Episode 95 Plan to bomb Okinawa

Xiang Xiaoqiang in the Ming Army Command, has always been bold, . From the previous New Year's siege of Pukou and the bombing of the Beiqing airfield, to the later proposal of the Northern Expedition to the Manchu Qing Dynasty and the idea of unifying China, to the large-scale and large-scale in-depth raids in the later wars, as well as the long-distance attack on Altay during the counterinsurgency in northern Xinjiang, to the current pure aircraft carrier formation breaking through the Pacific Ocean...... Again and again to the surprise of the old men of the high command.

Now, he's going to surprise everyone again.

Xiang Xiaoqiang now suddenly found that the attack was much smoother than he imagined. Although he was not satisfied with the loss of planes that exceeded his expectations, he was always worried not about the anti-aircraft fire of the Japanese ships, but about the Japanese fighters. Now I didn't expect the two aircraft groups of the Ming army to cooperate so precisely, and as soon as the aircraft carrier group left, Taiwan's land-based aircraft group arrived, and it happened to chase the tail of the Japanese planes and fight for a while. As a result, the hope of this group of fighters on Okinawa Island returning to the airfield is very slim.

Then it also means that Okinawa has no air cover for a long time.

He took Xiuxiu and a few naval staff officers around the chart table, sweating profusely measuring distances, calculating speeds, and making various calculations. Xiang Xiaoqiang wants to prove that his idea is feasible.

Soon, the results came in.

"My lord," Hidehide said, pointing to the charts, word by word, "for at least 12 hours in the future, there will be no air support on the Ryukyu Islands." The Ryukyu Islands were too far from the Japanese mainland to exceed the range of fighter jets. Japan's southernmost aircraft carrier is the Kaga, which is now anchored at the Sasebo Military Port.

"Your Excellency, please see, the distance from Sasebo to point B is 400 kilometers, which is 216 nautical miles. The distance between point B and Ryukyu Island is 190 kilometers, which is about 100 nautical miles. This distance is what we assume is the Japanese aircraft carrier attack distance. Then, if the Japanese aircraft carrier group sets sail now, it will take 12 to 13 hours to reach point B. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang stared at the chart and asked:

"What about us? How long will it take for our aircraft carrier formations to come within range of aircraft attacks? ”

秀秀 says:

"Look, my lord, this is point A, and the distance from the point to Ryukyu Island is 180 kilometers. And our Tianshu detachment is here, 265 kilometers from point A, that is, 130 nautical miles. It will take only about 6 to 7 hours for our aircraft carrier formation to get here. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled and whispered excitedly:

"That is, our aircraft carriers entered the range of attack on the Ryukyus at least 6 hours earlier than the Japanese aircraft carriers. Excluding the time of the take-off formation and the time of flying to the place, we can carry out at least five hours of air raids on the Japanese base in Okinawa. ”

Xiuxiu smiled:

"I'm afraid not for 5 hours...... It's now half past ten in the morning, and six hours later it's half past four in the afternoon, and it's only about two hours before it gets dark. But. Two hours is also enough. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled, looked at the chart, and rubbed his hands gently. After a moment, he raised his head, looked around at the staff officers, and said with a smile:

"Guys, are you sure that the Japanese base in Okinawa has sent all the fighters out?"

Several naval staff officers were also very excited, but they looked at each other and were still not sure.

"Pretty much for sure."

A voice came from behind. Several people looked back, only to see Xiong Dingming standing behind him with his hands behind his back, also staring at the chart, looking quite interested.

The officers hurried to make way for the Chief of the General Staff. Xiong Dingming walked to the chart table, supported the table with his arms, and looked at the neat work on the chart, as well as the model of the boat representing the two ** ships.

Xiong Dingming looked at the picture and said:

"Naval intelligence already has relatively reliable intelligence, I know that. A battalion of fighters was stationed at the Japanese base in Okinawa. After the start of the war, there was no information about a significant increase in fighter jets...... Well, apparently, now there is also only one brigade of fighters at the base in Okinawa. …… The fleet of the Tianshu detachment reported that the Japanese had arrived in the number of a large group. If they hadn't falsely reported the enemy's situation, then there would indeed be no fighter jets on the main island of Ryukyu now. ”

After speaking, he looked up at Xiang Xiaoqiang and said with a smile:

"Lord Xiang, what's the matter, you want the aircraft carrier formation to bomb the Okinawa base in Japan?"

Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled:

"How can you give up such a great opportunity? Don't blow up, don't blow up. ”

"Hmm," Xiong Dingming touched his chin and said, "Tell me what you think." ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang says:

"Lord Xiong, there is one thing in the Okinawa base that is most worthy of our bombing, and that is the battleship Hiei."

"How do you know Hiei is still in the harbor?"

Xiang Xiaoqiang groaned:

"It feels like it's supposed to be in the harbor. Even if he was sent out before, he should be called back now. The examples of Furutaka and Nachi are bloodily laid out there, and the Japanese Navy guys are not fools. It's time to get the hang of it, and without the cover of aircraft, they don't dare to send out a battleship and single-handedly pick up three of our aircraft carriers. If you want to send it, you should also form a task force with the battleships after the aircraft carrier on the mainland comes, and go to sea together. Now that the Hiei is still in the harbor, it can still be protected by the harbor anti-aircraft guns. When it goes to sea, it can only rely on its own artillery. ”

"Well, that makes sense."

Xiong Dingming touched his chin and expressed his deep agreement.

"There is another reason," Xiang Xiaoqiang continued, "if I were the Japanese military department, and now the Okinawa base is being bombed indiscriminately, then what would I think?" I will definitely assume the worst: the Ming army may attack Ryukyu Island (Okinawa) and occupy Ryukyu Island next. ”

Xiong Dingming was startled, looked at Xiang Xiaoqiang, and said with a smile:

"Lord Xiang? …… You're not kidding, are you? So bold? ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang hurriedly said:

"No, no, I'm just saying that the Japanese army may think so. Kuma-sama, do you think that if we really attack Ryukyu Island now, will it be possible to occupy it? ”

Xiong Dingming smiled:

"It's definitely hard. On the main island of the Ryukyus, there are more than 3,000 Japanese marines, which is about the size of a brigade of the army. Of course, we can transport a division with 3 or 4 troop carriers, more than 10,000 people. But you must know that these more than 3,000 people are defending, and the main island of Ryukyu is a sea fortress operated by the Japanese army for decades, and all kinds of fortifications are tightly defended, and we will not be able to defeat them at all without paying nearly double the casualties. Besides, it's difficult to defend after the laydown. The main island of the Ryukyus is far from our mainland, but close to other islands controlled by the Japanese army. We are in difficulty, but it is easy for others to support. Xiang Lord, let's not fight this idea. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled and said:

"So, I didn't even have that idea. The Japanese army fought to defend the island, but it was very skillful. Nearly double the casualties are all underspoken. However, we do not intend to occupy the Ryukyu Islands, but Tokyo will certainly be worried about our intentions. This is quite normal. They will certainly take precautions in advance and immediately transfer all the battleships and cruisers in the Yellow Sea to the south to the East China Sea. First, we have stepped up surveillance of our military ports along the coasts of Zhejiang, Fujian, and Taiwan, and second, we have stepped up patrols in the East China Sea to strictly prevent us from sending troop transport fleets and fleets to attack Ryukyu Island.

"In this way, the pressure on us in the Yellow Sea is reduced. The Dongjiang Fleet could support Dadonggou and Anton from the sea. We can also support the Liaodong Peninsula from Shandong. …… At the same time, after our air raid on Ryukyu Island, the aircraft carrier formation immediately moved south, broke through into the Pacific Ocean, and then advanced eastward, secretly approaching the Japanese archipelago. Air raids began on military ports and cities along the Pacific Ocean on the east coast of Japan. Then, the Japanese battleships and cruisers in the East China Sea will definitely be transferred to the east in an attempt to encircle and suppress our aircraft carrier group. In this way, at least half of the Japanese mobile forces in the western Pacific will be led by our nose. The pressure on our home fleet will be much less.

"We are in the eastern part of the Japanese archipelago, in the western Pacific, and there may be one or two tough battles to be fought. I'm not talking about battleships. Against Japanese battleships, there was nothing to worry about. I'm talking about Japanese aircraft carriers. The Japanese army can compete with our aircraft carriers is the Akagi and Kaga. These two are also large aircraft carriers, each with about eighty carrier-based aircraft, which is about the same as our aircraft carriers. Until then, with your permission, Lord Xiong, we can send the Dimensity out to join the Tianshu detachment, and the four large aircraft carriers will go together. In this way, it should be better to deal with the Akagi and Kaga. And once the Akagi and Kaga are eliminated, Japan will have no aircraft carrier power. Even if we lose one to one, we lose two aircraft carriers, then we are left with two large aircraft carriers. The ocean-going air supremacy in the western Pacific is still ours. ”