Having lost several aircraft carriers in the Battle of Pearl Harbor, he quickly rearranged the aircraft carrier construction program. In addition, the plan for the construction of 2 aircraft carriers of the "Taiho" class was changed to 5. The British-built "Brilliant" class aircraft carriers had a certain influence on the design of the "Dafeng" class aircraft carriers, and in addition to being equipped with an armored flight deck, their main surnames were similar to those of the "Xianghe" class. Due to the adoption of an armored flight deck, the new aircraft carrier was reduced by one hangar. The displacement was limited to 29300 tons, therefore, the ship could only carry 53 aircraft and spare parts for 21 aircraft at a speed of 33 knots. In addition to the chimney protruding at a 26-degree angle, the bow and chimney are closed, similar to the British Tejour-class aircraft carriers. The German luxury mail ship "Scharnhorst" had been stationed in Kobe since September 1939, and it was refitted according to the design drawings of the "Taiho" class aircraft carrier, named "Condor", and commissioned in December 1943. He also refitted two smaller mail ships, the Argentine Maru and the Brazilian Maru. The Argentine Maru was refitted and completed in November 1943 and named the Sea Eagle, and its sister ship was sunk by the Chinese Navy as an aircraft transport ship. Beginning in late 1942, he also succeeded in converting the seaplane carriers "Chiyoda" and "Chitose" into aircraft carriers.

In addition to the addition of several "Dafeng"-class aircraft carriers, he has also taken many other measures to enhance the strength of aircraft carriers. However, he was still a step late in tapping the industrial potential to build aircraft carriers, and the large number of aircraft carriers built and modified made the shipyard particularly tight, but the shortage of pilots was more serious than that of the shipyard. In the early days of the war, both the pilots on aircraft carriers and the pilots of shore-based air forces were excellently trained first-class pilots. They had studied flight techniques, flight theory, and aircraft design, and a few pilots had been flight officers before the war. They start training at the age of 14. After a rigorous selection process, the selected candidates undergo 8 months of extensive training and approximately 100 hours of flying. Flight officers are trained more rigorously, with a training duration of 10 months and 150 to 175 hours of flight during the training period. They have higher flying skills than the average naval pilot.

But the disadvantage of such rigorous training is that only about 100 pilots can be trained each year. From the beginning of training to the time of service on an aircraft carrier, each pilot is trained for up to five years. Due to the heavy losses of naval pilots in 1942, the teaching department drastically reduced the content of the training syllabus, and the technical level of naval pilots was weakened from then on. At the same time, reserve officers were also recruited for training, and the physical standards for naval pilots were lowered, which meant that many trainees did not meet the physical requirements.

The pilots lost in the naval battles with the Chinese and American navies were replenished by the graduates of the training air corps. By April 1943, in order to replenish the 11th Air Fleet (shore-based air force), which had suffered heavy losses, a large number of carrier-based aircraft and pilots were withdrawn from the ship. The losses of the pilots were constantly increasing, and by this time the pilots were already feeling seriously inadequate. He began to shorten the mid-term training of the flight cadets by 10 hours, and then shortened the initial training time and the training time. Trained pilots are sent directly to combat units, where they undergo short-term pre-war transitional training and tactical training. Most of these inexperienced pilots are short-lived. In addition, there is a shortage of qualified flight instructors to instruct flight cadets on how to transition from standard biplane trainers to fast Zero fighters and large Gale fighters. Many flight cadets have died in crashes during training. In the second half of 1943, the rate of accident losses from fighter training more than doubled. A naval staff officer who was concerned about the current training methods decided to switch to the old training methods, resulting in a higher rate of accident losses.

Now it turns out that the new aircraft carriers are in service with pilots who do not have much combat experience.

And now, it can be said that the naval aviation of this country is in full swing.

As an experienced admiral of the "aviation faction", Yamaguchi only knew that he hoped to win a decisive victory in this decisive battle with the main force of the Chinese Navy, and this victory would completely change the entire situation of the war. But he did not think about how many valuable and excellent pilots would be lost in this battle, and these pilots were the key to determining the victory or defeat of the war.

"Enemy reconnaissance aircraft spotted!"

Hearing the shouts of the lookout, Yamaguchi looked up at the sky, and sure enough, he saw a Chinese reconnaissance plane hurriedly hiding in the clouds.

Thinking of those large aircraft carriers in the Chinese fleet, Yamaguchi's heart couldn't help but tighten.

"They are directly south of us and have already found four large aircraft carriers."

At this time, in the commander tower of the battleship "Fuxi", Chu Yangwei carefully examined the charts. According to the reconnaissance plane's report, the mapping officer quickly marked the location and number of the fleet on the chart.

"Yay. So if we retreat southwest, they can just follow them. ”

Despite the fact that the enemy was at present and the report of the reconnaissance plane had already indicated that the strength of the enemy's fleet was surpassing his own, Chu Yangwei did not show any nervousness at all, and his words were filled with inexplicable excitement.

"Southwest?" Zhang Enming asked in some surprise, "Aren't we going back to Shanghai?" ”

According to the current position of the Chinese main fleet, the preferred route for retreat is to go west, straight to Shanghai, which is the nearest distance.

"Who told you we were going back to Shanghai?" Chu Yangwei looked at his chief of staff and smiled, "We're going to Taiwan." ”

"To Taiwan? Do? Zhang Enming looked at Chu Yangwei with wide eyes, "Why do you want to go far?" ”

"Go directly to Shanghai, I'm afraid that I won't dare to follow, let's go a little farther, so as to give them a chance to catch up!" Chu Yangwei said with a smile, "In this way, our land-based bombers will be useful." ”

Hearing this, Zhang Enming suddenly understood.

"You're trying to lure the enemy deeper into ......"

"Otherwise, why did Lao Tzu spend so many days with them in Nagasaki?" Chu Yangwei said with a smile.

"That is, the naval command has a plan for a long time?" Zhang Enming smiled bitterly and said, "You actually hide it from me......

"Recently, the spies of Ben and the Soviet Union have been so rampant that only a few people in the Supreme Command and a few of us have known the full content of this plan."

"It's okay, secrecy is what it should be. Besides, it's not too late for me to know. Zhang Enming said, "What are you going to do now?" ”

"It's good to withdraw while fighting." Chu Yang looked at the aircraft carriers on the sea outside the window, and said, "Since they are here, how can they not entertain them well?" ”

Zhang Enming looked up at the clock on the wall, and the time on it was 10:28 on November 1, 1943.

Soon, the four large aircraft carriers "Yinglong," "Panlong," "Qiulong," and "Lanlong," which had received combat orders, began to turn to the windward direction, and one after another fighter planes lined up on the decks began to take off.

Colonel Wu Letian, commander of the escort fighter squadron, could not suppress his excitement as he looked at the hundreds of combat planes circling and gathering over the fleet.

Wu Letian was born in a wealthy businessman family, his father Wu Jie once served as the general manager of the famous "Renhe Group", and was a close friend and close friend of Finance Minister Yang Shuoming, although his father was a businessman, but he had different feelings for the military and others, his mother Zhao Xia once mentioned to him his father's experience before going to "Renhe", whenever his mother talked about the scene when his father personally piloted the plane and took her to the sky for a ride, his face would always glow with a different look.

His parents' preferences inevitably affected Wu Letian's growth process, he loved flying at a very young age, and when he grew up, he applied for aviation school without hesitation, and joined the naval aviation after graduation.

It can be said that the methods of training pilots in China and Ben are completely different. China has used the method of recruitment to train a first-class contingent of naval pilots. Naval aviation is recruited in a wide range of areas, with a large number of educated people volunteering to participate, which makes it possible to select physically and intellectually qualified personnel without difficulty. In addition to the large number of flight schools established in China, there are also a large number of aviation flight groups in the private sector. Since a large number of Chinese people have received flight training, recruiting pilots is not a problem at all for the Chinese Air Force and the Navy and Army Air Force.

In the wake of the war, the number of cadets in China increased at an incredible rate. Since many of them have considerable flight experience, there were no major accidents during the training, and the quality of the trainees all met the requirements of the military. For example, the training model for pilots of the Chinese Naval Aviation is that 122 flight schools provide cadets with a three-month basic training to learn basic flying knowledge, followed by three months of nautical training, including drills and theoretical studies. Subsequently, the cadets were assigned to 86 junior aviation schools for flight training, and if they passed the training (the elimination rate was only 8%), they were sent to the military flight training center for intermediate flight training. At this stage, young cadets have the opportunity to board carrier-based aircraft, such as patrol bombers or reconnaissance aircraft. Each training centre has six auxiliary training stations, each with its own satellite airport.

Training is carried out at a well-equipped base. After two months of training, pilots who will serve on aircraft carriers go to specialized training bases for flight deck landing training. The Chinese Navy conducts such training with two non-staffed aircraft carriers. The two training aircraft carriers, one named "Zheng He" and the other "Shi Lang," were originally large mail ships for ocean-going voyages. Cadets who come aboard the aircraft are required to take a test on these training aircraft carriers to obtain the qualification for aircraft carrier landing (referred to as the aircraft carrier qualification). Each student must have between 360 and 450 hours of flight time. The practical effectiveness of this training system depends on the high level of instructors. Starting with basic training, it is taught by experienced aircraft carrier pilots, and training is usually conducted by people who have experience in combat flights.

Qualified flight cadets are assigned to a shore-based flight squadron, and within about six months, this shore-based flight squadron will be formed into an aircraft carrier flight group together with other flight squadrons. As soon as the flight group is formed, it is sent to the aircraft carrier, or the aircraft carrier receives the aircraft of those pilots who have already completed the flight mission. In the former case, the pilot has enough time to acclimatize to the ship's environment and gain experience in taking off from an aircraft carrier. In the latter case, the pilot has to go into battle a day or two after he gets on board.

There will be all kinds of troubles in the process of training pilots, but the Chinese Navy attaches great importance to protecting the lives of pilots. In order to rescue pilots in distress, submarines, seaplanes, and surface ships often have to take on the task of "aircraft guard posts" at great risk. This practice is diametrically opposed to the reckless and ruthless behavior of the naval commander who did not care for the life or death of the pilots.

When the curtain of war was just opened in Asia, the number of pilots in the Chinese [***] team was still very limited. But now, both the number of aircraft and the number of pilots far exceed the actual needs of active aircraft carriers.

After the attack aircraft group was assembled, it rushed towards the enemy fleet.

"Little devils! Here we are! ”

"Get ready! Lao Tzu wants to send you to the West Heaven! ”

"It's a fucking boat and a fixed target these days, I'm tired of it, I can have a good time this time!"

Listening to the "wolf howl" in the microphone, Wu Lotian couldn't help grinning.

Unlike the Chinese Air Force, which is heavily influenced by the West and full of chivalry, the Chinese naval aviation is known as the "sea bandits". The rules and style of the Air Force's civil and polite manners are not seen in the HNA at all.

Wu Letian ignored the shouts of his comrades-in-arms because of excitement before the battle, but quietly watched the surrounding scenery.

At this time, the sky was blue, the clouds were very thick, and at this time, hundreds of Chinese fighters painted with the military emblem of the word "man" and various colors of paint were shining through the clouds under the golden sunlight, constituting an extremely magnificent scene.

But the weather at sea changed as it was said, and it was not long before a strong sea breeze blew the low cumulonimbus clouds over the sea, and the sky was soon overcast. At this time, at an altitude of about 100 meters, two groups of twin-engine bombers in a dense formation of five planes rumbled eastward between the waves and the cloud base. The markings on the fuselage and wings of these aircraft are not readable.

It was not Chinese planes that flew in, but 10 light bombers of the Army Air Corps. This should be their first assault.

Wu Letian resisted the urge to fly over and knock down these clumsy bombers, knowing that his mission was to escort the enemy and let the dive bombers and torpedo attack planes blow up the enemy's aircraft carriers.

Compared with the enemy's aircraft carriers, these "flying coffins" are really not worth mentioning.

As the clouds piled up, the sky became darker and the visibility decreased.

Wu Letian knew that the only way to succeed in such weather was to carry out low-altitude attacks. The Javelin attack aircraft were loaded with armor-piercing bombs, which were effective only when dropped from a high altitude.

The best pilots took part in this sortie. At this time, Second Lieutenant Zhang Yongde flew at the front of the formation and kept flying eastward. Before setting off, they had calculated the time to change course, and when the time came, they calmly changed course.

"That should be the location of the enemy's fleet!" Second Lieutenant Zhang Yongde said in the microphone.

However, there is almost nothing to be seen below. At this time, the attack aircraft group was flying forward. Wu Letian stared at the sea with wide eyes, and suddenly, the shadow of a warship appeared on the surface of the sea like a ghost, but immediately disappeared into the mist.

"What a fucking annoying weather!" Some pilots cursed.

"Shut up! Don't scold the heavens and the earth! Someone laughed.

"Yes! Maybe the weather will improve in a while! Someone said.

As if to fulfill this sentence, just a few minutes later, the weather suddenly improved, and the cloud base rose to about 160 meters. At this time, Wu Fatian noticed that a large ship appeared in front of him.

"What is this? Is it my merchant ship? Someone asked.

"You kid stuff donkey hair in your eyes?! That's an aircraft carrier, okay! ”

"That's right! That's right, that's the little devil's 'Chiyoda' aircraft carrier! ”

The attack formation at the forefront was immediately disbanded, and the first three "Javelin" carrier-based attack planes formed a column, keeping a small interval in between, and launched a direct attack on the aircraft carrier. Aircraft No. 4 and No. 5 burrowed into the clouds, concealed on both sides, and attacked the "Chiyoda" from the left and right, respectively, and their task was to contain the enemy's anti-aircraft artillery fire. The purpose of their tactics is to distract the enemy's firepower and make them lose sight of one or the other, and they do not know which one to fight first.

Soon, a shrill siren sounded on the warship.

Wu Lotian could see that the people on board the "Chiyoda" were quickly like wasps that had blown up their nests, and they suddenly became confused, and they seemed to have discovered the intentions of the Chinese plane. Before the anti-aircraft guns on the warship could fire, the Chinese pilots dropped the first batch of bombs.

Wu Letian clearly felt that the mast of the warship seemed to be touching it with his hand, and the two bombshells dropped by the first plane flew obliquely through the mast and accurately hit the target, one fell on the rear deck, and the other exploded after jumping on the deck.

The anti-aircraft guns finally roared and clung to the flying "Javelin" attack plane.

This was followed by a second plane, in exactly the same way as the first. A bomb fell a few meters from the side of the ship, stirring up a high column of water. This is particularly dangerous, because if the bomb is equipped with a deferred fuse, it will act like a mine and cause serious damage below the waterline.