I am Jiang Weiguo in World War II

The Nanjing Army pilot who parachuted into the sea sent a distress signal to the U.S. warship. Sure enough, the U.S. warship sent a lifeboat to rescue the Nanjing Army pilot.

The U.S. military did this, first to abide by the international law of war, and second, to exchange the Nanjing Army prisoners for the U.S. prisoners in the hands of the Nanjing Army.

It's just that the rescue was saved, but the U.S. military almost didn't look good when they saw the Nanjing Army pilots, because the U.S. 3rd Fleet was beaten badly by them.

In this initial confrontation, the U.S. military successfully destroyed the Midway Island Airport in the hands of the Nanjing Army and shot down all the planes of the Nanjing Army on Midway Island (even if they were not shot down by the U.S. military, they would crash on their own due to exhaustion of fuel), but the U.S. military However, ten escort aircraft carriers and seven or eight warships were lost. The loss of ten aircraft carriers means that the number of US carrier-based aircraft has decreased by nearly 300. Elsie just couldn't convince herself "This is a win!"

"At least we didn't lose, Midway was destroyed by us, and the Chinese lost 300 land-based aircraft to participate in the war!" Browning comforted Halsey, who had a very ugly face, "In addition, we lost carrier-based aircraft. It can be supplemented by transport ships, none of our five aircraft carriers were damaged, and now we still have 500 carrier-based aircraft, while the Chinese only have 300 carrier-based aircraft, the advantage is still on our side!"

Halsey nodded reluctantly: "Now, we have exposed the position, but the Chinese aircraft carrier is still hiding in the dark!" Bend.

"I believe that the Chinese carrier-based aircraft will fly to us soon, because we are now at the most vulnerable time!" Browning said.

Chapter 759 Fighting the Ocean (9)

At 8:30 a.m. local time on Midway Island, the battle between the U.S. Third Fleet and the defenders of Nanjing Army Midway Island ended. The U.S. military successfully destroyed the airport on Midway Island, eliminated about 3 land-based aircraft of the Nanjing Army, and sank the Nanjing Army. 300 destroyers, but the U.S. military also paid a heavy price for it. The land-based aviation of the Nanjing Army sank 2 escort aircraft carriers and 10 light cruisers, destroyers, and transport ships, and lost more than 8 carrier-based aircraft.

After this initial confrontation, the Nanjing Army lost the aviation base on Midway Island, and the US military lost 10 escort aircraft carriers, which reduced the number of its carrier-based aircraft from about 800 to about 520.

At this time, the U.S. 3rd Fleet was roughly 170 kilometers due east and north of Midway Island, and the Nanjing Army 2nd Fleet was located about 1000 kilometers due north and west of Midway Island. Location, the U.S. fleet is still unclear about the location of the Nanjing Fleet.

From a macro point of view, the U.S. fleet has a strength advantage at this time, while the Nanjing Navy fleet has a first-mover advantage.

"The carrier-based aircraft of the escort fleet expanded their alert range! Be alert to the enemy's carrier-based aircraft group that may attack at any time!" After the battle, Halsey issued an order in an orderly manner, "The carrier-based aircraft that participated in the attack on Midway Island landed on the aircraft carrier in batches Go up, replenish fuel and ammunition, and then take off in batches to participate in the air escort of the fleet! The Chinese carrier-based air fleet will come at any time! Keep your spirits up!" His voice was stern, because he was really not in a good mood.

According to Halsey's judgment, when the U.S. carrier-based aircraft fleet flies to Midway Island, the land-based planes of the Nanjing Army on Midway Island will take off to meet them, and the two sides will start a fierce battle in the airspace of Midway Island. The Nanjing Army aircraft on Midway Island were eliminated and the airport on Midway Island was destroyed. Unexpectedly, the Nanjing Army aircraft on Midway Island did not face off at Midway Island at all. Gai Nao's attack caused serious losses to the U.S. military. In the end, although it achieved its goal, it paid extra losses. Such a result had to make Halsey feel deeply depressed.

Afterwards analysis, the root cause of this situation was the No. [-] "Owl" reconnaissance plane on Midway Island.

If the aircraft had chosen to turn around and return when there was only enough fuel left for the return flight, the defenders at Midway Island and the Second Fleet of the Nanjing Army would have missed the opportunity to detect the US fleet in advance, because the pilots and observers of the aircraft chose to Continue to fly forward to search and reconnaissance, so that the defenders of Midway Island and the 2nd Fleet of the Nanjing Army discovered the U.S. fleet about an hour before the start of the battle, thus turning the enemy into the main and gaining an extremely valuable battlefield opportunity.

The two Chinese naval aviation soldiers who died heroically were only two "small roles" in this war, but because of their heroic sacrifice, they played a major role in promoting and changing the whole battle, If they did not discover the U.S. fleet in advance for their own side, the Midway aircraft could only passively face the U.S. carrier-based aircraft fleet in the airspace of Midway Island. At that time, the difficulty for the Midway aircraft to attack the U.S. fleet can be imagined.

In every battle, every participant, even the most grassroots "little character", has the opportunity to promote and change the course and even the outcome of the war, such as Lieutenant Colonel Brown on Midway Island and the Navajo American signal soldier, and another example The two reconnaissance aircraft aviation units of the Nanjing Army,

The time returned to the command room of the Nanjing aircraft carrier at about 6:20 a.m. local time on Midway Island.

"God bless!" Seeing the telegram from the Midway Island reconnaissance plane, Xu Zushan was overjoyed, and the gloomy expression that had been covering his face was swept away at once, replaced by a radiant face, "Great! Midway The reconnaissance plane on Midway Island discovered the position of the US aircraft carrier fleet!" He cried with joy, "God bless you!"——In fact, the US 3rd Fleet was already very close to Midway Island at that time, and it was discovered by the Nanjing Army's reconnaissance plane. The probability is very high, and it is not a "God's blessing" for the Nanjing Army to get this "first opportunity".

Zhong Junchu has quickly calculated the distance between the two sides: "The distance between the enemy and us is about 1150 kilometers in a straight line!"

Xu Zushan, Yuan Fangqiao, Ouyang Sihai and others immediately calculated in their minds: "The 'Wu Diao' carrier-based fighter jet has a maximum range of 1800 kilometers, the 'Osprey' carrier-based dive bomber has a maximum range of 1500 kilometers, and the 'Mao Falcon' carrier-based torpedo attack The maximum flight range of the aircraft reaches 2000 kilometers.

not enough!One-way is 1150 kilometers, and the round trip is 2300 kilometers, which exceeds the maximum range of the three carrier-based aircraft!Unable to launch an attack!The U.S. fleet is completely outside the range of our own strikes!unless…"

"You want to use the plane and the pilot as a one-time product?" Xu Zushan was slightly embarrassed.

"Junzuo, the enemy is strong and we are weak, so you have to take a slanted sword to have a chance of winning. There is no way!" Ouyang Sihai said.

"Nonsense!" Xu Zushan was really angry, "Even if the pilots of our army who surrendered to the U.S. military after abandoning the plane and parachuting will not be tortured and killed, and we can exchange U.S. prisoners with the U.S. military afterwards, but first, the ship What about carrier-based aircraft? Have you ever thought about how much a carrier-based aircraft is worth? Ah? In Hawaii, we have already used this trick. Hundreds of carrier-based aircraft flew out and were taken back regardless, and tens of millions were lost. U.S. dollars! Now you use this trick again? Will you lose tens of millions of dollars? Are you fighting a war? You are a prodigal! No! It is a defeated country! A waste of the country’s wealth! If you win the battle, the country will be ruined by you sooner or later! Second, we have exhausted all our carrier-based aircraft. Even if we transport spare carrier-based aircraft from transport ships to aircraft carriers, it will take at least one day. It is only more than 1000 kilometers away, and it takes less than four hours for the carrier-based fleet to go back and forth. This day is enough for the US military to launch two rounds of attacks on us! At that time, what defense will we use to defend against the incoming US carrier-based aircraft fleet? Don’t forget , as soon as we dispatch the carrier-based fleet, there is a great possibility that the US fleet will also find our fleet!"

"Junzuo, isn't that what you said!" Ouyang Sihai distinguished, "First, although it is a bit of a waste of money to fight like this, fighting is a waste of money. A US aircraft carrier costs 8000 million US dollars. One, is worth four or five hundred carrier-based aircrafts we consume; second, we are indeed wasting money, but compared with the total wealth of our country at this time, it is only a drop in the bucket, 3 carrier-based aircrafts What is it? Our country can now produce more than [-] aircraft a year! Mr. Jiang Er is even richer. He sent us here to win the battle, not to save him money, to make money and save money It's his business.

Junzuo, our country is no longer what it used to be. It is no longer the poor and miserable state before the Sino-Japanese War. You, don't be so petty!Big generosity has big rewards! "

Xu Zushan was angry and funny: "So, let me ask you, how to defend against the US military's air counterattack?"

Ouyang Sihai said: "It's very simple, just make it impossible for the US aircraft carrier to dispatch carrier-based aircraft during the day.

We can do this..." He spelled out his idea.

Xu Zushan sneered twice: "Do you think Halsey is an idiot? Is it your plaything?"

Ouyang Sihai looked solemn and awe-inspiring: "The trend of the times, he doesn't want to be a fool, he has to be a fool!"

"You are gambling!"

"War itself is a gamble!"

Xu Zushan looked straight at Ouyang Sihai, and Ouyang Sihai had firm eyes. Xu Zushan looked back at Yuan Fangqiao and Zhong Junchu, and saw the same firm eyes.

The time returned to Midway Island at about 8:20 a.m. local time, and the US 3rd Fleet.

In the command room of the Intrepid aircraft carrier, amidst the heart-piercing sound of the alarm bell, a communications officer ran to Halsey in a hurry: "Admiral! The enemy plane is attacking! Both the air-to-air radar and the guard plane have been spotted!"

"Is it the Chinese carrier-based fleet?" Halsey's spirit was shaken and his eyes were bright.

"Yes!" The communications officer reported eagerly, "More than 250 carrier-based aircraft!"

"These yellow-skinned monkeys really chose this time!" Halsey looked at his fleet angrily, some carrier-based aircraft were circling in the air, some carrier-based aircraft were preparing to land, and some carrier-based aircraft were on the deck of the aircraft carrier Loading ammunition and replenishing fuel, some carrier-based aircraft have loaded ammunition, replenished fuel, and are taking off from the aircraft carrier.

The U.S. 3rd Fleet has just finished its attack on Midway Island, and it suffered heavy losses and was very tired.

The aircraft fleet of the Nanjing Navy just caught up with the "best fight" moment for the US fleet.

Browning has already calculated important data on the nautical chart: "It is certain that the Chinese carrier-based aircraft fleet took off around six o'clock at dawn. The speed is now [-]:[-], and it can be confirmed that their aircraft carrier is about [-] kilometers away, and the direction is northwest or due north-west!"

Halsey clenched his fists and tightened his facial features: "Destroy their carrier-based aircraft! Then launch a counterattack against their aircraft carrier!"

Another fierce air battle broke out over the US 3rd Fleet.

Although the aircraft fleet of the Nanjing Navy has caught up with the "best fight" moment of the US fleet, it does not mean that the US fleet is at its weakest moment. This is only a relative description.

The loss of ten escort aircraft carriers has reduced the number of US carrier-based aircraft to more than 500. At this time, about half of the US carrier-based aircraft are in the air and can participate in the battle, and about half are preparing to land on the aircraft carrier, replenish ammunition and Fuel, ready to take off from the aircraft carrier, so the number of carrier-based aircraft on both sides is about the same in the sky, and almost all of the carrier-based aircraft of the US military in the sky are fighter jets (this is for sure, the aircraft carrier fleet must give priority to taking off fighter jets, use It is impossible to send dive bombers or torpedo attack planes into the sky to protect itself), and about two-thirds of the Nanjing Army’s carrier fleet is fighter jets, making the number of U.S. fighter jets in the sky exceed that of the Nanjing Army. In addition, The air combat area is above the U.S. fleet, and the U.S. is fighting at home. They can use the air defense firepower of the warships to assist the U.S. carrier-based aircraft fleet to intercept and kill the Nanjing Army’s carrier-based aircraft group, and the U.S. fleet was not caught off guard by the Nanjing Army because of its early preparations. , Therefore, the Nanjing Army's carrier-based aircraft fleet is actually at a disadvantage in terms of strength, but the US military is in a state of "beaten" in terms of situation.

"Fire!" Amidst the roar of English, all the warships in the U.S. fleet rushed to the sky with furious swords and wild flowers, and the sounds of bombardment and strafing of guns that were so dense that they could not be heard converged into a huge wave of overwhelming sound. Overwhelmed by the turbulent roar on the sea, from a bird's-eye view, each U.S. warship is like a group of hedgehogs spraying fiery venomous stings in all directions. The firepower net of the flame storm and the smoke puffs from the explosion of anti-aircraft shells in mid-air are even more overwhelming and dense like stars. The planes of the Nanjing Army shuttled among them kept breaking their wings into the sky. Balanced, dragged smoke and plunged into the sea, and finally exploded a water column fireball mixed with fire and sea water on the sea surface, some were hit by the fuel tank, and the plane immediately exploded in the air, blooming into a mass of fireballs, the pilot and the plane together Their bodies were smashed to pieces, and some were hit in the cockpit. The pilots inside were flying in blood and flesh, and died on the spot. The plane then rolled out of control and rolled down the clouds.

"Admiral! Be careful!" On the bridge observation tower of the Intrepid, Browning and several officers threw Halsey to the ground in a panic. Halsey had no time to react. , The Nanjing Navy's carrier-based aircraft with thick smoke billowing from its tail circled over the Bravery for a while, and then crashed into the flight deck of the aircraft carrier like a stone.

"Boom" with a thunderbolt and lightning, the Bravery shook slightly, a dazzling fireball rose from the ground on the flight deck and a circle of flame shock waves roared in all directions like a hurricane, and the deck was almost blown through. A large number of U.S. sailors were caught off guard and were blown to pieces. Seven or eight U.S. carrier-based aircraft parked on the deck were either blown to pieces, overturned by the shock wave, or ignited a raging fire. A series of small explosions continued to explode. It was the airborne ammunition of those US carrier-based aircraft detonated, and the fuel was also ignited, turning into several tongues of flames and scurrying on the flight deck. He hurried forward to put out the fire and rescue him.

"These yellow-skinned monkeys!" Halsey was terrified, "Don't they want to die that much? Japanese pigs have this virtue, and so do Chinamen!"

"Bastard!" Le Yiqin, the commander of the Nanjing Navy, yelled furiously on the radio channel of the aircraft fleet of the Nanjing Navy, "Which bastard just hit that aircraft carrier with his plane?" Don’t do this kind of suicide attack! Whoever does this kind of thing again, I’ll beat him to death!” He burst into tears, knowing that what he said was nonsense, the pilot who did this kind of thing is dead, how can he "kill him"?Suicide attacks are not allowed to be the code of conduct for Nanjing Army pilots, but there are still pilots who do such things in actual combat.

Le Yiqin knew that nine times out of ten the pilot who flew the plane into Bravery just now had been injured in the air battle, so he simply didn't plan to live, and killed himself, causing even greater losses to the enemy.

Flying with his hands and fingers, the plane quickly climbed to an altitude of 2000 meters with a spiral wake. Le Yiqin first threw off the two Hellcats that were biting him just now, and then watched the battle situation condescendingly. He saw his own ship The carrier aircraft has withered like a leaf falling in the wind, but the five US aircraft carriers are all smoking, and the mission has been successfully completed.

Holding back the tears in her eyes, Le Yiqin picked up the walkie-talkie: "The mission has been completed! The rest of the planes will return with me!"

Led by Le Yiqin, less than thirty carrier-based aircraft flew towards the Nanjing Army aircraft carrier fleet.

"Captain, there are US military planes following us!" A pilot reminded.

"Don't care about him!" Le Yiqin replied.

Nearly two hours later, the aircraft group of the Nanjing warship returning to the voyage saw two destroyers of its own in the vast sea and sky moving towards this side, one was the Suzhou and the other was the Xuzhou. Flying the flag of the Chinese navy, but the red cross flag, this is the practice of international norms. A warship lowered its own flag and raised the red cross flag, indicating that "this ship will no longer participate in the battle at this time, and will not attack externally. Please do not attack." Attack on this ship, which is engaged in humanitarian affairs."

Le Yiqin and other pilots parachuted and abandoned the plane one after another. The planes fell into the sea one after another, and the pilots slowly fell to the sea. The Suzhou and Xuzhou immediately dispatched speedboats to rescue them. At the same time, three US carrier-based aircraft It also fell into the sea nearby. The pilot abandoned the plane and parachuted, and together with the Nanjing Army pilots, clusters of umbrella flowers bloomed in mid-air. The lifeboats of the Nanjing Army also rescued the American pilots.

On the destroyer Xuzhou, the captain looked at the three American pilots who were fished out of the sea with great interest: "It seems that you have discovered the location of our fleet?"

The U.S. pilots were also happy: "Yes, although I didn't see your aircraft carrier with my own eyes, I can be sure that your aircraft carrier fleet is not far away, but your carrier-based aircraft can no longer fly to the aircraft carrier, so You sent destroyers ahead of time to rescue the pilots.

We have sent the location coordinates here to our fleet through the airborne radio!"

The captain of the Xuzhou smiled, and then patted the American pilot on the shoulder: "Thank you!"

The three American pilots stared wide-eyed.

Halsey's mood was going up and down like a roller coaster in the command room of the Valiant aircraft carrier. Two news made him overjoyed and frustrated at the same time. What he was overjoyed was: his own plane tracking the Nanjing Army's returning carrier aircraft finally found the Nanjing Army's aircraft. For the aircraft carrier fleet, he was furious: his fleet had lost the ability to attack the Nanjing Army's aircraft carrier fleet at this time.

Browning reported bitterly: "Admiral, the damage report is out.

We wiped out most of the Chinese carrier-based aircraft, but...the target of the Chinese carrier-based aircraft group this time is our regular aircraft carrier. All five aircraft carriers were attacked. Fortunately, none of them were fatally hit. The Intrepid was hit by a bomb and hit by an opposing plane, the Wasp and the Yorktown were hit by two bombs, and the Hornet and Ticonderoga were hit by one bomb!"

"For the aircraft carrier, one or two bombs are only minor injuries!" Halsey said annoyedly.

"Yes, only minor injuries!" Browning said, "but...Admiral, as you know, the most conspicuous and vulnerable part of an aircraft carrier is the huge flight deck on the upper level of the aircraft carrier. Our five aircraft carriers The flight decks of the planes were all severely damaged in the attack just now. They were either blown out with one or two large holes, or were blown to pieces, or were severely damaged in the fire.

The power systems of the five aircraft carriers are all normal, and they can still sail at a high speed of 30 knots, but the five aircraft carriers temporarily lost the ability to take off and land carrier-based aircraft.

If the flight deck is broken, the carrier-based aircraft cannot land, so many of our carrier-based aircraft have to be parachuted and abandoned by the pilots!"

Halsey keenly noticed a detail: "Danny (Browning's nickname), have you noticed? In addition to fighter jets, the Chinese carrier fleet seems to have no torpedo attack aircraft, only dive bombers, so our aircraft carriers are all It was bombed, but not torpedoed.

A bomb will severely damage the aircraft carrier's flight deck, and a torpedo will damage the aircraft carrier's power system.

Our aircraft carrier can operate normally at this time, but it cannot take off and land carrier-based aircraft normally.

Don't you think it's intriguing for the Chinese to do this? "

Browning thought for a while, and faintly felt a white light appear in his mind: "Admiral, you mean... this is not a coincidence, but a deliberate arrangement by the Chinese? It's just... why did they do this?"

Halsey sneered: "After the first battle, although the Chinese have caused us a lot of losses, our strength is still stronger than them. They lost 300 land-based aircraft on Midway Island, and we lost ten. There are 300 carrier-based aircrafts escorting an aircraft carrier, but we still have more than 500 carrier-based aircrafts, and they only have more than 300 carrier-based aircrafts. Next, if they compete head-to-head, they will be in danger, so they boldly gambled a handful.

They took advantage of the fact that we had just wiped out the Midway aircraft, suffered a lot of losses and were exhausted. Therefore, they put all their eggs in one basket and dispatched most of the carrier-based aircraft. Of course they knew that even if we suffered a lot of losses and were exhausted Unbearable, they still don't have the strength to annihilate us, so they retreat and only want to hurt us. In fact, their strength can only hurt us.

They specially changed the organization structure of aircraft types, and used dive bombers to destroy the flight deck of our aircraft carrier, making us unable to dispatch carrier-based aircraft temporarily. Yes, although we lost a lot of carrier-based aircraft, our transport ships There are enough spare carrier-based aircraft, but the deck of our aircraft carrier is damaged, and the carrier-based aircraft cannot be dispatched to chase the Chinese. Danny, you have to pay attention, the Chinese will pay a price for the second attack. The first cost is that they expose their position, and the second cost is that they basically consume their carrier-based aircraft. Of course, they can also supplement the carrier with the spare carrier-based aircraft of the transport ship, but it will take time.

So, next, at least during the day, we are busy repairing the carrier's flight deck, they are busy replenishing the carrier with spare carrier-based aircraft, and neither side has the ability to attack the other, so they have time!"

Browning suddenly felt enlightened, and he said excitedly: "Admiral, I understand! The Chinese deliberately blew up the deck of our aircraft carrier because they wanted to escape.

If they don't do this, we are very likely to search for them, because the distance between the two sides is already very close, and it doesn't make much sense for them to continue to hide their positions. They simply expose themselves directly, but they successfully launched this attack on us. Destructive attack'.

However, Admiral, I don't understand one thing. Why do they use dive bombers to damage the deck of our aircraft carrier, but not torpedo attack aircraft to damage the power system of our aircraft carrier?In that case, our aircraft carrier will fall into a slow state for a relatively long period of time. Wouldn't they be able to gain an advantage in speed to facilitate their escape?When we repair the power system of the aircraft carrier, we will be overwhelmed and sigh, and we will not be able to keep up with them!"

"this is very simple.

If they use torpedo attack aircraft to attack our aircraft carrier, our aircraft carrier will only be damaged at the waterline, its power system will be affected, and it will not be able to run fast or even stop. However, the deck of the aircraft carrier is intact, and carrier-based aircraft can still take off and land , Don’t forget, the distance between us and the Chinese is only more than 1000 kilometers. Although more than 2000 kilometers will exceed the range of our carrier-based aircraft, the Chinese have played that hand and regarded the carrier-based aircraft as a one-off When using the product, just fly out and don’t care about recycling. From the beginning, there is no plan to return to the aircraft carrier. After the attack, even if it is not damaged, it will parachute and abandon the aircraft. The Chinese are afraid that we will also use this trick.

Danny, think about it, if our aircraft carriers are all paralyzed at sea, but we dispatch the carrier-based aircraft fleet to attack the Chinese aircraft carriers with the momentum of no return, in the end, they will be wiped out, we just It's just a loss of a group of carrier-based aircraft and a group of pilots. As for our aircraft carrier, we can go back triumphantly after repairs are completed.

In this comparison, it is safer for them to blow up our aircraft carrier deck with bombs than to use torpedoes to damage our aircraft carrier power system!" Halsey felt that his thoughts had been completely cleared, and his whole face was red.