "Mino" did not wait for the order to shoot before they began to bombard.

As a matter of fact, I was quite lucky, the target of the shelling they just now was precisely the super battleship of the Chinese Navy, but because the sea conditions were too bad, the hull of the ship shook badly, and the aiming was greatly affected, and none of these shells could hit the target.

At this time, the vast sea was churning from time to time, and this vast sea, even if people were condescending and their horizons expanded to a radius of forty miles, were still impossible to see. The flowing plain stirred up a raging wave under the merciless whip of the storm, like a thousand horses galloping.

Under the blow of the huge waves, the "Shinano" unexpectedly rose up at once, and then fell down heavily, and in the middle of this fall, the people on the bridge seemed to fly into the air and fall into the abyss.

The people who experienced the dance on the cusp of this wave were all lost for a while.

Despite the growing wind and waves, the speed of the battleship "Shinano" did not slow down.

After receiving the news of the decisive battle between the main forces of the combined fleet and the Chinese fleet in the "Dragon Triangle," the "Shinano" formation accelerated its advance. The main ships of the fleet led by Inoue Narumi were the battleships "Shinano" and "Mino," as well as four large aircraft carriers of the "Yunryu" class, and their course was at a certain angle to the Yumoto Battlefleet, which was fighting the Chinese Navy's combat fleet. And shortly after arriving in the "Dragon Triangle", at the suggestion of Yoshisuke Kato, Inoue Narumi ordered the two super battleships and the four aircraft carriers to play the role of "Terminator" to be separated, so that the aircraft carriers could bypass the storm zone under the protection of heavy cruisers.

After storming the "Dragon Triangle", they soon spotted the battleships of the warring sides 20 nautical miles to their right.

Originally, in order to conceal the enemy, Inoue Narumi had strictly ordered the two super battleships not to fire rashly, and at the same time not to turn on the navigation lights, he allowed the super battleships of the Chinese Navy's combat fleet to ravage the battleships of the combined fleet of the Chinese Navy frantically, and the sky-high flames that exploded when the battleships were hit by a violent blow just now, he naturally could not see it, but he could clearly see the firelight of the salvo of battleships of the two fleets. Therefore, while the combined fleet was stubbornly resisting the frenzied attack of the Chinese Navy's two super battleships and eight battleships, the staff officers of the "Shinano" formation, together with the observers of the battleships "Shinano" and "Mino," were meticulously calculating the positions of the Chinese Navy's battleships.

However, the rush of the gunner ruined a great opportunity.

After the battleships "Shinano" and "Mino" opened fire, the commander of the Chinese fleet, no matter how stupid, was able to determine that it was the enemy who came.

What's even worse is the coming of the storm at this time.

It was dark and the water was dark, making it a black sea.

Yanyu Kato even felt that even the wind was dark.

As we approached the battlefield, the thunder was like thousands of chariots rolling from the horizon, and the storm began hysterically, with strong winds, torrential rains, and bad waves, as if the world had come to an end.

The rain fell madly from the sky, and the dark and dreary sky seemed to collapse immediately, and the wind chased the rain, and the rain chased the wind, and the wind and the rain united to chase the dark clouds in the sky, and the whole world was in the rain. The wind whipped the torrential rain like countless whips, and whipped fiercely at the warships. The rain swept over like a huge waterfall, and the dark clouds covered the sky like a huge black cloth, and the rain poured incessantly, and the rain at Kato's feet gathered into streams.

The darkness of the night is suffocating.

At this moment, Kato Yanyu suddenly felt that in front of the great power of nature, people were so small.

"Dalang has done us a favor this time."

Chu Yangwei, the commander of the Chinese fleet, who stood in front of the chart table like a statue, only nodded quietly when he heard the words of Chief of Staff Zhang Enming.

He's waiting, he's gambling.

Before entering the "Dragon Triangle", he had received information about the location of the reinforcement fleet, and he also knew that the commander of the fleet was not an ordinary person. In the first round of exchanges between the two sides, the Chinese fleet had the upper hand. And in this second round of exchanges, the emergence of this new fleet will undoubtedly make the Chinese Navy pay an additional price for victory.

If you dare to go straight to the "Dragon Triangle", then the commander of this fleet will definitely seek to annihilate the Chinese fleet in a more crazy and unexpected way.

For Chu Yangwei, his purpose was to break his attempt to annihilate the Chinese fleet!

Thinking of this, Chu Yangwei understood that it was necessary for him to continue gambling with him, and he had no way out now.

The strong sea breeze whistled and blew, and the huge warship weighing tens of thousands of tons ran awkwardly on the sea, crashing into one wave after another with a strong bow, churning out rolling waves and moving forward bravely, leaving a wide wave trail in the sea. The huge waves are like a sharp knife blowing on a battleship, "scraping" a whining sound, like the low horn sound on the battlefield of the ancient six places, and the roar of the battleship breaking the waves is like the "boom" sound of hoplites marching together, indicating that the tragic battle is coming again.

"Enemy ships spotted! 4 or more! The lookout shouted again.

Chu Yangwei turned around and came to the observation window, raised the binoculars, and sure enough, he saw that in the other direction, the shadow of the Dao ship appeared in the huge waves.

"I really have a lot of warships!" Chu Yangwei put down the binoculars and sneered.

"It's not battleships that come back, it's heavy cruisers." Zhang Enming held the binoculars and stared at the location where the ship appeared, looked at it carefully for a while, and said.

"Come on! Come on! Grandpa will play with you to the end today! Chu Yangwei shook his fist and roared.

Just as Zhang Enming said, what appeared this time was the heavy cruiser formation of the Yuben Navy.

At the forefront of the heavy cruiser formation was the "Atago," the second of the "Kaohsiung"-class heavy cruisers of the Akamoto Navy.

As a heavy cruiser with high hopes, the "Kaohsiung" class heavy cruiser was designed for war at the beginning, so its design requirements are very simple, that is, the firepower can match the heavy cruisers of the Chinese and American navies, the speed must be fast, and the endurance can meet the requirements of Pacific operations.

The "Kaohsiung" class heavy cruiser can be said to be an improved version of the "Myoko" class heavy cruiser, in addition to thickening the armor, the armor outside the powder magazine in the side armor has been increased from the original one inch to five inches, and the use of British-made steel. The designer of the Myoko class was Vice Admiral Hiraga Jean Naval Shipbuilding, who visited the UK after designing the Myoko class and collected a lot of the latest technology in British shipbuilding. As a result, the "Kaohsiung"-class heavy cruiser was born, and the "Kaohsiung"-class heavy cruiser was criticized by both inside and outside the government. To this end, the "Takao" and "Atago" were refitted at the Maizuru Factory, lowering the forward bridge and moving the rear mast backwards, so that the carrier-based water reconnaissance aircraft could have more space to operate.

Since the "Kaohsiung" class heavy cruisers were improved and designed on the basis of the "Myoko" class heavy cruisers, their basic specifications, surnames, and weapons configuration were similar to those of the "Myoko" class. The most significant difference from the Myoko class is that the Kaohsiung class has a larger, castle-like bridge structure, which is three times larger than the Myoko class, because it has to accommodate more complex command facilities and fleet flagships, and has stronger fleet command capabilities. The "Kaohsiung" class is equipped with a new 10 twin-mounted 203 mm caliber main gun, using the "91" type armor-piercing projectile, which is more powerful than the 203 mm caliber main gun equipped with the "Myoko" class, and the maximum elevation angle of the main gun is 70 degrees (the actual maximum elevation angle is 55 degrees) and can shoot at the air. The turret layout was the same as that of the Myoko class, and the third turret could not fire forward because it was pointed in the direction of the bridge. The "Kaohsiung" class is equipped with 8 twin 610 mm caliber torpedo tubes, which are different from the "Myoko" class, and the torpedo tubes have been moved from the fixed middle deck inside the hull to the upper deck, and have been changed to 4 twin rotary launch tubes. Since the torpedo tubes occupied the upper deck, an additional shelter deck was added for the placement of anti-aircraft guns. The "Takohsiung" class is equipped with two aircraft catapults on both sides, while the "Myoko" class has only one. Compared with the "Myoko" class, the "Kaohsiung" class also strengthened defensive armor and strengthened ammunition depot protection, which can withstand 8-inch caliber shells.

Due to the treaty limitation of displacement, the superstructure such as the bridge was heavier, which led to the problem of the decline of the restoration surname, and the lack of strength in order to save weight. In fact, although the "Kaohsiung" class is an improved design on the basis of the "Myoko" class, it is worse than the "Myoko" class in terms of cruising distance and stability, and the overweight situation is more serious than that of the "Myoko" class. After the "Tomotsuru Incident" and the "Fourth Fleet Incident," the "Kaohsiung" class took measures to lower the center of gravity of the ballast and carried out a modification to strengthen the hull structure.

In 1938, the heavy cruisers "Kaohsiung" and "Atago" were modernized at the Maizuru factory, and the underwater compartments were added to the hull to strengthen the stability and protection against torpedoes; The large-scale bridge reduction project lowered the center of gravity of the ship. Quadruple torpedo tubes were used instead of twin tubes. The superstructure between the rear chimney and the 4th turret was removed, the mast that was originally located behind the aft chimney was moved back to the front of the 4th turret, and a sheltered deck was added to the upper deck as an aviation deck to supply water for the aircraft to be parked; Modification of anti-aircraft guns, improvement of air defense capabilities, improvement of command facilities. The other two ships, "Chokai" and "Maya", were not modernized due to the war situation and received only minor improvements.

After the outbreak of the Pacific War, the "Kaohsiung" class ships were equipped with antiaircraft guns and radars. In the course of repairs, the Maya underwent a major refit, with the No. 3 main turret in front of the bridge removed, the anti-aircraft firepower strengthened, the hull added anti-torpedo compartments, and the installation of radar and other electronic equipment.

Even so, for the Navy, the "Kaohsiung"-class heavy cruiser is still a first-class warship that is "not perfect," and its inherent flaws in this unprecedented naval battle will bring fatal consequences.

At this time, Vice Admiral Kondo Nobutake, who was standing on the bridge of the "Atago", was anxiously looking at the flashing red light ahead.

The howling sea breeze blows on his body, and even in a thick cotton coat, raincoat, and cotton hat, Kondo Nobutake still feels like he is shivering with cold, which feels as cold as eating a cold drink in winter.

Nobutake Kondo, now with the honor of Vice Admiral, has also become a lookout on the heavy cruiser "Atago".

The reason why there is still a lookout like him on the battleship now is thanks to the "Dragon Triangle".

How advanced radar and radio equipment is? Once inside this "devil's sea", the radar and radio stations all stopped working, and the battleship could only rely on the sharp eyes of the lookout and the high-powered telescope hanging around the neck to detect the enemy situation or observe the hidden dangers of navigation in time.

Although Chief Yamamoto's order was to protect the aircraft carrier with a heavy cruiser formation, under the fierce opposition of his subordinates, Nobutake Kondo, who was bent on fighting a big war with the Chinese, listened to the advice of his subordinates this time, went back and forth to "go down to the top", and entered the "Dragon Triangle" without receiving an order.

In the face of such a main decisive battle, Lieutenant Admiral Kondo could not bear to be absent.

Nobutake Kondo, who had been pacing slowly to ward off the cold, calmed down, picked up the binoculars hanging around his neck, and continued to endure the cold while observing whether there was anything unusual in all directions of the battleship.

As soon as they entered the "Dragon Triangle", there was nothing on the dark sea, and the lead ship of the fleet stretched out a huge pillar of light, which was the navigation light of the heavy cruiser "Atago", illuminating the front of the battleship, and the two navigation lights on both sides of the battleship's butt provided the direction for the follow-up battleship.

Looking behind him, Vice Admiral Kondo suddenly felt that it was really indescribable to feel that there was such a little light in the vast dark night, at least it made him think that at this time, he was not the only one in the entire fleet who was so open-eyed. With a little comfort in his heart, he raised the telescope again, and after adjusting the magnification to the maximum multiple, he looked south, and between the sea and the sky, he seemed to see a little hazy light, just like the navigation lights of a warship, affected by the curvature and distance of the earth, and the light was so hazy from a distance.

Lieutenant General Kondo knew that it should be the battlefield!

Kondo gave the order to speed up, and at this time the waves surged, lifting the heavy cruiser to the top of the wave from time to time, and the appearance of huge waves hindered the action of the heavy cruiser, but he still tried to drive them and approached the battlefield.

And at this moment, the figure of a giant ship appeared in front of him like a ghost!

When the giant ship suddenly cut through the monstrous waves like a sharp sword, revealing its majestic figure, Vice Admiral Kondo gasped in shock.

He recognized it, this is the battleship "Spring and Autumn" of the Chinese Navy!

The "Spring and Autumn" class battleship belongs to the relatively new first class battleship of the Chinese Navy, with a full load displacement of more than 50,000 tons and three triple 406-mm main guns; at this time, this battleship, which is full of anger of the Chinese Navy and carries the dignity and glory of the Chinese for hundreds of years, uses the data that has been measured long ago and uses its own nine 406-mm main guns to send out a rough roar at the heavy cruisers of the Chinese Navy.

For this advanced battleship of the Chinese Navy, although the advanced fire control radar and electronic computer on board the ship failed under the influence of the "Dragon Triangle," the officers and men of the Chinese Navy were after all well-trained, and they used optical aiming instruments to carry out repeated aiming corrections, and the firing data were calculated quite accurately.

The sudden appearance of the battleship "Chunqiu" and the nine 406-mm shells she fired immediately blew up the heavy cruiser formation, and Kondo Shinbi, who had just been immersed in using the "Nine Three Acid Torpedoes" to kill the enemy battleship, suddenly realized that he was facing what a terrible opponent, and the heroic feeling of seeking battle suddenly disappeared without a trace, because in the close artillery battle, none of the six heavy cruisers of the Yuemoto fleet lined up was the opponent of this Chinese battleship.

Therefore, in this terrible shelling, the heavy cruisers "Atago" and "Chokai" of the Fleet took the lead in becoming the targets of the battleships "Spring and Autumn" of the Chinese Navy.

As a matter of fact, after receiving the order to break away from the formation to meet the newly emerged enemy ships, the battleship "Chunqiu" was still some distance from the heavy cruiser formation. And the battleship "Spring and Autumn" came so quickly, it was completely the huge waves of the "Dragon Triangle" that were "helping"!

(To be continued)