Hasegawa commanded the Third Fleet to show off its might and dash through the Andaman Islands, but a warship fired dozens of shells, and the British garrison on the island was already frightened, if Hasegawa Kiyoshi had patience, wait for an hour, he would be pleasantly surprised to see that the white flag raised by the British set a precedent for the Japanese Navy to occupy the islands of LinkedIn without effort.

The Japanese Navy's Third Fleet swept over the Andaman Islands, and the British commander on the island did not return to his position until he confirmed that the Japanese were not coming towards him, and he was terrified and cautious.

In hindsight, isn't it? The Japanese fleet came from the direction of the Strait of Malacca, why didn't the Americans send a telegram to remind them in advance, and they were still brothers, just having fun? A telegram was sent to the headquarters of the US military, with a lot of complaints and reproaches.

The call back was the same as that given to Tang Qiuli, Commander-in-Chief MacArthur and Chief of Staff Stilwell went to Washington for a meeting, and waited for the two commanders to come back before replying, the British did not hold their breath, but MacArthur looked at the telegram of the commander-in-chief of the British army, apologized, patronized the fleet dealing with the Japanese and Tang Qiuli, to the point that he forgot about this stubble, sorry for the old brother.

Guilt is guilt, MacArthur is not ready to explain anything, he simply pretends to be dumb to the end, the key thing he can't explain, it is very embarrassing to say it, so that General MacArthur, who claims to be the first person in Southeast Asia, is embarrassed?

At about 10 a.m. on November 16, the Third Fleet of the Japanese Navy. Having sailed into Motama Bay, and with another three or four hours to sail, it was possible to disembark at the port of Yangon, and Hasegawa Kiyoshi did not feel relieved. From the bottom of his heart, he doesn't want to deal with Ito, who he hates, at all, and puts aside the dirty things between the army and the navy, just Ito, Hasegawa Kiyoshi is very unkind.

After lunch, Hasegawa Kiyoshi ordered the communications officer to send a final telegram to Yangon, informing the fleet of the specific arrival time and cleaning up the port and the control of civilian ships. Martial law on the shore, this is all Ito's thing to do, and then, Hasegawa Kiyoshi was accompanied by several staff officers. I came to the deck in low spirits.

God is still very good for the Third Fleet, a few days of sea sailing, did not encounter strong winds and waves, spared the suffering of turbulence, in the Andaman Sea in November. Surprisingly calm, the sun is shining, the water and sky are the same color, and the white clouds are blooming. The sea breeze is humid, and anyone has a feeling of relaxation and pleasure. In addition, it is about to land, and the journey is very smooth. If you're not happy, you're adding to your own blockage.

Several staff officers looked at the depressed commander, and they had such a feeling, and secretly muttered in their hearts, "Commander, what's the matter, it's like someone owes him a huge sum of money, and his face is full of lawsuits, isn't this asking for trouble?" ”

A staff officer kindly brought a canvas chair and asked the commander to sit down, and then, leaning into Hasegawa Kiyoshi's ear, he whispered: "Commander, Commander-in-Chief Ito called back, the troops of the Independent Division, starting this morning, have been moving frequently, and the Commander-in-Chief himself may not be able to personally go to the pier to greet His Excellency the Commander, and the Chief of Staff, Major General Kawashima, will greet him on his behalf. ”

Hasegawa smiled coldly, noncommittal, as for whether Ito, the old guy, came to greet him in person, it didn't matter, it was all superficial, even if Ito came in person, it couldn't make up for the difference between the two, but it was Ito's reminder that made his heart move and his vigilance suddenly.

According to the information provided by the Admiralty, the most cutting-edge airfield of the independent division's air force should be in Myitkyina, northern Burma, which is more than 1,000 kilometers away from Yangon, and with the endurance of the most advanced fighters and bombers of various countries, it can fly to the vicinity of Yangon.

However, if you continue to fly to the airspace of the Andaman Sea, you can only maintain an air battle of less than eight minutes, otherwise, there is not enough fuel to return home, unless it is a pilot of an independent division, who lands the plane in the sea and swims back by himself, who would do such a stupid thing?

Despite this, Hasegawa Kiyoshi ordered the aircraft carrier carrier-based aircraft to take off a squadron and cruise in the direction of the north of Yangon, he did not believe that the aircraft of the independent division could fly over the Andaman Sea and attack his own fleet, the reason why he did this was completely out of instinctive reaction, foolproof!

On the Japanese aircraft carrier, six "Type 96" carrier-based planes took off and disappeared into the blue sky in an instant, the warm sunlight illuminated Hasegawa drowsy, unconsciously napping, a staff officer hurriedly brought a military blanket, and gently covered the commander, and then, several staff officers stood straight behind Hasegawa Kiyoshi, in case the commander suddenly woke up and could not find anyone, it was time to be furious, in that case, no one could afford to bear the blame.

The aircraft group led by Le Yiqin, commander of the Southern Flying Group of the Independent Division, was divided into two echelons and was flying at an altitude of several thousand meters at full speed; this time, all the planes of the Southern Flying Group poured out of the nest, and 12 fighter regiments and seven bomber regiments, totaling more than 1,000 planes, formed a stratus cloud in the blue sky, covering the sky and the sun.

This is the first time in the operational history of the Southern Flying Group, since Hasegawa Kiyoshi's Third Fleet arrived at the port of Singapore, division commander Tang Qiuli issued a combat order to Le Yiqin, "Rear Admiral Le Yiqin, commander of the Southern Flying Group, immediately prepared for battle and attacked the Japanese Navy's Third Fleet and troop carriers in Motama Bay. ”

This is an order on the surface, as well as Tang Qiuli's secret order to Le Yiqin, "Le Yiqin, remember, the Japanese troop carriers can be destroyed all, and the Japanese aircraft carriers and other warships can be mainly damaged, but in this battle, all aircraft carriers and carrier-based aircraft must be destroyed. ”

More than a thousand fighters and bombers went out to blow up the little devil's warship into a pile of scrap copper and send it to the sea to feed the sharks, he was absolutely sure, but it was difficult to damage the warship that did not allow the sinking of the little devil's warship, why did the division commander give me a problem?

Le Yiqin muttered, gathered all the officers of the War Department and the Technical Department together, held it for two days, and finally came up with a feasible combat plan, the fighter formation, divided into two echelons, the first echelon is mainly 386 fighters, the main task is to kill the little devil's carrier-based aircraft, and the second echelon of more than 200 fighters is responsible for killing the little devil's carrier-based aircraft.

The bomber formation, sparing the three aircraft carriers of the little devil, specifically attacked other ships of the Japanese army, for this reason, Le Yiqin ordered all the bombers, not to carry torpedoes, and to load heavy aerial bombs, and blew up the naval guns on the little devil warship, and he also vaguely guessed the intention of the division commander, an aircraft carrier without carrier-based aircraft is a toothless tiger that can't bite anyone.

And killing the naval guns on the Japanese warships is equivalent to abolishing the little devils are all martial arts, similar to the army fighting and surrendering the opponent's guns, the anti-aircraft firepower of the Japanese fleet is very strong, Le Yiqin does not want the troops to take in hundreds of planes and fight a battle with heavy losses, he thought of a trick, the second wave of attack fighter formations, mainly to consume the anti-aircraft fire and ammunition of the Japanese warships, relying on the flexibility and high speed of the fighters, hovering at high altitude, luring the little devils to keep firing.

According to Le Yiqin's estimate, it took an hour to entangle, and it was almost over, and in the end, it was the bomber formation that came out and bombed the deck of the little devil's warship, all the plans were based on the endurance and air time of the fleet, and in those days, there were no air tankers.

For this, Le Yiqin is not worried at all, the second echelon of fighters and bombers formation, plus two sets of auxiliary fuel tanks, although it has lost some speed and flexibility, but the time in the air has increased by more than two times, after the little devil's carrier-based aircraft have been scrambled, the fuel consumption is almost exhausted, and the fuel of the first echelon fighters is just enough to return.

At this time, the second echelon suddenly pounced, piled up on the deck of the aircraft carrier, waiting for refueling, and the little devil carrier-based aircraft did not become a bunch of live targets? Le Yiqin was quite proud of his yin moves, and after the battle plan was reported to the division commander Tang Qiuli, Tang Qiuli only gave a few words, "Yes, follow this plan and test the battle results of the division!" ”

After receiving the order to attack, the group took off from Nanning, Kunming, and Myitkyina at the same time, and after converging in the Mandalay airspace, according to the plan, it was divided into two echelons and flew towards the Andaman Sea.

The commander, Major General Le Yiqin, a militant, led the first echelon fighters to fight with the little devil's carrier-based aircraft, it was the first time, how could he give up such an opportunity, looked around the airspace, looked at the time, and in another hour and a half, he would be able to exchange fire with the little devil, "All formations pay attention, to pass the Bagu airspace, the aircraft group will immediately climb in height." He gave the order.

Le Yiqin was just about to push the joystick, and the airborne radar suddenly made a "Didi" chirp, and he hurriedly observed, six small bright spots appeared on the radar screen, which were flying towards his group at a fast speed.

Le Yiqin immediately judged, "This is a carrier-based aircraft that took off from an aircraft carrier of the little devil, it should be on a reconnaissance mission, this Hasegawa is not simple?" He secretly thought to himself that the six little devils' planes were not enough to even stuff their teeth, but for the entire fleet, it was a big trouble.

(To be continued)