Chapter 877 Accident (6)

"Catch up and attack!"

"All carrier-based aircraft are ready!"

"Sir's order, the entire army attacks!"

Just 30 seconds after receiving the telegram, Ozawa issued the combat order, and the combat staff executed it without hesitation. Ito Zhengyi, who was watching on the sidelines, was stunned: Ozawa Jisaburo has such a high prestige in the German Navy? He neither asked Berlin for instructions, nor did he ask Machar for instructions next to him - the latter was the supreme commander, right? He thought for a while and couldn't help it anymore, so he whispered a reminder in Japanese.

"I asked for permission!" Ozawa laughed, "Didn't you see that I nodded to the commander after reading the telegram just now, and he also nodded after looking at the chart?"

When Ito recalled it, it seemed that there was such a subtle movement, but he ignored it.

"Sir, I trust you very much..." Ito said with envy, and suddenly he remembered Prince Fushimi Miyahiro Kyoto who often made suggestions but repeatedly rejected him.

"Of course you have to earn trust by yourself, but in the final analysis, the commander must be tolerant of others." Ozawa smiled, "The head of state trusts Commander Machar very much. He never points fingers at the front line, and then he passes it on level by level. As you will see later, German wars usually use a target management system - tactical goals are set and then commanders at all levels act according to the specific situation on the spot. Unlike us, either there will be no fighting without orders from the commander, or there will be a large group of red deer. Walking alone will eventually do something that will destroy the whole situation.”

Ito nodded slightly. The navy was fine. In the army, everyone felt this situation particularly clearly - large armored formations attacked in clusters. No general could specifically control the armored company and had to rely on the initiative of his subordinates.

Machar interjected: "Are we going to use all the available aircraft on the Azores today?"

Ozawa nodded: "Yes. And we need to change our thinking slightly and let the base fly out fighter jets to replace the mothership's direct-cover fighter jets to perform escort functions. The number of carrier-based aircraft in our military is not as good as that of our opponents, and the Essex class is extremely strong, so we must Release all attack aircraft, don’t hold anything back!”

Japanese observers, including Seiichi Ito, were very excited: Today they finally had the opportunity to witness Commander Ozawa’s most famous cross-platform tactics live! You will also have the opportunity to experience firsthand what it is like to be at war with Britain and the United States.

While Ozawa was quickly issuing combat orders, the atmosphere on the Hornet was also very high. Finally, the German fleet was found, and it was the same three ships - it was true that enemies would not meet.

Nimitz first ordered the fleet to turn and accelerate to the maximum speed. This was quickly implemented by the staff. Now the wind direction is mainly northerly and northeasterly. Only by turning around can the take-off advantage be better utilized and the carrier-based aircraft can do their best. The order to prepare was also issued, but while they were nervously organizing and planning their troops, no one noticed that the expressions on the faces of Cunningham and Nimitz were very solemn.

Finally, a staff officer noticed the unusual expressions of the officers. They all looked at each other in confusion and stood nearby. After several minutes, someone finally boldly asked: "Sir, what's wrong? We have more planes than the enemy. We..."

Nimitz raised his head, waved his hand, and said with a wry smile: "But our plane flies slowly..."

"What does this have to do with it?" The staff members disagreed. "Anyway, it is faster than the enemy fleet. As long as we can get there!"

Now it was Cunningham's turn to smile bitterly: "In this case, we can only hit the enemy in one round, but the enemy can hit us in two rounds!"

"Ah!" Everyone was stunned and immediately rushed to calculate.

The fleets of both sides were about 800 kilometers apart from each other at this time (strictly speaking, this exceeded the US aircraft carrier combat strike specifications, but the staff ignored this intentionally or unintentionally). Even if the fleets remained stationary and the German fleet rushed north at maximum speed, The attack distance on a single trip exceeds 700 kilometers, and the return distance may exceed 800, adding up to more than 1,500 kilometers. For such a long journey, auxiliary fuel tanks must be carried, which will further slow down the speed.

After calculation, the staff were shocked to find that it would take nearly 5 hours to fly 1,500 kilometers (the maximum speed of TBF\SBD is only over 400, and the cruising speed after attaching the auxiliary fuel tank is only over 300. It is useless to fly faster than the F6F). The total landing time is calculated as 1 hour, and a single attack will take 6 hours. In other words, the second attack cannot be launched until at least 5 p.m., and it will definitely be dark at 7 p.m. The second attack wave will not be able to find the target at all, let alone return.

A staff officer refused to admit defeat and quickly calculated the German attack time and found that the enemy could reduce the flight time by at least one hour, which meant that the second round of attack could be launched around 4 o'clock - just in time to launch the attack in the afterglow of the setting sun. As for returning in the night, the enemy It is difficult for the US military to be a pilot, but not necessarily for the Germans. If the tactical advantages of the German angled deck being able to take off two aircraft at the same time and sailing against the wind are taken into account, the dispatch speed will be faster.

Everyone present was shocked: If this is true, our advantage of having more carrier-based aircraft will be weakened or even surpassed. This judgment was like a bucket of snow in the face, dampening the enthusiasm of the staff who were eager to try. Now everyone does not know how to deal with this thorny problem.

Nimitz looked at Cunningham restlessly: "Andrew, what should we do? We have to make a choice! Either accept the reality that we can only launch one round of air strikes, or find a way to try to distance ourselves and waste time until both the enemy and us Only one round of attack can be carried out.”

Cunningham shook his head: "I want to do this too, but you see, the opponent's reconnaissance plane is not easy to mess with!"

When talking about the Ar-352's "forced reconnaissance" method in adjacent sectors, coupled with the performance difference between carrier-based aircraft, Nimitz became angry for no reason: "We are too far behind in aviation armaments, and every gap is bloody." The cost is that those who are involved in armaments don’t know when they will pay attention to the front-line response.”

Cunningham shrugged: "I have no good opinion of the bureaucracy or capitalists! You know, just because the design indicators were not coordinated, your country accumulated 20,000 unusable aviation cannons on the mainland, and then... It’s been 2 years since we took all the trouble to transport the materials to Great Britain and then buy back the Hispano cannons from us... This whole thing has been going on for 2 years! If I were working under Hitler, I wouldn’t give a shit about such a black-hearted capitalist. Just put him in the 16-inch naval gun and fire him! Go to the democratic system!"

Nimitz smiled bitterly: If Cunningham knew that the torpedoes originally used by the U.S. Navy failed to explode nine times out of ten, and that the Pearl Harbor incident was delayed until the end of 1943, he would not know how he would feel.

"Delaying time is not enough. If the Germans refuse to delay, we will be beaten unilaterally. We can only make some choices in the way of attack." After careful consideration, Nimitz issued the order, "Let some TBFs hang bombs and focus on destroying the deck. !”

Cunningham nodded: "That's all we can do!"

Then a detailed combat order was issued: "Tell the pilots that today's attack will prioritize paralyzing the enemy's three aircraft carriers' take-off and landing capabilities, and then sink them!"

The staff members nodded with a heavy heart: This means that in the end, it is very likely that two enemy ships can be sunk, but for the sake of safety, the result is that three ships are damaged and the opponent cannot be destroyed. But the concerns of the officers are very correct. There are too few British and American battleships at present, and every warship must be preserved as much as possible, and any possible secondary attack by the enemy must be blocked in the cradle.

At 11:13, the first batch of combat aircraft of the TF46 fleet took off. Seven minutes before that, the Ozawa fleet had taken the lead in taking off the aircraft crews. In particular, the two aircraft carriers with angled decks, the Hyuga and the Dunkirk, launched carrier-based aircraft at a faster speed. Quick, all combat aircraft will be released in less than 20 minutes.

At 11:34, the German attack wave that took off first began to prepare for a wave of attacks. Although the number of US carrier-based aircraft was higher than that of the German army, after leaving 72 aircraft for air defense missions, the number of attack groups that could be released was limited. It has been reduced a lot, and the strength gap between the United States and the United States has changed from 278vs192 to 190vs168 - the US military is missing 16 SBDs for reconnaissance missions, and the German army is missing 24 Ar-352s.

At 12:03, the fighter group taking off from the Azores was the first to arrive at the German fleet. The officers and soldiers present cheered thunderously. The support of the Azores base meant that they would receive strong support. Soon, more than ten minutes later, more than 60 Ju-198\Ju-98 arrived under the cover of 36 Bf-219s and landed one by one. They would join the backup aircraft on the three aircraft carriers after emergency replenishment of fuel bombs. It constituted the second attack wave of Ozawa's fleet. As for the second attack wave that Nimitz was worried about, it was actually the third attack wave prepared by Ozawa for the US military.

Seeing such a well-trained flight formation and an extremely enviable abundant pilot team, Ito Zhengyi and the inspection team couldn't help but feel swaying in their hearts.

On the deck, he saw many pilots wearing the Iron Cross or even the Knight's Cross. The firmness and calmness in their eyes were role models for officers and soldiers. Even when facing senior officers like Machar, they still talked and laughed calmly. The officers were not dissatisfied with this either. On the contrary, these senior officers, including Ozawa, blessed the pilots with a pat on the shoulder, a handshake, and even a hug to wish the pilots a successful start. It was not at all like the chilling scene in the pre-war lectures at home where they insisted on dying and advocating "seven lives to serve the country."

He couldn't help but think of Horikichi, who had been campaigning for solutions to the issue of the treatment of pilot officers in China. He seemed to understand the reason why Ozawa stayed in Germany and refused to return. Other members of the Japanese delegation were also affected by this emotion. When he thought of himself The previous attitude towards basic officers and soldiers was quite embarrassing in comparison.

Now, all the aircraft capable of boarding the Azores have been dispatched. Nimitz and Cunningham never dreamed that although the Azores aviation power cannot directly pose a threat to them, with the "cross-platform tactics", German aircraft will be launched continuously. They are not fighting an aircraft carrier formation, they are fighting a group of formations. This will be the biggest surprise they encounter...