Chapter 899: Amaterasu's Blessing

In mid-April of 1939, a critical moment in the entire Second World War was destined to unfold. At this point in time, the elite armored forces of the Soviet Union were heading south, seeking a decisive battle with the German armored forces. The magnificent Battle of Kursk had officially begun.

At this point in time, the Japanese Navy’s fleet had laid a net in the Solomon Islands, determined to fight a decisive battle with the U.S. Navy’s fleet. And this once-unknown group of islands, the Solomons, was finally etched into the annals of history because of this naval battle, becoming known to all under heaven.

Similarly, at this point in time, the Japanese Kwantung Army had assembled 600,000 troops, intending to strike north to attack the Soviet Union and seize the mountains of strategic supplies in the Soviet Far East. They planned to use these supplies to sustain the war, to fight a more protracted Pacific War.

And about a month later, in May, Field Marshal Rommel in Africa gave the order to attack. The oil resources he had accumulated in Syria were almost enough for him to launch a war for the Suez Canal. So this Desert Fox of North Africa, as was to be expected, had launched the offensive to meddle in the Middle East.

The strength of the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet was, in fact, a considerable headache for the Japanese Navy. At Pearl Harbor, the Japanese had sunk the American battleships Tennessee, Arizona, Nevada, and Oklahoma in one fell swoop. But now, the number of battleships the U.S. Navy could field against the Japanese warships was still quite large.

The older ones included the Pennsylvania, as well as the New Mexico, Idaho, and Mississippi. The more advanced battleships included the California, Colorado, and West Virginia. Of course, the Americans had not completely lost to Japan in terms of battleships. Although they had not produced a super-battleship, they had commissioned two new ships ahead of schedule: the North Carolina and the Washington.

Of course, these battleships were also distributed between the Atlantic and Pacific theaters. There was even one ship on the route around the Middle East from the South Atlantic. So, of the U.S. Navy’s battleships, a total of two—the Idaho and the newer West Virginia—were still in the Atlantic. The old New Mexico was still sailing in the south of Africa, and the Pennsylvania was under repair on the West Coast and could not participate in the battle for the time being.

And so, the total number of frontline battleships for the U.S. military was highly consistent with that of the Japanese army. There were the Colorado, the Mississippi, the Washington, and the North Carolina—a total of four battleships.

So when Halsey spotted two Japanese battleships in front of the U.S. Navy fleet, he had, without hesitation, brought his own battleship force to bear. The faster Washington and North Carolina took the lead, following the first wave of American attack aircraft, and opened the prelude to the Battle of the Solomon Sea.

To be honest, to pit the North Carolina-class battleships, which had just been commissioned in 1938, against the Japanese Ise-class battleships, which had been launched in 1915, was a bit like bullying. But these two Japanese battleships were not pushovers either—they had undergone a modernization refit in 1935 and could definitely be considered relatively advanced active battleships.

Moreover, if one were to say that before the start of World War II, any country’s naval ratings had the qualifications to compete with the British Navy in terms of gunnery training, then it would have to be the Japanese Navy. In terms of overall gunnery training and experience, the Japanese Navy was more than a match for the U.S. Navy in warship gunnery duels.

But at this time, the Japanese Navy’s bait fleet was not just facing two American battleships, but also a sky full of American planes. And so the entire battlefield began in a state of extreme chaos.

“Send a telegram to Marshal Yamamoto! We have successfully attracted the attention of the American fleet!” the captain of the battleship Ise said, lowering his binoculars and giving orders to his first officer. “Load the main guns with ammunition! Prepare for anti-aircraft combat! You will personally command the anti-aircraft battle. The entire fleet will increase speed!”

“Hai!” The first officer stood at attention, bowed his head, and then quickly left the command bridge. The battle alarm sounded, and the massive Japanese battleships revealed their ferocious faces. All their cannons began to point at the sky. The call to air defense echoed throughout the interior of the battleship. All the sailors were bustling about in the cramped compartments. The battle that would decide their fate was about to begin.

“Commence anti-aircraft action!” Standing on the anti-aircraft command position, the first officer drew his officer’s sword and pointed it at the dense mass of American planes in the sky. “Fire! Drive off these damn Yankees!”

Crack! Boom! Boom! The high-angle guns of different calibers spewed dazzling tongues of fire, instantly turning the battleship Ise into a giant, fire-breathing porcupine. Tracer rounds flew everywhere around the warship, but the American planes, like nimble swallows, weaved back and forth through the gaps formed by the columns of light from the tracers.

Feeling the near-misses from the bombs dropped by the American planes exploding not far from the hull, the captain of the Ise held onto a nearby table, trying to stand straight on the swaying bridge. Looking out the window at the planes circling back and forth, he didn’t know when his reinforcements would arrive. “We are the bait fleet. We must fight to the death on our own!”

He gritted his teeth and encouraged his men beside him loudly, “His Majesty the Emperor will surely protect us! A battleship is not something those tiny planes can sink. We will surely be safe!”

In fact, at this time, the Japanese Navy’s bait fleet was still 40 kilometers from the vanguard of the U.S. Navy fleet. The main guns of both sides could not yet aim at the enemy. The Japanese Navy, moreover, because it needed to dodge the planes’ attacks, had been making zigzagging maneuvers all along and had not even begun to aim its main guns.

Suddenly, an aerial bomb struck a Japanese heavy cruiser in the distance. The huge explosion turned the entire cruiser into a massive ball of fire. The nearby Japanese soldiers all witnessed the process of this cruiser breaking in two and sinking. They didn’t know if their own end would be so tragic. In any case, from this moment on, a thing called despair began to creep into the hearts of all the Japanese soldiers.

“Fire! Keep firing! We are the warriors of His Majesty the Emperor! Do not, because of the sacrifice of our comrades, give up the will to resist! Long live the Great Japanese Empire!” a commander at a gun position on the anti-aircraft command position roared at the sky. But his voice was quickly drowned out by the roar of the 127mm high-angle guns.

BOOM! As the battle continued, the Japanese Navy’s anti-aircraft screen became more and more broken. After all, to fight against a large number of aircraft with a small number of warships was a suicidal act. After the battle had been going on for a full 40 minutes, a bomb dropped by the U.S. Naval Air Arm finally hit the flagship of the Japanese bait fleet, the Ise.

A Japanese soldier, carrying a magazine for a 25mm triple-barreled anti-aircraft gun, was blown into the sea by the massive blast wave. This huge bomb left a hole in the deck. The nearby steel and who knows what else was twisted, a testament to the power of this aerial bomb.

Of course, the shock also reached the Ise’s command bridge. With the violent shaking of the warship, the commander of the bait fleet, that is, the captain of the battleship Ise, staggered a few steps. He waited anxiously amidst the frantic American attack, waiting for Marshal Yamamoto Isoroku to appear on the battlefield and save the collapsing bait fleet.

“Send another telegram to Marshal Yamamoto and Admiral Nagumo Chuichi! Just say that our army is already engaged with the main force of the American fleet. Have them get to the battlefield as soon as possible. Otherwise, all the warships of the bait fleet will be finished!” Having finally regained his footing, the captain of the battleship Ise finally sent out a second, urgent telegram. After all, what he was most hoping for now was the sound of the Japanese fleet’s counter-attack.

BOOM! As the distance between the two fleets was constantly closing, the American battleships began to use their main guns to attack the Japanese warships. And on this side, the two Japanese battleships, Ise and Hyūga, because they had to dodge the American planes, could not use their own main guns to counter the threatening American battleships.

“Bakayaro!” The Japanese soldiers on the warship cursed as they were hit by the splashing water and the constantly exploding and burning warships. Although the Japanese high-angle guns of various calibers were still returning fire without stopping, from the very beginning, Japan had already lost several warships.

Struggle. This word was the most appropriate to describe the Japanese Navy’s bait fleet. The sky full of planes and the constantly approaching American battleships made this fleet, no matter how you looked at it, the unluckiest character in the entire Battle of the Solomon Sea today. They were struggling under the attack of the U.S. Navy, praying to the heavens that their own friendly warships could get to the battlefield faster.

While the bait fleet was suffering through a living hell, far to the east of the entire battlefield, Yamamoto Isoroku was leading his fleet at full speed towards the designated battlefield. He had to close the distance to 30 kilometers before the American carrier fleet’s alert planes could spot him.

“Full speed ahead! Remember, our comrades in the bait fleet are waiting for our news! Do not retreat!” Yamamoto Isoroku stood on the bridge and said loudly to his staff and adjutants. “May the military fortunes of the Great Japanese Empire be long-lasting! All units, charge!”

The sharp bow of the battleship Nagato tore through the calm surface of the Pacific. The newest battleship of the Japanese Navy took the lead, charging towards the American carrier fleet. Yamamoto’s first step plan had clearly had a certain effect. At the very least, he had lured away the first wave of the American attack force.

“It seems! Amaterasu is still protecting Japan…” Yamamoto Isoroku stared at the sea and murmured softly.

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