The losses suffered by the "Musashi" ship were far more than just casualties.
There were more than a hundred casualties and most of them were machine gunners, which was nothing to mention to the more than a thousand people on the "Musashi" ship... The most replaceable thing on the warship was the machine gunners, who only needed a little training from the army.
You can go on board to replenish other personnel, such as sailors, maintenance personnel, pilots, etc. If these people are injured or killed for a while, it will be difficult to find people to replenish them.
Therefore, Toshihei Inoguchi did not take the casualties of more than 100 people seriously.
What gave him a headache was the raging fires on the warships, most of which were concentrated in the middle.
At first, Toshihei Inoguchi thought it was an incendiary bomb sent by the Eighth Route Army, but later he learned that this was not the case... The reason why the warship was burned to ashes was entirely because Wang Xuexin did not have time to make the anti-ship missile smaller. Its range is theoretically two
More than a hundred kilometers, but in actual use it is only used to hit targets about thirty kilometers away.
This does not mean that the missile cannot hit far, nor that it cannot aim accurately.
Anti-ship missiles are guided by television, and shooters from farther away can also see and aim at the target through television.
The problem is that thirty kilometers away is the limit of the coastal defense regiment's visual distance. In other words, the coastal defense regiment doesn't know whether there is a target thirty kilometers away or in which direction and location the target is, so how can it launch missiles?
Only thirty kilometers of more than two hundred kilometers of fuel were used, and all the remaining fuel was used to hit the target, that is, the "Musashi".
The fire spread everywhere, and spraying water into the flames had no effect at all.
Although these flames cannot cause any damage to the interior of the warship, after all, the thickness of the main armor belt of the "Musashi" reaches 410mm, and key parts such as the engine room, boiler room, and ammunition depot are often protected by more than 200mm of armor. The flames of the missiles are not strong without the blessing of bombs.
It is difficult to burn into these parts and cause serious damage to them.
However, the anti-aircraft firepower is all on the deck and mostly concentrated in the middle... This is because the front and rear of the warship are used to deploy the main and secondary guns. The 25mm anti-aircraft gun is small in size and can be deployed in every possible way in the middle.
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So naturally, the fire was all about anti-aircraft guns, and in the flames there were constant screams of gunners and explosions of ammunition exploding. At a glance, the anti-aircraft firepower had been burned to a great extent.
Only a few machine guns and single-shot anti-aircraft guns were left in the corners.
"Your Excellency, Major General!" Just as Inoguchi Toshihei was watching all this in stunned silence, the staff officer ran up and asked, "Colonel Nakano, please continue to pursue the enemy!"
Colonel Nakano was the commander of the cruiser "Myoko", and he had his own reasons for requesting the pursuit of the Eighth Route Army.
At this time, the imperial army still had hope of defeating the Eighth Route Army fleet. The "Miaogo" led the destroyers to continue chasing the Eighth Route Army. The "Miaogo"'s heavy patrol naval guns with a range of 24 kilometers still had an advantage over the Eighth Route Army.
As for the Eighth Route Army's anti-ship missiles, the anti-aircraft firepower on the "Myoko" and other ships was not damaged.
But Toshihei Inoguchi shook his head and ordered: "Abandon the pursuit and spread out to cover the Musashi!"
Inoguchi Toshihei's decision was right. At this time, due to the lack of anti-aircraft firepower, the "Musashi" had almost no power to fight back against the enemy's anti-ship missiles. If other warships continued to pursue, they would only encounter one or two more at this time.
An enemy ship, the consequences would be disastrous.
Colonel Nakano on the other side thought that Toshihei Inoguchi didn't want the "Myoko" to steal the limelight of the "Musashi". He said with some complaint: "Are we only allowed to attack the 'Musashi'? We can only watch."
Did the enemy escape?"
As he said that, Colonel Nakano looked through the telescope with regret as the Chinese fleet gradually escaped from the range.
No matter what, he still didn't dare to disobey Inoguchi Minpei's order.
However, Colonel Nakano soon realized that he was wrong. He thought that the Eighth Route Army fleet would take this opportunity to escape. Unexpectedly, they escaped to about 40 kilometers and kept circling the outside, seemingly looking for opportunities to attack.
This was reported by the seaplane pilot.
After learning this information, Colonel Nakano became even more excited. He immediately forwarded this information to Inoguchi Toshipei and once again requested to go to war.
Colonel Nakano said this: "Your Excellency, Rear Admiral, the enemy warships have no intention of leaving. They seem to want to have a showdown with our army! I think that for the safety of the 'Musashi', we must drive them away! Let'
Let the Myoko complete this mission! We will definitely drive these nasty guys into the sea to feed the fish!"
"Nakano-kun!" Inoguchi Minpei calmed down at this time and replied: "Do you think you can catch up with them and sink them?"
"Of course!" Colonel Nakano replied confidently.
Just kidding, naval guns with a longer range and reconnaissance by seaplanes, with such an advantage, is there any reason to be invincible?
Toshihei Inoguchi asked again: "If the enemy launches missiles when we are chasing us like just now, do you have any way to deal with it?"
Inoguchi Toshihei had already thought that the Eighth Route Army was using the "fight backwards" tactic, which would make the superior naval guns of the imperial warships unable to work, and they could only be passively hit by enemy missiles.
"That's when our anti-aircraft firepower comes into play!" Colonel Nakano replied.
"Do you know how many missiles the enemy has?" Toshihei Inoguchi asked again: "There were only a dozen missiles just now, but what if there are more? If the enemy has dozens of missiles hitting you at the same time, can you guarantee that you will shoot them all down?
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Colonel Nakano couldn't help but fell silent after hearing this.
He had to admit that what Inoguchi Toshipei said was right. Judging from the enemy's anti-ship missiles' bomb load and the ability to produce fires, as long as one was missed and not intercepted, the warship's combat effectiveness would soon be seriously damaged, especially
It's anti-aircraft firepower.
This is completely different from warships being attacked by torpedoes and enemy aerial bombs. The fire caused by the missiles is a full-scale attack and will paralyze the anti-aircraft firepower in a large area.
Once the anti-aircraft firepower is paralyzed, the next step is to be passively beaten.
"Don't be anxious, Nakano-kun!" Toshihei Inoguchi advised: "It's okay for them to be here. Once the Musashi puts out the fire, that's when we will pursue them!"
Toshihei Inoguchi's plan is simple.
It doesn't matter if the "Musashi" lacks air defense firepower. As long as other warships are around to act as the "Musashi"'s air defense, the safety of the "Musashi" can be guaranteed.
Under this premise, the naval gun range of the "Musashi" can come into play again... It can attack enemy ships under the guidance of seaplanes, while the enemy ships can only be passively beaten!
Inoguchi Minpei said bitterly in his heart: "When the time comes, you will have to pay the price for what you just did!"