Chapter 1010
At around 8 a.m. on March 14, 1944, in the southern waters of the Sea of Eclipses, the remnants of the Eastern Empire Navy Combined Fleet were sailing eastward at a speed of 20 knots.
18 battleships were guarded in the middle by numerous cruisers and destroyers.
The entire fleet was now filled with panic and sadness of failure. Even the lowliest sailor knew at this time that the Eastern Empire Navy Combined Fleet was doomed. They lost very ugly in this battle. Even though they still have a lot of battleships, cruisers and destroyers left. However, it is still difficult to say how many battleships can escape in the end.
Many of them might die on this sea.
"The air search radar is turned on and searches nearby airspace. Once a German plane is spotted, turn immediately."General Kogamine ordered.
When Marshal Yamamoto Isoroku was exhausted mentally and physically, and was almost unable to command the battle anymore, General Kogamine took over the next command.
"Your Excellency, the air search radars have all been turned on. Not found yet. However, if the Third Reich Navy wants to hunt us down and does not give us a chance to escape, there is a high probability that we will not be able to escape."Lieutenant General Fukuriya Shige said.
"well! Just do your best to obey fate. Now we can only escape as much as possible. As for whether we can escape, it depends on whether Amaterasu protects us!"Admiral Kogamine actually had no idea whether he could escape.
Under such circumstances, facing the pursuit of the Third Reich Navy, the generals of the Combined Fleet no longer had much confidence in escaping. In other words, Those faster cruisers and destroyers can escape. However, those capital ships have almost no such possibility.
This will undoubtedly be an extremely heavy blow to the Eastern Empire Navy Combined Fleet. In other words, it will be a blow for them An extremely sad result. This means that the naval construction achievements of the Eastern Empire over the years will be destroyed in one day.
"Report, Your Excellency General, the air search radar has discovered that several German reconnaissance planes are approaching us at high speed!"An officer reported
"idiot! The reaction of those damn Germans was really fast. If the fleet turns around now, can it escape? General Kogamine asked
"General, those reconnaissance planes of the Third Reich Navy are fanned out and are constantly searching back and forth. If we continue at this rate, we will reach the sea area where we are in half an hour at most. Therefore, there is no escape at all."The officer replied.
General Kogamine couldn't help but feel very frustrated.
"Order all ships to prepare for battle. Once the situation becomes irreversible, each ship will flee on its own. Escape back to your homeland as much as possible!"General Kogamine ordered
"Hi, General!"The officer replied.
After the order was issued, the remaining warships of the Eastern Empire Navy's combined fleet immediately took action. The air defense troops began to make final preparations. They knew very well that once their position was exposed, the ships of the Third Reich Navy would be waiting for them. A large-scale attack by a carrier-based aircraft group. With all their aircraft carriers and carrier-based aircraft having been lost, facing the attack by a carrier-based aircraft group of the Third Reich Navy, they could only rely on the anti-aircraft firepower on the battleships.
Although, Previous battles have proven that in the face of intensive attacks by the Third Reich Navy's carrier-based aircraft groups, the anti-aircraft firepower on the battleships can certainly shoot down some carrier-based aircraft, but it cannot stop the opponent's attack at all, let alone ensure the safety of the battleships.. But other than that, the Eastern Empire Navy Combined Fleet had no other option.
In less than half an hour, the reconnaissance plane of the Third Reich Navy flew over the remnants of the Combined Fleet and contacted the flagship immediately. , reported the news to the flagship
"Your Excellency, Commander, our reconnaissance plane has discovered the Japanese. They are less than 400 kilometers away from us."Marshal Albrecht's face was full of smiles.
Obviously, for the Third Reich Navy, the time has come to launch the final attack on the Eastern Imperial Navy Combined Fleet.
"Very good, order the carrier-based aircraft to attack! This time, we will completely destroy the Japanese people!"Marshal Dönitz ordered
"Yes, Your Excellency, Commander!"Marshal Albrecht replied
"In addition, send a heavy cruiser formation, two light cruiser formations and four destroyer formations to catch up and follow the battleships of the combined fleet. Make sure they don't get away."Marshal Dönitz issued another order.
"Okay, I know."Marshal Albrecht understood what Marshal Dönitz meant, and couldn't help but smile.
They had already discussed it before. In order to maximize the results of the war, they would give priority to attacking the Japanese destroyers and light cruisers. Those main forces Ships and heavy cruisers, because of their speed, will most likely not be able to escape.
Therefore, if the carrier-based aircraft group kills those destroyers and light cruisers first, then the Third Reich Navy will have a very high possibility of destroying the remaining Toyo Navy Combined Fleet this time. All the battleships will be eliminated.
On the contrary, if their battleships, heavy cruisers and other large battleships are destroyed first, those destroyers and light cruisers will be allowed to escape. With the two sides separated by hundreds of kilometers, the Third Reich Navy cannot catch up. The Japanese destroyers and light cruisers. Even carrier-based aircraft will be difficult to attack once the distance expands to more than 5600 kilometers.
Sending out cruisers and destroyers to catch up is to avoid the main force of the Japanese The ships and heavy cruisers escaped in order to deal with them in subsequent battles!
Because the distance is too far, it is very likely that it will be dark when the main fleet of the Third Reich Navy catches up with the remaining fleet of the Eastern Empire Navy Combined Fleet. , even the next day. Therefore, it is undoubtedly very important to follow them closely to prevent the Toyo people from escaping at night.
Carrier-based aircraft took off from the 13 aircraft carriers of the Third Reich Navy.
In the Toyo Imperial Navy When the Combined Fleet no longer had aircraft carriers and carrier-based aircraft, the Third Reich Navy did not even need to keep any air defense fighters and could dispatch them all.
Therefore, the thirteen aircraft carriers of the Third Reich Navy directly attacked at the maximum scale.
All carrier-based aircraft were divided into two waves, each wave reaching 258 carrier-based fighters, 258 dive bombers, and 216 torpedo attack aircraft. After taking off, these carrier-based aircraft flew towards the The remnants of the Eastern Navy Combined Fleet.
