Episode 182 Decisive Battle at Sea (1)

The Tianji detachment went to Kaohsiung Port to rest and recuperate, but after the Ming army suffered this heavy setback, it did not give up because of choking, and on April 12, it still sent two other aircraft carriers, the Tianquan and the Tianshu, to set sail from the port of Zhanjiang to the western Pacific.

Two days later, on April 13, a large fleet set sail from the port of Zhanjiang, including the battleships Changping, Yanping, Deyong, and Yongle, as well as 2 heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers, and 16 destroyers. This fleet rendezvoused with another fleet sent from the South China Sea and the Palembang base in the South Seas. The fleet sent by Palembang consisted of 3 heavy cruisers, 3 light cruisers, and 16 destroyers. In this way, the Grand Fleet, which was finally merged, included a total of 46 warships of various types, which was unprecedented.

In addition to battleships and heavy cruisers, this time also brought a large number of cruisers and destroyers, needless to say, mainly for escort.

The flagship of this Grand Fleet was the battleship Choping. The Changping Squadron is still following the same path as the last Tianji Squadron, and it is still entering the western Pacific Ocean from the south of Taiwan. After the two fleets of the north and south converged, there were a few more pipes on the surface of the sea in the fleet, which emitted a faint blue smoke, but the speed was very fast, dragging small white marks, which were 16-17 knots.

At the same time, the fleet also maintained a cruising speed of 16-17 knots and headed towards the southern strait of Taiwan.

From the eyes of the Japanese Navy, this time the Ming fleet was massed on a large scale, and it was clear that a decisive battle was coming. The Japanese Navy was also nervous and excited, and the "Armageddon at Sea," which had been brewing for many years, was finally about to be staged. The Ming army finally took out their main force and put it on the sea to fight it out.

In the past few decades, Japan has relied on two decisive naval battles - the Battle of the Great East Trench of the Japanese Qing and the Battle of Tsushima of Japan and Russia - to establish its status as a world power, and also made the Japanese navy among the top three powers in the world. Now, the whole country of Japan is looking forward to another victory, and the Japanese navy will once again defeat the Ming Imperial navy, just as the previous two victories over the Qing Imperial Navy and the Tsarist Russian Imperial Navy. In this way, Japan will not only be able to rise from the blockade of the Ming army, but will also be able to become the largest power in Asia and dominate East Asia alone.

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On the morning of the 13th, the Tianquan aircraft carrier squadron first passed through the southern strait of Taiwan and entered the western Pacific Ocean. This time, the Ming aircraft carriers were much more cautious, and a large number of planes were dispatched to reconnoiter as soon as it was dawn. Not only fighter jets, but also dive bombers, refueled, and not loaded with bombs, in an attempt to fly as far as possible.

The Japanese army also knew that a sneak attack on such a thing could not be repeated. Especially when the Ming army has just suffered a big loss, the vigilance has been raised high, and it is even more difficult to think about it again. At the same time, the concentration of such a large number of battleships and heavy cruisers clearly had an irresistible attraction to the Japanese naval command department. Yoshida Zengo, a high-ranking member of the Navy's Military Command Department and commander of the Combined Fleet, rejected Yamamoto Isoroku's suggestion that "the Ming aircraft carrier formation should be the primary target" and mobilized forces to set his sights on the Ming battlefleet. He also ordered Yamamoto's First Air Fleet to also participate in the operation, and the task was to serve as reconnaissance and vigilance on the periphery. The main forces of the attack, still handed over to the battlefleet.

The opportunity for the long-awaited "battleship Armageddon" has finally arrived. The aftermath of the Battle of Jutland more than 20 years ago seems to have not dissipated, and the blood is still boiling in the bodies of these Japanese admirals. How could the "artillery club" of the Japanese Navy let go of this opportunity and must make it a textbook classic "battleship-to-battleship battleship".

After the Ming Army's Tianji aircraft carrier detachment entered the western Pacific Ocean for about 200 nautical miles, it no longer kept sailing eastward, but searched and cruised in the same place, constantly sending planes to reconnoiter the ocean surface. At the same time, Taiwan's Pingtung Airport has also continuously dispatched land-based aircraft to search this sea area.

Under heavy cover from the air, at noon on the 14th, the battleship squadron Changping entered the western Pacific.

The fleet that the Japanese army was attacking was even more formidable. The flagship was the battleship Mutsu, but there were also the battleships Isse, Hyuga, Yamashiro, Kongo, Haruna, and Kirishima, the heavy cruisers Mogami, Mikuma, Myoko, Haguro, Ashigara, Atago, Maya, and the light cruisers Tama, Kiso, Isuzu, Natori, Yura, Kinu, Takekuma, Kawauchi, and Mikatsu. In addition to these capital ships, there are 36 destroyers.

The "decisive battle fleet" sent by the Japanese army consisted of 7 battleships, 7 heavy cruisers, 9 light cruisers, and 36 destroyers, a total of 59 ships. Both the number of ships and the total tonnage are far above the Ming fleet.

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On the afternoon of the 14th, the first battle began. The battle was a naval and air battle, with the Ming Army's Tianquan aircraft carrier fleet versus the Japanese Akagi aircraft carrier fleet. Both sides were two ships, because the Japanese army's newly commissioned Soryu was still training in the Seto Inland Sea, and it was not able to catch up with this decisive battle at sea. The two sides first encountered the bombers acting as reconnaissance by chance, and after a few rounds of machine gun fighting, both sides withdrew, and both called for reinforcements. Soon, half an hour later, a large group of fighters from both sides encountered.

This kind of carrier-to-aircraft naval and air battles are more like a gamble. It is not face-to-face like battleship to battleship, and it is clear how much strength there is on both sides. In the decisive battle of aircraft carriers, the motherships of the two sides are far apart, often hundreds of kilometers apart, and then each sends its aircraft group to fight in the air and bomb the other party's mothership. How many planes are sent out in the first wave, it's often like a bet. Too little, the air battle can't beat the opponent, and there will be huge losses. There are too many, and although the first round of air combat is cheap, the fuel is also consumed quickly. At this time, it will be even more dangerous for the other party to send more fresh troops to join the battle group, or directly attack the mothership.

In the first round of air battles, the Ming army sent two squadrons of 32 fighters, and the Japanese army sent three squadrons of 48 fighters. The two sides fought in a scuffle, and the battle situation was basically equal. The Ming army relied on the performance of the aircraft and the skills of the pilots to outnumber the enemy. Twenty minutes after the battle, reinforcements from the Ming army arrived, and another squadron of 16 fighters came. The Japanese army was clearly outnumbered, and they also called for reinforcements. Soon, another squadron of fighters came from the Japanese side, and a total of 64 fighters had been dispatched.

The captain of the Ming fighter group constantly reported the situation changes to the mothership. The staff officers of the flagship Tianquan nervously analyzed and made an estimate: If the carrier-based aircraft brought by the Japanese aircraft carrier this time were still 1:1, then the Japanese Akagi detachment itself would not have many fighters at most, at most one squadron, and most of the rest would be bombers. And the Ming aircraft carrier still has two fighter squadrons that have not been sent.

As estimated by the General Staff of the Navy, once the aircraft carriers of the two armies face off in a head-to-head showdown, the Ming army will definitely have the upper hand. Although the number of aircraft carriers on both sides is equal, and the number of aircraft is roughly equal, because of the better performance of the Ming army's sea kingfisher, as well as the actual combat experience of the Ming army's naval aviation pilots for many years, they can always win more with less in the face of the Japanese army. Not to mention that there are not many now.

When the fighters of the two armies were in a big melee, the two sides also continued to send bombers with a longer range to search for the location of the other party's mothership. At this time, the motherships on both sides are in a relatively empty state, and it is a good opportunity to launch a bombardment, depending on who finds the other side first. The situation of the Japanese army was even more dangerous - the remaining fighters in the nursing home were only half of the Ming army.