While the 12 Japanese aircraft carriers began to assemble in Rabaul Harbor, the six aircraft carriers of the US Pacific Fleet were also concentrated in San Diego, among which the USS Saratoga and USS Enterprise entered the dock and were undergoing routine maintenance, while also being retrofitted with the MK-1 twin-mounted water-cooled 40mm anti-aircraft gun, which was an American copycat version of the famous Bofors anti-aircraft gun. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoFrom the second half of '42, this anti-aircraft gun was massively installed on the combat ships of the US Navy.

In addition to the MK-1 twin-mounted water-cooled 40mm anti-aircraft gun, a secret weapon called the "proximity fuse" has also appeared on the ships of the US Navy.

The "proximity fuse" is the size of a draught beer cup and has five tubular radio transmitters on its head, which constantly transmit and receive radio signals. When it flies to about 21 meters away from the target, the electric **** detonates the main ****, and the shell will explode. That is, the anti-aircraft shells of the Americans did not have to hit the Japanese planes, they could blow up when they got close!

However, due to the size of the "proximity fuse", small and medium-caliber anti-aircraft guns such as 40mm and 20mm are not used. The current radio proximity fuses are used for 127mm anti-aircraft guns.

"Admiral, the people at the Navy Yard told me that the Saratoga and Enterprise will be undocked on Saturday, and I want to leave next Monday."

"Brute Bull" Halsey had just returned to the Pacific Fleet Command from the Navy yard in San Diego, and as soon as he saw Admiral Nimitz, he immediately offered to lead the fleet to attack.

"Sortie?" Nimitz looked up at Halsey, who had rushed over. "Where?"

"South Pacific, of course!" Halsey said, "Commander, you won't fail to read the latest war briefing, will you?" The Japanese fleet was concentrating on Rabaul, and their planes were dropping bombs on Port Moresby. This means that they will soon attack Port Moresby! ”

"William, we know that the Japanese are about to attack Port Moresby, and we know that they are preparing to attack Australia." Vice Admiral Spruance, chief of staff of the Pacific Fleet, who was sitting in Nimitz's office, interjected, "The commander and I are working on countermeasures. ”

"What else is being studied? We can't afford to lose Australia! "That's a continent of more than 7 million square kilometers." If the Japanese devils want to get Australia, sooner or later it will become a powerful country like our United States. ”

Don't look at the fierce shouting he is now, but in the past few months, the fleet under his command has never been impulsive when it comes to escort missions. No matter what kind of bait the Japanese set, he resolutely refused to take the bait. Honestly carry out escort missions and walk around the Japanese devils - this guy is a, and whoever wants to believe his words must be a big fool.

"Well, of course we can't afford to lose Australia, that's for sure!" Admiral Nimitz nodded and said, "William, since you're here, let's discuss it together." ”

Halsey nodded, pulled a chair and sat down at Nimitz's desk. Nimitz picked up the coffee pot and poured Halsey a cup of fragrant coffee.

"Admiral," Halsey took a sip from his coffee cup, then analyzed, "we have six motherships now, and the Independence will arrive in a few days." That is 7 fleet aircraft carriers, although it is less than the 10-12 that the Japanese can use, but our aircraft carriers can carry more carrier-based aircraft, so they may not suffer a loss in a fight.

In addition, we have deployed a number of shore-based aircraft in Australia, including the P40 and P38, which are large enough to counter the Japanese Zero fighters. Moreover, the P40 also has a certain ability to attack the ground and sea, allowing them to participate in air strikes against the Japanese fleet if necessary. ”

It turned out that Halsey had been thinking about how to counteract the superiority of Japan's aircraft carriers and carrier-based aircraft, and he had found a way. It is to resist the sea by land, and make full use of the P38 and P40 deployed in Australia to fight against the Japanese Zero.

As for the P51, which worries Yamamoto Isoroku, it is not available in the Pacific theater now, and this kind of aircraft is now fighting the Fokker Zero in the European theater.

In addition, the F6F and F4U, which have defeated the Zero Air Superiority in history, are now just coming out. The F6F is still in its final test flights, and the F4U is just entering the naval aviation trial - but the aircraft is being complained about by pilots on the USS Independence because of its poor landing performance (similar to the FW-190T).

"William, you have a good idea." Nimitz listened to Halsey's suggestion, smiled and said, "But we still have an army in the United States, and they also have a responsibility to defend Australia, right?" Why do we put all our burdens on ourselves? I remember that in January-September of this year, we had already transported 9 divisions to Australia. ”

"Yes, of course I do." "They are the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Marine Divisions, the 6th, 7th, 24th, and 25th Infantry Divisions, the 11th Airborne Division, and the 82nd Airborne Division," Halsey said. It took us 9 months to get them to Australia, and we didn't have time to fight the Japanese. ”

"But the President of the United States believes that nine American divisions are not enough to ensure that Australia is not occupied by the Japanese Army......," Nimitz shrugged, "and the Japanese Army is very strong!" So, the president ordered more troops to be sent to Australia. ”

"More Army?"

"The Army's 1st and 4th Armored Divisions will be shipped to Australia in the near future."

"Transporting 2 divisions at once?" Halsey frowned, "There is also 1 armored division among them, how many ships do you need?" ”

Spruance added: "Add 250 A-36 Apache dive bombers and 100 P51B fighters. ”

Halsey had not heard of the Apache dive bomber, so he asked, "A-36 Apache?" What kind of plane is this? ”

"It's a P-51 converted dive bomber," Spruance said, "and it was supposed to be used in Ireland, and now half of it is being shipped to Australia." ”

"Add these 350 planes, the strength of 3 divisions, and 9 divisions and hundreds of ......planes already in Australia," Halsimer calculated, "the ground force is almost 200,000, and there are thousands of planes." ”

"Not only," Nimitz said, "but also the Anzacs!" There were also two or three hundred thousand people, more than a thousand aircraft of all kinds, and a small fleet. He paused and smiled coldly, "Aren't the Japanese going to fight Australia?" Let them fight, and when they hit Brisbane and Sydney, we will be able to come to the rescue. ”

"So what are we going to do before this?" Halsey asked.

Nimitz stretched out two fingers and replied, "The first is the escort; The second is the breaking of diplomatic relations. Four large aircraft carriers serve as the nucleus of the escort formation, escorting the FS06 (from San Francisco to Sydney) fleet to Sydney. The Raider and the Wasp do the same job as the Independence. William, you continue to be in charge of escorting, and the three detachments are under the command of Colonel Mitchell, Major General O'Brifitch, and Major General Kinkaid. ”

In a few words, Nimitz assigned the task, and then looked at Halsey's brute face.

"Okay," Halsey nodded, "then I'll make another trip to Australia." He thought for a moment and said, "This time, the Japanese may enter the Coral Sea to intercept FS06...... Their fleet in Rabaul was huge. ”

Nimitz shrugged and said, "Raymond (Spruance) and I are working on this, but unfortunately we haven't thought of anything good yet...... If the three detachments we sent could not divert the Japanese fleet away from Rabaul, we would probably have to fight to the death. ”

The Japanese fleet could intercept the FS06 flotilla escorted by Halsey by going south a thousand or several hundred nautical miles from Rabaul. If the Japanese detect the FS06 flotilla, it is quite possible to send Rabaul's fleet to the Coral Sea to intercept it.

At that time, Halsey was escorting a large number of merchant ships and tens of thousands of American troops, and it was impossible to slip away at all, so he could only fight with the Japanese fleet.

……

On the second day of Halsey's acceptance of a very dangerous, but very important, escort mission. The USS Independence and the light cruiser USS Cleveland, which had sailed all the way from New York, finally arrived in San Diego, and the commander of the formation, Colonel Mitchell, who was also the captain of the USS Independence, disembarked and rushed directly to Nimitz's headquarters - he was looking for Nimitz for the F4U on the Independence. The landing performance of these aircraft was a bit poor, and the training carried out during the voyage was fraught with danger.

"F4U doesn't work well?" Nimitz frowned, the F4U is the latest model of aircraft, and if it is not easy to use, then the next battle will be difficult.

"It's not bad, it's that it's hard to land on an aircraft carrier...... I think it's a shore-based aircraft with very good performance. ”

"Kikiki?" Nimitz shook his head, "But your people have all passed the test of piloting the F4U on the ship, which means that they can handle it." So I can't agree to a change of plane, and the situation is so urgent that we can't afford to delay. ”

"Urgent? Going to war? Colonel Mitchell hurriedly asked, "Is it a counterattack on Hawaii?" ”

"No, it's not, it's broken belligerents."

"Broken relationship?" Mitchell was a little disappointed, "With a submarine? ”

"Not just submarines, but aircraft carriers!" "That's what brought you to the Pacific," Nimitz said...... Your USS Independence and USS Cleveland will form a broken formation and head to the Pacific Ocean to deal with Japanese merchant ships. (To be continued.) )