PS: I wish all Iron Empire readers a Happy New Year and all the best. 2008, the scheduled iron and blood end of this year has finally arrived, the new year and new atmosphere, the real sprint has begun, from now on farewell to the 2K party, and strive to ensure the quality at the same time, a leap in the speed of updates, so that you can see more refreshing, votes are more worthwhile~~

Thank you again for your long-term support, it is you who have given me the motivation to persist until now, how can I repay it? Only the whole book!

After the last, please everyone, if you can watch it well, you will use the ticket to smash Yuelan to death~~~ Stoneing to death is not worth your life~~~——

At 12:00 a.m. on December 26, Hawaiian time, 360 nautical miles north of Oahu, 32 ships of the Mobile Force were heading south unscathed.

Yesterday afternoon, after recovering the third attack wave, in view of the approach of the US cruisers, the whole squadron quickly turned due north according to the established policy, evaded at full speed, and for a time withdrew to a distance of 450 nautical miles north of Oahu.

It was not until the early hours of this morning, after the first batch of reconnaissance planes were released, that the whole team cautiously turned around and advanced while searching, preparing to join the main force.

"The second batch of reconnaissance team planes have completed their reports, and no enemy ships have been found!"

After listening to the report of intelligence staff officer Jiang Ye, Lieutenant General Liang Shuming nodded slightly: "Very good, I am going to send the third batch of reconnaissance teams." ”

"Yes!"

Liang Shuming saw Jiang Ye leave, turned around, and looked at the blue sea and blue sky in the distance, feeling different and comfortable.

It seems that the US fleet has already fled at night, and there is no way, and the decisive battle of the main fleet that Commander Sa is looking forward to is probably coming to an end - this is all because the results of the surprise attack of the mobile forces far exceeded expectations.

However, no one has any reason to blame the mobile troops, and this fast air fleet, which was developed under the guidance of his theory of "naval aviation warfare," was at first regarded by many naval veterans as "an armed transport fleet that is ridiculously expensive," "too expensive as an aviation reconnaissance unit, too weak as a cruiser, and even more so rotten as a transport fleet," and "just a bunch of deformities that waste precious military spending."

Liang Shuming once argued on the basis of reason, but was suppressed for a time, and there were also many gossips around him, saying that he was "grandstanding" and "had ulterior motives", which made him discouraged and depressed for a while, but fortunately, the elders of the Ministry of National Defense and the General Staff Department unswervingly supported him behind his back, and finally gave him a chance to realize his dream. With the completion of the four fleet aircraft carriers completed in the name of "large seaplane carriers" one after another, and the accompanying fast escort ships also in place one after another, the ambitious Liang Shuming devoted all his efforts to this "armed transport fleet" where he placed all his ideals.

Just yesterday, he received a reward far beyond his expectations, although in front of his subordinates, he stubbornly guarded the calmness and reserve of the commander, but as soon as he returned to his room, after locking the hatch, tears burst out of his eyes - the sarcasm of the elders, the criticism of his colleagues, all the ups and downs and unpleasantness of the years, all flew away in an instant.

There is nothing wrong with the mobile forces, but if you want to blame it, you don't understand my theory deeply!

If I had more motherships and better planes, if I had the kind of fast bombers that could drop bombshells with precision, if ......

Not enough, the existing aircraft carriers and carrier-based aircraft are still far from realizing my ideals!

The protagonists of future naval battles will be larger aircraft carriers and stronger carrier-based aircraft, and warships will be reduced to attachments to aircraft carrier mobile units, and surface fleets without adequate aviation support will become a delicious meal for aviation attack forces!

How much longer? How long will it take to truly realize my dream - an invincible aircraft carrier mobile force sweeps across the ocean and destroys everything!

Liang Shuming, Liang Shuming, it seems that you have to wait for a long time......

At 15:00 on the same day, more than ten nautical miles southwest of Honolulu Port, as a column of black smoke drifted with the wind, a long series of ship shadows gradually surfaced from the sea antenna - the main force of the Combined Fleet had arrived!

With a sharp whistle on the "Pinghai," the flag was raised to the top of the mast, and after confirming that there was no invincibility in the surrounding waters, the entire unit would be divided into several formations to carry out specific tasks.

Squadron B, commanded by Vice Admiral Gao Long, commander of the 3rd Battleship Squadron, first broke away from the main force and carefully cruised along the southern shore of Oahu, and Formation B included 4 Yuezi battleships, 4 Leopard cruisers of the 3rd Light Patrol Squadron, and 8 Yangzi destroyers of the 4th Squadron, accompanied by several motorized minesweepers, and was tasked with carrying out demonstrative artillery bombardment of Honolulu Harbor while clearing possible mine arrays.

The large force then turned to the south-east, divided into several teams, and while clearing the waterways of the Lashana anchorage in small boats, they prepared to send out various marine detachments to occupy the perimeter of the anchorage.

The Marine detachment to occupy Molokai Island was dispatched by the following ships: Japanese Battleship 1 Ise and Shinano, Korean Battleship 1 Squadron Gwangkaitu and Yi Sunsin, Japanese Patrol Squadron 1 Ikoma, and Japanese Light Patrol Squadron 1 Kuma, Ashigara, Nagara, and Oi. The total strength is about 700 men, and the commander is Major Shiro Kanda.

The Marine detachment scheduled to occupy Lanai Island came from six rapid supply ships with a total strength of about 300 men, and was commanded by Major Tian Bin.

The Marines scheduled to occupy Maui and Kahe and Rawai were provided by the rest of the battleships, cruisers, and supply ships, with a total strength of about 2,400 men, commanded by Colonel Zhou Liangjian.

The 600 marines carried on board the B formation will serve as a reserve unit, and will be replenished to the islands as appropriate after the completion of the tasks of the B formation.

At 16:00, the four Yuezi battleships of Formation B opened fire on Honolulu Harbor from a distance of 18,000 yards, and 305-millimeter huge shells set off a series of terrible water columns tens of meters high on the coast, and more than ten shells hit the port area, destroying a warehouse and several houses, killing nine people and two dogs.

The shore batteries fired back, but the shells always fell a few thousand yards away from the Chinese battleships - the range was not enough!

At the same time, several seaplanes sped over downtown Honolulu and dropped leaflets like snowflakes.

The deterrent shelling lasted only a few minutes, and under the guidance of the minesweepers, Formation B quickly moved away from the coast and turned southeast, ready to join the operation to take control of the Lashana anchorage.

At 16:30, the Japanese Light Patrol 1 Squadron began shelling Molokai Island - symbolically firing seven or eight shells into the sea on the south coast, and one hour later, Kanda Shiro's unit landed from three landing sites in the southern part of the island, quickly taking control of several major villages and towns along the coast and two lighthouses vital to the anchorage. A North Korean Marine accidentally fell and fractured his thigh while climbing the lighthouse for inspection.

Around nightfall, a total of 3,400 Marines boarded the islands around Lashana Anchorage in small dinghys, and met only minor resistance on Maui, Hawaii's second-largest island, when a few drunken white youths stood on a small pier in Kiwakapu and fired indiscriminately at the approaching Chinese dinghy, which was quickly beaten into a sieve by rifle machine guns and grenadiers in the hands of the Marines.

The marine detachments quickly set up beachheads and sent small detachments to take control of the lighthouses on the island, some of which had already been damaged, and the engineers in the detachments had to hurry up to repair them so that the fleet could be stationed as soon as possible.

Police stations and naval installations near the beachheads of the islands were empty, and not a single weapon had been found — which did not bode well.

The day after China and Japan declared war on the United States, the East Asian coalition landed in Hawaii - the great United States was insultingly pinched in the face after knocking a few teeth off in the cold......