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At 10 o'clock in the evening, the second round of tactical bombing of Japan, Kyushu, Korea, and Ryukyu had just begun, and the aircraft carriers Fengxiang and Ruifeng were also rapidly heading east under the protection of seven warships. Yamaguchi Tawen stood at the window with a scared look on his face. He is not an immortal, he doesn't understand the prophet of the unservant, and it is a complete coincidence that he can avoid the sneak attack. As we all know, the eastern anchorage of Iriomote Island has a deep water and wide bay, which is an excellent anchorage that radiates the Philippine Sea and threatens the island of Taiwan. However, due to Japan's lack of financial resources, most of the money in the early years was spent on naval shipbuilding and Rabaul and other bases, and this anchorage was too close to Taiwan, so it was delayed in building anti-submarine nets. The Japanese Navy still remembers the Qingdao War vividly, and has always regarded the submarines of the Republic of China as a great enemy for several decades, but Taiwan is one of the three major submarine bases of the Republic of China Navy, and there are a total of more than 30 submarines deployed in the four bases around the island. Therefore, after entering the station, he learned that the number of submarines on the island of Taiwan was decreasing day by day, and he was always worried that he would be attacked at night, so he led the fleet to leave the anchorage at night, and also asked the battleships Matsushima and Itsukushima stationed in Naha to cooperate and maneuver.

Because the Japanese fleet was stationed for a short period of time, and because it needed to give priority to dealing with Guam, and because it was afraid of being caught by surprise, the Taiwan Garrison Command of the Republic of China Navy deployed only four submarines to reconnoiter the Ryukyus, and the main reconnaissance mission was to rely on reconnaissance planes during the day. Since the four capital ships sailed at night and returned to the anchorage before dawn, the reconnaissance planes thought that the four Japanese capital ships had been staying in the harbor all along. It was because of this negligence that the Fengxiang, Ruifeng, Matsushima, and Itsukushima avoided a catastrophe. Thinking of this, he was afraid that if the four ships were still at anchorage, they would have been sunk by the overwhelming Chinese planes that suddenly attacked him.

"Your Excellency, Lieutenant General, it's news from Tokyo." Takeo Shibata walked over with the telegram he had just received. He was Minoru Genda's classmate, but the two were diametrically opposed in their concept of aviation. The former believed that the range of the aircraft should be ensured first, so the armor could be sacrificed. And he confirmed that a larger heavy aircraft should be used. Stronger protection is needed. Eventually, the Japanese Navy adopted Minoru Genda's advice and used it on the Zero fighter, and he was almost sent to the Kure Town Guard Mansion because he was incompatible with the old thinking of the Admiralty. Fortunately, after Tsukahara 243 became the commander of the First Air Fleet, he found that he had a hand in aviation tactics, so he was transferred to the 2nd Air Force, which Yamaguchi had heard a lot, to serve as an aviation combat staff officer. "The time for China to submit its declaration of war is 8:25." Shibata Takeo smiled bitterly: "I have sent a seaplane back to Miyakojima to contact Matsushima and Itsukushima with the telegraph and new cipher on the island, and it is expected that they can meet at three o'clock in the morning." ”

In order to prevent the leakage of whereabouts, the wartime fleet generally does not use its own radio stations. Tonight's situation made Shibata even more careless. So not only did the password change, but also the army radio station on the island. "Eight twenty-five." Yamaguchi heard this time silently, and now everyone knows that the time when the first bomb fell on Sasebo was 8:32, which means that there is only seven minutes of reaction time on the day! Don't say seven minutes. It takes about an hour for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to receive the declaration of war and forward it to the Prime Minister's Office, before it is passed to the Imperial Palace, and finally to the Navy and other vital departments. Seven minutes! This is clearly a premeditated sneak attack!

Shibata Takeo continued with a cold face: "This is a telegram from I-33 Okayama Shaosa, he found at least thirteen warships in the Bass Strait, and it is determined that at least one of them resembles an aircraft carrier!" After saying that, he immediately pointed out the location on the chart: "If the judgment of the lower officer is not wrong." It should be the South Sea Fleet of China. Yamaguchi's heart was getting colder and colder, he didn't expect the opponent's sneak attack tonight to be so huge that even the fleet was dispatched. Is it an attack on the Yaeyama Islands? Or is it aimed directly at Okinawa? Or is it the main force that directly meets the general of the mountain? As for Mariana and Guam, he didn't think about it, first, it was too far away. Second, I am afraid that no one will go deep into the open sea to conduct a landing war before the coastal barrier has been officially breached.

"If we attack now, we will be able to return just in time for the second round of bombing in China. But judging by the intensity of the enemy's attack and the number of air raid aircraft reported from various places, this must have been a premeditated attack and prepared for a long time! Therefore, China must have done all the plans. It is believed that the air defense forces of Taiwan's major coastal cities, Shanghai, and other major coastal cities, will be on standby tonight. So even if it succeeds, it will reveal our position! Now for sure. It is very difficult for His Excellency Sasebo and Takasu Shiro to survive, and Yamaga will not be able to arrive until tomorrow evening. So in the East China Sea and the Philippine Sea, there is only our force. Shibata is worthy of being an excellent aviation expert, and he can still calmly analyze the gains and losses in the face of a sudden attack: "I'm afraid that Shina already knows that we are avoiding a sneak attack, so he will definitely let the fleet come to find us!" ”

Yamaguchi nodded and asked, "Then Shibata Daisa, what about your proposal?" ”

"Stand back and move towards Okinawa!" Shibata said without hesitation: "Our current position is within the radius of Taiwan's fighters, and if there is a battle here, the shore-based aircraft of China will quickly support it, and it will be a loss in terms of numbers!" Although it was a shameless sneak attack, I believe that there will be planes in Okinawa that will survive, and General Yamaga is also coming. Therefore, Shimokan suggested that destroyers should be sent to meet the Shina fleet at once and attract their main force to Okinawa, so that they could be supported by shore-based aircraft, and they could also rush to participate in the battle when General Tsukahara's zero battle was fought at noon. "The Zero War has a very long range, and now the First Air Fleet is rapidly returning to help, and the Zero War will be able to take off to Okinawa to participate in the war at noon tomorrow at the latest. In this case, even if all seven aircraft carriers of China's South Sea Fleet (including escort carriers) come, there is hope of victory. If the main force of the Nanyang Fleet can be defeated, then even the opening defeat can be recovered.

Shibata guessed correctly, shortly after the passage through the Bass Strait, the 23 fleet received an order to change the plan. Yang Qiu and the General Staff were still not worried about the Fengxiang and Ruifeng, so they decided to revise the plan and let the 23rd Fleet change its feint attack to a real attack, and seek an opportunity to sink the two aircraft carriers.

In order to seize Guam, Yang Guochang brought out most of the main forces of the Second Fleet, including two Sichuan-class aircraft carriers Sichuan and Guizhou, Dinghai and Ninghai battleships, Xi'an heavy cruisers, Wuhan-class heavy cruisers Wuhan and Changsha (after obtaining the French heavy cruisers, all domestically produced heavy cruisers of the Third Fleet returned to the Second Fleet), as well as five light cruisers of the Xiangjiang River, Fuchun River, Pearl River, Heilongjiang River, and Songhua River, the first three of which were all 10,000-ton Xiangjiang-class, and the last two were Tumenjiang-class. In addition, there are two Taishan-class, six Yongxing-class, and twelve Qinling-class destroyers, as well as two supply ships and eleven fast freighters. These freighters are the fastest ocean-going ships in China, with an average speed of more than 23 knots, and this time they are also deliberately light-loaded and accelerated. Therefore, in the face of this unexpected order, he was both excited and a little nervous, excited that he was finally going to face to face with the Japanese capital ships, but at the same time, the task of raiding Guam had to be carefully considered. Therefore, after careful consideration, it was decided to divide the troops, let the three heavy cruisers, the Fuchunjiang light cruisers, and six Qinling-class destroyers protect the fleet to continue to Guam, and lead two aircraft carriers, two battleships, four light cruisers, and fourteen destroyers to find and destroy the Japanese aircraft carriers.

"Telegram from Qingdao. The third round of bombardment is over, and the fourth is about to begin. In addition, the North Sea and Balkhash will depart in two hours. "At midnight, the main force of the 23 Fleet, sailing on the east coast of the island of Taiwan, received the second telegram. The one who brought the news was Lin Ruosheng, chief of staff of the fleet. He is a thin man from Guangxi, a graduate of the fifth phase of the Nanyang Naval Academy, who studied at the Greenwich Naval Academy in the United Kingdom, and is a new generation of officers in the navy. Served as captain of all ships, from destroyers to battleships, and also spent three years in the position of captain of an aircraft carrier.

"Haven't you found it yet?" Yang Guochang frowned, and it could be seen that the upper authorities attached great importance to the Japanese aircraft carrier, otherwise they would not have dispatched two Beihai-class ships to help. "Three hours ago, the telegram from Miyakojima was intercepted, but the Japanese army used a new code, and it was impossible to decipher it for the time being. The Keelung side has also been fully dispatched, but it is too dark for the reconnaissance planes to distinguish the sea surface targets. What is certain at the moment is that the Fengxiang and Zuiho should still be near the Yaeyama Islands, and the battleships Matsushima and Itsukushima are also rushing to converge. In addition to these four, there is one Furutaka-class heavy cruiser and two Agano-class light cruisers. I have already asked the Heilongjiang and Songhua rivers to rush to Miyako Island with four destroyers. ”

"Looks like they already know we're coming."

"I just asked someone to analyze the radio signal intercepted during the passage through the Bass Strait, which should have been sent by a Japanese submarine." Lin Ruosheng said: "We have a lot of troubles now, first of all, the air force damage report will not be available until at least tomorrow afternoon, so it is not yet known how many Japanese shore-based aircraft in the Ryukyus have survived." Judging from the distance, if the place of engagement is near Miyako Island, the Penghu Air Brigade can come to help, but if it is in the Ryukyus, it is difficult to say. Shan Fifty-six must be desperately rushing back, and by noon he should be able to send Zero Zhan to help. I think that's probably why the two Beihai ships were sent to help. After listening to the analysis, Yang Guochang snorted in his heart, the Zero fighter can help with a large range, but the 97 ship attack and the 99 ship explosion cannot, so the threat of Shan 56 is not big. What's more, the two Sichuan-class ships each had 36 Lightning fighters, and the two battleships and four light cruisers accompanying them had already improved their air defense systems and carried radio proximity shells for the first time. You must know that the latter has been banned from being used on land and along the coast for fear of being captured and imitated by the enemy.

"With the addition of deck duty officers, the level of night combat in the Japanese Navy is good. Arrange for a seaplane to return to Keelung, and tell them that all the reconnaissance planes in Keelung, Mawei, and Penghu will be scattered at five o'clock. Breakfast time was also advanced to four o'clock, and then the canteen prepared steamed bread and chocolate, it is estimated that we did not have time to eat lunch. ”

"Toot toot."

As soon as Yang Guochang was about to say that he didn't have time to eat lunch, the siren sound spread throughout the ship. couldn't help but take a look at it and said with a smile: "It's okay now, I can't even sleep peacefully." ”