mynovelonline Chapter 2038 Repelling the Musashi Fleet
Chapter 2038 Repelling the Musashi Fleet
Although the Japanese Musashi fleet retreated at full speed and intercepted the pursuit of the Qingdao and Dalian fleets, it could not stop the air pursuit from the First Army Air Force.
The First Air Force continued to bomb and straf the Japanese Musashi fleet from the air.
"The Musashi Fleet was the only remaining Japanese fleet at the Yokosuka naval base, and the Japanese could not stand by and watch it perish."
When the Japanese military received intelligence that the Musashi Fleet was in danger, more than 50 fighter planes were mobilized from within Japan to provide support.
Soon, Japanese air force arrived in the Yellow Sea and engaged in fierce air battle with the First Army's air force.
The First Army Air Force was forced to abandon a good opportunity to sink the Musashi fleet and engaged in fierce fighting with the Japanese Air Force.
At this time, the Japanese army was facing a shortage of skilled pilots, and the skills of these pilots were far inferior to those of the pilots at the beginning of the war. Fueled by fervent militaristic zeal, they would immediately swarm towards any Chinese fighter planes they saw.
Meanwhile, the pilots of the First Army have improved their flying skills day by day after years of training.
With the agility and high speed of the Huaxia III fighter jets, they quickly evaded the pursuit of Japanese warplanes and then attacked them from the flanks or tail.
The Japanese pilots attacked by the First Army Air Force were unable to shake off the relentless pursuit of the First Army pilots and were either wounded or shot down.
The air battle over the Yellow Sea was a great success, with the First Air Force damaging or shooting down more than 40 Zero fighters. Meanwhile, the First Air Force itself only suffered 13 damaged aircraft, with none shot down.
In contrast, the naval battle in the Yellow Sea this time was much more brutal for the Chinese navy.
More than ten warships of the Qingdao Fleet suffered varying degrees of damage.
The stern and bridge of the light aircraft carrier Qingdao were also shelled by the Japanese. One of its two flight decks was destroyed by Japanese naval gunfire, rendering it unable to operate normally.
The Zibo destroyer was severely damaged and its hull was constantly taking on water.
Captain Ji was forced to order the ship abandoned and arranged for other warships to take over the naval personnel on board the Zibo.
Shortly after the Qingdao Fleet picked up the naval personnel of the Zibo destroyer, a series of loud rumbling sounds echoed across the sea. The stern of the Zibo suddenly sank, its bow rising high before it sank to the bottom of the Yellow Sea, creating a huge whirlpool on the surface.
Fortunately, the two cruisers from the First Fleet that received the officers and soldiers of the Zibo naval vessel sailed away in time, otherwise they would also have been sucked into the whirlpool.
"The Musashi Fleet suffered heavy losses under the combined attack of the First Air Force, the Qingdao Fleet, and the Dalian Fleet."
To support the Japanese forces in Haizhou, the Japanese military mobilized all its resources, including 25 warships such as the battleship "Musashi".
Among them, the battleship "Musashi" was known as a maritime behemoth. It was the second ship of the Yamato-class battleships and one of the largest battleships in human history. It was not only heavily armed but also extremely resilient to attack.
In this naval battle in the Yellow Sea, he single-handedly withstood attacks from the air and sea by the First Army's air force and navy.
Although its hull was bombarded in many places by aerial bombs and artillery shells, it was not fundamentally damaged and was still able to retreat at full speed.
The Wuzhan fleet lost four cruisers and frigates, and four warships were severely damaged. The other warships were damaged to varying degrees.
Although this naval battle failed to completely annihilate the Musashi Fleet, it severely damaged it, preventing it from spying on Chinese waters again for a short period of time.