1084 Strikes Again

The armored forces of the German army swept across the area south of Moscow like a whirlwind, and they regained the feeling of speed on the battlefield. This is exciting news for the German army, because the fast breakthrough also means that the German army will not suffer heavy casualties.

At almost the same moment, on the calm sea of ​​the Pacific Ocean, a Japanese aircraft carrier was breaking through the waves. A row of brand new Zero fighter jets on the deck shows that the aircraft carrier has just received supplies and its combat effectiveness is at its peak. On the distant sea, one escort warship after another is sailing with the aircraft carrier.

On the sea farther away from where these warships are parallel, the shadow of a huge warship almost enveloped a destroyer next to it. This behemoth over 25 meters in length may be the largest warship built by humans in history. Going up can overwhelm all opponents in terms of momentum.

General Koga Mineichi put down the binoculars in his hand on the bridge of this super giant ship. Anyway, admirals like to watch their fleet with binoculars in such a pretentious manner. I don't know who started to use this method to pretentious, but this action has been well inherited by the commanders of the navies of various countries.

At this time, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart, because the United Fleet is no longer comparable to that in its heyday. The continuous attrition has caused the combined fleet to lose a large number of naval ships. Compared with the number of ships commanded by Yamamoto Fifty-Six in his heyday, the strength in his hands is completely different.

Two years ago, if Koga Mineichi could command the combined Japanese fleet and become the commander of the most powerful fleet of the Japanese army, his mood could be described as complacent. But now, facing the mountainous pressure on him from the U.S. Navy, his current mood can only be evaluated as walking on thin ice.

As the saying goes, if you are not in charge of the family, you don't know how expensive the firewood is. Koga Mineichi, who was a errand in China far away, had been a representative of the young and strong faction of the Navy before he took over the combined fleet. He advocated an active counterattack and dispatched the fleet

But when poor Koga Mine had to take over the command from Marshal Yamamoto Fifty-Six and became the new commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet. The United Fleet, which suffered heavy losses in the Solomon Sea Battle, actually no longer has the ability to fight back. It seems that Yamamoto Fifty-Six was ordered to hand over the commanding country to report his duties, which seems to be a better destination.

After Koga Mineichi took over the command of the United Fleet, he had planned a comprehensive counterattack plan, but when he learned about the losses suffered by the United Fleet, he had no choice but to give up that hasty plan and follow Yamamoto's plan instead. The rest and reorganization plan drawn up by Fifty-Six will continue to pursue the policy of "avoiding war and moving forward".

His policy obviously aroused the resentment of the army and the young navy faction. These people think that they should fight to the death with the U.S. military, rather than hide and die in the vast Pacific Ocean. At the beginning, this kind of argument was resolutely resisted by Nagumo Tadaichi and other senior generals, but when more and more islands in Southeast Asia were lost, the headquarters also stood on this point of view. They hope that Koga Mineichi can cheer up the combined fleet,

Destroyed the main US fleet in a naval battle, allowing Japan to regain the initiative in the war.

Why did the army's opinion get the support of the Japanese base camp? Because General Ishihara Wanji of the army won several encounters near Vladivostok, and compressed Cuikov's troops to the vicinity of Vladivostok. Lu's big victory on the ground gave the Lu army enough face, so their voices overwhelmed the navy's military department. In the end, Koga Mineichi also had to consider the thoughts of the main combat faction who supported him behind him, and he couldn't go against his original proposition and continue to avoid the war.

So no matter how the hapless new commander of the joint fleet, Koga Mineichi tried to shirk, he could only lead the joint fleet to assemble and dispatch again in the end. The good news is that due to long-term accumulation, his fleet is very sufficient in terms of fuel, and the newly added pilots have also accumulated a lot of flying experience, which can be regarded as having recovered a certain amount of combat effectiveness.

On the other hand, some time ago, the Japanese Navy formed a large-scale suicide attack team of Sakura with pilot students, and carried out a large-scale suicide attack on the US Navy. They flew fighter jets to directly reload U.S. Navy warships, which caused great panic to the U.S. Navy soldiers for a while.

This time Koga Mineichi also brought a large number of suicide planes. He hoped to use this method to sink as many American warships as possible and complete a Jedi counterattack against the US Navy. Because of the relatively abundant time, the Japanese suicide plane this time is not an ordinary plane, but a modified special model.

Some fuel tanks were banned and more bombs were loaded. The entire aircraft is like a guided bomb controlled by man. Once it hits a US ship, the damage it can cause will be even greater. This is also the last time the Japanese navy will give it a go, because they have already put all their assets on the line.

"The reconnaissance plane patrolling by Your Excellency, General, has sent a message, but there is still no sign of the US fleet." A combat staff officer stood behind Koga Mineichi with a telegram between his fingers: "The front guard destroyer fleet has not found any reconnaissance either. American planes passed by."

Kogafeng narrowed his eyes and thought about it carefully for a few seconds. He knew that the current position of the fleet was relatively safe. If he continued to go south along this route, he would soon enter the activity area of ​​the main force of the US fleet. This is the battlefield he chose this time, and this is the location for his decisive battle with the U.S. Navy.

The Japanese army has an island airport in this sea area, which can take off about 2 planes to provide support for the navy. Although these Air 6 planes are clumsy and weak when attacking naval ships, they can barely help provide some anti-aircraft firepower. Very important.

Another reason for choosing this place is that the surrounding area has just been occupied by the US military, and the other side probably hasn't had time to build an airport on the island. This will be able to win the advantage of two Air 6 aircraft for the Japanese army. Compared with head-to-head with the United States, this is obviously a good coup to take advantage of the situation.

Since the Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga and Akagi were sunk by the U.S. Navy, the Japanese Navy has been unable to compete with the U.S. Navy in terms of the number of aircraft carriers. However, all of this has been alleviated now. The shipyard in the rear has been rushing to work day and night, and finally the two aircraft carriers Xianghe and Zuihe have been launched ahead of schedule, becoming the new maritime pillars of the Japanese Navy.

And the new battleship fleet that Yamamoto has been looking forward to has reached its peak in the hands of Mineichi Koga. With the launch of the battleship Yamato and the completion of the modification of the King Kong-class battlecruiser, the Japanese Navy has a terrifying battleship fleet. This is another reason why Koga Mineichi finally had the courage to launch the fleet and fight the Americans to the death.

The new pride of the current Japanese navy is the super battleship Yamato under the foot of Koga Mine. As the flagship of the United Fleet, this warship may have the best performance and data in the world. As a battleship, it has the largest caliber main gun in the world, a total of nine 46mm heavy guns. This kind of firepower is enough for it to destroy any enemy warship that enters its range, and even the US Navy's Iowa-class battleship still under construction on the berth is not its opponent.

Following the flagship of the United Fleet are four King Kong-class battlecruisers. The four modernized battleships are more advanced than the battleships used by the US Navy. In terms of combat performance, Japanese battleships have always had an overwhelming advantage, and in terms of artillery tradition and experience, the U.S. Navy is not at all an opponent of the Japanese Navy.

This time, Koga Mineichi's basic combat tactics are: aviation is only responsible for fighting for air supremacy, using suicide planes to interfere with the actions of the U.S. Navy, and finally narrowing the distance between the two armies, relying on the absolute superiority of the battleships, and using bombardment tactics to defeat them in one fell swoop. US Navy.

In fact, the Japanese Navy is still debating whether the battleship is the main force of the navy or the aircraft carrier is the main force of the navy. Most of the senior Japanese navy generals have very deep feelings for battleships, and it is simply impossible for them to compromise and recognize the status of aircraft carriers in a short period of time.

And the majority of officers and soldiers at the middle and lower levels also felt that battleships with strong ships and powerful guns were the real mainstay of the navy. This is also related to the promotion system of the Japanese Navy. All senior naval officers are selected from battleship positions. Officers who have not served on battleships are relatively marginal. Therefore, the orthodox Japanese navy is dominated by the battleship faction. of.

Of course, from another perspective, this is actually inseparable from the current situation of the Japanese navy: who dares to say that the naval aviation is the main force of the navy? I'm looking for a tooth, and now it is said that aviation is the main force. Doesn't it mean that the Japanese navy has been defeated?

Therefore, the officers of these main battles do not admit that the main force of the Japanese navy has suffered heavy losses. They believe that the battleship is the main force of the navy. This will leave a hope for everyone: our main fleet is still there, and we can still fight As for how to fight the remaining naval battles with battleships, that is the business of the United Fleet itself, and has nothing to do with them.

This is not a group of lunatics deceiving themselves and others, but the cards in their hands limit everyone's tactical thinking. If the Japanese naval aviation could still be as sharp as it was at the beginning of the war, this kind of argument that battleships are king may not exist long ago.

Thinking of this, Gu Hefeng shook his head subconsciously, and then looked at the distant sea again: "Let the fleet continue to move forward, and all reconnaissance planes and outpost warships will report to me immediately if they spot the US fleet."

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