Chapter 465 Caribbean Sea (7)

ps: Today I took a boat to Yichang and visited the Three Gorges. It’s still two updates and has been set to be released automatically.

After obtaining the accurate position of the light aircraft carrier formation, everyone in the US fleet breathed a sigh of relief: In any case, there is at least one target worth attacking.

But Fletcher didn't think so. After thinking hard for a few minutes, he turned to Cox and said: "Do you think there is a possibility that this is a target deliberately exposed by the enemy, and there are not many aircraft on it? Otherwise, the enemy will not It will easily expose the position of the light aircraft carrier and desperately intercept the reconnaissance aircraft near the fleet aircraft carrier - these two extremely contrasting behaviors are unpredictable. "

Cox thought about it and finally said: "Your idea makes sense. Although it is still unclear whether it is the enemy's decoy, but I think the judgment that there are not many aircraft is closer to the truth - the enemy's carrier-based aircraft Repeated battles with the Army Aviation must have resulted in the loss of many aircraft, and they may have concentrated all available aircraft on those fleet aircraft carriers. "

After initially identifying it as a decoy, Fletcher pondered again and tried to put his position from the perspective of the Axis Fleet commander: For him, it is impossible to completely avoid the U.S. attack. If the U.S. military can only attack its own side, An unimportant goal is an invisible waste of an offensive opportunity.

Cox seemed to see through his thoughts and asked: "Should we let Puerto Rico's Army Aviation attack this fleet first?"

Fletcher shook his head: "Don't worry yet, wait for the report from the reconnaissance plane."

"The reconnaissance of the enemy battleship formation was not smooth. No. 1-4 reconnaissance aircraft were not found at the expected positions where the enemy fleet might appear, and there were no cases of being shot down or interfered with."

Now Fletcher became anxious. Where was the enemy battleship formation? What’s even more troublesome is, where is the enemy’s main aircraft carrier formation?

Time passes by, and the attack aircraft group on the deck has completed all operations. The staff are nervously calculating the distance and time of the air strike: the current fleet is 720 kilometers away from the enemy's light aircraft carrier, and Puerto Rico is 750 kilometers away from the enemy's light aircraft carrier formation. All pilots are They were all waiting impatiently for the order to attack.

More than 700 kilometers is far away for aircraft carrier operations, but it is still within the strike range. Should we launch an attack now or wait for clarity on other situations? Fletcher and Cox found themselves faced with a tricky multiple-choice question.

The sweat on Fletcher's forehead seeped out one by one. Finally, he looked at his watch and gritted his teeth and said: "It is 7:05 now. Wait another 5 minutes. If there is no news, let the Puerto Rican Army Air Force attack the enemy first." "Light aircraft carrier formation."

At 7:09, just one minute before he was about to issue the order to attack the light aircraft carrier formation first, he suddenly reported that the enemy's main aircraft carrier formation was located approximately 320 kilometers south-west of Grenada and was heading east at a speed of 23 knots. It is currently 790 kilometers away from the fleet and 730 kilometers away from Puerto Rico.

This distance was definitely not close, but at least it gave Fletcher a clear target. He turned around and asked Cox: "If we increase the speed to the maximum, can we narrow the distance with the enemy?"

"It can be reduced, but the range is very slow..." Cox glanced at the operation on the map, "Assuming that the enemy's course and speed remain unchanged, and we take the optimal route and speed to move forward, we can only shorten it by about 25 kilometers per hour, 4 hours Only then can we reduce the distance between each other to within 700 kilometers - this takes too long!”

Fletcher thought about it again and again, and finally made up his mind: "No wait, it's him, all attack!"

"yes!"

"Tell the boys that the fleet will try its best to move forward to meet them. If you find it difficult to come back, go to Venezuela to parachute after the attack and leave the plane alone."

The staff immediately began intense map work. Based on the assumption that it would take two and a half hours of flight to reach the target, and based on the simulated voyage of the enemy fleet, they delineated the sea area where the carrier-based attack aircraft fleet and the Puerto Rican army aircraft fleet would intersect. The intersection point was designated as Point X, and then prepare to attack point Z where the enemy aircraft carrier may appear.

On the Shokaku, Ryunosuke Kusaka asked Tsukahara nervously: "Sir, we have been discovered, what should we do?" Just now, the US military dispatched 6 B-25s to rush towards the suspicious sea area, although the direct cover aircraft shot them down. 4 of them, but 2 still successfully arrived over the fleet and sent a long message before being shot down. The B-25 was originally the safest aircraft type. When performing air raid missions, the Axis fleet was simply too lazy to fight. However, once it was converted into a reconnaissance aircraft, it became the target of public criticism, and they were eager to get rid of it.

"Don't panic, the sky won't fall..." Tsukahara calmed down and asked calmly, "Has the artillery formation been discovered by enemy planes?"

"No."

"That's good." He asked, "Have all the nearby enemy reconnaissance planes been shot down? Are there any more enemy planes?"

"No."

"Did the water survey find anything?"

"Half of them have returned, and only a few sectors between 280-320 degrees are still being searched."

"Very good!" A smile appeared on Tsukahara's face, "Send the order, the fleet will turn 180 degrees and sail westward at full speed!"

"What, turn around?" Ryunosuke Kusaka heard the most unbelievable order. How could it be a U-turn? Shouldn't we speed up and escape as soon as possible? Why should we turn around?

"Sir?!" he exclaimed, "are you?"

"Turn around! Listen to me, that's right! I'll explain the specific reasons later."

Ryunosuke Kusaka's mind was filled with a big question mark, but he still issued this order that surprised everyone. Seeing the flag signal from the flagship, Crank on the Skyhawk was stunned. He asked Ozawa nervously: "Is this flag signal wrong?"

Ozawa was also full of doubts, and said to the staff with a gloomy face: "Confirm the signal again with the flagship."

A moment later, the feedback signal came back: the flag signal is correct, and all ships follow the flagship to turn around!

Ozawa and Crank saw clearly that not only the flag signal was like this, but also the huge body of the flagship Shokaku had slowly turned around, and the Zuikaku and Hayate behind were also turning around, and the escort warships were also turning around. The Skyhawk could only turn around in the end - if it didn't turn around, it would be exposed outside, and it would definitely be sunk.

7:23, after turning around, the mobile fleet rushed west at the highest speed.

7:25: Tsukahara ordered the launch of the 4th and 5th direct-cover aircraft formations to replace the direct-cover aircraft launched before dawn to provide cover for the battleships and decoy fleet, and then ordered the Hayabusa attack aircraft group to take position.

Watching fighters fly into the sky one after another, after thinking for a long time, in Crank's anxious eyes, Ozawa sighed: "Tsukahara's strategy, I'm not as good as..."

"What does this mean? What tactics?" Crank is still confused and urgently needs Ozawa's answer.