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

The slow boat was tossed in the wind and waves at a speed of ten knots per hour, and the searchlight on the [***] ship soon discovered the terrible conspiracy of such a small boat 500 meters away, so dozens of large and small searchlight pillars were like the tentacles of death firmly grasped the small steamer, and the huge snowy pillar of light made the whole body of the boat shine as if burning, 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. Amid the red light of the whistling cannonballs, the god of war abandoned the group of sneak attackers who regarded death at the last moment, despite the fact that the small steamer rushed left and right with its motors in an attempt to escape the fatal blow, and despite the fact that Noda Ichiro was forced into a desperate situation by fate and decided to put life and death on the line.

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. Ichiro Noda felt the hull of the ship shake violently under his feet, and the world shook as if an earthquake had occurred, and then the solid deck riveted with iron plates collapsed as if it had suddenly melted, and a scorching stream of heat rose before his eyes with a huge fireball. There was only a slight thump in his throat, and the captain, who had lived tenaciously on the stormy waters off the coast of Baben for more than 40 years, ceased to exist, and he split into another substance, a puff of smoke or a cloud of dust, 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 wave produced by the explosion shook the large and small medium [***] ships moored on the sea. Although the sneak attack of the death squad was unsuccessful, it still frightened the Chinese.

Since the Chinese [***] ships had already been alarmed and had taken precautions, when the two Yuben torpedo boats, which had come quietly under the cover of night, arrived at the battlefield, the light warships of the Chinese Navy were all on high alert and cruising around. After sighing, the captain ordered a torpedo to be fired at the Chinese light cruiser, 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 Zhong[***] ship. Both aircraft carriers and battleships sounded the emergency battle alarm, and the escort fleet returned fire in all directions.

The wrecked ship, which had become a turtle in an urn, launched a final suicidal attack on the Chinese fleet when the wind and waves were high in the dark night.

Knowing that the defeat was decided, he had to fight hard.

During the night of scuffle, the ship fired dozens of torpedoes in the dark, only a few of them hit the target, 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 in the entire night battle in which the navy sank a ship [***].

When the day came, the remnants of his own ships returned to the port with heavy scars, and the Chinese fleet counted the results of the night battle, and in addition to sinking and damaging more than 10 torpedo boats, it was also sunk a torpedo boat and several torpedo boats were wounded, including the aircraft carrier "Panlong" and the battleship "Chunqiu" also suffered several shells, and dozens of casualties were inflicted.

The enraged Chinese commander was determined to make all those who dared to sink his warships pay the price. 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 bomb the "little rats" who said they were to smithereens.

However, soon the reconnaissance plane sent a report that there was no movement in Nagasaki Port, and that there was no trace of his own ships, as if they had all flown away. This abnormal situation made the commanders of the Chinese fleet wonder for a long time, and then they sent frogmen to infiltrate the harbor to reconnoitre, and the truth of the matter was revealed: it turned out that the remnants of their small fleet knew that the end was coming, and all of them were unyielding to death and sank themselves in the harbor.

"It is said that I know each other, and I saved 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 the enemy and us, and sneered.

"I am indeed like you say, I will play with intrigues." 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 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." The chief of staff of Caolu pointed to the huge nautical chart on the chart table and said, "Our army consists of two super battleships, four battleships, six large aircraft carriers, 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 completing the combat deployment, Yamamoto Fifty-six's eyes 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." ”

Hearing that Rear Admiral Yamaguchi, a hardcore "aviation faction" who had complained a lot about the "Yamato"-class battleships, would pay unprecedented attention to the enemy's super battleships, Yamamoto Isoroku and several senior admirals of the Yamato Navy were all 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 battleships that are much more powerful than the enemy!" The chief of staff of Kusaka 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 Tashi was about to argue again, when Vice Admiral Nagumo Tadaichi suddenly said: "Time is pressing, we should not waste it, we should launch an attack on the Shina fleet 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.

As a matter of fact, his achievements in the development of aircraft carriers are not much worse than those of China and the United States. As early as November 1934, the construction of the "Canglong" aircraft carrier began. "Canglong" has a displacement of 28800 tons, 63 aircraft, and a speed of 34 knots. Although the London Naval Treaty was later signed, the restrictions of the Washington Treaty were relaxed, but he was not satisfied. Their theory was that as long as the next aircraft carrier was completed after the expiration of the treaty, it could not be said to be in default. It was said that Ben had no intention of renewing the contract, so the design of the successor ship "Tianlong" of the "Canglong" was greatly changed, and the displacement was larger.

When I built the other two aircraft carriers according to the 1937 Naval Enlargement Plan, the designers were able to design aircraft carriers of the required size according to the specified technical specifications for the first time, as they were no longer subject to any treaty restrictions.

The standard displacement of "Xianghe" and "Zuihe" is 35,675 tons, 82 aircraft each, and a speed of 34 knots. It is said that the plane is very light and does not need the help of external forces to take off, so it is not equipped with a catapult. 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.

"Xianghe" and "Zuihe" are a pair of proud sons of this aircraft carrier, and have become 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. A large "Zero" hydrophone or passive sonar was installed in the bow of the ship to detect enemy submarines. However, hydrophones can only work effectively 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 his own set of operating methods on the flight deck was different from that of 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 (known as the deck maintenance officer) used flashing lights 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 whether his landing direction is accurate, and the pilot must judge for himself. 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 with China and the United States, his equipment and intelligence work may be somewhat inferior, but their aircraft carrier tactics are still quite clever. He not only regarded each aircraft carrier as the core of the combat effectiveness of the task force (commanded by a commander with the rank of general), but also acted as a reading 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 admiral commanding the task force can do his or her own thing as the situation requires, provided that the entire battle plan is not disrupted. 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.

He knew that their industrial resources were simply not enough for the United States and China, so they hoped that the war would be resolved quickly. Therefore, he has also drawn up some emergency shipbuilding plans in advance, mainly to improve the shortage of aircraft carriers. Back in 1931, he designed a large submarine supply ship so that, if necessary, it could be quickly converted into an aircraft carrier. In 1934, he 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 "Longfeng" (displacement 13,360 tons, 31 aircraft), "Xiangfeng" and "Ruifeng" (displacement 11,262 tons, 30 aircraft) light aircraft carriers. The flight deck of the Dragon and Phoenix is too small, so it mostly operates 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 of this modification in the Navy, and the three 17,000-ton luxury mail ships "Nitta Maru", "Yawata Maru" and "Harutsumaru" were put into operation shortly after the war broke out. 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 "Harunsamaru" 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 it is said that I have 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 Rimhara Maru, began to be refitted. 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. This was the first aircraft carrier to mount a chimney on a superstructure, and the chimney protruded at a 26-degree angle (a typical configuration of a chimney on a ship) to keep the flight deck away from smoke and dust.

(To be continued)