Rabaul, the headquarters of the Southeast Front of the Chinese Army.

"What is that stupid Yuan Feng doing? For the sake of his broken flagship, he did not hesitate to put the entire fleet on it, this is going to kill Lao Tzu! ”

In the commander's room, the marshal who was slapping the table was none other than Zhang Yiye, the commander of the theater of operations, and in front of him lined up Major General Nanshanze, chief of staff of the theater joint air force, Colonel Zhao Zixi, chief of staff of the theater joint air force, and lieutenant colonel Zhou Junshi, liaison officer of the theater joint fleet.

However, the two special guests behind the three of them, Major Qi Peng, the special adviser of the theater air force, and "Major Liu Wuwei", the special intelligence commissioner of the base camp, exchanged a few words, and after exchanging a few words, "Major Liu Wuwei" - that is, His Royal Highness Liu Ping, the imperial crown prince, took two steps forward and put on a posture of having something to say.

"Commander, do you want to ask the base camp for instructions immediately......

Zhang Yiye glanced at him and replied casually: "What do you ask?" ”

"The base camp directly ordered Yuan Feng to cover the damaged Lightning with a small number of troops, and the rest of the troops moved closer to the Monda base at full speed."

Zhang Yiye raised his chin at Zhou Junshi next to Liu Ping: "You will tell this Commissioner Liu about the affairs of your navy yourself." ”

Zhou Junshi swept the rank on Liu Ping's shoulder out of the corner of his eye, and immediately raised his head and chest: "Commissioner Liu doesn't know that since the establishment of the Imperial Navy, fleet operations have always been fully responsible for the field commander who personally led the team. Even the commander of the Combined Fleet has no right to interfere with the operational command of the commander in the field—and as for the direct interference of the base camp in the operations of the fleet, it is unheard of. ”

Liu Ping was stunned for a moment, but Qi Peng seized the opportunity to ask: "I remember that in the Battle of the Bay of Bengal, Commander Sa also asked the base camp to make a decision on whether to continue the night battle, how can it be said that the base camp has no right to interfere with the fleet's operations?" ”

Zhou Junshi didn't even look at him this time, and said with his head held high: "Whether the base camp has the right to interfere in the battle of the fleet has never been explicitly stipulated, but in terms of actual work, unless the local commander takes the initiative to submit a judgment. There has never been a precedent for unilateral direct intervention. ”

Seeing that Qi Peng was also choked, Zhang Yiye sneered and laughed: "There is indeed no precedent for the base camp to interfere in the operation of the fleet, but as the highest military leader in the theater, this commander certainly has the right to give orders to his subordinates, and since the theater joint fleet is directly under the theater command, Yuan Feng is my direct subordinate - Commissioner Liu." Looks like I'll have to give this order. ”

"This ...... Again, there is no explicit provision for the commander of the theater to interfere with the fleet's operations. There is no practical precedent, and if Commander Zhang has to give an order, he must first submit the relevant bill to the National Assembly by the National Defense Headquarters, which will be signed by the current Prime Minister, and then ask His Majesty the Emperor to print the decree before acting in accordance with the law. ”

Zhou Junshi didn't give up, but Zhang Yiye scolded his mother in his heart: "The Congress is not in session, and it passed a fart bill, let's talk about it." If this decree was so good, the base camp would have been invited down a long time ago, and I still need to talk to you here? ”

Zhang Yiye was about to put on the prestige of a marshal commander to suppress the other party, when a staff officer on duty suddenly rushed out of the telecommunications room next door, and presented the thin telegram in his hand to Chief of Staff Nanshan Ze with a serious expression.

Nanshan glanced at it hurriedly, and Yīn turned it to Zhang Yiye with a calm face: "The fleet was attacked by air, and the Haruna was severely damaged. ”

Zhang Yiye glanced at it perfunctorily. Handed it to Zhao Zixi: "What do you think?" ”

Zhao Zixi read the telegram carefully, squinted at Zhou Junshi, stretched out his hand and handed him the telegram: "In this way, the enemy should not be able to figure out which wounded capital ship dragged down the entire fleet. ”

"But that's not a good thing. It was just the first wave of air raids, and then there should be a second and third wave, if the Lightning Mine escaped the blow, then the board could only hit the other capital ships, not only the Haruna was in danger, but the other three high-speed warships that were currently undamaged were probably difficult to retreat. ”

"Personally, I thought. The worst-case scenario would be for the Lightning and Haruna to sink due to a concentrated attack, but in this way, the other three high-speed warships would be able to share less of the damage and have less chance of serious damage. ”

"And the best situation is that none of the five capital ships, including the Lightning Mine, were sunk in a battle, but because they shared more blows, the other capital ships other than the Lightning will face a greater probability of heavy damage, and it is possible that all of them will have to be docked for repairs...... If so, in the coming weeks the Reich will not have a single available capital ship in the Pacific and, of course, no available aircraft carriers. ”

"Judging from this report, although the Haruna ate two torpedoes and was damaged by a mine before, it did not hurt the vital point, and it should still be able to drive to more than 20 knots, and there is still a chance to follow the high-speed battleship to withdraw first, and then it is difficult to say."

When Zhang Yiye heard this, he stared at Zhou Junshi with a blink of an eye: "Whether you want to pass it on or not, I will give a direct order to Yuan Feng now, ordering him to drop the Lightning Bolt and lead the rest of the troops to the Monda base at full speed." ”

Zhou Junshi's hand holding the telegram trembled slightly, and it was obvious that he was also shaken.

"If Commander Yuan accepts the order of the commander, then all the consequences will be borne by the commander, and please think twice......"

Zhang Yiye took advantage of the victory to pursue: "Whoever should be responsible is responsible, if I was afraid of being responsible, I would have gone home to retire - you hurry up and make a statement, if you are willing to help, you will go to the chief of staff of Nanshan to draft a message, if you are not willing, please go to Commissioner Liu and them to rest for a night, and arrange a plane for you to return to Truk tomorrow." ”

Facing the commander with an unusually stern gaze, Zhou Junshi knew that he must immediately make a decision that would affect the future of his life.

……

In the sea east of Malaita Island, the US military modified the bridge of the aircraft carrier "Panama".

Colonel Reeves put down the message in his hand, looked over the empty flight deck of the ship, and threw himself at the Royal Navy fleet aircraft carrier HMS Glory diagonally behind - the flight deck was also empty.

It was 1:50 p.m., and 40 minutes earlier, the first wave of air raids organized by the "Panama" alone had flown over the target, and Major Torles, who led the group, had lost contact for a while after sending a telegram "I have discovered, I have attacked."

Thirty minutes ago, the second wave of air attack units organized by the "Glory" finally took to the air, and their strength was comparable to that of the first wave of air attack units, including 22 "Camel" 2F1 fighters, 20 "Dujuan" MK3 torpedo planes (including 2 command planes), and 18 18-inch aviation torpedoes.

Five minutes earlier, Major Thors had finally sent a telegram: "The torpedo fleet concentrated on attacking a battleship of the Rì Army, achieving at least 3 hits. The fighter fleet shot down at least 10 enemy aircraft, including several suspected water reconnaissance aircraft that took off urgently from battleships. We lost 10 torpedo planes and 8 fighters, and many more were wounded...... The reserve commander, Captain Carson, was shot down. ”

Reeves knew that all the cards available to him had been played, and now he could only wait for all the torpedo planes that served as reconnaissance forces to return home and carry torpedoes, and at the same time draw troops from the fighters that served as the fleet's air defense escort to form a third wave of air raid forces to continue the pursuit of the "lame prey".

Suddenly, a jǐng report came from the electric loudspeaker connecting the anti-air observation post at the top of the island: "A four-engine mainframe has been spotted in front of the starboard side, and it is climbing high!" ”

…… (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation and monthly passes, and your support is my biggest motivation. )

ps: Happy June 1st~~~