I asked you to escape, but you became a soldier in World War II

Chapter 162 The Fate of the Musashi
Because the Japanese Combined Fleet had relatively little capital, they chose to let Ozawa Jisaburo's Third Fleet lure the U.S. aircraft carrier task force northward.
Lieutenant Colonel Takeo Kurita will lead the most powerful "Central Fleet" (five battleships: Yamato, Musashi, Nagato, Kongo and Haruna), plus 10 heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers and 15 destroyers, to break through the San Bernardino Strait and attack the landing fleet in Leyte Gulf.

This fleet seems to be overwhelming, but in fact it has a fatal flaw, which is that it has no carrier-based aircraft escort.

In other words, its only means of attack are conventional artillery bombardment or torpedo attacks, which is undoubtedly just a "delivery of food" in front of the US fleet with more than ten aircraft carriers and more than 1500 carrier-based aircraft.

The main reason for making such a "stupid" combat plan was that the Philippines was too important to Japan.

Speaking about this after the war, Toyoda Fuetake explained:
"If we lose the Philippines and the fleet survives, our sea route between the north and the south will be cut off.

If the fleet stays in Japanese territorial waters, it will not be able to get refueling.

If it stays in the South China Sea, it will not be able to get supplies of weapons and ammunition.

So if we lose the Philippines, there is no point in keeping this fleet.”

But General Halsey obviously wouldn't think so much. Since you don't want to live anymore, he would be happy to send his men to send them away.

A large group of attack aircraft taking off from the USS Intrepid, USS Cabot and other aircraft carriers soon flew over the "Central Fleet".

The Yamato and Musashi in the fleet are undoubtedly particularly eye-catching.

The Musashi was the second ship of the Yamato-class battleships built by the Japanese Navy during World War II and is one of the largest battleships in human history.

Due to its own lack of resources, Japan has always pursued the policy of "lack of quantity, make up for by quality" in naval construction, and established a development strategy of using the power advantage of a single battleship to offset the opponent's numerical advantage.

Guided by this ideology and inspired by reality, the Japanese Navy began to prepare to build super battleships equipped with 460mm main guns and to form a maritime strike force with battleships as the core.

At that time, the Japanese Navy kept the caliber of the main gun of this super battleship strictly confidential, claiming that it was 400 mm, but the actual caliber was 460 mm.

The total weight of the three guns in a turret is 1720 tons. Together with the weight of the turret armor (790 tons) and ammunition, the total weight of the rotating part of a single turret is 2774 tons, which is equivalent to the displacement of the Japanese Navy's Akizuki-class destroyer.

The main gun is equipped with three types of shells, namely Type 91 460mm armor-piercing shells, Type anti-aircraft shells and high-explosive shells.

此外它还配备了155毫米副炮6门、127毫米副炮24门、25毫米高射炮156门，以及若干防空机枪。

In terms of underwater protection capabilities, the Musashi was required to be able to withstand an explosion equivalent of 400 kilograms of TNT (the last generation of American battleships were required to be able to withstand attacks of 300 kilograms of TNT, and Germany's Bismarck-class battleships were required to withstand attacks of 250 kilograms of TNT), and its combat effectiveness should not be affected if it was hit by 2-3 torpedoes.

In order to protect against mines, the Musashi's bottom has a three-layer bottom.

At the same time, in order to improve its anti-sinking capability, the entire ship was divided into 1147 watertight compartments.

The Japanese Navy has two such giant ships that are armed to the teeth, and they are naturally the priority targets of the US attack aircraft groups.

At 10:25, the dive bomber group led by Lin Chen was the first to attack the battleship Musashi.

However, due to the high speed of the Musashi, it made an emergency turn, so most of the bombs dropped by the two dive bombers fell into the sea, and only one exploded on the outside of the bow.

A few minutes later, a high-explosive torpedo dropped by a TBM torpedo attack aircraft accurately hit the starboard side of the Musashi, not only causing some cabins to be damaged and flooded, but also causing the main gun firing azimuth dial on the bridge to be stuck due to violent vibrations, and the huge 460mm main gun temporarily lost its ability to fire in unison.

Rear Admiral Toshihei Iguchi was promoted to captain of the Musashi in August. At this moment, he no longer has the excitement and excitement he had when he took over the strongest battleship in Japan.

He understood deeply that today's enemy was determined to sink him.

So he kept issuing orders, requiring all personnel on the ship to fight the U.S. military to the death at all costs.

The anti-aircraft gun, like a hedgehog, was shooting madly into the air.

This triple-mounted anti-aircraft gun is very complicated to operate. It has three huge magazines, each of which contains only five 3mm anti-aircraft shells, and requires three people to hold it tightly.

It is extremely inconvenient to operate, but despite this, it is already the best close-in defense weapon of the Japanese army.
The F6F Hellcat fighters fired frantically at these fire points, and the dense machine guns turned the Japanese troops on the ship into a mass of blood mist.
When someone is shot, the replacement immediately takes over.
There was even a situation where there was so much blood on the deck that the personnel who were delivering ammunition or replacing them kept slipping.

Lin Chen and others concentrated their bombs on the Musashi. Lin Chen alone hit the bow of the Musashi with two bombs, but the other bombs missed the target.

Dive bombers really test the bombing skills, while the US military's TBM torpedo attack aircraft have made great achievements.

Torpedoes, dragging long wakes, rushed towards the Japanese ships.

Under such intensive torpedo and aerial bomb attacks,

The Yamato was flooded with 3000 tons of water, and its speed was reduced, but its combat capability was still there (mainly because the quality and training of the Yamato's personnel were better).

The heavy cruiser Myoko was the first to be hit. A torpedo hit the stern and the hull was also attacked by multiple bombs. The ship was seriously damaged and was forced to return.

The battleship Nagato's speed dropped to 24 knots, and 4 secondary guns were unusable. Kongo and Haruna were slightly injured, the light cruiser Yahagi was hit, and the destroyers Hamakaze and Kiyoshimo were injured and returned.

When Lin Chen and his men finished their first wave of attack, the main force of the Japanese Combined Fleet could be said to have suffered heavy losses.

But Kurita obviously did not want it to end like this, and ordered his men to continue sailing at full speed towards the target sea area, determined to rely on the fleet's heavy artillery to inflict heavy damage on the landing American troops.

When the second wave of 45 American planes appeared, the Japanese air defense was obviously not as strong as the first wave.

The port side of the Musashi was hit by bombs continuously, and its speed dropped to 22 knots.

The ship was hit by torpedoes in many places, causing a large amount of water to enter.

Although Captain Ikuchi Toshihei ordered water to be poured into the starboard side to restore the ship's balance, the bow of the ship sank seriously due to excessive water inflow, causing the speed of the entire ship to slow down further.
After returning, Lin Chen and his crew hurriedly replenished some water. With the full support of the ground crew, the plane took off again with bombs and joined the third wave of attack.

At 1: p.m., their fleet of aircraft flew over the Japanese fleet again and bombarded the Musashi and Yamato.

Since the Musashi was the most seriously damaged, Lin Chen ordered all the attack aircraft to focus on it and attack it hard.

Under Lin Chen's leadership, the Musashi was hit by four bombs and multiple torpedoes, and the water intake became increasingly serious.

At 3 p.m., Zhukou sent a message to the fleet flagship Yamato: "Most of the waterproof areas on both sides are flooded, and the speed has dropped to 20 knots due to excessive water injection."

Considering that the Musashi was no longer able to fight, Kurita had no choice but to order the Musashi to withdraw from the battle. He then ordered the entire fleet to turn around and leave the attack area of ​​the American aircraft carrier.

But how easy is it for ships on the sea to escape?

And there were so many heavy warships that were seriously damaged.

Thick smoke and flames shot up into the sky, providing an excellent target identification platform for US military aircraft on the sea.

In the subsequent attacks, US fighter planes continued to attack the Musashi.

Especially in the fifth wave of offensive, Lin Chen's dive bomber squadron hit the Musashi with 10 aerial bombs, which detonated the remaining ammunition piled outside and caused a fire.

In particular, a fire broke out on the 40-meter-high bridge, causing the loss of command capability. By the time the American planes dispersed, the Musashi had tilted 10 degrees to the left, and the bow draft had increased to more than 8 meters.

At this time, the Ozawa Fleet operating in the north attracted the attention of Halsey, who judged that the Kurita Fleet had suffered heavy damage and was unable to continue westward, so he began to assemble aircraft carriers to prepare to attack Ozawa to the north.

The dying "Musashi" finally got a chance to catch its breath and began to organize emergency repairs.

Kurita had no intention of waiting for the slow-moving ship. He simply gave the order woodenly: "If you really can't hold on, try to run aground on a nearby island."

At 19:15, the warship's left tilt increased to 12 degrees and it completely lost power.

Captain Zhukou ordered the other crew members to go on deck, lower the flag and abandon ship, while he himself went into the cabin to live and die with the battleship.

Also going to the "Yasukuni Shrine" were his chief of staff and many other high-ranking Japanese military officials. The scene was extremely tragic.

At 19:30, witnessed by the escorting destroyer Kiyoshimo, the Musashi tilted increasingly and eventually capsized.

A moment later, continuous explosions were heard inside the ship, possibly due to the main gun ammunition detonating.

Many had already climbed onto the bloodstained belly of the ship and tried to call for the escort destroyer to come to the rescue, but the Qingshuang did not dare to approach at all.
For a while, calls, roars, and screams came one after another.

Many surviving sailors jumped into the sea and tried to swim away.

But soon, the Musashi, known as Japan's strongest battleship, began its final death struggle.

十几分钟后，武藏号缓缓沉入了菲律宾锡布延海北纬13度7分、东经122度32分处，沉没前曾被20枚鱼雷、17颗炸弹和18发至近弹命中。

At the moment of sinking, a huge whirlpool formed on the sea surface, sucking all the officers and soldiers around it down.

Fortunately, the Qingshuang did not get close, otherwise there would be no one left to take the final "portrait" of the Musashi.
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At this time, Ozawa Jisaburo did not know that Kurita's Central Fleet had suffered a devastating blow.

He sat alone in the command room of the Zuikaku aircraft carrier, feeling extremely nervous.

He wanted to lure Halsey's main American fleet over, but he was also a little worried that if they really came, his belongings would not be enough to fill their teeth.

The U.S. military is no longer as powerful as it was in 1941. Its wealth and power have almost suffocated everyone in the Japanese Combined Fleet.

In particular, Jisaburo Ozawa had experienced several decisive naval battles and had developed a deep fear of the U.S. Navy. As the saying goes, a newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger because it does not know how terrible a tiger is.

So he has been sending reconnaissance planes to closely monitor the movements of the US fleet.

When he learned that the US fleet was really rushing towards him, he also understood that the success or failure of this naval battle depended on this one move.

He made a brief and weak mobilization of his men, which consisted of little more than words like "If we don't die, the empire cannot survive", but it worked just fine for these Japanese troops.

The Zuikaku aircraft carrier should have:
28 Zero fighters;
16 Zero fighters (fighter-bomber type);
11 Comet carrier-based bombers;
14 Tien Shan carrier-based attack aircraft;
But after several major wars, especially the Battle of the Marianas, these data have only remained on paper.

The other three light aircraft carriers also have weak combat capabilities and are extremely short of fighter jets and pilots.

Moreover, most of the pilots are rookies, but there is really no way to change this. Unlike Japan and the United States, the training cycle for domestic pilots is much longer.

Early pilots were picked from thousands or even tens of thousands, so their combat effectiveness was extremely strong. However, the selection of pilots nowadays has reached the point where they are so desperate that they are not selective with their supply of men. In addition, the training is compromised, so naturally their combat effectiveness is not as good as one might imagine.

But we have to admit that these pilots are extremely eager to fight and seem to be unwilling to live.

This is also why his Third Fleet was thrown out by the commander-in-chief as bait.

In order to achieve the greatest results, Jisaburo Ozawa sent almost all the carrier-based aircraft on his four aircraft carriers to fly towards the US fleet.

Even though he knew that these children would basically never come back.

Lin Chen and his formation did not encounter each other in the air, so when these Japanese planes appeared in front of the Second Task Force, everyone was shocked.

However, the gap in national strength between the two countries was revealed at this time.

The Japanese attack force came out in full force, while the US side still had a large number of surplus fighter planes to guard the home.

After the radar detected the Japanese aircraft group, the US fighter planes immediately took off and confronted the enemy with twice the interception force.

Faced with the absolute overwhelming air superiority and the anti-aircraft fire from cruisers and destroyers, the Japanese attack force suffered heavy losses.

However, under the desperate protection of their compatriots, a few Comet carrier-based bombers broke through the defense and flew over the US fleet.

The USS Princeton was hit by a 250 kg armor-piercing bomb and caught fire.

And what was extremely unfortunate was that the bomb fell right into the aircraft carrier's ammunition depot, causing a huge explosion that affected the cruiser Birmingham that came to rescue, resulting in hundreds of casualties.

Seeing that the fire could not be put out, the only option was to let other warships launch torpedoes to sink the two warships. This was the most brilliant achievement of Ozawa's fleet.

After the Japanese attack ended, the sea was littered with the wreckage of Japanese planes and the bodies of American and Japanese soldiers.

(End of this chapter)