"Let's go back and rest. Pen ~ Fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info" A soldier with an elegant atmosphere and the rank of major general on his shoulder stepped forward a few steps to Lin Luo's side and said softly, "It's not too early, if a fierce battle really breaks out tomorrow, you need to have a good mental state as a commander." ”

"Thank you." Lin Luo smiled, habitually wanting to serve a coffee cup, but after glancing at his chief of staff, he smiled and motioned for the two to leave the bridge together.

After closing the hatch and walking to the air defense position, Lin Luo took out a cigarette, lit one himself, and handed one to Li Ru on the side.

Lin Luo's chief of staff is named Li Ru, and he also belongs to the Navy Young Zhuang faction. The ancestor once had a high-ranking Ming cabinet assistant and was the queen of the Xiangmen. Originally, his family wanted him to go into politics. altar route, but Li Ru took the initiative to apply for the Naval University after graduating from high school. He is also an outstanding figure among the young generation of generals of the Ming Navy.

"I can't sleep." Lin Luo took a deep breath of his cigarette and sighed, "You also know how much pressure I have. Not to mention robbing Han Dongwen's position, this time he is still here to be a bait. If you don't fight well, you will die in battle, and what face will you have to meet when you go back alive? ”

"You can't say that." Li Ru shook his head in response: "As a soldier, when you go to the battlefield, who can guarantee that you will be able to win the battle?" We just need to do our best, and the merits and demerits will be judged by future generations. ”

"Huh." Lin Luo smiled, raised his hand and nodded at Li Ru, "You are really from a scholarly family, and you speak in a crepe." ”

"Our strength is not weak at all, and even if there are really heavy losses, it will definitely cost the Japanese dearly." Li Ru's words made Lin Luo nod slightly.

is still the same sentence, the Ming Dynasty lost, but Japan could not. Daming can lose 10 games, but Japan can only lose 1. Because what the Ming lost can be replenished quickly, but what the Japanese lost is completely gone.

"You're right." Lin Luo smiled and nodded, took a deep breath, and then turned his head to look at the three escort aircraft carriers near the Taihu Lake, his eyes slightly distracted.

These escort carriers are basically modified using the hull of a standard 10,000-ton freighter. The standard displacement exceeds 10,000 tons, and it can even exceed 16,000 tons when fully loaded.

Of course, this tonnage is still small among aircraft carriers. And because it is a freighter modification, the internal structure is very simple and there is no special armor. It's basically a platform for carrying aircraft. However, they still have good combat effectiveness.

The standard ship is 166 meters long, 33 meters wide and has a draft of 8 meters. The standard speed is 14 knots, and the maximum speed is only 22 knots. The armament included four 105 high-level dual-purpose guns and four 88-mm anti-aircraft guns. The small and medium-caliber artillery consists of eight quadruple 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns and eight quadruple 20 mm Erikon anti-aircraft guns, which have good air defense capabilities.

As the most important carrier-based aircraft force, these escort carriers, named after important cities in overseas colonies, are capable of carrying about forty carrier-based aircraft. Combined, the three ships have already surpassed the Taihu Lake.

But that's only strength on paper. Most of the best carrier-based pilots will not be sent to these escort carriers. The pilots were all drawn from shore-based forces. Moreover, each aircraft carrier, no matter how small, is a separate combat unit, and it cannot be compared with a regular aircraft carrier in terms of action or cooperative operations.

This is also where Lin Luo feels a little unwilling. Obviously, there are five regular aircraft carriers here, wouldn't it be nice to distribute them evenly between the two fleets? Why do you have to get a decoy fleet out. obviously has strength, but he can't use it, how can Lin Luo's mood improve?

In fact, the Navy's approach is to focus on prudence. Although it inflicted heavy damage on the Japanese Navy in the Battle of Java, it sank three regular aircraft carriers of the Japanese Navy in one fell swoop. However, at the moment the Japanese still have more than a dozen aircraft carriers. Among them, there are seven regular aircraft carriers. According to intelligence, except for the Katsuragi, which is being refurbished with radars provided by the Americans at Kure Gungang Port, the other six regular fleet aircraft carriers have been incorporated into the operation.

For the sake of safety, the Ming Navy finally decided to use this bright and dark way to enter the battle at this moment. This ensures the best possible results. As for the ideas of the front-line commanders, they can only be shelved for the time being. After all, the enemies of the Ming Dynasty were not just the Japanese.

"Actually, I feel that it is better for a single aircraft carrier formation to have two aircraft carriers as the core." Li Ru raised his hand and pushed his glasses, and said, "At most, three regular aircraft carriers." Too much of it can cause a bit of confusion and a lack of command. Especially if our aircraft carriers are capable of carrying more fighters. ”

Zhang Cheng adopted a one-step approach when designing, unlike the navies of other countries that have to constantly explore and explore. First experimental aircraft carriers, then light aircraft carriers, medium aircraft carriers, and finally regular fleet aircraft carriers.

Zhang Cheng used mature technology to directly go to a large regular aircraft carrier. This saved a lot of time for the Ming naval aviation unit and avoided many detours. In addition to radar and armored decks, the large hangar loading capacity is also an important means that can determine the outcome of the war.

In this naval battle, Zhang Cheng also took out another new weapon that had been secretly developed. That is a sharp weapon for hitting airplanes, radio proximity fuse shells.

Compared with the pressure fuze shells widely used by various countries before, this new type of artillery shells is definitely a super killer for fighting planes when combined with the radar fire control and command system. The Americans and Germans are also working on it, but they will not be able to use it in real combat for a short time.

"You're right." Lin Luo nodded, and said in response, "When I was talking to the deputy commander in the imperial capital, he also mentioned this matter, saying that the navy will soon undergo a large-scale reorganization. By that time, each task force would basically not have more than three aircraft carriers. ”

After a pause, Lin Luo smiled and said, "We are now building new aircraft carriers in large quantities, maybe it won't be long before you and I will become the new task force commanders." ”

"Huh." Li Ru smiled and nodded, a flash of determination flashed in his eyes, "You're right." But that won't be until we win this battle! ”

"It's going to win." Lin Luo turned around and lay on the railing, his eyes looked at the vast sea in the distance with a slight distraction, and whispered to himself, "No one can defeat us, no one!" ”

......

In the early morning of May 3, 1940, in the waters south of Jeju Island, a touch of fish belly was just showing at the junction of sea and sky in the distance. Yamaguchi Wenduo and Lin Luo both sent their own reconnaissance planes before sunrise.

Yamaguchi Wenta sent a force of fan-shaped reconnaissance planes directly in the direction of the mainland. However, the focus of Lin Luo's reconnaissance was slightly southerly, closer to the direction of the Ryukyu Islands.

Hayashi Luo's judgment was the same as that of the Admiralty, believing that Yamaguchi was hiding somewhere in the waters of the Ryukyu Islands. His judgment was erroneous before the war came.

"The commander enters the bridge, and the commander takes over command." With the loud shouting of the star officer, Lin Luo walked quickly into the bridge of the Taihu Lake.

Lin Luo, who had only slept for more than four hours, immediately asked after arriving at the bridge: "Has the reconnaissance plane been sent out?" ”

"The ships replied that all the reconnaissance planes had been dispatched to attack." Li Ru left and said.

The general direction of reconnaissance was formulated by Lin Luo before he rested, and the specific operation was formulated by those staff officers in the bridge.

"Oh." Lin Luo, whose expression eased, nodded, took the coffee cup handed over by the adjutant on the side, took a sip, and said softly, "Let all ships be ready for battle." All the fighters were put into a state of readiness, and after dawn the air defense fighters were ordered to immediately take off into the air and expand the air defense circle by another 10 kilometers. ”

"Isn't that a little too far?" Li Ru paused slightly, and then said, "If the air defense fighters are too scattered, it will be difficult to effectively block the incoming enemy planes. ”

"If it really gets to that point, there will not be enough air defense fighters." Lin Luo raised his hand and patted Li Ru's shoulder seriously, and said in a deep voice: "The most important point in the aircraft carrier battle is to discover the enemy first!" Wait for someone else to attack, and that's dead! ”

The enemy discovered that this was the focus of aircraft carrier operations. Whoever can spot the enemy first can be the first to attack. Crush the enemy with the onslaught of carrier-based aircraft forces and render them incapacitated. If all goes well, the enemy will not be able to see where his enemy is when the whole army is destroyed.

This is also the reason why Lin Luo and Yamaguchi Wenduo invariably let the reconnaissance plane unit take the risk and take the lead in attacking before dawn. They are racing against the clock, and even just a few minutes in advance of the enemy's tracks can make the difference between victory and defeat in a naval battle!

Being able to ignore the safety regulations in the combat manual and let the pilots of the reconnaissance planes set off in the dark at risk is the difference between a famous general and an ordinary commander. Tong Haifeng is like this, Yamaguchi is like this, and Lin Luo is also like this.

Originally, if the reconnaissance planes of the 12th Task Force of the Ming Dynasty had gone to reconnoiter according to the established trajectory at this moment, it was very likely that the 12th Task Force would be discovered by the Japanese reconnaissance planes first, thus making the 12th Task Force lose its first hand.

Although the powerful 11th Task Force was just over a hundred nautical miles behind him at this moment, even if the 12th Task Force was completely wiped out, it would not be a loss of the battle. It's just that who wants to sacrifice in vain?

What changed the fate of the 12th Task Force was a submarine of the Ming Navy, and it was also a meritorious submarine.

Fang Renxu is a famous Ming naval hero who became famous for directing a submarine to infiltrate the Sasebo military port and sinking the main battleship of the Japanese Navy Yamashiro in one fell swoop.

In the early morning of May 3, when he was directing his submarine to patrol the waters of Minami Kyushu, he unexpectedly changed the course of a sea and air battle! (To be continued.) )