The 6th Task Force and the 3rd Task Force of the Western Pacific Task Force had already begun operations for the 6th Squadron to land on the island, which had been famous all over the world since early April, although the specific date of the 6th Task Force was 30 April, but from the beginning of April, the 2nd Task Force and the 3rd Task Force of the Western Pacific Naval Air Force had already begun operations for the 6th Sentai to land on this island, which had been famous all over the world in World War I.

The first to bomb Hachijojima were bombers of the naval aviation deployed on the Ogasawara Islands. Hachijojima is about 600 kilometers away from Brother Island, which is exactly within the extreme combat radius of the naval aviation tactical aircraft (which is also the main reason why the Second Task Force is indispensable), and after the battle plan for landing on 6 Hachijojima was determined, the first batch of HNA fighters were transferred and deployed on the four airfields of Chichijima and Brother Island. On 10 April, the HNA launched the first round of bombardment of Japanese positions on Hachijo Island.

When Tan Renhao and Luo Yunchong came to Iwo Jima, the third batch of HNA fighters were moving to Chichi Island through Iwo Jima, and HNA's bombing of Hachijo Island had also entered the first stage. This is because Hachijo Island is only 300 kilometers away from Tokyo and more than 200 kilometers away from the Izu Peninsula, and it is completely within the combat range of Japanese fighters. The bombing of Hachijo Island by the Navy was stubbornly intercepted by Japanese fighters. At this time, the Japanese air force was no longer the elite force it was at the beginning of the war, a large number of high-quality pilots had been finished, and Japan did not have the ability to train pilots on a large scale, and the reduction in the quality of pilots made the Japanese air force almost a paper tiger.

"Now the fighter we use is no worse than the 'Zero Battle', and I heard that the performance of the new fighter that Shen Fei is testing will comprehensively surpass the 'Zero Battle'."

Luo Yunchong watched the fighter planes that were transferred to the Ogasawara Islands via Iwo Jima take off from the airport: "The war has been fought for more than a year, and now it has finally been separated, and the arrogant Japanese air force should also be unlucky!" ”

Tan Renhao looked up at the fighter jets hovering over the airport, and then walked towards the jeep parked next to the runway. "It's true, Japan can't afford to train good pilots, even if they have good fighters. It can't be our opponent anymore! ”

When the two came to the temporary command post (Yan Guozhong had already transferred his headquarters to Chichijima, and the headquarters of the 6th Sentai here was left to Tan Renhao, who was stationed as the headquarters of the Strategic Strike Force and the General Staff of the Western Pacific Theater), the first news they received was the combat report of the naval aviation in the past few days. As Tan Renhao expected, although almost all of HNA's fighters confronted Japanese planes in the extreme combat radius, HNA has almost lost almost no fighters in the past few days. The Japanese army, on the other hand, had dozens of fighters that became a new result for the naval eagles.

Hainan Airlines has been carrying out high-intensity bombing of Hachijojima, and on April 14, the first batch of heavy bombers transferred from Hachijo Island also joined in the bombing of Hachijojima. The heavy bombers of these two regiments were divided into two groups, day and night, and took turns to bomb Hachijo Island, dropping at least 1,000 tons of bombs on the island every day. This was the second battle report that Tan Renhao and the others received, although the two heavy bomber regiments had less than 300 bombers to drop, the bomb volume was far greater than the sum of the other hundreds of fighters of the HNA Navy.

"This is a map of the Japanese defense deployment on Hachijo Island that our reconnaissance plane has determined, and some of them are photos taken when the submarine approached for reconnaissance."

A major officer arranged by Luo Yunchong first briefly introduced the situation on Hachijo Island: "The main strength of the Japanese army is still concentrated in the southwest plain area near Hachijo Mountain in the northeast corner of the island. That is, there were not many Japanese troops near the airfield. Or they all went underground. The 6th Sentai judged that the situation on Hachijo Island was somewhat similar to that of Iwo Jima, and the Japanese army mainly concentrated on the rugged mountainous defense. And a large number of underground fortifications were built. If our previous intelligence is correct, then the Japanese army deployed more than 15ooo troops on the island. ”

Tan Renhao sat down, although he was not the general of the 6th Sentai Corps, he was also very concerned about the combat operation of Deng6 Hachijo Island, because it was directly related to the future strategic bombing operation. Hachijojima is like a giant tadpole, with the head in the northeast and the tail in the southwest. Mt. Hachijo, located in the northeastern corner of the island, is a dormant volcano and the commanding height of the island, which is somewhat similar to Mt. Oriba on Iwo Jima. To the southwest of the island is a plain of about five square kilometres, large enough to build two large airports. Soon. His gaze shifted to another small island to the west of Hachijojima. The island is called "Kojima", and it is about five nautical miles from Hachijojima, with an area of less than one square kilometer and a relatively flat terrain.

"Is Sentai 6 planning to take this island to the west first?"

Tan Renhao pointed on the chart.

The major officer hurriedly said: "Now we don't have a plan for the 6th team, maybe they will do it." ”

Tan Renhao nodded slightly, although this island cannot build an airfield, but it can deploy the 6th team on it, and it can also transport artillery over. If Sentai 6 wanted to capture Hachijojima, then they would definitely have to occupy the island first, which was almost defenced by the Japanese army. It will be easier to use this as a base to climb 6 Hachijojima Island again.

"Let's take care of our own business first."

Tan Renhao didn't think much about this problem anymore, this is a problem that belongs to the 6th team, "The major still let the two bomber regiments assist the 6th team during this time, anyway, there is enough ammunition on the island, let the pilots drop the bombs to their heart's content, we won't need these bombshells in the future!" ”

The major officer nodded immediately.

"When can Yun Chong's staff be transferred?"

Tan Renhao has never been separated from Luo Yunchong, and Luo Yunchong's staff is his staff department.

"Probably until the eighteenth."

"Then wait until the staff officers are transferred, come up with a bombing plan as soon as possible, and we'll be busy for the next few days."

Tan Renhao sighed: "It looks like we have to draw up the bombing plan ourselves!" ”

Luo Yunchong didn't feel embarrassed, he had already thought of this, and if he waited until the officers of the staff department arrived, it would be too late to make a plan.

The two newly dispatched 6 Divisions arrived at the temporary pier on Iwo Jima on the 17th. At that time, the temporary wharf on Chichijima was still being expanded, so the officers and soldiers of the 6th Sentai stayed on Iwo Jima first, and only moved to Chichijima before boarding the 6th. On the same day, the first regiment led by Colonel Chiang Shikuan arrived at Iwo Jima, and Tan Renhao did not let them participate in the bombing of Hachijo Island, but gave them a new mission. That is, to familiarize yourself with the situation when you are on a long-distance sea attack as soon as possible, and to master the skills of long-range navigation.

The first batch of high-precision gyroscopes provided by Shen Fei have been equipped on some bombers, which are indispensable equipment for long-range navigation at sea. In previous bombing campaigns, navigators could judge whether the aircraft's course was correct based on landforms with obvious external features, so the gyroscope accuracy was not required. In long-distance sea raids, bombers almost always fly on the sea, and the sea is not a reference, and it is impossible for the navigator to pass through the sea surface and determine the course. High-precision gyroscopes became the only tool to guide the flight of bombers. And before that. The pilots of the Tang Empire had never recorded flying thousands of kilometers continuously over the sea.

"The problem of bombing navigation is basically solved, but we still have new problems."

Luo Yunchong has also been busy these days, "First of all, which airports do we choose." The Ogasawara Islands definitely don't have our share, and when we heard that Hainan Airlines was going to send a batch of medium-sized bombers over, we didn't even think about going there and occupying a few airfields. I went to the island yesterday and went around the whole place, and the three airfields on this side of Iwo Jima can barely accommodate five regimental bombers, but we have a total of six regimental bombers, and we need at least one airfield. ”

Tan Renhao lit a cigarette, and he communicated with Yan Guozhong in the morning about this question, but Yan Guozhong's answer was very simple. The airports on the Ogasawara Islands are all available to Hainan Airlines. If there is no strategic strike force, if you want to negotiate, you can only go to the HNA to negotiate. And now the Navy is under the direct command of the Navy Staff. In other words, I can only go to Chief of Staff Gan Yongxing to negotiate. Tan Renhao didn't want to trouble General Gan Yongxing so early, after all, HNA's mission was to assist the 6th Sentai to capture Bazhang Island, and the capture of Bazhang Island was to serve strategic bombing.

"If I really can't help it, I'll contact the 6th team and see if their engineers can move another place for us to house the 6th bomber regiment."

"If you really can't do it, just bring five regiments here. Leave three regiments on Jeju Island. ”

Tan Renhao handed Luo Yunchong a cigarette: "There are eight hundred bombers in five regiments, which is enough for little Japan to drink a pot." In addition, one more regiment on Jeju Island would be able to attract the attention of the Japanese. As long as the 6th Sentai successfully captures Hachijojima, then we will have enough places to deploy bombers. ”

"That's fine, but I'll try to consider arranging more bombers to come over!"

The two were chatting, and there was a knock on the door, and a staff officer came over: "General, the second task force has arrived!" ”

Tan Renhao and Luo Yunchong were both surprised. Then rushed out at the same time. When they arrived outside the camp, they saw the second task force with more than 30 warships slowly approaching the temporary dock, and the most conspicuous of them were naturally the three large fleet carriers and the large air defense cruisers escorting the fleet carriers.

When Lei Shaoqing stepped on the dock, Tan Renhao and Luo Yunchong had already walked to the edge of the dock, and it was natural for friends to meet with a chill and greetings.

"Well, the captain of this fleet tastes good, right?"

Luo Yunchong smiled and patted Lei Shaoqing's chest: "I saw Ren Hao lead the fleet to the expedition before, but now it's you, but I think you are much more handsome in this general's uniform!" ”

"You too, at least you two stand together, I'll notice you first!"

Lei Shaoqing also laughed.

Tan Renhao shook his head, it seemed that Luo Yunchong and Lei Shaoqing had known each other for a long time. Probably the last time he came to Iwo Jima to investigate, Lei Shaoqing happened to lead the second task force to operate near Jeju Island, and he must have become good friends with Luo Yunchong at this time.

"If you two have it, you two will be less stinky and beautiful."

Tan Renhao stopped the small talk between the two: "Shaoqing, you came here this time, right?" ”

"Yes, I heard you guys were here, so I'll come and have a look."

Lei Shaoqing smiled and nodded: "Also, in the future, I have to listen to your command, I came to ask for instructions!" ”

"Don't laugh at me, when Chief of Staff Gan mentioned this to me, I had a big head."

Tan Renhao sighed: "Now I only hate myself for being incompetent, and I have to take care of so many things alone, even if I am an immortal, I can't do it." It's better for you to have a headache about the fleet operations, and I'll concentrate on bombing. ”

Lei Shaoqing smiled and nodded. "Then I'll bother you as little as possible."

"When will Task Force 3 arrive?"

Luo Yunchong asked next to him, which can be regarded as a divergence of the topic.

"Tomorrow, there will be a storm on the road, and there will be a storm at the beginning of the year, and the weather this year is very abnormal!"

Lei Shaoqing smiled bitterly and shook his head: "However, the problem on the side of the third task force is not big, and their warships are much stronger." ”

"And when are you going to get to the front?"

Tan Renhao called the two of them to walk out of the dock, so as not to block the personnel who were carrying supplies to the battleship.

"We'll go out together tomorrow when Task Force 3 arrives."

Lei Shaoqing took out a cigarette and scattered one for each of the two first: "According to this mission arrangement, we mainly provide cover for the third task force, and the secondary task is to support the 6th team to bomb Hachizhang Island." The difficulty is not very great, mainly those suicide planes of the Japanese army. ”

Tan Renhao nodded. "I was just about to remind you of this, we suffered a big loss in the last naval battle, so be careful this time. Now that the Third Task Force is responsible for the shelling, it is necessary to concentrate the air defense warships and not give the Japanese suicide planes a chance. ”

"Don't worry, this is in charge of Lao Chang, and now he is an expert in the air defense of the fleet."

"Okay, let's have a good talk in the evening, when are you going to be out tomorrow?"

The three of them walked towards the camp, and along the way, the officers and men of the Navy and the 6th Squadron saluted the three generals.

"Early tomorrow morning, we will enter the mobile position first, and wait for the arrival of Task Force 3."

"Then we'll see you off tomorrow morning!"

Tan Renhao glanced at Lei Shaoqing: "Do a good job, the second task force is our last family!" ”

Lei Shaoqing nodded with a smile, and the current second task force is almost the first task force before!