Comrade, your ingredients are too complicated.

Chapter 496: King of Paramecium

As the first fleet-type destroyer designed by Benzi after the Navy's holiday, the Kagero-class is undoubtedly a qualified and even excellent surface ship.

Its lightning-strike capability is unquestionable.

Two quadruple-mounted 610mm launch tubes combined with torpedo reloading technology make it unmatched by any other contemporary competitor in the world.

In terms of artillery, although the Type 127 mm cannot be called excellent, its six guns are definitely enough to deal with most opponents.

As long as it doesn't encounter any strange French people, it can fight with any destroyer of the same level on the high seas.

but!

The above advantages only apply before 1942.

In this era when the Eighth Route Army Air Force dominates all of Asia, the Kagero class, which uses a Japanese-made specialized design, is simply relying on the defense. Facing the little man in the sky, it doesn't even have the qualifications to fight back.

There is no way, because our destroyers have always followed the priority arrangement of torpedo strike, artillery combat, anti-submarine, air defense, and minesweeping.

With the Type 96 cannons whose explosive power and sustainability were questionable, the Japanese could at best bully Achou's TBD destroyer.

"boom!"

Following a loud explosion that resounded through the sky, the Shiranui destroyer, which was struggling to stop the air raid in the inner harbor, was instantly enveloped by a huge orange-red fireball.

With this level of destructive power, even the United States' A-2 Savage Squadron would be inferior.

Judging from the damage effect alone, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is an A-10 Warthog landing in a different location.

The sudden change shocked and angered the Japanese soldiers on the shore. With hysterical Showa-style shouting and cursing, they all cheered up and tried to make the instigator pay the price.

"idiot!"

"Where's the searchlight? Keep your sight!"

"All artillery groups, concentrate your fire! Don't let any enemy go tonight, especially the twin-engine bomber that sank the Shiranui! Fire! Fire!"

Witnessing his own destroyer being sunk by enemy planes, the Japanese second lieutenant in charge of commanding the port's air defense circle was furious. Under his unified command, the air defense firepower in the port's airspace had obviously undergone a qualitative change.

Nearly ten medium and small caliber artillery pieces turned their guns in perfect coordination, and for a moment, not-too-dense black clouds of shrapnel rose from the sea.

If it were an ordinary pilot, he might have died on the spot.

Unfortunately, the Japanese' opponent was Fang Ziyi, the man who was best at fighting at medium and low altitudes in the Eighth Route Army Air Force.

The Mosquito, which had just completed a difficult bombing, quickly turned off its lights and disappeared, then used its jet-black paint and superb flying skills to conceal its whereabouts.

While speeding up and dodging, he even had the energy to fight back. The long whips of fire formed by the high-explosive burning tracer bullets seemed to be mocking the enemy's weakness.

After several difficult ultra-low-altitude maneuvers, Fang Ziyi completely got rid of the enemy in his Mosquito and arrived at a safe altitude unscathed.

After escaping from the black vision, the navigator first gasped with lingering fear, and then cheered excitedly:
"Captain Fang, the word ace is a compliment tailor-made for you! Incredible, it's really incredible that we actually destroyed a destroyer with such an imaginative attack method."

"Oh, what a pity! It would be great if there was a camera on the ground."

"If the entire bombing process can be fully recorded, the British will definitely come to the border area or headquarters with boxes of gold to purchase the technology of the Weapons Experimental Research Bureau."

As soon as these words came out, Fang Ziyi, who was estimating the results of the battle, couldn't help but smile. The successful completion of this mission was largely due to the high-intensity training day after day.

There is no other reason. It is not easy to hit the target with a one-ton bomb by skipping it on the water.

Strength and proficiency are both indispensable.

Before dropping the bomb, the pilot not only needs to penetrate at an ultra-low altitude close to the sea level, but also needs to calculate parameters such as speed, distance and altitude in real time.

The above process is complicated and dangerous. Any mistake in any step will lead to failure of all previous efforts and may even result in a tragic outcome of aircraft crash and death of people.

Later in the war, the Ugly Chinese also conducted similar tests.

However, because the pilot made a mistake in estimating the altitude, the bouncing bomb that had just been dropped bounced back from the water surface immediately, and eventually the entire crew got their lunch boxes.

After hearing such a long paragraph of "rainbow fart", Fang Ziyi was obviously in a good mood. However, when he thought of his competitors active on the Eastern Front in Europe, his face became serious again.

"It's just a destroyer, not a great achievement. I heard that a colleague of mine from Germany even blew up an old battleship with a Stuka."

"Keep up the good work. My goal is to be number one in the world."

"By the way, can the results of the battle be confirmed? The ship just now should be completely doomed." A one-ton high-explosive bomb will produce a huge shock wave and direct damage when it explodes, and can cause extremely serious damage to the ship's structure.

The armor of the Kagero-class destroyer is relatively weak, and some areas have no armor protection at all, which makes its defense against explosive weapons very poor.

In other words, it's dead.

Unless the IJN can transform itself into the Red Navy, salvage the sunken Shiranui from the shallows in time, and repair it with red bricks, planks, and cement, there is no chance that this thing will return to the battlefield before the end of the war.

Hearing his captain's question, the navigator nodded without hesitation.

"I just saw with my own eyes that a bouncing bomb hit the enemy ship directly. The camera gun on the Mosquito should have also captured the scene."

"Besides, we are only the vanguard formation, and the destroyer is also in the core area of ​​the attack. Once the bombing formation officially enters the battlefield, it will be killed even if it is not completely dead."

"Okay, we'll make the final confirmation after we successfully return!"

While the two were talking, the entire lead formation had successfully completed their mission.

Thanks to the efforts of each crew, the core target areas were all lit up by signal flares, and subsequent bombardiers could even bomb by visually observing the ground.

In addition, the more threatening anti-aircraft gun positions and searchlights were also named one by one.

Faced with the thousands of tons of high-explosive bombs that were about to arrive, the Japanese could only pray that they would die quickly.

······
At the same time, the core area, the Japanese Navy Sasebo Naval Base Headquarters, was bombed.

Seeing that it suddenly became bright outside the window, Lieutenant General Tanimoto Mataro, who was originally sleeping in his own residence, immediately jumped up from the bed and started to put on his military uniform.

Although the old devils had never experienced night bombings in person, they had heard about the series of processes more or less. Everyone was a key member of the Axis, so this experience and intelligence could be shared.

"Baga! What bad luck! Damn the Eighth Route Army Air Force, why couldn't they come three months later!"

"Come here! Pass my order on to have the Tarumi Air Force in Kagoshima set off immediately to provide support. The students in the primary training school must also take off to join the battle."

"Notify the 951st Naval Aviation Squadron and have them intercept the enemy aircraft at all costs."

"Whether it's a reconnaissance plane or an old-fashioned biplane, as long as it can take off, send it all out. We must minimize the losses."

Unlike four months ago, the Japanese Navy now has a preliminary understanding of the Eighth Route Army Air Force. In Tanimoto Mataro's mind, they are a group of time bombs that will make a big splash if they don't make a sound.

Faced with hundreds of strategic bombers and advanced escort fighters, it is impossible to counterattack. The top priority is how to reduce the losses.

As for why it was three months late?

That was naturally because he was about to step down and transfer to another position, and the person who would take over the position of commander of the naval base was none other than his mortal enemy: Chuichi Nagumo!

After receiving the order from his lieutenant general, the major general chief of staff next to him looked melancholy, obviously disagreeing with his superior's decision.

The reason is simple. There are not enough searchlights and there is no radar on the ground.

Like the night air battles on the Western Front in Europe, they were all guided by ground radar to intercept night fighters. As long as the enemy was detected, the operator could guide the fighter to counterattack.

Most of the strategic bombers that caused the Royal Air Force's losses died as a result of this efficient teamwork.

But this notebook doesn’t have any high technology!
If we let the Sasebo base and the nearby air force attack now, it would certainly cause some trouble to the Eighth Route Army and reduce the losses of the garrison, but the casualties list of our own naval aviation would definitely be an astronomical number.

How can a blind man fight? Does he have to rely solely on vision to conduct night air combat?

What if the two air forces are wiped out tonight? What will happen next time? Who can guarantee that the Eighth Route Army will not come again the next day?

With the idea of ​​sharing the worries of his superiors, the Chief of Staff Major General Moriwaki Jisaburo gritted his teeth and stomped his feet, risking a big fuss and suggested:
"Mr. Lieutenant General, in my opinion, the loss of the garrison is inevitable. It is absolutely unwise to rashly mobilize the air force in Kagoshima now."

"Why don't we just let the local air force attack and try to intercept them. As for the surrounding air forces, let them take off and wait, and ambush the enemy on their way back."

"As long as we can shoot down some strategic bombers and make the Eighth Route Army Air Force afraid to act rashly, I'm sure the Military Command will not punish us too severely. The only way out is to balance the merits and demerits."

Hearing this, Mataro Tanimoto fell into deep thought.

In the eyes of the old Japanese, putting the blame on his old rival Chuichi Nanyun seems to be a good choice. It is better to let my friend die than to let me die.

"Okay! Just do as you say!"

"Give orders to Colonel Takashima Moriji of the Tarumi Air Force now and have them set off immediately to shoot down at least ten Lancasters!"

(End of this chapter)