While the planes of the two sides were in a scuffle in the air, the Citi SS-218 "Big Mackerel" submarine had already broken into the Japanese naval formation.

The captain soon spotted an aircraft carrier through the periscope, and according to estimates, the submarine came to attack position.

Just as he was about to release the torpedo, a Japanese destroyer happened to pass by, and its figure completely obscured the target.

For safety, the submarine lowered the periscope.

And according to the target movement elements, set the firing elements of the torpedo.

Unexpectedly, when the periscope was raised again, it was found that the target had already passed the advance angle.

The frustrated captain could only fire all six torpedoes with a large fan of fire.

Whether you can hit it or not, it depends on luck.

At this time, on the aircraft carrier "Dafeng", all types of aircraft were ready and waiting for the take-off order.

The white towels wrapped around the heads of the Japanese pilots were fluttering in the wind.

Two and a half years ago, it was in this atmosphere that the predecessors entered Pearl Harbor and defeated the Citi Navy.

Today, too, they are bound to regain their glory.

But what the pilots didn't know was that the atmosphere in the headquarters at this time was extremely depressing.

It turned out that the situation of the huge losses suffered by the shore-based aviation was not reported because of the problem of face, and Ozawa Jizaburo was still in the dark.

And what happened to the first attack wave was also due to the huge losses of the pilots, and it is not possible to obtain accurate statistics.

But Jizaburo Ozawa was convinced that the Citi Navy had suffered huge losses.

In order to expand the results of the battle, he again sent a group of attack aircraft.

But just as the plane was taking off, the people on the deck suddenly let out an exclamation.

It turned out that a "Comet" carrier-based bomber suddenly broke away from the formation and crashed straight into the sea.

"Boom!"

Immediately, a white splash rose on the surface of the sea.

Just when everyone was still unclear, the destroyer "Qiuyue" on the starboard side of the "Dafeng" sent an urgent report.

"Several torpedoes were found!"

The "Dafeng" aircraft carrier immediately turned its rudder to evade it.

However, 1 minute later, a column of water rose in front of the hull.

"Torpedo hit!"

There was a scream from the cabin.

In the end, the "Dafeng" was a cutting-edge warship that had just been in service for 3 months, and even if it received a torpedo, it was not greatly affected, but the front elevator was stuck by the owner.

Jizaburo Ozawa, who was relieved, ordered to continue the battle.

But the bad luck of the Combined Fleet does not seem to be over.

At noon, the "Xianghe," a veteran-class aircraft carrier of the Combined Fleet, suddenly exploded.

It turned out that taking advantage of the chaos just now, the Citi SS-244 "Kamala Mackerel" submarine also slipped into the formation.

The captain seized the opportunity and fired 6 torpedoes, 4 of which hit the target.

However, the "Xianghe" aircraft carrier had outstanding defensive capabilities, and after some rescue, the balance was restored.

Just when the Japanese people breathed a sigh of relief, it actually exploded.

It turned out that the ship's aviation fuel tank was damaged, and the leaked fuel penetrated into every corner, quickly burning the "Xianghe" into a fire dragon.

At 14:01, after a huge explosion, the "Xianghe" began to sink.

1263 people were killed on board, of which 376 were members of the 601 Air Force.

Just when the Japanese people were grief-stricken, at 14:32, a big explosion also occurred on the aircraft carrier "Dafeng".

It turned out that the aviation gasoline tank of the "Taiho" was quite damaged when the torpedo exploded.

But in order to carry out Ozawa's order, the main target of the damage management personnel turned out to be the damaged front lift.

In the event that the repair fails, simply plug it.

The leaked oil and gas could not be discharged, and it filled every compartment, eventually causing an explosion during the containment of the "99 Ship Explosion".

Based on the experience of Midway, the "Taiho" was retrofitted with a flight deck 10 mm thick.

As a result, the force of the explosion could not be released upwards and was all pressed to the bottom of the ship.

At 15:32, just half an hour after the "Xianghe" completely sank, the "Dafeng" also went to the Crystal Palace.

Seeing the heavy losses, Vice Admiral Keno Kurita, the commander of the avant-garde, suggested a quick retreat.

But Jizaburo Ozawa disagreed, insisting on refueling on June 20 and attacking on the 21st.

On June 20, Ozawa transferred to the aircraft carrier "Zuizuru", and it was determined that his side had suffered heavy losses.

But the results reported by the deployers gave him the illusion that the Citi Navy had also suffered heavy losses.

Hopefully, Jizaburo Ozawa hastened to contact the shore-based air forces, which would surely be able to take out the remaining enemy as long as their hundreds of planes joined.

Perhaps it was the manifestation of the great god, and the combined fleet ran out of fuel safely.

As long as the time comes, send the remaining "rice ghost animals" into the sea.

But in the afterglow of the setting sun, those damn "shrews" came again, followed by a group of "pregnant women" with torpedoes and bombs. ”

Don't say anything, Jizaburo Ozawa hurriedly threw out all the power at hand, all 75 planes.

But where is this bit of strength enough, and he was beaten down 65 times.

Next, it's time for the show of Citi torpedo planes and bombers.

The most unfortunate was the aircraft carrier "Flying Eagle", which was converted from a passenger ship.

Under the fire of torpedoes and bombs, the ship immediately burst into flames.

This is already miserable enough, who knows that it was attacked by the Citi SS-237 "Cannonball Fish" submarine again.

After another thunderbolt, it also sank to the bottom of the sea.

In the melee, the "Zuizuru", the "Hayabusa", and the seaplane carrier "Chiyoda" were all hit by bombs.

Jizaburo Ozawa no longer had any cards in his hand, so he could only lead the First Mobile Fleet to escape in the starry night.

And at this time, the Citi naval aviation, which completely won, also encountered a big problem.

At the time of release, they were 350 nautical miles away from the Japanese naval formation, and the round-trip distance was more than 700 nautical miles, not counting the amount of fuel consumed during the battle.

This is already the limit of the range of torpedo planes, dive bombers.

To make matters worse, when the pilot of the reconnaissance plane reconfirmed his opponent, he found that the actual distance was more than 70 nautical miles.

"Crackle!"

Now, the plane's engine makes a rattling noise, which is a harbinger of running out of fuel.

To add insult to injury, when it was completely dark, where was the Task Force 58 with the lights on it?

"Boom!"

From time to time, planes made forced landings on the sea, making a large splash.

Just when the pilots were in a hurry, there was a light in front of them.

It turned out that it was the commander of the fleet, Mitchell, who ordered to turn on the lights of all the ships.

The whole landing process was a mess at all.

Pilots want to land on an aircraft carrier before they run out of fuel.

In the midst of chaos, various accidents emerge one after another.

In the end, more than 80 planes crashed and 49 pilots were lost.

Jizaburo Ozawa fought for a day, and only shot down 31 planes and eliminated 20 pilots from the opposing side.

And their own losses turned out to be 336 aircraft, almost all of which were shot down by "shrew" fighters.

From then on, the Japanese naval aviation could no longer organize a decent offensive.

Those "Zero Battles" that once dominated the sky have completely fallen behind in front of the F6F "shrews", and in the end they can only be reduced to "kamikaze" suicide machines.