251 "Stick-fighting" and "gift-giving"3
On the 9th, more than 30 Japanese fighters continued to bomb Wake Island. Naturally, this news could not escape the ears and eyes of the submarine of the Maritime Resistance Army.
This was the moment of the naval resistance army's attack, and Li Guang had been waiting for this moment for three days, and during these three days, he was most afraid that the naval resistance army fleet would be discovered by the Japanese army.
According to the itinerary of the Japanese fleet, it was almost already at Wake Island. That night, all six warships of the Sea Resistance Army pulled anchor and set sail heading straight for Kwajalein Atoll.
At 6 a.m. on the 10th, the fleet of the Maritime Resistance Army had reached a distance of 250 nautical miles from Kwajalein Atoll.
The Japanese again took off 37 warplanes, 27 of which began to bomb the forts of the defenders on Wake Island, in an attempt to disrupt the defensive artillery fire of the American troops and prepare for the Japanese landing. Another 10 aircraft bombed Wilkes Island (a small island attached to Wake Island), causing the ammunition depot to explode and igniting ammunition from nearby artillery positions.
The Naval Resistance Fleet continued to rush towards Wake Island. Two hundred and fifty nautical miles is still a bit far for the P40 fighters equipped by the Maritime Resistance Army. Although it is already within the combat radius, there is not much time to stay in the air.
The closer you are to Kwajalein Atoll, the greater the risk. At this time, the whole army has strengthened its vigilance, and fighter planes are ready to take off at any time.
At 11 o'clock in the afternoon of the 10th, 37 Japanese planes returned home.
At this moment, the Maritime Resistance Army fleet is less than 200 kilometers away from Kwajalein Atoll. The Japanese still have not been able to detect the naval resistance fleet.
Leading an aircraft carrier for the first time, Li Guang and Captain Huang Zhonghua were nervously concerned about all changes. Be ready to respond to emergencies. The speed of the aircraft carrier Liberty Dragon has increased to 28 knots at this moment, and it can take off at any time.
The weather was very bad, the wind on the ocean was four or five degrees, and it was rainy. Although this kind of weather is very beneficial to the concealment of the naval resistance fleet, it is not easy for the pilots of the naval resistance army. The advantage is that the fighters of the Naval Resistance Army do not need to take off from a very long distance, and the pace of the offensive can be accelerated. The disadvantage is that it is the first time that the pilots of the Naval Resistance Force have fought in this kind of weather. Especially in the weather of four or five levels of sea wind and rain, Li Guang really didn't have much confidence in his heart.
Liu Gensheng led the pilots and mechanics to inspect the fighter planes many times, for fear that something would happen.
This was the most critical moment of the sneak attack, and the aircraft carrier Liberty Dragon was on full alert for several hours, and the curved course was all hiding under the cumulonimbus clouds. This combat technique was learned from the British Navy, and it was quite effective. At about 10 a.m., the observation post apparently heard the roar of the propellers of an airplane, but did not detect the Japanese plane. The Japanese planes also failed to discover the fleet of the Naval Resistance Army, and at that time, not only Li Guang, but everyone's hearts were raised to their throats. At that moment, Li Guang almost couldn't bear it anymore and ordered the fighter plane to take off. At the pre-war meeting, it was clear to all the officers and men that the key to the success or failure of the battle was only one point -- the Japanese fleet could not be spotted by the Japanese fleet before the fighters took off.
At 11:30 a.m., Li Guang gave the order to attack, and the success or failure was here.
With Li Guang's order, the aircraft carrier Liberty Dragon began to adjust its course and began to accelerate against the wind, and then one after another fighters took off in the rain. It is not that the pilots of the Naval Resistance Force have not taken off fighter planes in rainy weather, but today is a battle, which is completely different from the usual training. Many pilots are still quite nervous.
Fortunately, the take-off of the fighters was quite smooth, and seeing that all the fighters took off smoothly, Captain Huang Zhonghua breathed a sigh of relief, but he began to worry about the landing again. It may not be difficult to take off from an aircraft carrier aircraft, but landing in the rain is quite dangerous, especially for bombers, and the pilots are not very proficient.
This was the time when the Japanese troops in Kwajalein Atoll were at their weakest, and it was also the time when the fighter planes had just landed and the devil pilots were most tired. Such an opportunity is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the USS Liberty Dragon. Being able to avoid an air battle is undoubtedly a great advantage for the Naval Resistance Army.
Kwajalein Atoll is not only an important garrison of the Japanese Navy's Fourth Fleet, but also the Japanese Army's Sixth Base Headquarters, Sixth Base Headquarters, Sixth Signal Corps Headquarters, and Submarine Ship Headquarters. The commander of the Fourth Fleet was Vice Admiral Narumi Inoue. The commander of the 6th base area, Major General Yukichi Yashiro.
Such a place should be regarded as a fairly important stronghold of the Japanese army, and it is true. On this archipelago, there are four or five thousand Japanese garrisons, strong fortifications, anti-aircraft artillery, and a strong defensive force.
Moreover, in addition to the fleet and garrison, the deployment of Japanese aviation here was not weak, there were thirty-seven fighters of various types, and twenty-four seaplanes.
Especially at a time when the Japanese army was preparing to expand its sphere of influence in a big way, it was even more heavily assembled. But at the moment there are not many ships in the Kwajalein Atoll, only two destroyers, a few small warships, six large tankers.
According to this force, the little devil still knows how to watch the house. But in fact, if Li Guang knew the purpose of these warships left by the Japanese army, he would have felt that something was wrong. The few warships left behind by the devils were precisely for the purpose of occupying the Gilbert Islands, and the atolls previously hidden by the Maritime Resistance Army were also the destinations occupied by the Japanese army. The six large oil tankers were used by the Japanese army to resupply the main fleet that attacked Pearl Harbor.
Originally, the staff officers of the Naval Resistance Army came up with a plan, which was very close to the tactics of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor - to take advantage of the fact that all the Japanese ships were in the harbor and make all-out air strikes to wipe out the Japanese troops in the lagoon of Kwajalein Atoll.
This idea is not bad, but Li Guang is worried about his own combat effectiveness, especially the pilots on the Liberty Dragon. You must know that the pilots of the 24 dreadnought bombers have only been in use for more than a month, and the technology is not quite proficient.
If you have too many goals, you risk mistakes. If the Japanese planes could not be destroyed at the first time, then the fleet of the Naval Resistance Army would be under the threat of Japanese fighters. The Naval Resistance Army is a "gift", not to spell out the old roots. Therefore, Li Guang chose the moment when the main force of the Japanese fleet attacked.
Although there were many surface ships of the Japanese army, they were all destroyers and light cruisers, which was not at all a concern compared to the powerful battleship Atlantic, not to mention the aircraft carrier Liberty Dragon. Li Guang seems to have been overly careful.
But as a general, Li Guang definitely didn't want to fight to the death with the Japanese army at the moment when the war had just begun. Although the naval resistance forces were not afraid, there was no need to risk a naval battle between warships with the Japanese army. There was no need to risk the bombing of shore-based Japanese aircraft.
Therefore, after Li Guang was careful, he was even more careful. In the specific battle, the Naval Resistance Army adopted a two-step battle plan, first bombing Japanese planes and antiaircraft artillery, and then cleaning up the warships of the devils. Anyway, as long as the sneak attack on Kwajalein Atoll is successful, it will be considered a gift to the Americans.
As for whether the results of the battle are brilliant enough and whether they can clean up the main force of the Japanese fleet, we still need to wait and see.
As the fighters flew together, Li Guang's heart tightened. The Liberty Dragon aircraft carrier of the Maritime Resistance Force has been in operation for only 10 months, the fighter planes have been trained on board for only five months, and the pilots have been in contact with dreadnought dive bombers for no more than two months. It can be said that all of them are novices, although Li Guang's requirements for training are extremely strict, and even during the voyage, the soldiers are trained several times a day in various subjects such as tactical deduction or refueling with anti-aircraft bombs.
But after all, this was the first aircraft carrier operation, and Li Guang was very worried about any accidents.
Wake Island, 11:30 a.m.
At the same time that the fighters of the Naval Resistance Army took to the air, the Japanese fleet led by Rear Admiral Kiooka Dingmichi had already begun to attack Wake Island.
The Japanese fleet was not small, consisting of 3 light cruisers, 6 destroyers, 2 patrol boats and 2 transport ships. In addition to the fleet, another 450 marines were carried.
Major General Kioooka had attempted to take advantage of the pre-dawn darkness to land and occupy Wake Island in one fell swoop. The Japanese thought that with such a strong force, they would be able to capture Wake Island in one fell swoop. However, in the early hours of that day, strong winds blew and huge waves emptied, and the Japanese ships that had smuggled to the surface of Wake Island could not be unloaded, and the marines could not be transferred. After all kinds of hardships, the sky was already bright, and the Japanese army had to fight against the water, and Major General Kioooka Dingmichi decided to carry out a forced landing during the day.
Just as the Naval Resistance fighters at Kwajalein Atoll took off, the Japanese attack on Wake Island also began at 12 o'clock.
The U.S. forces were ordered by Cunningham, the commander of the island, not to open fire after the Japanese entered the firing range. When the Japanese ships were four miles from the coast, they took the lead in firing at the US batteries on the shore, but the US Marines still did not fire a single shot, and the US Marines on the island did not open heavy fire until the four Japanese ships entered a distance of 43O0 meters.
If Li Guang is allowed to look at it, the Japanese army, Rear Admiral Kiogang Dingdao, is also a little too naval, and he does not know how to land at all. It is simply foolish to dare to rush forward without temptation and without prior artillery strikes. In this regard, it is definitely inferior to the amphibious landing tactics of the Maritime Resistance Army.
Although the Japanese air raids caused great damage to the US artillery and positions, it was absolutely impossible to destroy the defense forces of an island of several square kilometers with just more than 100 sorties of fighter planes. The devil doesn't know where the confidence comes from, thinking that the Americans at this moment are lambs to the slaughter.
In the U.S. Army, if it is the elite, there are only the Marines. Kio Gang Dingdao encountered the most elite Marine Corps in the United States. Not only were these American troops not intimidated by the Japanese air raids, but they had enough courage to fight in the anger aroused by the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.
Kio Gang Dingdao was so unlucky, and the Japanese marines he led were the scum of the Japanese army.
After a night of turbulent seas, the Japanese soldiers were already exhausted. Encountering the sudden shelling, the soldiers of the Marine Corps panicked, and the Japanese fleet, which had been infected, also panicked. The elite of the U.S. military performed quite well, and they were able to stabilize their minds on the battlefield for the first time, and soon two Japanese warships were hit.
The cruiser "Yubari," the Japanese flagship, was hit by several shots, and Rear Admiral Kioooka Chomichi knew that his landing battle would definitely be in vain, so he had no choice but to flee.
Until this time, Rear Admiral Kiooka Dingdo did not know what was going on in the old nest.
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