Chapter 17, Surprise Attack on Etajima (Part 1)
During World War II, radar research and development in various countries was still in its early stages, and its performance was very unreliable. The ability to identify friend and foe is particularly bad.
In the past few days, Japanese pilots have been flying planes on their own initiative, fleeing from the occupied northeastern prefectures and counties to Hiroshima to join the large forces. Because the communication and command system of the local Japanese army has now completely collapsed, there will naturally be no advance notice when these aircraft come over. As a result, the air defense forces on Wugang and Etada Island were frightened three times a day: From here On the radar at the beginning of the year, it was impossible to tell whether it was an American aircraft or a Japanese aircraft.
As a result, there were a lot of accidental shooting accidents. Several ace pilots of the Japanese navy and army and high-ranking officers of the air forces from various places were not killed by the enemy, but were almost shot down by their own people... The final lawsuit I hit Principal Takeo Kurita. Here, Kurita Takeo consulted with a few experienced people, and then ordered the radar station to distinguish between ourselves and the enemy by looking at altitude: The incoming US aircraft must be a B-29 Super Sky Fortress, which can fly to an altitude of eight or nine kilometers. , while Japanese aircraft generally cannot fly so high. So those who come from high altitude are enemies, and those who come from low altitude are our own people.
Radar stations and air defense outposts act in accordance with the law as if they had been ordered to do so. As a result, for more than a month, all the planes came were their own planes, and there was no trace of American planes (at this time, the United States had never bombed the area west of Kyoto, Japan), so they gradually relaxed. Who would have known that to this day, the enemy planes attacking from the east were not the B-29 Super Flying Fortress bombing at high altitudes, but the torpedo planes and bombers of the US aircraft carrier and naval aviation forces attacking at low altitudes! Wu Gang almost woke up from a dream when the first bomb was dropped on their head, and quickly sounded the alarm... but it was already too late!
Sharp air raid sirens and thumping anti-aircraft guns sounded at the same time, and the sky above Etajima Naval War School was filled with smoke and fire. But it still couldn't stop the US military planes from diving and dropping bombs one after another, causing huge plumes of smoke to rise everywhere on the campus.
——The three principals, Ozawa Jisaburo, Kurita Takeo and Inoue Narumi, and a group of subordinates just rushed out of the office building. Before they could run far, they saw the Etajima Naval War School, which is the same as the Tokyo Naval Ministry Building. The British-style red brick dormitory building is being pierced by a 500-kilogram semi-armor The bullet smashed through the roof...and then there was an earth-shaking loud noise. The whole house "inflated" like a balloon. All kinds of masonry, wood, broken glass and metal components were all blown far away by the air waves. It fell like raindrops, and a raging fire ignited on the fragmented wreckage.
However, the buildings on the ground are dead after all. It is a pity that they were blown up, but that's all. What makes these naval personnel even more distressed is that the Japanese warships anchored in the bay at this time are also bathed in thick smoke and fire:
Being caught off guard in advance, most of the sailors were on shore without having time to return. Several aircraft carriers simply had no aircraft or pilots on board, and there was no time to set sail and sail out of the port. The result was just like the American warships at Pearl Harbor that year. It appears extremely vulnerable to air strikes.
I saw groups of U.S. bombers or torpedo planes one after another, emerging from the leaden gloomy clouds one after another, swooping down almost vertically, and plunging straight into the sea like plummets. They did not flatten until they were close to the sea level, and their wings Almost skimming the waves towards the anchored warships, which fully demonstrated the skill of these US naval aviation forces, and also made the hastily organized anti-aircraft firepower of the Japanese army almost useless...
The first batch of attacking U.S. aircraft were mainly dive bombers. Except for a few that were shot down, most of them rushed until they were about fifty meters away from the target ship before dropping heavy bombs. At this distance and speed, the aerial bombs bounced off the sea like floating stones, hitting the hulls of various Japanese battleships or aircraft carriers from the weak sides, and some even penetrated the ship at once. In the belly!
Next, accompanied by the bursts of explosions and flames and heart-rending wails of despair, the battleships Haruna, Ise and Hinata, the aircraft carriers Amagi, Katsuragi, Hosho and Ryuho moored in the waters of Kure Port, the most eye-catching big guys, One after another, they all started to catch fire. On the turbid sea filled with heavy oil and debris, sailors jumping into the water to escape were struggling and flopping everywhere. There were also several large merchant ships that had finished unloading their cargo. They seemed to be regarded as aircraft carriers by the bad-sighted US military pilots, and they were also blown into blazing iron coffins by aerial bombs falling from the sky.
After the first wave of U.S. dive bombers left, the slow and belated U.S. torpedo planes finally arrived on the battlefield, and bravely withstood the still fierce anti-aircraft firepower to face the struggling steel on the water. The behemoth released the torpedo - although Wu Port has mine protection grids and mine protection The net is set up, but there are too many ships coming from all over the country these days, and it can’t be accommodated. In addition, many of the port staff of the original garrison fled during the riots. Now, military students are in charge of the management of the anchorage berths. It was a mess, and many warships were not protected by mine protection nets at all.
So, he saw that the Amagi aircraft carrier he had boarded from the Yokosuka garrison as his flagship failed to launch any counterattack aircraft, and was blown to pieces one after another by torpedoes, slowly sinking... Ozawa Jizaburo I couldn't help but take off my military cap and shed painful tears.
But General Ozawa Jisaburo actually has no time to care about his flagship at this moment. The most important thing to care about right now is his life.
——Due to their previous lax preparedness, the Japanese aircraft in Wu Gang were basically unable to take off for half an hour after being attacked. The escorting US fighter jets could not find their opponents for a while and began to lower their altitudes and shoot. Various ground targets that can be found:
Just a few dozen steps away from the group of people, an F4U "Pirate" plane was seen swooping down extremely crazily, creating a deadly chain of fire on the ground of the Etajima Naval War School, burning several people who had already been The naval cadets who were tumbling on the ground were completely torn into burning pieces of flesh and blood! Next, after the F4U "Pirate" aircraft turned around after raising its altitude, it fired at the three principals with unsatisfied intent!
Looking at the oncoming enemy planes spitting fire, the group of people fleeing were immediately at a loss. Some were so frightened that they froze on the spot, while others screamed and fell to the ground and burrowed into the grass (although these guys were soldiers, they Most of them attended classes in military schools and sat in offices, and most of them had never even seen the battlefield). Ozawa Jisaburo was so angry that he almost wanted to curse. But a strange young man who was following Principal Narumi Inoue suddenly took out a gadget that looked like a mini grenade from his backpack, put it on his shoulder, and pointed it at the F4U "Pirate" that had just flown overhead. The machine pulled the trigger!
The next moment, with a small roar, a small rocket rose from his shoulder and hit the rampant F4U "Pirate" aircraft hard from the belly of the aircraft, causing it to drag It fell crookedly with a puff of thick smoke, and finally landed with a bang, exploding into a pile of burning aluminum flakes.
Seeing the enemy plane being shot down, the people fleeing couldn't help but let out a short cheer. But General Ozawa Jisaburo looked at the young man and the "miniature rocket launcher" in his hand with curious and confused eyes... It was just that the air raids were still going on, so it was not the time to talk. So he just looked at the unfamiliar young man for a few times, then turned around and took the bulletproof steel vest that his subordinates had just found and put it on. Then, in order to reduce the target and avoid being blamed all at once, the three principals evacuated separately with their own manpower and found bunkers in different directions to avoid the air attack...
※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※
As waves of U.S. military fighter jets arrived one after another, there was fire and smoke everywhere from Jiangtian Island to Wu Gang.
However, after being dealt such a vicious blow by the naval aviation of Halsey Fleet, as time passed, although the scene was still very chaotic, the Japanese navy and army aviation teams gradually began to organize a counterattack. In any case, there are currently tens of thousands of Japanese navy and army aircraft gathered in the Hiroshima area. Even excluding the slow and slow transport aircraft, torpedo planes, bombers and seaplanes, as well as the reconnaissance aircraft lacking armed firepower, there are only There are at least 3,000 old-fashioned biplanes suitable for spreading pesticides, including various types of fighter jets. Even though the current Japanese army has lost unified command, there are still many pilots who are willing to spontaneously fly to the sky to fight the enemy with their passion!
About an hour after the air attack began, from the somewhat outdated Zero fighter to Mitsubishi's "Venus" and "Thunder" fighters, as well as the Nakajima Company's Army Type 4 fighter "Hayate", none of them had been destroyed. The aircraft carrier and airport took off, and launched an unprecedented fierce bloody battle with the incoming U.S. naval aviation. Unfortunately, the results were not satisfactory, and they were slaughtered by their opponents like turkeys:
First of all, since most of the best aircraft are in Nanyang, the performance of most domestic fighter jets in Japan is generally one level behind American fighter jets.
Secondly, because the nuclear explosion in Tokyo came so suddenly, there was no preparation for local operations from top to bottom. Therefore, most of the pilots who stayed in the Japanese Empire at this time, whether they belonged to the navy or the army, were also novices, or they were flying transport aircraft. Yes, there are even many rookies who have not even graduated from flight school. As for the real air combat elites, they are basically still far away on the Nanyang front line.
But on the other side, the U.S. aircraft carrier and naval aviation of the Halsey Fleet that attacked across the ocean concentrated the essence of air combat in the entire United States. There were many ace pilots who had fought bloody battles with Japanese aircraft and Nazi German aircraft: in World War II During this period, 70% of the aircraft shot down in air battles around the world were shot down by ace pilots, although their number only accounted for 5%. The actual combat experience, experience and tactics of these veterans cannot be replaced by anything. They understand the strengths and weaknesses of various enemy aircraft, know how to approach, how to fire, and how to escape.
Therefore, although hundreds of Japanese pilots, with the passion of youth, rushed into the sky to fight against powerful enemies. But in general, the interception of Japanese fighter jets obviously lacked reasonable organization, and the anti-aircraft fire was not close enough and lacked organization. The U.S. naval aviation still continued to penetrate the interceptions of Japanese aircraft, as well as the intensive anti-aircraft fire from the port ground and enemy ships, and dropped deadly torpedoes and bombs again and again against the Japanese fleet in the harbor.
Suddenly, the sky was filled with colorful smoke balls, and the sea was filled with water pillars. The American and Japanese armies tried their best to fight to the death. It was raining and foggy, shells shuttled, the sea roared, and the sky Thunder. The anti-aircraft fire on the ground and on the ship was as fierce as a volcano erupting. The sailors operating the anti-aircraft guns were so stunned that they seemed to be fighting in a dream. But U.S. Naval Air Force aircraft still persisted in their struggle.
The sailors on several Japanese battleships even used their main guns to fire the famous Type 3 incendiary shells. To put it in a more understandable way, they are explosive shells. Theoretically, one shot can explode into countless flaming fragments and stick to them. The target will directly hit you in the face, and a single shot can clear out a group of aircraft - the fighter formations of this era are different from modern fighters, and the two fighters do not need to be far apart to avoid collision. On the contrary, many older aircraft at that time did not even have radios installed. In order for the pilots to see each other's gestures clearly and even hear each other's voices, when dozens of aircraft are dispatched to fly in formation, they are usually packed tightly together. They only disperse when fighting. The killing range of a three-type incendiary shot is a spherical space with a diameter of about three hundred meters. In theory, one shot can kill an enemy squadron. At that time, an aircraft carrier only had three to four squadrons of carrier-based aircraft. After a few hits with Type 3 incendiary shells, the aircraft carrier that released the fighter jets became an empty shell.
Unfortunately, given the hit rate of battleship main guns during World War II, it was a bit difficult to hit the target in the first launch. And the enemy aircraft are not fools. When they see a Type 3 incendiary shot coming, they will immediately disband the formation. Therefore, unless the carrier girl is possessed and the power of faith is added, so that the three-type incendiary shells hit the target in the first round of bombardment, the dream of one cannon for a carrier-based aircraft formation will not be achieved at all. Moreover, firing this thing will seriously ablate the barrel. Mounting it on a large battleship is still a source of danger. It is very unstable. It may self-destruct at any time in a turbulent and violent naval battle... In short, facing an overwhelming situation. The U.S. bombers and the Japanese fleet relied on the Type III incendiary shrapnel as their final weapon of decisive battle. It didn't have much effect.
Starting from the fifth attack wave of the US military, a large number of large aircraft such as B-17 and B-26 even appeared in the sky above Wugang. However, the Japanese army has very few new fighter jets left in the sky. Even if the old-fashioned zero war is over, All the shells couldn't shoot it down, so in the end they had to hit it...
Faced with the indiscriminate bombardment by U.S. aircraft, the decks of almost every large warship on the surface of Wu Port were slippery with blood, and there was no place where bullet casings and bloody corpses were not piled up. The fallen sailor was strafed by enemy planes before he could get up. Damage control crews in the cabins below the waterline struggled against the geysers of water until they drowned. The electrical circuits of a considerable number of ships failed, and the water pumps and steering gears could not be started. The sailors had to use hand pumps and hydraulic steering gears to drain and control the warships. However, the pumping speed of the water pumps was always far slower than that of the seawater. speed. In the end, if these ships cannot wash up on the beach in time and sink, they are destined to capsize one after another amidst fire and explosions.
——When the Japanese naval combined fleet attacked Pearl Harbor, they only launched two attack waves and launched forty torpedoes. Nagumo Chuichi, who was commanding on the front line, could not wait to order the troops to withdraw and return to sea, shouting that the wind was tight and the wind was blowing. ! But at this time, it was the turn of the U.S. Naval Air Force of the Halsey Fleet to sneak attack Wu Gang and Etada Island, but they bombed almost non-stop from morning to afternoon, releasing sixteen attack waves before and after!
A total of sixteen attack waves and at least 5,000 sorties of American fighter planes launched frantic attacks, making the Japanese navy in Wu Gang feel like they were in hell for a while.
At 3:30 in the afternoon, as the dense clouds gradually dissipated and the weather gradually cleared up, the U.S. Naval Air Forces in the last attack wave finally withdrew after launching all their torpedoes and aerial bombs. The air raid, which seemed so long that there was no end in sight, finally came to an end, leaving only a burning harbor for the Japanese. The ocean and land within a radius of more than ten kilometers were filled with thick smoke, blazing fire, and explosions one after another.
The telephone lines throughout the Wugang garrison were completely disconnected, the tap water and power supply were all cut off, and even the self-provided power plant was blown into the sky. The billowing smoke obscured the view, making it difficult to tally the damage just by looking at it. The abominable U.S. Air Force also dropped many small timed steel ball bombs, which detonated one after another some time after the bombing ended, further killing and injuring the Japanese rescuers and forcing them into the air-raid shelter again.
Another hour later, at 4:30 in the afternoon, the huge B-29 Super Flying Fortress finally arrived. There were more than 200 of them. The silver-gray fuselage simply blocked the sky and the sun, but However, he seemed to be disdainful of Kure Port and Etajima, which had been bombed into ruins. He only dropped a few symbolic bombs and rushed straight to the city of Hiroshima to the north, seemingly intending to cause trouble for the Japanese army there. .
In this regard, after experiencing a whole day of devastating air raids, Principal Takeo Kurita, who is now physically and mentally exhausted, had no choice but to clasp his hands in the air-raid shelter and silently pray that the army there would be prepared in advance after receiving early warning, and not be like the navy. Still caught off guard and suffered heavy losses...
However, the Japanese navy in Kure Port and Etajima apparently relaxed too early. At midnight that day, after the major bombing of Hiroshima ended, a large number of B-29 Super Flying Fortresses visited Kure Port and Etajima again. As the ground and sea were still raging with fire, the U.S. military's B-29 Super Fortress bombers did not even have to drop flares for night guidance and navigation, but bombed the target again and again very accurately. Hundreds of thousands of tons of high-explosive bombs and incendiary bombs made the cradle of the Japanese navy burn as bright as day in the night, like the most glorious, splendid and grand abolition ceremony, and the most cruel and cruel The bloody farewell ceremony symbolized the withdrawal of the Etajima Naval Academy from the stage of history.