Volume 2: War breaks out Chapter 20 Trembling in the Smoke (Part 2)
Ten Japanese bombers dropped 40 bombs.
Every time a bomb exploded on the sea, a huge column of water would rise.
Tan Renhao clenched his fists. Although the bombs fell within a few seconds of each other, he felt as if several years had passed.
When the last column of water fell, the "Taizong" aircraft carrier was still sailing quickly on the sea. Tan Renhao finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the aircraft carrier was safe and sound.
Suddenly, the "Li Jing" also began to turn at full speed.
Tan Renhao quickly grabbed the handrail beside him. When he turned around, he found that the "Li Jing" was leaving the "Taizu" aircraft carrier at full speed. Then, he heard the sharp sound of the bomb breaking through the air when it fell.
The first bomb fell more than 200 meters away from the left side of the "Taizu". When the water column just emerged, the second bomb fell nearby, followed by several more bombs.
The sound of the bomb exploding a few meters below the water was very dull, a bit like muffled thunder.
The "Taizu" aircraft carrier was like a clumsy steel monster, constantly changing its course at a maximum speed of 33 knots to avoid falling bombs.
"The 'Taizu' was hit!"
Tan Renhao also saw that a bomb should have fallen near the No. 2 elevator of the "Taizu", which is about 120 meters away from the stern of the flight deck.
The bomb should have exploded directly on the deck and did not enter the hangar below. The "Taizu" seemed to have struggled slightly, but its speed did not slow down, and it was still maneuvering to avoid the bombs overhead.
When the sea water in the air hit by the bomb fell, a thick black smoke rose from the "Taizu".
Even at a distance of two nautical miles, Tan Renhao could still clearly see that many officers and soldiers were putting out the fire on the flight deck, and some of the fighter planes parked on the deck that had been ignited were directly pushed into the sea.
"What's the situation on the 'Taizu'?"
Liao Hanxiang was also very nervous.
"The bomb exploded on the flight deck, destroying the No. 2 elevator , but the hangar was not damaged. The power system was not damaged, and the ship can still continue to sail. We are now doing our best to put out the fire."
Liao Hanxiang wiped the sweat from his forehead and let out a long breath.
Although the "Taizu" suffered severe damage, there would be no major problems as long as it could still sail.
Tan Renhao also breathed a sigh of relief. The most vulnerable part of an aircraft carrier is the flight deck.
The flight deck of the Emperor class is just a layer of wooden boards wrapped in iron sheets, and has no armor defense at all.
Obviously, what hit the Taizu was a high-explosive bomb without a delayed fuse, not an armor-piercing bomb. Otherwise, the bomb would have exploded inside the hull, causing greater damage and being more dangerous.
Below the flight deck of an aircraft carrier is the hangar, which contains many fuel pipelines and may even contain bombs and torpedoes that have not yet been delivered to the ammunition depot. If these ammunition are detonated, the aircraft carrier will be blown up into the sky.
Below the flight deck are the ammunition depot and the fuel tank, with only a 20 mm thick layer of armored steel plate in the middle, which is unable to withstand the impact of armor-piercing projectiles.
"Report on the damage to the Taizu."
Liao Hanxiang immediately took the telegram and gave it to Tan Renhao after reading it.
As Tan Renhao had guessed, the damage to the "Taizu" was not fatal. The bomb only destroyed the flight deck, the power system of the aircraft carrier was not affected, and the fire had been brought under control . In addition to the deaths of twelve officers and soldiers, only three fighter planes parked nearby were destroyed.
However, the aircraft carrier has lost the ability to accept fighter jets to land.
"Arrange returning fighters to land on other aircraft carriers."
Liao Hanxiang smiled at this time. The Japanese bomber fleet had already retreated, and the fighters responsible for the fleet's air defense were making a second interception of the returning Japanese bombers.
At this time, Ji Xiaobin also came to the commander's headquarters, and he also looked sweaty.
"We shot down 12 Japanese bombers , 6 of which were shot down by the heavy cruiser 'Dayuki'. Only the 'Taizu' was damaged, and the other battleships suffered no losses."
Liao Hanxiang nodded and said, "Have the fighters return home after completing the interception mission. Keep 24 anti-aircraft fighters above the fleet at all times. Also, continue to maintain the current speed and return to Zhoushan Port."
Wu Xianyu helped Liao Hanxiang issue orders. After the air defense alarm was lifted, the fleet resumed its normal sailing formation instead of a "dense" air defense formation.
Half an hour later, the results of the battle were counted.
In the two interceptions, the air defense fighters shot down a total of 37 enemy planes, while the air defense warships shot down 12, for a total of 49 low-level planes, and only 35 enemy planes escaped.
Three fighter planes were lost and all the pilots parachuted (and were later rescued by destroyers). The Taizu aircraft carrier was severely damaged, but the other warships were safe and sound.
Five officers and soldiers were killed and 12 were injured (one was burned while fighting a fire, and three gunners on the "Daxue" were injured by exploding shells). This result was not brilliant, but everyone was very satisfied.
Of course, the greatest contribution went to the air defense fighters. If there had not been those dozens of air defense fighters, the losses would probably have been more than just this, and perhaps all three aircraft carriers would have suffered a devastating disaster.
Of course, what made Liao Hanxiang most satisfied was that there were actually no major problems with the three aircraft carriers.
The damage suffered by the "Taizu" is easy to repair. It only needs to replace a new flight deck (the flight deck is composed of many sections, and when repairing, only the damaged part needs to be replaced) and repair other parts to fully restore its combat effectiveness.
The other two aircraft carriers were also just false alarms.
Tan Renhao's nervous mood also disappeared as the enemy planes left.
While others were celebrating their "victory" or "escaping death", Tan Renhao was not that happy.
This battle reflected at least two serious problems. First, the anti-aircraft artillery on the warships had defects. The 120mm anti-aircraft gun was the main force, but the elevation angle was too small.
The 40mm air-to-air cannon is almost a decoration and has little practical effect.
Second, the fleet's coordination in air defense operations was not ideal. With the Fifth Fleet's powerful air defense capabilities, it should not have suffered such losses.
Of course, the war had just broken out, and the Fifth Fleet was able to discover these problems in the early stages of the war and learn lessons from them. This will definitely be of great help in future battles, and it can also be considered a "result."
