The Intrepid was hit three times, which immediately caused a deck fire. The sailors on deck, at great risk, tried to push the ignited plane, loaded with fuel and ammunition, into the sea, but a chain explosion occurred near the elevator anyway. The captain of the ship, Colonel Higgins, decided to make a U-turn immediately, taking advantage of the fact that the power of the aircraft carrier was not damaged, of course, the combat capability of this aircraft carrier, with the destruction of the deck, had been completely lost. Because it is fighting deep in the vicinity of the Mariana Islands, the nearest maintenance base of the US Navy is 7,000 kilometers away in New Zealand, or almost the same distance from Hawaii, although there are US naval bases in Solomon and Vanuatu, but these temporary ports can only repair * boats, and there is absolutely no ability to repair aircraft carriers, which is bound to be a long voyage, billowing smoke, which will make it easy for Japanese submarines to track this aircraft carrier.

At this time, the 10 acoustic self-guides* launched far from the aircraft carrier were still scurrying around the sea. They are not like anti-ship *, they can lock on to the target in advance before launching, and before the aircraft is thrown, they just use the pulse of the nearby carrier aircraft to radar range, estimate the range, and then use a simple shooting command instrument to launch at the enemy ship, and the rest is left to the unreliable self-guidance module and luck.

Before Makino's active sonar technology matured, these passive acoustic self-guidance* had to rely on some chance to find their target. However, neither Makino nor Onishi had seriously thought about it at the moment, this kind of half-hung weapon was actually very suitable for attacking large formations.

When they sail in large formations, it is easy to find the target again in the process of constantly losing it. The acid* has an extraordinarily long range, giving them a lot of chance to hit the target.

Makino's insistence on using Acid * as a platform for self-guidance systems delayed the creation of this weapon for half a year, since Japan did not have ready-made Aviation Acid *. His original intention was simply to hope for a higher speed and better rudder effect, because he expected that the acoustic self-guidance would be close to the target signal and might require some sharp turns. But the use of such a platform brings two additional benefits, a range of more than 8 km, and decent concealment.

American sailors were accustomed to searching the surface for the tracks of Japanese aviation*, and some of them saw Japanese planes dropping bombs, and it was not difficult for a high-speed warship to avoid a straight line coming several kilometers away*, as long as it could be seen in advance.

* Begin to chase the Fletcher-class destroyers at high speed, but they are quickly thrown off, but they are not exposed, and then they begin to sail in the water, which will reduce the effective power range, but will help them find their target again. * Originally, the Valiant could not be found to be turning around, although this aircraft carrier was the loudest unit in this area, but it was far away. But the sound of continuous explosions on the deck, transmitted through the hull and the seawater, attracted several of them*.

* Finally got under the keel of this aircraft carrier before running out of fuel, their unreliable magnetic fuses, it is easy to miss a small-tonnage battleship, but not this behemoth.

When the Japanese fighters were secretly evacuating, they saw the explosion in the rear. Di Yuan Shaozo decided to take a risk and stayed alone for a while to observe the situation of the enemy warship.

At this point, one of Halsey's main aircraft carriers completely lost its combat effectiveness, and due to the suddenness of the attack, the Valiant did not have time to transfer about 65 fighters above and below deck, and these fighters were bound to sink to the bottom of the sea with the burning aircraft carrier. Only less than 20 planes in the air were able to be transferred to the rest of the aircraft carriers, which is bound to make this inevitable confrontation in Halsey go to a turning point. At this time, the balance of fighter strength between the two sides was reduced to 350 and 270. The US planes seriously damaged the aircraft carrier Chongying, causing the Japanese to lose less than 20 fighters. And the loss of such a valuable naval asset as the Essex-class aircraft carrier lies not only in the aircraft carrier itself, but also in the carrier aircraft of up to ninety aircraft and a large number of personnel.

The attack also resulted in an additional Northampton-class heavy cruiser. Unknowingly, the heavy patrol ship exploded below the keel.

Halsey's setback was not for an aircraft carrier, but for a hint of foreboding. If the Valiant is destroyed by the dive bombing, he will inevitably continue to fight, but he has already received reports that the attack on the Valiant is some kind of guided weapon, and the interference and hard damage on the carrier have no effect.

The new hostility made the bull's heart beat a drum. In fact, the fighters were not so mature this time, and the Mariana was not an ideal battlefield, it was too far from the base, and the return route was still separated by the Japanese-controlled Marshalls. If the Japanese carrier-based aircraft can also launch guided weapons, then the Marshallese land-based aircraft are bound to have this capability. He made the difficult decision to give up his advantage and retreat first, giving the Kaga a chance to breathe in the storm.

After several near-misses, the Americans' attack group retreated with a decisive victory.

There was no longer a rush, and the staff officer of the radar command cabin ran in and reported the discovery of a new wave of enemy aircraft approaching. In the entire command module, everyone breathed a long sigh, only Onishi was calm and relaxed, smiling, as if the whole thing was all expected, including the bombs dropped by the US planes that broke through the air defense circle. In fact, once the US military penetrates the loophole of the Zero fighter, it will be able to form an effective supply, and the anti-aircraft guns of the Japanese fleet are almost a waste of existence, with a low rate of fire, poor accuracy, and no effective way to bomb in close proximity, but the US pilots still lack training, which makes the attack not very accurate.

Di Yuan's group of planes, which succeeded in the sneak attack, finally returned, and the process of returning was just as tortuous, sparing a big circle to avoid bumping into the huge US plane group that also returned. After the planes landed, the Japanese fleet began to turn, they could not stay in one area for too long, and there was no doubt that American submarines were approaching nearby.

Ogiwara Shosa brought good news, he was sure that an Essex-class aircraft carrier had been heavily damaged, and it was very likely to sink in a day or two. Ozawa couldn't contain his excitement. If Onishi's toy works, it means the possibility of reversing the situation. Just now, he almost thought that the fleet was going to be destroyed. The overwhelming strength of the enemy gradually gained the upper hand, and the speed of the bottom of his own fleet could not be shaken off.

The Cairo Conference was reaching a critical stage, and bad news reached Roosevelt's ears. He had expected a major victory during the meeting that would give the allies the impression that the United States was invincible, but unexpectedly, a newly launched aircraft carrier was badly damaged and used with some kind of new weapon. To some extent, the United States could receive, the superiority of the Germans in some areas of technology, but it was difficult to accept the fact that the new Japanese had superiority in weapons. The president couldn't sleep with the help of drugs, so he decided to have Brooke talk to Chu Tingchang on the phone to see if Chu Tingchang was sleeping, or to invite him to guide him again.

Chief Chu Tingchang learned that the U.S. military suffered losses in the naval battle, and almost at the same time as Roosevelt, Lin Xiuxuan received a telegram from 419 from 8,000 kilometers away. 419 So far, I don't know the life and death of Makino, and I can only judge the "Makino factor" indirectly through the performance of the Japanese army, and it is obvious that the guided weapons used by the enemy this time surpass similar weapons in the Andaman naval battle in terms of anti-jamming ability, and it seems that they were launched from carrier-based aircraft, which shows that miniaturization is also in full swing. Like an unbeatable ghost, Makino floated above all the personnel of 419.

Cheng Dayang felt that 419 had stayed in the Gulf of Thailand for too long, and he had to immediately go to the East China Sea to monitor and see if the Japanese had launched a salvage operation in advance. Of course, this matter must wait until Chu Tingchang returns, at present, Chu Tingchang's troops are fighting very well in Southeast Asia, but they are very scattered and lack unified command, 419 must give Tao Mingzhang enough support.

Chu Tingchang had a hunch that things might not be just the crisis he saw in front of him, in fact, for more than a year, he himself had pretended to be a ghost and disturbed history a lot, according to Shu Ping's calculations, too much disturbance could cause backlash, of course, this is not just a matter of Makino's life and death.

The phone rang, waking him up from his musings, and he had a premonition that it would be Brooke.

"Is it Chu? The president has something to ask you to come over for. I knew the time wasn't right, it was already early in the morning, but the matter was urgent, and there was something about ...... It's inconvenient to say on the phone, you can come here. ”

"Okay, okay, I already know the seriousness of the situation, and it's coming soon."

"You already know?"

"Yes, yes, Zi Shi Bu asked a hexagram, the eastern earthquake position, prosperous and folded, and the water master was lost."

"......" there was silence on the other side of the phone for a while, "Come on, come quickly, only you can comfort the president now." ”

In Manila Bay, Philippines, the Japanese cruise ship Awa Maru docks here.

The newly appointed commander of the Combined Fleet, Vice Takeshi Toyoda, and the de facto supreme commander of the Southern Army, Seishiro Itagaki, came here at the same time, leaving behind the stalemate of the battle. Let's take a look, two new ones, with the ability to destroy the world*.

In order to avoid disputes between the army and the navy, the base camp decided to add two to one and add five, and each side to give one. In terms of specific theoretical equivalents, the navy's is slightly larger.

The British had captured all the larger islands off the west coast of Sumatra, and the offensive was already gaining momentum. The base camp hopes that the army will first experiment with the new nuclear bomb. Due to the large weight, there were no bombers to carry it, so for the time being, a tower could only be built to test the explosion in order to observe the data. The combination of test explosions and actual combat did not waste resources at all, and only the Japanese in wartime could come up with it.

Sakagaki walked into the warehouse, and the huge black * looked like a lump of cast iron, and he reached out and stroked it. Before boarding, he was told that this thing was equivalent to 15,000 tons * explosive yield.

"Wouldn't it be nice if it could be smaller?" Sakagaki sighed.

"Makino and they are working hard, and I believe that the next batch will become smaller." Toyota said. "We're counting on you to try the power first, and then ...... Tailor our way. ”

"Can you tell us what you think?"

"Onishi felt that he could use a submarine to drive to the port where the enemy's fleet was gathering and then detonate it. Are you in the Army? ”