Chapter 208: Solomon Checkers

At 8:45 a.m., the flagship of Task Force 51 and the fleet aircraft carrier "Glory", Major Fletcher was on the bridge of the air ship at the top of the island, and watched the first wave of air raids take off with his hands on his hips.

Fletcher felt so good, not only because Lieutenant General Schroeder accepted his proposal yesterday, but more importantly, the situation on the battlefield had basically developed according to his expectations so far.

From 7:35 a.m. to 8:10 a.m., reconnaissance planes dispatched by Kila Kira Air Base and Task Force 52 discovered the East Asian Army's aircraft carrier task force three times in succession, all of which were about 90 nautical miles north-northeast of Kirakira.

At 7:15 a.m., Task Force 52 was spotted by enemy reconnaissance planes, and although the fighters on duty intercepted them, they only drove the enemy planes out of the airspace over the fleet.

Although there were losses in the first wave of air raids, according to Major General Westland's report, "the impact on the sorties of the air raid team in the planning was slight."

At around 8 o'clock, Task Force 52 was again taken into the air by enemy reconnaissance planes, but this time it was not reported whether the enemy planes had been shot down.

The first attack wave strikes

Now is the time to take the most crucial step in the overall plan.

Fletcher knew very well that if Task Force 51 had maintained its position before and after dawn, it would have been impossible to launch an air attack on the enemy task force at this moment - the distance between them would be more than 140 nautical miles, and the normal combat radius of the carrier-based aircraft group would be no more than 100 nautical miles.

However, the reality was that immediately after taking off the first batch of reconnaissance planes, the 51 st Task Force took a northwest course and entered a new position in the coastal waters 20 nautical miles east-southeast of Kirakira before 8 o'clock.

Had there been no accident with the two groups of heralds who had taken the seaplane to Task Force 52 yesterday afternoon, Task Force 52 would have moved northwest after 6:15 a.m. and had entered a new position 20 nautical miles east-northeast of Kirakira and 20 nautical miles due north of Task Force 51 by 8 p.m.

If the current locations of Task Force 51, Task Force 52, and Kirakira on the map are connected in a straight line, they form a well-proportioned equilateral triangle, instead of the previous right triangle with Kirakira as the right-angled vertex and two straight sides 30 and 40 nautical miles long, respectively.

As a result, the enemy's task force should be less than 80 nautical miles east-north of Task Force 52 and less than 100 nautical miles away from Task Force 51, which is exactly within the attack radius of the carrier-based aircraft group.

The timing was just right

The first wave of air raids consisted of 18 Thorpside "Camel carrier-based combat aircraft, 5 T.1 "Cuckoo" MK3 carrier-based torpedo bombers that took off from the British Royal Navy's "Brilliant"-class fleet carrier ship "Glory", and 12 Naval Aircraft Factory T-based combat aircraft and 5 "Cuckoo" MK3 carrier-based torpedo bombers that took off from the US Navy's "Panama" large modified fleet aircraft carrier.

There are 30 fighters and 30 torpedo planes, for a total of 60 aircraft.

Although it is slightly inferior in numbers to the first wave of air raid teams in Kirakira, the actual combat power should be far above it in terms of aircraft performance and average quality of pilots.

Now it is Kirakira's shore-based air strike team that strikes first, and the attack distance is closer than that of Task Force 51, so it can be predicted that the carrier-based air attack team of Task Force 51 will join the battle a quarter of an hour after the shore-based air attack team launches the attack.

At that time, the enemy's fighter squadron on duty, which has already been attracted by the shore-based air raid team and has consumed part of its strength, will not be able to effectively intercept the carrier-based air raid group that will appear immediately -- in any case, the interception efficiency will be greatly reduced.

Two waves of attacks followed, at least one aircraft carrier would be incapacitated, and if the other side still refused to give up the battle, the combined efforts of Task Force 51 and base aviation would be enough to suppress the remaining single aircraft carrier.

Planning is always planning, and you can't predict all the details accurately until the battle actually begins.

However, if such a well-planned and desperate battle with all the capital cannot subdue the invincible ferocious dragon that has been crusading for the past 18 months, and has only slowed down its progress slightly, then the future of this war is really unimaginable......

As the group faded into the sky, Fletcher drew a cross on his chest and turned to the spiral staircase that led to the lower Commander's Bridge.

……

At 9:10, the bridge of the "Tennessee", the flagship of the 52nd Task Force of the Allied Army.

"Spotting the Big Fleet at Two O'Clock"

The alarm in the microphone tube did not send a flash of horror to Lieutenant General Schroeder's face, on the contrary, he seemed relieved that waiting for the outcome of war is often more torturous than facing reality.

"It's really fast, I was worried that they wouldn't be able to find us if we moved our positions, so there's nothing to think about now - order the Pearl Harbor and the Manila to immediately take off all the deck standby fighters; Order the whole fleet, maintain formation, and make every effort to prepare for an air battle"

While quickly giving the order, Schroeder also knew it:

Before dawn, the two modified aircraft carriers each carried 2 fighters, and at 6 o'clock the first batch of 6 fighters on duty.

to the second batch of combat mounts on duty, and the first batch of a total of 12 fighters on duty were kept on the flight deck to land in Kirakira.

In addition, the first batch of 12 fighters on duty attached to Task Force 52 entered the position at 7:20 a.m. and are still hovering over the fleet.

That is, when the deck-ready fighters of the two modified aircraft carriers take off, the total number of fighters on duty to protect the entire 52 task force will reach 48 units.

Behind the outer air defense line formed by the fighters, a huge multi-layered wheel formation unfolded, with the two Pearl Harbor-class cruise ship conversion carriers that formed the First Service Group, and the eight Dreadnought battleships that made up the First Service Group—including Schroeder's flagship Tennessee, the same class of the USS California, the New Mexico-class New Mexico, the USS Idaho, and the USS Mississippi, as well as the surviving USS Pennsylvania, USS Nevada, and USS New York of Pearl Harbor.

Further out are the 6 10,000-ton large cruisers of the 1st Service Group, including 3 Memphis-class armored cruisers (USS Missoula, USS Charlot, and USS Sitrie) and 3 St. Louis-class large protective cruisers (USS St. Louis, USS Milwaukee, USS Charliston) and 4 Chester-class light cruisers (USS Salem, USS Buffalo, USS Wilmington, USS Newhaven) of the cruiser squadron directly under the Group; and two Chester-class light cruisers (HMS Birmingham and HMS Fargo) of the cruiser squadron directly under the 1st Battalion.

The forces that make up the fourth and fifth tiers include two Omaha-class light cruisers, the flagship of the 1st Battalion, the USS Montgomery, and 12 each of the 5th and 5th Battalions—a total of 36 destroyers.

In addition, five nautical miles away from the edge of the main wheel formation, the Omaha-class light cruisers of the First Brigade were deployed on the extension line of the center of the circle, namely the Omaha, Detroit, Richmond and Philadelphia, each with two destroyers to form four perimeter guard groups.

That is to say, the total strength of the 52 Task Force consists of 2 modified aircraft carriers, 8 battleships, 6 large cruisers, light cruisers, and 44 destroyers, of which except for 4 light cruisers and 8 destroyers, the vast majority of the strength is composed of the main wheel formation.

Before leaving the mainland for expeditions to the South Pacific, most of the fleet's ships were equipped with enhanced anti-aircraft firepower, and generally speaking, the battleships were equipped with 8 to 12 single-barreled anti-aircraft guns of 3-inch or 4-inch caliber, single and combined anti-aircraft guns of 10 or more 10 1-pounder (37 mm) or 2-pounder (40 mm) calibers, and single and combined anti-aircraft machine guns of 3 in millimeters or 5 inches (7 mm) caliber of 16 or more.

The air defense configuration of a large cruiser is 6 to 8 medium-caliber single-barreled anti-aircraft guns, more than 6 anti-aircraft guns and more than 8 anti-aircraft machine guns; Light cruisers were 2 to 4 single-barreled anti-aircraft guns, 2 to 4 anti-aircraft guns and more than 4 anti-aircraft machine guns; The destroyer consisted of 1 single-barreled anti-aircraft gun, 1-2 anti-aircraft guns and 2-4 anti-aircraft machine guns.

In addition to the thin armament of the two cruise ship converted aircraft carriers, the anti-aircraft firepower that can be concentrated on any side of the main wheel array is roughly as follows: about 90 single-barreled medium-caliber anti-aircraft guns, about 100 single-mounted and combined anti-aircraft machine guns, and about 160 single-mounted and combined antiaircraft machine guns.

"Visually, the total number of aircraft in the fleet is more than 50."

"Confirmation of the group as an air attack group of enemy carrier-based aircraft"

"The whole enemy air raid team made a detour to our port side"

"My starboard duty fighter group is beginning to meet the enemy aircraft, and the starboard duty fighter group is rushing to the reserve interception position......"

The ensuing alarm interrupted Schroeder's calculations, raised the telescope hanging on his chest, and under the white clouds in the distance, the air battle had just begun, as if two groups of aggressive wasps had suddenly collided together, and were frantically catching and fighting, and soon, the black trajectory of the burning body in the blue sky continued to appear, intertwine, fade, and reappear......

"Major Fletcher, you'd better show me that all your assumptions are correct, or else you'll wait and see—I don't care who your uncle is."

……