After completing the attack on South Tarawa Island, the USS Liberty Dragon recovered its fighters and began to gallop north.

How to sail north? Isn't this the direction back to Pearl Harbor?

That's right.

On the evening of the 4th, the Maritime Resistance Army attacked again. This time, the target was Kwajalein Atoll.

It is necessary to absorb the knowledge of others, but not to absorb it rigidly, but to use it flexibly.

The Navy's attack on South Tarawa Island was to take off fighters in the middle of the night and recover them in the early morning. The advantage is that it is easy to sneak attack.

But the attack on Kwajalein Atoll was 2 p.m., and it was 6 p.m. when the attack was completed and it was already 6 p.m. In this sea area, it was already late afternoon at six o'clock in the afternoon, and the sky was already dark. It was the Japanese army that transferred more fighters, and night was the best cover for the naval resistance army. The advantage is that it is easy to detach.

This is clearly a guerrilla warfare at sea, and Li Guang is very satisfied. This tactic is not unusual, and Major General Halsey has been doing this kind of thing for the first two or three months. The combat plan drawn up by the US staff officers was also made by the Naval Resistance Force, and after adding some new thinking, it became the current way of fighting.

As in yesterday's attack on Tarawa Island, after a crisp air strike, the Naval Resistance Force turned south again.

Give the dummy? No.

The Liberty Dragon traveled thousands of miles, not only to make a noise, but to let the Japanese army lead the object of suspicion to the US Navy, and let the Japanese devils suspect that it was the US Navy's aircraft carriers who did a good thing.

Thus the forces of the Japanese Navy were transferred northward.

In this way, the pressure on Nauru will be lessened.

In the early morning of the 6th, the Liberty Dragon reached its final destination, four hundred kilometers south of Nauru Island.

The Liberty Dragon took off again.

Still before the Japanese could react, the Liberty Dragon recovered the fighter and turned to the southeast again.

In just three days, the Naval Resistance Army attacked three Japanese bases in the Pacific Ocean. Now in front of the Japanese generals is a math problem, where is the next target of the naval resistance army?

Leave it to the little devil with a headache. The Naval Resistance Force did not have any special objectives in the first place, and military training was the main purpose. Blowing up Nauru's docks is just an add-on.

In the past few days, the Navy's anti-Japanese forces have been able to maneuver freely, and the pilots have also received initial training, and Li Guang is very satisfied.

With an establishment of more than 800 personnel and more than 40 arms departments for a warship like an aircraft carrier, it is quite difficult to refine so many arms departments into one.

And it is even more difficult to refine the aircraft carrier and the three Haji-class air defense destroyers into a whole.

After three battles, the Liberty Dragon aircraft carrier combat area has a faint elite feeling.

How about a force. As the general of this army, Li Guang felt the deepest. I think that at the beginning, when the Liberty Dragon was just fully equipped, Li Guang was not only a commander on the battleship, but also a role similar to the chief engineer. Whether it's communications or engineering. Or tube loss, signal. Sonar. Busy all day long in every corner of the battleship.

Li Guang has always advocated making the best use of talents. Each has its own responsibilities. But when he couldn't recruit the right talent, he had to try his best to fill every shortcoming on the battleship. While training troops, Li Guang also instilled his concept of war in the officers and men at every post.

And now, Li Guang can basically give orders freely. The staff officers were able to make relatively thorough operational plans in accordance with Li Guang's intentions, and the combat units were able to accomplish their tasks.

Looking at the battle losses of the pilots in the three battles, Li Guang was even more satisfied. Three battles. Not a single fighter was damaged, not a single person was injured. If anything, it was just a few small holes in the plane, which were quickly repaired by the technicians.

The fighter is the spear of the aircraft carrier. The spear is invincible. The Flying Squadron has shown its cold light. After being honed on the battlefield, the rookie has become an iron-blooded warrior.

Satisfied, satisfied.

Li Guang, who was satisfied, had no idea how much this small-scale military operation of the Maritime Resistance Army had brought to a major battle that was being fought in the Coral Sea.

After Li Guang left Pearl Harbor, the US Pacific Fleet Command received information that the Japanese were going to attack Port Moresby.

Where is this Port Moresby located?

In fact, this port is stuck at the key point of the return journey of the Liberty Dragon of the Maritime Resistance Army.

The island of New Guinea faces Australia across the sea, forming a triangular sea area in the northeast of Australia - the Coral Sea. Port Moresby is located in the southeast of New Guinea, facing the Coral Sea.

If the Japanese captured it, then the fighters could cross the Coral Sea and attack the Australian mainland directly. Of course, the Coral Sea and the Formaad Strait will also be deterred by Japanese fighters, and this sea area will become the control area of the Japanese devils.

From another point of view, the Japanese army also needed to occupy this place. At this time, the northern part of New Guinea had been occupied by the Japanese army, but there was a large mountain in the middle of the island of New Guinea that ran through the east and west, and the Japanese army could not cross it.

If you want to occupy Australia, you must first occupy Port Moresby. Even if you don't occupy Australia, you need to occupy it if you want to cut off Australia from the United States.

In fact, this operation of the Japanese army was the precursor to its southward expansion strategy. When the Japanese base camp has not really decided the overall strategy of the Japanese army for the next step, it is also a way to grasp the initiative on the battlefield. Anyway, whether or not to fight Australia and other Yamamoto 56 and the base camp are clapping, for the following Japanese Navy and Army generals----- the best choice is: I will fight first, so that the US army will be exhausted. That is what the military family said: "Don't be led by the enemy's nose, but lead the enemy's nose." ”

The Fourth Fleet under the command of Vice Admiral Narumi Inoue was the main force in this military operation. But in fact, the main force at sea was the Fifth Air Force under the command of Major General Tadaichi Hara. However, as a man of culture, Lieutenant General Inoue Narumi is not suitable for charging into battle, and he has to sit firmly in the Chinese army, the port of Rabaul on the island of New Britain.

Inoue Narumi still sits in the position of commander of the Fourth Fleet after suffering several defeats, in addition to his relatively strong network, which has a lot to do with his occupation of Rabaul, the most important core fortress of Japan in the South Seas. The natural conditions of Rabaul are much better than the original Truk base of the Japanese Navy. Rabaul was already the forward base of the Japanese invasion of the south at this time.

Since the beginning of the war, among the several fleets of the Japanese Navy, the Fourth Fleet of Inoue Narumi has suffered the greatest losses, losing almost seventy percent of its main surface ships. In terms of tonnage, although Inoue Narumi's Fourth Fleet still has more than half of it, the Fourth Fleet, which originally had little money, does not have a few capital ships at all. It was still Yamamoto who saw that Lieutenant General Inoue was too weak and sent some more strength. That's how to launch this military operation.

Now let's take a look at the battle plan formulated by Lieutenant General Narumi Inoue.

The first army captured the island of Tulagi. This is a small island in the Solomon Islands, which is a brick on the door frame into the Coral Sea. In fact, the Solomon Islands, which stretch for thousands of miles, are all bricks on the door frame of the Coral Sea, but the difference with this brick is that more than 300 troops of the US army occupied it. Since the Americans occupied, they had to fight, this is the logic of the Japanese Navy.

The 2nd Route Army, attacking the troops of Port Moresby.

The Third Route Army, the force that escorted the attacking forces in Port Moresby. A light aircraft carrier Xiangfeng serves as the main force.

Fourth Route Army, an aircraft carrier. A mobile unit consisting of two heavy cruisers, six destroyers. It should be noted that one of the six destroyers is a famous ship - the Shiyu. This is the second auspicious fortune of the famous Japanese Navy. However, the Pacific War had only been fought for half a year, and the prestige of the Shiyu had not yet become a household name. With this Shiyu, it is worth looking forward to whether Yuan Zhongyi's life is strong enough.

Lieutenant General Inoue Narumi's brain is really powerful. With such a small force, the troops were divided into four ways. Historically, Inoue Narumi did the same, but the difference is that the mobile forces of the fourth route are two aircraft carriers.

Nimitz, on the other hand, received information before the Japanese army was dispatched. The 300 U.S. troops on Tulagi Island slipped away early.

As a result, Inoue Narumi's Tulagi Raiders easily occupied Tulagi Island on May 3.

On the same day that the Japanese occupied Tulagi Island, the Naval Resistance Army attacked South Tarawa Island.

Inoue Narumi's judgment was that the attack on Tarawa Island was a diversionary move by the US military. It shows that the US aircraft carrier is not near the Coral Sea. More favorable to the actions of the Japanese army.

Military theorists, judgment is brilliant. You must know that the actions of the Naval Resistance Force were not discussed with the US military in advance.

On 4 May, the USS Lexington and the USS Yorktown, two aircraft carriers, of the US Task Force 16, which had been in full formation, immediately launched an attack under the leadership of Rear Admiral Fletcher. The place where these two US aircraft carriers hid is famous in the history of the Pacific War, that is, Guadalcanal, or Kuah for short. It's not that far from Tulagi at all. Both are an island in the Solomon Islands, except that Tulagi Island is smaller. And the island of Kuah is big.

The Americans were bad, and only after the landing of the troops of the little devils did they launch air strikes.

The Americans' aircraft carriers finally opened the meat. Two large aircraft carriers dispatched more than 90 warplanes to chase and attack one Japanese destroyer and two supply ships in turn. Destroy the devil's ship, then the little devil on the island will be alone.

Even if they were alone, the American pilots did not let go, so the Japanese landing force on the island of Tulagi was subjected to heavy air strikes.

The American pilots had a great time, and in any case sank three or four Japanese warships or supply ships.

The blow was really enjoyable, and more than 90 fighters struck three rounds.

According to the post-war statistics of the US military, the total hits were about fourteen bombs and seven torpedoes.

With such a result, there is simply no way to calculate the hit rate.

The ammunition consumption is too great. It is said that the amount of ammunition and gasoline consumed is worth more than the sunken Japanese ships.

How much, Li Guang doesn't know. But the results of the battle were sent to Admiral Nimitz, who received an assessment: "The results of the battle do not match the consumption of ammunition." ”

The Americans, who have always had a lot of money, don't care about what ammunition is consumed at all. Nimitz, commander-in-chief of the US Pacific Fleet, can be distressed and commented like this, one can imagine how much ammunition the US pilots squandered.

The Freedom Wheel aircraft carrier of the Maritime Resistance Force, which requires a consumption of about 100,000 US dollars for a full-deck attack, which means that the bombs used by the Maritime Resistance Army are all modified from artillery shells by themselves, not purchased. If you buy an 800-kilogram armor-piercing bomb, it will cost about $4,000 for one piece.

The American pilot was happy, and Inoue Narumi also knew.

It is said that at this time, Inoue Narumi should have known that his battle plan had been known by the American ghost animals, otherwise how could it be so coincidental that the ghost animals on Tulagi Island retreated, and there were American ghost animals aircraft carriers to ambush them.

It's a pity. This well-read lieutenant general really wants to win a battle. The name of the often defeated general is really unpleasant.

Therefore, Inoue Narumi decided to continue fighting.

I have read a lot, and Inoue Narumi also knows Sun Tzu's Art of War, thirty-six strategies.

The real is the virtual, and the virtual is the real.

Inoue Narumi talked about the art of war, but she couldn't figure out which direction was the main force of the U.S. military.

God knows, Nimitz and Li Guang kept it secret, and they didn't tell Li Guang that the U.S. military was going to meet the Japanese army in the Coral Sea. And the actions of Major General Fletcher of the US Army are simply a manifestation of immature command.

Originally, because the U.S. military cracked the intelligence of the Japanese army, the U.S. military took the lead. Fletcher's crazy attack simply leaked the strength of the US military. This was not told to the Japanese army plainly. Is there a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Coral Sea?

The unintentional actions of the U.S. military and the Naval Resistance Force caused difficulties in judgment for Inoue Narumi, who guessed that this was the U.S. military attacking the west. Or is it a two-way pinch attack?

I read a lot of books, and I know a lot of nouns. But Inoue Narumi's judgment is seriously inadequate, and she can't figure out whether to attack from both sides or attack from the east and west. I can't figure out that the main force of the U.S. military is over there.

Scheming and unstoppable, talking on paper is the signature of Lieutenant General Inoue Chengmei.

Inoue Narumi immediately sent a telegram to Yamamoto Isoroku. The situation here is reported. Ask Yamamoto fifty-six to decide.

What does Chief Yamamoto do? Strategic. This kind of tactical triviality will be left to the first staff officer of the Combined Fleet, Kuroshima Kameto, to study.

Inoue Narumi was not idle, and summoned a group of cadres to hurry up and study.

At this time, a skinny guy with glasses entered the gloomy war room and spoke: "It's very simple, the American ghost beast does not have the courage to fight our army head-on, and try to use such a small trick in vain. The main fleet of our army was diverted in an attempt to prevent our troops from occupying Port Moresby. ”

As soon as the naval staff officers said in their hearts, who is this, their tone is so big, they dare to draw conclusions as soon as they enter the door. What's even more infuriating. This guy was wearing an army uniform.

When the wooden door of the war room was closed, everyone got used to the light, and they saw clearly that this was the staff officer Masanobu Tsuji sent by the army.

At this time, the elite of the navy are not happy, you are an army officer who is here to make a lot of nonsense, you simply don't know the height of the sky.

So, a new round of quarrels began.

Why is Masanobu Tsuji here? This man is known as one of the Showa staff officers and played a considerable role in the Japanese army's campaign to capture the Philippines. And the Bataan death march was instigated by Masanobu Tsuji behind it.

The war in the Philippines was over, and the American army had surrendered, and Masanobu Tsuji came to Rabaul.

Regarding Japan's strategic southward advance, although the Japanese army was not very interested, there were also a group of people in the army who supported it, including Masanobu Tsuji, who was known as the jackal's staff officer. However, the capture of Port Moresby was also quite important for the Japanese Army. The mountains of central New Guinea hindered the Japanese infantry, but they could not hinder the American fighters. U.S. fighter planes bombed when they had nothing to do, and the Japanese Army was worried about it, and the days were long, and the little devils were annoying. So the army also urgently needs to capture Port Moresby. Therefore, Masanobu Tsuji was sent to Rabaul by Yamashita Fumi, the commander of the Japanese Southern Army.

At present, the US military force in the Pacific Ocean is divided into two parts, the first part is the US Navy headed by Admiral Nimitz, commander of the Pacific Fleet, also known as the Central Pacific Theater. The other part is the Western Pacific Theater, which is dominated by the US Army and headed by General MacArthur. Now, Admiral MacArthur, who lost the Philippines, is staying in Port Moresby.

Originally, there were two ways to occupy Port Moresby. The first is the dispatch of the navy to attack from the sea. The second was the occupation of the Army from northern Papua New Guinea, over the mountains, and then from behind Port Moresby.

As a result, the army looked at it, and by the way, a big mountain in central Papua New Guinea that runs through the east and west is too high, with the highest peak of more than 4,000 meters. It is located near the hot equator, and there is snow on the top of the mountain.

Moreover, even the local natives have not had the experience of climbing this mountain.

The army is not stupid, and no one wants to go through the mountains and mountains to fight.

Inoue Narumi just hesitated, and Masanobu Tsuji hurriedly came over. The capture of Port Moresby was planned by Masanobu Tsuji, and this was just the beginning, Inoue Narumi actually stopped, he was worried that Inoue Narumi would stop the attack, this was to urge the navy to attack.

In Masanobu Tsuji's opinion, the Japanese navy will not fight, it is all a bunch of cowards. The army does not have so many problems, regardless of how many fleets the US army has, just divide the troops and kill them. The Imperial Japanese Army was invincible, and the ghost animals were no match at all.

Masanobu Tsuji's words are actually to give Inoue Narumi a strong courage.

Rear Admiral Toshisaku Nabeshima, chief of staff of the Fourth Fleet, actually agreed with Shi Zhengxin's judgment. But the problem before the Fourth Fleet is. Now the Japanese army has three goals.

First, the devils on Tulagi Island are still waiting for supplies.

Second, how to solve the problem of the US military bombing South Tarawa Island?

Third, knowing that the US military fleet is eyeing the enemy, how should the mission of capturing Port Moresby be carried out?

Masanobu Tsuji is a war maniac, and although he doesn't know that it was the Maritime Resistance Army that attacked South Tarawa Island, he has an accurate eye.

The judgment that the U.S. military did not have enough strength to fight a decisive battle with the Japanese army actually had quite reasonable factors. In fact, the Americans did not have the confidence to fight the Japanese in the Coral Sea, and the idea was indeed to attack the Japanese fleet by sneaking in, so as to delay the Japanese occupation of Port Moresby.

Look it right. It does not mean that the battle plan proposed by Masanobu Tsuji is acceptable to the Fourth Fleet.

Masanobu Tsuji's method is that the imperial army on Tulagi Island will be thrown there, anyway, the island is full of mountains, and if you drill it casually, there is no way for the American ghost animals. As for the U.S. military attacking the fleet on South Tarawa Island. It doesn't matter. Anyway, this whole area is the sphere of influence of the Great Japanese Empire, and the US military will definitely not occupy it. Alone occupies a small island. Americans are definitely looking for death.

Therefore, Masanobu Tsuji proposed that two aircraft carriers and heavy cruisers, destroyers, and so on should all be combined to form a single fleet. Then escort the landing force to capture Port Moresby. If the US aircraft carrier dares to come out, it will severely beat the ghost animal.

Let's say, Masanobu Tsuji's idea should actually be considered the best solution. It's a pity. He met Narumi Inoue.

In fact, Masanobu Tsuji's plan has a huge flaw, that is, what if he can't win? You must know that if the aircraft carrier loses, won't the fleet transporting infantry be looking for death?

However, whether it is Narumi Inoue, who has been defeated again and again, or Vice Admiral Takeo Takagi, a coward who cherishes warships, the commander of the fleet. Or Major General Tadaichi Hara, commander of the Fifth Air Force, who was eager to continue his meritorious service, did not think that he would lose the battle.

Lieutenant General Inoue Narumi agreed to leave Tulagi Island alone. However, he did not agree to allow the US aircraft carriers to harass the Japanese naval strongholds, and the US aircraft carriers could ignore the attack on South Tarawa Island, which was not the point. What if it was an attack on the Truk naval base? The Truk Naval Base was the heart of the Japanese army.

The true characteristics of Inoue Narumi began to be revealed, he understood everything, but he didn't know how to make trade-offs, and he wanted everything to be perfect.

I want to do my best in everything, but I can't do anything.

Inoue Narumi planned this, the first way, send the light aircraft carrier Xiangfeng to patrol around Tarawa Island, and then send more fighters to Tarawa Island. The second way is to escort and occupy Port Moresby with mobile forces centered on the aircraft carrier Zuihe and the main force of heavy cruisers.

Masanobu Tsuji knew that Inoue's division of troops was absolutely wrong, but no one in the navy listened to him. In his heart, Masanobu Tsuji despised even more that the Japanese Navy would not fight.

In this way, the battle plan was determined.

The two Japanese aircraft carriers began to act separately that night.

Let's talk about the light aircraft carrier Xiangfeng, which ran all night and one day, rushed nearly 500 nautical miles, and finally reached the vicinity of Tarawa Island.

Patrol reconnaissance has not yet begun, new orders have been received.

The Marshall Atoll was attacked again. So the Xiangfeng continued to the Marshall Atoll.

At this moment, the Liberty Dragon has completed its attack and has already headed south overnight.

In this way, the Xiangfeng went north, and the Liberty Dragon went south. However, the two fleets did not have to worry about meeting each other. Because the Maritime Resistance Force is sailing on the east side of the line between the Marshall Islands and Tarawa Island, the Xiangfeng is sailing on the west side.

Li Guang's U-turn attack was originally intended to mislead the Japanese army and to guide the little devils to the north, in the direction of Pearl Harbor.

Although the main force of the Japanese army was not caught, a light aircraft carrier was also mobilized, which is not bad. It should be said that the actions of the Naval Resistance Army inadvertently and objectively helped Major General Fletcher.

But things changed very much on this night, after the Maritime Resistance Army attacked Kwajalein Atoll.

After thinking about it for a day, Kuroshima didn't come to any conclusions, but one thing he was sure of - Inoue was absolutely wrong. So he immediately reported it to Chief Yamamoto, and Yamamoto Fifty-six learned that his old friend had made a mistake--- so he wanted to do everything. Immediately reminded Inoue Narumi.

Vice Admiral Inoue Narumi was indecisive, and as soon as he heard the instructions of Chief Yamamoto, he immediately transferred the aircraft carrier Shoho back to join the aircraft carrier Zuizuru.

The Xiangfeng had no choice but to rush to the Coral Sea again. (To be continued......)

PS: 6,000 words big chapter. Asking for a monthly pass.