Chapter 360: The Bloody Battle in the Pacific (37)

William Jr. Frederick. Halsey came from a family of naval families. His father was a naval colonel, and many of his ancestors were related to the Navy or served in the Navy, which had a profound influence on his choice www.biquge.info of naval career. A strong family background is an important foundation for promotion, just like Fletcher. But that's not the only condition.

While studying at the Naval Academy, Halsey was known for his bravery. He was always good at taking the initiative to attack when he was in a nautical chart deduction battle, even when he was at a disadvantage. This is extremely important for the Navy, which is itself an offensive service. Because of his brave and resolute character, he was called a brutal bull by his classmates. Halsey had already received the attention of some of the Navy's top brass when he was at the Naval Academy.

With the rapid development of the United States, which has unique geographical conditions, in the midst of the industrial revolution, the Americans' desire to go out of the Americas and dominate the world is also getting bigger and bigger. They think they have the ambition and the strength to match.

At that time, no country in the whole world except for the Ming Dynasty could compete with the United States for all-round soft and hard power. But there is still Da Ming.

In order to seize control of the whole world from the hands of the Ming Dynasty, the Americans wantonly co-opted all the forces that opposed the Ming Dynasty to form an anti-Ming alliance. However, political success is of little significance, and in the face of the powerful Ming Dynasty, the army is ultimately needed to realize political demands. If you want to take away what belongs to Da Ming, the only way is to defeat Da Ming on the battlefield. It is impossible at the negotiating table.

In the face of the Ming army, whose military strength is the best in the world, the Americans began a large-scale expansion of the army. Especially the navy, which was extremely important for the direction of the war.

A massive military expansion is the best boon for a good officer like Halsey. Excellent naval officers were quickly promoted. Because there is no traditional generalization that has lasted for hundreds of years like the Ming army, the American army is still relatively young. Really talented people can easily get a chance to get ahead.

When aircraft carrier technology emerged before the war, Halsey was quickly drawn to it and decided it was what he wanted. Since then, Halsey has devoted himself wholeheartedly to aircraft carrier tactics and has served as the captain of the aircraft carrier.

When the war broke out, the U.S. Navy continued to fight on a large scale, and the tragic naval and air battles between the Ming Navy and the Japanese Navy in the western Pacific Ocean also completely pointed out the direction of the Navy's development. Considered an excellent aircraft carrier tactical commander, Halsey became the commander of the vast task force.

The fleet that attacked Tong Haifeng before failed to succeed in the first battle due to the sudden large-scale rain clouds, and many Ming warships escaped with the help of rain clouds, which made Halsey very dissatisfied.

Originally, his own plan was to pursue all the way until the opponent was completely destroyed. When the command of the Pacific Fleet came with an order ordering him to raid the Hawaiian airfield and destroy the strength of the shore-based forces in the Daming Sea, Halsey immediately understood that the 59th Task Force was back.

Although he despises the waste wood of Fletcher, Halsey is able to carry out the correct orders very well. After a brief rest, Halsey headed for the Hawaiian Islands with his large fleet.

In fact, when Halsey was discovered by a Ming military patrol plane on the afternoon of November 7, he did not turn the bow of the ship to open up the distance as everyone imagined, and used the cover of night to carry out a wide range of maneuvers. This was followed by a fierce raid on the Ming airfield on the Hawaiian Islands before dawn.

Because Halsey knew very well in his heart that they knew this tactic, and the commanders of the Ming Navy, who had been through a hundred battles, would definitely know it. If you want the shore-based troops of the Ming army to stay on the airport runway and wait for their fighters to bomb them, this kind of thing is only possible when the war has just broken out. Now, that's.

Halsey clearly knew that the Pacific Fleet of the Ming Navy had been operating the Hawaiian Islands for many years, and they had deployed thousands of fighters of various types on the islands. There are even more of them than all the carrier-based aircraft in his hands now.

Although he has the advantage of mobility, he can't afford to attack without a surprise attack. Moreover, if he wants to attack, the fleet will enter the attack range of the Daming shore base force. He can release a group of attack aircraft before the early morning, and the same can be done by the Daming Shore Base Force!

The warships and warplanes in Halsey's hands really can't afford to lose. Their warships and warplanes had to be replenished from the west coast, more than 2,000 nautical miles away, and each warplane had to be used on the cutting edge.

Halsey, who is known as a brute bull, has a very resolute character, and after seeing that the long-range patrol plane of Daming Hainan Airlines was shot down, an extremely bold idea came to his mind. As soon as this idea appeared, it was like a weed that met the spring rain.

"Order all aircraft carrier aircraft units to prepare for a sortie attack on Hawaii!" Halsey's words stunned everyone inside the bridge. It's already afternoon, and when the group takes off and is organized to fly to Hawaii, it will be four or five o'clock in the afternoon. If you add in the time it takes to attack, then by the time the attack group returns, it will definitely be after dark!

In this era, there is no radar guidance, automatic navigation systems or anything like that. Large-scale take-off and landing operations on rough seas at night mean aircraft crashes and deaths! The navies of various countries have clear regulations that prohibit the take-off and landing of fighter planes at night.

"Attack aircraft groups carry ground attack bombs." Halsey, who had made up his mind, didn't pay attention to the looks of the officers and soldiers on the bridge at all, and continued to order: "The target of the attack is the airfields and shore-based fighters of the Ming army everywhere. No need to attack the ships in those harbors. As long as we destroy the air power of the Ming army, those battleships can be eaten at any time. ”

As a good aircraft carrier commander, Halsey naturally knew that without the protection of air power, no matter how powerful the fleet was, it would not be able to threaten him, and it was just a plate of small dishes that could be eaten at any time.

Halsey was the commander of the fleet, and no matter how difficult his orders were for his subordinates to accept, they had to be carried out. This is the army, and there is no room for questioning the execution of orders.

At this time, the nine aircraft carriers in the 57th Task Force were already under full strength. Having lost a lot of aircraft in the previous battles of Kiribati and the raid on the First Air Fleet, it was very difficult for the Americans to replenish them because they did not have a forward base.

Although there are already transport ships loaded with warplanes that have set sail from San Diego to Kiribati. But that's still just far water.

"Attack aircraft groups strike continuously, without forming in the skies over the fleet. Each air attack formation is grouped during the flight with speed as the adjustment. Halsey also knew that time was pressing, and there was no time left for him to slowly marrying in the sky.

Halsey was not trying to buy time for his attack fleet to land as soon as possible before dark, but to drop the bomb on the heads of the Ming troops who would surely think he would not attack the Hawaiian Islands at this time.

Halsey was very confident, and he thought that the Ming Navy, which was still still in charge of the conservative forces, would not think that he would launch a large-scale attack at such a time as it was close to night. The Ming army must now be preparing for a battle in the early hours of tomorrow morning. He was ready for a surprise attack. Have courage and do things decisively. This is Halsey, the brute cow.

Using speed to marshalling in the middle of a flight is a very challenging part of daily training. It would never have been possible without long hours of flight training and formation coordination. Years of great investment by the U.S. Navy and Halsey's rigorous training were evident at this time.

More than 400 fighters were released from the nine aircraft carriers in more than half an hour, and they gradually formed two attack waves that were very close to each other during the flight.

It's not that Halsey doesn't want to fly more fighters, it's just that as the commander of the aircraft carrier group, he has left a force in his hand for emergency purposes anyway. And now the time does not allow him to carry out a second wave of attacks. This is the main reason why Halsey chose to temporarily spare the Ming warships in Pearl Harbor.

Halsey had only a limited number of forces at his disposal, and Pearl Harbor had such a large number of warships. If you were to attack those fleets, you would have wasted a lot of ammunition on your planes. Thus weakening the attack on the airfield. Halsey knew very well what his goal was and what he wanted to do when he came here.

The Ming Navy will only give him this chance to raid, and once he misses it, there will never be another chance. Halsey had to concentrate his efforts.

Of course, if Halsey had known that the USS Red Sea had entered Pearl Harbor unharmed, he would have added a group of attack aircraft dedicated to attacking the USS Red Sea.

The situation was very chaotic when the First Air Fleet was launched, and the American pilots reported even more attacks than the entire Pacific Fleet ships combined.

After all, pilots can't stay long on a chaotic and dangerous battlefield to determine whether their target has been sunk. Many of the attack pilots in multiple waves attacked the same ship, and then reported on the other ship.

Coupled with the thick smoke everywhere and the massive rain clouds covering the sky in the later period, the Americans believed that all the aircraft carriers in Tong Haifeng's hands had been sunk, and they did not know that the Red Sea, which was hiding in the rain clouds, had escaped.

At 4:59 p.m. on 7 November, a radar station on Oahu spotted a large group of incoming U.S. attack planes. Loud and shrill sirens spread throughout the Hawaiian Islands, and fierce battles began. (To be continued.) )