Chapter 1392: Kill Him While He's Sick (First Update, Please Subscribe)
What is the most difficult thing for a general in war?
It’s a choice!
He who sees through the fog of war wins.
But most of the time, how many generals can see through the fog of war?
The so-called seeing through is actually a choice.
In war, any choice has only two results: failure or victory.
There is no other choice besides this, but sometimes, a wrong choice on the battlefield may destroy a country!
That's why the choice is so difficult.
When Wu Anping fell into deep thought, Qiu Zhenzhi looked at his superior who seemed to be thinking about something and said.
"Sir, if the American warships are only 200 to 300 nautical miles away from us, then even if we head south at full speed now, I'm afraid they may catch up with us. After all, our speed is only 13 knots at most. If they are only 50 to 60 nautical miles away, then there is no need to retreat."
Wu Anping nodded in agreement with what Staff Officer Qiu said. It was just as he said. It seemed that there was no good choice for the fleet at all.
He glanced at Staff Officer Qiu and said.
"Indeed, no matter how far or near we are, there is no need to retreat. We can't outrun them. In that case - let's fight!"
This is the inevitable result of the slow speed of the warship. Even if you want to escape, sometimes you may not be able to escape. If the speed is too slow, the enemy will definitely catch up.
"But sir, the ocean is so vast that even if they want to chase us, it will probably be difficult..."
Without waiting for the chief of staff to finish his words, Wu Anping spoke in a deep voice.
"Okay, I've made up my mind. Let's launch the second wave of attacks. Fight the enemy as soon as we see them. Don't be afraid of strong enemies. This is the creed of our Imperial Navy! How can our Imperial Navy avoid fighting and lose its tactics? If we can sink these dozen warships, it doesn't matter if we are completely wiped out! I order... attack!"
"yes!"
The order to attack was given again!
"take off!"
The green signal light indicating takeoff from the flight control center kept circling. The fighter planes on the takeoff line in front of the flight deck began to take off.
The radial engine rumbled, and the plane began to taxi slowly. Unlike the first sortie, the wind had already started to blow on the sea, and the warship was shaking violently, and the flight deck was shaking with it. Every time it shook, the people who saw it off looked at the plane nervously. However, before the next shake came, the plane had already taken off suddenly. The same thing happened to the next plane.
Every time the takeoff was successful, there would be thunderous cheers on the deck, with people waving their hats, arms, and even flags to see the pilots off.
Unlike the first wave of attack, which sailed around the northern part of the Virginia Peninsula and entered the South Hampton Roads, the second wave of attack had lost its surprise and the fleet swooped directly from the sea, saving a full half hour compared to the first wave.
At 12:23 noon, a fleet of 102 aircraft led by Lu Deren arrived at South Hampton Roads again. At this time, the entire high altitude of South Hampton Roads was covered by clouds, and there was thick smoke below, which seriously hindered the dive bomber team from finding the target. If they flew too high, it would be difficult to find the target, and if they flew too low, they could not dive.
"The Ming people are here again!"
Compared to the first time when they couldn't even tell who the enemy was, now the U.S. military finally figured out the enemy's identity - the Ming people. They saw the Suzaku emblem from the plane.
That is the emblem of the Ming Empire.
Although they didn't know what weapons the Ming people used, it didn't stop them from fighting back with all their might.
As the plane entered the anchorage, the artillery fire from below became more intense, and the anti-airship barrages dragging fire dragons were clearly visible in the air. But the more deadly ones were the machine guns!
Most American warships were equipped with Maxim machine guns. Although these machine guns were not designed for air defense, they were used by sailors for air defense because they could fire at high altitudes and had a fast firing rate. Even many sailors who were rescuing warships picked up their rifles and shot into the air when they found that the enemy's aircraft were approaching again.
Bullets flying everywhere!
The situation was completely different from the first attack and did not affect the pilots' attack. Although the billowing black smoke in the harbor blocked their vision, the pilots still seized every opportunity to attack the enemy ships.
Looking at the target on the sea, Li Tianle raised the corners of his lips and sneered.
"That's him!"
Although the target was shrouded in billowing black smoke, the four vaguely visible turrets revealed its identity - a dreadnought-class battleship.
Without any hesitation, he dived straight towards the target.
Dive!
Diving at an angle of seventy degrees, when the plane dived to a certain height, Li Tianle could clearly see the severely damaged enemy ship, and then immediately corrected the aim and bombed the enemy ship.
The 300-kilogram bomb hit the deck accurately, and a moment later, accompanied by a violent explosion, the bow of the ship was blown into the sky.
The remaining eighty fighter planes carrying bombs basically followed the same method, first looking for the target in the billowing black smoke, and after discovering that the target was a big guy, they would dive towards it.
The large and conspicuous ones would not even attack the smaller enemy ships. In fact, their purpose was very simple - to damage the enemy's main battleships as much as possible.
As for non-main battleships, including those pre-dreadnought battleships, they have all been eliminated, so there is naturally no need to attack them anymore.
During the implementation of the second wave of attacks, the torpedo plane formation in the air discovered two American warships struggling to leave at full speed. They pounced on them immediately like sharks smelling blood. They almost rushed directly towards the enemy ships against the curved trajectory of the anti-aircraft guns. The fighter planes that dropped to zero altitude flew over the sea like torpedo boats and pounced on the "Ohio" that was leaving the anchorage at full speed. At a distance of less than 300 meters, the fighter planes dropped torpedoes, then quickly pulled up and climbed. The torpedoes flew towards the target like a sharp arrow shot from a string...
One after another, at the moment when the third fighter plane dropped the torpedo, a huge column of water suddenly exploded from the side of the battleship in the distance.
"hit!"
Amid the cheers of the pilots, another torpedo hit the target. Two torpedoes hit the target in succession, slowing down the speed of the "Ohio" a lot. The torpedo planes in the air swooped down again, trying to kill it while it was weak!
Now that the enemy ship is bleeding like a wild beast and is becoming weak, it is time to kill it.
Four torpedo planes launched another attack. Their tactics were the same: lowering the altitude, flying over the sea, and dropping bombs...
Even the American machine guns and anti-airship guns that continued to pour down a hail of bullets could not stop their attack.
They were like a pack of wolves pouncing on a wild beast, tearing at their prey even if someone got hurt.
Finally, after the sixth torpedo hit the "Ohio", the warship could no longer struggle and quickly sank into the icy sea.
Although the second wave of attacks also achieved great results, the remaining warships were either completely destroyed, severely damaged, or even directly sunk. Two warships that tried to escape from the anchor were completely sunk by repeated attacks from torpedo planes...
The old group is down, so I created a new book club group: 739209015. Everyone is welcome to join and discuss and deduce the plot together.
(End of this chapter)
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