Chapter 470 Caribbean Sea (12)

Mizuo Fuchida didn't know that he had successfully activated the hidden talent of the British - disguise first. The British used this trick many times during the war: when they were anchored in Alexandria, the Italians successfully used frogmen to paralyze them. The Queen Elizabeth and Warrior were disguised as intact by the British. Their superb acting skills deceived the Italians, causing them to mistakenly think that the operation failed and gave up subsequent similar actions; some time later, due to the Ark Royal and Barham USS and other warships were sunk in the Mediterranean waters one after another. Cunningham transformed the Centurion, which had become a target ship, and disguised it as the George V-class battleship Anson to deceive the Axis Navy and Air Force; as for the battle in the Battle of Britain, There is even more endless use of various disguises to deceive German bombers on the mainland.

However, Mizuo Fuchida could do nothing even if he noticed something was wrong. He only had three He-218s left that had not dropped bombs, and the torpedo planes had also dropped all the torpedoes. Now he could only reluctantly let the last formation continue the attack, and the bombs dropped They were all deftly avoided by the Illustrious, causing only near-misses and destroying some of the anti-aircraft guns.

"What a pity!" He sighed secretly and led the fleet back without hesitation. In his opinion, these US aircraft carriers and remaining cruisers and destroyers cannot escape, and they will all be sent to the bottom of the sea if they launch another attack.

However, he never expected that at the same time he was attacking the US aircraft carrier formation, the mobile fleet was being attacked by the second wave of US carrier-based aircraft.

Wallace's second attack wave followed Fletcher's instructions and continued to search westward, while the Axis fighter group led by Worrell behind him quickly returned to support, but while catching up with the US military fleet, Wallace A mobile fleet speeding westward on the sea was also spotted. So he decisively put the fighter jets in the rear and led the SBD and TBF to attack. Woller was suddenly in a panic and could only split the fighter jets in his hands into two again, dividing the remaining 61 fighter jets into 28 and 33. In the formation, 28 went around to contain the U.S. attack aircraft group, while 33 took action to deal with the U.S. fighter jets in front of them.

The mobile fleet also discovered the approaching US military attack aircraft group. Tsukahara did not hesitate to let the 16 direct cover aircraft above the fleet rush over to intercept. The two sides engaged in a fierce battle over the sea area less than 50 kilometers away from the mobile fleet. Under the joint interception of a total of 77 Axis fighter jets blocking the front and chasing behind, the second attack wave of the US military paid a great price, with a total of 54 SBDs lost. A total of 38 TBFs were lost, and 29 of the total 36 TBFs were lost. In the end, Wallace could only lead the remaining 16 SBDs and 7 TBFs to launch an attack against the overwhelming anti-aircraft fire.

Seven torpedo planes aimed at the Hayabusa on the right wing and dropped torpedoes, but none of them hit. However, one of the bombs dropped by the 16 SBDs hit the Hayabusa. The 1,000-pound bomb penetrated the main deck of the aircraft carrier, and there was a fierce sound. After the loud noise, a violent explosion occurred inside it. The Hayabusa was transformed from the passenger ship Kashihara Maru. Its structural strength cannot be compared with that of special aircraft carriers such as Shokaku and Zuikaku, nor can it be compared with the heavy cruiser. The bomb was almost fatal to the Independence-class light aircraft carrier that had been rebuilt from the hull.

Seeing the Hayabusa rising up into a ball of flames and large smoke, the Axis aircraft group behind them became furious and fought desperately. They were selected to specifically deal with enemy fighters. Hiro Nishizawa, one of the members of the cleaning trio, did not know that this was what he had encountered. It seems that he has been fighting since the Battle of Panama. He can’t even remember the number of aircraft he shot down. However, he is still fearless and keeps fighting with all his energy. He kills them in less than 5 minutes. Killed 3 enemy planes.

Of the 130-strong U.S. attack aircraft fleet, only 4 F6Fs, 2 F4Fs, and 5 SBDs escaped the battlefield alive. The TBF was completely destroyed. Lieutenant Colonel Wallace, who led the team, died from anti-aircraft fire after the bombing was completed. Down. Since there was not much fuel left, the Bf-219s gave up the pursuit and returned to the mothership as soon as possible to prepare for supplies.

A few minutes later, Kusaka Ryunosuke reported the damage to the Hayabusa with a livid face: the hangar and power cabin were severely damaged, the speed dropped to 12 knots, and the take-off and landing functions were lost...

Tsukahara's expression did not change: "This is an indispensable sacrifice. Fuchida Mizuo reported that one enemy fleet aircraft carrier was sunk or severely damaged, two light aircraft carriers were sunk, and 4-5 enemy cruisers were sunk or severely damaged. The enemy has only One fleet carrier is intact and he hopes to launch a second attack."

Kusaka Ryuunosuke breathed a sigh of relief. Judging from the comparison of the results, our side undoubtedly took advantage.

"Report the results of the battle to Commander Horikichi, and ask him to retreat with the decoy fleet. As for Hayabusa, let the remaining pilots of the ship go to Shokaku to attack..." Tsukahara hesitated, "Then let Yukikaze accompany him and now turn around, directly retreat."

Ryunosuke Kusaka knew that it would be difficult to save the Falcon because it was too slow. Planes from Puerto Rico could launch air strikes today and tomorrow. If they were found, they would be sunk. The mobile fleet would not be able to drag a burden away—— That is to die together.

"Now let each ship prepare to receive the aircraft. Is there any difficulty?"

Ryunosuke Kusaka did some calculations: the fighter and direct cover aircraft forces lost 14 more aircraft in the air battle just now, leaving 63 aircraft; Mizuo Fuchida's offensive formation finally lost 6 Bf-21218s and 7 Ju-98s. , so that the remaining number of aircraft in the mobile fleet is 221, and the remaining three aircraft carriers can accommodate a total of 192 aircraft without deck tethering.

He replied: "With deck tie-downs and dispatch, barely."

"Let the fighter jets complete their supplies as soon as possible, and then prepare to receive the attack aircraft formation, and strive to launch the second attack as soon as possible. We must also destroy the remaining fleet aircraft carrier of the US military. It is estimated that the distance between the two sides is only 500 kilometers now. Whoever moves faster will take advantage! After Tsukahara finished speaking, he added: "Rescue as many pilots who have fallen into the water as possible, including US military pilots. In particular, we must explain that even if there are enemy pilots who seriously injured the Falcon, we must not be rude. They are all warriors, and each has its own destiny." It’s just the country.”

"Hai!"

Ryunosuke Kusaka felt heavy in his heart: It was basically impossible to save the pilots of the attack formation, but it was estimated that half of the losses in the air defense operations could be recovered.

"Sir..." A voice suddenly broke the silence, "Water reconnaissance report No. 6, an enemy battleship formation was found 240 kilometers south-west of Port-au-Prince, consisting of 5 battleships, 6-8 cruisers, and more than 20 destroyers, heading About 105 degrees."