PS: The second update is delivered, asking for a monthly pass.

Nine o'clock was an important moment for both the Japanese army and the US-Tang coalition forces.

The generals of the US-Tang coalition are waiting for news from the front. According to the calculation of the voyage, at about 8:40 a.m., the fighters of the Naval Resistance Army led by Liu Gensheng should have arrived at the location of the Japanese aircraft carrier formation. The first fleet of the US military should also reach the combat area.

However, in the vast sea, even if there are coordinates, it is not easy to find the Japanese aircraft carrier formation, not to mention that the Japanese aircraft carrier formation is also moving at the moment.

The commanders had done what they were supposed to do, and Spruance even risked an hour to magically keep the U.S.-Tang forces within their own combat radius. But at this time, it depends on the level and luck of the pilot. Even if he is as calm as Major General Spruance, there is nothing he can do at this moment except to ask God to bless.

It's like a gambler buying and leaving. The generals of the US-Tang coalition knew that they had bought the right size. It's a pity that your own fleet is like a hand that opens a gambling cup, and you can't always touch the gambling cup, and this anxious mood really makes people feel anxious.

At nine o'clock, the US-Tang coalition received shocking news.

At about 6 o'clock, the US task force released 18 reconnaissance planes. At more than eight o'clock, the three aircraft carriers of Nagumo Tadashii's fleet --- Akagi, Kaga, and Shozuru had already been found.

At Li Guang's request, the reconnaissance area was expanded. After nearly an hour of extensive reconnaissance, eight water reconnaissance planes equipped with radar provided by the British army played a great role, and they discovered two aircraft carriers led by Tawen Yamaguchi. In the post-war assessment, Li Guang asked Nimitz to urgently transfer British reconnaissance planes, and this suggestion was rated as the most critical node in the Battle of Midway.

The news shocked Nimitz and Li Guang.

It was really five, and the Japanese army actually dispatched not four aircraft carriers like in history, but five aircraft carriers. The information transmitted by the reconnaissance plane was very certain that it was definitely not a modified aircraft carrier. It's a large aircraft carrier.

The disparity in strength and combat effectiveness made several generals nervous. Five ships, this number is completely out of the psychological expectations of the United States and Tang. Admiral Nimitz's estimate of the Japanese aircraft carriers was three, but he was prepared to deal with four Japanese aircraft carriers. But now the results of the reconnaissance are that the Japanese army does have five aircraft carriers. If you cook a meal for four people, but five guests come.

Although everyone was drumming in their hearts, they had to send the arrows. The battle still has to go on.

The Japanese army did dispatch five large and medium-sized aircraft carriers.

The two ships of the First Air Force, the Akagi and Kaga, all took part in the battle, as in history.

The Zuizuru and Shozuru of the Fifth Air Force, which were wounded in the Battle of the Coral Sea, were injured in the Battle of the Coral Sea and did not participate in the battle at all. But a lot has changed due to the gradual fermentation of the butterfly effect. The Shozuru did not take part in the Battle of the Coral Sea. Of course, he was not injured, so he naturally participated in the Battle of Midway. In fact, the intelligence of the US military is also very crumbling, and the pilots of the 17th Task Force led by Major General Fletcher will also make false reports about their combat exploits. In the Battle of the Coral Sea, the U.S. military believed that the Japanese had lost a light aircraft carrier, the Xiangfeng, and a large and medium-sized aircraft carrier, the Zuizuru. But in fact, due to the last wave of attacks, the American pilots dispersed their combat power on the Zuihe and the heavy cruisers escorting them. Therefore, although the Zuihe was seriously injured, it did not sink at all. Now it has been towed back to the Japanese mainland and is in the process of emergency repairs.

Major General Tabun Yamaguchi of the 2nd Air Force. In the Battle of Ceylon lost one aircraft carrier Soryu. But due to the fact that in the Battle of the Arabian Sea in four years. The Japanese battleship Kirishima was sunk, and the Hiei was heavily damaged. Because in addition to the shells of the battleship Pacific, the Hiei was hit by several dexterous bombs (not armor-piercing), the superstructure was almost completely blown up, and several main guns were also destroyed. The main guns of the battleship could not be built in a year and a half, so the Japanese converted the battleship into an aircraft carrier. The Hiei itself can reach a speed of more than thirty knots and be converted into an aircraft carrier. The difficulty is actually not that high. In this era, the technical content of battleships was higher than that of aircraft carriers, the cost was also higher than that of aircraft carriers, and the status of the Japanese Navy was also higher than that of aircraft carriers. Originally, this transformation was hotly debated within the Japanese Navy. Yamamoto had already seen the inevitable start of war in the Japanese Navy in '41, and there was an urgent need for additional warships that could be quickly assembled. Therefore, against public opinion, this transformation plan was decided. A new aircraft carrier has been added to the Japanese Combined Fleet.

The armored aircraft carrier Hiei was installed after the attack on Pearl Harbor, so it was only training for half a year and did not participate in any battles at all. Coupled with the special feature of this aircraft carrier--- it has powerful armor, which the Japanese Navy considers a secret weapon.

The battleship Pacific of the Naval Resistance Army, which was injured at the same time as the Hiei, had been renovated for more than a year until this time, and was still under intense construction on the slipway. No matter how hard Li Guang tried, the naval resistance army's shipbuilding capacity was far worse than that of Japan, and far inferior to Japan's efficiency.

However, the Maritime Resistance Force also has its own advantages, as long as the United States has industrial products, they can basically buy them. Japan, on the other hand, relies on its own production.

The intelligence agencies of the US military did not know about the newly installed aircraft carrier Hiei, and it was only now revealed in the eyes of the US reconnaissance planes. The US military and the naval resistance forces did not know anything about this aircraft carrier, and they did not know the characteristics of its equipment at all, and they did not know anything about its combat effectiveness.

Although the Japanese army dispatched five aircraft carriers, the US-Tang coalition was surprised. But the most critical thing at this moment is that the U.S. military does not know that the Yorktown was discovered by the Japanese army.

For the Liberty Dragon of the Naval Resistance Army, nine o'clock is also a critical moment. Because the Liberty Dragon was discovered by the Japanese army forty minutes after the Yorktown was discovered by the Japanese army, it was also discovered by the Japanese reconnaissance plane.

Why was the Liberty Dragon of the Naval Resistance Army discovered by the Japanese reconnaissance planes, instead of the two aircraft carriers of the 16th Task Force of the US Army?

The reason is simple. Spruance's two aircraft carriers were heading south at speeds of more than thirty knots. And the Freedom Dragon of the Naval Resistance Army did not dare to run at a speed of thirty knots in the middle of the battle. Because after several times of practice, Captain Huang Zhonghua and the crew of a dry ship have confirmed one thing, the aircraft carrier Liberty Dragon can run 30 knots, but it will break down. Failure in battle was a really fatal thing, so Huang Zhonghua only dared to keep his speed at twenty-five knots. That's it, a two-hour cruise. The Liberty Dragon has already opened up twenty kilometers from the Enterprise and the Hornet.

Because of this, the Liberty Dragon became the second aircraft carrier to be discovered by the Japanese army. The U.S. military does not know about this, nor does the naval resistance army.

Evaluate the reconnaissance achievements of both sides: At nine o'clock, the reconnaissance achievements of both sides of the battle were still dominated by the US-Tang coalition. The US-Tang coalition discovered all five large aircraft carriers of the Japanese army, while the Japanese discovered only half of the aircraft carriers of the US-Tang coalition. However, there is an implicit disadvantage in this, that is, it is easy for the Japanese army to speculate that it will be attacked by US aircraft carrier fighters. However, the US-Tang coalition did not know whether its aircraft carrier was discovered by the Japanese and whether it would be attacked by Japanese fighters.

Until this time. The US military's attack on the Japanese aircraft carriers has never stopped, and the US military has lost nearly 100 fighters, and it has still not been able to cause even the slightest damage to any of the Japanese aircraft carriers.

In addition to lamenting that the spears of the US military are not sharp enough, he really can't find other words to comment on. This situation is almost identical to the Battle of Ceylon and the Battle of the Coral Sea. Those two naval battles. The Japanese army is all because of intelligence, because of reconnaissance. Lost the first move. But because of the lack of armor-piercing standing spears in the British and American armies. It was turned over by the Japanese army. Although history tells Li Guang that the U.S. military won a great victory in the Battle of Midway. But history has changed too much, especially since the Japanese army dispatched not four but five aircraft carriers. Li Guang was worried that the Battle of Midway would evolve into the Battle of Ceylon and the Battle of the Coral Sea.

The evolution of the battle situation began to become more complicated, and whether it was Li Guang, Major General Fletcher or Major General Spruance, they had to respond immediately.

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Nine o'clock. Li Guang was the first to make a decision, and immediately released all the fighters on the Liberty Dragon, targeting the two aircraft carriers of Tawen Yamaguchi.

This decision made it so that eight fighters on board the Liberty Dragon had to unload their bombs. Hang up a sixty-gallon drop fuel tank.

Looking at the charts, the staff officers easily calculated that the distance between the Liberty Dragon and the two aircraft carriers in Yamaguchi Tawen was already more than five hundred kilometers, which exceeded the combat radius of the P40 fighters. After more than ten minutes of tossing. The last batch of fighters of the Naval Resistance Army, a total of 20 fighters of the three types, all took off.

At this point, the Liberty Dragon no longer had a single fighter to escort it, and its self-defense capability could only rely on anti-aircraft artillery.

At nine o'clock, the fighters of the Naval Resistance Army led by Liu Gensheng and the fighters of the 16th Task Force of the US Army had not yet begun to attack the Japanese aircraft carriers. Li Guang did not know the fate of the three Japanese aircraft carriers. But he is very clear about the crux of the matter, if he can't get rid of the two aircraft carriers of Yamaguchi Tawen as soon as possible, then even if the US-Tang coalition has four aircraft carriers, it will not necessarily win. It is a disadvantage to take the lead, it is dangerous to have no fighters to escort the Liberty Dragon, but compared to the current situation, everything can be put back.

The first striker, the last striker is controlled by others. Li Guang absolutely did not want to see the Japanese fighters flying overhead, and he reacted passively. Between six and seven o'clock, Spruance delayed the take-off of the fighter, so to speak, Spruance was taking risks, but there was a rational element of risk. However, it has been several hours since the start of the war, and it is too much to expect that the Japanese reconnaissance planes will not find themselves, and how dare Li Guang pin his victory or defeat on illusory luck.

With a long military career, Li Guang already has his own military creed. Issuing this order also showed Li Guang's ruthless side, to be ruthless to the enemy and to himself.

There is no gain if there is no loss. Although every commander likes to fight with certainty, you can't be completely sure in war, and taking risks is a must.

Discovery is both annihilation. Whether it is for the interests of the Naval Resistance Force itself, or for the interests of the Allies. The best option at the moment is to strike.

War is a calculation and a calculation, and at the same time it is an adventure and a gamble. Take the core combat power of the Maritime Resistance Army - the Liberty Dragon as a bet. This is the decision made by Li Guang at this moment. He understands the gains and losses very well, and it is precisely because he understands the gains and losses more deeply that he made this decision.

Nine o'clock. Rear Admiral Spruance made the same decision, flying his only eight torpedo planes and sending eight fighter escorts to escort them. The target was also Yamaguchi Tawen's Second Air Force. You must know that none of the US fighters have attached auxiliary fuel tanks, and Spruance's order means that both torpedo planes and Wildcat fighters are all out of the combat radius. Theoretically, if there is no delay of a little time, the torpedo machine can barely return home. In war, this ideal state does not exist at all, so the move is completely risky. What is even more dangerous is that at this time, not only the Liberty Dragon, but also the Enterprise and the Hornet, the three aircraft carriers have a total of only twenty-eight Wildcat fighters to escort them.

At nine o'clock, Rear Admiral Fletcher refused to release the planes, believing that the aircraft carrier without the protection of the fighters was too dangerous. Rear Admiral Fletcher has already lost the USS Lexington in the Coral Sea, and for whatever reason, if he loses another carrier, his official hat will not be guaranteed. He had to wait for the fighters to return before delivering a second wave of strikes.

Three commanders with three choices, and Nominally Major General Fletcher is still the supreme commander among the three, but in fact his orders are very weakly binding. And Major General Fletcher did not give orders to Spruance and Li Guang.

In this moment of crisis, Nimitz took complete trust in the front-line generals, and he did not give any specific orders, only to indicate that the fighting continued. Although the words were light, but the significance was extremely significant, without the certainty of victory, Nimitz bet on a total of four aircraft carriers of the US Army and the Shanghai Resistance Army.

Afterwards, Li Guang admired this very much. If he had been sitting in Nimitz's position, it is difficult to say whether he would have directly interfered with the command.

Li Guang has always wanted to build the Naval Resistance Army into an ideal army with competent officers in each post. In fact, however, Li Guang had to intervene in the specific construction command of each branch of the armed forces. It is not that Li Guang thinks that he is outstanding, but that the Naval Resistance Army really lacks qualified officers.

Although the focus of the development of the Navy's resistance is the navy, in fact, it is the three officers of the army who are most qualified for their duties. Yang Weiwu's fighting in Madagascar was crucial for the Maritime Resistance Army, which was the foundation of the Haitang state. But in fact, Li Guang only had to grasp the progress and make suggestions.

As for Su Qing's battle in Burma, Li Guang simply did not give a word of instruction, and Su Qing did not fight badly. As for Bao Gang's housekeeping task in Tanggang, Ceylon, Li Guang was even more relieved.

For the navy, especially the aircraft carrier formation, Li Guang wanted to let go, but he was not at ease. Therefore, Nimitz can let his generals play freely, but Li Guang may not be able to do it.

On this day of the battle of the country, at nine o'clock, Li Guang stud all the fighters of the Maritime Resistance Army. Nimitz Stud took four aircraft carriers of the US Army and the Don Army.

(Li Guang: If I don't give a monthly pass, I regret it.) (To be continued......)