After Halsey released the first attack wave, Nimitz hesitated, and the hesitant idea was that the fleet would immediately avoid it and then retreat. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 infoBecause even if the aircraft carrier attack group released out can't find the Japanese aircraft carrier group, it can hit the Japanese artillery fleet group near Tarawa, and all in all, it won't be missed. As for these carrier-based pilots, after completing the attack mission, they can only go to the sky above Tarawa to parachute or make a forced landing.

In such a situation, the Pacific Fleet was in a relatively advantageous position -- it could strike at the Japanese fleet, but the enemy could not find itself.

But after thinking about it for a long time, Nimitz gave up the idea for no other reason: This group of carrier-based aircraft pilots is really too valuable, although the overall quality is slightly worse than that of the Battle of Midway, but looking at the two-ocean aircraft carrier formation, due to the two disastrous defeats of Fletcher and Spruance, the quality of the carrier-based aircraft pilots of the Atlantic Fleet has declined quite alarmingly, and the carrier-based aircraft pilots of the Pacific Fleet are considered to be the highest overall level in the entire US Navy.

Nimitz would not have frowned if he had lost the hundreds of planes, but if these pilots had made a forced landing in Tarawa, once the island fell, all of them would have become the turtles of the Japanese army's urn -- a risk he did not dare to take.

After the release of the second wave of attack planes, faced with the unfavorable situation that the enemy planes had discovered their position, and the Pacific Fleet was faced with the situation of adjusting its course, Giffen thought that Halsey would turn north or east to widen the distance between him and the Japanese, but Halsey ordered: "Go west!" Learn from Tsukahara. ”

The first half of the sentence was immediately executed, and the second half of the sentence was immediately thought of, and immediately some people thought of Tsukahara 243's "divine U-turn" in the Panama Campaign, which deceived Fletcher's carrier-based pilots, and Halsey planned to use it lively, and even Nimitz bowed his head slightly and praised it.

However, this time luck was obviously not on the side of the Americans, and the first attack wave sent by Tsukahara did not fly from the south, which had already been detected by the US military, but was mainly sent by the guerrilla fleet from the west.

At 10:29, the first direct cover fighter with fuel and ammunition took off from the Bolzano. The ship is a light aircraft carrier modified by Italy with the hull of a cruiser, although it is said to have the ability to take off and land, but because the standards and operating methods are very different from the Japanese army, so Tsukahara usually does not count it in the combat aircraft carrier, only as an auxiliary aircraft carrier, now the situation is urgent, he has no time to care about so much, can only use the spare aircraft carrier as a normal use, fortunately, the excellent pilots represented by Akamatsu Sadaaki have shown strong adaptability, even if it is such an uncomfortable aircraft carrier, they also landed successfully safely and securely- The difference in the quality level of carrier-based aircraft pilots between Japan and the United States can be seen.

He had just achieved three more victories in the skies over the artillery fleet, and this time he was transferred to take charge of covering the mobile fleet again, and in the face of the impending fierce battle, he was not only not tired, but also in high spirits, hoping to kill at least five more planes today.

At 10:34, the first attack wave of the Japanese army landed and began to start the tense supply, and the three ships Xianghe, Zuihe, and Longfeng were like clockwork, desperately carrying out ground service supplies.

At 10:57, all 28 Zero Combat Reforms led by Akamatsu Sadaaki took off (25 were transferred from the shelling fleet, and 3 were used as supplementary aircraft) to prop up an air defense umbrella for the mobile fleet.

He decisively ordered: "Adjust the order, the fighters take off first, and once the enemy fleet is discovered, be sure to entangle it!" ”

At 11:04, Hiroyoshi Nishizawa led the first 12 Zero Combat Aircraft to take off, and the number of mobile fleet cover aircraft reached 40; At this moment, the heavy cruiser Kaohsiung, which was covering the perimeter, sent an alarm: "The enemy aircraft group is approaching, the azimuth is 185, the speed is 175 knots, the estimated number is more than 100 aircraft, and it is 130 kilometers away from the fleet......."

As soon as the news came out, the atmosphere rose sharply, and the ground crew on the deck became even more nervous, and many people's hands were shaking so badly that the bombs could not be hung up.

At this moment, the radio sounded: "I am Tsukahara 243, the plane that has completed the replenishment of oil bombs will take off at an accelerated pace, without any scruples about the order, and after 5 minutes, the deck of the whole army will be emptied, and all ammunition, torpedoes, and oil that cannot be loaded will be pushed into the sea!" ”

Kusaka Ryunosuke had experienced the defeat in the Battle of Midway, his face was pale, his muscles burst out, and his teeth rattled: "Sir, I'll go to the deck." ”

"Sit down, don't be nervous, it's not so easy for the U.S. military to defeat us." Tsukahara comforted him and said, "We still have time." ”

The next five minutes were like a year, and the planes on the three regular aircraft carriers took off one after another, and at the fastest time, five took off in one minute......

At 10:09, a group of US attack planes appeared within the visible range of the naked eye.

"Attack...... Pestering them and buying more time for the fleet. Akamatsu Sadaaki gave an order, and more than 40 Zero Battle Alterations roared and rushed over.

The good technical level of the Japanese army ensured that they were still out of shape at such a tense moment, and even after witnessing the appearance of the American plane, the pilots were still able to take off safely, and only two of them were too nervous and fell into the sea.

"Sir, there are more than 60 planes without ammunition." Minoru Genda whispered, "Are you going to push them into the sea?"

"Where's the oil?"

"There's still a little bit of everything."

"There is no need to hang bombs, the planes in front try to take off as much as possible, go to the guerrilla fleet to land, and push all the back into the sea......"

The ground crews on the three aircraft carriers were immediately divided into two groups, one group to assist the planes parked in front of the deck to take off as soon as possible, and the other group to stop at the back, and all the planes that obviously had not had time to take off were pushed back into the sea...... If you don't push it, you can't do it, but there is still a lot of gasoline on the plane.

The first attack wave of the U.S. forces found that they had crashed into a strong fortress composed of Japanese fighters, and it was difficult for them to break through the interception of Japanese planes, regardless of whether they rushed to the left or the left. Lieutenant Colonel Langton, who led the team, was anxious -- he saw that one plane after another of the Japanese aircraft carriers not far away was taking off, and if they didn't rush over, there would be more planes coming to intercept them -- now not only did they have zero combat changes, but those Comets who did not carry bombs and simply relied on speed and maneuverability also rushed into the battle group to fight with the SBD and TBF, and when they killed the red eye, the Japanese pilots used a strong ramming method -- anyway, they could continue to fight after parachuting. Only Tianshan Gai knew that he was powerless against air fighting, and all the ammunition without ammunition flew to the guerrilla fleet, and Tianshan Gai, who had ammunition, and Comet Gai went to attack the US fleet together.

In the end, Langton could only rely on the sluggish TBF and the most combat-effective F6F to cover the SBDs rushing over, and he shouted in the intercom: "The formation is disbanded...... The aircraft groups are scattered and break through. ”

When he issued this order, the U.S. military had already shot down 19 SBDs, 15 TBFs and 13 F6F in just 4 minutes of firefighting, and the Japanese suffered considerable losses, with 17 Zero Combat and 8 Comets.

The scattered and broken through US aircraft group began to attack, SBD roared and circled down, the primary target was the most significant characteristics of the Xianghe and Zuihe, although the Japanese fighters desperately intercepted, but some things could not be stopped.

At 11:17, the Zuihe avoided 3 bombs and cut off 3 anti-aircraft guns on the starboard side in close range;

At 11:18, a downed SBD plane fell down with a bomb, Xianghe had eaten a torpedo in the Battle of Australia and New Zealand, and its maneuverability and speed were not as good as Ruihe, this bomb could not be avoided, and the last end plunged to the back deck, only to hear a loud "boom", everyone in the bridge felt a violent earthquake, and then a raging fire ignited.

"Bastard!" Minoru Genda's eyes were red.

"Damage management reported the situation quickly."

"The aft deck, the elevator were destroyed, and the hangar was temporarily unusable...... The fire is currently being extinguished. ”

Everyone thought to themselves, thanks to the planes on the aft deck after the commander desperately demanded that the ammunition on the deck be cleared just now, if they were all still there, this explosion would not be as simple as a hole and elevator damage.

At 11:24, the US attack plane group retreated, and the Zero War Reformers in the sky did not dare to fight, and immediately swooped down to replenish ammunition.

"The destroyer salvaged the officers and men who fell into the water, Xianghe rushed to repair it, and the remaining 2 ships immediately called in to replenish the fighters and took off, and the comet changed all to the guerrilla fleet to land and replenish." Tsukahara 243's face turned pale, "The enemy has 2 large and 1 small 3 aircraft carriers, and there is definitely more than such strength. ”

The fire was contained, but the twisted steel behind it still looked shocking, and the aircraft carrier was temporarily paralyzed, allowing up to 15-20 aircraft to land.

"Sir, do you want to change ships?"

Tsukahara shook his head: "I don't need it for the time being, and I don't know how effective the first attack wave will be." ”

"No news for the time being......"

At 11:38, the 16 newly replenished Zeros of each ship took off, and the Bayane simply approached the Bolzano for temporary battlefield scheduling, and one after another Zeros loaded with oil bombs were put on the Bolzano.

At 11:49, all the zero battles that could be released by each ship took off, and there were only 49 fighters left in the air cover, and Tsukahara sighed slightly: "I don't know if I can escape the next catastrophe......

His hunch was validated two minutes later, when the second wave of U.S. attacks "is expected to be between 80 and 90 aircraft." ”

"Wheel-shaped anti-aircraft array...... The anti-aircraft fire is in full swing, and success or failure is here. ”

Almost at the same time, the guerrilla fleet's offensive against the American army entered a white-hot state...... (To be continued.) )