Vice Admiral Nagumo Tadaichi looks much older these days. The wrinkles on his face were getting denser, and his gray hair seemed to increase.

Tadaichi Nagumo, who had previously served as the commander of various surface ships, was originally a veteran of torpedo warfare, but now he was asked to command a large formation of aircraft carriers that he was not familiar with. Thanks to his experience as a "red brick faction" (the Navy Provincial Building is a red brick building, and the "red brick faction" refers to a person who served as a senior staff officer in the Navy Department), he finally lived up to his mission and won the Battle of Pearl Harbor.

But immediately after the great victory in the Battle of Pearl Harbor, he became self-conscious and cautious, and left most of everything to the staff officers. The whole person seemed to become mediocre all of a sudden.

In fact, in his heart, he wanted to go back to a battleship or a heavy cruiser, and use the darkness of the night to torpedo the enemy ships to pieces. Now, with a sense of melancholy and disillusionment, he is fighting all over Hawaii.

Based on the lessons of the past, Nagumo Tadaichi believed that the key to victory in the current operation was to first discover and destroy the remaining fleet of the enemy, two powerful "Lexington"-class battlecruisers and a "Yorktown"-class aircraft carrier. In addition to sending a large number of reconnaissance planes, he also divided the entire fleet, with the smaller aircraft carrier "Flying Dragon" taking the lead, and the carrier-based planes on his main aircraft carriers, the "Pancheng," "Tianlong," and the "Canglong," would follow the returning US planes and find and sink the US aircraft carriers and battle cruisers.

As the past flashed in front of his eyes, Nagumo Tadaichi thought calmly for half a minute, and he came to the conclusion that all actions that dared to attack were victorious, and all actions that were cowardly and defensive had led to failure. This is also the basic tactical principle of the British Royal Navy for more than 300 years. He gave the order to attack. As soon as he gave the order, the aircraft carrier "Flying Dragon" reported that it had been attacked by US planes.

"The Yankees are getting faster and faster, and if they don't get it right, they will cause losses to the main fleet." Kusaka Chief of Staff said to Nagumo Tadaichi.

"Yes." Nagumo Zhong nodded slightly, "The American fleet must be destroyed as soon as possible." ”

In the aircraft control room of an aircraft carrier, it is as noisy as in an opera house. The lobby on the top floor of the island-shaped building was crowded with weather officers, plotters, fighter pilots, signal officers, ship captains, and fleet commanders. There were radios, charts, microphones, and most of them were wearing headphones and shouting loudly, like a group of patients in an insane asylum.

At this time, Nagumo Tadaichi deeply felt that the fleet without radar was like a naked [***] soldier.

The "Wyvern" has just reported that it has repelled the first attack wave of the American plane.

However, just as the "Pancheng" received the "Flying Dragon" battle report, the US attack plane group flew over the "Flying Dragon" again.

The US planes adopted a two-plane formation, with one fighter covering one dive bomber, and launched an attack on the "Flying Dragon." The Wyvern set off a smoke screen and sent fighter jets to meet the enemy. The U.S. planes were outnumbered, so they immediately hid into the clouds and took refuge.

What the officers and men on board the "Flying Dragon" did not expect was that the US planes launched a second wave of attacks. Using the cover of the clouds, they quietly approached the Wyvern. A US "dreadnought" dive bomber quietly emerged from the clouds, swooped down from high altitude at a near-vertical angle, and hit the "Flying Dragon" with its bomb. The 500-kilogram bomb opened a large hole in the flight deck of the "Flying Dragon" with a diameter of nearly 15 meters, and the surface of the ship immediately burst into flames.

Seeing that the US military's will to fight and the hit rate of carrier-based bombers were no less than their own, Rear Admiral Tabun Yamaguchi, commander of the detachment, and many officers and men were taken aback.

Tamon Yamaguchi ordered the fire to be extinguished. Due to the limited resources and the difficulty of building ships, the navy trains fire control and damage control techniques every day. This time it worked well, and the fire was quickly extinguished. After learning the news, Nagumo Tadaichi ordered the "Flying Dragon" to withdraw north.

The battle has continued to this day, and the U.S. military still shows an aggressive posture and shows no signs of giving in, which makes Nagumo Tadaichi's mood even heavier.

One after another, the steam catapult planes of the "Xianghe" aircraft carrier ejected "Gale" fighters, "Tianshan" attack planes, and "Meteor" attack planes. They were on Nagumo's orders, and they didn't even have time to form a formation. and pounced on the American aircraft carrier. At this time, Nagumo Tadaichi was extremely nervous, he had already seized the American aircraft carrier. He knew that the Americans were left with only this aircraft carrier. He must be victorious, the Navy needs to be victorious, the Empire needs to be victorious, and he himself needs it. He had a hunch that his fate was already on the stake of this naval battle.

At this time, the USS Yorktown of the US Navy aircraft carrier was hiding in rain clouds. It is a fierce fighter and a well-behaved child. Rear Admiral Kincaid commanded the "Yorktown". On the surface, he looks a little old at just over fifty years old, but so far, his battle has been unambiguous.

After the radar of the "Yorktown" discovered the reconnaissance plane, Kincaid ordered to sail eastward and burrow into the rain cloud area as soon as possible, and he did not dare to risk it.

Kincaid knew he had been discovered and he had to act. Because Vice Admiral Halsey was at this time commanding the battlecruisers "Lexington" and "Saratoga", approaching the main fleet at the fastest speed. At this time, Halsey, the old "bull", seemed to be filled with TNT explosives in every cell, and his telegram had only one sentence, which seemed to resound the voice of Danton during the French Revolution in 1789: "Brave, brave, brave!" Halsey's last message was: "Attack, attack, attack!" ”

Kincaid ordered the Yorktown's squadron of fighters, torpedo planes, and dive bombers to take off immediately and attack in the course guided by the reconnaissance planes.

Get busy on the flight deck. Plane after plane was lifted from the hangar deck to the flight deck by lifts. They had already filled up with gasoline, hung torpedoes and bombs. From the beginning of the barbaric sneak attack of the Japanese army, the "Yorktown" fought side by side with the "Lexington" and "Saratoga," and every sailor and pilot of the "Yorktown" had a strong sense of honor: Kincaid looked at the "dreadnought" dive bombers, "Wildcat" fighters, and "Avenger" torpedo attack planes that had risen into the sky, and a wave of passion surged in his heart. It was as if he saw his son go to war. Although the United States is mired in isolationism and pacifism, when the horn of war sounds, there are still so many young people who grin, wave to him, the old guy, and then fight for the blue sky without hesitation. He was proud to be in command of these lads, but he also felt a great sense of responsibility.

After the "Yorktown" took off 3 dive bombers, 8 torpedo attack aircraft and 8 fighters, the noise on the deck calmed down. The aircraft carrier was changed to a tailwind heading north, the fleet had departed, and Kincaid could only wait for the outcome of the battle now.

The Americans had a bad first battle. It was said that the military plane group was already on its way to attack the US fleet, and the two sides immediately exchanged fire, and the shouting and curses from the loudspeakers rang out. Although Kincaid had been commanding surface ships before, he could still hear that the US planes had suffered losses in air battles. It was said that the plane seized the altitude and attacked ferociously, shooting down three fighters and three torpedo attack planes of the "Yorktown." The fact that the enemy has such advanced fighters and skilled pilots shows that it must be the main force of the navy. Then, his opponent is Nagumo Tadaichi, and it is by no means more than an aircraft carrier.

He faced a naval battle with a disparity in power.

At this time, Rear Admiral Kincaid was not nervous because he lacked sufficient experience in commanding aircraft carriers. He asked the telegraph operator to transfer the frequency of the battlecruiser "Lexington" to know about Vice Admiral Halsey on the "Lexington". At this time, there was confusion on the radar of the "Yorktown", and it was impossible to distinguish between enemy and friendly planes. The rain was pouring down, and the deck was white, and no one could find the shadow of the plane. When the cartographer marked the distance of the enemy aircraft at 10 nautical miles, Rear Admiral Kincaid rushed to the cartographer.

"I said Lieutenant Colonel Slam, do you know that victory in this naval battle will determine the fate of Oahu and Pearl Harbor and even Hawaii?"

Listen to him. Lieutenant Colonel Slam's face was pale, and his hand holding the microphone was shaking.

Kincaid continued: "The fate of the Lexington and Saratoga is in your hands. We have only these two battle cruisers left in the entire Pacific Ocean! Without them, what would we do to the American people! He waved his arms and shouted, "Do a good job!" Lieutenant Colonel, don't disgrace these two warships! ”

Slam nodded, and then shouted hoarsely on the microphone for the American pilots to attack the enemy.

As the "Yorktown" sailed against the wind in order to take off the carrier-based aircraft, rushed out of the edge of the rain cloud area, exposed to the scorching sun, unsheltered, like a [***] girl on the beach. The only thing that could be defended was the artillery fire of 6 cruisers and 8 destroyers. For the fierce and combative pilots, these artillery fires were no more terrible than the fireworks.

Soon, the dive bomber pierced through the clouds and launched the first attack. The "Yorktown" and the American fighters resisted desperately, and the American cruisers and destroyers that served as the escort of the "Yorktown" also launched all the anti-aircraft fire, and for a time the sky was full of gray smoke.

A dive bomber was hit by the "Yorktown" while it was diving, but not only did it not fly away, but fell on the flight deck of the "Yorktown" like an autumn leaf. The two 500-kilogram bombs it was carrying exploded in unison, knocking a 40mm anti-aircraft gun into the air like a doll. The explosion caused a fire, and the "Yorktown" was quickly covered in smoke.

At this time, the torpedo planes had already completed their formation at low altitudes and began to attack from both sides. Although some torpedo planes were knocked out by the artillery fire of the US escort ships, several torpedo planes entered the mine-dropping positions. When the "Lance" type air-dropped torpedo foam splashed down on the Yorktown, the aircraft carrier was struggling with the flames, and it didn't even have time to turn its rudder to avoid the torpedo. Its port side instantly rose up with a tall column of water, and it was hit by a torpedo.

The fatally wounded "Yorktown" was hit by three 250-kilogram bombs one after another, and a wounded attack plane on the "Tianshan" ship crashed into the "Yorktown" by suicide. Maj. Gen. Kincaid watched as the U.S. Army's damage management team members were burned to their skin by the rising flames, their heads collapsed by the air wave that triggered the explosion, the pumping pumps ran out of power, and the fire lines no longer spewed water. In the engine room of the ship, the American officers and men were suffocated to death little by little, because they did not dare and could not pass through the red-hot steel passage.

After the "Yorktown" caught fire, the captain advised Rear Admiral Kincaid to leave the ship, Kincaid agreed, and he moved to the cruiser "Brooklyn" and raised the flag on it.

After learning the news of the hit on the American aircraft carrier, Nagumo Tadaichi's nervous mood became relaxed. An imperceptible smile appeared on his face. The US military has only 3 aircraft carriers in the Pacific region, among which the USS Enterprise and USS Hornet have already been seriously injured in the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Now another "Yorktown" has also been hit and caught fire, and the air supremacy of the entire Hawaiian Islands has been taken by Yueben.

Ever since Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto became commander of the Combined Fleet, he has tirelessly instilled in all officers and men the idea that aircraft carriers are victorious. Therefore, all the officers and men of the Navy in the Pacific Ocean, whether they are submarine captains, sailors on battleships, or pilots, regard the destruction of US aircraft carriers as their supreme mission. Today, the desire for revenge on the United States has finally come true. The Americans, who had opened the doors of their country with their guns hundreds of years ago, finally found their grave in the Pacific Ocean.

"Sir! Telegram for the landing force! 'The airfield has been captured, hooray! ’”

"Great!" Nan Yunzhong nodded.

In this way, the US Navy, which has lost air supremacy, will not dare to rush to reinforce Oahu. And the Imperial [***] team, which has air and sea supremacy, will slaughter the remnants of the U.S. troops on Oahu at will. Chief of Staff Kusaka said, "The battle in the Pacific has been decided. ”

Nagumo Tadaichi looked out of the porthole, and at this time, there were several remnants of American planes in the distant sky, which were going around in circles with the air combat patrol plane. They were monitoring the "Flying Dragon" aircraft carrier that was on fire, eager to swallow it alive and hurry up.

"Now, we just need to find those two American cruisers." Nanyun Zhong said with a mutter.

At this time, Raymond, who was standing on the bridge of the battlecruiser "Saratoga"? Rear Admiral Spruance looked at the "Lexington" driving at full speed ahead, and his heart was full of mixed feelings for a while.

Just now he had already received the news that the "Yorktown" had been hit by a plane, seriously damaged, and had lost its combat effectiveness.

He now knew that the fate of the Pacific Fleet and Oahu had been concentrated on the two battlecruisers under his command and Halsey.

Spruance was born into a wealthy Baltimore family and was well educated in high society. He was pampered from an early age, his surname was introverted and shy, and he neither served as a class leader nor participated in intense sports and group activities. However, he is always indispensable in the cleaning on weekends and before holidays. He is a careful boy with a female surname, who loves to hold dolls when he is a child, and loves to be with friends when he goes to school. These traits come from his mom and his three aunts: Céline, Bessie, and Lue. They gave little Raymond a great deal of knowledge and money, and they were incredibly generous. Maybe because they never married, they subconsciously pinned their hopes on their nephews. Later, Spruance provided for them one by one. When Spruance was promoted to rear admiral and became commander of the U.S. Navy's capital ships, all of his youthful companions were taken aback.

History is a master of tragicomedy. Spruance's ancestors had no connection to the ocean, and if it weren't for a tragedy, he would never have put pen to paper. Raymond's grandfather, Hiss, suddenly went bankrupt, causing his life to change dramatically. He graduated from high school with honors and had no money to go to college. The bright future was wiped out in an instant. He hesitated for half a year, not knowing where to go. His mother, Anne, was a virtuous and far-sighted woman like Nimitz's mother, Anna. Anne said to her son, "Go to the Annapolis Maritime School, it has honor and it doesn't cost anything." ”

Young Raymond wanted to be an engineer or a scientist, but his surname was not suitable for a soldier. He enrolled at Stephens College, specializing in electrical engineering, but never forgot his mother's wishes. When he learned about the enrollment of the sea school from the newspaper, he happily went there and was admitted. The American engineering community has one less engineer, and the Pacific Fleet has one more general.

This time, the strong side of the taciturn Spruance character shimmered like a salute flower in front of the world.

And his stage was the "Lexington" class battlecruiser commanded by him and Halsey.

The Lexington-class battlecruiser is the only first-class battlecruiser in the US Navy. Influenced by the Battle of the Teland and the Battle of the Celtic Sea, the US Navy's top brass demanded the construction of a high-speed warship that would serve as a high-speed avant-garde reconnaissance force for the main fleet before the main force engaged, and the "Lexington" class battlecruiser came into being. The original plan in 1921 was for a first-class battle cruiser with a standard displacement of 44,300 tons and armed with 406 mm guns, it was relatively weakly armored, but had a high speed of 35 knots - the Americans planned to equip the ship with 7 chimneys and a large number of boilers, a considerable part of which were arranged on the armored deck, and the 1922 plan corrected this dangerous design - in 1924, this plan was changed according to the lessons of the First World War, and the new plan enlarged the tonnage to 53200 tons, Armed with 460-mm naval guns and improved protection, the speed remained at 35 knots.

(To be continued)