Chapter 173 The Fury of the Combined Fleet (4)
Under the bright sunlight, the huge 3rd Fleet of the Japanese Navy marched southward in a long column. Since they were closest to the destination, they set off at the latest. They did not depart from Tetra until after 9 a.m. on November 2. Departing from Rook Base.
In the command tower of the Shokaku aircraft carrier, Rear Admiral Ryunosuke Kusaka, chief of staff of the Third Fleet, was also full of doubts. In addition to being concerned about the future of the fleet, he was also very nervous about the power system of the Eagle aircraft carrier. Twelve days ago, the Flying Eagle engine malfunctioned during training and could only travel slowly at a speed of 6 knots. Finally, it was accompanied by a destroyer and returned for repairs. Although the power system was temporarily repaired after emergency repairs, hidden dangers still existed. In this regard, Engineers and technicians at the Rook base said there was nothing they could do to help - the repair ship could provide emergency repairs, and complete repairs required returning to the homeland. It was originally planned to return to the mainland for overhaul, but Lieutenant General Tsukahara 243 was still determined to take the risk and bring the Flying Eagle out for use to strengthen the fleet's aviation strength.
In addition to the hidden dangers of the Flying Eagle, the number of carrier-based aircraft on each aircraft carrier is also insufficient. Finally, all pilots and fighters with aircraft carrier takeoff and landing capabilities from the base air fleets in Rabaul, Truk and other places were prioritized to supplement - the base air fleet There are also some pilots who can board the ship, but the difference is that their level is slightly lower. Fortunately, both Tsukahara and Kusuka had served as commanders of the Nanyang base aviation team and were very familiar with the situation of pilots. In the end, they tried their best to barely achieve the full complement of aircraft carriers. As for the various aircraft carriers that had been deployed to pieces, What should the base air force do and what does the new air force commander Matoi Ugaki think? The two think they can no longer care about it.
They didn’t know that the reason why carrier-based aircraft were still able to be dispatched from the base air force was entirely due to Hoffman. Cole’s question, “The plane can fly for 5 hours, where are the people?” was deeply shocked. The naval aviation faction stopped sending Rabaul Air Force pilots to unnecessary deaths over Guadalcanal earlier than in history, so it also left seeds for the aircraft carrier.
"Why, are you still worried about the hidden dangers of the flying eagle?" Unknowingly, Tsukahara had walked behind Kusaka Ryuunosuke and asked with concern.
"Yeah, I'm always worried that something will happen." Ryunosuke Kusaka turned his head and sighed, "This operation is too large-scale. Basically, everyone will be dispatched. If it fails, there will be no room for recovery."
"I understand this concern, but many times you have to have the courage to sink everything. I still admire Commander Horikichi for this - this kind of courage reminds me of the courage of General Yamamoto before the war between Japan and the United States. As for the Flying Eagle," Tsukasa Yuan 243 pointed to the empty sleeve on his left, "We must be prepared for a strong man to break his arm... As long as he can successfully reach the battlefield and release an attack wave, it will be victory. Don't expect too much else."
"Okay." Having said this, Ryunosuke Kusaka could only stop worrying about it. Historically, Chuichi Nagumo suffered a lot because of his entanglement. Fortunately, Tsukawara 243 was much more determined than Nagumo. If Ozawa had been replaced, he might have been so entangled - from this point of view, Yamamoto Isoroku still has some merits. The one who knows people well.
At 15:00 on November 3, an American Catalina water reconnaissance aircraft (PYB) reported to the flagship that it had discovered the Japanese fleet northwest of the aircraft carrier formation. The nervous Rear Admiral Kincaid immediately ordered the Enterprise to launch an attack of 48 aircraft. A search was carried out within a 200 nautical mile range and a 120-degree sector, but the result was a completely false alarm. Not only did the formation find nothing, but it lost one Wildcat fighter (F4F) due to getting lost, improper operation, flight failure and other reasons when returning. , 3 Fearless dive bombers (SBD) and 3 Avenger torpedo attack aircraft (TBF). The two aircraft carrier formations have not achieved any results since they received Halsey's order to launch a large-scale dispatch on October 25, but the unnecessary losses were increasing mercilessly, which made him very frustrated - the loss of aircraft did not matter, but one less pilot was disappointing. pity.
Kincaid sighed and looked at the chart again. His slightly trembling hands revealed his nervousness. His current situation was worse than General Spruance at Midway (at that time, Japanese and American aircraft carriers 4:3) , now he only has 2 aircraft carriers, but 165 aircraft (originally 169), and according to intelligence, Tsukahara 243's mobile force has at least 2 large and 2 small 4 aircraft carriers - he does not know that the Japanese army actually dispatched 5 aircraft . In order to open up the situation, he decided to use the same tactics as on Midway Island. He would conduct early reconnaissance immediately after sunrise tomorrow and try to find the enemy, and then send out all the attack waves at once for a preemptive attack. However, the reconnaissance during the day could not be relaxed today. He continued to release reconnaissance planes to search, and at the same time sent telegrams to the Guadalcanal garrison, hoping that they would also cooperate with the reconnaissance - this was destined to be fruitless, regardless of the mobile fleet or the artillery fleet at this time It is at least 700 nautical miles away from Guadalcanal.
On the evening of November 4, after nearly two days and one night of sailing, Horikichi commanded the artillery fleet to sail south at an economic speed of 15 knots, preparing to turn northeast of Guadalcanal and pass through the middle of Malaita Island and Santa Cruz de Tobal Island. Then pounce on Guadalcanal from the northeast. This is completely different from the previous direction of intruding from Savo Island in the northwest - in the past, the Tokyo Express used this route to approach Guadalcanal. The Guadalcanal defenders knew nothing about this. During the day, they dispatched reconnaissance planes to conduct surveys in two key directions: north and west, but by 4 p.m. they still found nothing. In fact, the mobile troops arrived at 4 p.m. The Guadalcanal garrison search circle was entered at 45 minutes, but the artillery formation in the northeast did not enter the search circle at all. By the same token, since Kincaid's fleet was located further south in the middle of the Solomon Sea, neither the Japanese mobile fleet nor the artillery fleet could search for him.
On November 3, nothing was found, and on November 4, another whole day was wasted in the South Solomon Sea. Kincaid, who led the US aircraft carrier group, was almost crazy with anxiety, but he could not retreat casually, what if the Japanese fleet came tomorrow? ? After careful consideration, he ventured 60 nautical miles northward in the evening of that day, closing his distance to only 250 nautical miles from Bougainville Island. He was determined to take a risk and launch a search fleet north early tomorrow morning, and then Before the Japanese reconnaissance planes on Bougainville or Munda Island came out, he led the fleet to escape south. As long as the means were clever, the distance between the fleet and the Japanese reconnaissance planes would be greater than 300 nautical miles. He believed that this was a safe enough distance. Logistics officers have warned that at the current rate of material consumption, if reliable positioning of the enemy fleet cannot be obtained on November 6, the fleet's supplies will fall into the danger zone - which means that it will have to retreat.
At 18:45 on November 4, Guadalcanal time (Tokyo time is 2 hours later than Guadalcanal, the following is based on Guadalcanal time unless otherwise specified), night began to fall on Guadalcanal, and the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps stationed on the island Major General Alexander Vandegrift, commander of the 1st Division of the team, also began to feel worried, because he had long received intelligence that the Japanese army might counterattack. The silence of the other side in the past two days gave him a very bad feeling. .
The pointer had crossed 8 o'clock in the evening, and Kusaka Renichi reported to Horikichi: "Sir, the fleet is still 35 nautical miles away from Guadalcanal. According to the current speed, it will break into the waters of Guadalcanal in about two hours. Night has fallen. Come, the US military will not be able to detect us through aircraft, the only things we need to worry about are torpedo boats and small ships.”
"Is there any submarine report of the nearby American fleet?"
"No, but we have deployed two teams of destroyers on the periphery to detect the enemy fleet in time."
"Very good, increase the speed to 21 knots, and move the entire army forward..." Horikichi thought for a moment and then ordered, "Break the radio silence and send a telegram to the mobile fleet. Our fleet plans to invade Guadalcanal at 20:00 tonight. Today It is very likely that the enemy fleet will appear in the sea south of Guadalcanal at night and tomorrow morning. Our fleet will capture and determine the position of the enemy fleet at dawn tomorrow, and then the mobile fleet will attack. "
"Sir, the fleet has passed through the Sirac Strait and entered the waters of Guadalcanal. Not far ahead is Cape Lunga. According to the Army's prompts, not far from there is the American airport. This is the only airport on Guadalcanal." Considering the command, Conveniently, Kondo Nobutake finally stayed on the Yamato. After checking the chart and the actual sea area, he reminded Horikichi.
"Very well, prepare for the bombardment."
"The Army on the island is gradually disengaging from the US military and preparing to evacuate. Moreover, it is dark and the visibility is poor, making it impossible to provide accurate directions for fleet artillery fire."
"There is no need for precise instructions. Use the grid method prepared by Chief of Staff Kusaka to cover the shooting. Starting from Yamato, all naval guns with a caliber of 203mm or above will participate, and half of the high-explosive bombs will be fired." Horitoshichi said coldly, "U.S. Don’t people want to compete with us for steel and consumption? Use artillery fire to tell them that although Japan’s steel is a little less, it is not nothing, and let them have a taste of the wrath of the combined fleet!”
The so-called grid coverage shooting is similar to carpet bombardment, which divides Guadalcanal, which is not too large in area (the farthest distance between north and south is only 45 kilometers, and the entire island is within the coverage of bombardment), into fixed grids, which are controlled by naval guns according to the The geographical position and coordinate system are used for comprehensive, undifferentiated shooting.
"In addition, tell Lieutenant General Tsukahara that in order to strengthen the bombardment force, four Kongang-class ships will be temporarily deployed to participate in the bombardment and return to the mobile fleet before dawn..."
At this time, the waters of Guadalcanal were still shrouded in darkness, and the US military on the island did not notice the arrival of the Japanese fleet at all.
"Sir, the firepower is ready and can be fired."
"Report to each ship to fire Momo, and prepare for Yamato to fire first. Kondo-kun, please take full command."
Kondo Nobutake was stunned for a moment, then his face turned red and he replied loudly: "Yes!" Chief Horitiyoshi still showed some respect!
"The priority target is the US military airport; the second priority target is the port and beach! Get ready, fire..."
"boom……"
As Kondo Nobutake's order was issued, the world's most powerful battleship main gun, the 460mm Yamato naval gun, began to make key remarks.