In the early morning of the next day, the amphibious assault task force arrived in the ocean 150 nautical miles east of Kuah Island, forming the first line of defense to block the Japanese attack.

This amphibious assault ship group is composed of three strike forces: first, the 13th amphibious assault fleet consisting of the amphibious assault ship LHD-13, plus two cruisers, two second-generation Aegis air defense cruisers and five destroyers; the second is the amphibious assault ship LHD-14, which is the same as the 14th amphibious assault fleet composed of two air defense cruisers and six destroyers; The third is the 15th amphibious assault ship group, which is dominated by the amphibious assault ship LHD-15 Kuimu Wolf.

As soon as the amphibious task force of the Red Guard Corps arrived, it immediately paraded on the surface of the sea in a combat posture.

Although the amphibious assault ships of the Red Guard Corps are not ships with air and sea dominance as their combat objectives, and there is no room for more carrier-based aircraft in the cabins of the amphibious assault ships, they can still carry fighters and bombers.

It's just that in comparison with the combat capabilities of aircraft carriers, amphibious assault ships are not at the same level at all. It is mainly reflected in the number of aircraft carried and the ability to sustain combat operations at sea.

However, if it is used to deal with general maritime opponents, amphibious assault ships also have good capabilities, and in the field of Japan's aircraft carriers, amphibious assault ships also belong to the main aircraft carrier type

The reconnaissance planes of the 14th Amphibious Fleet discovered the maritime formation led by Moriichi Tanaka, who was the leader of the Japanese Combined Fleet, and immediately sent back an urgent telegram to the Amphibious Fleet: "The Japanese landing transport team, escorted by 2 cruisers and 3 destroyers, is heading for Guadalcanal at a speed of 17 knots. ”

Since there is no aircraft carrier battle group, all reconnaissance means are only detected by carrier-based aircraft.

I have to say that this time the Japanese Combined Fleet did make the Red Alert Navy deal with it in a hurry.

Of course, the Red Guard Corps is not a unit that cannot fight without advanced weapons.

At the same level of skill, the Red Guard Regiment is not inferior to any opponent.

The 14th Amphibious Fleet immediately took action after receiving the telegram, determined to annihilate this Japanese ship formation.

In the afternoon, an assault team consisting of 18 bombers and 6 fighters roared away from the amphibious assault ship and headed for a predetermined sea area to attack the Japanese reinforcement group on Kuah Island.

These two air forces will undoubtedly deal a fatal blow to the Japanese reinforcement group on Kuaha Island, and under normal circumstances, this Tanaka fleet will be in a catastrophe.

However, when the Red Alert carrier-based aircraft arrived at the designated sea area, they found no trace of the Japanese fleet, and the sea was white and empty. After searching for a while, nothing was found, and the Red Alert carrier-based aircraft had to return at dusk.

Without the huge search surface of the AWACS aircraft, the carrier-based aircraft of the Red Alert Navy have to face the same problems as the carrier-based forces of the Navy in this era.

During the night, the 14th Amphibious Fleet sent five more maritime reconnaissance planes to search, but still found nothing.

In order to ensure the safety of the fleet, he gave the order to sail northwest and advance at full speed, so as to avoid the fleet outside the radius of the combat activities of the bombers of the Red Guard Corps, so that the Red Guard carrier-based planes could be attacked one after another.

At 18 o'clock in the evening, the powerful Kuaha Island Avant-garde Naval Battle Group under the command of Vice Admiral Kondo of the Japanese Combined Fleet sailed to the sea 40 nautical miles east of Tanaka's Moriichi Fleet.

Before sunrise the next day, the Japanese decoy, mainly the Sea Hawk, first turned to the southeast again, and at 6 o'clock in the morning, all the Japanese ships also turned to the southeast and approached the Red Guard Corps.

The Battle of the Solomon Sea was at a critical juncture.

In the past ten hours, the three amphibious assault ship formations of the Red Alert Navy have also searched for the location of the Japanese fleet without stopping, but for the tactics of the Japanese Combined Fleet, the tactics that the Red Alert Navy has dealt with are to be able to defeat and resolutely defeat, to contain if it cannot be defeated, and to resist if it is difficult to contain, and wait until the main force of the Navy arrives.

On the morning of the same day, two formations of the Red Guard Corps reached the waters southeast of Malaita Island, and most of the Japanese tactical groups also reached this sea area, and the two sides were separated by more than 300 nautical miles. Through previous reconnaissance, the other side knew that there was an enemy nearby, but it was not clear where it was.

In the morning, a heavy fog covered the sea, which gave the Japanese fleet a good camouflage.

The Japanese fleet appeared and disappeared in the fog. At 9 o'clock, the Japanese fleet was in the following positions: Tanaka's reinforcement group was located fifty nautical miles north of Kuah Island; The aircraft carriers Shozuru and Zuizuru under the command of Kiyoshi Hasegawa were covering forty nautical miles southeast of Tanaka; The containment group, dominated by the Sea Eagle, was in front of the right front of Hasegawa's Kiyoshi force.

At 11 o'clock in the morning, the radar of the amphibious assault ship LHD-13 of the Red Guard Corps spotted a Japanese reconnaissance plane at a distance of 20 nautical miles, and immediately sent four fighters to intercept it and shoot it down.

At the same time, at 10 o'clock, a seaplane taking off from the island spotted the light amphibious assault ship Seahawk, a light amphibious assault ship, two hundred and eighty nautical miles northwest of the 14th Amphibious Fleet of the Red Guard Corps.

The Sea Eagle requisitioned the 8,000-ton passenger and cargo ship "Argentina Maru" belonging to the Osaka Merchant Marine Company and transformed it into a 13,600-ton all-access light aircraft carrier. In this battle, the ship not only acted as a "decoy", but was also responsible for the bombing of Kuah Island.

The aircraft carrier can carry eighteen carrier-based aircraft and six carrier-based attack aircraft, which can be regarded as a very small aircraft carrier.

Another plane, which had taken off from the same base, spotted the Japanese pinch group and immediately sent a telegram back.

The 14th Amphibious Fleet will be suspicious when it hears the news.

Yesterday, none of the three groups of carrier-based aircraft found the Japanese fleet, could it be that this one came out of the sea?

The command of the 14th Amphibious Fleet was not convinced and did not take offensive action. But he did not dare to take it lightly and immediately ordered LHD-14 to send planes for reconnaissance.

By noon, a total of 23 reconnaissance planes and bombers were rumbling over the wide sea around Kuah Island.

At around 1 p.m., the radar alert of the Red Guard Corps suddenly spotted many aerial targets, and flashes on the radar phosphor screens indicated that Japanese planes were flying towards Guadalcanal at a distance of 100 nautical miles.

Soon the news came that shocked the 13th Amphibious Fleet: a large number of Japanese fighters and bombers emerged from the clouds and were preparing to attack Kuah Island, but they were routed by two Aegis anti-aircraft groups near Kuah Island, and more than 30 Japanese carrier-based aircraft were expected to be dispatched.

It was only then that the 13th Amphibious Fleet felt that the situation was somewhat unpleasant, and that the Japanese fleet was nearby, and not far from Kuah Island, as originally estimated.