Chapter 863: Two Destroyers

Countless factors could interfere with a shell hitting its target. Was the firing data entered into the gun correct? Did the shell encounter winds from various directions in the air? And on a naval warship, you had to account for the ship’s own roll and the enemy’s movement at the moment of firing. This series of factors made hitting an opponent at sea exceptionally difficult, and it was common to fire dozens of times without a single hit.

And yet, in many naval battles, warships would hit their opponents with just a few classic salvos, creating battle records that would be immortalized in history. What did they rely on? Besides the sailors’ rigorous and painstaking training and the ship’s precise targeting equipment, another indispensable factor was faith.

Yes, faith! Whether you believed in God, in Buddha, or in Brother Spring, if you kept praying while firing, something unexpected was bound to happen: either the shot would miss by a hundred thousand miles, or the shell would hit its target. In any case, something would definitely happen—this was the power of faith. Whether you believed it or not, many people did.

The American fleet was not just a small destroyer flotilla, but a vanguard fleet composed of three cruisers and three destroyers. Not far behind this force trailed an even larger fleet. Their purpose this time was not a routine patrol, but to challenge the Japanese Navy’s Combined Fleet.

The Japanese were unaware of this. Their three destroyers appeared as three pitiful signals on the American cruisers’ screens. This led the U.S. Navy to judge that the opponent was only three lambs waiting to be slaughtered. And so, the three leading cruisers and three destroyers accelerated, heading for a direct confrontation with this Japanese destroyer flotilla. The Americans, intending to conceal the fact that their main force was entering the Marshall Islands waters, willingly engaged the Japanese in the gunnery duel that the Japanese were best at.

But when the first ranging shot from the U.S. Navy landed on the flank of a Japanese destroyer, all the naval officers on the American bridge, watching the battle through their binoculars, were stunned by their own gunner’s miraculous shot. Who ever heard of the first shot being a near miss, almost taking out the opponent?

However, this opening success did much to boost the morale of the sailors on the American warship. Everyone who knew about it cheered. The foul mood of the U.S. Navy’s destroyer squadrons, which had never been able to win against their Japanese counterparts, had finally been vented, just a little.

Then, the American gunners, with a semblance of professionalism, adjusted the firing angles of their guns according to their usual training and fired their second shot of the day. No one had expected what kind of result this shell would produce. It was like most people who had prepared for their college entrance exams their whole lives would never think they could get into Tsinghua University.

The blood-boiling miracle happened again. Only now did the U.S. Navy realize that their first shot had missed only because their imagination had been too limited. Because this shell, without deviating in the slightest, had struck the bridge of the Japanese destroyer dead on. The resulting flash of fire was so bright it could be seen clearly from over ten kilometers away.

It was like buying a car for a hundred thousand, only to pull back the tarp and find it was a brand-new Porsche Cayenne; it was like a newly married girl suddenly discovering she had actually married the eldest son of the local richest man. The sailors of the U.S. Navy now felt very manly in this second, and their mood was very cheerful.

The Japanese Navy opposite them was now in a state of unspoken bitterness. They had heard about the capabilities of the U.S. Navy. The accuracy of their gunnery was no match for the rigorously trained Japanese Navy. It could even be said that they were no match for the Japanese Navy at all.

The destroyer Yukikaze was a new ship that had just entered service not long ago. Because its captain, Hida Kenjirō, was too young and inexperienced, he had not been made the commander of this destroyer patrol fleet. At this moment, the flagship had been blown into a pile of sinking scrap iron. Hida was so scared he was out of his wits, no longer knowing what to do.

He looked at his first officer, not knowing whether to order a turn or to open fire in return. And the distress signal coming from the flagship on the other side also made him feel that he should go over and rescue his comrades who were already about to be in the water.

“Commander! Commander! What should we do now? At a time like this, we should continue to engage! Continuing on this course is not a solution!” The first officer was a bit more experienced. He had served on other warships and had participated in some of the operations in the South Seas, so he could be considered the most experienced officer on the Yukikaze’s bridge.

With this reminder from his first officer, Commander Hida finally remembered what he should be doing. He quickly gave the order to continue the battle, to not retreat. “Full speed ahead! Prepare for torpedo launch! For the Great Japanese Empire! I will fight the American army to the death!”

After hearing this order, everyone felt that their future was like a widow who had lost her son—completely hopeless. With the flagship already hit and sinking, to still want to fight a life-or-death battle with the superior American forces opposite them was an absolutely suicidal choice. But at this moment, the entire Japanese Navy was filled with the resentment of not being able to have a decisive battle. Hearing the captain give such a murderous order to fight to the death, no one actually raised any objections.

“At a time like this, to abandon our comrades who have been sunk by the enemy and not rescue them is unreasonable, both in terms of sentiment and logic. We should turn around and go back to the rescue,” the first officer said with the composure of an old hand, just as everyone thought they were about to die in battle.

And so the NCOs began to nod, chiming in, “Our brave comrades are struggling in the water. This is not the time for us to throw our lives away with the enemy out of a moment of anger. We should prioritize saving lives, fish our comrades out, and then make our plans.”

Any smart person knew that to turn around to rescue their comrades, what kind of bullshit plan would they be making after that? They would probably just pick up the lucky ones and then get the hell out of there. But at this moment, there weren’t many who wanted to be a sucker, especially on this destroyer, the Yukikaze. There really weren’t many who were willing to die for the empire.

Hida had only given the order to fight to the death in a rush of blood to the head. Thinking back now, he also felt that he shouldn’t just be buried in such a small battlefield. To preserve his useful body and to continue to contribute his strength to the Empire, he did not object to his first officer’s words, but just pursed his lips and thought in silence.

In the end, reason had triumphed over madness. He looked at his first officer and all the personnel on the bridge, felt the shells of the U.S. Navy’s large-caliber naval guns landing in the sea not far from him, and finally gave a new order. “Inform the friendly ship that our vessel is turning. Our mission is now changed to rescuing the sailors who have fallen into the water! Ask them to provide cover!”

Hearing this order, everyone clearly breathed a sigh of relief. A destroyer, due to its smaller tonnage, did not take long to turn. Cutting through the waves, its sharp bow began to heel over to one side. And because they were going to save people, not to die, everyone showed one hundred and twenty percent enthusiasm, and the ship’s speed seemed to have increased a little.

The other Japanese destroyer was no fool either. They saw the other Japanese warship, the Yukikaze, turning, and so they also followed suit, signaling that they would cover the Yukikaze’s retreat. And so, the two Japanese destroyers, which had been so aggressive at the beginning, had in a flash turned into a panicked rout.

“Bakayaro! What kind of cover is this? They’re running even faster than us!” On the bridge of the destroyer Yukikaze, Hida Kenjirō cursed, watching as the friendly destroyer had turned almost at the same time as them. It seemed that not only the Yukikaze wanted to make a grand escape from the tiger’s mouth, but the other destroyer was also making the same plan.

In this tragic situation, whether they had time to rescue the fallen friendly soldiers, Commander Hida no longer had any confidence. So, as he was halfway through his turn, as was customary, he fired all the torpedoes he could, hoping to buy himself more time.

Of course, the friendly destroyer had done the same. The Japanese had fired nearly 20 torpedoes in one go, thus completing their attack mission. Then the Yukikaze had begun to accelerate its turn, heading towards the position of the sunken friendly ship, making a show of wanting to rescue the sailors in the water.

But although the Yukikaze wanted to save people and leave, it had not expected the other destroyer to be even more ruthless. This Japanese destroyer, after sending a light signal to the Yukikaze that said “American warship is approaching,” had made a wide circle and had begun to accelerate its escape from this sea area.

This gave Hida Kenjirō the urge to curse his mother. His own destroyer, the Yukikaze, had at least used the pretext of saving people to cover its retreat. The other had not even bothered with face and had directly chosen the strategy of a blatant escape!

“Bakayaro! Baka! Baka!” Hida Kenjirō, his face green with anger, knew that without the cover of a friendly ship, his own vessel, if it were to suddenly slow down, would surely be caught and sunk by the American warships. If he were to still think about saving people now, he wouldn’t even be able to die in battle; he would just be dressing himself up as a target for the American warships to practice on.

And so Hida Kenjirō also had to give up the plan of rescuing his comrades. He shouted loudly, “Full speed! Leave this sea area! Send a telegram to Marshal Yamamoto! Just say that we have spotted the American fleet.” As for the Japanese sailors soaking in the water, everyone seemed to have chosen a temporary amnesia.

Standing on the bridge, he slammed his fist on the railing. Hida Kenjirō looked at the friendly troops in the water and cursed loudly, “Damn Shigure! He’s running even faster than me!”

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