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Soon after the main force of the Combined Fleet led by Yamamoto secretly left Harima Shoal, Shikoku Island, where they had been hiding for four days, a naval listening post set up in the Zhoushan Islands intercepted a telegram sent to Umezu Yoshijiro. In just one hour, with the help Chinese of computers and super-decoders, the Strategic Intelligence Bureau, which had already penetrated the code of the Japanese Navy, deciphered the movements of the fleet and quickly sent them to the Admiralty and the Forward Command.

This urgent telegram is tantamount to sounding the clarion call for an all-out attack.

Shortly after landing on Iheiya Island, bombers taking off from Shanghai and Ningbo, protected by fighters from Kumejima and the 122nd Aircraft Carrier Squadron, carried out several rounds of intensive bombing of the three islands east of the Ryukyus, namely, Kitato Island, Minami Daito Island, and Oki Daito Island in the Daito Islands. Under the cover of the air force's bombing, the escort aircraft carrier Zhou Yafu, which moved to the west of Dadong Island, first dispatched four destroyers to carry out a close artillery bombardment of the island, and then used naval cavalry helicopters to quickly send 270 elite marines to the island, setting up a defensive line and opening up positions.

The Daito Islands were the most important air base in Yamamoto's plan to support the Ryukyu Islands, with more than 200 fighters and bombers deployed on the three islands, including 30 on Okidaito Island, the smallest of which were stationed on Okito Island, and an army brigade stationed there. In the face of the 'sea cavalry' helicopter that suddenly appeared on the sea level, the Japanese troops defending the island were caught off guard, and they had never seen a helicopter, and they tried to shoot with rifles, but in the face of the fire of the helicopter machine guns and the gunboat planes that arrived later, they were killed more than 600 people in one go. By 1 p.m., as the marines who landed on the island went inward, the destroyers, four 'Sea Lords' and 22 'Sea Hawk' seaplanes that had arrived from Ningbo again sent 1,500 marines to the island, and gradually took control of the situation. At the same time, the 122 aircraft carrier battle group, which has changed its board number, appeared in the ocean north of Miyako Island. In addition to the three escort aircraft carriers, disguised as fleet carriers, they were accompanied by 12 destroyers and 20 landing ships / transports. In order to confuse Japan, the navy also deliberately placed some tanks and trucks on the decks of the transport ships in a posture of continuing to land on Beidaito Island and Nandaito Island.

The importance of the Daito Islands is self-evident, and when he learned that the Chinese Marines had quickly landed on Okidaito Island, Yamamoto was extremely anxious and immediately ordered Tsukahara 243's 1st Air Force to go to the Daito Islands, and he led the four battleships of the 1st and 2nd Fleets to approach Anmi Oshima in an attempt to attack Iheya Island at night. Protection of army reinforcements. But he didn't know that at the same time as he gave the order, he had always thought that the 21st Aircraft Carrier Battle Group of the Chinese Navy, which had gone to pursue the Nagumo Fleet, had gone straight to the Dadong Islands under the leadership of Pan Duheng, and the aircraft carrier battle group that appeared north of Miyako Island was not the '12th Aircraft Carrier Battle Group' that he thought it was at all. In fact, the 12th Carrier Battle Group had moved 370 nautical miles east of Miyako Island and blocked Nagumo's return lane.

A big net. It's closing fast.

15:30 p.m. Four 'Yaksha' dive bombers, lined up in a fingertip formation, flew quickly to the southeast. In the cockpit, Lei Shaobao kept looking down, looking anxious.

In order to completely wipe out the main force of the Japanese Navy, this time the Admiralty not only mobilized hundreds of ships. Thousands of planes, and many ace pilots, including him, were transferred back to participate in the war. Of course, I am happy to be back in my favorite position, and I am even happier to be happy. As soon as I came back, I got the mission of reconnaissance with bullets. Reconnaissance with ammunition is a new tactic summed up by naval aviation after several naval battles. In the past, reconnaissance planes (most of the aircraft carrier reconnaissance planes were replaced by dive bombers) did not carry bombs in order to maintain flexibility and range, but after actual combat, everyone found that although the reconnaissance planes with bombs would affect the reconnaissance range, they could ensure the maximum suddenness of the attack.

The surprise attack must have been the happiest, but unfortunately, because the 121 Carrier Strike Group had to be disguised as the 21 Carrier Strike Group from Guam, the reconnaissance had to be conducted to the east and then to the southwest, so that the reconnaissance planes looked like they were flying from the direction of Guam. Doing so will not only allow Nagumo's fleet to make a misjudgment, but also allow Yamamoto to continue to 'misunderstand' and cover the 12th Carrier Battle Group. So when he set off, two 250-liter drop fuel tanks were hung under the wings, so that only 250 kg of armor-piercing shells could be mounted under the belly. In his experience, a bomb of this level can only 'tickle', so if you want to sink the Japanese aircraft carrier with your own hands, you need to go back and change the bomb once.

The problem is that it's almost four o'clock and it's going to be dark in two hours, so it's hard to make sure that there will be another wave of attacks when we get back. So as soon as he set off, he increased the throttle, hoping to discover the Nagumo fleet early and win time for a second attack. "Captain, the fuel gauge." The navigator in the back kindly reminded him to pay attention to the amount of oil, but he ignored it: "I know, pay attention to the search." The navigator pouted. He knew Lei Shaobao's thoughts, so he had to keep an eye on the fuel gauge to avoid a forced landing on the sea when he got it.

Time passed little by little, and Lei Shaobao became more and more impatient. Nagumo was worthy of being a navigation expert of the Japanese Navy; after being attacked by an air raid in the early morning, he used fighter planes to quickly expel all kinds of long-range reconnaissance planes that were approaching, and disappeared into the Philippine Sea with his fleet. In order to find him, in the past seven hours, the navy has dispatched more than 100 long-range maritime reconnaissance planes from Guam and Taiwan, and even the 121 aircraft carrier battle group has dispatched three groups of reconnaissance planes. Lei Shaobao looked at the fuel gauge, he couldn't hold on anymore, and sighed: "Prepare to call the fleet and send the fourth batch of reconnaissance planes." ”

"Okay." The navigator was also a little frustrated, and reached out to turn the radio. Just as he was about to contact the fleet to send the fourth batch of reconnaissance planes, under the clouds in front of him, a sudden flash of silver light flashed.

"It's Zero!"

In the navigator's excited shouting, Lei Shaobao also saw the 6 Zeros on guard under the white clouds in front of him. At this time, the altitude of the 'Yaksha' formation was 6,500 meters, and the Japanese fighters only had a cruising altitude of 5,000 meters due to the lack of high-altitude pressurization equipment, so no threat was detected. But Lei Shaobao didn't dare to be careless, after all, the other party was a flexible fighter, so he carefully controlled the plane to continue to pull high, and used the clouds to search south little by little. Seeing that the distance to Zero Battle was getting closer and closer, several black smoke finally appeared on the sea surface at this time. But after the navigator took a second look, he realized that something was very wrong. "Captain, how come there is only one aircraft carrier? You see, the stern of the ship is charred black, as if it had been bombed. "On the sea, it was the stern that was hit in the early hours of the morning. The aircraft carrier "Flying Eagle", which caused it to be unable to take off and land aircraft. But it is strange that, in addition to the Flying Eagle and several escort ships, the other two aircraft carriers are nowhere to be found.

"Stop the attack and continue to Made! Discovered, discovered! Attention, wait for them to come up and attack. Lei Shaobao also realized that something was wrong, but as soon as he wanted to avoid it and continue to reconnoiter south, the 6 Zeros in the distance suddenly turned around and climbed quickly to his side. Dispatch. Report the coordinates, tell others not to come, and continue to search to the southwest! Lei Shaobao shouted loudly, his eyes fixed on the approaching Zero Zhan, waiting for the opportunity.

The Navy once captured several Zeros in Guam. Through test flights, I have already gotten acquainted with the characteristics of this fighter. So Lei Shaobao was not in a hurry to dive, but deliberately let Zero Zhan climb up first. Wait until it gets close before attacking. This is due to the fact that there is a big problem with the engine of the Zero. Once it came up, it was unable to follow the Yaksha for a high-speed dive. So the higher it climbs, the more Yaksha can use the telling dive to throw a larger distance, thus reducing the chance of being attacked when it changes.

At 15:46, Lei Shaobao sent the news back to the fleet. deliberately waited for Zero to climb to a height of 6,000 meters before pushing the operating lever, grazing the opponent's left side, and attacking the injured 'Flying Eagle'.

The 6 Zeros on the opposite side were clearly inexperienced. When he saw 'Yaksha' swooping down towards the aircraft carrier from his side, he immediately rushed after his ass and dived together. But the strong gasping of the engine forced the Japanese pilot to slow down and terminate the dive at a large angle of attack. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Lei Shaobao led the formation to take the measure of not opening the speed brake first, and quickly dived to 2,500 meters and then opened the speed brake, and after quickly widening the distance from Zero Battle, he aimed at the stern of the injured Flying Eagle.

At this time, the "Flying Eagle" and the escort ships had already received early warning, and they were constantly carrying out S-shaped evasive maneuvers on the sea surface, and all kinds of anti-aircraft guns were also firing wildly at the "Yaksha". "No growth!" Faced with the inferior density and quality of the Japanese Navy's anti-aircraft guns, Lei Shaobao snorted coldly and rushed to a height of 500 meters before pulling the trigger.

"Boom!" The power of the 250-kilogram armor-piercing projectile was relatively poor, although the suddenness increased, Lei Shaobao's bomb also accurately hit the injured stern, and another 'Yaksha' also hit the port side, but both bombs only penetrated the aviation deck and exploded in the hangar. Due to the loss in the early morning, the planes on the 'Flying Eagle' had already been transferred to the other two aircraft carriers, and the oil pipes and other aircraft were cut early, so the two bombs did not cause much damage, on the contrary, the aircraft carriers were running faster and faster. "Full throttle! Put on full speed! Climb, roll climb! Back at high altitude, they were tricked. Lei Shaobao didn't have time to get annoyed, stepped on the accelerator suddenly, and after avoiding Zero Battle, who shot at him, he quickly climbed, hoping to take advantage of Zero Battle's weak high-altitude ability to evade pursuit.

Just when he was fighting with Zero Zhan, Zhang Zhaoyang had already received the news. "Only one?" Immediately the bridge became gloomy. Everyone knows that the Nagumo fleet has three aircraft carriers, but what about the other two? Have you already divided your troops and left secretly, or are you playing the old suspicious soldiers of Wake Island again?

"It's impossible to leave quietly." Zhang Zhaoyang shook his head, he didn't believe that Nanyun would leave an aircraft carrier and escape by himself: "Nanyun must have received the news that Okidato Island was landed by us, and he must have known that the '12 Aircraft Carrier Battle Group' appeared north of Miyako Island." If he escaped, he would have to cross the Rota Island reconnaissance circle and go west from the volcanic islands, which would cost him ** hours on the voyage. Since Yamamoto has already come out, he must also want to go back immediately, so if he takes a detour, he can't catch up with Yamamoto's speed at all. ”

"I agree, I also think it's Nagumo learning the tactics of Wake Island, Nagumo must be within our attack radius! It is also possible that planes have already been sent. Feng Guoru agreed with Zhang Zhaoyang's opinion and believed that he should attack immediately in case Nanyun took the lead.

"Let's go! Can't afford to delay! ”

"Each ship left a dive squad and asked the dive bombers who had completed the reconnaissance mission to return immediately. After the group departed, the fighters flew in front and expanded the search with a radius of 100 kilometers from the Flying Eagle, and then asked nearby reconnaissance planes to cooperate. After repeated consideration, Zhang Zhaoyang chose a more moderate tactic, leaving a part of the attack aircraft group as a reserve.

At 16 o'clock, the Guizhou took the lead in taking off 32 "Lightning" fighters, 24 "Yaksha" dive bombers, and 24 "Osprey" torpedo planes. Subsequently, the two Beihai-class aircraft carriers also quickly released 22 'Lightning', 36 'Yaksha' and 30 'Osprey'. In this way, together with the third batch of reconnaissance planes that returned after completing the mission, he still had 38 Lightnings, 28 Yakshas, and 14 Ospreys in his hands, just in case.

Zhang Zhaoyang guessed correctly, Nanyun did learn the tactics of Tsukahara 243 in the Battle of Wake Island, and used the injured 'Flying Eagle' as bait to deceive the Chinese Navy. But he forgot that when he was on Wake Island, the US military lacked forward reconnaissance planes, and now his position was within a radius of hundreds of reconnaissance planes in Taiwan and Guam. So when he learned that the Flying Eagle had been attacked, he immediately ordered the plane to be released. However, since the Hayabusa and Dragon Phoenix were carrying the combat aircraft of three aircraft carriers at this time, the release process was somewhat chaotic. At this time, Nagumo, who had already changed his flagship, received an important note on the heavy patrol of the Myoko, and a reconnaissance plane reported that "150 nautical miles northeast, several battleships, with a speed of 28 knots, are sailing west." Nagumo was overjoyed by this discovery, but when he asked the reconnaissance planes to identify whether there were aircraft carriers in the fleet, the pilots panicked and reported that they had been intercepted by dozens of fighters, and then cut off the news.

Although the reconnaissance plane was shot down, Nagumo was even happier, because it showed that there were a large number of fighters escorting the fleet over the fleet. In addition, when Lei Shaobao attacked the 'Flying Eagle,' it also appeared from the northeast, so Kusaka Ryunosuke and other staff officers unanimously agreed that what the reconnaissance plane discovered must have been the '21st Aircraft Carrier Battle Group.' In fact, however, what the Japanese reconnaissance planes discovered was the 211 battleship formation summoned by Zhang Zhaoyang, and the 24 Jian-8 "Tianquan" fighters and 16 "double-headed Jiao" interceptors of the Air Force on Rota Island escorted them to join the 12 aircraft carrier battle group.

At 16:27, when the last 97 ship left the deck, Nagumo determined the target of the attack, and 103 fighters rushed towards the '21st Aircraft Carrier Fleet' of the Chinese Navy in the northeast.

Just when the Japanese planes flew in the wrong direction, the Guizhou Air Wing, which took off first, also pounced from the northwest.

"Reconnaissance plane!"

At 4:45 p.m., the first shouts to be heard from the destroyer Shiyu, and three Chinese Navy "Harpoon" anti-submarine patrol planes suddenly appeared in the rear of the fleet at an extremely low altitude. Without waiting for the Shiyu, which was dragging behind, to open fire and intercept, six 550-mm Halberd aviation torpedoes were dropped at the same time...... (To be continued......)