September 24, 1942
Tsushima Electrical Survey Station, South of the Sea of Japan
"Colonel! Radar response! Aircraft. 200 in total! Coming in!"
"Send a telegram to Musashi's aircraft carrier unit immediately!"
Five minutes later...
"Vice Admiral Nagumo, radar response from Tsushima! 200 enemy planes heading in."
"Order the Zero Fighter squadron to take off immediately."
Soviet Air Force.
"I don't think Japan even realizes we're approaching them."
"Yes. Let's just drop this bomb and go home. Vodka is waiting."
"Hey wait a second. What's that thing over there? Is it an aircraft?"
The most advanced and powerful fighter planes attack the unguarded Soviet military.
"It's Zero! A large formation, coming towards us!!"
The interceptor noticed and launched a counterattack, but it was too late.
To the Zero squadron, the Soviet fighter planes were like instant fodder.
The 20mm cannon fired, the wing with the red star marking was torn off, and the Sea of Japan was dyed red.
Also, attack planes carrying bombs and torpedoes were slow to move and quickly fell.
"Commander! Today is a time for a toast. The Soviet Union is nothing to be afraid of."
"Don't let your guard down! Don't send a single one back!"
And finally, the Imperial Navy's counterattack began.
"All attack forces, begin takeoff!"
Thus, a total of 800 attack aircraft, including the latest Suisei, Tenzan, and Zero Fighter Type 52s, filled the skies over the Sea of Japan.
British aircraft carrier bridge
"Captain! Nine o'clock direction! Hundreds of enemy planes! Coming in!"
The attack force launched a fierce attack on the combined British and Russian fleet from the side, but the enemy was not going to take it easy.
Anti-aircraft guns and machine guns immediately began firing. The attacking force flew through a barrage of fire that was incomparable to that at Pearl Harbor. Some planes caught fire and crashed. However, if they got within range of bombs or torpedoes, they were lost. First, two large British aircraft carriers were disabled. Then, concentrated dive bombing attacks ignited fuel and bombs, causing them to sink.
The first wave of attacks destroyed the enemy's aircraft carriers. Then, dive bombers began descending one after another on the battleships. Although the battleships had thick armored decks, their onboard structures were destroyed.
Thus, the Second Battle of Tsushima ended as a great victory for the Empire of Japan... or so it seemed. However, the enemy still had cruisers remaining. These cruisers and destroyers launched an attack on the Japanese fleet.
This is a tragedy that occurred because only aircraft carriers and battleships were targeted.
The escort fleet noticed this and immediately began to intercept. A fierce attack by battleships, with Yamato as flagship, began. Ships that received direct hits from 46cm guns quickly sank. However, there were too many of them. When the enemy fired torpedoes, the first to hit the nearby escort battleship Kongo, sinking it. The tragedy did not end. Just when it seemed the enemy had been almost annihilated, the surviving destroyer fired another torpedo, which hit the battle-hardened aircraft carrier Kaga directly, rendering it unable to sail. The aircraft were transferred to other aircraft carriers, and after the crew had been evacuated, Kaga was torpedoed.
With the damage to the aircraft carriers and battleships, the naval command was not celebrating with joy.