Chapter 466 Caribbean Sea (8)

PS: Congratulations to the reader "Yuebei Hanjiang" for becoming the leader of this book. I will add more information after my trip. Thank you for your support!

Long after the end of World War II, in addition to the need for further study and absorption of the military circles of various countries in the battle tactics used in the war, the related command art has also become a hot topic among military fans around the world, and Tsukahara 243 has always been recognized by Japan as the most important person in World War II. The most important basis proposed by the strong aircraft carrier commander was the "God's U-Turn" in the Caribbean War. He believed that the importance and whimsy of this U-turn even surpassed Togo Heihachiro's diversion in front of the enemy during the Tsushima Sea-that This battle laid the foundation for victory in the Battle of Tsushima.

Ozawa walked to the chart and analyzed the tactical significance of Tsukahara's move with Krank.

"The enemy just discovered that we are here." Ozawa clicked on the position on the chart. "Let's assume that this point is point T. If you were the enemy, where would you go if you were going to launch an air strike?"

"If the enemy plane arrives in 2 hours, combined with the speed and direction when the fleet was discovered, it should be near T+100 kilometers."

"Now the fleet is moving back, and its position in 2 hours will be at T-100. If the enemy aviation commander does not detect the enemy's situation, will he make a subconscious decision to continue searching the forward hemisphere?"

Krank nodded, this is almost certain - now all the fleets are eager to escape to the Caribbean Sea, and the mobile fleet is the fleet closest to the exit. Everyone will only think that he is running fast, and no one will expect that he will go there. Running back.

"Assuming that the enemy aviation has searched for 100 kilometers and still does not find the target, everything will basically go wrong at this time. Even if the US aviation commander is more experienced and reacts quickly, the enemy aircraft group will fly back from the T+200 position. In the process, the fleet can travel another 50 kilometers, and the enemy must fly from the T+200 position to the T-150 position to launch another attack. Guess what the consequences will be? "

Krank gasped: "The US military wasted 350 kilometers of fuel and time in vain."

"It will also overwhelm the pilots' patience and physical strength, and reduce the number of aircraft that can be used for attack - if they don't want to fall into the sea or go to South America to parachute, they must return." Ozawa said, "The technical actions of people under anxiety are It will transform. If my guess is correct, Tsukahara-kun should arrange fighter planes to intercept, weakening the enemy's advantage step by step. "

"I have a question, how to guide the enemy plane to search in the direction of T+200 instead of the opposite direction?"

"This requires the frontline aviation commander's on-site micro-tactics and some luck." Ozawa smiled, "Luck is a very important component of naval warfare, isn't it?"

Krank nodded. He was convinced of this tactical adjustment and was looking forward to the follow-up performance.

At 7:55, each direct cover aircraft formation flew back to Xianghe and Zuihe for refueling and replenishment. Seeing the fleet speeding westward, all the pilots were stunned.

"Sir..." This time it was Genda Minoru and Fuchida Mitsuo who jointly came to ask, and their anxiety was palpable.

"I know what you want to ask. Let the chief of staff explain it to you. I have other issues to think about." Tsukahara waved his hands unhurriedly, with a calm expression.

Ryunosuke Kusaka explained the truth to the two of them and said: "Although the commander hopes that the whereabouts of this fleet will be exposed as late as possible, since it is inevitable to be exposed, he can only come up with some ingenious tactics and wait for the fighter force." The focus is to divert the enemy attack aircraft group away from the mobile fleet and strive to delay and destroy as many enemy aircraft as possible."

After hearing this explanation, Genda Minoru and Fuchida Mitsuo felt reassured and said happily: "Sir, the idea is very clever, but we really misunderstood."

Tsukahara shook his head: "The elements are mostly opportunistic, but now that we are at a disadvantage and have to protect ourselves and cover the artillery formation, we can only resort to this strategy."

"When will the fighter force attack?"

"Don't worry yet." Tsukahara looked at the wall clock, "The enemy reconnaissance plane discovered our fleet at about 7:10, and the first attack wave should be launched at 7:30. I estimate that we will arrive at 9:30 at the earliest. We All we have to do now is wait. If the water reconnaissance can send back useful information, we can launch an attack as soon as possible."

Until now, neither Tsukahara nor Fletcher expected that the aircraft carrier formations on both sides were currently traveling in opposite directions, and the distance between them was shrinking rapidly - the speed was not 25 kilometers per hour as Cox thought, but nearly 90 kilometers per hour. km/h.

At 8:30, Tsukahara issued an order: 70 Bf-219s were released one after another and began to assemble at designated locations to ambush possible US attack aircraft groups. In order to enhance the ambush power, he reduced the size of the mobile fleet direct cover aircraft from 24 to 20.

Although Ryunosuke Kusaka looked calm and calm when he explained to Minoru Genda and Mizuo Fuchida, he was extremely nervous now: after Tsukahara sent 70 fighter jets away, the fleet cover force only had 20 aircraft. This is a very dangerous number. If the enemy is not fooled and attacks the fleet directly, all this effort will be in vain and they will not be able to withstand it at all.

Tsukahara comforted him: "Don't worry too much: these aircraft are only half an hour away from the fleet, and the peripheral heavy cruisers can also provide a 20-minute warning time for the fleet. If something changes, just survive the first 10 minutes."

At 8:40, Ryunosuke Kusaka told Tsukahara with a sad face: "Except for the No. 3 aircraft, all the first batch of water scouts returned. The report found nothing. The second batch took off about half an hour ago. They will search again."

Tsukahara nodded: "This matter cannot be rushed. Let the reconnaissance plane take a closer look, and then take a closer look."

The reason why the No. 3 aircraft did not report the news was because the aircraft had a problem during the reconnaissance. The throttle valve failed and the speed could not be pushed up. The altitude of the aircraft became lower and lower, and finally it simply fell into the sea. The pilot, Nakamura, could only stop on the sea for emergency repairs. The other two people were so anxious that they were sweating profusely but could not do anything. While they complained that Nakamura did not conduct a detailed inspection of the aircraft before departure, they were also anxious for fear of causing trouble. After nearly an hour, the throttle was barely back to normal, pushing three-quarters of the way, so the investigation was resumed.

After flying for more than 40 minutes, observer Hashimoto suddenly shouted: "Nakamura!"

"I've told you many times that it's not my fault. Who knew the plane suddenly broke down?"

"No, no, no!" Hashimoto shouted anxiously, "Look below!"

"Down below?" Nakamura subconsciously looked down, and suddenly found a large fleet appearing on the sea, including several flat-deck ships.

"Is this a U.S. aircraft carrier?" Nakamura called out in surprise, "When I descend to the altitude for close reconnaissance, you will immediately prepare a report."

"Discovered a US military aircraft carrier formation, fleet aircraft carrier 3, light aircraft carrier 2, heading 115 degrees, speed 28 knots, the center is approximately 380 kilometers southeast of Port-au-Prince, Haiti..."

Originally, according to the normal patrol route and time, the No. 3 aircraft could not detect the US military formation. Like other water reconnaissance aircraft, they would go back to resume operations and wait for the second wave of reconnaissance aircraft to arrive for investigation. However, it was precisely because of a mechanical failure midway that it was delayed for an hour. As a result, they bumped into the US aircraft carrier formation that was advancing at full speed.

At 9 o'clock, Minoru Genda almost rushed over to report the news, and a smile finally appeared on Tsukahara's face.

On the Lexington, Cox was reporting: "The first attack wave took off at 7:30, including 16 F6F fighters, 18 F4F fighters, 36 SBD dive bombers, and 36 TBF torpedo attack aircraft, a total of 106 , they will carry out the first round of strikes in coordination with the Puerto Rico Army Aviation. The total force sent by the Army Aviation includes 36 P-47s, 48 ​​SBDs and 24 A20s, a total of 108 aircraft. The B-25 formation suffered too much losses and lacked combat effectiveness. Obviously, they will not be dispatched this time, so a total of 210 aircraft were launched in the first round of strikes; at 8 o'clock, the second attack wave took off, including 16 F6Fs, 24 F4Fs, 54 SBD dive bombers, and 36 TBF torpedo attack aircraft. , a total of 130 aircraft, and the fleet itself has reserved 32 direct cover aircraft.”

"Will the Army Airlines have any reinforcement aircraft in the future?"

"There is another batch, but it will arrive this afternoon and is expected to go into battle tomorrow." Cox said with a wry smile. "Most of the central states have ground attack aircraft, and there are very few pilots who can attack the sea. General Marshall is drawing on the aviation forces of the west coast states. ”

Fletcher nodded: "We are making a desperate move."

Cox understood what Fletcher meant: the TBF dive bomber has a range of only about 1,600 kilometers after mounting torpedoes, and the F4F fighter has a similar range after mounting auxiliary fuel tanks. Now the fleet launches an attack more than 700 kilometers away, which is equivalent to It is obvious that these aircraft will go to Venezuela to parachute after completing the attack. However, the SBD and F6F fighter jets have a relatively long range and have the opportunity to return to the mothership.

At this time, a staff officer quickly stepped forward and reported: "We found a Japanese water reconnaissance aircraft and the escort fighter jets shot it down, but we received a telegram from the enemy..."

"Damn, it seems our position has been exposed." Fletcher looked at the time, and his uneasiness was suppressed. "It is already 9:02, and our plane will be able to detect the enemy in a little more than half an hour." The fleet will launch an attack, and the enemy may not be able to attack us in time. "

"Now that the distance between each other exceeds 700 kilometers, even if they release the attack group, they will not be able to recover because the distance is not enough. I think the Japanese or Germans will be very distressed by the current situation." Cox is also optimistic about this.

"Let the fighter jets be more vigilant. Maybe the enemy's light aircraft carrier formation will dispatch a small formation to attack our army, and they will be closer to us." Fletcher added, "If the first attack goes well, the second round of attacks can be The wave directly adjusts the attack direction and uses the main force to deal with the enemy's light aircraft carrier formation, and then tomorrow morning we will attack those battleships with another fatal wave! "