Chapter 916: Encirclement (8)

"Sir, the Second Air War sent a telegram. They have found the US fleet and are preparing to launch an attack." Chief of Staff of the First Air War Minoru Genda said excitedly, "There are mainly one Essex-class regular aircraft carrier and one Iowa -class battleship, they are indeed going to Australia!”

"The Pacific Fleet has no regular aircraft carriers, the Panama Canal is blocked, and the Falkland Islands are controlled by the Germans. If the Americans want to increase their troops, they can only take the route from South Africa to Australia. Fortunately, they annihilated the latter when the few light aircraft carriers separated from them. Otherwise, they will be in trouble if they are all together. We must move forward at full speed and not let the opponent slip to Australia." Tsukahara sighed, "It's just that I don't understand why the Americans are so stupid as to crash into the Indian Ocean. They really think they can conquer India. Can we just go sideways to the islands and Maldives?”

"Do you speculate that this fleet is going to India to escort troops and supplies?" Genda Minoru asked strangely, "The situation in India is so obvious. It is almost certain that the British will lose this territory. Why should they invest forces in a place that is destined to be unwinnable?"

Tsukahara shook his head: "India has special significance to the British Empire. It is a symbol of the status of a great power and will never be let go easily. Don't you think that the British soldiers in India and the British soldiers in Southeast Asia are two different things?"

Minoru Genda nodded. Although the area controlled by the army was large and beautiful, it could not hide the fact that Yamashita Tomobumi's Indian dispatched troops had increased their troops three times, and the scale had risen to nearly 400,000, which was still not enough. Moreover, the Indian army not only provided weapons, equipment and supplies It is the best in the army. At the beginning, there were 4 German brigades helping to lay the foundation. In this way, they were still fighting with the British inextricably. Yamashita Fengwen also led the attack. How could the Nanyang British army be so difficult to defeat in the first place?

"Now that the British have added new troops, the Army will still be in trouble." Genda Minoru said with emotion. "Fortunately, Chief Hori has a foresight and dispatched all the main forces to encircle and suppress them. If it was only a part of the troops, the Americans might bite them back."

"Don't underestimate the enemy at any time! Since the enemy dares to risk rushing to the Indian Ocean, of course he has something to rely on. Tsunoda's battle may not be easy."

Genda Minoru was stunned: "Do you think he is in trouble? Why do I think he has the advantage? He has more troops than the enemy, better aircraft than the enemy, and even the sun rises earlier than the enemy!"

The Tsunoda fleet farther east saw the sunrise earlier, so it sent out reconnaissance planes earlier, which was a big advantage.

Tsukahara smiled: "There is a slight advantage, but the enemy is not without the ability to fight back. The American generals who can attack the Indian Ocean single-handedly are extraordinary figures. Not only do they increase their troops, they also dare to attack the Indian Islands and the Maldives, scaring the world away from the world. Kusaka-kun on Ranjima was covered in cold sweat. If we underestimated the enemy in this situation, we would be passive. I bet that the American attack group would also be released. I even had a premonition that Tsunoda would suffer losses, and I just hoped that the losses would not be severe. Too big.”

At 12 noon, Japanese carrier-based aircraft arrived first and launched air strikes over the US military. In the past two hours, Spruance continued to maintain a 120-degree heading and sprinted at a high speed of 31 knots (this is the highest speed of the Iowa). , Tsunoda changed the fleet's course to 215 degrees and maintained a speed of 24 knots - there was an obvious angle between the two sides' courses, and the distance between them was closing at about 35 knots per hour. However, by 4 p.m., regardless of whether the Japanese army changed course or not, The distance between the two sides will shrink again to a minimum distance of about 400 kilometers, and then widen again.

For Spruance, shrinking the distance is no big deal, but you can't let the opponent stop you no matter what, otherwise the opponent's two battleships (including one super battleship) will smash this small force into rubbish. Even if there is no If you block it, as long as you move a little slower, you will be completely destroyed when the enemy fleet catches up behind you.

Tsunoda owned a total of 140 combat aircraft. He left 48 anti-aircraft fighters for himself, and excluding 18 Caiun modified reconnaissance aircraft, a total of 74 attack aircraft were dispatched; Spruance had a total of 93 combat aircraft, and during the attack After Bo took off, he gathered 4 fighter jets, 3 SBDs, and 3 TBFs from the backup aircraft. He had a total of 103 aircraft. He left 32 F6F fighter jets to cover and dispatched 9 F6F and 27 SBDs. , 23 TBFs attacked the attack force of 59 aircraft (the other 12 SBDs were unable to attack because they were performing reconnaissance missions and could only return separately).

At 12:04, the Japanese attack officially launched. The US F6Fs fought desperately to intercept. Some returning SBDs also joined the battle and temporarily acted as anti-aircraft aircraft. The primary target of the Japanese army was the USS Bunker Hill, and a large group of dive bombers pounced on it. Due to the delivery of German equipment, the Japanese army had not yet generally equipped the combination of Ju-1218 and Ju-98.

In less than 2 minutes, 18 He-218s dropped bombs one after another. Although the Bunker Hill tried its best to dodge, it still received 3 bombs, one on the stern, one on the tail elevator, and the middle section of the deck was off the bridge. One bomb was hit. The bomb penetrated directly and exploded in the hangar. The huge power destroyed half of the hangar. Fortunately, the hangar is currently empty. In addition, it did not cause an explosion of fuel and ammunition. The whole ship is still in good condition. , the top speed only dropped to 26 knots.

The Japanese army had fought against the Essex class many times and knew that this class of aircraft carriers was relatively strong and that bombs alone would not work, but torpedoes would be effective. So Tsunoda deployed more than 30 torpedo planes in the attack group. As a result, the port side ship of the Bunker Hill was A torpedo was hit in the forward part of the ship and more than 1,000 tons of water was taken in. The damage control team worked together to seal the gap, but the speed dropped to 25 knots. In order to cover the Bunker Hill, the Iowa took the initiative to share the burden. A total of 2 torpedoes and 3 bombs were hit, and the deck was ignited with raging fire. After the hull was flooded, it rolled 6°, but the overall speed could still be maintained. Around knot 23.

However, the Japanese pilot who was struck by lightning successfully and was about to leave the battlefield never expected that a US SBD suddenly swooped down from the sky and hit the rear half of the aircraft. The powerful impact not only broke the rear half of the Ju-98, but also Both of them were directly loaded into the sea; inspired by this aircraft, several F6F fighter jets that were struggling no longer avoided, but directly targeted the attack aircraft and rammed them into each other. For a moment, they both fell into the sea. It happened four or five times, and the Japanese pilots were so anxious that they screamed on the radio.

Spruance was knocked to the ground by the impact of a nearby bomb on the bridge, and his forehead was even injured by a chair that was knocked over and was bleeding. When the staff came to help him and bandage him, he said anxiously: "Leave me alone, I'm fine. Let's go check the deck. Can we still maintain takeoff and landing?"

When he heard that the deck was destroyed and planes could no longer take off and land, his face became extremely ugly and he was almost speechless in pain.

But soon Chief of Staff Roddick's words gave him a glimmer of hope: "Sir, the captain said that the location where the bomb hit was relatively biased. You can cut a piece from the rear half of the deck and put it on top temporarily to make up the number. Attack aircraft may There is no way to land, but the fighters can still land if they try, and they can even take off with a light load (no auxiliary fuel tanks, half a tank of fuel in the aircraft).”

"Okay!" Spruance couldn't help shouting, "Do this immediately! We must do our best to save this aircraft carrier!"

"Sir, look!" A staff officer suddenly covered his mouth and pointed in the air in horror.

Spruance looked up and saw an F6F rushing towards a Japanese aircraft at the fastest speed. In the blink of an eye, it hit each other. The two aircraft turned into a ball of fire in the air, with parts and wings Scattered down, the wreckage fell into the sea and splashed a huge water column, but no pilot was seen parachuting.

His eyes were moist, his head bowed deeply, and he said in a choked voice: "They are all good people, I feel sorry for them!"

All the sailors and staff who witnessed the scene burst into tears...

When TF44 struggled to continue escaping, Kakuji Tsunoda was also beating the wall of the command tower angrily: Zuiho was hit by two 1,000-pound bombs, with thick smoke billowing and explosions sounding constantly...especially the second bomb. It made him angry. It was clear that our fighter jets had hit the opponent. As a result, the American plane rushed to the deck with all the bombs on board. It was impossible to stop it. The bombs and the explosion of the plane's fuel made the ship, which had traveled thousands of miles, rush to the deck. The light aircraft carrier finally could no longer be saved.

Fortunately among the misfortunes, the Zuihe only suffered one near-miss, which destroyed two anti-aircraft guns and took away the lives of more than a dozen sailors. If the opponent also destroyed Zuihe, I really don’t know what to do. cry.

Arima Masabumi advised him: "Our army has paralyzed the enemy's ability to take off and land and severely damaged the enemy's battleships. Prepare to recover the aircraft and launch a second round of attacks. We can attack again before the sun goes down!"

"Okay! Get on the backup plane and hang more torpedoes. I'm going to send all the Americans into the sea! Don't leave any of them behind!"

"Sir, the Second Air Battle severely damaged the enemy fleet, but the Zuiho was not saved and sank, and..." Genda Minoru felt sad, "You are right in your estimation. This group of Americans is difficult to fight. Arima-kun sent a telegram Let’s complain. The Americans are like crazy. They not only crashed their planes into the aircraft carrier’s deck, but were also extremely brave in air defense operations. Those SBDs and F6Fs couldn’t beat our fighter jets, so they simply used the collision method to kill them all. The first round of attack waves was full 33 aircraft were lost, with a loss rate of nearly 50%. Chief Tsunoda was furious! "

"How far are we from the enemy fleet?"

"More than 1,000 kilometers."

Tsukahara nodded: "Let Mr. Fuchida select 50 pilots with the best skills to attack, bring enough auxiliary fuel tanks, and be sure to sink all the enemy forces. Tell them that they do not need to return after the attack, and find a way to land in the first flight! If the first flight If the battle can't accommodate so many pilots, we'll have to make an emergency landing on the sea. It doesn't matter if we return to China and get a new Meteor Kai! If we can't sink such an enemy this time, we will have to pay a higher price next time!"