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The sky is gradually brightening, and the cities on the southeast coast are waking up from their sleep. But today is very different, when people go out of their homes and prepare to go to school and work, they find that the streets and alleys are already full of military vehicles and fire trucks on standby, on the platforms of high-rise buildings, in parks, and by rivers, a door tears through the camouflaged anti-aircraft guns and pierces the sky, and the reservists of the National Guard wear eye-catching red armbands, operate binoculars, listeners, and searchlights, and occasionally fly overhead groups of warplanes.

When people were still wondering what was going on, the radio broadcast brought an explosive news that China and Japan had gone to war!

"The peace in Northeast Asia has ended, the blood on Qingdao and the land of Northeast China has not dried up, and the Yongzhen Mountains and Rivers Monument in Port Arthur is still standing there, and these careerists are stretching out their hands to us again! They deceived 60,000 Chinese! Blatantly attacked our border guards and civilians! Sink my patrol ship! Caused the tragedy of the sacrifice of hundreds of naval officers! We can't take it anymore! In Nanyang, millions of compatriots were trampled by the Japanese iron cavalry and lost their dignity. In the southeast, the entire island chain is threatened! Our cargo and fleet do not have free access to the sea! In the southwest, hundreds of thousands of enemy troops are eyeing our country's Yunnan and Guangxi, meddling in Annan to create a conspiracy in an attempt to overthrow the nascent regime! So I'm not ready to pray for peace anymore, and I'm not prepared to negotiate with the Japanese government in any way! I have already ordered the army to fight back by any means! I have decided to stand with our allies to punish this country that has repeatedly created terror in Asia, and to strike at Japan without limits! This time we will not compromise, unless Japan surrenders unconditionally and hands over all the equipment of the navy, air force and army, and disbands the army, otherwise the war will be carried out to the end! ”

At the entrance of the Capitol, Yang Qiu spoke harshly in front of reporters. His speech quickly spread over the airwaves across the land of China, and the radio informed that the Japanese had begun to attack North Korea and Sakhalin. After signs of Japanese military activity appeared outside Yunnan and Miaojie, there were once again huge war marches across the country. Countless hot-blooded young people waved their arms in solidarity with the motherland and supported the president's decision to declare war on Japan. Newspapers, magazines, radio, and even street commentaries are all describing the atrocities committed by the Japanese army since its southward advance, and telling the story of Japan's planning of war and destruction of peace. The Admiralty will also send the wounded soldiers back to Beijing for interviews with journalists. Under such a propaganda machine, the day instantly became the bane of vile and shameless arrogance. It has become the source of the world's wars and the destruction of peace. Similarly, news of the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War quickly spread around the world. Britain, Saudi Arabia and other allies immediately stood up for and declared war on Japan, and Churchill even made a special radio speech, believing that this was one of the wisest decisions made by the Chinese government in 20 years. The typhoon operation that night shocked the world, including Fukuoka, Sasebo, Kagoshima, Naha, Miyakojima, Seoul, Busan, Jeju Island, Tsushima Island, and a total of 37 major targets were bombed multiple times. During the entire night of bombing, the Japanese navy sank or damaged four battleships, three cruisers, 19 destroyers, and 12 other ships, bombed more than 20 airfields, bombed 270 bridges, warehouses, harbors, power plants, and other important facilities, destroyed 531 planes of various types, and suffered casualties among 3,000 Japanese soldiers and 2,000 civilians (all after the fact!). The bombing of Kyushu was mainly focused on military and urban facilities. Not counting strategic bombing, so the loss of personnel is small). However, the Republic of China only paid a slight price for the loss of two destroyers (one of the 15 fleets was lost for the first time in the encirclement and suppression), 37 bombers, and 15 fighters.

In one night, a quarter of the sea and air forces were lost in Japan, and the power of air strikes was vividly displayed! This operation also affected the never-ending air battle in the English Channel. Both Hitler and Churchill began to consider plans to destroy the enemy's living forces and war capabilities by bombing large groups of aircraft. Hideki Tojo and Hirohito, who had also just come to power, were also stunned by the huge losses. However, not to be outdone, the Japanese newspaper, which was the mouthpiece, scandalized the typhoon operation as a shameless sneak attack on Japan, and this remark also aroused the unanimous indignation of the Japanese people who did not know the truth, and even a homemade bomb appeared in front of the Chinese embassy in Tokyo. Seppuku protests and other bloody events. All Chinese commercial establishments in Japan were also smashed, looted, and burned, and dozens of Chinese were unfortunately martyred. In order to plug the power vacuum in the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea after the destruction of Sasebo as soon as possible. The Japanese Navy immediately transferred dozens of destroyers and cruisers from Yokosuka and sent fighters from Tokyo and other places to replenish the losses. At six o'clock in the morning, Hirohito also delivered a national speech, in which he called for the first time a national mobilization, requiring all male citizens over the age of 16 to participate in military training, and women to participate in labor, and demanding that domestic enterprises make every effort to manufacture military equipment such as airplanes and warships. In his speech, he vowed to fight to the death with the Republic of China, and believed that the scene of the Battle of Tsushima would reappear, and finally he also officially expressed his hope that the four countries of Soviet, German, Italian, and Japanese would complete the alliance negotiations as soon as possible and jointly strike at the enemy.

When the news reached Europe, Hitler, who had been bleeding from his head over the English Channel, was once again shaken and began to seriously consider an alliance with the Soviet Union. After all, the capabilities of China's army, navy, and air force were too surprising, and he and the Germans were worried that they would no longer be able to contain China after Japan's defeat. Moscow is also bittersweet, happy that China and Japan have finally gone to war, and no matter how weak Japan is, China will have to fight on two fronts for at least one to two years. Worried about the continued defeat in the direction of Central Asia, Timoshenko, despite his best efforts, was still unable to stop the Wehrmacht's ground-air tactics, and in less than three weeks Petropavlovsk was completely surrounded, and the Trans-Siberian Railway was in danger. Affected by this, Stalin immediately reached a formal alliance agreement with the visiting Hirota Hiroki, and provided Japan with weapons including T34 tanks, radars, IL2 attack aircraft, and 57-mm long-needle anti-tank guns. In the end, he also vowed that the troops entering India would be mobilized within two weeks at the latest to cooperate with the Japanese army's attack on southwest China. This generosity surprised even Hirota Hiroki, of course, the weapons and equipment provided by the Soviet Union could not break through the blockade of the British Navy, so most of them were drawings and some skilled workers who secretly diverted to Japan in South America.

In the end, Stalin strictly ordered Motolov to speed up negotiations with Ribbentrop, agreeing in principle to return the heavy cruiser Petropavlovsk (the former heavy cruiser sold by Germany to the Soviet Union in the Soviet-German non-aggression agreement) to Germany, and also agreed to sell the light cruiser Kirov. And the two light cruisers Kalinin and Kaganovich, which had been built but not yet installed, were also sold to Germany for further construction. At the same time, it promised to sell ten destroyers, thirty-three submarines, ten minesweepers and all nine large torpedo boats, and exchanged these ships for 1,500 BF109s and more weapons and machine equipment, but refused to sell battleships.

However, this naval agreement also has a premise, that is, the Soviet Union and Germany must first form an alliance.

The clouds of turmoil in Europe are gradually expanding, and it is unknown whether Hitler will agree to Stalin, but for Yang Qiu, these are still unknown, and the war in Northeast Asia is what he is most concerned about at the moment.

At 9:30 a.m., as soon as the president's speech ended, Liu Yu turned off the radio and walked to the take-off deck of the aircraft carrier Guizhou, where he was located. The Guizhou is the second ship of the Sichuan-class fleet aircraft carrier. With a standard displacement of 27,000 tons, a full load of 35,300 tons, a maximum speed of 33 knots, eight twin 85 mm guns, twelve twin 40 mm anti-aircraft guns and twenty-four single-barreled 25 mm rapid-fire guns. Carrying a standard HNA squadron of thirty-six Lightning fighters, twenty-eight Yaksha dive bombers, and twenty-four Osprey torpedo bomber squadrons. With the addition of spare parts aircraft, the maximum carrying capacity is 96 aircraft.

Liu Yu is the captain of the torpedo squadron. As soon as he reached the hatch, he heard a babbling voice, and the corners of his mouth suddenly curved downward. "Fuck, what are those reconnaissance planes doing for food? No news yet. What time is it? Wait any longer, Lao Tzu will fall asleep. Knowing this, Lao Tzu would have gone to find it himself faster than those tortoises on his mother's shore! Lei Shaobao, the leader of the dive squadron returning from the northwest, stood in front of his plane. I am very dissatisfied that I have not yet found a Japanese aircraft carrier. The pilots of the dive bombers standing on the side also looked anxious and nodded in agreement.

There are no special reconnaissance aircraft on the aircraft carrier, and in general, dive bombers need to take into account reconnaissance missions. However, because the operation was in the near sea, it was very close to the Ryukyu Islands. Yang Guochang was unwilling to consume the already small number of carrier-based aircraft in vain, and the shore-based reconnaissance planes would not expose the position of the aircraft carrier, so he handed over all the reconnaissance tasks to the shore-based reconnaissance group. However, dozens of Blue Swan seaplanes from Taiwan, Shanghai, Mawei and other places have been pulling nets near the Yaeyama Islands and the Ryukyus since 5 a.m., but no news has been transmitted back for a long time. Did you just flee back to the soil? Liu Yu wondered. Lei Shaobao suddenly stopped him, raised his eyebrows and waved his fist in demonstration: "Liu Yu." Don't forget our bet! ”

Liu Yu glared at him fiercely, the two were classmates in aviation school and the most top-notch Hainan Airlines pilots. But the temperament is completely to the left, so I don't know how many people have fought openly and secretly over the years. Before the voyage, the two made a bet that whoever dropped the bomb and missed the target would have to hand over a three-month quota of cigarettes. "Captain, what are you betting with Thunder Mouth?" Several good comrades-in-arms gathered around, you must know that there has always been a dispute within the HNA about who is the protagonist of the attack in the dive or torpedo, so the competition between the two squadrons is also fierce.

"Nothing." Liu Yu is low-key, not as flamboyant as Lei Shaobao, but takes care of the essentials of tactics. "Yang Fan, your movements are too big, and it is easy to stall with such a big maneuver before dropping the bomb. Li Ming, pay attention to the distance, too far away the target is easy to get rid of. And you, don't rush down before attacking, flatten after flying sideways at 30 degrees into the bomb throwing channel, and try to be as soft as possible with your wrists. Also, everyone should be vigilant, pay attention to rapid-fire guns when pulling them up, and don't fly in a straight line for a long time, otherwise the rear machine gun can't see the enemy aircraft in the rear, and here is a dead end. ”

After telling him, Liu Yu took the helmet from the air crew and began to check his fighter. The Osprey is a two-seat torpedo aircraft/bomber developed in 1937, and its performance is similar to that of the later TBF Avenger, but the appearance has changed greatly. The main thing is that the Osprey uses the Airbus double Mustang 2000 horsepower engine, with a maximum output of 2265 horsepower, and in order to reduce wind resistance, a streamlined belly semi-buried torpedo pylon with a fairing is used, which looks like a giant belly bird. There are two 127 mm machine guns in the nose, and there is also a twin 762 mm self-defense machine gun in the back seat, with a maximum level flight speed of 490 km, a maximum range of 1600 km, and a maximum combat radius of 550 km. Like all torpedo aircraft, the Osprey has very wide wings and excellent sea-skimming and low-altitude capabilities. But also for this reason. The speed is slow, and the maximum cruising speed when the torpedo is only 370 km, it is easy to become a target for enemy fighters.

At this time, the Osprey's wings were still in a folded state, and because the target distance was not known, two 500-liter drop fuel tanks were hung at the wing roots. After carefully inspecting it, half an hour had passed, which made him also anxious, and he couldn't help but look at the flagship sailing outside.

Inside the battleship Dinghai, Yang Guochang and Lin Ruosheng, who had been waiting for several hours, finally got the first news. Report. Received a report from the Sea Eagle 109 that a suspected target of the battleship Itsukushima was found southwest of the Ryukyus. ”

"Oh?" The anxious Yang Guochang immediately snatched the telegram from the staff officer and asked, "Is there a specific location?" ”

"Here, between Kerama and Ryukyu Oshima, about 280 nautical miles away from us."

Lin Ruosheng quickly drew a circle in the sea area of Keliangma. Looking up and asking, "Didn't you see the aircraft carrier?" Can you contact Shanghai Hawk? ”

The staff officer shook his head, and a trace of pain flashed on his face: "The Sea Eagle 109 cut off contact after sending the telegram. Both Yang Guochang and Lin Ruosheng knew what it meant to cut off contact, which meant that the Sea Eagle 109 water reconnaissance plane was likely to have been shot down. So it was the surviving shore-based fighters of the Ryukyus who shot it down? Or what about aircraft carrier-based aircraft? This is a very important question! Since there is no exact number of damage from last night's bombing, no one knows how many surviving Japanese planes there are in the Ryukyus. Everyone only knows that before the Japanese war, a total of one naval aviation shore-based brigade and two army aviation brigades were deployed in the Ryukyus. In total, there are about 330 aircraft of various types, and there are still 50 or 60 second-tier vintage aircraft in the Yaeyama and Amami Islands. However, the large island of Ryukyu is not small, and there will always be fish that slip through the net due to the high mountains and dense forests. Then the number of leaks has become the key.

"The battleship Itsukushima is an old ship of the European war. The Japanese Navy was short of money, so it was not refitted much, and its air defense was very poor, so it could not operate alone. Lin Ruosheng analyzed: "Fengxiang and Ruifeng are both light aircraft carriers. There are not enough carriers, and the two together are not as good as one of us. Therefore, Yamaguchi Tawen will definitely seek shore-based aircraft protection, and will not let the battleship move alone to disperse the air defense forces. But he was afraid that we would attack the Ryukyus and he couldn't escape, and our two Beihai ships were also coming, so I think it is very likely that he would hide in Kerama and cooperate with land-based aircraft! Pre-war intelligence said that there were three brigades in the Ryukyus, and even if two were killed last night, there would be about a hundred left. Excluding the army's bombers, there are at least 30 to 40 fighters in it, plus two aircraft carriers, and the total number will not be less than 60. This is our location, 75 nautical miles southeast of Yaeyama, which has also entered the radius of the Japanese bombers on the island of Ryukyu Oshima from a distance. So once we attack, Yamaguchi Tawen and the remaining bombers of the Ryukyus will definitely kill all of them, even if they have fifty. After finishing speaking, he looked at his watch again: "It's now ten o'clock, and the estimated time to launch the attack is half past eleven, and it will be half past one when the plane is successfully recovered." By one o'clock in the afternoon at the latest, we would enter the radius of the Type Zero fighters of the Mountain 56, and at half past two the maximum attack radius of the Type 97 dive bombers. ”

Yang Guochang nodded, this is the problem that makes him tricky. The two aircraft carriers have a total of 72 fighters, and if there are more surviving aircraft in the Ryukyus, it will be necessary to increase the escort efforts, so that the air defense capability of their side will be poor. On the contrary, if the Ryukyus survive less, they can send fewer fighters to strengthen the air defense of the fleet. Moreover, he must always pay attention to the main force of the mountain that is rushing quickly, so he is a little hesitant to send how much. "Why don't you let the Air Force help?" Lin Ruosheng made a suggestion. Yang Guochang's fingers tapped lightly on the table a few times. The two Hokkai-class ships of the First Fleet have not yet been in place, and the only one that can support the Ryukyus from within is the Jianhachi Tianquan. However, the four Tianquan brigades deployed in Fujian, Shanghai and other places all participated in last night's escort, and the pilots were very tired, so even if they could come, there would not be many of them. The HNA Brigade in Penghu can come, but it must seize the opportunity, and the dispatch now is just a waste of gasoline.

"Stay twenty-four! Thirty-two, all the rest depart! Lift the radio silence and call the Air Force to help immediately! After the group left, the patrol planes were landed and refueled, and a second group of patrol planes was dispatched to ensure that we had at least twelve lightning bolts over us at all times. The fighter plane was fleeting, and there was not much time left for Yang Guochang, so he chose to be conservative after thinking about it again. But it was precisely because of the conservatism that eight more fighters were left that the entire fleet was saved.

The long-awaited sortie signal was finally issued, and after the two aircraft carriers accelerated to 32 knots in the wind, forty lightning fighters took the lead in rushing into the blue sky, circled a few times, and then quickly formed their own formations, respectively protecting the Yaksha and Osprey divided into four groups and flying towards Keirama. At the same time as the 23 fleet kicked off the first aircraft carrier naval battle of the Republic of China. On the battleship Kongo, 670 nautical miles northeast of the Ryukyus, Minoru Genda walked quickly into the command tower with a telegram in hand.

"Your Excellency! This is a telegram from Okinawa, they shot down a Shina water reconnaissance plane in Kerama. After staying up all night without sleep, Minoru Genda, who was full of thoughts about how to fight back, said in a hoarse voice: "This must be the attack signal of the China aircraft carrier!" Perhaps their carrier-based aircraft have already taken off. "Not bad." Tsukahara 243 also agreed with this speculation and said: "This is where the Furutaka encountered the main force of Shina last night, and judging from the speed, they should have been within 300 nautical miles of Okinawa." Plus they definitely don't want the offshore base to support too far, so I think it should be. His fingers slid north from the east coast of Taiwan, resting on the southern side of Ishigaki Island in Yaeyama. Heavy said: "Yaeyama! ”

Nagumo Chundaichi shook his head: "Yaeyama is close to Keelung, so you can get the support of the Shina Air Force. Yamaguchi-kun and Okinawa still have a total of 89 fighters, but the army has only 35 heavy bomb planes, ship bombs, and ship attack planes combined, and the number of attack planes is insufficient, and it is difficult to defeat the Shina fleet. Minoru Genda was waiting for this sentence. After hearing this, he immediately stared at his red eyes and said loudly: "So, please give the order to take off immediately and cooperate with Your Excellency Yamaguchi to jointly attack." ”

"Now?" The Black Island Turtle Man shook his head again and again, and even snorted coldly with disdain: "Gentian-kun, are you crazy?" We don't know the exact location of the Shina fleet, but Tsukahara is just guessing. And the sea area is so big, it will take a long time to find the Chinese fleet! What's more, we are still 630 nautical miles away from Yaeyama. Even if Zero Combat can fly over, there will be no spare fuel for air combat, so that the ship explosion and ship attack will not come back! So, you are sending the precious pilots of the Empire to their deaths! ”

Genda was so angry that he was shaking all over, and he was about to refute. Tsukahara 243 next to him saw a clue, and immediately said in a deep voice: "Gentian-kun, now is the crisis of the empire, if you have any way, just be direct." ”

"Hey!" Minoru Genda immediately bowed. He apologized for his excitement, and then pointed to the chart and expressed his thoughts to Shan Fifty-six and the others. "Your Excellency, General. Generals. Although the combat radius of the Zero War cannot reach Yaeyama, why do we have to let the plane fly back? Needless to say, the 97 ship attack has a range of 1,900 kilometers, and the 99 ship explosion has a range of 1,400 kilometers, and even if they are hung with torpedoes and bombs, they can take off now and stay here for thirty minutes before flying back to Okinawa. ”

Tsukahara 243 is an aviation expert, and after hearing this, his eyes suddenly lit up: "Genda-kun, do you mean to go back to Okinawa directly after the plane attack?" ”

"Yes! No matter how powerful the Shina people are, it is impossible to take Okinawa away. So it is completely possible to return the attack aircraft group to Okinawa for refueling, and then fly back. ”

"Is thirty minutes enough? Yaeyama has a large sea area, and we don't know it yet. Yama Fifty-six frowned. The idea was good, but he was still worried about not finding an opponent. But Minoru Genda was full of confidence: "Your Excellency General, you can immediately ask Your Excellency Yamaguchi to dispatch all the planes that can attack to search for the attack, and as long as you find the Shina fleet, you can immediately tell our fleet by radio." ”

Minoru Genda said faster and faster, Yama Fifty-six and others also nodded again and again, and Tsukahara 243 even said that he could try it. Only the Black Island Turtle Man had a blue face, and he felt as if his position had been snatched away, and he felt very uncomfortable. "Time is running out, Your Excellency!" After Minoru Genda finished speaking, he raised his head and asked the mountain to make a decision with bloodshot eyes.

"Your Excellency! Daying telegram, the people of China are destroying the Huatai Island oil field! Also, the Philippine Army Air Force has already set out to attack Guangzhou, Zhanjiang and Hong Kong, and the troops of General Seishiro Itagaki have also broken through the dividing line between the north and the south and are advancing towards Kaesong and Wonsan! Shan Fifty-six Yuan was still hesitating, but the three important news brought by the staff officer made him grit his teeth suddenly. The Sakhalin oil field, which was destroyed in the end, was equivalent to cutting half of the navy's throat, and the army's counterattack made the navy even more disgraced.

So after thinking about it, he took a deep breath and gave the order to counterattack: "Carry out Genda-kun's plan!" For the sake of the Empire, please do your best! ”