Volume 23 Springboard for Progress Section 84 Freemasonry

The officers and men of Tan Renhao and the other five aircraft carrier task forces stubbornly resisted the hurricane, and the situation of the 22nd and 23rd task forces of the Atlantic Fleet under Spruance's personal command was not much better. At that time, the sea area where these two task forces were located was also within the influence of the hurricane, which means that the distance between these two task forces and Tan Renhao would not be more than 250 miles! If it weren't for this hurricane, maybe both sides would have done it a long time ago. For Spruance, he was so nervous that he couldn't even breathe for a few hours. 12dc7de

After leaving the port of San Diego at about three o'clock in the morning, Spruance finally breathed a sigh of relief, and after calming down, his mind was much clearer. Soon, Spruance realized that if he didn't leave the port of San Diego, he would be left there forever.

What made Spruance suspicious was that several reconnaissance planes arrived at the port of San Diego that day, and he also recalled that during the day on the 23rd, the Tang Empire's long-range reconnaissance planes frequently appeared over the port of San Diego, and Spruance thought that this must be the prelude to the Tang Empire's naval attack. These reconnaissance planes are not only there to monitor the port, but also to monitor the Atlantic Fleet in the port, and even to monitor the Atlantic Fleet so frequently. And the commander of the Tang Empire must be actively mobilizing the strike force, and before deploying in place, he must constantly determine whether the Atlantic Fleet is still in the port, and then let the troops responsible for the strike successfully complete the task. At that time, the Navy of the Don Empire could strike at Santiago not only by the fleet, but also by heavy bombers deployed in Central America. 12dc7de

Spruance's prediction was soon confirmed. Just as he sent a telegram to Task Force 21, which remained in the port of San Diego. Less than ten minutes after the fleet was asked to leave the port immediately and go to Miami, the Port of San Diego and Task Force 21 sent a group of heavy bombers from the bombed Empire, and sure enough, the Port of San Diego bombed the Port at night!

By 6:20 a.m. before the last telegram from Task Force 21 was received. Si remained silent, and although he remained calm on the surface, his heart was already churning. The heavy bombers of the Don Empire did not arrive together. Moreover, the first few rounds of bombardment did not cause much damage to the 21st Task Force, and by the time the bombing was over,; The losses of the squadron were not serious, and the four most important battleships were not seriously affected and were able to continue sailing. However, Spruance was not at all relieved at that time, because he knew that these bombers were only a prelude. And certainly not the main striking force, the real lore is the carrier-based bombers of the fleet of the Don Empire!

Spruance made this judgment after learning that the heavy bombers of the Don Empire were entering in small batches. If these heavy bombers are the main striking force, then they should form a large formation as much as possible, so that as many bombers as possible can drop bombs over the port at the same time, covering a larger area of the port sea area, so that the warships in the port cannot be avoided. As long as more than a hundred bombers enter at the same time and drop bombs at the same time. Even if the harbor was filled with balloons, it would be difficult for Task Force 21 not to suffer heavy losses. And the heavy bombers that entered in small batches were not a great threat to the fleet, and the biggest effect was to delay the time for the fleet to leave the port, and when the bombing was carried out, it was difficult for the 21st task force to organize and leave, why did the commander of the Tang Empire do this?

There is no doubt that the main fleet of the Don Imperial Navy is approaching the port of Santiago. Perhaps, the carrier-based bomber has already taken off and is on its way to the port of Santiago. It is very likely that these bombers will arrive around dawn, perhaps the carrier-based bombers of the Tang Imperial Navy did not have the ability to bomb at night, so they could only choose to bomb the warships in the port after dawn. Thinking of this, Spruance immediately took action.

After receiving the last telegram from Task Force 21, Spruance sent a telegram to Task Force 21 at six points, except for the order to continue; Abandon all the warships that cannot follow the fleet out of port, and the other warships will not be replenished with supplies or not, and whether they will be prepared for auxiliary work. In addition to leaving the port immediately, it is also necessary to mention the threat of air defense. Be prepared to deal with tactical bombers. That is, at that time, Spruance only considered that the Tang Imperial Navy would send carrier-based bombers to strike at the 21st Task Force, and .: the first to arrive was the 3rd Task Force, which had no aviation combat capability.

Because of this, the commander of Task Force 21 did the first thing to do when he gave the order to leave the port was to arrange for personnel to repair the radar on the battleship, and at the same time let the anti-aircraft gunners enter the position, while the main gunners were helping to treat the wounded and participate in the repair of the battleship. As a result, when the 21st Task Force rushed to the exit of the harbor, it did not have a fleet that could immediately send ++, and rushed into battle, and the result can be imagined. If the commander of Task Force 21 had known about the first to arrive at Task Force 3, perhaps he would not have been in a hurry to leave the port, but would have let the fleet engage in an artillery battle with the opponent in the relatively wide waters of the harbor, so as to avoid being intercepted by Task Force 3 at the narrow exit and annihilating the entire army.

At 6:40, Spruance received a telegram that he learned about the interception of the 21st Task Force [battleship fleet of the Don Imperial Navy. When Spruance suddenly came to his senses, he was first surprised, and then he had to admire the courage of his opponent to let the battleship bombard the fleet of San Diego! Of course, Spruance did not forget one of the most important things, and that was to be vigilant and at the same time prepare for a sortie of bombers.

Do you want to bomb the 21st Task Force outside the port of San Diego~ Task Force? Spruance hesitated for a moment. At this time, the fleet he led was less than 100 miles from the port of San Diego, and it was a trivial matter to send bombers to deal with the third task force, but soon Spruance did not think so, for the simple reason that since the battleship fleet of the Tang Empire could rush to the outside of the port of San Diego, then several other aircraft carrier fleets must also be nearby. Why not send bombers to deal with Task Force 21, but instead send out the 3rd ~ adventure? Even if it was dawn at the beginning of the artillery battle, it stands to reason that the other task forces should have enough strength to blow up the 21st task force, and there is no need to let ~

Fight with bayonets. There is only one plausible explanation, and that is that the other I Squadrons are searching for carriers in the Atlantic Fleet, and that their bombers are being prepared to deal with carriers, not Task Force 21.

It was with this question in mind that Spruance hesitated to send bombers, and at that time, he first sent out reconnaissance planes, not bombers, which were tasked with searching for the Don Empire's carrier fleet near San Diego, as well as in the Jamaica Strait to the south, and in the waters near Jamaica Island. If he had dispatched bombers to deal with the Third Task Force, and then the reconnaissance planes had discovered it and exposed himself, then he would have faced the embarrassing situation of having no bombers to deal with the Tang Empire's aircraft carrier fleet. The most important thing is that Spruance only has two task forces in his hands, and the enemy has at least two aircraft carrier task forces, and perhaps the third fleet is counted, that is, five aircraft carrier task forces.

That is to say, at that time, Spruance put dealing with aircraft carriers in the first place, and he was 100 miles away from the third task force, which was enough to ensure his own safety, and the third task force was still fighting with the 21st task force, and the fleet commanded by Spruance was still <, and the distance was still expanding, so there was no need to worry about the threat of the third task force, as long as he killed the opponent's aircraft carrier first, it was only a matter of time before he solved the third task force. But. Spruance didn't even know how many aircraft carrier task forces were involved in the battle!

By about seven o'clock. Task Force 21 had already sent two telegrams in succession, and just when Spruance felt that the situation was about to spiral out of control, a telegram arrived from the headquarters of the Army Air Corps in Cuba. It was also a weather forecast when the U.S. military weather station stationed in Dominica had detected a hurricane entering the Caribbean Sea and measured the speed and direction of the hurricane's movement. Right now. The hurricane is coming right towards Spruance and them!

The telegram was sent by Arnold's men, and was intended to warn Spruance not to go west into the attack as originally planned, and that the bombing of the Yucatan Peninsula had to be halted temporarily. After receiving the telegram, Spruance's first reaction was that he didn't need to carry out meaningless tasks, and could focus on dealing with the fleet of the Tang Empire, and then he thought that after the hurricane came. Most of the time this battle will not be fought. 12dc7de

This was exactly what happened, just as Spruance ordered the fleet to turn north at full speed, ready to avoid a hurricane. The hurricane, which had reached the southwestern part of Jamaica, had suddenly turned, and the area of the hurricane was rapidly expanding, and by about half past seven, the Spruance Land Fleet had reached the waters off Cayman Brac Island, about 200 nautical miles to the south. It is moving northwest at a speed of 130, that is, it is moving north at a speed of about 60 knots. In addition, the wind speed in the sea area where the fleet was located at that time had already exceeded 30 knots, and the wind resistance of the "Essex" class aircraft carrier would not be much better than that of the "Lake" class, and under such circumstances, it was impossible for the carrier-based aircraft to rise smoothly.

At this point, Spruance also had to succumb to the forces of nature. The fleet is no longer able to avoid hurricanes. The nearest port is Cienfuegos in central Cuba. In desperation, Spruance had to order the fleet to move at full speed towards the port of Cienfuegos to escape the hurricane. As for the matter of fighting the Tang Imperial fleet, Spruance had long been thrown aside, after the wind speed exceeded 50 knots, not only could not let the carrier-based aircraft take off and land, but the bombers also dropped bombs, and even normal flight was dangerous, no one wanted to confront the most violent forces of nature, and the most rational choice was to avoid the wrath of nature.

As a matter of fact. At this time, Tan Renhao's fleet was also sailing southeast in the hurricane, and the sea area where it was located was about 240 southwest of Jamaica. It is 170 miles away from the Jamaican coastline, that is to say, the distance between Tan Renhao and Spruance at this time is only about 260 miles, and the closest time is not even more than 250 miles. This distance was completely within the search range of the reconnaissance planes, and it was also within the strike range of the bombers, but because both sides were affected by the hurricanes one after another, neither of them found their opponents, and there was no way to kill the other side.

The hurricane affected not only the fleet, but also the aviation of the US Army. In the early hours of the morning, weather stations on several islands in the United States detected abnormal changes in air pressure, and then weather reconnaissance planes detected hurricanes entering the Caribbean Sea. At about five o'clock in the morning, when the port of San Diego was being bombed, the U.S. Army Air Command ordered the heavy bomber units deployed in Cuba, as well as the tactical bomber units, to prepare to move to the airfield on the mainland to avoid being attacked by hurricanes. At that time, the port of San Diego was under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Navy, so the Army knew that it was half past five when it was bombed, and the Army did not order the take-off fighter jets to protect the port of San Diego.

By daybreak, most of the United States Army bombers deployed in Cuba had returned home or were taking off, and none of them were carrying ammunition. At about half past six, when the weather reconnaissance plane discovered that the hurricane had begun to move northward, it was very likely to pass over Cuba, and then most of Cuba would be affected by the hurricane, and even the fighters that had not retreated for the time being took off urgently to prepare to avoid the hurricane. In other words, when the 3rd Task Force and the 21st Task Force fought fiercely outside the port of San Diego, the US Army Aviation had already "retreated" first. 12dc7de

Chang Jianxin did not know the news of the arrival of the hurricane at that time, and later he found out that the wires of the long-distance radio station on the flagship used to communicate with the first task force and the rear base were interrupted by the enemy's small-caliber shells, so he never received the telegram from Tan Renhao and Lei Shaoqing, and the other warships were all fighting at that time, and no captain paid attention to receiving telegrams from other fleets. When Chang recommended the new person to repair the antenna and learned the news that the hurricane was approaching, he also suddenly understood, no wonder the US bombers never appeared! Sea Soul Volume 23 Springboard for Progress Section 84 Freemasonry