The destroyer Yinchuan, which had few antiair weapons in its arsenal, was the next to fall. Ten B-52s from the three southern strike packages descended on it and her escorts, filling the air with forty Harpoon missiles designated just for one vessel. Most of the missiles struck other vessels or were intercepted by Yinchuan's escorts, but ten Harpoon missiles found the heavy destroyer. It sank in less than twenty minutes.
The destroyer Dalian, which was equipped with the Hong Qian-91 surface-to-air missile system, and its antiair- equipped escorts wreaked havoc on the six B-52s that were fragged to attack it. Two B-52s sustained heavy damage and were forced to withdraw; one crashed over land to the east of Bangoy Bay, while the other was attacked by fighters and destroyed as it tried to escape the target area. But Dalian had expended most of its weapons defending the amphibious assault force against Tomahawk cruise missiles, and it soon found that it could not defend itself against an onslaught of twelve Harpoon antiship missiles launched against it. Battered and listing to starboard, the destroyer’s captain finally decided to beach his vessel near Matiao rather than have it sink in Bangoy Bay.
The vertical-plot greaseboard in the flag bridge of the destroyer Hong Lung was physically painful to look at. Destroyed vessels were in red, damaged and out-of-commission vessels were in black, damaged but operational vessels were in green-and-black stripes, and fully operational vessels were in green — and there were damned few of those. Fortunately, most of the green vessels were amphibious assault ships — the attackers still had not reached the Marines on the beach.
“Flag, bridge, we have visual sighting on destroyer Xiamen, "the skipper of the Hong Lung radioed to Admiral Yin. “He is signaling a request for assistance. Shall we come alongside?”
Captain Sun looked at Yin, who silently shook his head. Sun considered asking the Admiral to reconsider, thought better of it, then radioed, “Bridge from flag. Tactical recovery only, longboats and stage-three damage-control parties. Maintain course and speed to establish patrol position. Flag out.” Sun shut off. the intercom before the captain could argue as well.
“Dalian reports he is safely aground, sir,” a radioman reported. “Captain Yeng reports he can repair his fire-control system, estimated time to completion, thirty minutes.” Another silent nod from Yin.
“Tell Captain Yeng to continue antiair coverage with electro-optical and visual means until his radar fire-control system is repaired,” Sun said. “Add that the Admiral commends him for saving his vessel and for his confirmed kills, but that he is still the primary antiair warship for the invasion force.” Captain Sun stepped over to the vertical plot, studied it for a moment, then said, “We should have the transports evade north into Bangoy Bay — it will hide them better from any bombers that are still in the area. When the all-clear sounds, they can travel at flank speed south with their escorts to recover.”
“What escorts?” Yin muttered. “What escorts are left?”
“You see, sir, we have at least six patrol boats… and the Hong Lung group will be in position to cover their withdrawal, of course. Once past us, our air coverage will protect them until they dock at Zamboanga to load reinforcements.”
“Six… patrol… boats..Yin said in a low, wavering voice. “Six… I began this operation with eight destroyers, twenty frigates, and nearly sixty patrol boats. There are no capital ships left that can escort the amphibious assault ships back to port? None?”
“Sir, most of our frigates and patrol boats are still operational and still on patrol in the Philippine Sea,” Sun said. “We have recalled a few of them, along with the destroyer Zhangzhou, to bolster our inner defenses.” Sun stepped toward Yin, straightened his back, and said, “Sir, you deployed your forces like a true master tactician. You fought a superb battle against the best the Americans could throw at us. Your objective, the Marine invasion and the occupation of Davao and Samar International Airport, is almost complete. You have won, sir. You have—”
“Sir! Enemy aircraft inbound from the northeast and east of Davao,” the radioman reported. The vertical plot technician began drawing in the aircraft reported inbound, and the number seemed to grow to alarming size every second.
The northeast aircraft were farther behind the eastern group, but were moving in rapidly. “What kind of aircraft are they?” Sun ordered. “The Admiral needs type of aircraft. Get it!”
