The whole day passed quickly. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 InfoThe Hilo airfield, which had been reduced to scorched earth and ruins under intensive artillery fire and aerial bombardment, finally fell into the hands of the Americans after several iterations.

The stubbornly fought 9th Marine Division chose to retreat after nightfall. The Americans finally opened a huge landing port, and countless ships docked on the makeshift pier built on Hilo Beach, some of which even ran aground at low tide.

Knowing that time was tight, the US officers and men desperately unloaded all kinds of supplies from the ship. The entire coastline is densely packed with US officers and soldiers, like ants carrying a large amount of supplies on their shoulders.

The port of Hilo, which was originally just a small fishing port, was now completely filled with ships. Fletcher didn't even think about bringing the ships back.

Daniel. Smith looked a little dazed and stood on the Hilo Airport, which had already been plowed by artillery fire many times, and looked blankly at the Marines around him as busy as hard-working little bees. Covered in gunsmoke, Smith went to a ruin, found a slightly cleaner place, put down his rifle and sat on the ground to rest.

Smith, who hung his head slightly, took a deep breath as he looked at his trembling hands, and only took out a cigarette from his arms and lit it after a moment, enjoying the inexplicable emotions of surviving the battlefield filled with gunpowder.

Glancing sideways, he saw scattered fragments of a firearm, a large crater nearby, and a trail of blood that had gradually turned dark red. After a moment's thought, Smith understood. It was originally a position that was later hit by heavy shells or bombs. The bodies must have been cleaned up, but the remains are still here.

The officers and men of the Marine Corps, who were busy walking back and forth around, all looked at the tired veteran. As long as you see the tattered military uniform on Smith's body, you know that he is a veteran of the bloody battle of the previous landing. At such a time, no one would accuse this veteran who had come down from the battlefield of blood and fire for not working.

Throwing away the cigarette butts that had been smoked, Smith looked up at the newly landed marines who looked a little excited, and his heart turned around and he didn't know what kind of mood he felt.

As one of the first Marines to land, Smith had seen the most horrific scenes of hell. The comrades-in-arms around him were almost lost, and he watched those comrades-in-arms who had been together for more than two years, more than a year, or even only a few months, lying in a pool of blood on the ground with their eyes blank and twitching slightly. The battle was fought so fiercely.

The Ming Army's stubborn resistance and strong fortification system brought unimaginable casualties to the U.S. Marines.

He was the only one left in Smith's own class who survived. The platoon, company and battalion where he belonged suffered heavy casualties, and there were only more than 100 people still alive at this time, and the highest rank was a second lieutenant. Several other battalions that landed at the same time also suffered heavy losses. The beach is littered with black body bags.

"Can we win?" After stretching widely, Smith lay back on the ground, his hands behind his head looking at the whistling warplanes flying in the blue sky, and whispered to himself.

"Can't wait any longer!" In the middle of the night on November 9th, Tong Haifeng, who was standing silently smoking a cigarette in the night outside the bridge of the Red Sea, frowned and pondered, suddenly threw away the cigarette butt in his hand, suddenly turned around and opened the hatch and entered the bridge, shouting, "We can't continue to waste time here!" ”

During the daytime, Tong Haifeng and his small fleet had been wandering in the deep sea of about 300 nautical miles northeast of the island of Hawaii, ready to dodge the Halsey fleet that might come north at any time.

Because all the naval forces of the Ming Navy on Hawaii had been lost in the fierce attacks of the past two days, they could no longer obtain any long-range reconnaissance information. Except for the report of the garrison on the big island, Tong Haifeng could not get any useful information.

Although the garrison on the Big Island and other islands reported being bombed by U.S. warplanes during the day, it was a confirmation that Halsey's fleet was still in the waters of the Hawaiian Islands. But the strange feeling in Tong Haifeng's heart became stronger and stronger.

In any case, he could not believe that the extremely capable Halsey could really be so discerning, wasting precious combat power and time on landing operations that were meaningless in deciding the direction of the campaign.

Tong Haifeng insisted that his judgment was correct, and it was impossible for Halsey not to ambush Lin Luo and them. You must know that Lin Luo and the main fleet of the Daming Naval Aviation with them are about to rush back, once they return to the waters near Hawaii, even if Halsey supports the landing team to seize the entire big island, what is the point?

Tong Haifeng trusted his own judgment, and he insisted that Halsey must have gone south to ambush Lin Luo and them, who were about to return. Once Halsey was allowed to ambush him, his small fleet would have no hope at all. He was determined to let Yibo go.

"But a telegram from the fleet command says let's continue with the mission of pinning down Halsey." The chief of staff raised his hand and pushed his gold-rimmed eyes, looked at Tong Haifeng and said, "As long as we continue to stay here, we will be able to firmly contain Halsey's actions, and when Lin Luo and them come back, then we will win." ”

"Impossible." Tong Haifeng shook his head, walked quickly to the navigation table, and looked at the huge nautical chart with deep eyes. After a long silence, he said, "We all know that we will win by doing this, and it is impossible for Halsey not to know." He wouldn't be so stupid to stay here and wait stupidly for Lin Luo and them to come over and eliminate him. Halsey, who was at a disadvantage in strength, must take the initiative to attack Lin Luo and them, otherwise this battle would not need to continue! ”

"But the order of the fleet headquarters ......" When the chief of staff wanted to say something more, Tong Haifeng waved his hand and said, "We just want to contain Halsey." I don't know how he managed to maintain air supremacy over the islands, but I conclude that he has headed south. If you want to prove this and continue to contain Halsey, the only possibility is to go south and take the initiative to attack! With just one attack, we will be able to understand everything! ”

"Hiss~~~" The officers in the bridge all gasped after hearing Tong Haifeng's words, and everyone's eyes looking at Tong Haifeng became very complicated.

Why take the risk of attacking something that is already clear? Wouldn't it be better to hide on the edge of the periphery and pin down the enemy and wait for the main fleet to come over? Why take great risks and disobey the orders of the command to attack the enemy? You know, Halsey's fleet has nine aircraft carriers!

Once an attack is launched, it means that the Red Sea will enter the attack radius, which is not only the attack radius of the Red Sea but also the attack radius of the US Navy. Even if they were lucky enough to avoid the reconnaissance planes, once the attack was launched, the American counterattack would completely submerge the Red Sea under a dense group of fighters!

"I know what you're worried about." Tong Haifeng read the eyes of the officers on the bridge, sighed secretly in his heart, and then said, "But I don't want to explain anything, and I don't want to prove anything. I now give you an order in the name of the commander of the First Air Fleet, and I order you to carry out my order immediately and unconditionally! Immediately, immediately! ”

In a regularized army, the commander's orders are beyond question, especially among fleets at sea.

Even the chief of staff, who is the number two person in the fleet, only has the right to make suggestions in front of the fleet commander, but he absolutely does not have any right to oppose or not to carry out. Unless the commander orders surrender, the battle order in any situation, even the order for the whole fleet to be sent to death, must be resolutely carried out, and this is the army.

The Red Sea aircraft carrier raised its battle flag, and the small fleet began to gradually turn and accelerate, heading towards the Great Island in the dark night. Whether this sortie proved the commander's judgment or plunged the entire fleet into the abyss will be known in a few hours.

"Order the Fuling to stay and continue to swim in the nearby waters, as far away from the fleet as possible. Wait until dawn to send a telegram to the fleet command, asking the fleet command to send a reconnaissance plane to find out the approximate location of the US aircraft carrier fleet no matter what. Tong Haifeng calmly gave the order, "I know that the fleet command must still have hidden air power in its hands, and now is the time to use these final reserves." ”

Daming has been operating the Hawaiian Islands for more than 100 years, and its strength is far beyond ordinary people's imagination. How could it be that Halsey was bombarded and completely lost all the power in his hands?

The Ming navy built a large number of underground fortifications and warehouses in the mountainside and underground. It has a huge amount of supplies from food to clothing, weapons and ammunition to various daily necessities. The amount of this war material is enough to last the defenders on the Hawaiian Islands for several years.

The aviation force that has only gradually emerged in recent years is naturally one of the key reserve forces of the Ming Navy. As one of the top generals of the fleet, Tong Haifeng knew that the Pacific Fleet had built a secret aviation airfield on Maui.

It is an airport built in the middle of a mountain. Before, he didn't dare to use it because of his lack of strength, but now Tong Haifeng was determined to give it a go, and immediately thought of using this airfield for him to reconnoiter the general direction of the US aircraft carrier fleet.

And the Fuling was sent out by Tong Haifeng from afar, just to confuse the Americans and make them think that they were still wandering in the open sea. At the same time, the Fuling will also inform the Pacific Fleet Command of Tong Haifeng's determination and operational intentions. And it is required to get combat cooperation. (To be continued.) )