Nagumo Tadaichi is quite depressed now, the reason is very simple, his reconnaissance plane has dropped the chain, although from dawn he immediately sent out all the water reconnaissance that can be dispatched, and searched around the north side of Midway Island like a net, but the effect is not good.

Why? Because the weather in the northern part of Midway was quite bad, a tropical cyclone suddenly arrived in the area, and the sky was completely filled with strong winds and waves, sudden rain, and large dark clouds.

Most of Nagumo Tadaichi's reconnaissance planes were forced to turn back, and only those pilots with the best skills and the most resolute quality insisted on flying. It's just that the number of pilots in this category is too small, so this reconnaissance is really unsatisfactory, and even the reconnaissance results do not have much reference value. Because there are too many gaps in the reconnaissance sector, and in these gaps there may be hidden American fleets.

At half past six in the morning, Nagumo Tadaichi had to confess to Yamamoto Isoroku that the reconnaissance was not effective, and he could only wait for the weather to improve before conducting supplementary reconnaissance.

Yamamoto Fifty-six also smiled bitterly at this, because this is a force majeure factor, and I really can't blame Nanyun Zhongyi for not giving it, I can only say that the luck of that guy is too bad. However, Yamamoto Fifty-six also has to make a decision, whether to attack the two aircraft carriers that have been discovered, or continue to wait?

Yamamoto only thought about this question for a minute, and soon he gave Nagumo Tadaichi instructions: "Attack first!" ”

Yamamoto Fifty-six did not say which target to attack first, but Nagumo Tadaichi knew very well that there was only one target on the battlefield at this time, and that was the two aircraft carriers in the southwest direction. But as for whether to make a move, Nagumo Tadaichi was a little undecided.

As a discreet commander. Nagumo Tadaichi didn't like to make hasty decisions when the enemy situation was unclear. Yesterday, because of the rush to attack Midway, it led to a series of passivity. It's not that you can't hit those two aircraft carriers today. But what if there are still enemy aircraft carriers lurking to the east of the 1st Mobile Force? What if it's really a dozen or four, the worst-case scenario?

Nagumo felt that he had to find out the enemy situation now, and if it was determined that the enemy had four aircraft carriers, he would have to retreat immediately, and this battle was hopeless.

However, Nagumo Tadaichi's conservatism was strongly criticized by Yamaguchi Tamon, and the militant could not wait to make a big move. In his opinion, since the enemy's aircraft carrier has been discovered, then what are you waiting for, go up and fight, even if the enemy has four aircraft carriers. As long as the Wyvern can take out two of them, it will be enough.

In a sense, Tabun Yamaguchi is more of a gambler than Tadaichi Nagumo. And under the pressure of Yamaguchi's constant noise and Yamamoto Fifty-roku's eagerness to turn over the book, Nagumo Tadaichi had to give in. He adopted the three-stage offensive that had been planned yesterday, first taking off all the carrier-based planes on the Flying Dragon to carry out the first wave of attacks, then refueling the 50 carrier-based planes of the Second Mobile Force, and then carrying out the second wave of attacks, and then launching the third wave of attacks after the first wave of planes returned home and the Type 99 shipblowers of the Second Mobile Force arrived.

At seven o'clock in the morning, the Flying Dragon began to release the first wave of aircraft, which included 8 Zero, 6 97 and 6 99 Bombardment, which was already the air power that Yamaguchi had scavenged and pieced together as much as he could (really by removing the parts on the damaged fighters). The twenty planes flew straight for the Red Navy task force. At the same time, the Red Navy's Ro-2 was constantly looking for Nagumo's location.

But it's interesting. Sukhoi's luck was similar to that of Nagumo Tadaichi, and the Ro-2, who searched north for Nagumo Tadaichi, did not find the imaginary No. 1 Mobile Unit, but instead found the Mizukaze, which was nervously sailing north to join Nagumo Tadaichi.

At that time, there were only two Zero Battles left on this small aircraft carrier, and there really was no attack power at all. However, the pilot of the Ro-2 mistakenly thought it was the Wyvern, so he happily reported to Sukhoi the news of the so-called discovery of the enemy's first mobile unit.

This information was transmitted to Sukhoi at 6:45, and at this time, he was also a little hesitant like Nagumo Tadaichi. Because this information is still too vague, judging from his and Kuznetsov's calculations, Nagumo Tadaichi's fleet should be further north, and this aircraft carrier formation is too far south. Sukhoi prefers that this is Nobutake's fleet of Kondo.

So to fight or not to fight? After some thought, Sukhoi decided - fight!

Why? Because the Allies were not as overstretched as the Japanese, they could launch two large-scale air attacks with four large aircraft carrier configurations. Sukhoi suggested to Spruance: "This goal is solved by us, and you continue to search for the enemy fleet." ”

Spruance agreed with this suggestion, which he thought was a good idea. If you can destroy a Japanese aircraft carrier, you can destroy one, anyway, he still has a lot of spare strength on his side, once he finds Nagumo Tadaichi, he can put into attack, even if he can't take Nagumo Tadaichi on his side, Sukhoi can also come to attack a second time.

Almost at seven o'clock, Sukhoi released all the Ro-2s that could participate in the attack in one go, and he was not like Nagumo Tadaichi yesterday, who would intercept half of his strength for preparation. In Sukhoi's opinion, the enemy must be taken away in waves, and time must not be wasted to replenish the attack.

About 50 Ro-2s took off and flew straight to the Ruifeng under the escort of about 30 Yak-3Ks. All this is not known to Japan, because at this time Japan is also busy, at about 8:55, the first wave of zero battles transferred from the second mobile force fell on the deck of the Flying Dragon, the faster they chose to fly to the Flying Dragon at the fastest speed, the reason is also very simple, because at this time the Flying Dragon is equivalent to running naked, it is quite fragile without fighter protection at all, and the arrival of the zero battle can somewhat enhance the defense of the first mobile force.

This batch of Zero Battles began to refuel immediately after landing, and at about half past nine, the follow-up 97 ship attack finally flew over the Flying Dragon. At this time, the crew of the Flying Dragon was very busy, on the one hand, they had to nervously contain the landing 97 ship attack, and on the other hand, they had to prepare to release the Zero Battle, which had just been refueled. Anyway, they relived the scene when the Battle of Midway broke out yesterday, and they were busy on all fours.

It was at this time that the Ro-2, which took off from the Minsk and Kiev, successfully found the lone Ruifeng. At that time, Nobutake Kondo, who was sitting on the Atago, had a white face. Although he is conscious, he may be discovered by the enemy. But the enemy unexpectedly sent such a powerful wave of attacks to attack him. It still caught him a little unexpectedly.

"Isn't the U.S. going to attack the Wyvern?" This was his truest thought at the time.

In the face of the enemy planes that rushed over under the pressure of black pressure, the only thing Kondo Nobutake could do was to order his only zero battle and water battle to intercept it quickly. He had a bit of a fluke mentality, according to Nagumo Tadaichi and Yamaguchi Tashi's reactions, the enemy's fighters and pilots were very poor, and they were not Zero's opponents at all, although he only had two Zeros, but those water battles were also changed from Zero. It's just that the speed is almost there, and I'm not afraid to play dog fights.

The second thing Kondo Nobutake did was to inform Yamamoto Isoroku and Nagumo Tadaichi that they had been attacked, but he didn't ask for help, because at this time, neither Yamamoto Isoroku nor Nagumo Tadaichi were beyond the reach of the whip and could not save him. The reason why he informed these two people was that there was only one meaning: "The enemy planes are coming to attack the nest, and they will inevitably guard against emptiness, so please resolutely deal a heavy blow!" ”

This information made Yamamoto Isoroku and Nagumo Tadaichi a little happy, since the enemy's carrier-based planes had gone to attack the Ruifeng, it must be an empty defense. Even Nagumo Tadaichi still had some regrets, if only the 97 ships of the Second Mobile Force had attacked earlier. Maybe it will be able to catch up with this wave of attacks and deal the heaviest blow to the beautiful animal.

Of course, Yamaguchi felt that it was not too late, and he personally urged the air crew to speed up and use the fastest speed to fill up the 97 ship attack and hang up the torpedoes. And this undoubtedly further exacerbated the hectic level of the hangar and deck of the Wyvern, even if there were no accidents for the time being, but the aircrew were tired enough.

On the return to see Kondo Nobutake's side, Zero and Water Battle quickly rushed towards the Red Navy's fleet, this group of howling wolves thought that they would easily capture a large group of rabbits, but what they didn't expect was that the opposite side rushed over with a group of tigers.

The Yak-3K is enough to fight a zero battle and a water battle even if it is attached to the auxiliary fuel tank, and please note that Sukhoi sent thirty Yaks to escort in one go, and the number of escort aircraft greatly exceeded that of the Japanese interceptors, and after the first round of head-on fire, a considerable number of water battles fell into the sea.

Next, the Devil pilots tried to make a fuss with their excellent hovering performance, which they could use to make a fuss when facing wild cats and buffaloes. But this trick meets the Yak-3K, which is more capable of going around in circles, which is equivalent to delivering food.

Anyway, the air battle lasted only ten minutes, and after ten minutes, the Japanese fighter jets completely disappeared from this airspace. And this also shattered the glasses of Nobutake Kondo, who was watching the battle on the Atago, and his pilot was almost beaten to the ground looking for teeth and had no power to fight back, which made him burst into a foul mouth: "Yaga! ”

No one knows who Nobutake Kondo is scolding, but there is a high probability that Tadaichi Nagumo and Yamaguchi Tashi are misleading him. However, there is no point in saying this, as swarms of Ro-2s are swooping in from the sky, aiming at the Ruifeng to drop bombs and torpedoes.

In an instant, the sea around the Ruifeng was like boiling water in a boiling pot - boiling. Bombs rained down, and torpedoes swooped down on the water. Even the captain of the Ruifeng was unable to do anything, and was hit by three bombs and two torpedoes on the spot, paralyzed on the sea and struggling.

In less than fifteen minutes, the Ruifeng was finished, which made the Red Navy athletes quite unhappy, and a large number of pilots who had not yet dropped bombs had to choose other targets to attack. For example, the Atago during Nobutake's period has received a lot of attention, and who let it fly the lieutenant general's flag. Therefore, the pilots of the Red Navy launched one after another offensive against this heavy cruiser, which had already suffered a considerable blow in the naval battle last night.

The first to attack was the Ro-2 with the torpedo hanging, and the twelve Ro-2s were organized into three groups, and the torpedoes were fired at the Atago from the left and right sides at the same time, and then the Ro-2 carrying the bombs that dived down from the air also began to attack, and one by one the 1,000-kilogram bombs were dropped, and a huge column of water more than 100 meters high could be seen around the Atago.

But it's useless, no matter how good the shape is, it can't withstand the blow of real guns. Two bombs and a torpedo hit the Atago one after another. The poor warship looked like a red-hot iron from afar.

At this time, the Red Navy pilots were content to evacuate. In their view, the sinking of the burning Atagos was only a matter of time. But what they didn't expect was that the vitality of this warship was so tenacious, just like a small strong Atago struggling to return to the mainland, and it took a full year of repairs before returning to the battlefield, but at that time the heavy cruiser had no meaning to the Japanese, and they could only be beaten and unable to fight back.

In the first wave of Sukhoi's offensive, the boys of the Red Navy destroyed the Zuiho and severely damaged the Atago, but what about their own losses? Only two Yak-3Ks and four Ro-2s were damaged. It can be said that the Japanese did not inflict any decent trauma on them at all.

Just when the young men of the Red Navy were returning home satisfied, the twenty carrier-based planes that took off from the Flying Dragon finally flew to the sea area where the Red Navy task force was located. The Japanese pilots were very confident before they attacked, and it seemed to them that the pilots and planes of the American animals were not very good, and they still suddenly attacked first. Even if it is a sneak attack, it will definitely be able to catch the American animal by surprise.

But these devils did not expect at all that at a distance of 100 nautical miles, they were locked on by the radar of the Red Navy, and about forty Yak-3Ks taking off from the Minsk and Kiev were already on standby. If Gorshkov had not retreated with heavy cruisers but remained on the battlefield, I am afraid that he would have to lament that he would not be able to see Japanese planes again.

The fleet led by Captain Hashiguchi was frantically intercepted by the Yak-3K, and the reason why it should be described as crazy. The reason was that the pilots of the Red Navy found that there were too few targets, and twenty enemy aircraft were not enough for them. This is simply whether it is good for wolves to have more meat and less meat.

In order to achieve the results of the battle, these Russian guys held their breath one by one and concentrated on seizing every opportunity to attack. The first to suffer was the eight Zeros, which were overwhelmed by 20 Yak-3Ks in the blink of an eye, and the poor Zero pilots were torn to shreds by the overwhelming rain of bullets before they could fire a single shot. Next, the 99 ship explosion and the 97 ship attack, which lacked zero combat protection, were veritable live targets. Red Navy pilots can slowly aim and shoot calmly, and these poor devils are all done before they see the fleet of the Red Navy.

"That's a win?" Sukhoi was a little incredulous, because it was so easy that the Japanese were simply vulnerable.

"Maybe the enemy consumed too much yesterday." This is the explanation given by Kuznetsov.

Sukhoi could only say that it was too much fun, and he could only order his young man to hurry back, and then refuel and hang up his bombs to prepare for the next attack.

Just as Sukhoi's side was victorious, Nagumo Tadaichi received bad news that his last reconnaissance plane, which insisted on flying, had spotted the American fleet. At first, the news was still relatively vague, and Nagumo Tadaichi and Yamaguchi Tashi still had a glimmer of luck, thinking that the American fleet over there did not have aircraft carriers. But after only ten minutes, the reconnaissance plane again reported: "Two aircraft carriers were found!" ”

This news is like a basin of cold water, pouring it on Nagumo Tadaichi and Yamaguchi. The worst possibility arises, the Americans have four aircraft carriers! And not one or two as imagined.

As Murphy's Law says, once a person is unlucky, he will only get more and more unlucky, until he even drinks water between his teeth. This was the case with Nagumo Tadaichi and Yamaguchi Tashi, and soon the water detective reported to them a super bad news: "A large number of US planes have taken off, and their course is directed at this fleet!" ”

This news stunned both Nagumo Tadaichi and Yamaguchi Tamon, because they had always thought that the location of the First Mobile Force was still relatively secret, and that the Americans had not yet discovered their exact location. But the water scout told them plainly: "Don't dream, the enemy is coming!" ”

Nagumo Tadaichi really couldn't figure out how his fleet was exposed, he didn't see a single American reconnaissance plane, how could it be exposed?

The reason is simple, there are not only eyes in the sky in this sea, but also hidden eyes below the surface of the sea. The U.S. Navy submarine USS Barracuda was active in this area, and at about eight o'clock, sonar showed a large number of ships approaching its position. After another half hour or so, the captain of the Barracuda submarine looked at the periscope and froze, what did she see, a large number of Japanese ships and even an aircraft carrier.

The ecstatic captain immediately decided to attack, but before he could attack, he sent Nagumo Tadaichi's position and fleet composition back to Midway and Pearl Harbor.

And the reason why Nagumo Tadaichi failed to detect the existence of this submarine is very simple, the torpedo fired by the Barracuda either missed or did not explode because of the fuse, so angry that the captain wanted to scold his mother.

Well, the Americans, I'm afraid, will have to endure bad torpedo fuses for a long time, because of the bureaucracy, this problem will not be solved for a long time. However, the Barracuda's contribution to the Battle of Midway was not small, at least he gave Spruance the opportunity to attack first and deal with the Wyvern in one fell swoop. So can Spruance take this opportunity? (To be continued.) )

PS: Bow and thank you to the Riders, Fei Xin, Pig Chic 2, Orpheum, Southern Rangers and Comrade Juventus!