But once again, the wind and waves helped the Chinese.

The slow-moving Japanese boat was tossed in the wind and waves at a speed of ten knots per hour, and the searchlight on the medium ** ship soon discovered the terrible conspiracy of such a small ship 500 meters away, so dozens of large and small searchlight pillars firmly grasped the small steamer like the tentacles of death, and the huge snow-bright pillar of light made the whole body of the boat shine like a burning Buddha, and every crack on the ship, every rivet and even every rust spot was reflected in the bright light.

Immediately after, the well-trained naval guns of the Chinese sounded.

The first round of artillery fire stopped a high wall of water in front of the small steamer, and the huge column of water from the cannon fire nearly overturned the boat. Soon, a dense network of fire woven by the second round of artillery fire firmly enveloped the boat. In the red light of the whistling cannonballs, despite the small steamer rushing left and right with its motors running to the left and right to try to escape the fatal blow, and despite the fact that Japan's Ichiro Noda was cornered by fate and determined to put life and death on the line, the god of war still abandoned this group of sneak attackers who regarded death as their home at the last moment.

A hot Chinese cannonball with a vicious smile sneered, stumbled loudly on the deck of the boat, and then jingled all the way into the cabin as if singing. Noda Ichiro felt the hull of the ship shake violently under his feet, and the world shook like an earthquake, and then the solid deck riveted with iron plates collapsed as if it had suddenly melted, and a scorching current of heat rose up in front of his eyes with a huge fireball. There was only a slight thump in his throat. The captain, who had lived tenaciously on the stormy waters off the coast of Japan for more than 40 years, no longer existed. He fissed into something else, a puff of smoke or a cloud of dust or something, and soon disappeared into the endless dark air......

A high column of water rose into the sky, and a huge explosion shook the night sky of Nagasaki, and the huge water waves generated by the explosion shook the large and small medium-sized ships moored on the sea. Although the sneak attack of the Japanese death squad was unsuccessful, it still took the Chinese by surprise.

Because the Chinese ** ships had already been alarmed and had taken precautions, when the two Japanese torpedo boats that had quietly come under the cover of night rushed to the battlefield, the light warships of the Chinese Navy were all on high alert and cruising around. The Japanese captain sighed and ordered torpedoes to be fired at the Chinese's light cruisers, damaging one enemy ship and then turning back.

In the middle of the night. A violent explosion woke up the sleeping Chu Yangwei, and he saw the cannonballs dragging the flames falling one after another, setting off a column of water around the middle ** ship. Both aircraft carriers and battleships sounded the emergency battle alarm, and the escort fleet returned fire in all directions.

It turned out that the Japanese wreckage that had become a turtle in an urn rode the night when the wind and waves were high. The last suicidal attack was launched on the Chinese fleet.

The Japanese, knowing that defeat was doomed, had to fight hard.

During the night of scuffle, dozens of torpedoes were fired by Japanese ships in the dark, of which only a few hit their targets, and most of them disappeared. In the night battle, only the Chinese destroyer "Xinliu" was unlucky, unfortunately hit by two torpedoes at the same time, caught fire and burned, and soon capsized and sank. This was the only glorious record of the Japanese Navy sinking the ** ship in the entire night battle.

By daybreak, the remnants of the Japanese ships had returned to the harbor with scars, and the Chinese fleet counted the results of the night battle, except for sinking and damaging more than a dozen Japanese torpedo boats. A torpedo boat was sunk and several torpedo boats were wounded, including the aircraft carrier "Panlong" and the battleship "Chunqiu" also suffered several shells, and dozens of casualties were killed.

Enraged, the Chinese commander was determined to make all the Japanese who dared to sink his warships pay. On the morning of the same day, all the carrier-based planes of the Chinese aircraft carriers took off and bombed the port and urban areas of Nagasaki indiscriminately, and the Chinese destroyers approached the port along the narrow waterway, and all the heavy guns raised their huge muzzles in unison, preparing to blow up the Japanese "little rats" to smithereens. …,

However, soon the reconnaissance plane sent a report that there was no movement in the port of Nagasaki. There was no trace of the Japanese ships, and all the Buddhas flew away. This abnormal situation made the commanders of the Chinese fleet wonder for a long time, and then sent frogmen to infiltrate the harbor to reconnoitre, and the truth of the matter was revealed: it turned out that the remnants of the Japanese fleet knew that the end was coming, and all of them were on the verge of death. He sank in the harbor.

"Count the Japanese acquaintance and save Lao Tzu bombs and shells." Chu Yangwei said stupidly after learning the news.

"Report! 2nd Detachment Report! Discover the enemy's main fleet! Two super battleships! Four large aircraft carriers! ”

"It's finally out!"

Chu Yangwei, who heard the report, didn't seem to be as excited as before. He came to the chart table, examined the positions of both friend and foe, and sneered.

"The Japanese do play tricks and tricks, as you say." Chu Yangwei turned his head to Chief of Staff Zhang Enming and said, "They want us to spend more strength in Nagasaki, and then take advantage of the weakening of our strength to have a decisive battle with us." ”

"It's still a copy of the 'tapering strategy'." Zhang Enming nodded, "We are equivalent to falling for them." But they don't know that the losses of our fleet are not large. ”

"I'm not going to let them do their bidding." Chu Yangwei's eyes roamed over the chart, and Zhang Enming knew that he already had an idea in his heart.

"I'll give them an unexpected surprise!" Chu Yangwei's finger pressed on a position on the chart and said viciously.

On the bridge of the battleship Yamato, the general flagship of the Japanese Combined Fleet, a pre-war meeting was going on intensely.

"At present, it has been ascertained that the main force of the Chinese fleet is one super battleship, two battleships, four large aircraft carriers, six light aircraft carriers, four heavy cruisers, twelve light cruisers, and several destroyer submarines." Chief of Staff Caolu pointed to the huge chart on the chart table and said, "Our army has two super battleships, four battleships, six large aircraft carriers, and eight light aircraft carriers. Six heavy cruisers. Ten light cruisers and twenty-two destroyers. ”

"According to reliable information, the China fleet is currently scattered, and two large aircraft carriers and its direct escort ships form two separate subfleets, which are located on the two flanks of its main fleet, so that although the defenders of Nagasaki Port have suffered huge losses and our army has also lost one light aircraft carrier, the enemy's current distribution is currently favorable to our army's actions."

"This battle will still be a decisive battle between aircraft carriers, and our primary target will still be the enemy's aircraft carrier."

After the operational deployment was done. Yamamoto Fifty-six's gaze scanned the generals, as if waiting for everyone to ask questions.

"The enemy's super-battleships will be a great threat to us." Rear Admiral Tabun Yamaguchi suddenly said, "Since our army's aviation is stronger than the enemy, this warship should also be listed as the primary target." ”

Rear Admiral Yamaguchi, who had heard of the hardcore "aviation faction" and who had complained about the "Yamato"-class battleships, would attach unprecedented importance to the enemy's super battleships. Yamamoto Isoroku and several senior Japanese naval officers all looked surprised.

"Tell me your reasons, Yamaguchi-kun." Yamamoto said.

"The Battle of Truk has shown that the ship is not only powerful in firepower, but also extremely capable of protection, and in that battle, the warship was hit with multiple bombs and torpedoes, but it did not lose its combat effectiveness in the slightest, and was quickly repaired and reappeared on the battlefield. If our aircraft carrier encounters it, it will be a great disaster. Rear Admiral Tawen Yamaguchi said.

"But, Yamaguchi-kun. Don't forget, we also have two super ships that are much more powerful than the enemy! The chief of staff of Caolu said, "Our 'Yamato' main gun is much larger than the 'Fuxi' of the Chinese people. ”…,

"The fact that the caliber of the main gun is larger than that of an enemy ship does not necessarily mean that it will be able to sink an enemy ship." Rear Admiral Tabun Yamaguchi said, "The German 'Großdeutschland', with its main gun caliber of 800 mm, was not able to sink the British battleship 'Lion'. ”

"If the 'Großdeutschland' had a higher gun hit rate, it would have been able to sink the 'Lion'." Takeji Ohno, the captain of the battleship "Yamato", said on the side.

Rear Admiral Yamaguchi was about to argue again, when Vice Admiral Nagumo Tadaichi suddenly said, "Time is pressing, so let's not waste it." An attack on the Chinese fleet should be launched as soon as possible! ”

Yamamoto Fifty-six nodded and said, "Then so be it!" Let's get started! ”

When Yamaguchi returned to his flagship, the Soryu, the Komankatsu was already lined up with fighters ready to take off.

Looking at the high-spirited fighters and the aircraft carriers in the distance, a sense of pride arises spontaneously.

In fact, the achievements of the Japanese in the development of aircraft carriers. Not much worse than China and the United States. As early as November 1934, Japan began construction of the aircraft carrier "Soryu". "Canglong" has a displacement of 28800 tons. 63 aircraft were carried at a speed of 34 knots. Although the London Naval Treaty, which was later signed, relaxed the restrictions of the Washington Treaty, the Japanese were not satisfied. Their theory was that as long as Japan's next aircraft carrier was completed after the expiration of the treaty, Japan could not be said to be in default. Japan had no intention of renewing the contract, so the design of the successor ship "Tenryu" to the "Soryu" was greatly changed, and the displacement was larger.

When the Japanese built two other aircraft carriers under the 1937 Naval Expansion Plan, the designers were able to design aircraft carriers of the required size according to the specified technical specifications for the first time, and since they were no longer bound by any treaty restrictions.

The standard displacement of "Xianghe" and "Zuihe" is 35,675 tons, 82 aircraft each, and a speed of 34 knots. The Japanese aircraft were particularly light and did not need external help to take off, so they were not equipped with catapults. Both ships are equipped with 11 sets of arresting cables, 3 groups in the bow and 8 groups in the stern, with two hangars and three elevators; The front one is on the centerline, and the other two are on the port side (asymmetrical). At first, it was planned to arrange the chimneys on both sides, but in order to learn from the experience of the "Tenryu", the design was re-examined, and finally two curved chimneys and a small superstructure were installed on the starboard side.

"Shozuru" and "Zuizuru" were a pair of proud Japanese aircraft carriers, and became the basis for the design of some other aircraft carriers. Like the light aircraft carrier "Longxiang", their freeboard is very high, and the waves cannot reach the flight deck when sailing in the wind and waves. The bow of the ship is equipped with a large "Zero" hydrophone or passive sonar. It is used to detect enemy submarines. But. Hydrophones can work effectively only when a warship is sailing at low speeds. The ship's defensive armament was strong, with eight Type 89 twin 127-mm 40-caliber anti-aircraft guns and 12 triple 25-mm guns.

At this time, the fighters on the deck began to take off one after another, and the Japanese had a different set of operations on the flight deck than the United States and Britain. The flight commander and two other officers were in charge of command on the bridge. An officer directs the movement of the aircraft, such as a taxi, on the flight deck. The take-off procedure is simple: the flight commander or his assistant raises a small white flag, which is the signal to the pilot; Take off every 20 seconds, no more orders; If the pilot commander intends to finish the take-off operation, he lowers the little white flag. The aircraft that needs to land should make a reverse landing course flight about 400 to 600 meters away from the aircraft carrier, indicating that it wants to land. After the flight deck was ready, the deck flight officer (called the deck maintenance officer in Japanese) used a flash to notify the plane to land. The pilot, closest to the superstructure, landed from a height of 800 meters at a distance of about 200 meters from the aircraft carrier. There are no signals on the flight deck to help the pilot determine if he is landing in the right direction. Pilots have to judge for themselves. At the forehead of the flight deck there is a steam nozzle that shows the direction of the wind on the deck with the flow of steam; There is a row of lights in the center and edge of the flight deck to mark the height of the flight deck. …,

Compared to China and the United States, the equipment and intelligence work of the Japanese may be somewhat inferior. But their aircraft carrier tactics are quite clever. The Japanese not only saw each aircraft carrier as the core of the combat power of the task force (commanded by a commander with the rank of general), but also operated each aircraft carrier as an independent unit. That is to say, while the support ships provide the most effective air defense support for the aircraft carriers, the aircraft carriers themselves should play the greatest role in air defense and anti-submarine in the first place, and between the aircraft carriers, fighter patrols and bomber air strikes can be coordinated and arranged, and the forces of the two aircraft carriers can attack one target at the same time and double the blow to the enemy. The code of conduct of Chinese and American aircraft carriers is that each general commanding the task force will take charge of the task force as the situation requires, provided that the entire battle plan is not disrupted. You can do it yourself. However, in practice, this approach often leads to a mismatch in tactics and increases the burden on alert ships; Each aircraft carrier should send its own fighter jets to patrol and escort the attack force; Surface ships have to undertake both anti-aircraft and anti-submarine tasks.

At this time, aircraft on light aircraft carriers also took off.

The Japanese knew that their industrial resources were simply not enough for the United States and China, so they wanted a quick end to the war. Therefore, the Japanese also formulated some emergency shipbuilding plans in advance, mainly to improve the shortage of aircraft carriers. Back in 1931, the Japanese designed a large submarine supply ship. So that if necessary, it can be quickly converted into an aircraft carrier. In 1934, Japan designed two more fast refueling ships. The main feature of the structure of these ships is the possibility of installing flight decks and armaments if necessary. As a result, from 1940 to 1941, the "Big Whale", "Kenzaki" and "Takasaki" (all converted into the "Dragon Phoenix" (displacement 13360 tons. 31 aircraft), "Xiangfeng" and "Ruifeng" (displacement 11,262 tons, 30 aircraft) light aircraft carriers. The flight deck of the "Dragon Phoenix" is too small. Therefore, most of them are active offshore. The "Xiangfeng" and "Ruifeng" had a wide flight deck and became effective combat ships in the fleet. These light aircraft carriers are also quite active in combat. Like the "Ruifeng", it participated in many battles and was sunk in the Battle of Ceylon.

There are many similar aircraft carriers in the Japanese Navy, and the Nippon Yusen Shipping Company has three 17,000-ton luxury mail ships "Nitta Maru", "Yawata Maru" and "Kasuga Maru", which were put into operation shortly after the outbreak of war. Due to the disruption of normal shipping routes to Europe, the three mail ships were requisitioned by the Navy for conversion into aircraft carriers. The Kasuga Maru was refurbished at the Sasebo Naval Yard and completed in September 1940. In 1940, the "Nitta Maru" and "Hachiman Maru" were also refitted, which lasted about six months. The three light aircraft carriers, renamed "Big Eagle", "Chong Eagle" and "Cloud Eagle", with a speed of 21 knots and 30 aircraft, were in service as second-line ships or auxiliary aircraft carriers. If the Japanese once formulated some kind of escort policy, these three ships can be said to be the first batch of escort aircraft carriers. Equipped with arresting devices and catapults, the "Great Eagle", "Rushing Eagle" and "Cloud Eagle" were able to operate in conjunction with the Combined Fleet, and their main tasks were initially limited to transporting aircraft and training pilots, but in exceptional circumstances they could also take part in combat. In addition, in October 1940, two larger 27,000-ton mail ships, the Izumo Maru and the Abara Maru, of the Nippon Yuk Shipping Company, began refitting. The two ships were launched in June 1941 and put into active service in the summer of 1942 under the names "Flying Eagle" and "Hayabusa", with a displacement of 24,140 tons and 53 aircraft. It was one of the first Japanese aircraft carriers to have a chimney mounted on a superstructure, and the chimney protruded at a 26-degree angle (a typical configuration for a Japanese aircraft carrier's chimney) to keep the flight deck safe from smoke and dust. (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to (.) to vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support is my biggest motivation. )