At noon, a group of ships flying sixteen flags of the rising sun left the port of Manila in column. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info In the bridge veranda of the Japanese Navy's light aircraft carrier "Izumi", Mitsumi Shimizumi, commander of the 2nd Sentai of the Southern Fleet, looked back at Manila Bay behind him worriedly. Some of the ships damaged in the night attack have docked at the dock for repairs, and some are still in a state of grounding, although Manila is a well-equipped port with relatively abundant materials and manpower, but it has become the front line of the war with the US military, and if the US air raid is again encountered, the ships left here may be more than lucky.

Because he accidentally fell down the escalator during a US air raid, the Japanese admiral looked very embarrassed with duct tape on his face and a strap on his left hand. Even so, after receiving the order from Keno Kurita, commander of the Southern Fleet, he resolutely led the 14 ships of the 2nd Sentai to meet the operational conditions and embarked on a journey with an uncertain future.

The coastline of Luzon is fading from view, and the sea can feel open or disorienting. Soon after, the "Izumi" began to regularly take off and land planes for patrol and reconnaissance, which was the task that the light aircraft carrier should undertake, but in the eyes of the fanatical and conceited Japanese naval leadership, the light aircraft carrier was both a fast-moving scout and an agile assassin, and when it came to the decisive battle, they should always play the role of vanguard, rearguard, and response, not only heroic and tenacious, but also have the spirit of sacrifice......

More than two hours had passed since the fleet left Manila, and Mitsumi Shimizu was resting in the cabin that had been temporarily vacated to accommodate him, when his adjutant Seiichi Fujimoto came to report: "Sir, the fleet command has sent a secret telegram asking us to go to the sea area of 3 degrees north latitude and 129 degrees east longitude to meet the 1st Sentai Squadron. ”

Mitsumi Shimizu leaned over at the table to look at the map, and then muttered, "That location is on the edge of the range of long-range reconnaissance aircraft at the US military base in New Guinea, and it doesn't seem very advantageous for us to intercept the US fleet there!" ”

Fujimoto said: "To be precise, that location is 624 nautical miles from the U.S. military Carmela base. Excluding the possibility of communication leaks, the probability of US patrol planes discovering the build-up of our fleet should be very low! ”

"624 nautical miles?"

Shimizu Mitsumi frowned and thought for a while, and said: "At last year's International Aviation Expo, Ireland launched a large seaplane with an activity radius of 800 nautical miles and equipped with electronic reconnaissance equipment, priced at 2.15 million marks, it is said that the reconnaissance efficiency is ten times higher than that of previous seaplanes, but the Admiralty thinks that this kind of aircraft is too slow and too expensive, so it is not purchased. It is heard that the Americans are interested in such aircraft. Although Ireland belongs to the camp of European allies, it has always liked to collude with the Americans, and perhaps the American military has already obtained this aircraft, but it is for military purposes and the transaction is kept secret. ”

In the absence of outsiders, Fujimoto said, "I want to ...... Commander Kurita may have had high expectations of the three new aircraft carriers belonging to Sentai 1, feeling that they would indeed be able to defeat one against two or even with one against three. It's just that judging by the current intelligence, it seems that the performance of the new aircraft carrier of the US Navy will not be much worse than that of our Yunlong class. ”

Mitsumi Shimizu was silent about this. Although he felt that Kurita Keno's personality was too cautious, he never commented on his boss. As for the three main aircraft carriers of the First Sentai Group, "Kasaki", "Ikoma", and "Aso", they are indeed the most elite and powerful weapons of the Japanese Navy. They have a standard displacement of 37,300 tons, a full load of nearly 43,000 tons, and a carrier aircraft capacity of 102+6, that is, 102 standing aircraft and 6 reserve aircraft, making them the most active aircraft carriers in service except for the German Count Schell class. In order to maximize the efficiency of the attack, the Yunlong-class adopted the novel design of bombers taking off from the upper flight deck and fighters taking off from the lower ejection tracks, and the overall flight speed of carrier-based aircraft was increased by 75 percent. Based on these factors, Japan's Ship Administration Headquarters said that it would be able to "defeat two with one enemy" in a head-to-head showdown.

In modern times, the level of weaponry is of course an important factor affecting the balance of war, but the user of the weapon is the key to determining the outcome of the war; from the familiarity and mastery of weapons by officers and men at the grassroots level to the understanding and application of tactics and tactics by commanders at all levels, they often play a greater role in influencing the weapons themselves than the weapons themselves. Since 1939, although the Japanese Navy has participated in many operations, it has been nothing more than a low- and medium-intensity operation such as a blockade of the shore, land support, and antisubmarine escort, and the only maritime operation in the real sense of the word is the encirclement and annihilation of the cruiser "Kirov" of the Soviet and Russian Navy. On the other hand, the United States has not only built a large number of new warships in recent years, but has also maintained close military exchanges with the European powers; in particular, after the Japanese army launched another war of aggression against China, the Western allies gradually lifted the military restraint imposed on the United States by the armistice agreement; 70 percent of the officers and men on active duty of the US Navy have visited Europe; nearly 90 percent of the officers and men of the US Navy have gone to Europe for long-term and short-term training or exchanges, and the two sides have even conducted military confrontation drills in various ways, which is beyond the reach of Japan, which has been comprehensively sanctioned by the League of Nations.

While the 2nd Squadron of the Japanese Southern Front departing from Manila and the 1st Squadron departing from Jakarta were each heading to the intended assembly area, the 1st U.S. Pacific Task Force, commanded by U.S. Admiral William Frederick Halsey Jr., was still sailing east of New Guinea as originally planned, where Carmela, the largest U.S. naval base in the Southwest Pacific, was located, a product of the 1939 U.S.-Japan Armistice Treaty. This originally inconspicuous outpost quickly became a modern large-scale military base as the Japanese army launched another war of aggression against China, not only the U.S. Navy stationed a fleet, but also the Western Allies stationed troops here in the name of peacekeeping, affecting the situation in Australia across the sea, so the port of Carmela was regarded as a thorn in the side of the Japanese army, the Japanese army clamored to turn this place into a second Singapore, and the Japanese navy formulated a combat plan to wipe it off the map with shells and bombs.

After the successful attack on Manila, the Halsey fleet was counterattacked by the Japanese land-based air force several times, many ships were damaged, and the carrier-based aircraft suffered a lot of losses. Although his fleet has nine aircraft carriers, the strength is enough to crush Japan's naval forces in the South Seas, but the main forces of the Japanese Navy's Southern Fleet are deployed in Jakarta and Manila, both of which are strongholds painstakingly managed by the Japanese army, with complete facilities and strict guards.

After learning that the two Japanese fleets had left Jakarta and Manila respectively, Halsey knew that the big fish had followed the taste of the bait, but victory was not easy for the fisherman. Although the U.S. military has a 9 to 4 advantage in the number of aircraft carriers, none of these aircraft carriers can be compared with the Japanese Navy's Yunryu class, especially the "Enterprise", "Vespa", "Independence", and "Langley", the four new aircraft carriers of the first generation after the war, which have high hopes, have a standard displacement of only 26,500 tons, which can be classified as large aircraft carriers according to the standards of World War II, and in the 40s, they were only medium-sized aircraft carriers, and the overall design followed the rules, and their technical and tactical standards still stayed in the 30s. In comparison, the second batch of "American", "Princeton", "Olista", and "Washington" benefited from military cooperation with Western allies, and their combat performance has been greatly improved, but with a standard displacement of 33,080 tons and a 92+4 carrier aircraft configuration, it is still not enough to counter Japan's Yunlong class. In addition, although the "Wildcat" is very popular with U.S. Navy pilots, over time, these air combat blades are no longer as sharp as they were when they first entered service. Judging from all aspects of intelligence, the Japanese army's new ship battle is significantly ahead of the "Wildcat" and Ireland's IR-39T, and is on par with Germany's new generation of carrier-based fighter ME-90, and in the air raid on Manila and the subsequent battle to resist the counterattack of the Japanese aircraft group, Halsey's pilots did not encounter a "gale," which made it impossible for the US commander to infer the comprehensive strength of the two aircraft carrier formations, which increased the difficulty of arranging their troops behind......

"Sir, according to the telegram from the Joint Operations Command, it is inferred from the Japanese military communications that the Japanese Southern Fleet is preparing to intercept us at sea, and the main force of the Combined Fleet seems to be still assembling in the home sea. It seems that after the Tokyo explosion, the reaction speed of the Japanese military top brass was indeed much slower than before. ”

In the command room of the USS Enterprise, Halsey calmly listened to the report of the chief of staff, Major Hasson, and then ordered: "Contact the Carmela base and tell them that for the next week, regardless of the weather, the long-range reconnaissance aircraft must remain on full duty, with a focus on reconnaissance of the fourth sector." ”

"Understood, sir!" Major Hasson replied.

Halsey pondered for a moment: "After dark, we turn our heads east, and in 20 hours we turn back to the north. The Joint Operations Command was notified to activate the Blue Plan, and in the early morning three days later, we would send planes to bomb various Japanese positions in eastern Luzon and allow the Philippine Resistance to provide ground confirmation signals. According to the previous intelligence...... The Japanese army has 3 large strongholds, 7 medium strongholds, and 30 small strongholds on Luzon, and we are targeting medium and small strongholds this time, and it is enough to send 18 squadrons to deal with them, and then we need to put in at least 10 squadrons of fighters to deal with the attack of Japanese aviation. ”

Major Hasson quickly recorded it in his notebook and asked in passing, "Aren't we going to carry out a second air raid on Manila?" ”

Halsey shook his head, "There's no more than a target worth bombing. ”

(End of chapter)