Chapter 223: The Battle of Pearl Harbor
The second wave of aircraft had already begun to form over the fleet, which was located less than 100 kilometers from the southernmost island of Hawai.
The first planes to take off will cross the Big Island and directly attack Pearl Harbor and three airfields on Oahu, and if the American military is not a herd of pigs, then the radar of the Obi Island has already detected the swarm.
The Linglong reconnaissance plane, which took off first, had already sent back the news that the two battleships in Pearl Harbor were there, except for the Enterprise.
"Could it be that the U.S. Navy has found out something?" Long Zhou looked at the group of Pterodactyl and Brute Dragon planes that were forming above, and decided to leave twenty-four Sea Dragons to protect the fleet, and two Fengshen Pterodactyl early warning aircraft converted from Pterodactyl bombers remained in the air, responsible for transmitting the information ahead, and at the same time could also guard the fleet.
Operation "Storm" could not be stopped just because the whereabouts of the Enterprise were unknown, and Longzhou's arrangements were only determined by its cautious nature. Other warplanes continued to sortie, and the fleet began cruising toward the western side of Oahu.
The commander of the Indian Ocean Fleet and the commander of the Marine Corps, Kan Aimin, was responsible for directing the landing operation, and four battleships and four heavy cruisers protected two amphibious landing ships and several Yanhuang troop carriers, and would provide support firepower for them after the landing began.
At 5:32 a.m., the sky was getting brighter, and the ripples on the sea surface were already visible. The sea dragon group commanded by Ji Youqian and Colonel arrived in the sky over Honolulu City. This large city in the sea, with a population of hundreds of thousands, also seems to have just woken up, and there are not many pedestrians on the streets, and some warm sea breeze blows the young leaves of the palm trees, showing the pilots her unique charm.
But the poignant sound of air raid sirens suddenly sounded, adding to the harmonious picture the brutality characteristic of the war years. It was clear that the Royal Navy's carrier-based aircraft were a group of unwelcome visitors, and the anti-aircraft fire on the ground began to fire, and the crisp sound and the little smoke in the air reminded the HNA pilots that this was not a paradise.
Colonel Ji Youqian, who was designated as the commander of the Sea Dragon Formation before departure, turned on the communicator, "Keep in formation, they can't hit us!" Watch out for US planes! ”
Anti-aircraft fire in the city is not too intensive, and there is no threat to a fleet of carrier-based aircraft that is already close to the speed of sound at a speed of more than a thousand kilometers per hour.
Looking at the sixteen-plane formation that belonged to the same aircraft carrier as Fengxiao, the wings and fuselage of each sea dragon were shining with the golden dragon sign of going to sea, just like the Han Empire was born in the South Pacific, shining under the rising sun, emitting dazzling light.
Colonel Ji's heart suddenly swelled with an incomparable sense of pride, and even the beautiful Sandalwood City under the clouds exuded an extra sense of intimacy - it won't be long before she will also be the territory of the Empire! I heard that the beach here is beautiful, maybe after retiring, you can come here for a vacation, or ...... Tell your children how your father and I used to conquer this romantic island.
The sound of Zilazila suddenly sounded from the communicator, and the radar operator of the AWACS aircraft warned: The US military has taken off twenty-four planes from Ford Island and the Carneot Naval Air Station, and a group of warplanes has also taken off from the Wheeler Army Airfield in the north of the island, and the number is unknown!
Ji Youqian whistled and thanked the "sentinel" of the Fengshen Wing Dragon, and then switched the channel: "Brothers, there is work to do!" Wen He and Wen Ruo's brothers stayed with me to deal with the naval planes at Pearl Harbor. The brothers in the Indian Ocean are responsible for the army planes at the Wheeler airfield in the north, and the brothers of the Chungda, you continue to monitor the Hickem airfield. ”
There are whistles in the channel, which means it has been received! Ji Youqian shook his head, "These boys, don't you know what it means to be nervous?" Then he smiled again, not to mention others, but also himself! However, the Americans are different from the Japanese, their planes are also very advanced, and Colonel Ji hurriedly shouted again, "Don't be careless, everyone!" I don't know how effective this reminder will be, but there is no more time to continue, and five of the eight Sea Dragon Sixteen Aircraft Formations have each drawn a beautiful arc and flew towards their own targets! There were also many small spots of light in the airborne radar, and there was no doubt that they were all US military planes.
At the U.S. Navy Air Station on Ford Island in the middle of Pearl Harbor, the F-1 Fury was still rising into the air at maximum speed, and the F-2 Banshee on the other runway was also letting out her trademark scream as it took off.
Ji Youqian was glad that he didn't trust the big and left the brothers of the Wenruo and Wenhe to help, otherwise it would be really difficult for these brothers on the Fengxiao to deal with the more and more American HNA planes taking off from Pearl Harbor.
The appearance of the Kraken was somewhat unexpected by Colonel Ji, this is the first American Navy carrier-based jet fighter with folding wings, which is based on the design of the Sea Dragon A, but the development company MacDonald has added many American innovations, such as worm gear engines and ejection seats, which are all technologies that are still being developed in Dahan.
However, the intelligence of the reconnaissance plane said that the only US aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean, the USS Enterprise, was not in port? Where did this Kraken come from?
No one can answer his question, no matter what, in this battle, in addition to the F-86 Sabre and F-1 Fury, the opponent of the Sea Dragon is the F-2 Banshee, the most advanced carrier-based fighter of the US Navy.
In this air battle, because the fighters on both sides were equipped with relatively advanced radars, the previous tactics of cloud and sunlight raids were useless, and it was completely a contest of real swords and guns.
The air supremacy of the Dahan Royal Air Force is 48 J37-E Sea Dragons, followed by 96 HH6-C Pterodactyl bombers and 72 G41-A/B Brute Dragon attack aircraft that penetrate the defense at low altitudes.
More than 50 F-1 Fury Navy land-based fighters and F-2 Kraken carrier-based aircraft took off from the Kaneohe Naval Air Station next to the Ford and Honolulu ports in Pearl Harbor.
The F-86 Sabre on the U.S. Army airfield and the legendary super-high-speed F-94 Starfire interceptor, which is most feared by Royal Navy pilots, did not appear over Mount Tantarus and Mount Olympus, and they would fight the carriers of the Royal Navy's Indian Ocean Fleet over the northern part of Oahu.
If we put aside the clumsy performance of the two US aircraft carriers at Wusongkou, this was the first real confrontation between the Chinese and American pilots before. The three 16-plane planes of Fengxiao, Wenhe, and Wenruo formed a triangular offensive formation and met the US Navy fighters that were taking off urgently. Before the formation had time to quickly give the American planes to the Sea Dragon formations a chance to break through, just entered the attack range, Ji Youqian pressed the button and fired two consecutive fairy penguin air-to-air missiles, and a puff of white smoke rose under the wings of the comrades around him, which was the sign of the fairy penguin launch, and the cannons at the nose of the eight wingmen responsible for covering in the formation continuously fired cannonballs dragging tracer, which was to make up for the weakness of the fighter plane that launched the fairy penguin missile must have a few seconds of stable flight for guidance, in these few seconds, It is the most vulnerable to attacks by opposing fighters. Dodging, making a high maneuver maneuver means that the launched fairy penguin will lose guidance and lose the target; If you don't dodge, once you are hit by the other party, you will be ruined. In particular, the current opponent has been replaced by the US military, and the Sidewinder missiles carried by the opponent's furious fighters cannot be underestimated, and the tracking ability of the infrared-guided Sidewinder is not too strong in the face of high-speed jet fighters, but the Sea Dragon fighters that fly smoothly and are guided by radars will inevitably be shot down once they are targeted.
This was not the time to clean up old Japanese aircraft with Penguin air-to-air missiles, the appearance of air-to-air missiles during the air battle of Kyushu was a disaster for the large number of Japanese helopters. But the opponent was replaced by the United States, which is also a high-speed jet, and the Sea Dragon pilots did not dare to be careless. But if it is purely from the performance of the fighter last year, the J37-E is still significantly stronger than the F-1 and F-2.
His Majesty once said: If you want to catch up with the big man in the performance of the fighter, the Americans have to get the F-14 Panda out. That's true!
In the first round of confrontation, the fairy penguins shot down four Kraken and two Fury, only two Kraken's US pilot's seats ejected successfully, and the other fighters exploded in volley. In the jet and missile era, air combat has become more brutal and bloody, fighter jets use machine guns as the main weapon, after the plane is damaged, the pilot has a great chance to parachute, and even the example of successfully piloting the injured plane back abounds. But after the appearance of air-to-air missiles, there are fewer and fewer pilots who can escape if they are hit!
Therefore, watching the two Kraken pilots who successfully ejected from their seats falling in the air, the Royal Navy pilots did not suffer from death, and even deliberately bypassed their falling route to avoid the wings cutting their parachute lines.
But this friendship was limited to the fight to the death that continued after being shot down, over Mount Tantarus, which stood on the west side of Pearl Harbor and shielded it from the monsoon. The fairy penguins made frequent achievements, and the rattlesnake began to achieve results, three sea dragons were shot down, and one of them staged an extremely tragic scene - the pilot of a sea dragon fighter whose wing was hit did not choose to parachute, but controlled the plane to crash into a warehouse in Pearl Harbor Bay at the foot of Mount Tantarus, and that warehouse also happened to be a heavy oil depot for warships!
The flames raged into the sky, and the billowing black smoke obscured even the rising sun, darkening the already smoke-filled airspace of the war.
The nerves on the foreheads of all the American pilots beat unconsciously, is this Han or Japanese?
The corners of Ji Youqian's eyes were a little moist, and he saw the number on the plane clearly, it was a comrade-in-arms who also belonged to Fengxiao. Before taking off in the early morning, he also made a joke with himself.
But such a thing is normal on the battlefield, and even if you succeed in parachuting, you will definitely become a prisoner of the enemy even if you succeed in parachuting. Even though His Majesty has repeatedly emphasized: people are more important than airplanes! But none of the proud Royal Navy pilots had any intention of being taken prisoner! Ji Youqian knew that if he was replaced by himself, his choice would not be any different from that comrade-in-arms.
Since you are in the army, you are ready to sacrifice! Luck favors only the brave!
"Fighting...... It's just getting started! Follow me...... Two kilometers ahead......"
Colonel Ji Youqian's eyes slanted slightly, swept over the radar, called his wingman, and looked through the transparent window of the fighter, firm and confident!