"The Air Fleet discovered the Japanese aircraft carrier, about 280 nautical miles northwest of Oahu, the report said. There were 9 large carriers, 1 light carrier, 9 battleships...... There are about 200 ships of various kinds, covering a large area of the sea! ”

"Got it."

Although the specific location of the main force of the Japanese Combined Fleet was obtained, Vice Admiral Kimmmel, commander of the 1st US Task Force, did not order the three aircraft carriers under his command to send planes to bomb them, but asked: "Did the air carriers send planes to harass the Japanese?" ”

"It has already been sent, and the 8 air carriers of the 1st Airship Formation have sent a total of 30 Hawk 3 fighters."

The air carrier mentioned by Kimmel is actually a large airship capable of flying aircraft, the Macon-class airship. This kind of airship has existed in the history of zài, and was designed by the German engineer Karl Brown. Albert Einstein designed it for the Americans. Historically, the United States once fantasized about having a formation of air carriers, but the dream of an air carrier formation did not come true due to two fatal accidents. But in this time and space, because of their performance in the first naval battle of the Hawaiian Islands at the end of 1933, the Macon-class airships have rightfully become the darlings of the US Navy, especially since the United States is temporarily short of aircraft carriers. Air carriers are even more important, since the time required to build an airship is much shorter than that of an aircraft carrier. As a result, the current US Pacific Fleet has 16 "Macon"-class airships, forming two airship formations.

However, these air carriers cannot replace real aircraft carriers after all, because the number of carrier-based aircraft is too small. There are only 5 aircraft, and 16 "air carriers" are added together, which is 80 carrier-based aircraft (I don't know if it can be counted as carrier-based aircraft?). ), and due to the special way in which the "air carrier" casts and recovers carrier-based aircraft. It cannot carry advanced monoplane carrier-based aircraft, but only specially modified Hawk-3 carrier-based aircraft. Therefore, this kind of "air carrier" can only be used for raiding and reconnaissance, and if we really want to fight a sea and air war, we still need aircraft carriers to go out.

The Americans' strong heavy industry helped them a lot this time, and the aircraft carriers USS Lexington and USS Saratoga, which had been heavily damaged in the First Battle of the Hawaiian Islands, were repaired in early June and returned to the Pacific Fleet.

At present, the main force of Task Force 1 under the command of Vice Admiral Kimmel is these two aircraft carriers and another aircraft carrier, the USS Ranger, which has been transferred from the Atlantic Fleet.

But the problem of the lack of good carrier-based aircraft in the United States remains unresolved. Although the current US Army Air Corps already has two fighters with decent performance, the P35 and P36. But the most advanced carrier-based fighter of the US Navy is still the F2A Buffalo. Knowing that his fighter was no match for the Japanese, Kimmel was now extremely cautious in his use of troops, preferring to miss the opportunity to strike first. It is also necessary to wait for the carrier-based aircraft of the Japanese fleet to be exhausted by the American shore-based flights on the Hawaiian Islands before attacking.

"Sir, received a telegram from Kauai that about 200 Japanese planes had just bombed an army airfield on the island."

"Oh?" Kimmel strode over to the chart table. His chief of staff and captain of the USS Lexington, Rear Admiral Halsey, pointed to the charts and said? : "The fleet of the Japanese is here. Immediately about 200 nautical miles from Kauai Island. At a speed of 20 knots, the shelling of Kauai can begin tonight...... It seems that they are preparing to land on Kauai and then turn it into an advance base for attacking Oahu.

Judging by the size of the transport ships carried by the Japanese fleet, it is likely that they could have committed more than 100,000 ground troops, while the entire Hawaiian Islands defenders combined were only more than 50,000 men, and the Kauai defenders were less than 5,000 men, and there were no oversized shore guns. If the Japanese attack with all their might, there is a high probability that the island will fall. By then, Japan will gain a foothold in the Hawaiian Islands. So I built yì immediately launched an air strike on the Japanese aircraft carrier formation! ”

"But there is no large port on Kauai Island, and even if Japan gets Kauai, it is impossible to make it a fortress like Oahu. What's more, Oahu's defenses are very strong. It was simply a sea fortress, and it was impossible for it to be captured by the Japanese fleet in front of it. ”

"Yes, Oahu is very strong." Halsey nodded to Kimmel and continued, "But the defenders on Hawaii, Lanai, Maui, Molokai, Rawai and other islands are very limited, and if the Japanese capture them all. So Oahu has been completely cut off from the outside world, and how long can an island under siege last? ”

Listening to Halsey's analysis, Kimmel's heart sank, and he knew that if the Japanese targeted other important islands in the Hawaiian archipelago beyond Oahu, they could indeed easily succeed. Because the U.S. military in the Hawaiian Islands is still too weak, with only more than 50,000 men, it is impossible to manage every island impregnably, and can only concentrate on defending Oahu. But if Oahu becomes an island surrounded by many sieges, how long can it last?

It's just that...... Can you defeat more than 260 carriers on 10 Japanese carriers with more than 260 carriers on their own 3 carriers?

"How far are we from the Japanese aircraft carrier group now?"

"330 nautical miles, at full speed, you can enter the air attack range in 2 hours!" "If we move now, we will have time to complete at least three attacks before dark, and then retreat under the cover of night," Halsey said. ”

"Ordered all the planes that were out on a search mission to come back, and the first wave of attacks began two hours later. Then contact Base Command on Oahu and have them send their planes in 2 hours! Kimmel raised his head, looked at several F2A Buffalo fighters performing cover missions in the sky, and shook his head slightly: "If only we had an aircraft like the P36!" ”

"Lieutenant General, the naval version of the P36 is already in development and will be ready for use by the end of the year, and the Pratt & Whitney company has developed a 1,600 hp air-cooled engine, and it won't be long before the Pacific sky is ours!"

Kimmel smiled bitterly. Shaking his head, he said: "The sky in the Pacific Ocean is not only our and the Japanese planes!" ”

……

June 16, 8:15 a.m.

On the battlecruiser Akagi, the flagship of the Japanese Combined Fleet, the atmosphere of war was already enveloped in a strong atmosphere. The sailors were nervously guarding their respective battle positions, and the eyes on the lookout posts were vigilant and nervous, because the position of the main force of the combined fleet had been discovered by American planes more than three hours earlier, and everyone knew that the enemy's air raids would appear at any time!

"Comrade Commander, the report on the results of the air raid on Kauai has been counted!"

"How's it going?" Yamamoto Fifty-six reached out and took the report and looked at it twice.

"All three U.S. military airfields on Kauai were destroyed. In addition, 34 American fighters were shot down, and our side lost 21 Type 93 warships and 22 Type 93 ships. ”

"Lost 43 aircraft! How are there so many? ”

"According to the report of the returning pilot. The performance of our Type 93 shipboard fighters is not comparable to the American P35 and P36......"

Yamamoto lit a cigarette at fifty-six, and all the officers in the command center looked at him.

Everyone knows that the upcoming US air strikes are likely to be very violent. Through the intelligence systems of the Soviet Union and China, the Japanese military roughly mastered the performance numbers of the P35 and P36. The maximum speed of the former is comparable to that of the Type 93 ship battle. The firepower is stronger than that of Type 93; The latter's firepower is comparable to that of the Type 93, but the top speed is 40 km/h faster than that of the Type 93. And both have better defenses than Type 93, which means that both P35 and P36 are stronger than Type 93.

However, the P36 has a shorter range of only 1300 km. In addition, the maximum range of the main American dive bomber, the BT1, with a 500-pound bomb in the air, was only just over 1,000 kilometers, barely able to match the Japanese fleet. As for the Martin BM2 torpedo bomber on Oahu, with a torpedo on board, the maximum range is less than 700 kilometers.

So Yamamoto put the Japanese fleet in the ocean 1,000 kilometers away from Oahu, so that the American P36 and BT1 would not be able to use their full power in the air.

But. The position of the Japanese Combined Fleet has been exposed for 3 hours, but American planes on Oahu have not appeared until now. If the American planes on Oahu had made a sortie as soon as they learned of the location of the Japanese fleet. They should have arrived 1 hour before. There are only two explanations for this situation, one is that the number of American planes on Oahu is too small to attack; The second is that there are US aircraft carriers lurking in the waters of the Hawaiian Islands! The U.S. planes on Oahu are preparing to cooperate with the carrier-based aircraft, and there is still some distance between the U.S. aircraft carriers and the main force of the Japanese Combined Fleet, and they must be rushing over now......

Also, the Japanese Combined Fleet does not know how many US aircraft carriers there are, how many carrier-based aircraft there are, and where they are located. Is it really certain that this kind of battle in which the enemy's situation is unclear and the enemy is secretive is really winn? Everyone's hearts are bottomless.

After taking a few puffs of cigarette, Yamamoto Fifty-six focused his head: "Let the transport ship group retreat north, and let the aircraft carrier Fengxiang provide air cover for them." The remaining 9 aircraft carriers and 9 capital ships are waiting here for the air strikes of the Americans! In addition, seaplanes were dispatched to carefully search the waters south of Kauai. ”

"Commander, there are only 15 Type 93 ships on the Fengxiang aircraft carrier, I'm afraid ...... There was no way to provide cover for more than a hundred transport ships and tankers. Onishi Takijiro reminded after thinking about it.

"I know, Onishi-kun, you're worried about those airships that can carry planes, right? But how strong can those old Hawk 3s be? Yamamoto furrowed his brows and muttered to himself, "The right way should be to design a fighter for airships......"

"Airship-only? What do you mean ......"

"We are also going to form an air carrier force! Flying an airship is a very creative tactic, and the range of the airship is very large, enough to fly from the Hawaiian Islands to the new home port of the US Pacific Fleet, San Diego! ”

"Comrade Commander, do you mean a surprise attack on San Diego?"

"But the number of airships carrying planes seems to be a little small......

"There should be a way to make up for the surprise attack, maybe you can design a powerful suicide plane!"

"Yes, design a powerful suicide plane. So that only a few dozen of them will be needed to deal a heavy blow to the unsuspecting Americans! ”

"In addition, this kind of air carrier can be used to attack the Panama Canal......"

"Air raids! Air Raid ......"

While everyone was arguing about how to use this air carrier against the Americans, the shouts and the sound of air defense sirens brought Yamamoto Isoroku back to reality, and the 140mm Takahei dual-purpose guns on the battlecruiser Akagi opened fire first. The rumbling roar kicked off the first wave of air and sea battles in the second Hawaiian sea.

"Commander, it's their shore-based aircraft, there are B10 bombers that sank the USS Fire Dragon last time!"

The words of the fleet aviation staff officer made Yamamoto 56 slightly shocked, and he immediately raised his binoculars to look over, and the number of US planes that appeared this time was huge, as if there were as many as 3 or 400 planes! Yamamoto's face suddenly became solemn.

Japan knew very little about the deployment of U.S. troops on Oahu, and could only rely on sporadic intelligence and pre-war circumstances to make inferences. According to the calculations of the Japanese naval command, the U.S. military facilities on Oahu suffered heavy losses in the last naval battle of Hawaii and will be difficult to repair in just a few months. So the number of planes on Oahu should be less than before the start of the war between Japan and the United States. But now...... So many in one place!

This also means that the situation on Oahu is likely to be better than expected, and if Japan wants to capture it, it will have to pay an unimaginable price!

"Order the fighter groups of the five aircraft carriers, including Canglong, Shenlong, Feilong, Tianlong, and Thunder Dragon, to attack!"

Yamamoto put down the binoculars. Gritted his teeth and sent more than half of his own fighters!

Order. The Type 93 carrier-based fighters, which had long been ready on five aircraft carriers, began to take off one after another. Due to the fact that in the last naval battle of Hawaii, the effectiveness of using the Il-1 as a torpedo bomber with a torpedo mounted was too poor, and the losses were too great. And the Type 93 shipburst really couldn't do the work of torpedo bombers, so the Japanese Navy simply canceled the torpedo bombers on the aircraft carrier. As a result, the number of Type 93 fighters on the aircraft carrier has also increased slightly, reaching as many as 30 aircraft. The 150 Type 93s on five aircraft carriers quickly took off and were strangled together with the American fighters who had just begun to break through! However, Yamamoto did not expect that the target of these American planes was not a Japanese aircraft carrier.

Due to the massive expansion of the U.S. Army Air Corps, almost all officers rose in rank like rocket launches. But Chennault's official fortunes were undoubtedly prosperous, as he shot down six Japanese warplanes in the first naval battle of the Hawaiian Islands last year. became the first ace pilot of the United States in this war. He is now the chief of staff of the 2nd Air Force of the U.S. Army Air Force in Hawaii and the air chief of the Japanese fleet.

Sitting in the co-pilot seat in the cockpit of a B10 bomber, Chennault was holding a telescope back and forth to observe the sea below.

A staggeringly large fleet covered a large area of the ocean, and Chennault roughly estimated that there were probably more than 200 Japanese warships and transports! Among them, the combat ships with battleships and aircraft carriers as the core are in the position of the formation to the south, and the transport fleet with transport ships and large oil tankers as the core is in the position of the north. The Japanese fighters are concentrated above the aircraft carriers and battleships, and are fighting with the P35 fighters under their command, and there are constantly fighters in the air who have been hit with black smoke rolling and falling, and the anti-aircraft guns of the Japanese fleet are also firing desperately, and countless exploding black smoke balls form a dense barrage in the sky above 9 aircraft carriers and 9 battleships, if their B10 wants to break through, they will definitely suffer heavy losses.

But Chennault's current target was not the Japanese aircraft carriers and capital ships, because he had no BT1 dive bombers or Martin BM2 torpedo bombers, only 120 B10 medium bombers. This kind of aircraft could not carry out dive bombing, and the accuracy of high-altitude horizontal bombing was too low, and if you wanted to drop bombs at low altitudes, the huge size would make the B10 a target for Japanese anti-aircraft fire, so it was impossible to form too much wēixié against Japanese battleships and aircraft carriers.

He turned on the communicator in the cockpit and commanded loudly: "Attention, attention, all B10 bombers attention." I am Colonel Chennault, Chief of Staff of the 2nd Air Force, and now all B10 have lowered their altitude and are ready to penetrate and target the Japanese transport fleet! Target the Japanese transport fleet! Now, follow me! ”

"Commander, the enemy's B10 flew in the direction of the transport regiment!"

On the battlecruiser Akagi, Yamamoto Isoroku gritted his teeth as he watched the B10 fleet in the sky roaring towards the transport fleet to the north, and shouted, "Order the Soryu and Shenryu fighter groups to cover the transport ship group...... Order all transport ships and destroyers to prepare for air defense and protection, pay attention to the protection of tankers! After seeing the chief staff officer of the fleet, Kuroshima Turtle, hurriedly go to give orders, Yamamoto called the aviation staff officer to his side: "Order the fighters of the Sea Dragon and Cloud Dragon ships to take off immediately to protect the transport ship group!" ”

"But...... Comrade commander, there may be American aircraft carriers nearby, and I am afraid that it will be ...... by the 60 Type 93 fighters on the Black Dragon and the Xianglong."

"Don't talk to me so much." Yamamoto fifty-six interrupted the staff officer with a wave of his hand: "Now we must keep the transport ship regiment, otherwise there will be no way to carry out the combat mission to occupy Hawaii!" ”