Gorshkov held the post of commander of the First Fleet of cruisers of the Red Navy task force, and he had full command of the four heavy cruisers Tallinn, Baku, Riga and Vilnius.

The four heavy cruisers were an improved version of the Type 1935 heavy cruisers, all launched between 1938 and 1939. With a standard displacement of 12,500 tons and a maximum displacement of 14,500 tons, it is equipped with 9 203-mm guns and 6 twin 76-mm high-level guns, with a maximum speed of 34 knots and 152 mm armor on the side sides.

These four heavy cruisers were also the last heavy cruisers of the USSR and the swan song of the Soviet artillery cruisers. Of course, according to Li Xiaofeng's meaning, there is no need for these four heavy cruisers to be born at all, what age are they still producing old-fashioned heavy cruisers, what can they do?

According to Li Xiaofeng's idea, the only thing that was necessary for the Soviet Union to put into production at that time was the new air defense cruisers, and the 203-mm and 152-mm artillery cruisers, including the Type 35 heavy cruiser and the Type 36 light cruiser, could be discontinued. It's just that at that time, some high-level officials of the Red Navy who were particularly fond of artillery and giant ships insisted strongly, and a certain immortal could only give them a face.

Of course, this improved Type 35 heavy cruiser also added a lot of anti-aircraft color, such as the Type 38 twin 76 mm high-level dual-purpose gun, which was actually the Soviet version of the Mark 27 twin 76 gun that the US imperialists were equipped with at the end of World War II. Almost except for the artillery itself, which was a Soviet design, all other fire control and automata belonged to copycats. Of course, in the era when Mark 27 had not yet appeared, this was not a copycat. Rather, it's a major innovation.

At least the Red Navy was very satisfied with this anti-aircraft gun, which had a maximum rate of fire of about 45 rounds. Yes. The AK-630 that a certain immortal strongly requested was even more satisfying to some of the top brass of the Red Navy. Because they have always felt that the AK-630 caliber is too small, the projectile lethality and range are not enough, and even its rate of fire cannot ensure the safety of valuable large and medium-sized warships.

The Type 38 Double 76 is different, at least the caliber looks so reassuring, the maximum range can reach 10 kilometers (air defense), and after being equipped with a semi-active radio proximity fuse with Soviet characteristics, its lethality is even more good and powerful (at least some of the supporters of large and medium-caliber anti-aircraft guns of the Red Navy think so).

The Type 35 improved heavy cruiser was armed with three twin Type 38 76 guns on each side of the hull. It is mainly responsible for long-range air defense (compared to the AK-630), and its target designation is mainly carried out by the fire control radars on the front and rear bridges (the radar is installed in total, two are for the Type 38 76 gun to indicate the target, and the other two are for the AK-630 to indicate the target), of course, if necessary, you can also use the optics on the turret to fight alone (but the effectiveness is ugly).

Some comrades may wonder why the 12 76 guns have only two fire control radars, while the other eight AK-630s enjoy two fire control radars? The reason is very simple, the Red Navy's requirements for these two systems are to be able to attack two air targets at the same time, one for one radar tube, and the 76 guns are responsible for air targets within a range of 5 to 10 kilometers. Within five kilometers, the AK-630 is responsible, and two radars at a time guide two anti-aircraft artillery systems to attack two targets. In the words of the now fashionable term, the Type 35 improved heavy cruiser had four channels of anti-aircraft fire.

It doesn't seem like a good idea. However, in that year, it was already a big deal, and these four fire control radars and corresponding fire control computers accounted for a considerable proportion of the cost of 35 heavy patrols. At one time, the navy was willing to cut four radars in half to save money.

There may be comrades who want to say, since there is an AK-630, why is it still equipped with the old-fashioned 38 Type 76 gun, isn't this a duplicate construction? Later small-caliber rapid-fire guns could be anti-missile, and it was not easy to hit larger aircraft.

And I really can't understand it that way. First of all, the AK-630 was equipped with more grenades at that time, and the power of the 30 mm grenade was honestly limited, from the US military at the end of World War II to enlarge the 40 guns and develop the Mark 27 double 76 automatic gun, it can be seen that the 40 mm grenade is not ideal for aircraft, especially the devil's suicide plane. A considerable number of battered suicide planes were still able to struggle to approach the ship, which was undoubtedly quite dangerous.

In particular, it should be noted that the range of 30 mm ammunition is limited, and the effective killing distance is generally within three kilometers, which is too close. Therefore, in order to shoot down enemy aircraft earlier and faster, it makes sense to have a 76-mm class gun with a faster rate of fire, more powerful projectiles (which can create more fragments), and a longer effective killing range.

This is the first reason, and the second reason is that the accuracy of the AK-630 does still have certain problems, even if the external energy scheme is used, the density of the projectile is still not comparable with the rapid-fire guns that specialized in anti-missile in later generations. Moreover, the accuracy of the grenade itself was poor, and it was not until 1944 that the Red Army's artillery shell factory finally had the effort to produce small-caliber armor-piercing shells, and the problem of accuracy and lethality was better solved.

According to the Red Navy's assumptions, each aircraft carrier should have two heavy cruisers and two light cruisers to escort them, and it would be better to have two light cruisers of the air defense type to protect them. For example, the four light cruisers in the formation this time are all anti-aircraft light cruisers.

The anti-aircraft light cruiser has a standard displacement of 7,000 tons and a normal displacement of 8,200 tons, and is armed with 12 130-mm anti-aircraft guns, as well as four Type 38 twin 76s and six AK-630s. Its anti-aircraft firepower can cover up to 15 kilometers from the farthest distance, and it is divided into three layers: far, medium and near. In particular, it should be noted that it has a total of 6 fire channels (equipped with 6 fire control radars). Its air defense effectiveness is quite awesome.

Of course, the cost of this kind of air defense cruiser is also quite awesome, even more expensive than the improved Type 35 heavy cruiser, so much so that the old antiques in the Red Navy do not like this so-called light cruiser quite a lot.

In a sense, this Type 40 air defense cruiser is a knife escort tailored for aircraft carriers, and according to Li Xiaofeng's requirements, each aircraft carrier must be equipped with two such cruisers. In order to meet the financial needs for the construction of the ship, the Red Navy could only "reluctantly" cut the plan to continue the construction of the 35th heavy cruise.

But in Gorshkov's opinion. It was right to cut 35 and transform 40 air defense cruisers. Judging by what he has seen and heard in the fleet exercises in the last year. 35. It's not much fun to change your heart. It is not as good as the Type 40 for air defense, and it is used for sea patrols to expel the opponent's light cruisers or destroyers, one is too small in number and the other is not as good as the destroyer and the Type 36 light cruiser (although the caliber of the 152 gun is small, the rate of fire is faster). In his opinion, the Type 35 Heavy Patrol is a product of awkward positioning, and it is useless to put it in the Red Navy.

Naturally, Gorshkov was not interested in commanding the 35 modified heavy cruiser, and in fact since he realized the power and superiority of the aviation during the last battle to annihilate Tirpitz, he preferred to serve on aircraft carriers. I want to get a closer look at how aviation works.

It's just that his identity is too embarrassing, after the annihilation of Tirpitz, he was quickly promoted to rear admiral, and the captain of the aircraft carrier is at most a colonel, and it is impossible for the Red Navy to let a major admiral deign to do the work of a colonel.

After commanding the aircraft carrier, Gorshkov naturally thought: "Then I will seek the position of commander of the task force formation!" ”

It seems that the major general is almost enough for this position, such as Spruance and Fletcher at this time are only major generals. The problem is that the situation in the Red Navy is different, since the annihilation of Tirpitz, everyone can see that the core of the Red Navy in the future is aircraft carriers, so the commander of the task force will become a sweetheart. Moreover, the Red Navy only had five task forces at that time (this is still to disassemble the five aircraft carriers, and a single aircraft carrier will not be allowed to fight alone in actual combat). There is also a vote of veteran naval aviation officers waiting to be fed, where is the turn to get Gorshkov, who is a halfway monk.

However, Gorshkov also has a positive aspect, that is, his old superior Kuznetsov appreciates him, and Kuznetsov is very nourishing in the navy at this time, although Kuznetsov cannot let Gorshkov command the task force, but it is not difficult to give him a chance to learn from him at close range.

In this operation to reinforce the US Navy, Kuznetsov tried his best to bring Gorshkov, who was not very qualified and not very successful, even if it was just to be the commander of the cruiser First Fleet, it was a good opportunity to learn!

So Gorshkov, although he was not very interested in commanding a heavy cruiser, knew that this was a rare opportunity and could not be treated sloppily. He conscientiously treated every order from his superiors, and actively thought about whether they were reasonable, and sometimes put himself in the shoes of what he would do if he commanded the fleet.

At six o'clock in the morning, when the fleet gave the order to sail north at full speed, Gorshkov knew that the meat show was coming, and he immediately arranged four heavy cruisers around the Kiev and Minsk in accordance with the requirements of the air defense alert, forming an inner air defense circle. At the same time, the four air defense cruisers of the 2nd Cruiser also led two destroyers each to steadily occupy the four corners of the fleet.

Judging from this set of air defense actions of the Red Navy, the position of the Type 35 heavy cruiser is indeed a little embarrassing, because it is obviously the Type 40 air defense cruiser that is responsible for the air defense command work. Each Type 40 anti-aircraft cruiser was to command two destroyers responsible for air defense in one direction. And the 35 change, which is called Heavy Patrol, can only be watched.

There is also a reason for this, from the very beginning Li Xiaofeng knew that the cost of the Type 40 air defense cruiser was too high, and the equipping of each aircraft carrier with two was actually relatively thin. Therefore, from the very beginning of the design, the Type 40 was given the function of an air defense lead ship, and will command more advanced air defense destroyers to cooperate in operations to fill the gap where there are not enough air defense cruisers.

It is a pity in this naval battle that there are still too few destroyers that can cooperate with the Type 40 air defense cruisers, and the Red Navy gritted its teeth and only got together eight, in fact, one Type 40 should command four air defense destroyers, instead of the current two.

Of course, in the 40s, such a configuration was enough, and the Type 40 cruiser integrated 12 doors 130 and 8 doors 76 and 8 doors AK-630 on a hull of more than eight thousand tons, and also set up an air defense command center, which can be said to be a dojo in a snail shell.

Although Gorshkov was envious of the commander of the 2nd Cruiser, he also knew that the security of the fleet did not fully count on these anti-aircraft cruisers and destroyers. The reason is obvious -- air defense is ten defenses and nine air, and defense is always passive, and the slightest mistake will be over. Moreover, compared with the air defense interception network composed of fighters on the aircraft carrier, the effective attack range of the anti-aircraft guns is simply not worth mentioning.

Even the Yak-3K, with its short legs, is capable of intercepting enemy attacks at a distance of two hundred kilometers from the fleet. If equipped with a disposable drop tank. The interception range of the Yak-3K can also be extended outward by a hundred kilometers. And this is also the most painful problem for Gorshkov.

Because the bureaucratic upper echelons of the Red Navy, with the direct intervention of a certain immortal, although the restrictions on the use of disposable drop fuel tanks were lifted. However, the auxiliary fuel tanks stored in domestic warehouses were not transported to Pearl Harbor at the first time. As a result, the Yak-3K still has short legs.

The only good news was that thanks to Sukhoi's efforts, the Americans reached out and rushed to produce a batch of auxiliary fuel tanks. It's just that this batch of auxiliary fuel tanks cannot be discarded, and it belongs to the battle to the death.

Let's put it this way, with the addition of such large auxiliary fuel tanks, the combat radius of the Yak-3K can be extended to about 200 nautical miles, but the maximum speed drops from 650 kilometers to less than 550 kilometers in an instant. Climb, dive, roll and hover performance are also affected. Although it is still much stronger than the Zero War and Wildcat of the United States and Japan on the battlefield, that overwhelming advantage is still gone.

And to make matters worse, even such non-disposable drop tanks are limited in number (after all, they are urgently produced), and they are only enough for a third of the Yak-3Ks (thirty of them).

So when Gorshkov learned the wrong information about Strawberry Nine, he was also choked by it. Why, he felt that if the Yak-3K was strong enough to cover the Ro-2 the whole time, they could give the Japanese a slap first.

It's a pity that the Yak-3K can't fly that far even with a fuel tank, so it can only miss this opportunity to attack first. At that time, Gorshkov had an idea that the future range of carrier-based fighters of the Red Navy could not be so small. It's time to get rid of the shackles of the Yak-1 and develop a completely new carrier-based fighter.

Of course. Gorshkov just thought about it, because he didn't say it or not. And soon Strawberry Five sent another piece of diametrically opposed information. At that moment, Gorshkov's heart was twisted: "Nima, what kind of trouble is this?" There are Japanese aircraft carriers in the north and south, how is this possible? ”

Yes, Gorshkov also believed that one of the two pieces of intelligence must be wrong, and at that time he thought that the intelligence of the Americans, based on his own judgment, might be more accurate. At that time, he believed that the fleet should continue to advance in the northwest direction, and that it was necessary to immediately shorten the distance with the main Japanese force, and at the same time it was possible to send the long-range Ro-2 to attack.

You must know that this kind of thinking was also a minority within the Red Navy task force at that time, and more officers, especially the staff officers of Sukhoi and Kuznetsov, thought that they should trust their Ro-2, after all, both Ro-2 and Strawberry 9 confirmed that there were at least three enemy aircraft carriers due west, and the information of Strawberry 5 was only an isolated evidence, what if it was wrong?

So these officers believed that the fleet should move westward rather than north, and were also opposed to sending all the Ro-2s out to play Death Assault. The reason why it is said to be a death assault is only one reason, the Yak-3K can't keep up with the Ro-2, according to the intelligence positioning of the US military, at this time, the Red Navy task force is still more than 300 nautical miles away from Nagumo Tadaichi, even if it is equipped with auxiliary fuel tanks, the Yak-3K can't fly that far! This means that the final stage of the sortie Ro-2 will have to be left to fate!

However, what made Gorshkov feel was that Kuznetsov and Sukhoi insisted on attacking in the northwest direction, and in their words, they should cooperate with American friends in the attack. As for the problem of the Yak-3K, on the one hand, sending those Yak-3Ks with auxiliary fuel tanks to escort the Ro-2, even if they can only approach the target, is it better than not having nothing at all!

On the other hand, Sukhoi believed that if the suddenness of the attack could be achieved, if the Japanese could be taken by surprise, then even if there were no fighter escorts for the whole process, the problem would not be particularly big.

"How is this possible? It is impossible for the US water reconnaissance planes not to be discovered by the Japanese army, and we have already intercepted the telegrams of the Japanese troops before, and they have already detected our movements, so what is the suddenness of this? ”

In the face of this opposition, Sukhoi patiently explained: "The enemy is on guard, and it is conceivable that they will definitely send fighter jets to patrol in the key directions." But I think that if the enemy is really in the northeast direction, then the focus of their attention should be towards the sector of Midway. A strong air patrol force will be deployed in this sector, and I am afraid that there will be less attention in other directions! ”

Kuznetsov was quick to add: "Comrade Sukhoi and I thought that we could take advantage of the large range of the Ro-2 attack aircraft to bypass the front, which the Japanese were focusing on, and attack from the flank." In addition, in order to avoid detection by the enemy's radar equipment, our formations of attack aircraft will approach the enemy in a low-flying manner! ”

Sukhoi's so-called low-altitude flight is to reduce the flight altitude to about 100 meters, and according to the radar line-of-sight formula, the detection range of the radar at this altitude will be greatly reduced. With the level of the Japanese army's electric reconnaissance back then, I am afraid that they could only find out within visual range, and at that time, there was very little time left for their air defense deployment, at least they could avoid the harassment of a considerable number of Japanese fighters...... (To be continued.) )

PS: Bow and thank you for reading the world, Southern Rangers and Comrade Juventus!