"The preliminary count of casualties has exceeded 6,000, and the actual damage should be greater. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 Listening to the number of casualties reported by the staff officer, Fletcher, who had been given a chance to make meritorious contributions, changed his eyes, and the green tendons on his forehead were beating slightly unconsciously. If this landing operation fails, then he is really hopeless.

"Have you taken the beachhead?" After a moment of silence, Fletcher asked.

"The landing force reported that the enemy resistance was unusually stubborn, and that they could no longer advance after breaking through the first-line defenses at the cost of heavy casualties." The staff officer's tone paused, and then he said, "The front-line commanders have asked us to provide the most powerful fire support, otherwise they will not be able to move any further. ”

Although with strong artillery cover and casualties at all costs, it was possible to break through the coastal defenses. However, the Ming defenders quickly mobilized reinforcements from all over to rush over to support, and pressed the Americans to death within a narrow area of only a few kilometers. Such a landing practically makes little sense.

Fletcher knew very well that he didn't have a lot of time. Once the main force of the Ming Pacific Fleet returned to the Hawaiian Islands to rescue, the only fate of the fleet in his hands, which had no air cover, would be overwhelmed by a fierce attack like a storm, and all the officers and soldiers and warships would sink to the bottom of the sea to feed the fish. He doesn't need to be investigated and tried anymore.

"Send a telegram to Task Force 57." Fletcher, whose voice trembled a little, said in a deep voice, "I ask them to provide support for the landing operation immediately!" Stop wasting energy on useless things. We need strong air support now, if Halsey doesn't want to see the landing operation fail! ”

Halsey dismantled his fleet and continued its mission after dawn to suppress air power on the islands. And he himself has been struggling to find the lost Ming aircraft carrier with another part of the fleet.

Halsey knew that the Ming aircraft carrier must have fled to the northern seas, but he could not find it in a short time.

Because Halsey's main energy was restrained by Tong Haifeng, the remaining forces have been carrying out the task of suppressing various airports. Only in the early hours of the morning was a large-scale air raid launched at the intended landing site on the island and at the location of the island's important transport hub, and then the main focus was on attacking the airfield.

Because in Halsey's view, the main purpose of this combat mission was to send the Marines and supplies ashore. It was not a powerful landing operation in the true sense of the word. This is a diversionary combat mission.

Halsey knew in his heart that it was never the islands that would decide the fate of this important battle. Only the fleet and air forces are the real winners and losers, and only by seizing sea supremacy can we win the final victory in the battle. Halsey was in no mood to devote his main strength to ground attacks. In his exact words, it was not the work of the carrier-based aircraft unit.

In fact, when Halsey received a distress telegram from Fletcher, he just glanced at it lightly, and then went straight to the side and said, "I don't know." ”

Different people have different views and ways of dealing with things, and different perspectives and positions also determine that everyone's choices and thoughts are different.

Fletcher's task was to cover the landing of the landing force, and he naturally wanted to do his job as well as possible. Successfully sending the landing force to the beachhead and gaining a foothold became his only task. Halsey, on the other hand, was tasked with seizing sea supremacy.

The different chairs under the butts made it impossible for the two of them to put their ideas together. Even if the two of them are swapped once, nothing will change.

"Send all the tanks up!" Fletcher, who was cornered, began to make a big move. The tank units, which had been reserved for use in the decisive battle on Oahu, were now brought ashore. Without the support of heavy weapons, the landing force, which is basically light firepower, would not be able to break through the strong fortification group that the Ming Navy had painstakingly operated for many years.

"Order the fleet to come up!" It's like a red-eyed gambler who has lost is ready to take a leap at the table to get his money back. Fletcher, who had no way to retreat, no longer had any hesitation or conservatism, and directly sent his fleet up, "Cruisers and destroyers approached within ten nautical miles and fired rapidly. Don't care about barrel life and ammunition stocks. ”

Fletcher took a deep breath and said word by word, almost through gritted teeth, "Shoot me out with all the shells!" ”

Because of the large displacement of battleships, the draft is generally relatively deep. Most of the places near the coast are actually not suitable for large ships to get too close. Because the reef hidden beneath the surface of the sea has the potential to cause serious accidents.

Since the age of sailing, it has been rare for the navy to lean directly towards the coastline. In general, they take safe waterways or deep waters. This is the main reason why a natural deep-water harbour is so important.

Maneuvering in unclear waters is a huge risk for naval warships. But now Fletcher doesn't care about these things. If troops and supplies cannot be sent to the island, then the entire fleet will not end well.

Rather than end up being sunk at the bottom of the sea, it's better to start fighting now. Fletcher, who had been hit hard by being too conservative, had a drastic change in personality in a short period of time and became very radical.

When the battleship was shelling in the open sea, the effect of the battleship's shelling was greatly reduced due to the undulation of the waves, the curvature of the earth's sea level, and the decrease in the ability to observe and sight. Basically, it relies on the number of cannons to cover to improve the accuracy of hits.

This method is suitable when you have sea and air supremacy, and you have enough time and ammunition. However, it is clear that this is not the case now.

The cost of a battleship is very high. The larger the battleship, the more advanced the equipment, and the more expensive it became.

Because the target of naval combat is a warship with high mobility ability, the strict requirements for the accuracy of artillery hits of naval warships are even much higher than those of the army. This directly led to the high price of gun barrels for naval warships.

After entering the era of industrial revolution and technological innovation. The high cost of the battleship guns with new metallurgical materials, self-tightening tube technology, and sleeved barrels is enough to make all naval commanders suffer from heart attacks every day.

The cost of one barrel of the main gun of the latest battleship is almost as good as that of an ordinary destroyer. In order to maintain the accuracy of shooting, the life of the guns of the battleship is very low. Once the rifling is worn out severely, it is time to apply for a grant.

Fletcher sent an expensive warship to the shore in dangerously shallow waters to shoot at close range, something that would never have been possible in normal times.

Numerous cruisers and destroyers began to approach the coastline, conducting corrective fire through seaplanes in the sky. The heavy artillery fire looked like a series of struck matches from the shore, and the smoke released by the shelling covered almost the entire surface of the sea. Many of the Ming troops who had been reinforced from all over the island were heavily shelled on the way, and many of the Ming troops, including the armored ones, suffered heavy losses.

Tanks, which were used as decisive weapons, were also sent to the coast through special tank landing craft, and the US military's ability to attack fortified positions was rapidly enhanced.

In the afternoon, after paying tens of thousands of casualties and hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles. The U.S. Marines finally broke through the defenses at Hilo Beach and stormed Hilo Airport, where a brutal battle broke out with the defenders once again.

Just when Fletcher was just breathing a sigh of relief, Tong Haifeng's fleet, which had not heard any news for more than ten hours, suddenly appeared in the northwest sea of Fletcher's fleet.

Since his departure from Pearl Harbor, Tong Haifeng has maintained strict radio silence. He chose to sail northwest at twenty-four knots before dawn before turning to the northwest of the island of Hawaiʻi.

Tong Haifeng's goal was not to fight with Halsey from the beginning, what he wanted to do was to attack the landing fleet of the US army. Then mobilize Halsey, hold his forces and wait for Lin Luo and them to return.

"The Oshima garrison sent the approximate location of the U.S. landing fleet." The staff officer of the fleet came to Tong Haifeng's side with a telegram to report the battle situation: "They fought very hard, the US landing force has broken through to the vicinity of the division headquarters of the Ninth Marine Division with the support of intensive artillery fire and tanks, and now the defenders are preparing to retreat from the Hilo airfield. ”

"Huh?" Even if he didn't know how to know how to tactics on the ground, Tong Haifeng knew that the most important thing was to destroy the enemy on the coastline during the landing operation.

But now the 9th Marine Division has not only lost its coastal positions, but has also lost its extremely important airfield. Once the U.S. military is able to use the airfield, the situation on the battlefield will be turned upside down.

"What?" Tong Haifeng frowned tightly, and said in a deep voice, "It's okay to lose the coastline, and now even the airport has to be lost?" Are they still glorious Marines? Aren't there tens of thousands of defenders on the island? How long has it been since the war began? How did it get like this! ”

"Sir." The staff officer explained softly, "Although there are tens of thousands of defenders on the island, there are many places that need to be defended. The defenders were largely scattered. There were not many forces to resist at Hilo Beach, where American troops landed. Moreover, the U.S. military blew up several railway lines on the island during the early hours of the morning, making it impossible for reinforcements to reach the front line quickly. And the shelling power of the US army is too strong. ”

Artillery is the king of war, something that has been fully proven through centuries of war. Tong Haifeng was far away from the battlefield, and he couldn't understand what it was like for the defenders of the Ninth Marine Division to face the fierce bombardment of hundreds of heavy guns on the American warships.

To be able to hold on to the present under the overwhelming and almost overwhelming heavy artillery fire, the Ninth Marine Division has done its best.

"Carrier-based aircraft force attack!" Tong Haifeng was silent for a moment, and then gave the order to attack: "Go and attack the US convoy and sink all their convoys!" (To be continued.) )