Chapter 69 The Desperate Struggle of the Japanese Army

The Japanese Fifth Fleet no longer had any air defense capabilities, but that didn't mean they had stopped struggling.

Whether it was the First or Second Air Fleet of the Fifth Fleet, the stubborn and unyielding Japanese soldiers were making a last-ditch effort.

Kuraki Yuichi, the commander of the Second Air Fleet, was still calmly directing his men to board their fighters. This was despite the fact that the anti-aircraft guns of the *Sōryū* had completely ceased firing.

Without the protection of anti-aircraft fire, the planes struggling on the deck were nothing more than targets for the predatory bombers in the sky.

Even so, Commander Kuraki Yuichi did not give up. He was still ordering, "Commander Takahashi, take off and intercept the enemy bombers! Just three minutes. Give the deck three minutes, and we can get at least ten fighters airborne!"

"Hai!" Commander Takahashi Kame no Hide responded loudly.

In reality, they both knew that taking off under such abnormal circumstances had less than a 10% chance of success. The deck was now a scene of devastation, littered with debris from the bomb explosions. One section of the runway had even been blown out, leaving a hole. To take off, they only had two choices: become airborne before the hole, or steer around it.

Detouring around the hole would further reduce their takeoff speed. And if the plane took off before reaching the hole?

That was impossible. But it was up to Commander Takahashi Kame no Hide to make that choice. He was recognized throughout the air fleet as the pilot with the best flying skills and the greatest courage.

If it weren't for his excessive daring, Commander Kuraki Yuichi would not have been the one to become the squadron commander; it would have been Takahashi Kame no Hide.

In fact, Kuraki Yuichi had used some underhanded means to secure the position of Commander of the Second Air Fleet.

But now, the saying held true: When the nest is overturned, no egg remains unbroken.

Seven or eight pilots were by his side, and these Japanese soldiers immediately rushed towards their fighters.

As Takahashi Kame no Hide climbed into the cockpit, he saw seven or eight Japanese soldiers following him onto the plane. He waved to them and said, "All for the Emperor!"

He settled into the fighter, and the engine roared to life. As he released the brakes, the fighter immediately sped down the runway, accelerating with brutal force from the start.

Commander Takahashi Kame no Hide only had an idea. Whether it would work or not, he didn't know.

But he was acting according to his plan. Commander Kuraki Yuichi watched as the fighter sped halfway down the runway and began to deviate from its course.

Takahashi Kame no Hide had started his maneuver long before reaching the hole. The fighter slid diagonally across the deck. Although he had been using maximum throttle from the beginning, Commander Kuraki Yuichi could see that he would run out of deck before reaching takeoff speed.

At this moment, Takahashi Kame no Hide's calm voice came through the headphones: "All for the Emperor!"

The fighter following behind saw his plane rush straight off the deck and into the sea.

"All for the Emperor!" Matsutake Juro, following behind Takahashi Kame no Hide, imitated him and bravely flew his plane over the edge.

The Japanese soldiers behind them no longer had time to brake. Like sheep following their leader over a cliff, the fighters flew off the warship one after another, plunging into the sea.

Just when Commander Kuraki Yuichi thought that this takeoff had failed, the fighter piloted by Takahashi Kame no Hide miraculously rose from the sea and began to fly forward.

This takeoff method was feasible. Captain He Haiqing was still directing his bombers to bomb the *Sōryū* when he saw a line of Japanese fighters taking off from the damaged runway.

He couldn't help but feel furious. He gave the order to the entire squadron, "The Japanese are still struggling to the death! Shoot them down and crush their hopes!"

As he gave the order, he was already chasing after them in his bomber, flying at low altitude, right above the fighter piloted by Takahashi Kame no Hide.

The bomber had no cannons, only four machine guns. He Haiqing knew very well the damage that the four newly airborne Japanese fighters could inflict on the entire air squadron.

He operated the four machine guns, continuously strafing the Japanese fighter below. He had adjusted the bomber to the same course as the Japanese plane, determined to ram it if necessary.

Takahashi Kame no Hide had managed to take off at the last possible second, his plane's wheels grazing the seawater before successfully lifting off.

He excitedly reported over the headphones, "Takeoff possible! Takeoff possible!"

Matsutake Juro, following behind him, was also excitedly shouting, "I'm airborne! I made it!" He had just flown his fighter off the warship with the determination to die.

At this moment, a wail came through the headphones: "Aaaah!"

It was the pilot Kobayashi Yūsho, who had also jumped into the sea after them. Hearing his scream, they knew: Kobayashi Yūsho was finished.

In fact, out of the eight planes that had attempted the maneuver, only four had successfully taken off, a 50% success rate!

Commander Kuraki Yuichi thought this was an extremely high rate, and he immediately ordered, "Continue the takeoff!"

Commander Takahashi Kame no Hide was overjoyed. Pilot Matsutake Juro was looking at the fighter in front of him: Commander Takahashi Kame no Hide was truly a hero.

Just as he was thinking this, a massive bomber bore down on the fighter in front of him.

This was not a metaphor. It truly bore down on it. The bomber's landing gear directly crushed the fighter piloted by Takahashi Kame no Hide, instantly flattening it and sending it crashing into the sea.

Pilot Matsutake Juro watched as Commander Takahashi's heroism lasted only three seconds before he crashed into the sea, without even a chance to bail out.

At this moment, he suddenly felt a shadow looming over his head. Startled, Matsutake Juro quickly steered his plane downwards, trying to avoid the same fate as Commander Takahashi Kame no Hide.

However, he forgot one thing: his plane had only just taken off. Although airborne, he was less than fifty meters above the sea. As he flew downwards, he plunged into the embrace of the sea in the blink of an eye.

Guo Youchang excitedly shouted, "I scared the Japanese into the sea!" He saw the plane that had flown itself into the sea break apart upon impact with the surface.

Next, a large wave splashed up, and the plane began to sink.

Quan Renyi had already grazed the deck of the *Sōryū* with his bomber's landing gear. "Drop the bombs!" He was going to turn the last hope of the enemy planes on this aircraft carrier into despair.

Two eight-hundred-kilogram bombs were dropped at such close range, and they both exploded on the *Sōryū*.

"No!" Commander Kuraki Yuichi shouted in alarm.

The bombs tossed the accelerating fighters into the air, and then they fell heavily back onto the deck. Now, unless they could take off vertically, their planes would never be able to fly again.

Quan Renyi's bombing method was indeed able to greatly increase accuracy, but the bombers following behind him could not use this method, because a raging fire had already broken out on the *Sōryū*. The fire was too intense, and the heat waves were overwhelming.

This caused extreme turbulence in the surrounding air currents. The bombers flying at low altitude were impossible to control, and there was a risk of crashing at any moment.

Commander Hyakutai Chio of the *Sōryū* watched as the entire warship's deck became a chaotic mess. Japanese corpses were everywhere on the warship, and many wounded were lying on the ground, groaning loudly, but no one was rescuing them anymore.

Many Japanese soldiers had already rushed to the side of the ship and jumped into the sea. These Japanese soldiers knew very well: the *Sōryū* was about to sink.

If they didn't jump into the sea now, they would only be able to be buried with the *Sōryū* later.

Commander Hyakutai Chio saw that all the anti-aircraft weapons on the entire warship were damaged, and several large holes had been blown in the deck, with large fires erupting from them.

All the fighters were completely unable to take off. At this moment, he finally gave the bitter order, "Abandon ship!"

Sergeant Yaji Taro was extremely lucky. After Sergeant Miki Shijūroku was injured, he immediately dragged him to the deck next to the anti-aircraft gun to rescue him.

This allowed him to perfectly avoid the aerial attack on the anti-aircraft gun emplacement. All the Japanese soldiers in the entire anti-aircraft gun emplacement were wiped out, and only the two of them survived by chance.

Now that he had received the order to abandon ship from Commander Hyakutai Chio, Sergeant Yaji Taro was in a dilemma: in their current state, it was impossible to get a lifeboat. Absolutely impossible.

In fact, on the entire *Sōryū*, not a single Japanese soldier was running to launch a lifeboat. They were all jumping directly into the sea. The shore wasn't too far away from here.

For these specially trained crew members, swimming to shore was entirely possible.

But... Yaji Taro was still dragging Miki Shijūroku. "I need to find a life preserver!" Yaji Taro thought to himself.

He immediately stood up and rushed to the location where the life preservers were stored. A life preserver in the water was equivalent to an extra life. Those life preservers that had been placed outside had long been taken away by the Japanese soldiers who had jumped into the sea earlier.

Yaji Taro needed to look around everywhere. Sergeant Miki Shijūroku shouted in despair, "Don't leave me! I want to live, I don't want to die!"

But Yaji Taro turned a deaf ear and ran away without the slightest hesitation. In Miki Shijūroku's eyes, Yaji Taro ran away so resolutely, without the slightest hesitation.

This made him extremely disappointed. Today, Yaji Taro had been with him the whole time, making him feel extremely grateful, but he never expected that at the very end, he would still abandon him!

Completely despondent, Miki Shijūroku shouted helplessly, "Save me! Someone save me!"

At this time, all the Japanese soldiers on the entire aircraft carrier were busy escaping for their own lives, and not a single Japanese soldier was willing to voluntarily run over and drag along a burden.

The incomparably despairing Sergeant Miki Shijūroku looked at the Japanese soldiers running in the distance and shouted loudly, but not a single Japanese soldier came to help him. Some Japanese soldiers even glanced in his direction and then ran away even faster.

This made the already despairing Sergeant Miki Shijūroku even more desperate. He didn't want to continue to be so despondent. He wanted a quick death.

Miki Shijūroku still had grenades on him. When Yaji Taro found a life preserver and ran to the deck, Sergeant Miki Shijūroku, who had already made up his mind to have a quick death, had just released the grenade.

He also saw Yaji Taro holding two life preservers in his hand. At this moment, Sergeant Miki Shijūroku suddenly understood: Yaji Taro had gone to get life preservers.

But it was too late. Yaji Taro watched as Miki Shijūroku committed suicide right in front of his eyes.

He thought that Miki Shijūroku was afraid of being a burden to him, so he committed suicide. Yaji Taro wiped away his tears and quickly rushed to Sergeant Miki Shijūroku's side, deeply moved.

In fact, before today, the relationship between these two Japanese soldiers was not a matter of life and death. They were just ordinary colleagues in the same squad.

However, after a long time of treating Sergeant Miki Shijūroku, Yaji Taro felt some sympathy for this poor shooter.

When he rushed to the side of the suicide victim, Miki Shijūroku had not yet died. He looked at Yaji Taro running closer, and a trace of gratitude and comfort appeared on his face, followed by regret, disappointment, and a strong desire to live.

So many expressions appeared on Miki Shijūroku's face, and then he died without saying a word.

Yaji Taro rushed over and confirmed that this Japanese soldier had died. He immediately rushed to the side of the ship and quickly plunged into the sea.

This aircraft carrier was about to sink. If he didn't jump out of here sooner and swim far away, he was afraid that he would be pulled to the bottom of the sea by the huge whirlpool generated when it sank.

Commander Hyakutai Chio said to the Japanese soldiers who persuaded him to leave, "The captain does not have the right to leave his warship. You go! I want to be with my warship."

Together! His meaning was to sink with this warship. This newest type of aircraft carrier, which had only been launched and put into use last year, was about to sink in just one year.

Commander Hyakutai Chio could not accept such a reality. He was the captain, he was the commander, and he was the highest authority on this aircraft carrier.

Commander Hyakutai Chio's words were an order. Chief of Staff Nozawa Shirō, who was determined to persuade him and asked him to leave, finally left.

He also jumped into the sea to survive. There were lifeboats on this aircraft carrier, but they could no longer be launched into the sea, and it was not too far from the shore.

More importantly, there were still many bombers in the air continuing to drop bombs and strafe.

Jumping into the sea did not mean surviving! Commander Hyakutai Chio thought to himself as he stood alone in the captain's cabin, watching as the fire gradually engulfed the entire cabin.

It seemed that he would be burned to death here before the *Sōryū* sank.

The Japanese Navy Headquarters finally received intelligence that the Fifth Fleet had been attacked. This news was like a bomb, instantly silencing all kinds of sounds in the entire Navy Headquarters.

The entire headquarters suddenly fell silent, as if all the Japanese soldiers in the headquarters had died at the same time.

After an unknown number of minutes, or perhaps tens of seconds, a voice rang out, "What is the current situation of the Fifth Fleet?"

It was the voice of Yamamoto Isoroku, who was now the Vice Minister of the Navy. With his voice, the Japanese soldiers in the entire headquarters finally came back to life.

With the arrival of the first intelligence report of the attack, there were many subsequent reports.

After all, many of the ships in the Japanese Fifth Fleet were very resistant to attacks, and they were constantly reporting on the battle situation.

In the Japanese Navy Headquarters in the mainland, all they received were reports that the Navy's Fifth Fleet was being beaten, and there was no news of them organizing a counterattack.

Moreover, the intelligence was getting worse and worse: the flagship of the Navy's Fifth Fleet, the *Myōkō*, was engulfed in flames, and the side of the ship had already tilted.

Fifth Fleet Commander Shiozawa Kōichi had already withdrawn from the flagship. Commander Shiozawa Kōichi had already gone ashore and entered the basement of the Humen Fortress.

Commander Shiozawa Kōichi was finally safe. Next, he began to unify the story and report the Fifth Fleet's encounter to the Navy Headquarters:

The Fifth Fleet was subjected to a despicable sneak attack by an unidentified air squadron. At the first moment of the sneak attack, Commander Shiozawa Kōichi ordered all air squadrons to take off and meet the enemy.

He ordered the anti-aircraft fire of each warship to intercept the unidentified aircraft. To date, at least four enemy aircraft have been shot down!

Shiozawa Kōichi tried his best not to report the true situation of the Fifth Fleet.

Despite his best efforts to embellish the Fifth Fleet's meager resistance, Yamamoto Isoroku was still able to hear the truth: the Fifth Fleet had been completely annihilated!