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War clouds were gathering in the southwest Pacific, and the Chinese and Japanese navies aimed at Guam at the same time. However, naval warfare is no more important than land warfare, especially ocean-going warfare, in which islands are contested, so the number of ships and troops involved is large, and both navies need enough time to mobilize their ships. However, whether it is the gross tonnage of sea transportation or landing ships, Chen Shaokuan has a great advantage in this regard, and the only weakness is that after the accidental loss of two aircraft carriers of the 23 Fleet, he was unable to pull out Saipan and the surrounding Japanese naval aviation bases as expected. The aircraft carrier Anton sent to Guam has not even completed sea trials, and the speed of the two escort aircraft carriers is on the slow side, so until the field airfields on Guam and Agrihan Island are repaired, the air supremacy will be at a significant disadvantage for the time being.

But the Navy also has its own good news. The refit of the battleship Chongqing was completed, and the four Beijing-class ships were reunited, and the 1936 naval plan (a total of 70 ships, including four aircraft carriers, four battleships, six heavy cruisers, and eight light cruisers), which had been originally formulated for the Sino-Japanese war in 41, finally reached the beginning of the harvest. Excluding the destroyers, frigates, and other small ships that have all been commissioned in the fastest, the first two Shandong-class ships will be commissioned in December and March 1941 respectively, the No. 2 and No. 3 ships of the six Xi'an-class heavy cruisers (six more will be added after the start of the war), and the Lanzhou and Nanning have already been delivered for sea trials (the shortest sea trials in peacetime will take half a year, and in wartime it is generally 30 days), and they will certainly be put into service in October, and the first three of the eight Brahmaputra-class light cruisers (12 additional ships after the start of the war) have also begun to be commissioned one after another. By the end of the year, a total of more than 30 warships, including one Shandong-class battleship, two Liaoning-class aircraft carriers, four escort aircraft carriers, two Xi'an-class heavy cruisers, and three Brahmaputra-class light cruisers, will be put on sea trials or in active service.

In this case, the Navy's eyes have been set not only on Guam, but on the entire Mariana Islands. Therefore, after studying, it was decided to immediately send the battleships Beijing and Nanking, which reinforced the Second Fleet, to Guam. Then all the ships of the heavy patrol formation, escort aircraft carriers and battleships were reorganized and named XN21 Task Force. The name of the fleet is not arbitrary, because the main body is the Second Fleet, and it operates in the southwest sea, so XN21 means "the first combat formation of the second fleet in the southwest sea".

The XN21 Task Force is concurrently commander-in-chief of the Second Fleet Commander Bing, with nine ship battle groups under its jurisdiction.

The 211 aircraft carrier battle group is under the jurisdiction of the Andong fleet aircraft carrier (Liaoning class), Sun Bin and Baiqi escort aircraft carrier (general class).

212 battleship battle group, battleships Beijing and Nanjing (Beijing class).

213 Heavy Patrol Battle Group, Xi'an (Xi'an class), Wuhan and Changsha (Wuhan class), Taiwan Island and Hainan Island (Taiwan Island class).

214 Light Patrol Battle Group. The Yangtze River and the Yellow River (Yangtze River level), the Minjiang River, the Xiajiang River, the Anjiang River and the Fuchun River (Xiangjiang level).

215 destroyer battle group, twelve Taishan and Qinling class.

216 destroyer battle group, thirteen Yongxing-class and Qinling-class.

Two submarine battle groups 217 and 218, a total of forty-four submarines.

219 Support Battle Group, USS Ryukyu electronic reconnaissance ship, two supply ships, four support ships, ten territorial water-class frigates (under the National Guard), twenty-three landing ships, and thirty-two transport ships.

In addition, there are four carrier-based aircraft groups (three aircraft carriers), two sea-based aircraft groups, and two air support / transport groups.

A total of 157 ships and more than 600 aircraft of various types.

Hundreds of ships on both sides were swept up in Guam as a whirlpool. The ground battle on Guam is also heating up. "Boom!" The bomb exploded on the flat ground of Mérizzo, kicking up debris and dust tens of meters high. Before the smoke cleared, two more 99 warship planes swooped down from a high altitude. The 25 and 40-mm anti-aircraft guns in the woods tried their best, and even the 762-mm universal machine guns of the Airborne Forces were added, but they still did not stop them. I saw that the fuselage shook slightly, and four 100-kilogram high-explosive bombs fell from the sky, exploding four large fireballs on the ground.

"Phew! How many times has this been? Ye Zishan shook the dirt on his body. After walking out of the bunker unkempt, he found that the field airfield that was being leveled had been blown out of seven or eight large holes, and two engineering vehicles had also been blown up and caught fire. "Quick, let's fill the soil as soon as possible." Seeing this, he couldn't care about being angry. Immediately let everyone fill the pit as soon as possible.

After the landing, the airborne regiment was looking for flat land to build a field airfield in Merizzo, except for one part of the airborne regiment that cooperated with the marines to garrison the port of Apra and Inarajan to the east. After two days of searching, two narrow flats were found west of Merizzo and four kilometers away at Umatak, where fighter jets could take off and land. However, it is not easy to build an airport in the middle of a dense forest. It would have taken four days just to cut down the nearby trees, if it weren't for the heavy patrol formation bringing engineering trucks and a large number of pre-installed building materials. I'm afraid that everyone can only take pictures of the surface with a sapper shovel little by little. After the Japanese army learned that a field airfield was being built in the south of the island, they also kept sending planes to bomb it, and because the 211 aircraft carrier battle group had not yet arrived, and the 213 heavy patrol battle group was worried about being attacked by air raids, the air base on Guam was now unfortified.

"Major, Major!" After the airborne troops drove a few more mechanical vehicles from the woods, the staff officer shouted: "The transport boat is here, saying that Division Commander Dai asked you to go to the meeting in Apula immediately." ”

"Okay, I'll go. By the way, you take charge of leveling the surface as soon as possible, I estimate that the aircraft carrier should arrive tomorrow at the most. After Ye Zishan said a few words, he walked towards the dock. The Airborne Forces could not build a ring road in a few days, so he had to take a speedboat to the port of Apra. These old Seagull-class speedboats were brought by the heavy patrol formation, and after the torpedoes were dismantled, they were specially used for personnel to travel around the island, and the speed could reach 42 knots. Due to the frequent air raids by Japanese aircraft, in addition to two mm 25 machine guns, four 127 mm heavy machine guns were added to the speedboat. But even so, as soon as he boarded the ship, the captain rushed to the harbor as fast as he could.

It was only 30 kilometers by sea from Merizzo to Puerto Apra, and the speedboat took him to the pier in half an hour. At this time, there were no other ships in the harbor except for two armed merchant ships that served as anti-aircraft batteries and one engineering excavation ship of several hundred tons. More than 30 antiaircraft guns were deployed inside and outside the harbor, as well as two 210-mm coastal defense heavy artillery battalions, and the materials brought by the heavy patrol formation were also transported to the mountains and dense forests to hide. But with ground forces now at a stalemate in Agania, and dense rainforests and mountainous terrain making the battle progressing unusually slow, the navy would not dare to dock millions of ships at every turn. But the absence of a fleet will not hinder the work of the Marine Corps. Standing on the deck, there were soldiers busy with their guns on their backs. The main work of the forces remaining in the rear at the moment is not to fight, but to clear field airfields and seaports as soon as possible for the use of the main forces and aircraft of the upcoming fleet.

As you can see, the harbor has also been bombed just now, and the scale is not small. Next to the oil storage tank of the Mobil Oil Company, there was a downed 96 warship, and an army bomber was burning on the tidal flats of West Bay. It seems that the Japanese pilot who parachuted was also caught, and dozens of Marines were punching, kicking, and making noise there. "Yu." The headquarters was located in the dense forest to the east. There is a nice villa here, and I don't know which rich American man left it. As soon as he arrived at the door, Ye Zishan saw Yan Yu discussing something with several non-commissioned officers.

"Major." Yan Yu saluted: "Commander Dai is waiting for you." ”

The commander of the 1st Marine Division is called Dai Anlan, who is strict in managing the army and has a hot temper, and it is said that he loves to take the lead in everything. He is not a servant. So Ye Zishan also wanted to knock on the side and ask the reason for calling him, and asked, "Yu, what called me here?" ”

Yan Yu said: "I just got the information that about 4,000 Japanese soldiers arrived on Saipan from Truk on destroyers and planes. There was also news from China that more than 100 Zero and bomber planes mobilized by the Japanese Navy from Rabaul and the Philippines had arrived in Saipan, so that they would have about 200 planes in Saipan, more than 100 ships, including four aircraft carriers, two battleships, and four heavy cruisers, and two newly organized army divisions. Submarine reconnaissance said. The Sixth Fleet of the Japanese Navy has begun to assemble in Saipan again, and it is expected that it will land again by the early hours of tomorrow morning in an attempt to send the newly arrived troops to the island. ”

"So many troops?" Ye Zishan was taken aback, he didn't expect that the Japanese army after the heavy damage was so determined.

"yes. So we are going to attack the Japanese troops south of the island tonight. The fleet will send destroyers to accompany us. After Yan Yu finished giving a general introduction, the two of them had already arrived at the gate of the headquarters. As soon as he entered the door, Ye Zishan saw Dai Anlan, who was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, discussing the battle situation with several officers. Dai Anlan was an officer who rose up after the war in Europe, and his arrival in the navy was purely accidental. He came to apply for the Baoding Army Academy. But I didn't expect to fail the exam, thinking that Congrong's wish would fail. Unexpectedly, he was selected by the Marine Corps, which was expanding at the time, and was admitted to the Marine War Section of the Naval Academy. After coming to the navy unexpectedly, he worked for more than ten years, and three years ago, he was promoted to brigadier general because of his outstanding ability to lead troops, and was appointed commander of the 1st Marine Division.

Dai Anlan was a capable person, and when he saw Ye Zishan arrive, he immediately introduced the news of the arrival of Japanese reinforcements and troops, and then began to deploy the mission. "I just got the news that the Japanese navy attacked the base on Agrihan Island and sent more than 1,000 people to land. The fleet has already rushed to support, so the naval artillery support on our side will be somewhat weakened. Although it is weaker, the time remains the same, and the naval guns will shell the Japanese positions on time at four o'clock tomorrow morning! The 1st and 2nd Regiments attacked Agania, while the 3rd Regiment attacked Jonah from the central mountains to the south. Major Ye, your mission is to attack Talofo. It should be noted that according to the scouts, about 1,000 of the Japanese troops who had come ashore three days ago had arrived here, and it is estimated that there were already 13 to 1,600 Japanese troops, as well as quite a few mountain artillery and mortars. The Navy will send two destroyers to provide you with fire support, and you must hold off the Japanese here before my three regiments take Jonah and make sure they don't let them come close. All of you should pay attention and do not despise the Japanese army! Although their firepower is weaker than ours, the cliffs here are steep and wooded, and there are many caves on the island that can neutralize the advantage of weapons and equipment, so you must be cautious when attacking. Also, the main force of the fleet has not yet arrived, and the heavy patrol formation needs to support Agrihan Island and us at the same time, so it is impossible to completely blockade the entire island, so everyone must be careful of shelling from the sea. ”

"Divisional Commander, Divisional Commander!" When Dai Anlan said this, the communications non-commissioned officer suddenly broke in happily: "Received a telegram from the fleet, let us get ready, there will be a batch of planes stationed tomorrow afternoon." ”

"Plane stationed?" Dai Anlan was happy at first, and then scolded him: "Stationed in a fart, the field airport hasn't been built yet!" ”