The curtain came down on the daytime battle on June 4, during which the Combined Fleet was considered to have suffered heavy losses, three main aircraft carriers were sunk, and the air force, including Nobutake's fleet of Kondo, was almost exhausted.

The only thing to expect was that the Wyvern escaped and left the battlefield before the carrier-based aircraft of the Enterprise and the Hornet could spot them, turned northeast of Midway, and waited to receive the carrier-based aircraft of the 2nd Mobile Unit of the North.

That night, Nagumo Tadaichi counted the carrier-based aircraft on the Flying Dragon, and the results were really not optimistic. There were only eight Zeros in the Flying Dragon's hangar, three 97 Attack and 4 99 Explosions, a total of 15 aircraft. And three of the Zero Combat and one of the 99 ships are still damaged, and they are being repaired intensively, and it is really hard to say whether they can be used the next day.

As for Kondo Nobutake, the situation on his side was even worse, the Ruifeng was originally a small aircraft carrier, and the number of carrier-based aircraft was very limited, and under the desperate wave of Kondo Nobutake, it was almost exhausted. At this time, there were only three zeros and one ninety-seven attack on the entire aircraft carrier, which was almost negligible.

According to the battle plan of the Kuroshima Kameto, Kondo Nobutake's Midway Raider Force, in addition to some ships covering the retreat of the transport planes, should go north as soon as possible to join up with Nagumo Tadaichi, and then receive the carrier-based planes of the Second Mobile Force at about 7 o'clock the next morning, and after refueling and hanging bombs, they will set off at about 9:30 to fight to the death with the American animals.

The key issue for this vision to come true is that Nobutake Kondo and Tadaichi Nagumo must converge as soon as possible. On the battlefield at that time, it was not easy to do so, because the Red Navy task force was searching for Nobutake's fleet. Moreover, the Red Navy task force was stuck on the way to Nobutake Kondo and Tadaichi Nagumo. Other words. If Kondo Nobutake goes north. It is quite possible to run headfirst into Kuznetsov and Sukhoi. Judging by the comparison of the strength of the fleets of the two sides. Nobutake Kondo will be completely blown up.

But war is so interesting, it never gives either side an all-round advantage of the right time, place and people. Although the Red Navy's task force was strong, it was mainly strong in two aircraft carriers, and apart from these two aircraft carriers, the remaining forces did not have an overwhelming advantage. At that time, as the sun set, the aircraft carriers of the Red Navy basically became ornaments.

Why? Not every plane had radar on board, and there were no reliable night vision devices. In the night battle, it is all about experience and a pair of sharp eyes. To tell the truth, the pilots of the Red Navy basically did not have the ability to take off and land at night, not only did the Red Navy not have this capability, but no country's carrier-based aircraft pilots had this capability in those years. Even at the end of World War II, carrier-based pilots who were qualified to take off and land at night were few and far between.

So after excluding the aircraft carriers, and calculating the strength of both sides, the Red Navy had four battle cruisers, four heavy cruisers and four light cruisers, as well as eight destroyers. Nobutake Kondo had two battle cruisers (King Kong and Hiei, the Japanese said they were battleships, but really they were only battle cruisers), eight heavy cruisers, one light cruiser, and sixteen destroyers.

On the whole, the Red Navy did not have any advantages in other aspects, except for certain advantages in capital ships. Even after counting the advantage bonus of the Japanese army in the night battle, it is still at a disadvantage. On the whole, the two sides are playing against each other.

In this way, the battle is interesting. Let's take a slow look. After nightfall, Nobutake Kondo went north with all his might, and ******** went to join Nagumo Tadaichi. In the case of the Red Navy's task force, the situation was somewhat different. As mentioned earlier, in the afternoon Sukhoi was actively moving westward, trying to launch another wave of aviation offensive to eliminate Nobutake Kondo. However, the Ro-2, who set out to search for Kondo's fleet, did not find Kondo Nobutake, so naturally this wave of offensive was impossible to talk about.

At that time, Nimitz meant that you Russians should stop tossing, stop moving westward, go north and join up with Fletcher and Spruance first, and concentrate on chasing the fleeing Wyvern. In this way, it is safe, and secondly, it also avoids the dispersion of troops and the sneak attack by the Japanese.

However, Kuznetsov and Sukhoi disagreed, believing that the Japanese were not resigned to defeat and that it was likely that the Japanese were accumulating strength to give it a go. They believed that Kondo Nobutake's forces were likely to move north to join up with Nagumo Tadaichi, so it made sense for the Red Navy task force to continue its search westward, perhaps destroying or inflicting heavy damage on one before the two Japanese fleets converged, and the next battle would be easy to fight.

So is there any evidence to support this opinion? At six o'clock in the afternoon, just as the sun was about to set, the Ro-2, who had gone out to reconnoitre, spotted a lone Japanese destroyer on the sea, and from its course, Kondo's fleet did not retreat directly to the west, but moved north.

It should be said that this discovery is extremely important, the only pity is that the Ro-2 was found on the way back to the destroyer, because the fuel was about to run out, but it was able to track the destroyer for a short time, and no more Japanese ships were found.

This raises the question of whether the destroyer is heading north to join the main fleet. Or do you do some kind of special task alone? Until there is no more evidence, this can only be regarded as an isolated evidence. At least that's what Nimitz thought, and the general thought that it was necessary to be cautious, and although the Allies had achieved brilliant results, judging from what had happened to Yorktown, the Japanese must not be underestimated, so it was better to give up the pursuit for the sake of caution.

Nimitz was the commander of the Pacific theater of operations, and his opinion must be respected. So Kuznetsov and Sukhoi still didn't agree, but they gave up the pursuit as Nimitz commanded, and prepared to turn northeast to join Fletcher and Spruance. But the funny scene soon happened, and just an hour and a half after the Red Navy task force gave up the pursuit and turned, Nimitz's new order came again.

"Turn 300 degrees, search and annihilate the enemy fleet!"

This telegram was so simple that it even made Kuznetsov and Sukhoi a little confused, because an hour and a half ago you didn't say that, how can you say that it will change? The key reason for the change in Nimitz's attitude was that Midway intercepted Yamamoto's battle order again, and after urgent decipherment, the telegram again exposed the Japanese intentions.

"The 2nd Mobile Force will move south to join the 1st Mobile Force?" Spruance was a little surprised. The mentality of Japanese gamblers is a bit incredible. If you switch to Spruance in the same situation. I'm afraid he will be more cautious.

"We have a tough battle to fight tomorrow!" Browning snorted, and seemed to be very satisfied with the ignorance of the Japanese, and estimated that the colonel was thinking about how to kill all the devils in order to avenge the Yorktown!

However, revenge was not so simple, because only a small part of the intercepted telegram had been deciphered, and the rest of the telegram was a blur, and the Allies did not know the disposition of the Second Mobile Force, nor did they know where the Second Mobile Force would join Nagumo Tadaichi. It is not so easy to find the enemy in the vast sea.

"I judge that the enemy's second mobile force has at least one aircraft carrier. Holland Harbor had already telegraphed us that we had been attacked by air, which means that there are aircraft carriers, and maybe even more than one aircraft carrier in the fleet, and judging from the will of the Japanese to fight again, they must have the capital to turn the cost, and two aircraft carriers are very reasonable. ”

This was Fletcher's analysis, but his chief of staff asked, "Why not three or more aircraft carriers?" ”

"How can a feint force be stronger than a main attack force?" That's Fletcher's answer.

After some discussion, the Americans decided that it was very likely that the enemy had two aircraft carriers rushing to the aid of Midway, and that once this group of enemies and the enemy at Midway converged, things would become very troublesome.

In Nimitz's words: "The balance of power between the two sides will become four to four." It's going to be a tough battle. We'd better take advantage of the time before the enemy converges to deal further blows to the enemy, preferably destroying one or two carriers. In this way, the battle will be easy to fight! ”

Based on this assumption, Nimitz immediately canceled the idea of letting the Red Navy task force and Spruance converge, the Red Navy went to get Kondo Nobutake, and Spruance went to get the remnants of Nagumo Tadaichi, so let's act quickly.

Although Sukhoi and Kuznetsov complained a little about this sudden change, they still resolutely carried out Nimitz's instructions, and immediately took off ten more Ro-2s to search for Kondo's fleet. Following Sukhoi's instructions, the pilot searched as far northeast as he could, flying as far north as he could.

However, what Sukhoi didn't expect was that this instruction was problematic, because Kondo's main force was not so far north, on the contrary, Kondo Nobutake was still further south, because of the delay in breaking up with the transport fleet before. When the Ro-2 took off to reconnoitre, Nobutake's main force actually arrived at the location where the Ro-2 found the lone destroyer.

So what's going on with that lone destroyer? It was actually the destroyer Murayu of the Fourth Destroyer Squadron, and the reason why it went north quickly was that the Type 95 water scout reported to him that it had discovered the Japanese pilot who had fallen into the water, and it went to the rescue.

That is, the pilots of the Ro-2 were misled, and at that time Nobutake's main force was not further north but south, and this led to a series of miscalculations later. So the Ro-2 sent out by Sukhoi for reconnaissance must not find anything, and it is useless to do it.

In the thick of the night, the Red Navy task force searched and sailed to the northeast, and in their southwest direction, Kondo Nobutake led the main force to the murderous and rapid north, according to the course and speed of the two fleets, I am afraid that it will meet unexpectedly.

The formation of the Red Navy was still a standard air defense formation. The two aircraft carriers were in the center of the fleet, and in front of the aircraft carriers were four battle cruisers, and in front of the battle cruisers were two light cruisers of the air defense type occupying two corners, and in front of the light cruisers were air defense destroyers at the head. Behind the aircraft carrier were Gorshkov's four heavy cruisers, and the reason why they were placed in the back and the battle cruiser in front was that Kuznetsov was afraid that he would encounter the Japanese fleet unexpectedly, so that the battle cruiser would be able to enter the battle first to deter the enemy. Behind the four heavy cruisers were still two Type 40 light cruisers occupying two corners, and they were also in charge of the rear with two destroyers each.

According to Kuznetsov's assumption, once the destroyer or air defense cruiser in front encountered the enemy ship, the four battle cruisers and four battle cruisers would immediately accelerate to fight a water battle with the enemy, while the light cruisers and destroyers would cover the aircraft carrier's immediate retreat.

This idea was not bad, but what Kuznetsov did not expect was that instead of appearing from the bow of the fleet, the enemy came out from behind the buttocks. And it's a real accident.

This was the case. To the southwest of the flotilla was a small formation, headed by the light cruiser Murmansk. Murmansk was in the center, while the destroyers Kokang and Noble dragged in parallel. And the position of the Kokang of the two destroyers was even farther out, and he was the first to spot the enemy ship.

The captain of the Kokang, Yurisic, was losing his temper at the time, because there was a small problem with the Kokang's sea search radar, which was a bit unsuitable for the high temperature environment, and worked for a while and went on strike. What's more, the mechanics repaired for several hours without solving the problem, which made Yurisic very dissatisfied, because before going to the United States. The KGB specifically warned them: "The Japanese Navy is quite good at night warfare, and it is necessary to be vigilant, especially to give full play to the superiority of radar." ”

This admonition was taken to heart by Major Yurisic, and now, on the night when the fleet was on its way to search for the Japanese fleet, the damned sea search radar actually failed, and it would be a great loss if it ran into the enemy.

So on the one hand, Yurisic ordered the mechanical and electrical crews and the engineers accompanying the ship to speed up the repair of the radar, and on the other hand, he sent twice as many lookout posts, in Yurisic's words: "The machine does not work to make up for it!" ”

It has to be said that this highly vigilant captain played a key role in the battle that followed. If you change to a sloppy captain, I'm afraid the Red Navy will suffer a big loss!

Just when Yurisicchi sent a double lookout post. To the southeast of the Kokang, the 4th Destroyer Squadron led by Rear Admiral Shoji Nishimura had quietly appeared behind the tail of the Kokang.

It was not that the Japanese discovered the existence of the Red Navy in advance and prepared to launch a sneak attack from the tail, in fact, the Japanese did not discover the existence of the Red Navy, and before they focused on the northeast direction, Kondo Nobutake believed that if there were enemy ships, it was more likely to be in that direction. As for the western side, the Japanese believe that it is unlikely.

So the two fleets "met" in such a daze, and no one found anyone, and if they just passed by, there would naturally be no naval battle behind. But since God has arranged for these two fleets to meet, how can they be worthy of the audience if there is no big war?

As mentioned earlier, the Kokang was located further outward, and the Honorable was located inward, and at that time, the Honor's sea-searching radar had no problem, and soon after the routine start-up scanning, the Honor's radar caught a target.

"The distance is 10,000, and the azimuth 240 has a target reaction!"

Captain Burkić was not as vigilant as Yurisic, so he did not pay much attention to this target located southwest of the ship, and in his opinion it must have been the Kokang operating on the outside.

So Burkic didn't pull the alarm, didn't ask with a signal, didn't ask on the radio, he took it for granted that it was the Kokang, until five minutes later the radar operator told him again: "The distance is nine thousand five, the azimuth is 235, and the target course is 35." ”

The first two data still did not arouse Burkic's alarm, and the last course data made him a little strange, at this time, the Red Navy fleet was sailing in the northwest direction, the course was about 300, and this course 35 was sailing in the northeast direction, which was completely different!

Could it be that the Kokang discovered something that changed course? Yes, at this time Burkic still thought that the target was the Kokang, so he still did not arouse his alarm, and only told the deputy captain to go to the radio and ask what the Kokang was going to do.

Yurisic was a little puzzled when he received Burkic's call, but he immediately became alert, and on the one hand replied to Yurisic that the Kokang had not changed course, and on the other hand informed the whole ship to enter the first level of combat readiness, and ordered:

"Inform Lieutenant Colonel Kokorin that there seems to be an enemy in our tail, please confirm it!"

Lieutenant Colonel Kokorin was the captain of the Murmansk and temporarily served as the squadron commander. At that time, the Murmansk's sea search radar was not turned on, not because Kokorin was careless, but because one of the Murmansk's generators was broken down and being repaired, and the remaining generators had limited power supply capacity and could not turn on the air and sea search radars at the same time. At that time, Kokorin ordered the Kokang and the Noble to be responsible for the sea search, and the Murmansk to be responsible for air alert. After receiving Yurisic's report, he immediately ordered the air search radar to be turned off and the sea search radar to take a look at the situation in the sea area.

However, it takes time to open a level, and every minute and every second on the battlefield is very important. At this critical moment, Yurisic did not passively wait for Kokorin to turn on the radar, but took the initiative to order the Kokang to turn and rush towards the enemy's infested position.

Also around the same time, Rear Admiral Shoji Nishimura, who was in charge of the light cruiser Yura, also received a report from the observation post that a suspicious target had been spotted in the northwest direction. Of course, the Japanese rely on their eyes, not on radar. However, on this dark night, it is not easy to identify a target ten kilometers away. The Japanese observation posts were only sure that there were ships there, but they were not sure whether they were their own men or enemies.

"Turn the rudder and go to reconnoitre," Rear Admiral Shoji Nishimura made a decision after a little thought, he thought that it was more likely that it was the enemy, and if it was an enemy ship, then he could not startle the snake, "inform the ships, wait for my orders, don't act rashly!" (To be continued.) )

PS: Bow and thank you to Pig Chic 2, Bao Heizi, Southern Rangers and Comrade Juventus!