In the endless ocean of the North Pacific, a large fleet suddenly sailed slowly out of the horizon. This is a task force consisting of two aircraft carriers, three heavy cruisers, three light cruisers, twelve destroyers, six submarines, five minesweepers, three transport ships, and three supply ships.

During World War II, there were only three countries in the world that could send such a fleet!

However, in the plan of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet, this powerful fleet was nothing more than a decoy. They would be tasked with attacking the Aleutian Islands of Attu and Kiska in the Aleutian Islands, thus forcing the US Fifth and Eighth Fleets to rush in for reinforcements.

The Aleutian Islands are a long arc-shaped island chain that connects Alaska in the United States on one end and Kamchatka in Russia on the other.

If the U.S. military does not come to reinforce or the reinforcement is not effective, the Japanese army will occupy the Aleutian Islands and deploy naval and air forces here to completely cut off the supply lines of the U.S. mainland to Kamchatka.

When the main force of the Kwantung Army returned to help, it would be difficult for the Sino-US coalition forces, which had lost supplies, to survive this winter. The Japanese could even use the Aleutian Islands as a stepping stone to directly attack Canada and the U.S. mainland.

And once the main force of the US fleet dares to show its face, the main force of the Japanese Combined Fleet, which had been prepared for a long time, will suddenly come out and wipe out the US fleet in the Pacific Ocean cleanly and thoroughly.

By the way, at this time in history, the Battle of Midway had been over for several months, but it was not fought in this time and space. Because there was a great deal of controversy within the Japanese Navy about the need to capture Midway. It was the "Doolittle bombing" that made Japan realize the threat of Midway, which led to Yamamoto's gambler's battle plan.

However, in this time and space, the "Doolittle bombing" was two months late, and just as the Japanese army was preparing to implement the Midway operation plan, the 17th Air Force of the US Army suddenly attacked all the way from Kamchatka, almost bombing the Japanese mainland.

Compared to Midway, Kamchatka is naturally more threatening.

As a result, General Yamamoto immediately revised his previous plan and decided to temporarily suspend military operations in the Central Pacific and move them to the North Pacific. Moreover, the navy also had its own considerations, hoping to achieve a decisive victory before the main forces of the Kwantung Army returned to the division. So as not to fall behind in front of the soil bun army.

The Japanese side refers to the attack force on the Aleutian Islands in Alaska as the "Northern Formation" or "Aleutian Strike Formation". Commanded by Vice Admiral Hosoyama Tsukoro. With the heavy cruiser Nazhi as the flagship, the main force is the three heavy cruisers "Nazhi", "Maya", and "Kaohsiung" and the two aircraft carriers "Longxiang" and "Hayabusa".

The fleet also carried 1,800 landing combat troops. According to the plan, Army Major Commander Hozumi Matsunian commanded an infantry brigade and an engineer squadron to form the Army's Northern Battle Group to be responsible for the invasion of Attu Island, and about 1,250 men of the Third Special Marine Corps of the Maizuru Armament District under the command of Naval Major Commander Mukai 123 were responsible for landing on Kiska Island.

The battle soon began. The Japanese "Aleutian strike formation" did not launch a direct attack on the islands of Attu and Kiska. Instead, they made a feint to attack Holland Harbor, which is close to the eastern shore of the Alaska Peninsula. In order to confuse and attract the US troops in the direction of the main assault. This is a natural deep-water port, and it is also one of the most important military bases of the US military in the Pacific Ocean in history, so it has become the focus of Japanese attacks!

History always has striking parallels. Battle of Midway. Because of the leakage of Japanese telegrams, it eventually led to the crushing defeat of the Japanese Combined Fleet.

This time it was the same, as Yamamoto had just adjusted his deployment, and the electronic reconnaissance department of the US military confirmed the actions that the Japanese army was about to take. As a result, both sides are secretly deploying troops, preparing to deal a fatal blow to the opponent.

On October 15, 1942, Rear Admiral Theobor, commander of the First Squadron of the Eighth Fleet, received a reconnaissance report that two Japanese aircraft carriers had been spotted four hundred miles south of Kiska Island.

The Japanese fleet was spotted by a PBV "Katarina" water reconnaissance aircraft. In order to compensate for the lack of ground-based radar stations (because the Aleutian Islands are mountainous and undulating, especially in the western part of the region near Alaska), the deep-pocketed Yankees equipped every "Catarina" water reconnaissance plane with a simple radar.

This greatly compensated for the lack of reconnaissance strength of the US military and played an unexpected role. Everything afterwards proved the value of radar, and until the end of this battle, the US military relied on radar to detect all the movements of the Japanese army.

On the other hand, looking at their opponents, the Japanese army not only had backward radar, but also had a serious lack of understanding of radar. In the survey of Japan's scientific and technological capabilities submitted by the US military after the armistice, it was mentioned that Japan was completely unaware of the role of radar in modern warfare, and that this was the fundamental reason for its backwardness in radar. The lack of excellent technical personnel and the inability to make effective use of human resources are all due to the arbitrariness and overconfidence of the military department......

Major General Theobor hurriedly reported to the commander-in-chief of the North Pacific Theater, Admiral Arnold, and the whole message was concise and to the point: "The guests are ready to visit Holland Harbor!" ”

Admiral Arnold immediately called back: "Let the lads be enthusiastic, it's better to stay all!" ”

Soon, twelve B24 bombers, equipped with advanced radar and communications devices, began to fly towards the position of the Japanese aircraft carrier.

The B24 has strong horsepower and huge size, and has a lot of room for improvement, so it has been transformed into a large number of special models such as anti-submarine bombers, full-course escort aircraft, reconnaissance aircraft, transport aircraft, VIP planes, training aircraft, and fuel transport aircraft, and even converted into fighter-bombers.

In this operation, they were used as long-range reconnaissance aircraft and liaison aircraft. This squadron was responsible for finding the prepared position of the Japanese fleet and reporting to the subsequent group of aircraft in order to carry out the strike. To this end, the US military has also set up a CIC combat information center on one of the planes to receive radar signals and issue commands to the aircraft group. This has become very much accepted by the modern battlefield command system.

Soon, the squadron had already reached the skies above the reported position of the water reconnaissance aircraft. The crews immediately split up to search, fearing that the radar would be unreliable. Dedicated observers have also been arranged.

"Report sir, nothing has been found down there!"

"We didn't find it either!"

"yes, I didn't see anything!"

……

After searching back and forth several times, the Japanese fleet disappeared as if out of thin air. The officers and men of the US military could not help but become impatient, and some even wondered if the water reconnaissance plane had made a false alarm just now.

Later, everyone learned that the cunning Japanese fleet quietly hid under the cumulonimbus clouds and used the thunderstorm area to escape the surveillance of American fighters. It seems that tactically, the Japanese army is indeed much more sophisticated than the American army, which greatly compensates for the lack of technology!

Subsequently, the Japanese army came up with a killer trick -- the tactic of ultra-distance attack.

The Japanese planes did not pay attention to protection like the American planes. Lighter in weight than the U.S. aircraft. Therefore, the combat radius is about 160 kilometers larger than that of the American aircraft. In addition, the Japanese pilots were highly trained and tactically outstanding, and they could often launch attacks outside the combat radius of the American army. After the take-off of the carrier-based aircraft, the aircraft carrier will continue to move forward. to shorten the return distance of the aircraft. This tactic is extremely demanding on the military. At that time, only Japanese people could play.

Fortunately, the US military has long established a dense network of radar stations in the Aleutian Islands. The SCR268 and SCR270 radars spotted the Japanese aircraft group from a distance of 30 km, which bought the defenders of Holland Harbor extremely valuable time.

The US fighters on the military base on Unaka Island quickly took off to meet the attack, and 36 P40 fighters quickly took off in three batches. They are guided by ground-based radars. seized a favorable position for the engagement.

The Zero fighters who came to take up escort and attack missions were still complacent about their "ultra-long-range attack technology," but they did not know that they had long been targeted by their opponents.

"First Squadron, Attack!"

In the clouds, 12 P40s quickly swooped down, da...... The dense rain of bullets instantly pounced on the Japanese fighters who were caught off guard.

Rumble! Soon, the first Zero was hit in the fuel tank, and soon it caught fire and exploded.

"Well done!"

The US pilots were greatly encouraged and rushed to their respective targets. However, the Japanese pilots were very experienced in the end, and they quickly got out of the crisis, and even began to counterattack quickly. The American pilots were startled, quickly rolled to the left, and then accelerated to escape.

"Second Squadron, Attack!"

Before the little devil could react, the second squadron pounced again. The US pilots knew that their skills were inferior to others, and they did not do much entanglement, and after the dive attack, they did not succeed or not, and they just slipped away. After three rounds of attack, four of the twelve Japanese Zero fighters were destroyed and two were wounded.

However, none of the 36 US fighters crashed, not only because the US military tactics were well applied, but more importantly, the US fighters had bulletproof devices behind the pilot's ejection chair and at the fuel tank. Even if you get shot twice by a little devil, it's not a big problem. There was once a US fighter plane returning home with more than 100 guns, which caused a sensation.

It didn't take long for the second wave of Japanese planes to arrive, and it was twenty-four Type 99 dive bombers. The Zero pilots cheered up and escorted them on their way to Holland Harbor.

According to intelligence, the U.S. military stored a large amount of fuel here - nearly 7,000 barrels of aviation fuel were destroyed due to Japanese bombing. In this time and space, the strategic focus of the US military has shifted to the North Pacific, and the stored oil can only be more!

"The fighter squadron is responsible for air cover, and the bomber squadron is ready to attack!"

However, every move of the Japanese army was monitored by ground-based radars. Whew...... Soon, another thirty-six P40s came up, and the only eight remaining Zeros hurried up to intercept them. The two sides soon fell into a scuffle.

Some people must ask, why doesn't the U.S. military use the P38 or F6F Hellcat? There is no way, P38 has to give priority to the supply of Zheng Huzi, F6F is the type of aircraft of the Navy, and the aircraft carrier formations are rushing to get it, and they can't get it, so how can there be any excess for the Army?

Fortunately, it didn't take long for the previous 36 P40 fighters to go around and join the battlefield. The squadrons were overjoyed when they spotted the Japanese bomber group and immediately pounced.

In the fierce battles, US fighter planes were shot down from time to time. However, it is still much stronger than when the Pacific War first broke out, especially after learning the action of rolling away, the power of Zero War has decreased significantly.

Japanese fighters were also shot down from time to time, including not only Type 99 bombers, but also Zero. By the standards of air combat at that time, a doubling of the number was to be offset by a sixfold increase in performance. The Zero, while better than the P40, is not as outrageous as the whopping six. So it quickly got the upper hand, which made the Japanese army start to become anxious.

"We don't have much time, the bomber squadron doesn't bother with enemy entanglements and immediately rushes to the target area!"

"Hello!"

The remaining dozen Type 99 bombers in the air quickly got rid of the harassment of the P40 and quickly pounced on Holland Harbor and nearby airfields, fortresses, barracks, and other targets.

"Yo Xi!" Seeing that the target was getting closer and closer to him, the Japanese pilots all had a cruel smile on their faces.

Boom Boom Boom ...... At this moment, the island's anti-aircraft artillery fire suddenly burst into force, and the dense rain of bullets almost engulfed the Japanese attack team. More than a dozen bombers shook incessantly in the collision of shrapnel, which frightened the Japanese pilots into screaming.

"Damn, how can there be such dense anti-aircraft artillery fire!"

……

The Japanese pilots began to panic. Desperately maneuvering the plane to sway left and right. Trying to dodge those damn shrapnel. But the shells kept exploding in the air as if they had eyes. From time to time, planes were hit by shrapnel in key parts, and soon black smoke fell from the sky.

It turned out that the US military was fighting in air defense. For the first time, a radio proximity tube was used on a large scale. That is, it is commonly known as the east and east of VT letter management.

Early anti-aircraft artillery fuzes generally used instantaneous explosion and timing fuzes. If it weren't for the luck, the shells would often pass by enemy aircraft.

So the scientists wondered if they could study a fuse. What about automatic detonation when you get close to an enemy plane? The U.S. military quickly launched the study. It is said that at that time, more than 1,000 scientists and engineers were gathered to specialize in this thing.

But the development process was not all smooth sailing, and the biggest problem was the vacuum tube that senses radio waves. First of all, the volume must be small, otherwise it will not fit into the shell; Secondly, it is necessary to be able to withstand the strong pressure generated by the launch of artillery shells. These two points may not seem like much now, but at that time they were definitely the most high-tech, on the same level as the atomic bomb.

After a lot of experiments, American scientists have finally developed a vacuum tube that can withstand 20,000 times the force of gravity, which is less than three centimeters long and can withstand strong impact and rotation. Four vacuum tubes are installed in a VT tube, which can be quickly detonated within 15 meters of the target.

After the successful development of this kind of information tube, it was quickly recognized by the US military, and while it was produced in large quantities, the US military also formulated strict secrecy measures and a system for its use. The blockade is even stricter than that of an atomic bomb. Many countries knew that the United States was developing an atomic bomb in the 40s, but Germany and Japan did not know that there was a VT until after the war.

After being met by accurate anti-aircraft fire, the Japanese planes quickly fell into a panic and fled one after another. The US military took the opportunity to organize a counterattack by planes and shot down seven or eight more planes.

Vice Admiral Hososumi soon received the news of the unfavorable attack, and hurriedly sent a second wave of fighters to meet him, and cancelled the Type 97 horizontal bombers, which had been scheduled for the first wave and the third batch.

The horizontal bombers of those years were all scum, and even the US imperialism was no exception. was originally going to join in the fun, but since the other party was prepared, there was no need to be embarrassed.

However, what Vice Admiral Hosoxuan didn't expect was that his plane had just taken off, and the location of the aircraft carrier and the entire fleet had also been exposed!

"Report, the discovery of the Japanese fleet, XX degrees XX east longitude, XX degrees XX north latitude, repeat ......"

"Roger, the bomber group will take off immediately, please continue to monitor and guide the fighters!"

"Understood!"

……

Forty-eight bomb-laden B24 bombers quickly flew towards the target area, and the P38 fighter group on Kamchatka began to transfer to the Aleutian airfields, ready to reinforce at any time.

At the same time, the Eighth Fleet's "Enterprise", "Bumblebee", and "Saratoga" three major aircraft carrier battle groups were dispatched!

At the beginning of the war, the US military had seven aircraft carriers, of which there were three "Yorktown" class ("Enterprise", "Yorktown", "Hornet"), two "Lexington" class ("Lexington", "Saratoga"), as well as one "Wasp", one "Raider". These aircraft carriers are all large aircraft carriers of 20,000 or 30,000 tons and 80 or 90 carrier-based aircraft.

But by this time, the "Lexington" had sunk in Pearl Harbor, the "Yorktown" had sunk in the Coral Sea, and the "Wasp" and "Raider" had helped Britain deal with the Germans in the Atlantic, so the three major aircraft carriers of the "Enterprise" were all the main aircraft carriers of the US military in the Pacific.

At that time, the best weapon against the main battleships (battleships, aircraft carriers, heavy cruisers) was torpedo bombers, and torpedo planes generally had a short range, so aircraft carriers were required to reach close targets and deliver them. In addition, the F6F Hellcat fighter carried by the aircraft carrier can also effectively restrain the Japanese Zero fighter.

The Japanese soon discovered the anomaly. Although it cannot be compared with the United States, the Japanese army is also somewhat strong in electronic reconnaissance, such as the previous sweep of North China, which repeatedly locked the command organs of Zheng Huzi and the Eighth Route Army.

"Report! Your Excellency, Commander, you have just intercepted the enemy's secret telegram, and then the enemy's communications suddenly become frequent. I suspect our whereabouts have been leaked! ”

"Nani?" Vice Admiral Xi Xuan Zilang was taken aback and hurriedly asked, "Can you decipher it?" ”

"It's going to take a little time, sir!"

"As soon as possible! I don't want the process, I want the result! ”

"Hello!"

……

Soon, thanks to the efforts of Japanese cryptanalysts, the telegram was finally deciphered.

In the North Pacific, the main forces of the Japanese Combined Fleet were engaged in radio silence, and only the flagship "Yamato" had a radio station working.

The chief of the intelligence section of the telecommunications room was taken aback when he saw the message from the heavy cruiser "Nachi" and quickly found Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, commander of the Combined Fleet.

"Your Excellency, Commander, this is information that the Aleutian strike formation has just sent. The three major aircraft carrier formations have appeared, and they are attempting to encircle our Aleutian strike formation. Vice Admiral Hosoyama asked for reinforcements from the Combined Fleet as soon as possible! ”

"Soga!" Yamamoto Fifty-six took the telegram and looked at it, and muttered, "Did the fish take the bait so quickly?" (To be continued......)

PS: Thank you very much panroy for the tip! As a turtle, Shanren did not know much about the navy, especially the navy during World War II. In order to write this chapter, the mountain people had to check the information for a day, watch two more movies, and sweat!