The battle on the 30th lasted all day, and after the first two rounds of bombardment, the airfields on Kauai had been largely destroyed, and before noon, five fleets carried out a third round of bombardment of the airfields, ensuring that all airfields were completely destroyed. In the ensuing battle, the bombers would bomb the airfield every day, so that the US engineering units could not rush to repair the airfield, so that the safety of the fleet could be guaranteed, and air supremacy could be guaranteed to the greatest extent in the control of the fleet.

The struggle for air supremacy was the focus and key point of the first day of the battle between the two sides. In addition to the stubborn but ineffective resistance of U.S. fighter jets over Kauai, U.S. fighters deployed on several large islands, including Oahu and Maui, also joined the fight. It can be said that in this daytime battle, the sky over Kauai became the stage for the fighters of both sides to perform, and compared to the overwhelming bombing, the air battle was not only more intense, but also more exciting and exciting.

Ellslaw flew four sorties on this day, with an average of three hours each, which is almost the limit of an individual's endurance. Every time he returned to the carrier, Ellsler trotted to the toilet and then waited for the fighter jets to depart again with fuel and ammunition. In the second sortie in the morning he killed five American fighters, in the first sortie in the afternoon he killed four more, and in the evening battle he killed at least six, but he himself believed that he had shot down seven. In other words, on this day, he alone confirmed 22 victories, which set a new record for the 1st Task Force. After dark, he landed on the aircraft carrier for the fourth time, and then learned that Jiang Wenhan only flew three times and shot down 17 US fighters, that is to say, he had 5 more results than Jiang Wenhan in this day, and the gap between the two narrowed to 12. To Ansler's surprise, Wang Zhihua also flew four times during the day. Moreover, it shot down 24 enemy planes, becoming the third ace of air combat in the Imperial Navy, only 32 fewer than Ellsloth. In addition to the three Super Aces, 21 new Aces of Air Combat were born in the five task forces during the day's battles, and 12 of them became Super Aces on this day (more than 20 results).

The bombers also flew with all their might, Yang Qinkai flew four sorties, and Qiu Gengbo also flew four times. Only the Mu Tao brothers' landline missed the last bombing operation because it was hit by a few machine gun bullets and damaged several key parts. Eighty percent of the bombers of Task Force 1 flew four times, and the least flew twice. The situation was similar with the bomber units of the other four fleets, and Task Force 2 even organized a fifth bombardment after evening. On the 30th, 1,260 bombers of the five task forces flew more than 5,000 sorties and dropped more than 3,500 tons of ammunition on Kauai, destroying not only more than a dozen large airfields and small field airfields, but also dozens of antiaircraft artillery positions and several command centers. The bombing mission set by Hao Dongjue was basically completed.

Compare the intensity of sorties between the two sides. It is not difficult to find out how big the gap in strength is between the US Navy and the Imperial Navy. The Fifth Fleet flew a maximum of two sorties a day, and the more than 700 bombers of the nine aircraft carriers could only drop less than 1,000 tons of ammunition at most, and their sortie intensity was only half that of the Imperial Navy. The rate of sortie of the bomber is in addition to the performance of the bomber itself. In addition to maintainability, the most important thing is the ability of the pilots, as well as the quality of the aviation service personnel, especially the efficiency. Perhaps some basic data comparison can intuitively explain the gap between the two sides in terms of personnel quality.

At that time, it only took 20 minutes at most for a "waterbird" to complete the refueling and loading ammunition after landing. Under the same circumstances, it would take at least half an hour, or even 40 minutes, for the U.S. Navy to do the same thing. At that time, the efficiency of the aviation maintenance facilities of the "Lake" and "Essex" classes was quite high, so it can be seen how big the gap between the quality of the aviation service personnel of the two sides was.

And only in the battle of this day. The will of the US military, especially the US air force, was crushed. Judging from the statistical results of the US military at that time, even if the fighters shot down by anti-aircraft guns are included, the exchange ratio of fighters between the two sides reached more than 8. That is, the US military had to lose more than 8 fighters in order to shoot down 1 fighter of the Tang Imperial Navy. And at the beginning of the battle, this exchange ratio was less than 2. This is enough to prove how big the gap was in terms of the performance of the fighters and the quality of the pilots between the two sides at that time.

During the whole day of fighting, the five task forces were not idle, and the third task force, which was tasked with shelling, arrived at the operational area at about 3:30 p.m. on the same day. Immediately began shelling US military targets close to the coastline. The maximum range of the battleship's main guns against ground targets exceeded 20 nautical miles, and the maximum range of the 200-mm guns on heavy cruisers was also about 18 nautical miles. The range of US shore defense artillery is within 15 nautical miles, and the hit rate is quite low when it is more than 10 nautical miles. Therefore, the shelling operations of the 3rd Task Force were not much threatened, and with the shelling parameters provided by the calibrated guidance aircraft, the battleships did not even need to get too close, and could carry out shelling completely outside the visual distance, without giving the Americans any chance to return fire.

The U.S. military has not completely ceased to fight back and resist. Because both the First and Third Fleets were out of range of U.S. shore-based tactical bombers on Oahu, and the airfields on Kauai were completely destroyed and unable to receive returning bombers, the U.S. military could only dispatch medium and heavy bombers with longer ranges to deal with the Imperial Navy fleet hovering in the waters east of Kauai.

In the morning of the same day, several B25 fleets "patronized" Task Force 4. At that time, the escort fighter group led by Wang Zhihua and Zhu Cheng had just left the skies over the fleet and happened to participate in the fleet's air defense operations. In the half-hour battle, at least 40 B25s were shot down, and dozens more returned home wounded. The U.S. bombing campaign was a complete failure, and in the end, not a single B25 flew over Task Force 4. Although several "peregrine falcons" were shot down during the air defense operation, this air defense operation also made the other task forces more vigilant, and then each fleet retained at least one squadron of fighters to carry out the fleet air defense mission, and the distance between the task forces was also closer, and the air defense alert ships were dispatched, and after the enemy bomber group was discovered, the various fleets were able to support each other.

At around two o'clock in the afternoon, a heavy bomber group of more than 200 B-17s and B-24s crossed over Kauai and attacked the 1st Task Force. But the massive force was spotted by warplanes on bombing and air combat missions over Kauai. There are also hundreds of fighter jets escorting the US military fleet. It was immediately intercepted by fighters on escort missions. In addition, the fleet was given at least an hour to prepare for air defense, and within this hour, the fighters of the Second Task Force and the Fourth Task Force were all concentrated in the sky over the First Task Force, and the escort fighters of the Seventh Task Force and the Eighth Task Force, which were returning home, immediately turned around and intercepted the US bomber group on the way.

The battle was fierce, with hundreds of fighters from both sides battling it all the way from Kauai to the east of Task Force 1. Most of the escorted F4U were routed. But there were still dozens of heavy bombers that broke through the interception of fighters and flew to the aircraft carriers of the 1st Task Force. At the last moment, the air defense warships of the fleet played an important role. When dealing with tactical bombers, the 120 and 80 mm anti-aircraft guns had a slow rate of fire and were difficult to shoot down enemy aircraft, but when dealing with bulky heavy bombers, the 120 and 80 mm guns were extremely powerful and had a long range, and they played a very large role. On the contrary, 40-mm and 20-mm anti-aircraft guns were fired with range and height. On the contrary, it was inferior to heavy anti-aircraft guns.

When an aircraft carrier evades bombing. Tan Renhao and others were forcibly sent to a "shelter". This made Tan Renhao feel very awkward, how to say, he is also the commander-in-chief of the fleet. Hiding in a small, armored room surrounded by armor plates, he felt like sardines in a can, a sensation that made him uncomfortable. However, when he left the "shelter" and learned that all the warships in the fleet were safe and sound, that all the bombs dropped by the US troops had fallen into the sea, and that few bombers had managed to escape, he also thought that it was no longer a matter of being wronged.

"The U.S. military will definitely organize a counterattack." Zhu Rongzhe was already sweating profusely, "The scale of this counterattack is very large. At least more than 100 heavy bombers were shot down, but the number of US heavy bombers deployed on Oahu, Maui and other islands was more than 1,500, and Nimitz would not give up resistance so quickly. ”

"Contact Task Force 3 and have them take charge of monitoring the U.S. fleet. In addition, our five task forces will alternately send two fighter squadrons to cover the third task force. Tan Renhao has already realized the danger, "If the US military does not succeed in attacking us, it is very likely to switch to attacking the third task force." There are still 4 hours left before dark, which is enough for the US military to organize a bombing operation. Perhaps the next to be attacked will be Task Force 3. ”

"It will take them an hour and a half to reach the operational zone."

"Then strengthen the defense from now on, and let the second task force be responsible for covering the third task force first."

The order was quickly passed on, and Tan Renhao's prediction was not wrong, but the time for the US bombers to attack the Third Task Force was around six o'clock, which was a little later than Tan Renhao expected. At that time, Task Force 7 fighters were covering Task Force 3, and bomber groups from other fleets were carrying out the final round of bombing during the day, and hundreds of fighters were on combat duty over Kauai.

If the US bomber group wants to attack the third task force, it will certainly be more difficult than attacking other task forces, because almost all the warships in the third task force are air defense warships, and their single ship air defense capability is very strong. In addition, in the face of heavy bombers, there is no need to protect which battleship is alone, and each battleship can maneuver to avoid bombing, which adds to the difficulty of bombing.

Soon after dark, Tan Renhao received a new message from Chang Jian that only one heavy cruiser had been hit by a 250-kilogram bomb, and the injuries were not very serious, and the battleship could not be sunk. In addition, a cruiser collided with a destroyer while evading the bombardment, the destroyer's stern was knocked off and could only be towed, and the cruiser's bow was also knocked out of a huge gap, and it was able to sail on its own.

"The damage was not very large, there were probably more than 30 officers and men killed or wounded. Several wounded ships will return to Midway Island alone, perhaps back to Apra Harbor to be able to be repaired. ”

"Let Chang Recommending New Arrange It." Tan Renhao was only slightly relieved at this time, "In addition, let the other fleets send the battle damage report as soon as possible, so that Han Shaofeng can provide new fighters, and the pilots who fell into the water are all rescued?" ”

"The last search and rescue planes returned half an hour later, and now the pilots who can confirm the location of the parachute have all been rescued, and only some of the pilots have parachuted over the island." Zhu Rongzhe hesitated, "Perhaps, we should contact the Marine Corps and ask the Marine Corps to send a scout unit up to rescue those pilots." ”

"There's no way around this for the time being, and the Marines haven't rushed over yet." Tan Renhao sighed, "In this way, you go and contact the Third Task Force and ask them to organize a marine unit to go to the island and try to find our parachutist pilots, but you can't do it brutely." ”

Zhu Rongzhe immediately nodded, rescuing the pilot who parachuted in the enemy-controlled area has always been the most difficult thing.

"The replenishment of fighters arrived at night to make contact with Task Force 2, and we should be out of battle at night."

"I'm going now, do you need to arrange a reconnaissance mission for tomorrow?"

"Let Hao Dongjue make overall arrangements." Tan Renhao was also very tired, "I'll rest for a few hours, I'll replace you in the middle of the night, the supply work will be scheduled for the night after tomorrow, it shouldn't be a big problem, right?" ”

Zhu Rongzhe nodded, all the ammunition consumed in the bombing was ground attack, and each aircraft carrier had a minimum amount of sea-attack ammunition in reserve, and the fuel was also sufficient, even if it encountered the US Fifth Fleet now, the fleet would have enough ammunition to kill the Fifth Fleet.

That night, Task Force 3 organized a search and rescue team of more than a dozen volunteers to go to Kauai, which was also the first imperial army to land on Kauai. At the same time, the 1st Task Force and the 2nd Task Force were separated from the battle sequence in the first half of the battle and switched to covert and cover missions. In the second half of the night, the replenishment of fighters landed on the aircraft carrier. The two task forces also went into radio silence at this time. Now, all they need to do is wait for Spruance to take the initiative to send them to the door!