From the end of August to the beginning of September 1940, around Guam, a small island with an area of only 549 square kilometers at the crossroads of the southwest Pacific Ocean, the Chinese and Japanese navies fought each other. In this gladiatorial fight, the two sides were evenly matched. On the one hand, on the first day of the war, it lost six battleships, two aircraft carriers, thousands of aircraft, and was defenseless. After the other side successfully attacked and landed on the island, the plan was flawed due to the accidental damage of two aircraft carriers. Because of this flaw, Marianas' air supremacy has always been firmly controlled by the Japanese army. However, whether in terms of national strength, maritime transportation capacity, total naval tonnage, number of warships, or aviation superiority, as China's navy and air force increase its dispatch of forces to Guam, the balance is gradually tilting in favor of Beijing. Interestingly, in this dispute, the original owner of the island was left behind by both sides. The United States of America is full of muscles, but its international status is not much better than that of China and Japan, and on the contrary, it has frequently lost opportunities due to isolationism. Because of a major strategic miscalculation, Roosevelt was in danger of losing the Southwest Pacific through his fingers. He was not reconciled, so he asked the Navy to send a fleet to carry out the mission of the "Wake Island Transport Fleet", and even if it ultimately failed, he would demonstrate the capabilities of the United States and tell the Philippines, Annan, and other forces that in addition to China and Japan, there is also the United States in the Pacific.

Beijing woke up two hours earlier than Guam, and when Bai Fuan hit the light cruiser Yuliang, Yang Qiu was already exercising in the garden. "President, Premier Gu is here." At the same time as the guns and artillery along the southeast coast were intensive, Beijing also completed the wartime cabinet adjustment a few days ago. Gu Weijun stepped forward to become the sixth premier of the Republic of China, and Wang Zhengting retired to replace the elderly Hu Weide as the speaker of the House of Representatives and became the second chairman of the National Socialist Party. According to Gu Weijun's proposal, Shi Zhaoji became the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dong Yongwei became the Minister of Civil Affairs, and Kwong Xukun became the first Minister of Labor. Shi Xiaolou, who retired from politics and entered politics, took over as Minister of Justice, Chen Yinke, president of Tsinghua University, was invited to serve as Minister of Education, and former Minister of Justice Murong Han became First Vice Prime Minister and Chairman of the Wartime National Security Committee. This is the first time since the founding of the People's Republic of China that a woman has held the post of Deputy Prime Minister, and the remaining cabinet members and positions have not changed.

So when he heard that he was coming, Yang Qiu immediately stopped jogging, picked up a towel and walked towards the bedroom: "Let him wait for a while, I'll change my clothes and come." ”

The new official took office with three fires, and Gu Weijun was no exception. After getting Yang Qiu's support. As soon as he took office, he drastically readjusted government agencies, proposed a new wartime economic stimulus bill, advocated the free circulation of goods from all over the country without barriers, and worked hard to break down various barriers at the local level. I also learned from the creation of the Ministry of Labour in the United Kingdom and strengthened the socialization reform. Encourage privatization, promote national mobility, and gradually abolish the hukou system that was introduced in the early years to strengthen state supervision, etc. And he is very smart and knows that such a big reform in peacetime will touch the interests of many parties, so he deliberately did it at this time. Because the Republic of China is a presidential system, the power of the National Assembly is relatively weak, after the implementation of the wartime emergency bill. Yang Qiu's rights are almost unlimited. At this time, whoever dares to obstruct the reform, the Ministry of Justice and the National Security Council do not mind sending a few more big hats that "endanger national security".

Yang Qiu originally wanted to adjust the military, after all, Yue Peng and the others were not young, but considering that the Battle of Guam and the Battle of Petropavlovsk were both underway. It can only be suspended. Taking advantage of this spring breeze, almost as soon as they met, Gu Weijun discussed the steps of reform like pouring beans into a bamboo tube, but Gu Yuwen interrupted him: "President." Premier. The British Ambassador, Sir Carr, and the United States Ambassador, Mr. Jensen, came. ”

Gu Weijun, who was interrupted, was a little depressed, and Yang Qiu was also surprised why the British and American ambassadors would come together. "Did you come together?" Do you know what you mean? ”

"Sir Carr made an appointment yesterday to discuss with you the establishment of a joint command of the Allied forces in Asia and the purchase of aircraft and anti-aircraft artillery." Gu Yuwen said: "Mr. Jensen did not share the car with him, and according to the guard, the two were separated by about five minutes. ”

"That's supposed to be a coincidence, probably for Guam." Gu Weijun glanced at Yang Qiu. He knew that Yang Qiu was under a lot of pressure now, because the Battle of Guam was the one he put forward and proposed. However, before the matter was over, the US fleet came to make trouble, and there were many people in the country who opposed the control of Guam, and Congress also took a negative attitude, fearing that this incident would cause a conflict between China and the United States.

Therefore, Yang Qiu has been going deep into Jian recently, and has been waiting for the battle report from Guam. In fact, he also knew that this battle was fought too quickly, but he was afraid! Because no one knows when Roosevelt will intervene. No one even knew that without the Pearl Harbor incident, the main force of the Japanese Navy and the country's military forces would have been dragged in Asia, and the US Pacific Fleet, which had not lost the slightest strength, would have attacked there first. The world has changed beyond recognition, and all historical memories must be thrown into the sea, and he only knows that once the US Navy takes advantage of the opportunity of its entanglement with Japan in the coastal waters to connect Pearl Harbor, Wake Island, Guam, and the Philippines into a line, then what awaits this country is still a strategic defeat in the Pacific! On such a decisive strategic issue, he did not dare to wait passively, let alone be stingy with his troops, preferring to exchange the full sacrifice of a fleet. Therefore, he was even prepared to let the navy pull out two Beihai-class aircraft carriers if there were any more accidents, and then let the Indian fleet make a detour from Australia to participate in the war.

Of course, he wouldn't tell others these things, so after putting down the documents, he said to Gu Weijun: "Let's go, go and meet them." ”

In the living room, the British ambassador, Sir Clark Carr, politely shook hands with Jensen. Carr was thin, a quarter of his Spanish ancestry, and had served as British ambassador to the United States, so he knew Jensen's intentions. There was no bad news from last night, and he didn't mind watching the Sino-American quarrel over a cup of tea. But now he couldn't wait, and when he saw Yang Qiu and Gu Weijun walking in, he immediately stepped forward to speak. But someone was faster than him, and Jensen didn't say anything about it, and said straight to the point: "Mr. President, I need to talk to you about Guam at once, Mr. Roosevelt." Jensen's speed of speech was very fast, and it was clear that he wanted to dominate the right to speak. But this time he did not succeed, the British diplomat, who has always been known for his slow three beats, changed his image this time, and Carr unceremoniously interrupted the conversation: "Wait a minute! Excellency Jensen, I know you are in a hurry, but I wish I would like to be given a minute. ”

Without waiting for the two sides to answer, Karl took out the agreement that had been prepared long ago and handed it to Yang Qiu very solemnly: "Your Excellency President, Mr. Churchill and the British government have entrusted me to purchase 5,500 anti-aircraft guns/ammunition, 2,500 F-7 fighters (Thunderbolts), 500 H-10 attack aircraft (mainly used for close ground support), and 5,000 usable engines. ”

Who said that British diplomats are synonymous with sluggishness, stubbornness, and slowness? This Sir Karl. It's a good illustration of how quickly British diplomats are effective when the fire burns their butts. You see, I only asked the Ministry of Defense for a quote a few days ago, and now I didn't even pay back the price, and I just shipped the money to Oman to prepare for trading. It is no wonder that Karl is in a hurry, and the situation in Britain is already extremely unoptimistic. Under the influence of the Chinese Air Force's bombing of Japan's Kyushu and its surprise attack on the Japanese Navy, Germany and Britain broke their tacit agreement at the same time a few days ago and began to bomb each other's cities, and half of London was in ruins. Both sides are building all kinds of aircraft at full speed. In terms of manufacturing capacity, Britain is not bad, but the bombing has affected the efficiency of factories, so the British government can only continue to find a way from China and the United States. Churchill and the British government would have preferred the United States, but the problem was that the Royal Air Force, after testing the P40 and the Thunderbolt respectively, said it would be a last resort. Otherwise, P40 will not be accepted.

Yang Qiu and Gu Weijun wanted to laugh, of course, not because they squeezed a few taels of oil out of Britain, but because this Sir Karl was clearly deliberate! He knew Jensen's intentions, but he knew better how important China was now. If nothing else, the British Flying Regiment alone would have shot down hundreds of German planes, if not for them. Whether the Royal Air Force will survive until now is hard to say. As for the United States, although it is also important, Roosevelt's harsh conditions and domestic isolationism made the British government dare not bet. Plus there is just an emergency. So he didn't mind doing Yang Qiu a small favor and avoiding entanglement. And he deliberately took out the list in front of Jensen, which also has deep meaning. The subtext is to use Jensen's mouth to tell the U.S. government that China and Britain are now allies. For a broken island that Britain cannot touch, they will certainly not be on the side of the United States.

Of course. It would be another matter if the United States had entered the war immediately.

Jensen was both angry and red-eyed. Although the United States has received more than ten times more orders than China, it does not make as much money as a few thousand fighter planes by selling hundreds of ships of grain gauze.

The sale of Thunderbolt fighters has been planned for a long time, and the monthly output of Thunderbolt has exceeded 500 units, plus fighters such as Tianquan and Double-headed Jiao, the monthly output of various types of fighters is close to 1,000 units, which is greater than the actual consumption, and now the most urgent need is the bomber, so it is not a problem to sell some. Second, several jet aircraft have passed the finalization test in the Republic of China, and the military is also eager to help aviation companies recover funds as soon as possible and gradually transition to the jet age. As for the anti-aircraft guns, they were also urgently needed by the British, so Yang Qiu didn't look at the list, handed it to Gu Weijun and said, "Sir, please rest assured, we will hurry up and deliver the aircraft and equipment to your country." In addition, please tell Your Excellency Churchill that I am already urging Congress to be prepared to provide more help to your country, such as loans. ”

"Thank you, Mr. President." Carl thanked him with a smile on his face. This made Gu Weijun very strange and asked, "Mr. Carl, are you still in trouble?" ”

Carl's face suddenly became extremely solemn, and he nodded: "Yes! On behalf of the British Government and His Excellency Winston Churchill, I hope that you will provide immediate support, Mr. President. ”

"Immediate support?"

To say that Carl is really shrewd, first help and then take orders, and only ask for support after giving favors, people are embarrassed to refuse. But who still has the heart to praise him at this time, Yang Qiu and Gu Weijun have been confused, even Jensen forgot the unhappiness just now, and said with wide eyes and surprise: "Your Excellency Karl, could it be that the Germans have landed?" ”——

"Enemy planes! Watch out for bombs! ”

When Yang Qiu was stunned, the 1st Marine Division, which had just captured the Agania airfield, ushered in Japanese bombers that had taken off from Saipan ahead of schedule. No sooner had the anti-aircraft artillery battalion that had been stationed behind the infantry than the bombs fell. "Boom, boom." Two Japanese 97 heavy explosive planes swept over the airfield in the face of shells, and a string of bombs was poured down, and in an instant, more than a dozen fireballs appeared between the airfield and the marines.

Farther away, seven or eight Japanese planes even blew up the ground defense line of the airfield set up by the Marine Corps, killing dozens of soldiers on the spot. With the help of aircraft, the Japanese also began a counteroffensive, frantically attacking in droves to recapture the airfield. "Commander, why are you here? What did you guys do! Don't persuade me, how dangerous it is here, don't you know that the Japanese are already desperate? "The bomber hasn't flown far yet. Dai Anlan rushed into the airport wearing a steel helmet, and Liang Zhongshu, the head of the regiment who seized the airport, was so frightened that he scolded the guards for slashing their heads and covering their faces.

I don't blame the regiment commander for being in a hurry, the Japanese army has gone crazy after losing the airfield. On the ground, there were a series of charges, and there were constantly Japanese soldiers who were dying with explosives and grenades, and there were waves in the air, which did not allow him and the soldiers to be distracted at all. "The Japanese can fight hard, do you have a burning stick in your hand!" But Dai Anlan ignored him and continued to walk towards the empty runway with a calm face. In the absence of a complete seizure of sea supremacy, complete absence of air supremacy. Being able to hold out for ten days and capture the most important airfield in one fell swoop is enough to make the officers and men of the 1st Marine Division proud. But the mission is not over, and the Agania airport is too important for Guam and the subsequent Mariana War, so I heard that the airport was captured. He immediately drove to check it out. Fortunately, the bombs just now were blown off, and the use of artillery was also paid attention to when the regiment attacked, so the runway was basically intact, only some small craters the size of fists, and the soldiers were already using quick-drying cement and steel plates to repair them.

But before he could be happy, another scream came through the air. Two 96 ships swooped down from a low altitude in the direction of the sea. Without waiting for a reaction, two 50-kilogram bombs were dropped on the runway, and then strafing the runway and the anti-aircraft artillery battalion. Chirped bullets swept around Dianlan, almost making him the first senior Marine officer to die. "Bastard! Liang Zhongshu, what about your anti-aircraft artillery battalion? Why don't you fire! "When I got up, I saw that the runway had been blown out of two large holes one meter square. Dai Anlan's eyes were red. You know, he sent a telegram to the fleet last night, but in fact, the two field airfields in Apra and Merizo are currently difficult to land, so they desperately want to protect the safety here.

"What the hell? How not to fire. You guys to the end. Liang Zhongshu was also furious, and rushed towards the nearest gunsmoke-filled gun position. But just scolded two sentences. When he got into the gunsmoke, his body shook violently, and Dai Anlan, who was following behind, hurriedly shouted: "What's wrong? "Commander!" Liang Zhongshu shouted, clenched his fists, and tears came out. When he slowly twisted half of his body, Dai Anlan saw clearly that this anti-aircraft gun position composed of two 40-mm single-barreled anti-aircraft guns and two double-barreled 25-mm chain machine guns was already full of corpses, and there was scraped flesh and blood everywhere that had been swept away by the two 96 warships just now.

"Enemy planes!" Before he could get out of his grief, two more 99 ships exploded in the sky in the distance. The Japanese were well aware of the weakness of the lack of air supremacy of the Marine Corps, so they concentrated their efforts on blowing up the airfield runway. Seeing that it was a high-precision dive bomber, Dai Anlan hurriedly shouted for the guards and the surrounding soldiers and officers to help. But just as everyone wanted to take over the gunner's fire, as soon as the gunner's body was lifted from his seat, the upper body of the corpse suddenly broke off, and the bright red blood and milky yellow intestines gushed out like butter at once, dripping everywhere. This terrible picture frightened the soldiers into forgetting their work, but Liang Zhongshu, who had been an anti-aircraft artilleryman, was the first to sober up, regardless of the blood, and sat on the shooting chair dripping with blood: "What are you doing in a daze?" Reload, reload me! The guards and soldiers came to their senses, forced themselves to vomit, opened the ammunition box, and stuffed the shells into the chambers.

Under Dai Anlan's personal command, the anti-aircraft artillery finally rang out, and the dense shells rushed towards the two 99 ships. "Here we go! Little Japan, see whose bones are hard! In Liang Zhongshu's roar, the first 99 shipburst was hit before it could get close to the airport, and it was loaded into the dense forest next to it. But the second one swooped down at high speed towards the airfield with a 500-kilogram bomb, "Hit, hit!" Shoot him down, be sure to shoot him down! Dai Anlan shouted desperately, a 500-kilogram bomb is enough to destroy a 100-meter-long runway! Liang Zhongshu and the artillerymen were even more anxious, grabbed the trigger and scattered all the shells. At this critical juncture, the 99 ship, which had already dived halfway to the point of being targeted, suddenly exploded in the air. "Hit? Did we hit? Liang Zhongshu and everyone were a little stunned, and when they raised their heads, they found that a sudden "lightning" fighter plane painted in lead gray with a shark's mouth painted on the nose of the plane brushed the fireball of the Japanese plane's explosion, and quickly pulled it up and soared.

A moment later, a great sense of joy enveloped all the soldiers who had fought bloodily in Guam.

"It's lightning! It's the Navy, it's our fighters! ”

"Rush! Attack, attack! ”

"Kill all little Japan!"

After 10 days of waiting and 10 days of bombing, the soldiers finally ushered in their fighters, and many people couldn't help jumping out of cover and waving to the pilots. In tears of joy, lightning whistled down from all directions, and it was extremely arrogant just now. The bombed infantry suffered heavy casualties, which also made Dai Anlan worried and afraid, and the gritted but helpless Japanese planes were shot down seven or eight in an instant. Seeing this, the remaining Japanese planes did not dare to respond to the battle at all, and immediately fled in a panic in the direction of Saipan. At the same time, the Japanese airfields on Saipan and Pagan were also attacked, and the vigilant 96 ship battles and zero battles could not stop the rapid offensive of the "lightning" at all, and they were forcibly routed in only a few minutes. All were returned to the Japanese army.

"How many are there?" Shortly after the bombing of Saipan, Jizaburo Ozawa received a report that the aircraft carrier had been spotted by a Saipan reconnaissance plane. But because the reconnaissance plane lost contact, he cautiously did not give an order immediately, but inquired about the discovery of several aircraft carriers. "For the time being, I only saw one aircraft carrier, but there were five or six cruisers. Ten or so destroyers. ”

"One" Ozawa's face changed. Domestic intelligence says that three aircraft carriers have disappeared, how can only one appear? Could it be that the clouds in the morning are blocking the view, so you haven't noticed it yet?

"Report! Your Excellency, Guam and Saipan report that they have been attacked by a large number of ships and planes, and request our immediate support. ”

"Report, the formation of battleships in China has been discovered!" Ozawa and the officers hadn't reacted from the first two pieces of information. was startled by the third piece of information, and hurriedly walked to the chart: "Where?" How many are there, see the aircraft carriers? ”

"Here, 160 nautical miles southwest of Phagan Island. The reconnaissance plane lost contact after the report. "The staff officer pointed out the location of the discovery. The reconnaissance plane lost contact and was shot down most of it, so Ozawa was even more confused at this time. Could it be that the remaining two aircraft carriers are in the battleship formation? Even Ryunosuke Kusaka, who had been shouting for battle, didn't dare to make a rash decision at this time, so he picked up a pen and measured it between the aircraft carriers and battleships he found. said: "Eighty-two nautical miles, maybe the aircraft sent by the aircraft carrier. ”

His analysis makes sense. The combat radius of the aircraft is large, and it is not a problem to send fighters to protect the battleship more than a hundred kilometers away. But this is just a guess, Ozawa needs evidence that the aircraft carrier and the battleship are operating separately! So he thought about it and said, "Go and ask the attacked army, how many ship-blown planes have been put into China." Then contact the reconnaissance plane in Saipan, I want to know which direction the ship's explosion will fly in after leaving. ”

"Hey!" After the staff officer nodded and left, it took ten minutes to come back again: "Report, the army said that there are at least one hundred and thirty ship-blown planes, and after they left, they all flew in the direction of discovering the aircraft carrier, and the army's zero battle has followed." ”

"This useless horse manure!" Ozawa certainly didn't believe the infantry, they couldn't even tell the difference between a fighter and a dive ship. However, even if it is discounted, there should be 60 to 70 dive ships. According to the configuration of the China aircraft carrier, this is already the volume of two aircraft carriers! But he knew there that Pan Duheng had used dozens of lightning planes to disguise themselves as bombers, and he also deliberately let the dive bombers that had completed the mission fly in the direction of the Baiqi, but in fact, none of these planes would land, and they would get rid of the Japanese reconnaissance planes and go back to the Agania Airport in Guam, which they already controlled, to refuel and hang bombs.

If it is two aircraft carriers, you can let the planes of the Fourth Fleet and Saipan flank and fight the battleships yourself. But if it is three, relying on two light aircraft carriers and the Saipan Army Aviation that does not know how much loss is simply not enough, and it is in vain to give the opponent a chance to rest and refuel and calmly support the battleship. In fact, at this moment, he still has a chance to identify several aircraft carriers, as long as he waits for the Army Zero to approach the Baiqi and carry out a second armed reconnaissance. But the problem is that it will take about an hour, and there is no guarantee that you will be able to avoid the strangulation of "Lightning". Moreover, now the other side has only put in the dive explosion of two aircraft carriers, that is, the ship explosion of one aircraft carrier and the attack of all torpedoes have not appeared. Have they already taken off, do they want to come on their own? If you keep waiting, you may have to take the risk of being killed by the enemy first! It would be incompetent to suffer huge losses because of hesitation to be attacked first by the opponent. So Kusaka Ryunosuke put down his pen, straightened his waist and shouted, "General! ”

Ozawa was still not at ease, and always felt that something was wrong.

But time waits for no one, seeing that he is still hesitating, the captain of the Akagi Aircraft who was standing on the side, Mishio Fuchizu, who was shot down and almost died in the Battle of the Ryukyus, stepped forward: "General, if you are still worried, you can let Saipan dispatch planes to attack the battleship formation in China and drag them down." In this way, even if we find the wrong direction, there will only be ninety nautical miles between them, and they can arrive in half an hour, and it will not affect the attack. "Not really! Aviation combat is not as slow as the speed of battleships, so Ryunosuke Kusaka and other officers have also suggested using this method. Because he never knew what was wrong, Ozawa began to wonder if he was too suspicious, and after staring at the chart a few more times, he finally made up his mind: "It's time for the Imperial Warriors to establish meritorious deeds." Fuchizu Miosa, I'm sorry for everything. ”

"Hey!" Mishio Fuchizu's face was hideous. Although he was the first to hit the Sichuan in the Battle of the Ryukyus, the downing has become the biggest shame in his life, so he took the initiative to come to Guam before his injuries healed. After bowing to Ozawa, he immediately rushed to the deck and boarded a transport boat back to the Akagi.

Ten minutes later, 21 Zero, 46 99 and 26 97 attacked the two aircraft carriers and flew southwest. At the same time, the Longxiang and Xiangfeng, which had been lurking east of Guam, also dispatched 26 Zero Battles, 20 99 Shipblowers and 16 97 Ships to attack, and rushed towards the Baiqi deliberately thrown by Pan Duheng. After the plane left, Ozawa ordered Nobutake Kondo to surprise the Shiraki from the sea, and also asked the Akagi and Kaga to speed south to join the Fourth Fleet, and he took two Kongo-class battleships and two top heavy cruisers to follow behind.

But Ozawa didn't know at this time that half an hour after his group left, Pan Duheng had also ordered to take off. And unlike the 10 ship explosions and 10 ship attacks he left behind, this new generation of aviation experts will put in all the attack forces that can be taken out at the moment as soon as they make a move! A total of 36 "Lightning", 62 "Yaksha", and 71 "Ospreys" of the three aircraft carriers all left the deck and flew in the direction of Ozawa. The 30 "Yakshas" of the White Rise, which attacked Guam and Saipan at the same time, also began to turn back to Guam's Agania airfield, where they refueled and reloaded while waiting for orders.

At 6:40 a.m., the fighters involved in the first round of the early morning attack were put back on standby.