Chapter 206: Given Away

"Because my father was a torpedo man at the Battle of Tsushima," Koga's gaze grew distant, "he used to tell me that during the Russo-Japanese War, our destroyers charged into the Russian fleet under cover of darkness, launched torpedoes at a Distance of a few hundred meters, and sank a Russian battleship. That was the Imperial Navy's most glorious moment."

He paused, then smiled bitterly. "But that was ten years ago. For ten years, we've been using the tactics of my father's generation, the weapons of my father's generation. And the enemy... the enemy has already entered the next era."

The Hatsuharu began to accelerate. The destroyer's nimble hull cleaved through the waves, and her speed quickly rose to 35 knots. Wind slammed violently against the deck, blowing the sailors' caps right off.

Koga stood up and looked ahead. On both sides of the Hatsuharu, the other destroyers were also accelerating. Shiratsuyu, Murasame, Samidare... these destroyers named after "rain" and "seasons" were now like a flock of moths darting into a flame, charging toward an unknown death.

"How far to the enemy ships?" Koga asked the observer.

"I don't know..." The observer's voice carried a sob. "I can't see anything at all! There's nothing in the telescope either! We're like... like charging at thin air!"

Koga's heart sank. No target bearing, no Distance data—they didn't even know where to launch their torpedoes.

But an order was an order. The charge had begun; there was no turning back.

"All stations ready!" Koga roared. "Torpedo tubes, load! Depth setting four meters, speed 48 knots, fan spread!"

"Torpedo Officer, we have no target data..."

"Then aim southeast! Toward the direction the Shells are coming from!" Koga's eyes were red. "Load!"

The torpedo men carried out the orders mechanically. Torpedoes weighing over two tons were pushed into the launch tubes, compressed air hissing. Koga pressed himself against the gunsight, carefully adjusting the angle even though he knew it was meaningless.

Just then, the observer suddenly screamed: "Dead ahead! Ship silhouettes sighted! Many of them! At least six! Cruisers!"

Koga snapped his head up. Through the telescope, he finally saw the enemy—not those invisible capital ships, but six sleek, fast cruisers. They formed an arc and were bearing down head-on toward the charging Japanese fleet.

"It's Lanfang's Omaha class!" someone recognized them.

Koga's heartbeat quickened. At least there was a target now. Even if they were only cruisers, not capital ships, it was still better than charging at thin air.

"Target enemy cruisers! Distance... fifteen thousand! Speed 30 knots! Torpedoes ready—"

Before he could finish, the enemy cruisers opened fire.

Not the Main Guns, but the secondary batteries. Dozens of 152mm quick-firing guns spewed flame simultaneously, and Shells rained down on the charging destroyer formation.

The first salvo scored hits. Shiratsuyu, leading the charge, was struck on the foredeck by three 152mm Shells. Her torpedo tubes were blown away, and a fire blazed up at the bow.

The second salvo: Murasame was hit, her engine room flooded, and her speed dropped sharply.

The third salvo...

"Damn it!" Koga watched the friendly ships around him being hit one after another and knew he had no time left. "Fire! All tubes, full salvo!"

The Hatsuharu's four torpedo tubes let out a muffled roar simultaneously. Four Type 93 torpedoes splashed into the water trailing white wakes, racing toward the distant cruiser formation at ninety kilometers per hour.

Koga pressed against the ship's side, staring fixedly at the torpedo wakes. Thirty seconds, forty seconds, fifty seconds...

"Evasive action! The enemy ships are evading!" the observer shouted.

The six Omaha-class cruisers in the distance all began sharp turns simultaneously, easily avoiding the Hatsuharu's torpedo salvo. The torpedoes uselessly passed behind their sterns and vanished on the distant sea.

"Reload! Quick!" Koga roared.

But it was already too late.

Another wave of 152mm Shells rained down. This time, the Hatsuharu was hit by at least five Shells simultaneously. The forward superstructure was blown away, the bridge burst into flames, and explosions sounded from the engine room.

Koga was thrown to the deck by the blast. He felt a sharp pain in his left leg, and when he looked down, a steel pipe had pierced through his calf, pinning him to the deck.

"Torpedo Officer!" Tanaka crawled over, trying to pull him up.

"Leave me!" Koga pushed him away. "Go launch the torpedoes! There are still two reserve torpedoes! Quick!"

"But..."

"That's an order!"

Tanaka ran toward the stern in tears. There were still two reserve torpedoes there, which could be manually pushed into the launch tubes—if the tubes hadn't been destroyed yet.

Koga leaned against the twisted railing, watching the hellish scene before him. Of the thirteen destroyers that had charged, six were already ablaze, three were sinking. The remaining four were still charging, but they were at least eight thousand meters from the enemy cruiser formation—at this Distance, the destroyers' 127mm Main Guns posed almost zero threat to cruisers.

And the enemy's 152mm Shells were still raining down.

"Is this... naval warfare in the new era?" Koga murmured.

No heroic gunnery duels, no thrilling torpedo assaults—only a one-sided slaughter. The enemy didn't even need to deploy capital ships; with only the cruisers' secondary batteries, they could tear the Empire's finest destroyer fleet to shreds.

Tanaka came running back, his face covered in black grime. "Torpedo Officer... the rear tubes... completely destroyed..."

Koga nodded, unsurprised. He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his coat—soaked through—but still drew one out and lit it with trembling hands.

"Tanaka, how old are you?"

"Se... seventeen."

"Seventeen." Koga exhaled a puff of smoke. "When I was your age, I was still studying at Etajima. Back then, the instructors always said the Imperial Navy was first in Yazhou, third in the world. We believed them."

He shook his head with a bitter smile. "Looking at it now, we were just... frogs in a well."

The Hatsuharu took another hit. This time it was near the waterline, and seawater began flooding in madly. The hull started to list.

"Abandon ship," Koga said to Tanaka. "You're still young. You should live."

"What about you, Torpedo Officer?"

"Me?" Koga looked at his leg, pinned to the deck. "I can't leave. Besides... I'm the Torpedo Officer, and my torpedoes haven't hit their target yet. I can't go."

"But..."

"Go." Koga waved his hand. "To the lifeboats. Say hello to Sayuri for me."

Tanaka saluted in tears, then turned and ran toward the lifeboat deck. Koga watched his young figure disappear into the smoke, then turned back to look southeast.

There, beyond the cruiser formation, he could faintly make out even more massive ship silhouettes. Four—no, perhaps more. Those silhouettes were so enormous that their outlines could be made out even at such a great Distance.

That was the enemy's true main force. Those monsters that had sunk four Kongo-class ships from beyond twenty-five thousand yards.