Chapter 700 encounters the Enterprise Number

"Pearl Harbor has been attacked by the Japanese, we should go back to support immediately!" The Enterprise, returning from Wake Island, soon received news of Pearl Harbor, and the captain, Colonel Murray, could not help but make an anxious request to the fleet commander, William Halsey Jr.

"Hmm!" Halsey frowned and looked at the charts for a long time before agreeing in a nasal voice, ordering the aircraft carrier to return, and at the same time sending 16 SBD bombers to do sea reconnaissance for the fleet.

He didn't dare to be careless, since the Japanese could sneak attack Pearl Harbor, there must be a follow-up plan.

At this time, Pearl Harbor was already in a "chaos" and "chaos", and they really needed to go back to help, but they couldn't just rush back to rescue because they were in a hurry, so they could take the USS Enterprise into it. You must know that the United States has already "withdrawn" part of its naval forces to defend the Atlantic Ocean because of the tense situation in Europe, and there are only three aircraft carriers left in the Pacific Ocean.

The Saratoga is being refitted in San Diego, California, and it won't be enough to get back.

The USS Lexington had already sunk in the first "wave" attack, and according to the importance that the Japanese attached to American aircraft carriers, there must have been a means to deal with the Enterprise.

Once the Enterprise also goes wrong, the entire Pacific Ocean will lack the means to counterbalance the Japanese Navy for a long time.

"We should be a little cautious, the Japanese do not have the ability to take Pearl Harbor right now, and even if the losses there are large, they will hold out. Midway and Wake Island may be in danger! Halsey said solemnly.

With a good relationship with Roosevelt on the same destroyer before World War I, Halsey's career was also smooth. Although Halsey, who had just become a major general, was called a reckless bull because of his bravery, he was not a brainless person, because he had just been to Wake Island and strengthened the defense against the Japanese there, so he broke the Japanese plan in one bite.

Halsey did not mention Guam at all, the Japanese would never give up there, it was too far away to be taken care of, and the thin defense there could only be prayed for God to bless.

"Wake Island's defenses are too weak, do we need to go back there?" Colonel Murray thought of the significance of Wake Island as an outpost of the United States in the Pacific, and his face changed slightly.

Halsey hesitated and was about to say something, when a major staff officer hurriedly ran over:

"Sir, emergency electricity!"

"The superior ordered us to loot the Japanese attack fleet!" Halsey frowned and read the urgent telegram from the mainland of the United States, and then said lightly.

This order is a bit bad, according to the information I got before, the Japanese sent quite a few aircraft carriers this time. With such an aircraft carrier as the Enterprise, wouldn't it be a delivery to lead a few light cruisers and destroyers over?

Even Colonel Murray couldn't help but frown.

Halsey knew that this was not the time for him to bargain, and that the damaged Pearl Harbor would inevitably implicate many people, and that even Roosevelt would not be able to protect him from the consequences of his disobedience. Soldiering to an order is sometimes the best option.

He directly lowered his face and ordered: "Speed up!" Heading, due east! ”

When the order was to be exported, Halsey had no idea that history had taken a turn here.

In the original history, Nagumo Tadaichi did not carry out the third "wave" attack for fear of encountering accidents. As soon as the second wave stopped, they retreated. Halsey, who also received the order to raid, was also subjected to "mixed" and unclear information, mistakenly believing that the Japanese had withdrawn westward, and pursued directly to the west, and was spared without encountering the oncoming Japanese assault fleet.

But now that he has clearly received information that the Japanese are still bombarding Pearl Harbor, the direction of the next attack on the Enterprise is naturally to the east. So it was inevitable.

At 7:13 a.m. on the 12th, a Japanese Comet D4R1 aircraft and an American SBD bomber encountered the news that the Enterprise was returning in advance.

The Comet dive bomber, which was produced in advance because it was stimulated by the Vanguard Air Force, was carried by the Japanese with three of them, and they were tested for their "sexuality" and did not even carry weapons, and this time they were used as reconnaissance planes.

The Americans' SBD-1 dreadnought dive bomber, with two 12.7mm machine guns above the fuselage, fired first. The comet, which resembled a "naked" plane, could only escape quickly at a speed of 550 kilometers per hour, and when the two sides swept by, it was still hit by a few "strong" 7.62mm machine gun bullets "" by the radio crew behind the SBD-1.

Fortunately, Comet learned a little from the battle with the Vanguard, and returned to the fleet with a few bullet holes, reporting what had happened.

According to the direction and type of aircraft from which the American Dreadnought came, the Japanese quickly guessed that the aircraft carrier Enterprise might be coming to the rescue. Immediately began to deploy forces, prepare for the attack, and sprinkled a large number of 97 ship attack reconnaissance planes to search for traces of the US aircraft carrier fleet.

The combat radius of the SBD-1 is less than 200 nautical miles, that is, they will not be too far away.

Halsey received news of the Japanese plane's presence earlier through a radio signal that was far better than the Japanese. However, because of its high speed and lack of powerful counterattack weapons, the plane was regarded by the Americans as a reconnaissance plane, which made Halsey unable to judge the possible distance of the Japanese fleet, so he could only cautiously increase reconnaissance efforts and order the fleet to be ready for battle.

"Pay close attention to the radar signal and expand the detection range!" Halsey sent eight more SBD bombers used as reconnaissance planes and increased radar searches.

Last year, the USS Enterprise was among the first to install the first U.S. shipborne radar, the CXAM radar.

The half-ton spring "mat" mat at the height of the mast can search for ships and even 77 kilometers for aircraft, and can be warned one step in advance.

The weapon soon had an effect, and two unidentified planes were spotted 30 kilometers away. The radar counter-firing signal was not the Americans' own planes, but only the Japanese fighters.

Having spotted 2 Japanese planes again, Halsey, knowing that the Japanese were almost ready to discover the American fleet, immediately gave the order to prepare for battle.

The amateur reconnaissance planes of the two sides had already "exchanged fire" again, and according to the movements of the Japanese planes, the Americans had also roughly "figured" the direction of the Japanese fleet, and only the specific coordinates were missing. But at this time, it was too late for them to search carefully, and the Japanese fleet had already begun to appear in their sight.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Amid the piercing air defense siren, the exclamations of the US military also quickly reached all corners of the Enterprise.

After all, this is a war, not a man's exercise that has been peaceful for many years.

"Prepare to meet the enemy!" In Halsillo's hoarse shout, the F4F-3 fighters on the aircraft carrier immediately took off one after another and joined the Wildcats who were already on alert in the air. Even those SBD dive bombers are taking off one after another, staying on the aircraft carrier and waiting to be bombed. As soon as they determined the location of the Japanese fleet, they immediately pounced.

"I saw the fleet of the Japanese." An excited voice followed the radio "waves" of the amateur reconnaissance plane, but then the tone changed,

"Oh, God! What do I see? 1、2、3…… No! They have 6 aircraft carriers, an overwhelming number of planes, and we're finished! We ......"

The sound stopped abruptly, but the aftermath echoed in everyone's ears. 6 aircraft carriers are like a big rock in the hearts of the Americans.

With a number of 6 to 1, elementary school students also know the disparity in strength.

"We can't be beaten, either we have reinforcements or we evacuate!" Colonel Murray was silent for a moment, then said with difficulty. He could not afford to watch his ship and thousands of lives being lost.

"There is no support, only the enemy!" Halsey glanced at the captain and sighed, "There is a group of Japanese fighters flying over our heads, and we can't get rid of them, and we can't leave if we want to." ”

"Sir, emergency electricity!" Halsey, who had "straightened" his waist, was about to order the fleet to defend in place, when the staff officer of the major on duty in the telegraph room ran over again.

"Those stupid pigs with no brains!" After Halsey hurriedly read it, he couldn't help but curse angrily.

He saw an urgent telegram from Washington again, except that it demanded that they evacuate to Midway immediately, and warned them that the Japanese attack fleet was accompanied by five aircraft carriers.

"6, not 5! These bastards! Colonel Murray, who had seen the emergency telegram, couldn't help but curse angrily.

But whether it was 6 or 5 ships, the fate of the Enterprise aircraft carrier was about the same, and the order to hijack them was really stupid.

"Turn course! Retreat at full speed! Halsey didn't have time to curse, and directly ordered, "The air wing is broken and covered!" ”

Without the cover of the anti-aircraft artillery of the fleet as a whole, the fate of the air wing, especially the 27 Wildcat fighters that served as cover, may soon be drowned in the nearly 50 Zero fighters rushing towards it with great momentum.

But for the sake of the safety of the entire fleet, he could only give up part of it on the spot.

The New Orleans Heavy Cruiser, which had better anti-aircraft firepower, stayed behind with three destroyers including the Walden, and also joined the Broken Rear Army to support the Wildcats in the air. In order to deal with the overwhelming attack of nearly 100 Japanese enemy planes, even the SBD dive bombers left 16 planes, intending to rely on thick skin and slightly thin firepower to support the broken rear troops.

"Accelerate!" Halsey, on the order to retreat, added another word. There were definitely more than 100 fighters dispatched by the six aircraft carriers, and before the Japanese fleet could get over, the Enterprise could only escape from the danger zone first.

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