In the calm waters of the Sea of Japan, a fleet is gradually sailing out of the horizon and breaking the waves from the west. This is the Japanese Combined Fleet, which disappeared for almost two months.

After the Battle of the Aleutians, Admiral Arnold, commander of the U.S. North Pacific Theater, sent B24 long-range bombers to chase and kill at any cost, trying to send the Japanese fleet directly to the bottom of the sea through air strikes. It's a pity that the Japanese army fought at home after all, and soon escaped without a trace by relying on their familiarity with the sea area.

Coupled with the limited range of the B24, it was unable to make many stops in the south and west of Japan, so the bombing operation had to be abandoned. However, the U.S. military succeeded in destroying three of the four major shipyards of the Japanese Navy -- the Kure Naval Yard (Kure Town Morifu, Hiroshima Prefecture), the Yokosuka Naval Yard (Yokosuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture), and the Maizuru Naval Engineer Ship (Maizuru City, Kyoto Prefecture), leaving only one Sasebo Naval Yard (Nagasaki).

In order to evade the U.S. B24 bomber group, the fleet had to flee to the port of Fusan (i.e., Fusan, South Korea, then part of Japan) for shelter, and then quietly slipped back to the Sasebo Naval Shipyard for repairs and maintenance. After receiving a telegram from the "I-19" submarine, Admiral Yamamoto 56, who had just returned from meeting with the emperor, immediately led a fleet along the coast of Japan.

At the just-concluded Imperial Council, the Japanese military department formulated the so-called "Absolute Defense Circle Plan." This defensive ring consists of the Kuril Islands to the north of Japan, Sakhalin, the Russian Far East, Northeast China, Korea, the Jiaodong Peninsula, the southeast coast of China, Southeast Asia, the Mariana Islands, etc.

In terms of scope, it is slightly smaller than the "absolute defense circle" drawn up by the Japanese army in history. However, considering that the endurance of the B24 is far inferior to that of the B29, this defense scale is also acceptable.

Since it is an absolute defense, the Japanese army will certainly not give up the South Kuril Islands easily. In order to ensure the security of the homeland, the Japanese army and navy are all dispatched.

For example, Yamamoto 56 transferred all the aircraft carriers that could be collected on hand this time, but the regular aircraft carriers of the Japanese army were almost swept away in the Battle of the Aleutians, and most of the remaining aircraft carriers were converted from civilian ships, and the speed was far from keeping up, so the first to engage the US army was the Japanese Army Air Corps.

Around the time of the outbreak of the Pacific War, the Japanese army began to expand its air force on a large scale. After the surprise attack of Doolittle's squadron on Tokyo, the Japanese army expanded even more frantically. Three aviation armies were formed in one go.

Among them, the First Air Force defended the Japanese mainland. The Second Air Army fought Soviet troops over Siberia and Central Asia, and the Third Air Army fought American forces in the Pacific. This time it is the First Air Force that is fighting against the US North Pacific Theater. Interestingly, the US military also dispatched land-based fighters at that time -- the P38 "Lightning" group.

As a result, a sea battle that would determine the pattern of the world was kicked off by the army air forces of both sides. This also just points out the direction for the joint operations of various services in the future.

"Attention, there is a group of Japanese fighters ahead!" At an altitude of nearly 5,000 meters. The B24 bomber is acting as an AWACS aircraft. And through the CIC information center, an alert was raised to the US fighter group.

"Roger!" The commander of the fighter group quickly gave the order: "Attention the brigades. The Firefighter Contest is about to begin. All of them, up to 3,000 meters in the air! ”

"Woo!" The U.S. pilot screamed and quickly pulled the plane up.

"Enemy aircraft swarms spotted!"

"Prepare for battle. Attack! ”

Nearly 100 P38 "Lightning" fighters quickly launched a dive attack on the enemy group. The Japanese could only rely on ground-based radar and unreliable communications equipment, and when the enemy situation was discovered, US fighters were already rushing towards them.

However, the Japanese Army Aviation's "Hayabusa" fighter has extremely good circling combat capabilities, although the data on paper, such as climb rate, dive speed, etc., are not as good as the Zero Fight, but in fact its survivability is far stronger than that of the Zero fighter. In addition, the army aviation also has a group of experienced pilots. After surviving the first wave of blows, it quickly got entangled with the US military.

"Gentlemen, fight bravely!"

"100 million pieces of jade, swear allegiance to the emperor!"

……

While the fighter groups of the two sides were engaged in a fierce battle, the bomber groups of the US troops suddenly appeared. This time, instead of sending B24 bombers, the U.S. military chose B17 "Flying Fortress" bombers.

In the past, the US military formed aviation units in Kamchatka, mainly for strategic bombing, so a large number of B24 "Liberators" were equipped, but in practical application, B24 was a little powerless in precision bombing, and the B24 engine was prone to failure and was not solid enough.

On the contrary, the B17 is far inferior to the B24 in terms of endurance, but it has thick skin and thick flesh, is very resistant to beating, and has a large bomb load. It is said that in the early days of the Pacific War, the Zero fighters of the Japanese Navy did not even intercept the B17 bombers at all, because the pilots knew that relying on the small guns and small cannons of the Zero fighters to shoot down the B17 was an itch in the boots, and it was generally a waste of effort. The Japanese army relied on continuous attacks to occupy the base of the B17 and force the B17 back to remove the threat of the B17.

And the B17 also has the advantage that the bomber accuracy is relatively high. Thanks to the installation of the famous Norton bomb mapper in the nose bomb bay, it is possible to quickly calculate the forward speed and yaw rate of the aircraft and make corrections for the bomb drop. In particular, the newly installed bomb thrower is able to link with the autopilot and take over the control of the aircraft during the final stage of flight to the target, avoiding human error.

The U.S. news even claimed that it was possible to "drop a bomb into a pickle barrel," so its precision bombing was also called "picklebarrelbombing."

In this battle, considering that the Japanese army had to fight back desperately, Admiral Arnold sent the B17 bomber group that had just been replenished to Kamchatka to carry out tactical bombing missions.

"Defu Island enemy fortifications, each squadron locks on the target!"

"The target has been locked!"

"Bomb dropping!"

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...... Bombs of nearly eight tons continued to fall from the sky, and then under the careful control of the bombardier, they were ready to pounce on the target. Thanks to state-of-the-art cloudburst technology, the explosive yield of this superbomb is at least five times that of an ordinary aerial bomb.

Rumble! A violent explosion was heard quickly. Not to mention the Japanese pilots. Even the American pilots were taken aback. Even the B24 bombers, who were in the air, felt the powerful waves of gas generated by the mushroom cloud.

"Oh, God! Let's hope they don't blow that poor island below sea level! ”

After the bombing, the Japanese reconnaissance planes hurriedly flew over "Defu Island" at a low altitude in an attempt to contact the defenders on the island in order to provide assistance. However, all that could be seen was the ruins of the fortifications, and there was no radio contact at all.

"Report! Defu Island was bombed by the new aerial bombs of the Mi army, and the fortifications were seriously damaged! ”

"Nani?" King Hiroko Fushimiya, who had rushed to Hokkaido to supervise the battle, was taken aback and hurriedly asked, "Are there still defenders on the island who insist on fighting?" ”

"It is not excluded that there are survivors, but with these remnants alone, it is difficult to stop the landing of rice cattle."

King Fushimi Miyahiro Gong said in a deep voice: "It seems that the empire has reached the most dangerous juncture, and it is absolutely impossible to let rice animals land on Defu Island. Inform the 1st Air Army. Immediately send in additional fighters. Be sure to seize air supremacy and expel the Mi fighters from the airspace of the South Kuril Islands! ”

"Hello!"

Subsequently, the Japanese Army Aviation was heavily reinforced. At that time, the First Air Force had a total of six flying teams, and each team was relatively complete. There are 24 Falcon or Type 97 fighters each. and 12 other reconnaissance planes, transport planes and other auxiliary aircraft.

Although it cannot constitute an absolute superiority over the US military in terms of numbers. However, the US military base is nearly 800 kilometers away from "Defu Island," while the Japanese army is only 500 kilometers away, so it is necessary to save nearly 600 kilometers round trip. This saves a lot of time on round-trips and airstays. As a result, the U.S. military had to temporarily return to the base to prepare for a second attack.

Soon, by noon, the main force of the US mixed fleet arrived at a position about 600 kilometers away from "Defu Island." This position is very particular, because at that time, the Japanese "Hayabusa" fighter was still an early model, and even with the addition of auxiliary fuel tanks, the maximum range was only 2,200 kilometers.

Since the Japanese airfields on the four northern islands were destroyed, they could only take off from a few relatively secluded airfields in Hokkaido. The distance from the Japanese base to the US aircraft carrier formation was just at the limit of flight, which greatly enhanced the security of the US fleet. However, it can also be seen from this that the Yankees were indeed frightened by the suicide attacks of the Japanese army.

Under the cover of the carrier-based aircraft unit, the US landing fleet began to move toward "Defu Island." The frightened Japanese immediately began to frantically intercept and tried to attack the American fleet, but the "Hayabusa" fighters were already a little powerless against the P38 "Lightning" and F6F "Hellcat", and they were even more difficult to bring two external fuel tanks.

After losing more than a dozen fighters in succession, the Japanese commander felt that something was wrong and hurriedly led the remnants of the aircraft back to the base.

"Report, the Japanese fleet has been completely repulsed by me!"

"Order the task force to continue southward and launch a suppressive attack on the Japanese forces in Hokkaido!"

"Yes, sir!"

……

Under the command of Admiral Spruance, the U.S. fleet continued southward for 33 hours, arriving at midnight on the third day at the waters near "Defu Island." Among them, the landing fleet even reached the coastal waters of "Defu Island" in the dark with the help of radar, but the water temperature was too low and the enemy situation was unknown, so it could not land directly on the island.

In the early morning of 27 November, the first rays of sunlight had just shot over the sea level, and the US carrier-based aircraft unit took off again. This time there were not only fighters, but also dive bombers.

At the same time, the US Army Aviation in Kamchatka was quickly dispatched. Among them, B24 was responsible for strategic bombing to contain the Japanese fighter force; B17 was responsible for tactical bombing to destroy Japanese airfields and ports and ensure the smooth progress of the landing operation; P38 is responsible for assisting HNA's F6F and F4F in the fight for air supremacy.

Rumble...... The B17 group again swept over the "Defu Island" and carried out carpet bombing of the intended landing area. Then the carrier-based dive bombers again plowed the possible remnants of Japanese troops on the island.

At this time, the amphibious assault force floating on the surface of the sea was ready. Personnel and equipment were transferred to large and small landing craft.

"Ready, go!"

"Good luck to you, brothers in China!"

Hundreds of landing craft, large and small, rushed towards the beach. Soon, five landing craft of the 1st Regiment of the 1st Regiment of the 1st Division of the Northern Front rushed to the beachhead first.

"Comrades, come with me!" Company commander Zhang Chengwu roared and commanded the troops to quickly rush deep into the island. Because the beachhead cannot be defended, if you want to gain a foothold, you have to move forward. This company was later hailed as the first amphibious landing company in modern China, and won the title of "beachhead company."

"Kill!" The soldiers rushed onto the beach with a loud roar, but instead of rushing forward like a swarm, they skillfully took advantage of the alternate terrain to cover their advances, so as to test the Japanese army's strength and firepower.

Soon, there was sporadic Japanese resistance near the beachhead, and some of the remaining fortifications even contained heavy machine guns. Da Da Da ...... Dense water of bullets poured down on the beachhead.

The fighters did not panic and quickly set up the Bazooka. Rumble! A single rocket sent the Japanese troops into the sky with their heavy machine guns.

Rear Admiral Smith, who was in charge of the unified command of the amphibious fleet, held the binoculars in both hands, and saw the blue sky and white sun flags quickly rushing towards the depth of the island, and couldn't help but shout excitedly: "Well done!" ”

The communications staff officer hurriedly came over and reported: "General, I have just received an alert from the CIC Information Center that the Japanese Combined Fleet is coming, and its carrier-based aircraft have taken off and will arrive here in half an hour, let us prepare for air defense!" ”

Rear Admiral Smith hurriedly ordered: "Inform the landing force to speed up the progress, and the follow-up materials, especially the anti-aircraft artillery, must be transported to the beachhead immediately!" ”

"Yes, sir!" (To be continued......)

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