Nagumo looked old. The wrinkles on his face were getting denser, and his gray hair was dyed all over his temples. He served as the commander of various surface ships, and was originally a veteran of torpedo warfare, but went to command a large formation of aircraft carriers with which he was unfamiliar. Thanks to his experience as a "red brick" (the Japanese Navy Ministry building is a red brick building, and the "red bricks" refer to people who have served as senior staff officers in the Navy Ministry), he finally lived up to his mission and won the Battle of Pearl Harbor, defeated the British Indian Ocean Fleet, and saved the Japanese Indian Ocean Naval Fleet.

Because of a series of victories, because of his talent, because of his prestige among middle and lower rank officers, even he thought that he was an expert in naval air warfare, commanding a group of elite soldiers, opening up the world, without any opponent.

Now that he has become self-righteous again, he is cautious, and most of everything is handed over to the staff officers to deal with. The light wheel behind him seemed to disappear suddenly. People have also become very mediocre. He was eager to go back to a battleship or a heavy cruiser, as he had done on the Kaohsiung, and take advantage of the darkness to torpedo the enemy ships to pieces. His request for resignation was not granted, and he threw himself into the naval battle of Santa Cruz with a sense of melancholy and disillusionment.

Based on the lessons learned in previous naval battles, Nagumo believed that the first discovery of the enemy's aircraft carrier task force was the key to victory. In addition to sending a large number of reconnaissance planes, he divided the entire squadron and had the 11,000-ton "Zuifeng" aircraft carrier take the lead and act as a decoy, and his main force, the "Zuizuru," "Hayabusa," and the carrier-based planes on the Shinano carrier, would follow the returning Chinese fighters and find and sink the Chinese aircraft carrier.

The "Ruifeng" turned out to be a seaplane carrier with poor equipment. The displacement is small, and it is not a pity to sacrifice it Nagumo. What's more, around him, there is also a huge Japanese-American combined fleet to support him, which makes him much more emboldened.

After receiving Sugimoto's telegram, Nagumo thought calmly for half a minute, and the past flashed in front of her like smoke. He concluded that all bold attacks were victorious, and all cowardly attempts to defend were defeated.

This is also the basic tactical principle of the British Royal Navy for more than 300 years. He gave the order to attack. As soon as he gave the order, the "Ruifeng" reported that it had been attacked by Chinese fighters. "The Chinese are getting faster and faster, and they can't get it right. Lost the bait. The main fleet will also suffer losses. ”

In the aircraft control room of an aircraft carrier, it is as noisy as in an opera house. The lobby on the top floor of the island-shaped building was crowded with weather officers, plotters, fighter pilots, signal officers, ship captains, and fleet commanders. There were radio stations, charts, microphones, and most people were wearing headphones. Shout loudly. Like a group of patients in an insane asylum. It is said that they won or lost the Pacific War. It seems unbelievable, but it is.

"Ruifeng" reported that it had repelled the first attack wave of Chinese fighters. The Chinese fighters used a two-plane formation: one fighter covered one dive bomber. "Ruifeng" casts a smoke screen. And sent eight fighters to meet the enemy. The Chinese fighters were outnumbered and hid in the clouds.

Chinese fighters launched a second wave of attacks. They took advantage of the cover of the clouds and quietly approached the "Ruifeng". Nagumo felt that the Allied fleet without radar was as naked as naked. The Chinese Navy's Sea Shark dive bomber hit the "Ruifeng". A 500-kilogram bomb opened a large hole in its flight deck with a diameter of 15 meters, and the whole ship burst into flames.

Nagumo ordered the fire to be extinguished, and the Japanese Navy trained fire control and damage control techniques every day. This time it finally worked, and the fire was extinguished. Nagumo ordered "Zuiho" to retreat north. As soon as the battle began, the Chinese army showed an aggressive posture, and Nagumo's mood became heavier.

One after another, the Shinano's steam catapults ejected Gale, dive bombers, and torpedo planes. They were on Nagumo's orders, and they didn't even have time to form a formation. He pounced on the First Emperor. Nagumo's intelligence is nervous, he has already captured the China aircraft carrier.

He didn't know how many Chinese aircraft carriers there were in front of him, and whether they would set any traps. He must have a victory, the Navy needs a victory, the empire needs a victory, he himself needs it. He had a hunch that his fate was already on the stake of this naval battle.

The aircraft carrier USS Hencozu hid in rain clouds. It is a fierce fighter and a well-behaved child. It took part in some of the most important naval battles of the Pacific War and knew its fate. Everyone in the Navy loves it as an old ship.

Forty-eight-year-old Rear Admiral Su Jinchuan commanded the Han Gaozu of the 16th Aircraft Carrier Formation. He looked old, but he fought without ambiguity. After the radar of the Han Gaozu discovered the Allied reconnaissance plane, Su Jinchuan ordered the Eastern Airlines to burrow into the rain cloud area as soon as possible, and he did not dare to take risks.

As the cornerstone of the growth process of the Chinese Navy, as the first two aircraft carriers since the development of the Chinese Navy. The First Emperor and the Han Gaozu brought countless qualified naval soldiers to the Chinese Navy.

However, these two highly decorated aircraft carriers are of little value for retrofitting because of their displacement and the long time they were built. It has always been the same as being out of the shipyard, the only difference is that the mighty giant ships of the past are now covered with the wind and frost of time.

At this moment, the carrier-based aircraft on them are still the earliest Seahawk-2 and Seashark dive bombers, although they can barely take off the Seahawk-3, but it will seriously affect the bomb load and fuel load of the Seahawk-3, and the combat effectiveness of the carrier-based aircraft will also be greatly reduced.

Therefore, up to now, the carrier-based aircraft on these two aircraft carriers are still ancient second-generation aircraft. Of course, compared with most aircraft carriers of the Japan-US joint fleet, the strength of these second-generation aircraft is definitely the top combat effectiveness.

These two aircraft carriers, strictly speaking, do not belong to the Chinese Pacific Fleet, but to the fleet of the Pacific theater of operations. Because the ships of the Japanese-American combined fleet rushed here, when the pictures transmitted by spy satellites in space showed all this. However, the main force of China's Pacific Fleet failed to arrive in time, and the Pacific Theater needed to buy enough time for the Pacific Fleet.

As a result, the two aircraft carriers should be directed towards Nagumo Tadaichi's aircraft carrier fleet.

This is a big game of chess, there are a large number of warships of the Japanese-American combined fleet, but at sea. It is impossible for so many warships to be crowded together, and it is the best way to form a team and cooperate together in a circle.

Nagumo Tadaichi's aircraft carrier squadron belongs to the vanguard of the Japanese-US combined fleet, and unlike the battleship squadron, his aircraft carrier squadron is mainly to find the main force of the Chinese fleet. If the opponent's strength is strong, he will converge with the main force coming from behind and deal with it together, and if the strength of the Chinese fleet found is average, he can also decide whether to kill it directly.

The First Emperor was discovered. Nagumo Tadaichi had clearly taken the second step. He needs a victory, and Japan needs a victory at this time.

A decisive battle of the fleet in the Pacific Ocean in the coming summer is definitely not a good time, because it is not known when a hurricane will appear. And the rainy season has arrived. All this is inevitable.

But the Allies were in a hurry. There is an urgent need to change the dynamics of the war. The Chinese side also had to move, because in the Pacific, China also needed a fleet capable of containing the Allied Navy. The Allies cannot be allowed to do whatever they want in the Pacific.

Because summer is approaching, the rainy season is frequent, and rainy days often occur, and spy satellites cannot determine the location of the joint Japanese-American fleet. The battlefield is back to a fairer place.

Su Jinchuan was also very anxious. Because the commander of the Pacific Theater of Operations, Qian Sihai, kept urging him. Qian Sihai seemed to be filled with TNT explosives in every cell, and his telegram had only one sentence, which seemed to resound Danton's voice during the French Revolution in 1789: brave, brave, brave! Qian Sihai's message was:

Attack, attack, attack!

In the Solomon Islands, one regiment of the First Marine Division and two regiments of the Jungle Army are fighting hard above, and if they do not quickly resolve the flowers of the Japanese-US Combined Fleet, which is very close, and the troops of the nearly one division, they will really lose contact with the theater.

Now that he had detailed information, Su Jinchuan ordered the fighter squadron and dive bomber squadron of the Han Gaozu to take off immediately and attack in the direction guided by the reconnaissance plane of the First Emperor.

Get busy on the flight deck. Plane after plane was lifted from the hangar deck to the flight deck by lifts. They had filled up with gasoline and hung up bombs.

The Han Gaozu and the First Emperor have fought side by side since the beginning of the war, and have established meritorious service in many battles. Chen Shao has commanded them, and Chen Shaokuan has commanded them. Every sailor and every pilot has a strong sense of honor: "Lao Tzu is the best in the world." ”

Su Jinchuan looked at the group of planes that rose into the clouds, and a passion surged in his heart. It was as if he saw his son go to war. Although the Chinese Navy does not have many opportunities to engage in naval battles with the enemy, when the horn of war sounds, there are still so many young people grinning, beckoning to him, an old fellow, and then killing into the blue sky without hesitation. He was proud to be in command of these lads, but he also felt a great sense of responsibility.

After the Hencozu took off twelve bombers and eight fighters, the clamor on the deck calmed down. The entire fleet changed to a tailwind and headed north, and Su Jinchuan waited for the first results.

The results were not good.

The Allied aircraft group was already on its way to the 16th aircraft carrier formation, and the two sides immediately exchanged fire, and the loudspeaker shouted and cursed. Although Su Jinchuan has been commanding surface ships, he can still hear that the Chinese fighters have suffered losses in air battles.

Although the Chinese military aircraft seized the height, attacked ferociously, shooting down three Allied fighters and seven torpedo planes. However, the number of enemy planes was too much, and soon the two sides became entangled, and the Chinese side soon fell behind.

The fact that the enemy has such skilled pilots means that it must be the main force of the Allied Navy. Then, his opponent is Nagumo Tadaichi, and it is by no means more than a small aircraft carrier "Zuiho".

At this moment, there was chaos on the radar of the Hangaozu, and it was impossible to distinguish between enemy and friendly aircraft. The rain was pouring down, and the deck was white, and no one could find the shadow of the plane. When the plotter marked the distance of the enemy plane as ten nautical miles, Major General Su Jinchuan rushed to the radar at once; "Did you know that victory in this naval battle decided the fate of Guadalcanal?"

The radar staff officer's face was pale, and his hand holding the microphone was shaking.

Su Jinchuan continued: "The fate of the First Emperor and the Han Gaozu is in your hands. We have only these two aircraft carriers in the South Pacific. Lose them, what do we take to the war zone. He waved his arms and shouted, "Do a good job, lieutenant colonel, don't disgrace these two warships." ”

The radar staff officer called on the microphone to the Chinese army pilots to attack the enemy, but unfortunately it was too late.

Poor First Emperor in order to take off carrier-based aircraft. Sailing against the wind, he broke out of the edge of the rain cloud area, exposed to the scorching sun of the equator, unsheltered, like a baring girl on the beach. The only thing that could be defended was the artillery fire of four cruisers and six destroyers. For these Japanese pilots, no matter how dense the artillery fire was, it was just a salute, because from the beginning of the voyage, they had no intention of returning alive.

Japanese dive bombers pierced through the clouds and attacked first. The First Emperor and the Chinese fighters desperately resisted. The air was littered with gray smoke balls.

Captain of the flight squadron of the Shinano ship. A man from Okayama with a scar on his face was hit by the fire of the First Emperor the Great while diving. The plane was crooked, like an autumn leaf falling on the flight deck of the First Emperor.

The two 500-kilogram bombs it was carrying exploded in unison, knocking a 40mm anti-aircraft gun into the air like a doll. The explosion caused a large fire. The First Emperor was obscured by smoke. According to the experience of many Japanese pilots. It's dying.

Allied torpedo planes had already completed the formation at low altitudes. Attack from both sides. Despite the fact that some torpedo planes were knocked out by the artillery fire of the escort ships, several torpedo planes entered the mine-throwing positions. When the "Spear" type air-dropped torpedo foam splashed down on the First Emperor, it was fighting hard with the fire. It didn't even have time to turn its two-sided rudders to dodge the torpedo. Its port side soared up with a huge column of water, and it hit!

The Japanese naval aviation was still formidable, and their courage in crashing into a warship with a wounded fighter jet shouted on board was worthy of admiration. Nagumo Tadaichi was not so mediocre and incompetent, and he could also command naval battles that could be engraved in the history of naval warfare.

On the battlefield, after a torpedo plane dropped its torpedo, it flew farther and farther, and the pilot turned around and barely found the First Emperor on the sea antenna. It received three more 250-kilogram bombs in succession, and indeed it became a wrecked ship.

It was also heard on the radio that a wounded twin-engine Japanese Type 92 attack plane had suicidally crashed into the First Emperor. Imagine how the members of the Chinese army's damage management (a military shorthand for "damage management and control") were burned to their skin by the flames, their heads collapsed by the waves of induced explosions, how the water pumps ran out of electricity, how the fire lines ran out of water, and how the officers and men in the engine room were suffocated to death because they did not dare and could not pass through the red-hot steel passages.

The pilot of the torpedo plane was so excited that he wanted to open the canopy. Ever since Admiral Yamamoto was appointed commander of the Combined Fleet, he has tirelessly instilled in all officers and men the idea that aircraft carriers are victorious. Therefore, all Japanese naval officers and sailors in the Pacific Ocean, whether submarine captains, battleship sailors, or pilots, regarded the destruction of the aircraft carriers of the Chinese army as their supreme mission.

Today, May 15, the wish for revenge has finally come true! The First Emperor of China, which was etched in the minds of all the Japanese pilots, finally found its own grave.

However, when the torpedo plane returned to the Nagumo aircraft carrier squadron, it was suddenly stunned by the scene on the sea. His mothership, the Shinano, Japan's most powerful aircraft carrier, was also in thick smoke at this time.

There are still a few remnants of Chinese fighters in the sky, and they are going around in circles with Japanese air combat patrol planes. Chinese fighters were monitoring the Shinano ship that was on fire, eager to swallow it alive and hurry up.

The torpedo machine had no gasoline, lost its altitude, and could not help its companions, even if it hit a Chinese fighter. He turned on the radio and searched for the Shinano's fighter pilot, but there was silence in his headphones. He turned the knob again and found the aircraft carrier "Hayabusa". The "Falcon Eagle" was huge in size and lacked engine power, and it was dragged far behind the entire fleet, so that it was lucky to avoid the fatal blow of the Chinese planes.

With great effort, the torpedo bomber plane was dragged to the "Hayabusa" ship. As soon as the first blocking cable was attached to the tail hook of the plane, he lifted the cockpit canopy and shouted: "We have killed the Chinese Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty!" Hurry up and refuel, there must be another Chinese aircraft carrier nearby, I heard the voice of their fighter pilot over the radio. Come on, we've got it this time! ”

After the fire broke out in Shinano, Captain Arima Masafumi was ordered by Nagumo to withdraw north. Arima Dasa persuaded Nagumo to leave the ship, and Nagumo agreed. He became quite easy-going, and the "jade shattered" determination of the past to live and die with the fleet seemed to have disappeared. He moved aboard the destroyer "Arashi" and raised the vice admiral's flag on it.

Although he switched to a destroyer with a cramped cabin, Nagumo's nervous mood relaxed. An imperceptible smile appeared on his face. The Chinese army now has only two aircraft carriers in the South Pacific, of which the First Emperor has been seriously damaged. Then another Hangaozu must be nearby. As long as it is found and sunk, the air supremacy of the entire Solomon Islands will be in the possession of the Allies.

Yesterday, a telegram from the commander of the Sendai Division, Maruyama Masao, came from Guadalcanal and Rabaul, respectively: "The airfield has been captured, onboard!" ”

Then, the Chinese Navy, which has lost air supremacy, will not dare to rashly reinforce Kuah Island. And the Allied forces, which have air and sea power, will slaughter the remnants of the Chinese army on the island of Kuagua at will. Everything was decided. The tide of the war, which had been declining since the war, would take a turn for the Allies to occupy the Solomon Islands, occupy New Guinea, blockade Indonesia, and then follow up with the help of the islands' airfields. Strive to take out China's Pacific Fleet. Wars can still be won.

It all depends on finding and sinking the Hangaozu. Nagumo gave the order, and all the planes were ejected and flew to the southeast. There should be a Hangao Zu there.

After the plane left the ship, Nagumo made a cup of tea. The damage management personnel on the Shinano, led by Arima, were still fighting the flames. An explosion can happen at any time. However, Nagumo's heart is like autumn water. He blew on the tea foam one by one. Now. He didn't care if Shinano exploded and sank, even if the Shinano was the largest aircraft carrier in all of Japan. As long as their own carrier-based aircraft can sink the Hangaozu. Then, a flurry of dominoes will fall in favor of the Allies.

Nagumo's calm mood infected the officers and soldiers. They fought hard to extinguish the fire. Because the Shinano learned from the experience of previous naval battles, it was specially equipped with an emergency fire control system for the whole ship. The fire was brought under control and finally extinguished.

Good news followed. Allied pilots finally found the Henkelzo. It used to hide in the rain clouds, but now that the wind has blown the clouds away, it has nowhere to hide. Nagumo felt like he had grabbed his opponent's shirt in a judo match, and now, it was his turn to use his moves.

The dive bomber pilots of the first attack wave were the essence of the Japanese naval aviation, and they had experienced a hundred battles and fought 20,000 nautical miles with the Shinano. Although there were Chinese fighters in the sky to intercept them and naval guns on the sea to defend them, they still hit two bullets under the leadership of the squadron leader, causing a fire. Han Gaozu, like the First Emperor, was finally paralyzed on the sea.

Although the attack was successful, the losses of the Allied pilots were also quite heavy. The gunners of the Hangohan Zu put up fierce resistance. The four air defense cruisers next to it turned into four porcupines covered in thorns. The extremely high rate of fire of the 40-mm cannon and the anti-aircraft phalanx were so successful that most of the Allied military aircraft were shot down by this kind of artillery fire.

The Japanese torpedo bombers failed to coordinate their attack with the dive bombers. After the bombers retreated, they arrived on the battlefield, a third of them were shot down by artillery fire, and nine torpedo planes dropped torpedoes, all of which were dodged by the Hencozu.

The second wave of dives did not achieve the expected results. The clouds covered the Henkelzu again, leaving it nowhere to be seen. When the Allied pilots found it again, they were suddenly hit by its fatal blow. Half of the planes were shot down, the rest were not hit.

If it had been before, Nagumo would not hesitate to strike again. But that was before, and Nagumo understood that things were far from simple, and the war was still very long, and he couldn't gamble all the planes in a single naval battle.

He gulped down the bitter tea and ordered the fleet to retreat. At the same time, he received information from the seaplanes: the Chinese fleet had also withdrawn north.

Nagumo headed for Truk Atoll in the south, and another Allied fleet passed by the side of the "Lan" and headed north at high speed to pursue the Chinese fleet.

It is another aircraft carrier force commanded by Vice Admiral Kondo Takenobu, and on the orders of Admiral Nagano Shufu, it is dedicated to capturing or sinking the wounded First Emperor.

The Santa Cruz Islands are getting farther and farther away. It was completely dark, and the shadow of the Black Ray of the island of Uru appeared on the starboard side of the fleet, with Allied troops stationed in Nauru and the Gilbert Islands to the east. Nauru is a peculiar island, densely covered with four-metre-thick phosphorus fossils of birds, which solved a large part of the needs of Allied agriculture.

Nagumo sent a telegram to the garrisons in Nauru and the Gilbert Islands, claiming that he had sunk four Chinese aircraft carriers, damaged four cruisers, and shot down 200 enemy planes.

"Let the defenders be happy. On this island, 5,000 kilometers from the Allies, the great victory of the navy will become the voice of heaven. He thought. Maybe one day, the Chinese pigs will set foot on the lands of Nauru or Gilbert, and it will be time for the defenders to do a good job. May their military luck last long. ”

The telegraph operator walked into his cabin and handed him a telegram: "General Kondo failed to catch up with the Han Gaozu because Chinese land-based fighters were already involved. General Kondo has already returned with an aircraft carrier fleet. ”

Nagumo asked the telegraph operator to retreat without expression. He didn't touch the newspaper. The Battle of Santa Cruz was not a victory, and the cost of sinking the First Emperor was not low. What's more: China's marine engineering industry will recreate a lot of the First Emperor, and who will sink them again in the Battle of Santa Cruz?

More importantly, counting the time, the Chinese Pacific Fleet is not far from here. The sinking of a 30,000-ton First Emperor did not seem to change the tide of the battle much. On the contrary, his own Shinano was wounded and lost its combat capability for a short time.

Nagumo Zhongyi, who had calmed down, thought more, and this time the jet fighters of China did not appear in the naval battle. It should be the same as the Sabre, the requirements for the aircraft carrier are very strict. Otherwise, I'm afraid that the outcome of this naval battle is not easy to say.

In the next naval battle, once the real main force of the Chinese Navy is encountered, will there be such a result? Nagumo Zhong didn't know how to answer his question at this moment. (To be continued......)