Since 1894, the flagship of the Combined Fleet of the Japanese Navy has been the largest ship in the fleet.

This symbolizes the spirit of the Combined Fleet and is the backbone of the Combined Fleet.

However, the Toyota Vice-Takeshi did not choose the battleship "Yamato".

On May 3, 1944, he raised the flag of the commander of the Combined Fleet on the light cruiser "Oyodo".

After more than two years of war, Toyota's vice-military has also come back to his senses.

The idea of giant ship cannons in the past is outdated, and now if you want to win the war, you have to rely on the aviation in your hands.

And this series of fiascos also made the upper echelons of the Japanese navy realize.

Aircraft carriers have replaced battleships as the main force of the Navy.

They immediately reorganized the existing warships and transferred ninety percent of their air forces to form the 1st Mobile Force, commanded by Vice Admiral Jizaburo Ozawa.

This is not an ordinary person, and he is praised as a rare talent within the Japanese Navy.

The new official took office with three fires, and Toyota's vice president, who felt that he had a good card, decided to bet on a big one.

The only way to thwart the Citi Navy's aggressive offensive was to have a decisive battle.

As long as all the warships of the "ghost beasts of the United States" are sunk, the Pacific Ocean will still belong to the Japanese country.

Toyota's vice takeshi slapped his thigh.

"Assemble!"

However, he encountered a problem, where would the damn "rice ghost animal" attack from?

After analysis, there are about 3 places, "Palau", "Western Caroline", "Mariana".

Vice Takeshi Toyota wanted to lure the Citi Pacific Fleet into an ambush circle, that is, the southern water area of the Palau line.

There was no way around it, the First Mobile Fleet did not have enough fuel to fight at greater distances.

If you fight in Palau, it's like being at home.

This has the added benefit of being able to combat shore-based aviation forces from nearby islands.

Just when the staff officers were making wishful thinking, someone couldn't help but mutter.

"What if the country is not close to the people and launches an attack in Marianas?"

Toyota's deputy chief of staff can only spread his hands.

"Because of the fuel situation in the first half of the year, it was decided that this area could not become a decisive area. If the Citi Army dared to attack Saipan, Lieutenant General Saito Yoshiji of the 43rd Division would definitely give them a head-on blow. As for those Citi warships, leave them to the shore-based aviation, I believe they will sink a lot of warships. ”

As the saying goes, what you are afraid of comes.

Citi really chose Saipan as the target of the attack, and now even if Toyota's vice president doesn't want to fight in Marianas, it can't be.

And at this time, Jizaburo Ozawa, as the commander of the 1st Mobile Fleet, proposed several tactics.

1. Special attack, that is, changing the "Zero Battle" into a fighter-bomber, using its excellent maneuverability, moving to the air over the aircraft carrier, and destroying its deck with bombs.

2. Over-range assault, taking advantage of the long range of carrier-based aircraft, to launch an attack outside the combat radius of the Citi aircraft carrier.

3. Shuttle bombing, this is the most powerful.

The islands near the area of operations already have enough fuel and ammunition stored to land at the nearest airfields of the islands without having to return to the aircraft carrier after attacking the enemy.

Refill the fuel bombs and return to the carrier, and make a second attack on the enemy along the way.

If the battle situation is unfavorable, the aircraft carrier will immediately sail to safety after releasing the aircraft to avoid the enemy's air attack.

After such calculations, the naval aviation of the Japanese State has increased its strength several times, and it seems that it has become invincible.

Who knew that during the execution of the "A" operation, the shore-based air force, the most important force, was indiscriminately bombed by the Citi naval air force, losing no less than 500 planes.

This aviation force, which had high hopes, was abolished before it could play its role.

Now, the only hope can only be pinned on Ozawa Jizaburo's First Mobile Fleet.

On 15 June, the fleet sailed out of the Guimaras anchorage and sailed to the surface of the decisive battle.

On the afternoon of June 17, all ships underwent their last pre-battle refueling.

In the evening, 9 aircraft carriers, 5 battleships, 14 cruisers, and 31 destroyers marched eastward together.

On the afternoon of 18 June, reconnaissance planes spotted the Citi aircraft carrier northeast of the fleet.

In the early morning of June 19, Ozawa's fleet sent 43 reconnaissance planes to carry out the second stage of the search mission.

He clearly grasped the movements of the Flower Flagship, and he also knew that the opponent had entered his attack range.

At 7 o'clock, the fighters and attack planes of various air battles took off one after another.

However, due to the bad weather and the unskilled pilots, the planes of the first attack wave were killed at about 9 o'clock.

Jizaburo Ozawa, who was standing on the aircraft carrier "Taiho," looked at the mighty group of planes in the sky, and was so excited that he was about to recite a poem.

The Wokes were not badly lucky, and when they were spotted, they were only 150 nautical miles away from Citi's Task Force 58.

The frightened fleet commander Mitchell released 240 "F6F" fighters to intercept them within 10 minutes. Although this set a record, the Citi pilots could not climb to the height of the Japanese plane.

They could only watch as the enemy whizzed overhead and dropped bombs on the aircraft carrier.

Who knows, those Japanese planes have never appeared, so that the Citi pilots are a little skeptical.

"Is there a mistake with the radar?"

The discovered Japanese aircraft was the first attack wave of the 3 air battle.

Due to the poor technique of the pilots, they had to regroup at a distance of 54 nautical miles from the target.

It took 10 minutes, and by the time the formation was about the same, the "unreasonable mothers-in-law" had climbed to the same height and were killing themselves.

In just one round, more than 40 Japanese planes were shot down, and the few that entered the enemy's line immediately saw the power of the VT signal tube shells, and in the end, only one bomb damaged the battleship "South Dakota."

They were Ozawa's paralysis of the Citi aircraft carrier's take-off and landing capabilities, and as a result, they didn't even see the shadow of the aircraft carrier, so they all whined and lamented.

And the greater tragedy of the Japanese army was still to come, and the flight captain of the "Daho" Akira Tarui led 128 fighters in the 1st air battle to kill the black seedlings.

I don't know if this guy took the wrong medicine and actually took the plane to the sky over the Kurita fleet.

The anti-aircraft artillery unit that served as the avant-garde did not care about 3721, and attacked these planes indiscriminately, directly killing two of its own planes.

Finally put together the formation, and when they continued to move forward, they were blocked by 160 "shrews" again.

In an instant, 70 of the 126 aircraft of all types were sent to the Crystal Palace.

One of the Citigroup pilots even shouted excitedly:

"It's like an ancient turkey hunting battlefield!"

As a result, the air battle of the day was named the "Mariana Turkey Shooting Competition." ”

Despite the heavy losses, the remaining widows did not flee, and they risked their lives to break into the fleet formation and launch an attack.

This hit the aircraft carriers "Bunker Hill", "Wasp", and caused some damage.

With few survivors, Ozawa did not know how big Citi's losses were, and he sent a third and fourth wave of attack aircraft.

When all the Japanese were looking into the air, something rose from the water.