The boarding battle turned out to be much easier than the staff imagined.
The crews of the Eighth Route Army rarely received military training, and the same was true for the Japanese crews.
On the other hand, the Japanese crew are not as crazy as the Japanese Army, and they are always desperate to launch so-called "jade-breaking" attacks with the enemy... This is related to the fact that a considerable part of the Japanese Navy has studied abroad and been influenced by Western education, and its overall atmosphere is similar to that of the Army's closed style.
Militarist education is different.
More importantly, when the crew of the Eighth Route Army boarded the battleship "Musashi", it had been burning for almost an hour. The Japanese who were sealed inside had been suffocated to the point where they could only breathe out but not in... He was hiding in the inner cabin.
Some of the hundreds of crew members died due to lack of oxygen, some fainted, and most were in a semi-coma state.
Because when the Eighth Route Army soldiers rushed in cautiously with box cannons, they encountered almost no resistance. Only in the power cabin did they encounter resistance from more than 20 Japanese military police and a small-scale battle broke out.
After the fight, more than 20 military policemen were killed, injured and two were captured. After interrogating Xu Huandong, he secretly wiped his sweat: These more than 20 military policemen entered the power cabin with explosives and planned to blow it up.
, they did not want the "Musashi" to be captured by the Eighth Route Army in such an almost intact condition.
It is an exaggeration to say that the "Musashi" is almost intact, because its buildings outside the deck have been burned to a complete mess, and the anti-aircraft artillery, anti-aircraft machine guns, seaplanes, etc. have all been burned out.
However, the Japanese military police believe that it is "almost" intact and has no faults, because the main body of the battleship, which is valuable, is actually the things inside it, such as 12 large boilers, 4 steam turbines, and a main engine weighing more than 5,000 tons.
And more than a thousand tons of electrical equipment, etc.
As for the external artillery, except for the large-caliber naval guns, they can be said to be "a drop in the bucket."
It was later discovered that in fact, none of the valuable naval guns were burned, because in order to better engage in artillery battles with the enemy, the turret armor of the "Musashi" naval guns was thickened: the front armor of the main gun was 650mm thick, and the weakest
There is also 250mm on the side, and the fire has no effect on it at all...if it has any effect, it will suffocate several artillerymen inside.
The Japanese military police have a good idea. They only need to blow up the most important power. Even if the Eighth Route Army takes over the "Musashi", it will be useless.
This idea is correct, because the Eighth Route Army simply cannot produce large steam turbines like the "Musashi".
However, what made the military police collapse was that the "Musashi" protected itself too well. Its power compartment and boiler room were all protected by 75mm armor. The military police were holding explosives but couldn't do anything about them.
(Note: The outer armor of the power cabin of the "Musashi" is 200mm thick, and other parts are 75mm to 90mm. Among them, the bottom of the ship may run into rocks and mines, and 90mm is used)
These explosives were not detonated until the military police were wiped out... A wounded military policeman did want to detonate them. Although it could not blow up the power cabin, exploding in the internal closed space would at least cause some casualties to the Eighth Route Army that rushed in.
But in the end this behavior was stopped by two military police who were about to surrender.
It is understandable that the injured military policeman wanted to detonate the explosives. He was about to die, so he pulled a few people down to support him, but the living military policeman did not think so.
Therefore, after more than an hour of thorough clearance, the "Musashi" was successfully captured by the Eighth Route Army.
This result surprised Wang Xuexin, and it was not one accident but three accidents.
Originally, Wang Xuexin thought it would be good if he could sink the "Musashi". After all, this thing was a battleship, known as the "unsinkable battleship."
It is very difficult or even impossible to sink it with anti-ship missiles, because anti-ship missiles can only destroy the part above the waterline.
But anti-ship missiles can knock it out of combat effectiveness. To be precise, it can cripple its anti-aircraft firepower so that its naval guns cannot be used normally.
This allowed the coastal defense regiment to get close to it and launch torpedoes to sink it.
Sinking is the easiest, and the prisoners would not even dare to think about it.
But I didn't expect that judging from Xu Huandong's report, he was expected to be captured...
Take prisoners, take prisoners!
Wang Xuexin believed that even if the battleship was captured, it would still be in dilapidated condition.
The Japanese are not good men and women, and they will not easily let the battleship, especially the "Musashi", be captured by the Eighth Route Army.
Who would have thought that most of the Japs had been burned unconscious by missiles and fire, and they were powerless to destroy them.
At this time, Wang Xuexin thought again, even if it is like this, there is no way this thing can still be driven!
Who would have thought that Xu Huandong and his crew tried to activate it while interrogating the Japanese prisoners, and actually succeeded, and then drove the battleship slowly towards the shipyard under the protection of several warships!
This information attracted cheers from the headquarters again and again, and they were equally surprised by it.
It was not just the Taiyuan headquarters that was surprised by this. The headquarters could not believe it even after receiving the telegram from Zhang Zongping. The commander personally called Wang Xuexin and asked: "I heard that the Japanese's 'Musashi' was seized, and
It’s basically complete, isn’t it true?”
"It's true!" Wang Xuexin replied: "Commander Xu spent some time to conduct a general inspection of the warship. There are basically no problems internally. Except for the anti-aircraft firepower, bridge, radar and circuits on the outside, the naval guns were bombed and burned.
It’s all complete!”
"Not bad!" The leader on the other end of the phone smiled from ear to ear: "So, we also have a battleship!"
Then the chief asked again: "By the way, have you found Toshihei Inoguchi?"
"Not yet!" Wang Xuexin replied: "Through interrogation of the Japanese prisoners, we know that a seaplane took off urgently at the last critical moment. It is estimated that Inoguchi Minpei escaped on this seaplane!"
This is indeed the case.
Originally, Inoguchi Toshihei wanted to live and die with the warship. This is the tradition of the imperial fleet... In fact, captains from many countries on warships have such a plot, and the captain will choose to sink with the warship.
But the staff advised on the side: "Your Majesty, Major General, if the warship is blown up by the enemy, then I agree with you to live and die with the warship! But now the warship may be captured by the enemy... and we cannot blow up the warship and sink it!"
This may be the tragedy of the "Musashi" ship, because the armor and protection are thick and tight enough, even if it wants to sink itself, it is not easy.
The staff officer continued to advise: "So, your wish to sink with the warship cannot be realized. If you continue to stay on the ship, you will either die at the hands of the Eighth Route Army or be captured by it. No matter which one, you will give the Eighth Route Army military merits."
Add a big touch!"
What the staff officer said was correct. Toshihei Inoguchi was a rear admiral, and he was quite prestigious in the Japanese Navy. If he was killed or captured by the Eighth Route Army, it would be another Norihide Abe.
In desperation, Inoguchi Toshihei and his staff boarded a seaplane and ejected at the last moment...