The main reason why the Americans lost so badly was that they did not have fighter escorts. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 infoEven if there are only a small number of fighter escorts, they will not be used as targets to harvest in the sky.

The pilots of the Americans are skilled, and the aircraft are of good quality. But tactical failures made it all a dead end. If this were replaced by the Japanese Navy that used a group of science college students to fly old-fashioned fighters in the later stage of the war against Japan, they estimated that they would not even be able to touch a single warship of the Ming Navy.

If the U.S. commanders hadn't sent their own convoy of escort fighters to help the parent fleet resist the attack, their results would have been much more than that. The decisions of the commanders had too much influence on the course of the war. However, the Americans did not have a chance to investigate the matter again, because the commander of the attack had already died in the battle.

More than 100 fighters were wantonly abused by Daming Hainan Airlines. Quite a number of US military pilots with a mortal heart drove their respective fighter planes to crash straight into the nearest Ming warship in spite of the pursuit of the Ming fighters in the sky and the shelling of the warships on the sea. Most of the losses of the Ming fleet were caused by these brave pilots.

Because the air defense operation was too easy this time, the second and third air fleets of Daming Naval Airlines suddenly had more than ten ace pilots, and their own losses were very low. Many Ming pilots jokingly referred to the operation as a safari and bird hunting operation.

"Alright." Looking at the last US fighter plane in the distant sky, it whined and fell into the sea with a large puff of black smoke, Lin Luo put down the telescope in his hand and nodded with satisfaction: "The Americans no longer have the power to threaten us." Next, it's up to us how much we can eat in this meal. ”

"I really didn't expect it to be like this." The chief of staff on the side spoke with some emotion. Although Daming Hainan Airlines has an absolute advantage, Fletcher is not without the power to fight back. The eight aircraft carriers also have a powerful attack force, and once they are launched in full force, they will also bring a heavy blow to the Daming Navy.

It's just that the Americans have been surprisingly slow to react. There was neither a quick reaction nor a decisive move when a counterattack was launched. Even now, when the defeat is decided, he didn't think about leaving quickly, but he still thought about good things. This is the legendary self-death, and Daming Hainan Airlines will naturally not be polite.

"Send a report to Han Dongwen." Lin Luo's eyes fluctuated slightly, looking at the fighters in the sky that were constantly circling and flying, and said loudly, "Let him immediately organize the third attack wave group to attack the American fleet." Sink as much as you can. Now all the air defense fighters in the sky, regardless of which aircraft carrier they belong to, are landing on the aircraft carriers of the Second Air Fleet. Hurry up. ”

Lin Luo showed his good tactical literacy at this moment. After the battle here, Fletcher, who received the news, must have fled immediately. And if the huge fleet of aircraft wants to recycle, refuel, replenish ammunition, and rest the pilots, it will take a long time to go all over again, and then attack to catch up.

The distance between Linlo's fleet and Fletcher's fleet was more than two hundred and less than three hundred nautical miles. And the warships of this era were generally able to reach a maximum speed of more than thirty knots. Even if you can't go all the time, twenty or thirty knots for hours is no problem.

If this is delayed for too long, Fletcher may run far, after all, it takes a long time to fly the distance of hundreds of nautical miles.

It was almost ten o'clock in the morning, and there were only two more attacks before dark, and only if Fletcher hadn't gone far and had come back before dark. Lin Luo was unwilling to waste this rare fighter. This kind of one-sided assault on the opponent without worrying about being counterattacked is really rare.

Han Dongwen, who was dozens of nautical miles away, did not hesitate at all after receiving the telegram, and quickly gave the order for the group to attack. More than 200 warplanes were successfully lifted into the air within more than half an hour, and after the formation was completed, they flew in the direction of the distant 59th Task Force.

At this time, Fletcher was completely dead, and Fletcher, who had no longer had any hesitation, ordered the entire 59th Task Force to retreat in the direction of the west coast of America.

Several destroyers were left behind to salvage and rescue the crew, and to sink ships that they could not take away. At the same time, Fletcher sent a report to Nimitz, who was far away in San Diego. One can imagine what kind of expression and state of mind Nimitz would have had after receiving this telegram.

......

"Sir, what about those ships? Are we going to attack? "When the time came to 12:40 p.m., the attack aircraft group that took off from the Third Air Fleet commanded by Han Dongwen came to the vicinity of the C017 sea area.

Aerial reconnaissance revealed that there were no large warships on the sea, and only a few destroyers were salvaging the drowning personnel and torpedoes to sink the abandoned warships that had not yet sunk.

"Boom, boom, boom!!" On the side of an aircraft carrier that was still burning with thick black smoke, several huge white columns of water stirred up on the side of the ship. It was a nearby destroyer sinking its own abandoned battleship. Even if you are sunk by your own people, you can't fall into the hands of the enemy.

"Forget it." The commander of the attack wave watched in the sky for a while, then picked up the walkie-talkie and shouted, "It's just a few small destroyers, and it's not enough for us to fill in the gaps." And they were salvaging people overboard and sinking immobile battleships. It's not worth wasting time and effort on them. We hurried to go after Fletcher. ”

The officers and men of the Ming army are all highly qualified soldiers, and they have little interest in these rescue ships that do not pose any threat. Therefore, he didn't care about these ships, and continued to fly to pursue Fletcher's main fleet, which had already run dozens of nautical miles away. After all, whether it is flying or maneuvering during combat, it will consume a lot of fuel. The commander of the Ming army did not want to waste time on these small ships.

Another point is that both bombers and torpedo planes have only one chance to attack. If they waste bombs and torpedoes on these destroyers, it will be tantamount to reducing the ability to attack large warships. At least in the eyes of this commander, it was a matter of more than worth the cost.

Fletcher had planned to sacrifice a few small ships to buy some time for Task Force 59, but unfortunately he miscalculated. Daming Navy's fighter formation did not waste time and ammunition on these ships at all. And these lucky destroyers are not simple characters.

When Japan declared defeat in the war, many Japanese soldiers were unwilling to accept this humiliating fate, believing that their powerful allied forces could achieve final victory. Therefore, after Japan declared defeat, some Japanese soldiers chose to flee and continue to resist.

Many of the Japanese army did not commit suicide by cutting their stomachs, but ran into the deep mountains and old forests to fight guerrilla warfare. The navy could not play guerrilla warfare, so it chose to drive a battleship and risk breaking out of the blockade line of the Ming Navy and fleeing to its allies. These naval warships were helped by the American embassy in Japan.

There were more than twenty ships, large and small, the largest of which was nothing more than a light cruiser. Most of the rest are some destroyers, minesweepers or something. These Japanese warships, which basically only got one-way fuel, finally broke through the Ming Dynasty's blockade and went to their allies after a lot of hardships. Although there were less than ten boats left, they were notoriously important, so they were refurbished and sent to the West Coast.

After finding some reinforcements among the Japanese in the Americas, these symbolic warships were restored to their combat effectiveness. When the U.S. Pacific Fleet once again engaged in large-scale operations, these Japanese warships were also incorporated into it. Among them, the most famous are the three auspicious ships of the original Japanese Navy, Snow Wind, Seasonal Rain, and Nobun.

Coincidentally, these three legendary ships were assigned to Fletcher's Task Force 59. When Fletcher decided to flee for his life, he left them behind to salvage the overboard officers and sink his own ship. At the same time, it was also tasked with attracting the attention of the Ming army and bombs.

However, when the three anti-heaven auspicious ships converged together, the luck index simply broke through the sky. Hundreds of Ming fighters flew away from the nearby airspace without looking at them, but chased straight towards Fletcher's main fleet.

On the deck of the Japanese Navy's Yoyan-class A-type destroyer No. 8, the Yukikaze, the last lucky one of the nineteen destroyers of this type. Hundreds of drenched US Navy officers and men looked at the large number of warplanes whizzing in the distant sky with panicked expressions, and their eyes were full of horror.

This morning, these Daming HNA fighters brought too much pain and blood to them. The American officers and men who had lost their warships had reached the point where they were scared when they saw them.

"Your Excellency." Noritsu Nakajima, the navigator of the Yukikaze, came to the side of the captain Higashi Hisunrise Husband Nakasa, looked at the dark clouds in the distant sky with complicated eyes, and said softly, "Can we still win the war?" ”

The husband of the east sunrise paused slightly, maintaining the posture of holding a telescope to observe. After a moment, he whispered, "Do your best." ”

The Japanese are not stupid, and they naturally know what Fletcher's intentions are in leaving them behind. It's just that people have to bow their heads under the eaves. Now relying on the blessing of the gods, those fighters of the Ming Naval Airlines actually disdained them and went straight to catch up with the American fleet. I can't tell what kind of mood Higashi Izumi is in his heart at this moment.

After a moment of silence, as the commander of this makeshift fleet. Higashi Sunrise put down his binoculars and looked at the few American warships near the battleship that were still stubbornly supporting and refused to sink, and frowned dissatisfiedly, "Let the wild branch speed up!" We can't stay here anymore! (To be continued.) )