The Rise of the Third Reich

"Cat's Eye Warrior" Niwa Saburo was the lookout on the Yamato's Zero three-seat water reconnaissance aircraft, and he was also one of the best "cats" in the entire Japanese Navy - everything aboard the Yamato The best, of course, "cats" are no exception. After thousands of selections, they are trained by the devil to turn their eyes into squints (according to expert research, on human eyeballs, the distribution of photoreceptor cells at night is There are more eyes on the side of the eyeball than on the front of the eyeball, so squinting eyes can see more clearly at night), which qualifies you to become the "Yamato Cat".

Niwa Saburo turned sideways, held up the telescope, and searched back and forth on the dark sea with the help of the faint moonlight. Suddenly, a huge black shadow appeared in Niyu's sight.

"At 11 o'clock, fly over and take a look." Niwa quickly ordered pilot Kato to fly the plane over the group. As the plane approached, Niwa discovered that there was not just one black shadow below, but a long series, and it was still moving. First there was a smaller black shadow. Niwa thought it was a destroyer (the Semmes equipped with a sea detection radar). Following this destroyer were three huge black shadows like mountains, either battleships or heavy cruisers!

"Found it!" Niyu shouted excitedly, "Throw a flare!"

Following Saburo Niwa's shout, two flares hanging under the wings of the Zero water reconnaissance aircraft were dropped. Two dazzling "little suns" suddenly appeared in the sky, hanging on parachutes and slowly descending, illuminating a large area of ​​​​the sea below as if it were daytime. Under this light, there is an American battleship that looks like a floating city!

"We were discovered!" Kimmel seemed to have known that he would be discovered first. He looked at the battleship Nevada illuminated by flares in front of him, and then said calmly to Fletcher, "But it's not a big deal. , the Nevada is very strong and can withstand it for a while. We can use this opportunity..."

Before he finished speaking, his neck seemed to be stuck by something, his face suddenly changed, and his eyes were fixed on the front - several huge fireballs suddenly burst out in the darkness there!

"Boom! Boom! Boom..."

Less than a minute after the battleship "Nevada" was illuminated by flares, the "Yamato"'s 460mm main gun fired. Because it was the bow of the ship facing the enemy, only the cannons were firing at the same time. But these 6 giant cannons still fired like the earth was shattering!

Kimmel, who has been in the Navy for most of his life, certainly knows what the muzzle flash of a 356mm cannon looks like, and he also knows how loud a cannon of this level makes when fired.

"This is impossible, this is not a 14-inch (356mm) cannon firing!" Kimmel shouted, a 460mm shell had landed 60 meters away on the port side of the USS Nevada, and then exploded with a blast of several Water columns of ten to hundreds of meters!

"This is not a 16-inch cannon, and there are 6... God, what is this thing firing?" Kimmel suddenly felt his hands and feet were cold, and there was even panic in his eyes. Kimmel also knew exactly how high and large the water column the 16-inch artillery shell could shoot, and how loud it was when fired.

But the muzzle flash he saw now, as well as the tall water column fired by the shell, were obviously beyond what a 16-inch cannon should have, and it was definitely not something that a Nagato-class 410mm cannon could shoot. Moreover, the Nagato class has 4 twin main gun turrets, which means that both the bow and stern have 4 cannons instead of 6.

In other words, what is firing now is not the Nagato-class battleship, but a new and cutting-edge battleship that is even more powerful than the Nagato-class. In the darkness in the distance, several more dazzling and bright balls of light rose up. These were the flares fired by the destroyer Semmes.

Under the light from the flare, a huge and unbelievable battleship suddenly appeared, it was the Yamato! Seeing the huge hull of the Yamato, Kimmel felt as if his scalp suddenly exploded... He knew that his fleet was about to be finished, and the Battle of Hawaii was about to be lost!

…

"Parameters, report the shooting parameters!"

"Angle 25."

"Northeast wind, 11.6 meters per second."

"The wave height is 2.6 meters."

"Distance 18,000 meters."

"The muzzle is deflected 5 degrees to the left, rolling..."

The telephones continuously bring parameters measured from various external observers on the battleship into the fire control cabin. The gunnery officer then calculates the next round of firing parameters based on these parameters, and then uses the in-ship telephone to announce the parameters to each turret.

Immediately afterwards, the turrets on the bows of the Yamato and Kirishima automatically rotated, and the gun barrels moved up and down like waves, aiming at the battleship Nevada, which was invisible under the flares in the distance.

At the same time, the same thing was happening aboard the USS Nevada, USS Pennsylvania, and USS Tennessee.

Because after discovering each other with radar, both sides unanimously chose to rush towards each other in single columns, so the two fleets of the United States and Japan are now facing each other. Due to distance and angle issues, only the bow guns on both sides can fire.

Moreover, both sides chose the method of concentrated firepower. The Japanese fleet can fire on Yamato's cannon and Kirishima's four 356mm cannons. All 10 large-caliber cannons were aimed at the USS Nevada.

The US fleet fired 5 14-inch guns on the Nevada, 6 14-inch guns on the Pennsylvania, and 6 14-inch guns on the Tennessee. All 17 14-inch guns fired shells at the super battleship Yamato according to Kimmel's order.

Although the caliber of the huge guns has determined that the Japanese fleet has an absolute advantage in firepower. However, the number of main guns that can be fired by both sides at this time is 10 on the Japanese side vs. 17 on the American side, and the American side has an advantage. Therefore, in terms of the density of firepower, the US Pacific Fleet also has an advantage.

"Boom..."

The fifth round of salvos from both sides were fired almost at the same time. With the help of the light of the flares continuously fired by the destroyers, Admiral Kimmel saw a huge column of water rising around the Yamato battleship. This is a cross-fire!

Kimmel and Fletcher's faces looked a little better. A cross-fire means that it is not far from hitting the target. It seems that the first one to be hit today is the new Japanese battleship! As the two were thinking about this, three American battleships fired the fifth salvo, and a huge fireball flashed on the hull of the huge Japanese battleship.

Yamato was hit by the American battleship first!

But before the people in the command tower of the Pennsylvania battleship had time to cheer, the huge fireball suddenly dissipated, leaving no scars on the huge and solid hull of the Yamato except for a charred mark.

"The Japanese ship turned!" Fletcher suddenly shouted, "It wants to close the distance between us!"

Yamato only turned slightly to the left for more than ten degrees, turning the almost parallel routes of the two sides into two straight lines that gradually closed the distance and would eventually intersect.

"30 degrees to the right!" Kimmel ordered loudly. He ordered the fleet to turn right not to escape the battlefield, because he could not choose to escape now, otherwise the transport fleet heading to Hilo Port would become a victim under the muzzle of the Japanese battleship. And Kimmel also knew that his three slow battleships could not escape at all! The speed of the new Japanese battleship was obviously faster than the three American battleships.

So the purpose of the American fleet's turn was to allow all the main guns to aim at the Yamato and fire.

"Commander, the Americans want to grab the T-head position."

Ugaki Matoi in the Yamato's command tower had already noticed the change in the course of the American fleet, so he whispered to Yamamoto Isoroku.

"It doesn't matter, keep moving forward, approach to 10,000 meters before turning." Yamamoto Isoroku smiled coldly, "The Yamato will be fine. If it can't even withstand 356mm shells, then the engineers who built the Yamato should commit seppuku."

Ugaki Matoi nodded. He knew that Yamamoto wanted to fight quickly - even if the Yamato was hit by a few 356mm shells, he had to sink all three American battleships as soon as possible, and then drive away the American transport fleet and bomb Hilo Harbor. Lest the Americans have the opportunity to send planes to Hawaii Island.

Seeing that the two Japanese battleships did not turn, but came straight to their side, Kimmel's heart was already in his throat. Now the Japanese gave up the T-shaped formation in exchange for quickly closing the distance with the three American battleships. When the Japanese feel close enough, they will turn and concentrate all their heavy artillery on the Nevada until it is sunk, and then the Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

"Boom..."

The three American battleships fired the eighth salvo at this time, and the Yamato was hit again. A 14-inch armor-piercing shell was installed on the armor belt on the starboard side of the Yamato, exploding a huge fireball, but still did not cause any damage to the Yamato.

Seeing that the Yamato was so strong, Kimmel and Fletcher's hearts almost sank to the bottom of the sea. At the same time, the eighth salvo of the Yamato and Kirishima was fired, and the shells fell around the Nevada.

This is a cross-fire!

"Distance 10,000 meters!"

The Yamato's navigator loudly reported the distance to the enemy fleet at this time. Colonel Takayanagi Hachiki, who was personally operating the ship, turned the steering wheel sharply, and the huge ship of more than 70,000 tons began to turn to the right.

"Now, all main guns aim at the first battleship in the enemy formation!" Yamamoto Isoroku loudly ordered at this time, "Make sure to sink it!"