Because of the existence of the Naval Resistance Army, the Japanese army divided its troops. It seems to be beneficial to the U.S. military, but if it is compared with what happened in another time and space, it is seriously disadvantageous to the U.S. military. In history, the U.S. military discovered the aircraft carrier Xiangfeng on May 6 and sank it.

There have been too many changes, and Li Guang, who is blind in history, doesn't even know about this naval battle, let alone a series of changes caused by the Liberty Dragon.

In fact, the biggest change in the Japanese fleet was not the twists and turns of the Xiangfeng. But the mobile fleet, how did the two aircraft carriers that were supposed to be the Fifth Air Force participate in the war in history, but how did it become one?

In the Battle of Ceylon, neither aircraft carrier of the Fifth Fleet was injured, how did it become one? It's weird.

If you count the history of the Fifth Air Force since Pearl Harbor, you will know what happened.

Before the war, the two aircraft carriers of the Fifth Air Force were equipped with 144 fighters as standard, and with the reserve fighters, it was about 150 fighters.

However, in the Battle of Pearl Harbor, the Fifth Sentai lost more than 20 fighters, and then followed Nagumo Tadaichi to fight 40,000 kilometers in a few months, and lost more than 10 fighters. In the Battle of Ceylon, although the Fifth Air Force did not lose its ships, it also lost more than 30 fighters. As a result, the Fifth Air Force was left with less than seventy fighters.

That is, the standard configuration of an aircraft carrier.

Therefore, Rear Admiral Tadaichi Hara merged the fighters on the two aircraft carriers into one. Fortunately, the pilots died as many as the fighters lost, and Yuan Zhongyi sent some pilots and the Xianghe aircraft carrier back to the mainland to replenish the fighters and pilots.

There is a small abacus of Major General Tadaichi Hara here. You must know that Japan's production capacity of various aircraft is only 90 aircraft per month. And Japan has stretched the battlefield so widely, there are more places where fighters are needed. If you don't queue up early, I'm afraid that you may not be able to complete more than 70 fighters after waiting for three or five months.

Hara had sunk a regular British aircraft carrier in the Battle of Ceylon, and had also sunk two old battleships and a destroyer in the later pursuit.

This can be regarded as a great achievement, and it is in the limelight in the Japanese Navy. The fame was so loud that it overwhelmed the commander of the Second Air Force, Major General Tabun Yamaguchi.

Now that Yuan Zhongyi is bent on raising the Fifth Air Force to the position of the First and Second Air Forces and becoming the main force on the front line, then it will not take much time for him to become a lieutenant general.

Rear Admiral Tadaichi Hara has been looking forward to this for a long time, and you must know that among the three squadrons of the First Air Fleet at this time, the only one who did not lose an aircraft carrier was him. In fact, the First Air Force did not lose the aircraft carrier, but the Akagi was hit by a torpedo, which was not a major injury, and it was repaired in a month. The Kaga was only injured on the reef and was not serious.

And the Second Air Force, Yamaguchi Tawen has always had unlimited scenery. Not only has he been suppressing Hara Tadaichi, but he has even threatened the position of Lieutenant General Nagumo Chuichi. Since the Battle of Ceylon, Yamaguchi Tawen has made a big mistake and lost the aircraft carrier Soryu. In Hara's opinion, Yamaguchi Tashi is afraid that he is a little delusional to want to compete for the commander of the First Air Fleet.

And it's time for the spring of his original Tadaichi.

If only it were according to normal logic. Rear Admiral Tadaichi Hara led a capital aircraft carrier, and it was obvious that he should be the commander of the sortie. But.

Everything is afraid of this, but. Because General Yamamoto Fifty-six knew that Inoue Narumi's strength was insufficient. The aircraft carrier lacks escorts, and the survivability of the fleet is weak. Therefore, a fifth heavy cruiser squadron was also supported, and the commander was Vice Admiral Takagi Takeo.

Is Takeo Takagi old and high rank?

Takagi Takeo was only promoted to lieutenant general on May 1, and in fact, he was not much older than Major General Tadaichi Hara.

However, the appointment of the commander of the Japanese Navy is very characteristic of the Japanese Navy.

The number of terms of seniority in the platoon of Chairman Chiang's army in Whampoa and the seniority in the platoon in the Japanese Navy depends on how many periods you have graduated from the Japanese Naval Academy. Takagi Takeo and Tadaichi Hara are both in the thirty-ninth issue.

Since they are all in the first period, how can we talk about seniority? There is also a so-called hammock number. In fact, the Japanese Navy Naval Academy has long since stopped using hammocks. But this hammock number still exists, and it is actually the ranking of graduation grades. In this way, the results came out, Takagi Takeo was 17th, and Hara Tadaichi was 85th.

It doesn't matter who the main force of the combat mission is. The Japanese Navy followed such a rule, and Vice Admiral Takagi Takeo became the commander of this main mobile force.

Takeo Takagi has also been famous recently, but not in a good name.

Within the Japanese Navy, he had a very special case of war. In the Battle of Java, he won the naval battle and sank four warships of the combined navy of Britain, the United States, the Netherlands and Australia. But he was called a coward in the Japanese Navy.

The reason is that this guy, like many high-ranking Japanese commanders, "loves battleships very much."

In the naval battle of the heavy cruiser, he actually kept a distance of 20 kilometers between the two armies from the beginning to the end. Even the torpedoes were fired at ultra-long distances.

If the opponent was a battleship, Takagi Takeo's command did not make many mistakes. But know that the opponents are only light cruisers and destroyers.

Takagi Takeo was afraid that the emperor's battleship would be damaged and sunk, and his official position was not guaranteed. So it's magical.

Everyone knows that the hit rate of artillery in naval battles is very low. However, the hit rate is generally 100 percent. This one set a precedent, and the hit rate in naval battles was 2 per 1,000.

TWENTY KILOMETERS, 203MM NAVAL GUNS, TWO THOUSANDTHS OF A HIT.

Doesn't seem to be very bad?

It can only be said that the training of the Japanese army is not bad, and this result is really not bad.

But as a commander, this result is too bad to mention, so the coward Takagi Takeo began to become famous. What's more, Takagi Takeo is a big ship and a giant artillery faction, and he has never commanded aircraft carrier operations.

In this regard, Major General Hara Zhongichi was, of course, not convinced. But he was not convinced, he had to endure it. This is the rule for the entire Japanese Navy.

When Li Guang finally bombed Nauru Island, Rear Admiral Tadaichi Hara was commanding the aircraft carrier Zuizuru in search of the U.S. aircraft carrier in the Coral Sea. Oh, and it should be said that Takagi Takeo commanded a mobile unit in search of the American fleet.

The Japanese aircraft carrier Xiangfeng did not have much time to return, and had just stepped into the Solomon Sea, not yet entered the Coral Sea.

Li Guang didn't know anything about all this. Blowing up the docks on Nauru Island and wreaking havoc on a handful of little devils is very cool.

After this bombing, Li Guang figured out a little. The devils are building airfields, and there are no land-based fighters on Nauru Island at all, only a few water reconnaissance planes. Now these water reconnaissance planes have also been stewed with a spoonful. This is also the reason why Inoue Narumi continued to order the Xiangfeng to go south without thinking, and the loss was not large.

The USS Liberty Dragon went in circles and continued south. Prepare to cross the southern tip of the Solomon Islands and sail into the Coral Sea.

This route is farther than the Xiangfeng aircraft carrier. However, in the eyes of the staff officers of the Naval Resistance Army, it was safer to stay away from the Japanese base.

In this way, the Liberty Dragon unknowingly stepped into the whirlpool of a great war. (To be continued......)