After the battle losses were counted, Vice Admiral Wagnardze, chief of staff of the British and Australian armies, was greatly comforted in his heart, and hundreds of Japanese Navy carrier-based planes circled over the troop carrier formation for two or three hours.

According to statistics, three troop carriers were sunk, 16 were damaged, more than 1,600 soldiers were killed or wounded, and less than 900 died.

Without Chinese pilots to repel Japanese carrier-based aircraft, I am afraid that the current Coral Sea will be filled with hundreds of sunken ships and the corpses of 100,000 soldiers, although in my heart, there is still such and such resistance to the Chinese, or a defensive mentality, Chief of Staff Wagnerdze is still sincerely grateful to those Chinese pilots who fought bravely.

At the same time, while admiring the combat effectiveness and superb air combat capability displayed by the independent division's air force, as well as the number of aircraft it possesses, I can't help but be secretly surprised and jealous; once upon a time, China was still a poor and weak sick man in East Asia, at the mercy of the Western powers, and today, the strength of the great warlord Tang Qiuli, who has risen in China's heart, is incomparable to that of the British Empire, which is being frantically attacked by the Germans.

Taking a step back, the strength of the British Empire in the southwest Pacific region is beyond the reach of the United States, and perhaps, in the future Pacific theater, it is the world where the Chinese and the Japanese compete for power, with the weakening of national strength. The British Empire inevitably reduced its influence in Asia, and as a professional soldier who has been unswervingly fighting for the expansion of the British Empire's overseas territories, Lieutenant General Wagnerdje at this moment is full of melancholy and loss.

And the situation of the task force reported by the staff officer afterwards stabbed Vice Admiral Wagnadze in his melancholy and frustrated heart, "Your Excellency Chief of Staff, we have just restored contact with the task force, and the situation is very bad. On the way to escort us, the task force was intercepted by the Fourth Fleet of the Japanese Navy, and the commander of the fleet, Rear Admiral Forsheed, was shot and killed, and the fleet lost 27 warships of its respective types and suffered more than 3,500 casualties among sailors. ”

Lieutenant General Wagnadze. With Rear Admiral Forshid, it is not a close friend. But it's also an old acquaintance. Within the military circles of the British Empire, there was no dispute between the army and the navy, and Vice Admiral Wagnerze, who had a good impression of this slightly arrogant rear admiral, was all mixed in the Australian garrison. I didn't look up and saw each other, and there was no conflict of interest and filthiness between them, but I didn't expect him to be killed. This was the loss of the Navy of the British Empire.

Vice Admiral Wagnardze's face was gloomy, and his heart was enveloped by an indescribable sadness, but he felt strange that the loss of the troop carrier formation without the slightest force was so slight, although there were no aircraft carriers, and it was also the loss of a task force armed to the teeth, how could it be so huge?

Shouldn't it, isn't there anything hidden in it, Chief of Staff Wagnerdze asked: "So, the Chinese fighter group did not provide air escort in the direction of the task force?" ”

The staff officer hesitated for a moment and replied: "According to the content of the fleet's call, the Chinese fighter group, right in the airspace where they are, is engaged in fierce battles with the carrier-based aircraft of the Japanese Navy, moreover, the number of Chinese fighters is roughly equal to that of our direction, and the losses of the task force are mainly caused by attacks by Japanese naval warships!" ”

Lieutenant General Wagnadze shook his head suspiciously, puzzled, a bright light flashed in his mind, seemed to catch a trace of doubt, and suddenly drifted away without being sure, at least, the Chinese's expression was impeccable, and he said in a heavy tone: "Immediately telegraph to Commander-in-Chief Fernandez, in two hours, the troop carrier formation is about to dock, please ask Your Excellency the Commander-in-Chief to arrange for the troops to respond, in addition, report the death of Rear Admiral Forshid and the losses of the task force truthfully!" ”

Receiving a telegram from the chief of staff of Wagnerdze, the commander-in-chief of the British and Australian forces, General Fernandez, was ecstatic and sad at the same time, his mentality was similar to that of Lieutenant General Wagnerdze.

With these troops in hand, they can build several lines of defense in some dangerous areas in the interior of the Australian mainland, which can temporarily block the offensive momentum of the Japanese army, give themselves time to breathe, readjust their deployment, and use the vast land space of the Australian mainland to deal with the 300,000 Japanese troops.

Therefore, for Admiral Fernandez, what is most needed is time, which cannot be quickly defeated by the Japanese in a short period of time, and he has reported the dangerous situation currently facing the Australian mainland to the British wartime cabinet for the second time, and the core one is to ensure that Australia cannot fall into the hands of the Japanese, and to do this, the only way to do this is to increase the military hands of the British Empire in Australia, at least, to be able to compete with the Japanese army.

As for how to increase the number of troops in Australia, Admiral Fernandez, who is not yet confused, expects to transfer troops from the homeland, which has been beaten by the Germans, which is wishful thinking, and even God cannot do anything about it, and His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief does not make such a useless effort.

He proposed a rather thoughtful way of conscripting soldiers in the West Indies under the control of the British Empire, and at least ten corps of troops with a size of more than 500,000 men should be formed, and after a short period of training, they would be sent to the battlefield in Australia, and only in this way could they hold out in Australia for a long time.

Now, what Admiral Fernandez needs to do is not to be killed by the Japanese when the reinforcements from the West Indies have not yet arrived, so the 100,000 well-trained soldiers, for him, are tantamount to a life-saving elixir, and he is confident that he can deal with the Japanese troops on the Australian continent until the reinforcements arrive, but the loss of the task force is almost completely annihilated, which casts a shadow on his confidence.

Admiral Fernandez, who had not personally experienced the waters and skies of the Coral Sea, the thrilling air battle and naval battle, and did not have the doubts in the heart of Chief of Staff Wagnerdze, although it was also difficult to understand the losses of the task force fleet far exceeding the unarmed troop carrier formation, but he did not think too much.

Admiral Fernández personally sent Tang Qiuli a warm telegram of thanks, in which the words of praise were often seen between the lines, and he almost burst into tears of gratitude, and of course, he also casually reported the losses of the troop carrier formation and the task force.

At the same time, in the waters near the Solomon Islands, Vice Admiral Yoshitetsu Shirakawa, commander of the Second Fleet of the Japanese Navy, and Vice Admiral Masao Okamura, commander of the Fourth Fleet, were both worried and worried.

On the one hand, the attack group strictly abided by the orders of the commander Le Yiqin, did not pursue it deeper, and took repelling the Japanese naval fleet as its main purpose; on the other hand, the anti-aircraft fire of the two Japanese fleets was very fierce, and the carrier-based aircraft did not lose Cheng Dù, who could no longer fight.

Therefore, after sinking several Japanese destroyers and damaging several cruisers, the commanders of the two echelons took it as soon as they saw it, and they were entangled, which was not beautiful, after all, their aircraft group was a long-distance attack, and with almost no losses, they repelled the Japanese fleet and ensured the safety of the British and Australian troop carrier formations, and the task was completed very successfully.

Vice Admiral Yoshitsu Shirakawa and Vice Admiral Masao Okamura were not worried about the loss of their own fleet, but about the results they had achieved.

What's more, the main task of the fleet is to completely annihilate the 100,000 British and Australian soldiers retreating from Luzon in the Coral Sea, and in this respect, the mission failure is indisputable, of course, there is a reason for this, if it were not for the sudden appearance of the damned China fighter group, such an embarrassing result would not have occurred.

Vice Admiral Yoshitsu Shirakawa and Vice Admiral Masao Okamura were worried about how to report this matter to the Admiralty and the Commander-in-Chief of the Empire's Southwest Pacific Dispatch Army, Senior General Ito Yanzaburo, both of them knew that this mission was a big man on the navy side, who gave up his face and forced it out of the mouth of the army, and the navy was also full of confidence in the annihilation of 100,000 British and Australian soldiers, and dispatched two main fleets, six aircraft carriers, and more than 150 warships.

It can be said that they went all out, but the result was a big disappointment, 100,000 British and Australian soldiers ran away, and they lost several warships and more than 100 carrier-based aircraft, and reported China truthfully to the Admiralty, those extremely disappointed bigwigs, and they didn't eat two people, this is no longer a question of whether to complete the task, but a question involving the combat effectiveness and dignity of the navy, even if you don't eat guns, it is estimated that you will have to eat in prison in the military correctional center for the rest of your life!

reported to Ito Yanzaburo, for the laughing stock to the army, the results of the battle of the Coral Sea, will immediately become the army's guys, attack and ridicule the navy's advantageous weapons, lose face, those navy bigwigs who are embarrassed and angry, still can't spare themselves, the end is the same, they are all dismissed from the military, put into the cold palace, and never come out, maybe, family members will be implicated.

Sorrow, how is the word "sorrow", Shirakawa Yoshitsu and Masao Gangmura, the two dignified vice admiral commanders of the Imperial Japanese Navy, were so worried that they almost jumped into the sea.

(To be continued) (To be continued.) )