Empty deck?

In the golden sea and sky, the ace pilot of the naval battle of Wake Island, the captain of the Japanese Soryu Air Brigade, Iwamoto Tetsuzo, piloted his own Zero Battle, circling back and forth with an anxious expression, waiting for the flagship's orders. 5.com In this operation, the officers of the Japanese Air Force led by Tsukahara adopted a different way of releasing the aircraft. To put it simply, it is to let the carrier-based aircraft take off first when the target is not found, so as to shorten the time for the attack to be launched. Of course, there must be an external condition for this method, that is, the aircraft carrier is close enough to its own shore-based base.

It can be seen that in order to find a way to defeat the Chinese Navy, Tsukahara and the Japanese aviation elite really racked their brains. However, the unclear situation of the battleship fleet, and the sudden severance of contact with Yamamoto Isoroku, delayed his decision. If Yamamoto could be contacted in time, then the attack aircraft group led by Iwamoto Tetsuzo may have made the direction of the attack clear 10 minutes ago.

Ten minutes, enough time to complete a naval battle!

So when the staff officer brought the news of the reconnaissance plane, Tsukahara froze like an electric shock. The deck of an aircraft carrier fleet is empty ?! There are only two possibilities for this to happen, either the other planes are still in the hangar, or they have all taken off! The Chinese Navy is no longer a rookie, and its rich experience in aircraft carrier operations is even better than that of the British Royal Navy. How is it possible to put a plane in a hangar when it is already dawn? Then there is only one group of attack aircraft left of a possible adversary that is already flying towards itself.

"Please Iwamoto-kun attack the carrier of Shina and send the coordinates to Vice Admiral Toyoda. Order the ships to turn around, we must get out of here at full speed! Tsukahara didn't want to think about it, so he immediately gave up supporting the battleship and decided to let the attack group take out the Chinese aircraft carrier on Okindato Island first. He led the fleet to quickly turn around and retreat north.

After receiving the order, Iwamoto Tetsuzo immediately led a group of attack planes to fly towards Okidaito Island. Soon after, Vice Takeshi Toyoda and Mijiro Umezu also divided the 'kamikaze attack team' into two groups, one wave to support Tsukahara to deal with the three aircraft carriers. The other wave flew southwest to find Zhang Xiaoyu's battleship formation. The two also lifted all the more than 40 Zeros that remained on the island into the air to protect Tsukahara and retreat north. By 6:20 a.m., Tsukahara's fleet speed had increased to 30 knots, and the number of Zeros above his head had increased to 72, which made him breathe a sigh of relief. But just as he maneuvered towards Pingliang Bay, east of Okinawa. In an attempt to evade enemy aircraft using the complex coastal curves, a group of 122 carrier fleet attack aircraft, consisting of 60 Yaksha dive bombers, 30 Osprey torpedo planes, and 24 Lightning, appeared above the fleet.

"The first group of Xianghe, the second group of Canglong, and the third group of Feilong, a one-word column attack." Thirty 'Yakshas' took the lead, swooping down from a height of 4,000 meters, beside them. The 24 Lightning planes were also one step ahead, and Tsukahara's 72 Zero Combat were strangled together. "Gather the fire, all for me to aim at the deck! Even if I do, sink them for me! The captain of the pilot, through the radio, shouted hoarsely, tirelessly prompting the essentials of the attack.

The first to be shot was the aircraft carrier Canglong. The 800 kg bomb used by the Yaksha was very powerful. Falling from the sky, accurately hitting the starboard aviation deck. Explosions and flames that almost destroyed the entire deck. But this was only the beginning, and the 'Canglong', which was shot on the starboard side, received two more bombs in succession. One of them continued to go deep from the injured starboard side and exploded below the waterline. The bomb tore through the outer wall of the ship's hull, and after entering the water, the "Canglong" had to turn sharply to the left to avoid the bomb. Although its anti-aircraft guns fired with all their might, two 'Yakshas' broke through the barrage again and dropped bombs. The fourth armor-piercing shell pierced the left deck of the island, from where it descended into the oil tank and exploded. Moment. The entire bridge and surrounding deck area were obscured by thick smoke, and the captain and other key officers were killed on the spot. But what is amazing is that after such a heavy blow, the 'Canglong' miraculously maintained its balance by filling water after three minutes. Then continue to flee north at a high speed of 28 knots.

Subsequently, the "Flying Dragon" and "Shohe" were also attacked by dive bombers. However, due to the thick clouds, the attack aircraft group of the 122nd formation needed to descend to 4,000 meters before it could see the target and launch a dive. Therefore, relying on the numerical superiority, the Zero Combat deliberately hid in the clouds, so as to evade the 'Lightning' fighters and put the target of attack on the bombers.

At 6:40, four Yaksha emerged from the thick clouds and dropped all four bombs on the Wyvern before the Japanese anti-aircraft gunners could aim and fire. The first hit the elevator in the amidship of the deck, and the second bomb went into the hangar. After a powerful and dazzling flash of explosion, two large holes appeared on the deck of the Wyvern, and the fiery waves of qi rushed in all directions, and everyone in sight was flipped to the ground. Only a minute later, the Shozuru also received a bomb that exploded in the stern, destroying the deck.

Ten minutes later, the follow-up Osprey torpedo planes arrived, and they quickly launched a torpedo attack. However, under the desperate protection of 72 Zero Combat and more than 20 escort ships, the three Japanese aircraft carriers, which were attacked by more than 100 planes, were able to continue to sail north.

Compared to Tsukahara's luck, the 122 aircraft carrier formation, which acted as a decoy, was not so lucky. Soon after the decoy attack, the three escort aircraft carriers Zhang Liang, Han Signal and Li Guang acted as decoys, they were attacked by a group of Japanese attack planes led by Iwamoto Tetsuzo. "Be careful! Concentrate your firepower at full speed and full speed! "Just as the 36 Lightning fighters left behind were doing their best to hunt down the approaching Japanese bombers, Yamada appeared in the sky piloting the Hayabusa fighter full of bombs.

Before the three escort aircraft carriers could understand what was going on, they saw Yamada taking the lead, piloting the Hayabusa fighter and rushing straight towards the Li Guang. "Fire!" More than 100 anti-aircraft guns equipped with VT shells sprayed countless shrapnel and continued to shoot down the Japanese planes that were approaching frantically, but Yamada miraculously passed through the high-density shrapnel and plunged headlong into the deck of the Li Guang amid the terrified shouts of the deck sailors. "Boom." An earth-shattering bang shocked the officers and men of the 122 formation. They didn't expect the Japanese pilots to be so crazy! Within a few minutes, the Li Guang was on fire, and the deck began to tilt.

At 7:20, the second kamikaze suicide fighter crashed into the port side of the 'Zhang Liang', and the 18,000-ton escort aircraft carrier also had to accelerate westward and withdraw from the battle ahead of schedule. "Hit, hit! General, Iwamoto Shosa, reported that they had already severely damaged two China aircraft carriers and were attacking the third! The staff officer's report made Tsukahara jump. Great, great! "A wave of attacks has severely damaged two Chinese aircraft carriers, and even Yamamoto's matter has been temporarily forgotten by Tsukahara.

But he and the officer weren't happy for long, and a piece of news gave him a taste of what it means to be a fire and ice. When he retreated to the north with three aircraft carriers and the only remaining 21 escort Zero, 24 'Yaksha' were the first to appear high in the north sky.

Tsukahara was dumbfounded! North? To the north are the Japanese mainland and the volcanic archipelago, how can there be a Chinese attack aircraft group there? And even if the wave just came back, it would take at least an hour and a half, not to mention that their aircraft carriers had already been heavily damaged by two, and it was still a question of whether they could take off and land. "How so? Didn't Nagumo say that the 21 aircraft carrier fleet of China had already been lured by him to the direction of the Philippines? They can't run that fast in one night. The staff officer went even more crazy, grabbing his hair and pulling it around. Everyone really couldn't figure out how enemy planes could appear from the north.

"Damn Nagumo! He deceived us, no, it should be said that Shina deceived Nagumo! It must have been the 12 aircraft carrier fleet that attacked him, and the 21 aircraft carrier fleet did not appear at all, but went around in the direction of our volcanic archipelago! Tsukahara was the first to react, but his analysis sent chills down the hearts of all the officers. If the speculation is true, then the channel to return home at this time has been blocked by the three most experienced Liaoning-class aircraft carriers!

"Evade to Kinmu Bay, contact Toyota Oe, and ask him to send an island plane to support. All planes go boom! Tsukahara gave up the idea of withdrawing to the country immediately and ordered the fleet to turn to the Ryukyus to evade. But before he could finish shouting, the 21 fighters and attack planes from the 216 aircraft carrier battle group dived down at high speed towards the three injured Japanese aircraft carriers.

At 10 o'clock in the morning, an airwave shocked the world!

In the Qingdao Navy Headquarters, the staff officers straightened their waists and reported the latest results in a loud voice. And all around, the cheers have spread to the whole of China, the whole of Asia, and even the whole world!

"Night Stalker 3 report! The Japanese aircraft carrier Shozuru was seriously injured and ran aground in Jinmu Bay east of the Ryukyus 20 minutes ago (destroyed by bombers five days later), and the Japanese aircraft carriers Soryu and Hiryu sank! The battleships Kongo, Hiei, and Nagato sank! The Japanese heavy cruisers Takao, Maya, Myoko, and Nachi sank! Japanese light cruiser. ”

"Long live the Navy! Long live the Republic of China!! ”

Amid the deafening cheers, the Japanese Combined Fleet, which had been rampaging Asia for decades, was wiped out in just eight months after the start of the war. The remaining six aircraft carriers were all sunk or heavily damaged. Although there were nine capital ships, the Yamato, Musashi, Mutsu, Kirishima, Chokai, Atago, Haguro, and Ashigara, most of them were seriously wounded. As the rainbow bombardment deepens, coupled with depleted oil and raw materials, many of them have become irreparable.

(To be continued)