Ito's judgment was accurate, the main force of the U.S. Pacific Fleet now formed an unprecedentedly large Task Force 58, and was slowly sailing on the way to Christmas Island. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

The commander of the fleet was not Halsey, but Raymond, an old friend of Ito when he was a military attaché in the United States. Ames. Admiral Spruance.

At this time and space, the situation in the Atlantic Ocean was much more severe, so Halsey was left in the Atlantic Fleet, commanding the main forces of the Atlantic Fleet in circles at sea and Europeans in the name of the commander of the 3rd Fleet.

The burden of leading the charge in the Pacific fell on Spruance's shoulders, and this time the march to Christmas Island was planned by him and Nimitz, the commander of the Pacific Fleet.

In order to ensure victory, Task Force 58 not only gathered most of the combat ships that originally belonged to the Pacific Fleet, but also transferred four Essex-class aircraft carriers, two Iowa-class battleships, seven old battleships, and hundreds of other ships of various types from the Atlantic Fleet. It can be said that most of the essence of the US Navy is concentrated!

Among them, the most powerful strike force is an unimaginably powerful aircraft carrier battle group composed of 4 Essex-class aircraft carriers, 2 Yorktown-class aircraft carriers, 5 Independence-class aircraft carriers, 17 Borg-class aircraft carriers, and 13 Casablanca-class aircraft carriers!

A total of 41 aircraft carriers! The number of standing carrier-based aircraft is as high as 1,364!

To protect these 41 aircraft carriers, Admiral Spruance also had 10 battleships, 37 cruisers, and 165 destroyers under his command.

All of these warships, including aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers, and destroyers, were converted to enhanced anti-aircraft defense, and were equipped with numerous 127mm anti-aircraft guns (capable of firing radio proximity fuses), 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns, and 20mm Erikon anti-aircraft guns.

In addition to the front-line combat ships used in naval warfare, Spruance's Task Force 58 also had a staggering number of transports, tankers, landing ships, hospital ships, laying ships (mine-laying), minesweepers, various fire support ships (converted from landing ships), and seaplane carriers, a total of 151 ships!

If you count these ships, the fleet commanded by Spruance has a total of 404 ships of various types, covering almost the entire ocean.

If you want to use one word to describe this kind of fleet, it is undoubtedly "Hao", and in two words, it is "local tyrant".

Standing on the bridge of the battleship "Iowa", the flagship of the 58th Task Force, Spruance looked at the scene on the sea, but his face was quite solemn. Although there were large and small ships as far as the eye could see, and he couldn't see the edge at all, he still felt that the power in his hands was a little weak!

There are less than 50 aircraft carriers, only 10 battleships, carrier-based aircraft (aircraft carriers) are not even full of 1,500, and the total number of ships is less than 500......

"Woo woo woo ......"

The shrill air raid sirens suddenly sounded, interrupting Admiral Spruance's thoughts.

"Sir, the radar of the 'Oakland' has detected enemy aircraft, azimuth 270, number 1, altitude 3000, distance 100." Fleet Chief of Staff Myers. Rear Admiral Browning loudly reported, "It should be a Japanese reconnaissance plane flying from the direction of the Hawaiian Islands." ”

"Shoot it down!" Spruance ordered loudly, "Don't let it peek into our lineup!" ”

"The F4U has been dispatched." Major General Browning replied.

"Okay." Spruance nodded as he walked briskly to the chart, and asked, "Where have we been?" ”

"Here," Rear Admiral Browning ticked the chart table with a red and blue pencil, "about 1,000 nautical miles from the island of Hawaii." ”

Spruance shook his head, "The Japanese must have discovered us!" Their reconnaissance planes were all equipped with German radars that could search for us. ”

"Sir," Major-General Browning looked at Spruance with a worried face, "do we need to change course?" ”

"No, you don't!" Admiral Spruance shook his head, "This mission is already very dangerous, but we still have to do our best to complete it. The fleet continued to move along its original course, maintaining a speed of 12 knots. ”

"Understood, sir."

Rear Admiral Browning nodded, and it was a fleet staff officer who reported loudly: "Sir, the air fleet of the Essex reports that a Japanese four-engine large seaplane was shot down. ”

"Do we have any losses?" Spruance asked.

"There are no losses."

Spruance sighed: "I hope it doesn't find out about our size, otherwise the main force of the Japanese Combined Fleet will pour out against us." ”

……

"Commander, it seems that one of our Type 97 boats was shot down by an American carrier-based aircraft, and it is very likely that the American fleet is already close to the Hawaiian Islands."

On the afternoon of September 22, 1943 (Hawaii local time), the commander of Japan's Central Pacific Fleet, Admiral Takasu Shiro, learned that the U.S. fleet might be approaching the Hawaiian Islands.

The so-called Central Pacific Front Fleet is not a real surface fleet, but the name of a command organ on the same level as the Combined Fleet.

It is under the command of naval shore-based aviation, marines, naval shore artillery units, naval patrol areas, and other naval combat forces stationed in the Hawaiian Islands (including Midway).

However, the Japanese Navy's 1st Mobile Fleet anchored at Pearl Harbor was not under the command of the Central Pacific Fleet.

In fact, in this respect, the fleet is somewhat similar to the military districts, theaters of operations of the army. It and the Japanese Army's Hawaiian Islands Front Command command the Navy and Army stationed in the Hawaiian Islands, respectively (the Army's Hawaiian Front also commands the garrison on Christmas Island).

"Did you report the discovery of the U.S. fleet before the Type 97 was attacked?" Admiral Takasu Shiro walked up to the chart table and asked his chief of staff, Rear Admiral Ryunosuke Kusaka, as he watched as the staff officer marked out the possible location of the American fleet.

"Nope." Kusaka Ryunosuke shook his head, "The electronic detectors on this kind of plane are all second-hand goods from Germany at low prices, and their performance is very poor...... However, before it was shot down, the plane sent a telegram saying that it was under siege by at least 12 F4Us. ”

Spruance, who was cautious, apparently overestimated the capabilities of Japanese seaplanes, which were indeed equipped with airborne radars imported from Germany. But it was not a good thing, it was all second-hand goods that the Germans had eliminated - because of the acquisition of the latest magnetrons and monitors from the British mainland, the level of German radar had improved by leaps and bounds in 43 years, so the obsolete equipment was piled up, and the Japanese who were greedy for cheap bought a lot of it, and it was installed on small ships and planes. However, because these radar equipment are too old and do not include installation and commissioning, they play a limited role on the side of the Japanese Navy, and many times they are not as good as the cat's eye soldiers.

"12 F4U ......" Takasu Shiro nodded, "That's right, how far is it?" ”

"It's 1,000 nautical miles from the east coast of the island of Hawaiʻi." Kusaka Ryunosuke said, "You can get it with a land attack." ”

"It's useless to reach it." Takasu Shiro shook his head, "Without an escort, if you go, you will be sent to death...... Let's continue to send planes to monitor, this time the planes sent must be easy to use for electronic reconnaissance, you know? ”

"Hay." Kusaka Ryunosuke nodded, turned around and went to arrange for the reconnaissance plane to be dispatched.

It was already afternoon, and by the time the reconnaissance plane sent out flew about 1,000 nautical miles away, it would definitely be night, and there was no good radar, so where could the US fleet go in the dark?

Takasu Shiro had long known that the main force of the U.S. Pacific Fleet was in full swing, and he also agreed with Ito Junichi's judgment that the Americans' goal was Christmas Island...... Anyway, it can't be the impregnable Hawaiian Islands, so the next big war is probably nothing to do with him. Therefore, after being assigned reconnaissance and surveillance tasks, he left the headquarters and went to enjoy life at the naval comfort station in Pearl Harbor.

However, in the early morning of the next day, he was picked up from the comfort women's bed by the adjutant, and the plane that had been sent out to reconnoiter discovered that the American fleet was approaching the Hawaiian Islands! This afternoon, the place where the Type 97 boat was shot down was about 1,000 nautical miles from the island of Hawaii, but in the early morning of the 23rd, Hawaii time, a Type 2 boat found the US fleet about 900 nautical miles from the island of Hawaii.

"The Americans are approaching the Hawaiian Islands?" When Takasu, who returned to the headquarters, saw the chief of staff who stayed up late on duty, Ryunosuke Kusaka, he asked, "You can't be mistaken, right?" ”

"Commander, you can't be wrong!" Ryunosuke Kusaka shook his head, "I've confirmed it repeatedly...... Judging by the electric reconnaissance, the size of this American fleet is very huge, there may be 100 ships! ”

"100!?" Takasu took a breath, "Isn't it bigger than the First Mobile Fleet in Pearl Harbor?" He paused, "Then their goal is ...... Attacking Hawaii? ”

"Unlikely." "The Hawaiian Islands are impregnably well defended, and there is a mobile fleet...... Ah, will the Americans' target be a mobile fleet? ”

"They're going to ...... Sneak attack on Pearl Harbor!? Takasu Shiro was stunned and stunned.

"It can't be a sneak attack," Kusaka Rennosuke shook his head, "I think it's trying to lure the mobile fleet into a confrontation." ”

"Could it be a false shot?" Takasu Shiro touched his chin, "The actual target is still Christmas Island?" ”

"Possibly," said Ryunosuke Kusaka, "but we must not take it lightly, the Mobile Fleet cannot remain at Pearl Harbor, and must leave immediately." ”