At 13:29, the first attack wave was completed and the first attack wave returned to the sky above the mobile fleet, he could not believe his eyes no matter what, the Xianghe was emitting clouds of smoke, the Bolzano had disappeared, the Bayar supplementary aircraft carrier was crooked, and at a glance it was clear that it had suffered a lot of injuries, and the destroyers were busy salvaging the officers and men who had fallen into the water. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

The excitement of sinking the Langley and damaging the Saratoga disappeared without a trace, and he could only lead the crowd to land on the Zuihe and the Dragon and Phoenix in a huff. In the past, the operations of aircraft carrier formations were somewhat rigid, and because radio communication was not smooth, on-the-spot command could not be played too much, and the general air force was attached to the aircraft carrier, and it would land back and forth from whichever it started.

During the European war, because the aircraft radio stations provided by Germany were very good, Tsukahara, who had convenient command, resolutely changed the traditional command system: all carrier-based aircraft were put into use, and the pilots were required to have the ability to land on any aircraft carrier, and at the same time, the captains and ground crews of each ship were required to have the ability to respond quickly, requiring them to be able to reflexively report their carrier-based aircraft, maximum capacity and take-off dispatch capability.

Although these capacity developments are inconspicuous, they have had an extraordinary effect in today's severe circumstances, and have greatly avoided confusion.

Due to the fact that the Shozuru was too badly injured, under the strong persuasion of Ryunosuke Kusaka, the Shozuru was the first to withdraw from the battlefield under the protection of cruisers and destroyers, and the mobile fleet command was transferred to the Zuizuru.

As soon as the plane came to a stop, Ekusa jumped out of the engine room and reported: "Sir, the enemy still has a complete Essex and 2 battleships, and there are many other cruisers and destroyers. ”

Tsukahara nodded: "Other warships can be let go, this aircraft carrier must kill it." ”

Grass Deer tore his throat on the deck and shouted, "Replenish the oil bombs as soon as possible, and launch a third round of attacks today." ”

"The second wave has gone?"

"The team led by Mitsuo Fuchida." Minoru Genda patted him on the shoulder, "You have a good rest, let Murata Jun lead the team in the third wave." ”

"Why don't you go with Fuchita?" He asked Shigeharu Murata strangely.

The latter smiled bitterly: "At that time, the situation was urgent, my landline was pushed into the sea, and the spare plane was just called ......" Then Murata Shigeji retold the crisis just now and the scene of Tsukahara's command, and Ekusa Takashi also patted his forehead and was happy.

"How many planes did you bring back?"

"There were 87 of them when I went, and about 66 of them came back, and a few of them may be injured and cannot be used again." Jiang Cao said, "But I'm fine, I'll go with you later." ”

"The chief asked you to stay, prepare to replace Fuchida to lead the fourth wave, don't fight continuously, and maintain your physical strength." Minoru Genda pointed to the destroyer next to him, "There are quite a few shipbuilding team members who have fallen into the water, you pick them up and reorganize them, we must have enough reserve pilots." ”

While the Japanese were in full swing to replenish the returning attack waves and anti-aircraft fighters, the US ground crews on Essex also exerted all their strength to urgently replenish them.

"The situation is not good...... Giffen reported to Halsey, "35 in the first attack wave, 41 in the second attack wave, plus the remaining 11 anti-aircraft fighters in the fleet itself, we have a total of 87 combat aircraft, and after emergency calls in reserves, Essex has transferred 9 and Saratoga 6, for a total of 104 aircraft available." ”

"Will Tarawa Airport work?"

"No, the Japanese army has officially landed, and the warships and guns are continuously bombarding the airfield, let alone taking off, and they don't even dare to show their heads."

"Will the Marines be able to hold out until dark?"

"I'm afraid it's going to be difficult, but I'm personally optimistic."

"24 air defense fighters are left, and the remaining 80 are ready for the offensive." Halsey looked at the clock, "It's 13:47, and I hope to start flying the attack group around 14:10." ”

"Sir, aren't you thinking about retreating?" "Now the enemy still has 4 aircraft carriers and at least 200 aircraft, and we only have 100 aircraft and 1 aircraft carrier, which is too far apart." ”

Nimitz shook his head: "We didn't go to the rescue of Australia and New Zealand, and now we have basically given up Tarawa, if we retreat directly, I'm afraid it will be difficult to explain to all aspects, don't look at the Japanese army has 4 aircraft carriers, the key is the Zuihe, as long as this regular aircraft carrier is defeated, the Japanese army has no fleet aircraft carriers available in the short term, and we can accept even if Essex sinks." ”

Giffen could only accept such an unwavering determination.

On the other side, Kusaka is also persuading Horikichi whether to let the mobile fleet avoid the limelight, even if it is a decisive battle tomorrow.

"There is no decisive battle tomorrow, it will be fought today! I have made up my mind that even if I sacrifice 1-2 light aircraft carriers and 1 Xianghe, I will kill the main aircraft carrier of the Pacific Fleet. Horiyoshi's eyes were very firm, "Germany and Italy are about to launch an attack in the Atlantic direction to contain the US Navy, if we fight the main force of the Pacific Fleet, the Imperial Navy can gain a relatively favorable advantage in the Pacific Ocean in the next 6-8 months, which can ensure that we achieve decisive results in the Indian direction." If India is lost, Britain will have no other way but to withdraw from the war, and the United States will be in a dilemma, and if the empire expresses its high posture and desire for peace at this time, it is possible for Japan and the United States to make peace. ”

"High profile?"

"For example, return the Philippines to the United States, guarantee the independence of Australia and New Zealand and agree that it is under the control of the United States, implement an open door policy in India, and return some ...... to the United States the islands near Australia and New Zealand."

The grass deer was dumbfounded: "Long ...... Sir, can all walks of life agree to such a big concession? ”

"Why don't you say yes? We've got India. Horiyoshi emphasized, "India is an indispensable foundation for Japan!" Britain has become the world hegemon by relying on India, and it is not satisfied with this? What else do you want? If you tell India before the war that you can get it, the whole country will wake up laughing, will you still be stupid to fight with the United States? ”

"Of course not, but ......" Kusaka opened his mouth with difficulty, "People's desires are endless, are those bigwigs in Tokyo willing to spit out the fat that they eat in their mouths?" ”

Speaking of this, Horikichi was silent, silent for a long time, and finally sighed: "I can't care so much, let's take down Tarawa first." ”

Giffen estimated that as expected, at 14:08, the Essex began to fly attack aircraft, because only one aircraft carrier carried out the release operation, and the speed was slow, and by 14:28, a total of 18 SBDs and 9 TBFs were released - which is a rare high efficiency.

Halsey shook his head: "It's not okay to go on like this, just form a formation of about 40 planes to attack first, otherwise the 80 planes will be reorganized, and there will be problems with the fuel of the initial attack aircraft." ”

Giffen was convinced and immediately struck five minutes later. But less than 5 minutes later, the shocking voice of the officer in the radar room suddenly came out of the radio: "Report, there is a group of enemy planes attacking, the direction is 85 degrees, the speed is 215 knots, and the number is between 60 and 70 aircraft. ”

"Why is the enemy able to launch a second attack so quickly?" Nimitz and Halsey were puzzled, and Giffen quickly gave the order for the fighters to take off as soon as possible, while the 38 attack aircraft groups on standby over the fleet immediately made a southward sortie.

In an instant, Nimitz suddenly reacted and asked, "The enemy is coming from the west?" ”

The radar room honestly reported: "Yes. ”

"Last time you came from the west?"

"The last time I approached the angle of the course was 100 degrees, which is about the west side."

Nimitz and Halsey now understood that the enemy must have hidden an aircraft carrier formation in West Baseball, not many of them, just the size of a fleet carrier or two light carriers, but it was this enemy they ignored who fired a covert and deadly arrow.

"We were fooled, and this old devil Horikichi set us aside." Halsey said indignantly, "His artillery fleet, his mobile fleet is the bait that lures us into the bait." ”

But now it's too late to understand, and everyone on the bridge sighs.

The fleet could only bite the bullet on the top, but fortunately, the size of the Japanese formation this time was a little smaller than the last time -- it can be seen that the enemy's losses were not small. Now it was Halsey's turn to realize Tsukahara's feelings, and on the one hand, he ordered the fighters to take off as much as possible, and on the other hand, he pushed all the attack planes, ammunition, and fuel that had not had time to take off into the sea, and each of them could become an accomplice of the enemy.

Seeing that the U.S. forces were defending Essex in the center and spitting out fierce anti-aircraft fire, Mitsuo Fuchida was very experienced in suppressing the rhythm first, letting the fighters move forward, and luring the U.S. fighters to pounce. Although the American pilots knew that the Japanese troops were acting with bad intentions, they could only pounce on them, and at least they could win a glimmer of life for the Japanese troops -- one more minute, and the aircraft carrier would be able to eject one more plane.

Nearly 50 Japanese and American fighters quickly scuffled into a ball, and Mitsuo Fuchida coldly watched with the attack planes, and when the two sides were almost entangled, they swooped down like vultures with a roar.

In this round of attack, he resolutely adopted the tactic of "peeling onions", and did not pursue a direct attack on the heavily protected aircraft carrier Essex in the center of the formation, but first started to attack the escort warships outside, peeling off the outer skin layer by layer like peeling an onion.

The first to suffer was the Australian Navy leader Hua Dan Australia (Kent class) heavy cruiser, which was hit by one 500-kilogram bomb on the front and rear decks, paralyzed and dying on the water; The second unlucky guy was the New Zealand Navy's main workhorse, the Leander class (Leander class), a 7,000-ton light cruiser that struggled to sink after being hit by a 500-kilogram bomb.

Fuchida Mitsuo used only 4 groups of planes, 12 comets to reimburse half of the essence of the Australian and New Zealand Navy, as the gap in the right flank was wide open, Tianshan changed the volley and released the torpedo, a total of 6 went straight to Essex, Essex dodged 4 of them, hit 1, and the other hit the Helena (Brooklyn class) solidly, this light cruiser that escaped the doom of the first naval battle in the South Pacific obviously did not escape the second time, paralyzed at sea and dying. (To be continued.) )