Sato's telegram did not exaggerate the two thrilling air battles just now, nor did it overemphasize the difficulties, but truthfully stated the situation: "Yangon, Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief Ito, our fleet was attacked by a large aircraft group of the ** division in the Andaman Sea, and after two air battles, the fleet's carrier-based aircraft were completely lost, the warships were slightly damaged, and the troop carrier formation was intact. ”

Sato knows very well the situation facing his fleet, the more than 200 fighters of the ** division have been hovering over the fleet, looking for an opportunity to take a bite, the ships have already sent telegrams one after another, there is not much ammunition left, fortunately, if you hold on for about an hour, you can enter the range of land air defense fire, so the telegram he sent to Ito put forward such a request.

Sato's request created a big problem for Ito, almost all of the artillery units of the Southeast Asian Dispatch Army were destroyed in Tang Qiuli's long-planned artillery bombardment, what anti-aircraft firepower came from there, there were a lot of light and heavy machine guns, but was that useful? Ito is in a hurry, his biggest reliance is the reinforcements of the Third Fleet and four divisions, but he was targeted by the fighters of the ** division!

Moreover, Ito is also very puzzled, it stands to reason that it should be in the name of Hasegawa Kiyoshi who sent a telegram to himself, but a little-known Major General Sato appeared, could it be that Hasegawa Kiyoshi still has a pimple in his heart and disdains to deal with him, or is it? A terrible thought flashed through Ito's heart.

He ordered the chief of staff, Rear Admiral Kawashima, to immediately call back to the Third Fleet, with just one sentence: "Why didn't Commander Hasegawa Kiyoshi call in person?" "Sato's call back is also very simple" Commander Hasegawa Kiyoshi, who was wounded while commanding the fleet to fight with the ** division group, is being treated, and cannot call back in person, and has his own acting fleet commander for the time being. ”

Ito's heart chuckled. He knew that this Hasegawa Kiyoshi was an extremely conceited person, and he was also a talented naval commander, such a big scene. A good opportunity to be in the limelight, if he doesn't personally command, it's already very telling, the Third Fleet has been hit hard, I'm afraid that he himself will either die in battle or is already in danger, otherwise. This is not Hasegawa Kiyoshi style?

Ito realized the severity of the problem, even the commander of the fleet was beaten half to death, all the carrier-based aircraft were lost, and the Third Fleet still had the ability to protect the troop convoy to reach the port of Yangon safely? That Sato understated it, the situation should be even stricter than he said, it's just that the people in the navy have a good face, and they don't tell the truth!

Without the cover of land anti-aircraft fire, the entire Third Fleet and troop carriers. I'm afraid it will be difficult to get to the port of Yangon, but where do you get the air defense force yourself?

The chief of staff, Major General Kawashima, saw that Ito was in a hurry. He reminded: "Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief, there is only one way, and that is to order the dispatch of the military air force and all the fighters to rush to the port of Yangon to escort the convoy, otherwise, the Third Fleet and the troop transport fleet will definitely be dangerous, and they can destroy all the carrier-based aircraft of the entire fleet, and how many planes will Tang Qiuli dispatch." To achieve such an effect? ”

It's not that Ito hasn't thought about this method, but since the last time he tore his face with the commander of the air force, Nomura, this guy has been disobedient and detached from himself, and he is even more worried that Nomura won't buy it, besides. The fighter planes that took off from the airport on Hainan Island rushed to the airspace of Yangon, and it was too late in terms of range and time, and they could not quench their thirst Seeing that Ito was still hesitating, Kawashima reminded: "Commander-in-chief, the military situation is urgent, if the Third Fleet loses its combat effectiveness, the troop transport fleet will be a live target for the aircraft of the ** division, and the advanced fighters of our Imperial Army should be able to reach their battlefield on time" Ito no longer hesitated, and immediately sent a very harshly worded telegram to the commander of the air force, Lieutenant General Nomura.

Nomura, who received the order, was furious for a while, but this order was much more severe than the previous one: "If the commander of the air, Lieutenant General Nomura, excuses the delay, delays the fighter plane, or does not carry out this order, I will personally go to the mainland to meet His Majesty the Emperor and state the matter, and if there is any loss in this battle, all the responsibility will be borne by me." ”

Nomura has no way out, after all, Ito is his direct boss, and he takes all the responsibilities in a big way, and he doesn't even have an excuse, now, Nomura can be said to be strong in his hands, and the two fighter wings and two bomber wings supplemented by Taiwan are only slightly damaged in the air battle in Yangon, and the three fighter wings and two bomber wings supplemented by the mainland are also in place.

Nomura can dispatch five fighter wings at one time, nearly 300 fighters, the strength is close to the first echelon of Le Yiqin, ten minutes later, the Japanese Yulin Airport on Hainan Island, became lively and busy, all the Japanese fighters, after taking off, flew at full speed in the direction of the Andaman Sea, Nomura also let out, poured out.

He understands the strength of the Southern Flying Group of the ** Division, and he has gone less, and it is not enough for others to stuff their teeth, so he simply sent them out, anyway, something went wrong, and the family of the aviation team was tossed away, and the old bastard Ito was on the top, and besides, Nomura also wanted to make a name for himself in this battle, so as to increase his weight in the process of fighting with Ito.

The large Japanese aircraft group on Hainan Island flew over the waters of the Beibu Gulf and was immediately targeted by the Southern Flight Group and dozens of radars set up on the line from the Leizhou Peninsula to Nanning, and the information was quickly transmitted to the flight headquarters in Myitkyina. ”

Judging from the distance of the flight, Myitkyina Airport is obviously much closer to Tak Fu, and Nomura does not know that the whereabouts of his own aircraft group are being watched by radar, and his nearly 300 fighters flying out are doomed to be the result of destruction.

If Hasegawa Kiyoshi's Third Fleet called for the assistance of the Southeast Asian Dispatch Army Air Force when it was attacked by the first wave, and the last two steps of Le Yiqin's plan had no chance of being implemented, it would turn into a big melee in the Andaman Sea and airspace, and even if Le Yiqin won in the end, it would be a miserable victory, and the effect would be greatly reduced.

What followed was Tang Qiuli's plan, and the Third Fleet of the Japanese Navy might have escaped this catastrophe, however, neither Hasegawa Kiyoshi nor Sato had thought that they would join hands with the Southeast Asian Dispatch Army Aviation Corps to jointly deal with the aviation units of the ** Division, if it were not for the fact that the fleet ran out of ammunition, even Sato would not have asked Ito, the commander-in-chief of the Southeast Asian Dispatch Army, to provide land air defense fire cover.

He would order the fleet to fight to the end, and he did not want to ask the army for help, because the deep-rooted dispute between the Japanese army and navy had become a stubborn disease, and when the fate of Japan was decided again and again, it showed the evil consequences of stern zhòng.

Le Yiqin once again called through the commander of the second echelon: "Report on the anti-aircraft fire situation of the little devil fleet?" "Second echelon commander, irrepressible excitement" reported to the commander, the little devil's warship was dumb, there was only sporadic anti-aircraft fire, which did not pose a threat at all, and we had been chasing and fighting, and we could already see the general outline of Yangon! ”

Le Yiqin slammed the table and said: "Good job, your echelon will return immediately, after landing at Myitkyina Airport, replenish fuel and ammunition, and be on standby in the waters of the Beibu Gulf, we have a new guest!" "What? Commander, where the little devil plane came out? The echelon commander asked eagerly.

Le Yiqin said: "Old friend, Hainan Island is here, your echelon still adopts the old method, a surprise attack, intercept and kill the fighter plane of the little devil's return, this time, Lao Tzu wants to swallow the little devil's wings and flying guys in the Indochina Peninsula, all of them will be eaten alive!" In his tone, with a vicious posture, the commander of the second echelon shouted excitedly, "The second echelon will return immediately, guys, there is a new job!" ”

Le Yiqin then ordered: "Xu Songshan, it's your turn to play, the bomber formation starts to attack, pay attention, the focus is on the Japanese troop transport fleet, send all this garbage into the sea to feed the sharks, don't hit the little devil's warship too much, understand?" ”

The commander of the bomber formation, Colonel Xu Songshan, replied loudly: "Understand, commander, I have been floating in the sky for more than forty minutes, if you don't give another order, I will force the attack!" "The bomber formation, which took off an hour and a half later than the fighter formation, coupled with the slower speed, arrived in the airspace of the Andaman Sea, which coincided with the battle near the end of the second echelon of fighters.

Xu Songshan is in a hurry, he is afraid that the fighter pilots will rush to do the bomber work, isn't he working in vain, after receiving Le Yiqin's order, he led the group to quickly enter the bombing route, and did not forget to cheer up the pilots, "Guys, the fighter has already dumbfounded the anti-aircraft fire of the little devil warship, now, it's up to us, don't embarrass the bomber!" ”

Watching the haunting ** Division fighter group return, Sato let out a sigh of relief, the nightmare has finally passed, and he is lucky, the Third Fleet was not killed, he can already vaguely see the outline of Yangon City from the telescope, and in a few dozen minutes, he should be able to enter the range of land air defense fire, and at that time, the fleet will be truly safe.

Sato put down the binoculars, relaxed after being nervous, so tired that he didn't want to lift his eyelids, the sharp pain like a burst in his temples, the "buzzing" in his head, even the huge roar of the bomber formation of the ** division, there was no condition to "bang" The door of the command room was vigorously pushed open, and the adjutant broke in with horror on his face, "Commander, the enemy plane is coming!" ”

Sato shook a few times in shock, picked up the binoculars, and looked at the northern sky, and the black-pressed plane quickly expanded in the lens, "Bomber!" Sato's face was desperate, and he calmly said to the adjutant: "Send a telegram to Commander-in-Chief Ito and explain the situation truthfully" Before the words fell, the piercing bomb screamed and fell from the sky.! ~！