Chapter 1064 1944: Swiftness and Lightning (14, Additional Chapter for the Leader Zhang Juzheng No Longer Exists in the World)

ps: Congratulations to the book friend "Zhang Juzheng no longer exists in the world" for becoming the leader of this book. Mr. Ge's book review is very good. To express his gratitude, I will add 2 updates (divided into two days) to pay tribute.

At 4:15, each ship notified the flagship Katsuragi with light signals: The second attack wave is ready.

The huge fleet was about 515 kilometers away from Pearl Harbor, and Horikichi gave the order to attack without hesitation. There were a total of 164 aircraft in the second attack wave, all of which still carried bombs and rushed towards Pearl Harbor. The key targets were US military airports and various aviation facilities.

Horikichi conducted an in-depth study of the entire situation of the First Battle of Pearl Harbor. When the mobile unit took off from Pearl Harbor, it was about 400 kilometers away. First, because the aircraft at that time were not as fast and poor in performance as they are now, and the attack was more confident at a closer distance; I have some understanding of Pearl Harbor, but I still lack confidence in success. Being closer is more conducive to the assault.

This time he chose to attack a distance 150 kilometers farther than last time because there were many favorable conditions:

First of all, the situation is familiar. The tactics of attacking from the north are still fresh in the minds of the pilots (of course, those who participated in the first assault);

Secondly, the weather is favorable. It is only late October. Although the North Pacific has turned cold and the wind and waves have increased, the weather is much better than that on December 7;

Thirdly, there is the improvement of equipment. Not only has the Japanese army's main fighter jets been replaced by cutting-edge aircraft such as Zidian Kai, Gale Kai, Meteor Kai, etc., it even has Ye Caiyun (based on Caiyun Kai and equipped with German search radar, with a detection range of more than 120 kilometers. Not only It can detect targets higher than 2 meters on the sea surface and can also detect aircraft in the air). Germany used it as a defensive early warning aircraft and search and reconnaissance aircraft, but after Japan got it, it turned into an attack early warning aircraft - opening the way in front of the attack group. On the one hand, it helps to detect the enemy fleet, and on the other hand, it assists the fleet in avoiding the enemy interceptor fleet.

In the end, morale was as high as a rainbow. The first attack on Pearl Harbor was like a tiger eating the sky, and they were anxious. Before this attack, the combined fleet had won consecutive battles, and everyone's morale was already quite high.

There are also many disadvantages:

For one thing, the effect of this sneak attack will definitely not be good. The last time Japan and the United States had not officially declared war, the United States had a paralyzed mentality and completely neglected to take precautions. Not only has it been fighting for nearly three years this time, the combined fleet has been wandering around the west coast every day recently, and sneak attacks are indispensable. The possibility of switching to a strong attack;

Second, the pilots this time are not as elite as the first time. Putting aside the performance of the aircraft, if the pilot level of the first Pearl Harbor Battle is 100 points, the average level of the main pilots of the combined fleet currently in the hands of Tsukahara and Tsunoda can be at least as good as 90 points, and many of the first wave of attack group pilots Horikichi just sent were novices who had just graduated from preparatory school. They had not even entered the gate of the military academy during the first Pearl Harbor battle, even though most of the officers who led them They are all veterans, and the average level can only reach 75 points at most - any lower than that and they will not be able to complete the task;

Third, I heard that Pearl Harbor is now very tightly defended. Not only are there a large number of aircraft and anti-aircraft guns, but the defense facilities such as radar stations are also expected to be even tighter. Fortunately, the main force of the US fleet was lured out as expected, otherwise it would be difficult to attack.

After the second attack wave was released, most of the carrier-based aircraft on the aircraft carrier had been emptied. Two aircraft transport ships moved closer to the Yunlong class, preparing to provide emergency aircraft supplies. The ground crew, which had been busy for more than three hours, once again worked hard to assemble all the reserve aircraft. After getting up, Matsuda Chiaki told Horikichi: "The third attack wave will be ready at about 6 o'clock. Does it need to take off?"

"The fighter jets will take off first at 6 o'clock, and the other attack aircraft will be on standby!" Horikichi pondered for a moment, "Wait for the news from the front, and decide whether to take off based on the situation!"

For this tactical arrangement, Horikichi took great pains: in the first attack wave, a total of 174 aircraft were dispatched. Except for 4 Ye Caiyun, the other 170 aircraft all had only one target - the US military oil depot; in the second attack wave, 164 aircraft were dispatched, except for 2 The target of the remaining 162 aircraft is uncertain - if the first wave fails to complete or only completes the task of destroying part of the oil depot, the second attack wave will take over from the first attack wave to complete the task; but if the first attack wave Well done, the second attack wave focused on US military aviation facilities.

As for the third wave of attacks, he believed that there was no need to even send it out if the previous attack was good. This logic sounds very strange, and seems to be repeating the mistakes of Nagumo Chuichi. However, if you analyze it carefully, it has profound meaning:

First, it was determined that there was no fleet in Pearl Harbor. The third attack wave was of no value except for bombing armies and buildings. The pilots were lost in vain - once they were shot down, they were lost;

Second, Pearl Harbor, with most of its fuel destroyed, was a dead port. No matter how useful it was to retain the army and facilities, as long as the fuel was cut off, no matter how many U.S. troops there were, they would not be able to get back on their feet;

Third, supporting the fleet attack group and coordinating with other main forces to blockade Pearl Harbor is much more useful than simply destroying some enemy forces, and must not be wasted in meaningless ground attacks;

Fourth, if the previous two waves of attack groups were unable to complete the task of destroying the US military oil depot, it means that there are major problems with the tactics of relying on aviation power to attack the oil depot, and the strategy must be changed.

Matsuda Chiaki was only concerned about one thing: if the third attack wave was not sent to attack the US aircraft group, the counterattack that the US military might come later would pose a greater threat to the fleet. After all, they estimated that there should be more than 1,000 aircraft in Pearl Harbor (actually more than 1,400, including nearly 1,000 from the Army Aviation and more than 400 from the Navy Aviation. Nearly 200 of the Navy Aviation were carrier-based aircraft in training using escort aircraft carriers). It would be difficult to completely destroy them with the second attack wave, but after the story, Hori Teikichi didn't care: "Counterattack? Okay, come on! See how many crews the US military has to exchange with us? This time I'll be more generous. I won't use the tanker to fight the Americans. I'll use the aircraft carrier to fight them! Let's see how much they can consume!"

It sounds quite arrogant, but he knows that this is Hori Teikichi's true idea.

The support fleet has a total of 2 Yunlong-class fleet aircraft carriers, 2 Chitose-class light aircraft carriers, 5 escort aircraft carriers, 6 escort aircraft carriers (special aircraft carriers that can carry 10 aircraft and 7,000 tons of fuel), and 4 aircraft transport ships converted from large fast tankers (they look like aircraft carriers, but except for water reconnaissance, the other aircraft have no take-off capability at all). Looking at the vast expanse, they are actually not worth much - after leaving the bottomless pit of the Chinese battlefield and completing the Indian campaign, Japan is now much more relaxed. Not only are escort aircraft carriers and escort aircraft carriers being built desperately, but even the Yunlong class has begun to be used as consumables.

There are 3 army flight divisions with a total of more than 400 aircraft on standby in the direction of Midway Island, and there are more than 300 carrier-based aircraft in the form of scattered parts on multiple transport ships. Hori Teikichi is only concerned about personnel losses, but is not afraid of aircraft consumption.

Before the end of this year, Japan still has two giant-class aircraft carriers, and it will get two new Yunlong-class aircraft carriers at the beginning of next year. It can also get a lot of Axis-class aircraft carriers by trading with Guinea. In addition, there are a steady stream of Yunlong-kai and Axis-class aircraft carriers on the slipway, which inevitably gives people a feeling that Japan is now rich and has more aircraft carriers than the United States!

But this is not an illusion. Excluding escort aircraft carriers, Japan currently has more regular aircraft carriers than the United States. Moreover, the United States has to split its forces in the two oceans, and Japan only needs to deal with the Pacific Ocean. Besides, the remaining forces of the Pacific Fleet are not enough for the Combined Fleet to fight. Didn’t you see that Tsukahara led the fleet to stop 1,000 kilometers outside Panama at the beginning, and the US Army Air Force did not dare to come out?

At 4:35, the first attack wave arrived 180 kilometers away from Pearl Harbor. After three consecutive descents, the height of the attack group has dropped from 1,000 meters to about 120 meters. They will also perform the last descent - from 120 meters to 40 meters.

Night formation flying was originally a unique skill of elite pilots of the Japanese Navy. After communicating with their German counterparts, they mastered many other methods, the most prominent of which was the lead aircraft following method: there were a total of three night navigation lights on the lead aircraft - one each on the upper part, belly and rear of the aircraft. If the following aircraft saw two lights when looking down, it means that your altitude is higher than the lead aircraft and you need to lower your altitude further; if you only saw two lights when looking up, it means that your altitude is lower than the lead aircraft and you need to raise your altitude; only when you see one light when looking horizontally does it mean that your altitude is exactly the same as the lead aircraft.

However, this requires a very high level of the lead aircraft. Other aircraft have the lead aircraft as a reference, and the lead aircraft can only rely completely on feeling. Once the lead aircraft does not fly well, the entire fleet may be doomed, so the selection and determination of the lead aircraft is the top priority - all of them are the only surviving old pilots of the Battle of Pearl Harbor.

Before the last descent flight, let alone 40 meters, even 120 meters, the scale displayed on the aircraft altimeter is almost equal to zero. In ultra-low-altitude sea-skimming flight, you cannot rely on instruments (at least instruments cannot do that now), you can only rely on human feelings and experience. In aviation schools, in addition to mastering other basic subjects, the last level is to follow the flight. If you are not good at following the flight, no matter how good other subjects are, you can only serve as a land-based or front-line reserve team.

Following the flight, you first learn to follow and fly low-altitude sea-skimming under sunlight conditions, and then learn to follow and fly low-altitude sea-skimming at night. Ito, who is less than 18 years old, has an unimaginable talent in night flying. Not only can he complete the following accurately, but he can even fly the leading aircraft that other people at this age dare not even think about (generally, he needs 3 years of actual combat experience). More importantly, when training in the Seto Inland Sea (very calm, with small waves), he can fly a supercritical 15-meter high-which means that he can go through most bridges through the bridge hole.

Behind the talent are endless accidents: every time there is ultra-low-altitude sea-skimming training, there are always people falling into the sea. If you are lucky, you can be rescued. If you are unlucky, the aircraft and the people will sink into the sea together. In particular, the attack aircraft carrying torpedoes will pin their heads on their belts anytime and anywhere when flying at ultra-low altitudes. Even though the casualty rate has always been high, the aviation school dare not simplify the training subjects. The movie "Space Battle" truly reproduces the scene of Shigeharu Murata passing through the bridge hole and destroying the New York Bridge with a torpedo - it was re-flown by the whole class. Every time they see this, the theater is full of audiences standing up and cheering. And the preparatory students also burst into tears after watching it - they fully understand the significance of ultra-low-altitude flight.

"Attention, all formations, now executing the last descent, the altitude is 40 meters!"

Gently turning the joystick, Sato kept the plane steadily at about 40 meters, almost the same as the lead plane. He couldn't help licking his lips. Above his head was the starry night sky, and below was the turbulent North Pacific. He could clearly feel the water droplets splashed on the wings and belly of the aircraft by the big waves. Pearl Harbor was in sight.

"Attention, all troops, prepare to break through!"