"Open fire! Shoot down the German aircraft!" Vice Admiral Chōgi Shiraishi, captain of the destroyer Urakaze, roared. His face was flushed red, and he looked extremely agitated. He knew that they had reached the most critical moment. If they could not hold them off, there was only one road ahead—death.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The Urakaze's four triple-mounted 25mm Anti-aircraft Guns, one twin-mounted 25mm Anti-aircraft Gun, and four 13mm Anti-aircraft Machine Guns all fired madly. Anti-aircraft shells and machine-gun rounds chased after those fighters. Yet the fighters darted through the anti-aircraft barrage like nimble sea swallows. They looked to be in grave danger, but in truth, they remained completely unscathed.
"Rat-a-tat-tat!"
Aircraft machine-gun rounds swept across the anti-aircraft positions along the Urakaze's sides, throwing up sparks. Screams rose one after another as many Island Nation sailors were gunned down. This also weakened the Urakaze's anti-aircraft fire.
Seizing this opportunity, four Dive Bombers and four Torpedo Bombers of the German Navy launched a joint attack.
"Whooo!"
A shrill howl rang out as the four Dive Bombers began steep dives from high above. Although the Anti-aircraft Guns aboard the other warships also fired at them, the dives were simply too fast for those shells to hit.
At an altitude of less than five hundred meters above the sea, the Dive Bombers dropped their bombs. Four 500-kilogram Aerial Bombs came crashing down upon the Urakaze.
"Evasive action! Emergency evasive action!" Vice Admiral Chōgi Shiraishi roared with a grim expression.
For a destroyer with a displacement of barely over two thousand tons, such heavy Aerial Bombs were undoubtedly lethal.
The Urakaze immediately made an emergency turn, trying to evade the bombs.
"Torpedoes! Four torpedoes spotted off the port side!" A terrified shout rang out.
Four 533mm Heavy Torpedoes were racing toward the Urakaze from the