Micronesia, which means "small island archipelago", mainly includes the Mariana Islands, Caroline Islands, Marshall Islands, Nauru Island, Gilbert Islands, etc. These archipelago www.biquge.info s are divided into two arcs, separated by the Mariana Trench, and when viewed from above, they resemble a string of dazzling pearls dotted on the vast expanse of the sea.

Prior to 1933, most of the islands of Micronesia were U.S. territories or under the trust of the U.S. government, and by early 1934, all of Micronesia was under the shadow of the Sun Flag. After the U.S. military recaptured Wake Island, the Marshall Islands, which were closest to it, naturally became the focus of attention on both warring sides. In Majuro, where the Japanese army has a heavy accumulation of troops and a large air base, the number of land-based fighters and water reconnaissance planes of the Japanese naval forces has increased to more than 200, and the combat personnel of the army and marine units have increased to more than 9,000......

On December 16, 1936, there was still more than a week left before Christmas in the West. The European people, who have got rid of the smoke of war, have begun to make various preparations for this important holiday, and in the United States, both the bourgeoisie and the mass class have paid attention to the Pacific front, and various **** condolence activities are in full swing. Thousands of kilometers away in the Central Pacific, U.S. commanders wanted to take advantage of the victories in the Hawaii and Wake Island battles to continue their offensive, and the U.S. Navy's 1st, 4th, and 6th Task Force Fleets set out from the waters off Wake Island to slaughter Penmajuro.

At about 11 o'clock in the morning, a Japanese reconnaissance plane taking off from the Majuro Air Base spotted the incoming US fleet more than 300 nautical miles away. The Japanese fighters and bombers deployed in Majuro poured out, and although they were aggressive, this wave of attacks lacked the strength of a decisive battle in the face of the elite American naval battle groups that were deployed to battle.

Upon learning that the land-based air force was engaged in a confrontation with the US fleet, the Japanese Combined Fleet, which had been covertly transferred to the Solomon Islands in the previous stage, immediately went to the battlefield under the leadership of the new commander, Mitsumasa Yonechi, who acted resolutely and insisted on "arriving five minutes ahead of schedule," divided the capital ships into two: the heavy aircraft carriers "Xianghe," "Zuihe," and "Daho," and the light aircraft carriers "Xiangho," "Zuiho," and "Ryuho," together with 25 escort ships, sailed to the waters off Nauru Island; The Kii-class battleship Suruga, which served as the acting flagship of the Combined Fleet, the main battleships "Tosa", "Nagato", "Hyuga", and "Fuso" that survived the Eastern Pacific Campaign and the Hawaiian Campaign, and the main battle cruisers "Akagi", "Haruna", and "Kirishima", plus the light aircraft carriers "Hosho", "Flying Eagle", "Hayabusa", and 27 escort light ships, sailed for the waters of the Marshall Islands.

It has a range of nearly 2,000 kilometers, or more than 1,100 nautical miles, from the Solomon Islands to the Marshall Islands, and if it maintains a high cruising speed of about 20 knots, it will be able to reach the predetermined attack position in two days and two nights, while Nauru Island is about 500 nautical miles south of the Marshall Islands, and this distance far exceeds the effective combat radius of ordinary carrier-based aircraft.

On the evening of 18 December, Vice Admiral Mitsumasa Yonechi, a Japanese Navy with very rich command experience, led a group of combat ships to the waters southwest of Majuro, and in the two days before that, the US fleet had completely destroyed the Japanese air force in Majuro, sunk and damaged many Japanese ships, and carried out saturation bombing and artillery bombardment of the fortifications on the atoll.

After receiving no news of the U.S. landing, Mitsumasa Minai ordered the fleet to slow down and sent a lightning strike team consisting of two light cruisers and seven destroyers to the north at high speed. After nightfall, this lightning strike team quietly approached Majuro and prepared to launch a night attack on the US fleet under the guidance of the garrison on the island, but the Americans struck first and violently bombarded the Japanese ships sailing along the coast from 20 kilometers away with a heavy cruiser formation.

A few hours later, as the sky grew brighter, the huge Japanese fleet, instead of retreating quickly, was hovering about 120 nautical miles southwest of Majuro. On the three aircraft carriers, the service personnel were busy lifting the reconnaissance planes with auxiliary fuel tanks from the hangar to the deck, and then sending these reconnaissance planes into the sky against the rocking of the waves.

At this moment, Mitsumasa Yonechi appeared at the officer's cafeteria of the acting flagship "Suruga", and accompanied by a group of staff officers, swept away a simple breakfast consisting of eggs, rice, and miso soup.

"Is the second batch of reconnaissance aircraft ready?"

Wiping his mouth with a napkin, Mitsumasa Yonechi asked his deputy.

The commander of the air brigade was a mustache of the Navy, and his head was pounded down like a stake in the rice: "Yes, Your Excellency Commander. The second group of reconnaissance planes, which arranged four naval reconnaissance planes and four naval attack planes, will conduct a fan-shaped search in the 90-degree area from due north to due east, with a search radius of 200 nautical miles, and the time for the planes to reach the farthest reconnaissance position will be 1 hour and 20 minutes. ”

This kind of detailed answer was exactly what Mitsumasa Minechi liked, and he nodded slightly, "There is no need to arrange a third batch of reconnaissance planes, all the fighters of the air team are ready to take off to meet the enemy at any time!" ”

Osa's head made a gesture again: "Understood! ”

"Everyone!" Mitsumasa Minechi got up and glanced around half a circle, and although the senior officers were in their respective positions, they all pricked up their ears without exception. Hearing the commander's words, there was a sudden creak of chairs moving in the cafeteria.

"A critical day is just around the corner, you must do your best!"

With that, Mitsumasa Yonechi bowed deeply to the officers, and everyone present responded in the same posture.

Soon after, the second group of reconnaissance planes left the fleet with a crisp roar, and only ten minutes later, a group of uninvited guests suddenly appeared in the northeast, and the relatively dense formation was obviously not an ordinary reconnaissance plane. Seeing this, the lookouts in the fleet immediately raised the alarm, and the roar of the fleet's anti-aircraft guns appeared almost at the same time as the sound of mechanical anti-aircraft sirens, and the dense artillery fire quickly weaved an interception net over the fleet to protect their core warships.

The three light aircraft carriers with the striking sunburst flag logo painted on their flight decks hurriedly turned back to the upwind direction so that the more than 40 fighters they were carrying could rise into the air to meet the attack in the shortest possible time, but before the enemy planes entered the combat range, only the Type 95 carrier-based fighters all flew off the deck, and the Type 93 carrier-based fighters of about a squadron size were arranged at the end because of their slightly inferior performance.

While the carrier-based fighters were taking to the air, the battleships and battlecruisers of the Japanese fleet adjusted their main guns accordingly, and then fired into the air with powerful shotguns, but none of them could stop the American carrier-based planes from attacking, and these silver-gray warhawks roared down in the face of dense artillery fire, showing off their flying skills in front of the Japanese officers and men......

The warm winter sun gently shone on the sea, and on the ships flying the sun flag, the sailors were in full swing with various weapons. In the dense network of fire at medium and low altitudes, fighter planes painted with US Navy logos bravely shuttled back and forth, some were unfortunately shot and fell into the sea with residual smoke, and some successfully swept over Japanese ships and dropped bombs with precision......

In the line of sight, three Japanese aircraft carriers were struggling to evade the attack of US carrier-based aircraft. The "Flying Eagle" and "Falcon Eagle", which were converted from mail ships, are behemoths - they have a standard displacement of 27,000 tons, and many important parts of the reconstruction process have been equipped with DS steel plates, and their strong power and good carrying capacity make them have the ability to fight with the main fleet. However, after suffering two near-misses in succession, the commander of the "Falcon" finally realized that the situation was not good, resolutely gave up the attempt to forcibly take off the carrier-based aircraft, and commanded the battleship to maneuver at full speed under the cover of the two accompanying destroyers. In contrast, the luck of the "Flying Eagle" was not very good, on this aircraft carrier with a headwind situation, two fighters flew off the deck one after another, and just when the third one began to taxi, an aerial bomb suddenly fell on the tail of the flight deck, and the six fighters that had been started and were waiting to take off became unlucky "pond fish", and the violent explosion instantly threw the next two planes into the sea, and the one closest to the bomb landing point was overturned by the violent impact, and smashed on the plane behind it when it fell. The rapidly spinning propeller suddenly turned into a terrifying chainsaw, instantly tearing Zero's thin aluminum skin to shreds, and the fuel tank full of fuel also turned into a large ******, and the huge fireball that rose into the air quickly engulfed several surrounding planes that had only been slightly shocked.

On the bridge of the battle ship of the acting flagship "Suruga", the staff officer reported to Mitsumasa Yonechi and his staff officers with the latest information: "General, according to the statistics of various departments, about 130 enemy carrier-based planes came to attack this time, some of which were shot down by our fighters, some by anti-aircraft artillery, and the rest dropped 100 bombs and more than 30 torpedoes. Of the three air warships, the 'Flying Eagle' has suffered heavy damage, while the 'Fengxiang' and 'Hayabusa' are still fighting stubbornly; among the capital ships, Nagato and Hyuga were slightly injured, and 'Kirishima' caught fire......."

The tall staff officer immediately said to Minai: "General, our decoy has given off a sufficiently attractive scent, and now we should go south at full speed to lure the enemy to follow." ”

Minai looked around at the sea, then raised his hand to look at his watch, and resolutely ordered: "Pass my order, except for the two ships 'Yayoi' and 'Hatsuyuki' who continue to cover the 'Flying Eagle', all of them will move south. ”

(End of chapter)