When the naval resistance fleet re-entered the Banda Sea, it was like Mars jumping into a powder keg, and a great war broke out immediately.

The U.S. military was nervous, while the Japanese army had the initiative on the battlefield, but its spirit was not at all relaxed.

Since the U.S. military occupied half of Saipan, the Japanese Army began to push for it. Although the U.S. military was still unfamiliar with the battle to seize the island, with the support of almost endless artillery fire, the speed of progress still exceeded the Japanese estimate.

On the Japanese side, neither the army nor the navy expected that in less than a month, the more than 50,000 elite Japanese troops had suffered more than 70 percent casualties. The Japanese Army, which had always been arrogant, was already feeling the danger of annihilation at this time. Therefore, he constantly urged Yamamoto 56 to fight a decisive battle as soon as possible.

And for Yamamoto Isoroku, it was intended to continue to consume the supplies of the American army. But if Saipan is occupied by the U.S. military, then the U.S. Pacific Fleet will change from a state of restricted activity to complete freedom, and the Japanese Navy will lose the initiative in the campaign.

On the other hand, the naval resistance army's attack on the Baliban oil field had a huge impact on the Japanese army, far exceeding Li Guang's expectations. Again, there is a similarity in the thinking of the poor. This move by the Naval Resistance Force really hit the dead end of the Combined Fleet.

In the almost endless attacks by the Naval Resistance Army and American submarines, Japan lost a huge number of oil tankers, so much so that it was difficult to effectively guarantee even the fuel for the Japanese Navy.

The six oil tankers that were blown up by the naval resistance forces in the first attack on the Baliban oil field were the main forces supplying fuel to the main force of the combined fleet, and they were 50% of the capacity.

The huge Japanese Navy now lacks not only warships, not just pilots, but also supply capabilities. Its supply capacity, in particular, has been surprisingly weak. In the whole of Japan, the total tonnage of oil tankers is not even 200,000 tons. Even without interference. Japan's current capacity is only about one million tons of crude oil a year. And Haitang Kingdom now has almost 50,000 tons of oil tankers, although the large and small are not very decent, but there are really so many of them.

As a result, the Combined Fleet now has to be resupplied nearby, not daring to stay away from the Baliban oil field. As for the need for crude oil to be refined before it can be used as heavy oil to fuel warships, the current Japanese army simply does not care about it. Even among the Japanese generals, many people praised the quality of the fuel oil in the Bariban oil field, believing that it was excellent. There is no need to refine it at all, but don't you know that this is a fatal factor in the collapse of the Japanese Navy. The role of crude oil refining is not only to remove water and impurities, but more importantly, to remove volatile and flammable components.

In this case, Yamamoto Fifty-six is always three-headed and six-armed, and it is difficult to face many difficulties. Had to fight a decisive battle as soon as possible.

You must know that the amount of fuel for this sortie of the Japanese Combined Fleet is sufficient. There's even a little bit of storage. But even the most arrogant admiral in the Japanese Navy. Nor do they dare to hope that they will be able to annihilate the US Pacific Fleet in one fell swoop. Therefore, Yamamoto 56 still has to think in the long run, because the Baliban oil field has been bombed, I am afraid that it will be difficult to produce oil in three or two months. After this war, the Japanese Navy always had a little fuel reserves, and the fleet without fuel was a pile of scrap metal. The remnants of the U.S. warships could also toss the Japanese Navy to death.

So. Yamamoto Fifty-six was very embarrassed and had to change his plan and fight a decisive battle in advance.

In this situation, the Naval Resistance Army once again stepped into the Banda Sea. It became the fuse of the great war.

Although the naval resistance fleet only had so many warships, it was absolutely uncomfortable for the Japanese to be caught in a two-line attack. Therefore, Yamamoto Fifty-six's abacus was simple and clear, still concentrating the main fleet for a decisive battle, but also blocking the naval resistance fleet from going north. In terms of the use of military strength, it was the fighters of the Japanese Army that blocked the northward movement of the Naval Resistance Army, and the Japanese Navy was the Japanese Ninth Fleet led by Vice Admiral Onijima Gushige.

Shark Island is heavy, this is another name that Li Guang has never heard of. This person is quite special in the Japanese Navy, and it is not his command ability or his tactical style that he is special. Rather, he was a Japanese nobleman and had the title of baron, and his promotion had always been very close to the imperial family.

The Japanese Navy has a tradition of nearly 100 years, and it is not uncommon for generals to be in groups, and it is not uncommon for them to be unclear about the intelligence capabilities of the naval resistance forces, and in fact, the US military is also unclear. What makes it even more unclear to the US military and the naval resistance forces is that the Japanese navy is getting weaker and weaker, and how the Ninth Fleet has emerged.

Quite simply, the Japanese Navy's newly established Eighth Fleet after the Battle of Midway in '42 was crippled in a brutal war of attrition like the Battle of Kuah. But the little devil had a good face, refused to show his cowardice, and refused to admit that the Eighth Fleet had been disabled, so he still kept the Eighth Fleet on paper. In fact, the Ninth Fleet was formed by collecting the remnants of the Eighth Fleet.

To put it bluntly, this Ninth Fleet is actually a remnant of the Eighth Fleet, and it is just a little supplement. In fact, although the Japanese army has the number of the Ninth Fleet, it is called the Eighth Fleet in the name of the officers and soldiers, and even in official documents.

When the Maritime Resistance Army stepped into the Banda Sea, the Japanese reconnaissance plane had already discovered the traces of the Maritime Resistance Army. This point did not surprise Li Guang at all, the devil was beaten twice, and then he couldn't figure out the comings and goings of the Naval Resistance Army, it was too much. Moreover, the length and width of the Banda Sea are only two or three hundred kilometers, and the sea area is narrow, so it is not surprising that the Japanese reconnaissance planes can make some discoveries with a little effort.

However, there was another reason why Li Guang was wandering in the Indian Ocean and waiting for Admiral Nimitz to repeatedly urge him to enter the Banda Sea -- Li Guang asked Admiral MacArthur of the US Army to send air power to escort him.

Mai Dashuai is arrogant, but he is a cheerful person. In just two or three days, MacArthur mobilized more than 60 warplanes to escort the naval resistance fleet. Among them, two elite pilots provided by the Naval Resistance Force to the US Army as instructors are among them.

If it is said that Li Guang entered the Banda Sea for the first time, the Japanese army did not take precautions. The second time they entered the Banda Sea, the Japanese army was definitely prepared and had enough time to mobilize the fleet. Coupled with this naval defense sortie, due to the underestimation of the mission, the battleship Atlantic was not brought. Of course, it is not entirely underestimated, after all, Zheng Xuechang led a battleship and several destroyers in the huge Bay of Bengal, and his strength was already so weak that it could not be reduced. In the case of insufficient troops, it is very necessary for Li Guang to delay for a few days.

In the first battle, it showed the effect of Li Guang's delay of a few days.

The first to start this battle. Not the aircraft carrier of the Naval Resistance Army, but the US Army Aviation. These people were also familiar with this sea area, and they were even more familiar with bombing the surrounding islands where the Japanese army was entrenched.

During the first bombing mission, the U.S. military collided with a fighter plane that had just been mobilized by the Japanese army.

In a melee between the two sides, the U.S. military killed nearly 20 Japanese fighters at the cost of losing four fighters and one bomber.

At the beginning of the Pacific War, the U.S. military, especially the U.S. Army Air Corps, was no match for the Japanese at all. However, unlike the carrier-based aircraft of the US Navy, the fighters of the US Army have always been no worse than the Zero fighters of the Japanese army. It is no worse than the Japanese Army's one-style land attack. Although the maneuverability of the P38 and P47 fighters with rough skin and thick flesh was not as good as that of the Japanese fighters, they were too strong and too resistant to beating. The cutting-edge P51 Mustang fighter did not fall behind in the face of the only maneuverability advantage of the Japanese fighters, and even far exceeded it. Especially with the help of pilots of the Naval Resistance Army for half a year. The U.S. military grasped the weaknesses of the Japanese fighters, which were in the hands of rookies who had grown up. It has become a sharp weapon for slaughtering Japanese fighters.

U.S. pilots are now less stage frightened when fighting Japanese naval aviation. Not to mention the weak Japanese Army Aviation. So it's no surprise that the results were brilliant.

During the day on 6 September, a total of three air battles took place in the waters off the Banda Sea. Two of them were fought between the U.S. and Japanese forces. The aircraft carrier fighters of the Maritime Resistance Army fought only a small battle, killing four Japanese fighters and six torpedo planes, and none of them were damaged.

Two elite second lieutenant pilots of the Naval Resistance Army who participated in the US military battle, Hu Yi and Dao Shui Jun. Shine in the day's battles. The high-performance fighters and two or three thousand hours of flight experience are really effective, two sorties, two people killed a total of nine Japanese fighters, plus the previous record. In one day, both of them became ace pilots.

The escort of US fighters has relieved a lot of pressure on the naval resistance forces. In response to this, Li Guangpai sent a telegram of praise to Admiral MacArthur.

It should be mentioned that in this battle, what is less legendary is that the seaplane of the Naval Resistance Army rescued a US pilot who had parachuted, and this young guy Li Guang looked familiar to him--- this person was US President George H.W. Bush Sr. decades later, and now the second lieutenant pilot.

On the Japanese Navy's side, Vice Admiral Sameshima Gushige did not make a bad calculation, and although the Japanese fighters failed to achieve results during the day, they were able to grasp the movements and reality of the naval resistance fleet.

After nearly two years of war, the Japanese Navy really knows the importance of aircraft carriers. For example, Shark Island has a heavy weight, and he no longer dares to lead his Ninth Fleet to fight against the Naval Resistance Army during the day.

Of course, the strength of this Ninth Fleet is indeed a bit pitiful. According to the establishment, he should have two or three heavy cruisers. However, with the decisive battle of Yamamoto 56 imminent, it was simply impossible to allocate heavy cruisers to the Ninth Fleet. As a result, Sameshima had only one light cruiser, the Kawauchi, three mine squadrons, and fourteen destroyers. However, what slightly made Sameshima have some face is that the performance of these 15 warships is not bad, and they can be regarded as a combat-effective unit in the Japanese Navy.

Vice Admiral Sameshima Gushige has been mixed in the navy for many years, and although he has been promoted all the way through the family strength and the power of the imperial family, he also knows that he should give full play to his advantages and avoid fighting with aircraft carriers during the day, so he chose to fight at night. The command is in the middle of the rules, and the strategy is reasonable.

Although Shark Island was careful enough, the fleet implemented strict light control during the voyage. But he didn't know that the research of the Naval Resistance Army in night battles had already surpassed that of the Japanese army. Although the current fighters of the Naval Resistance Force do not have the ability to fight at night, the reconnaissance effect at night is no worse than that during the day, especially on such a clear and rainless sea, and it is impossible to miss the huge fleet of the Japanese army.

When the Japanese fleet sneaked close to the 100-kilometer defensive circle of the Naval Resistance Fleet, it was immediately discovered by a reconnaissance plane equipped with a radar for the sea. So, on this night, the naval resistance fleet maintained a distance of one hundred and fifty kilometers, hiding from the devils on the not wide sea.

Shark Island Gu searched and searched, and even boldly scattered the destroyer, but after a busy night, there was no gain. The only gain was that the cat's eye observation post on the battleship seemed to see the shadow of an airplane in the sky, and the sound of an airplane engine from time to time added countless doubts to the Japanese army.

As soon as the light of day dawned, Sharkjima Guzhong ushered in the destruction of the Ninth Fleet. In less than 30 minutes, more than 70 fighters of the Naval Resistance Force completed the first wave of strikes.

In this wave of strikes, the tactics of the Naval Resistance Army appeared on the battlefield for the first time, and they immediately shone brightly. The little devil used the destroyer's maneuverability to dodge torpedoes, and the tactics of dodging bombs almost completely failed in the face of the tactics of hitting and dropping bombs.

Theoretically, the speed of the bomb dropped by the tactics of fighting is about the same as that of a fighter plane. In the face of the bombs dropped by the pilots of the Naval Resistance Force at an ultra-low altitude of nearly 300 kilometers per hour, the destroyer, which had a speed of more than 30 knots, was as slow as an ant, and there was really no way to survive except to become a target.

The officers and men of the most elite destroyers of the Japanese army wanted to cry without tears, and the bullshit torpedo tactics they had practiced for many years were useless in the face of this new tactic. And the devil's anti-aircraft artillery fire, which is not intensive, is still effective against extremely slow torpedo planes, but against bombers with a speed of 300 kilometers per hour, it is really beyond its ability.

The Naval Resistance Army dispatched a total of 52 dive bombers, paying the price of one wounded and one crashed, and cleanly sank or damaged all 15 Japanese warships.

At eight o'clock, the group of planes of the Maritime Resistance Army took off again, and the second wave of strikes followed. At this time, the Japanese fleet was already in a state of collapse and scattered and fled, but no matter how much it ran, it could not escape the radar of the reconnaissance planes.

The victory came so easily, and it was a great pleasure to win.

In less than ten o'clock, the entire Japanese Ninth Fleet was wiped out. The battleships with a displacement of 30,000 tons or 40,000 tons were all played. For the Japanese Navy at this time, it lost four or five percent of its displacement at once. Moreover, these ships are all main combat ships, which can account for almost 10% of the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army. The losses are not insignificant.

The naval resistance had an additional result in this battle: the Japanese navy lost a lieutenant general. However, in the second half of the fourth or third year, the Japanese army lost a lieutenant general, which was no longer so shocking, and the Japanese navy was numb to this.

Someone speculated: Will the little devils continue to hang the Ninth Fleet on paper and create a Tenth Fleet?

This battle was a landmark battle for the Naval Resistance Force, and the aircraft carrier sat firmly on the throne of the king of naval warfare. It's no longer a concept, it's tangible. (To be continued......)