Guam, April 19.

Looking out of the round window of the plane, you can see the blue sea and white sand, lush greenery, and beautiful scenery.

It was undoubtedly a tourist destination worth visiting in peacetime, and has been visited by millions of tourists every year since then.

However, Zhou Changfeng had long been tired of such a tropical island scene, and even had a faint feeling of physiological disgust—the scenes of tropical diseases, brutal battles, bloody battles, and parting from life and death had been rooted in his subconscious and those of the soldiers.

"Roger! Pull up, let's go. ”

"Yes."

The Type 35 transport plane carrying him was already starting to approach, but the main and co-pilot pulled it up again according to the instructions of the tower.

The plane climbed a little and began to circle around the airport, when everyone saw a Type 29 service plane swaying and flying.

The Twin-engine, two-wing, Type 29 service plane, which is often used for all sorts of miscellaneous tasks, has its left engine stalled and its propellers are in a smooth state.

After it landed safely, Zhou's transport plane continued to descend.

When the plane came to a standstill, the gangway approached and the hatch opened, Zhou Changfeng saw more than a dozen officers here to greet him.

Yi Jie, the deputy chief soldier of the 180th Special Service Fleet headed by the company, smiled and said: "A few days ago, we were still thinking about who should preside over the attack on the island this time, and I felt that it should be Zhou Zhizhao. Hey, as soon as the news came, sure enough! ”

"Hey, I'm under a lot of pressure when you say this, you take it so seriously, you don't want to ask me to make a military order, right?" Zhou Changfeng also smiled and returned the salute casually.

Everyone present was stunned for a moment, and then they all laughed.

"Don't dare, who dares to treat you with an edict." Yi Jie waved his hand again and again, and then reached out and made a gesture of please.

While riding to the Fleet Admiral's Palace, the group talked about the changes in the past two days.

"Khuwu Island was attacked yesterday morning, and a section of the railway was blown up, and a train carrying coal was overturned."

"Kuwu Island? Where did the enemy come from? ”

"Submarines, there is a section of railway in the southeast of Kugu Island that is close to the coast, and the enemy submarine sent people ashore to ambush and fire with deck guns."

Just as Zhou Changfeng arrived by plane, the US submarine USS Saury (SS-189) successfully completed its mission.

The Saury left Holland Harbor in the Aleutian Islands a month ago for its third combat cruise since the outbreak of the war. Only this time her mission was a bit special, not simply hunting down transport ships, but sneaking to the Tatar Strait west of Sakhalin to lay mines.

Oil from the oil fields in the northern part of Sakhalin will pass through, and the shipping route between the mainland and the island is relatively busy, with many ships and ferries coming and going every day, so the US military is naturally eyeing this place.

She laid dozens of mines on the strait route, then returned the same way and detoured north to the sea southeast of Sakhalin.

There were coal mines in the southern part of Sakhalin, and a one-way narrow-gauge railway connected the north and south, and the saury sent a team of submariners to plant explosives on the railroad.

A very unfortunate coal train was attacked and derailed and overturned, and then the saury rose to the surface of the sea and used deck guns to bombard fiercely, firing more than 20 rounds in a row, causing a mess, and finally slipped away before the nearby Ming patrol ships arrived.

"The Americans are very interesting, there have been more and more attacks recently, stirring up, stirring up, damn it, it's really annoying." Yi Jie couldn't help but complain.

In the passenger seat was a colonel staff officer, who spoke: "Since last month, there have been six records, and I don't know how many have not been discovered." ”

U.S. submarines were found throughout the western Pacific, and even the Ryukyu Islands reported the discovery of unidentified submarines, which were attacked by a Ryukyu Navy patrol boat, but without success.

In the last month and a half, it has been clearly confirmed that a total of three ships have been sunk, and one is disputed.

The US submarine force was quite active, and Zhou Changfeng was wary of this.

He inquired about his own losses, and thought that if the anti-submarine pressure increased, he could consider putting the hedgehog bomb into service.

However, after learning that the loss was not large, he put this plan on hold for the time being.

“…… Not counting this month, from the start of the war to last month, a total of 440,000 tons were lost. The colonel replied.

"Has there been a sudden increase recently?" Zhou Changfeng asked another question.

"This ...... It's not obvious, it's pretty much the same as ever. ”

"Okay."

Nearly half a year since the Ming and American wars were declared, the transport ships of the Ming Dynasty, Korea, Ryukyu and Lanfang navies and the requisitioned civilian merchant ships lost a total of 440,000 tons.

This loss is not much, the monthly average is less than double digits, and Daming alone completed 730,000 tons of merchant ships last year - and has not adopted special measures and supporting policies to expand production.

At the same time, it did not take into account the merchant ships built by the vassal states of Korea, Ryu, and Lan, so the total tonnage of its own merchant ships increased instead of decreasing.

Zhou Changfeng had heard of the major defects of US torpedoes in history, and the Daming Navy had also received many reports from grassroots units that "US torpedo attacks were ineffective."

It looks like the Americans haven't solved their poor torpedo reliability yet.

"Zhou Beizhao will tell you a happy story, last month there was an oil tanker in North Korea, called Zongxian, which suffered five or six torpedoes, some of which were too deep, and slipped through under the ship, and the other three torpedoes were directly stuck in the hull."

Zhou Changfeng and Yi Jie couldn't help laughing, and the latter spoke: "There will be more allusions in the future, and the oil tanker will borrow mines." ”

However, what the Ming admirals, including Zhou Changfeng, did not know was that the far-reaching effects of the capture of the Lexington due to the failure of the lightning strike had long been applied to certain bureaucrats of the U.S. Naval Ordnance Bureau.

Some members of the House of Representatives angrily threatened that if the court-martials did not give the criminals of the United States the sanctions they deserved, then they would file a special bill to allow the FBI to take over the matter entirely.

Because of this, the torpedo problem of the Americans has been preliminarily resolved.

The reason why it is called a preliminary solution is that the Mk14 torpedo has two problems - the problem of the depth fixing device and the problem of the fuse, and so far the Newport Naval Torpedo Station has only solved the problem of "the torpedo sails deeper than set".

Solved, but not completely.

The probability of a successful detonation has been increased from 20% to 40...... Double the probability, far ahead!

Beginning in mid-March, the first batch of 60 Mk14 533mm torpedoes with improved depth fixing devices were loaded and shipped one after another, crossing half of the Pacific Ocean to Pearl Harbor.

However, everything takes time.

Torpedoes were time-consuming and laborious to manufacture, and it was not a day or two to transport them from the West Coast to Hawaii, and it took several days for submarines with modified torpedoes to reach their target waters after they left port.

Many submarines still carry torpedoes with double problems on combat cruises, but the Americans have also thought of local ways -

Since there is a problem with the torpedo depth fixing device, and the actual depth will be deeper than the setting, it would be better to simply set it to zero?

It's a shame to say this, but at least the U.S. submariners don't have to worry about torpedoes passing under the target.

On 21 April, the Battle Conference was held at the Guam Fleet Admiral's Palace.

Although it was previously planned to complete the assembly on the 20th, the plan could not catch up with the changes, and several warships were delayed due to weather conditions, mechanical problems, etc., so the completion date of the assembly was postponed to the 23rd.

A lieutenant colonel read out the military order of the Metropolitan Governor's Office in public, saying:

"By His Majesty's Decree: All actions shall be carried out in accordance with Case No. 6062 of A. This battle must not be taken lightly, there should be no internal strife, and all units participating in the war must work together to achieve the ultimate result. In the event of a change, the Admiral shall make his own decision. This order shall not be violated, and those who neglect the army will not be severely punished."

Song Zhongkai, who was dressed in a white uniform, stood in front of the generals and said calmly: "Ben Bo heard that there have been rumors that have spread quite widely recently, saying that it has been too smooth since the start of the war, and it is impossible for people to live a lifetime without smooth sailing, and I am afraid that this time I will be frustrated." ”

There was silence at the scene, and after a few seconds, he continued: "It's also good, the arrogant soldiers will be defeated, such rumors can make people sober up and be careful." ”

Guam's climate wasn't hot, but it couldn't hold so many people in one room, all red and sweaty.

"The enemy's naval attack is entrusted to us, and the heavy responsibility of landing on the island is entirely up to you." Song Zhongkai stared at Zhou Changfeng with a solemn expression.

More than two dozen eyes converged on the latter, making him feel unprecedented responsibility and pressure.

"Please rest assured."

"That's enough."

The operation number of the attack on Hawaii was "A/608/No. 2/Change 4", the code name was "Xia Wen", and the sequence of operations was as follows:

The first formation was personally commanded by Song Zhongkai, with battleships as the main force, and was responsible for carrying out the task of artillery bombardment support or possible decisive battle of the fleet on the opposite shore, with a total of two sub-fleets.

The 31st artillery fleet of the A-word 31, 4 high-speed battleships, 2 heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers, 6 destroyers.

A 32 artillery fleet, 5 low-speed battleships, 3 light cruisers, 9 destroyers.

In addition, 1 seaplane carrier Donghu was strengthened, as well as 5 tankers.

The second squadron, commanded by Rear Admiral Li Yang, is an ocean-going submarine unit responsible for setting up a submarine cordon in the north and south of Hawaii, guarding, guarding, and monitoring the movements of the US fleet, and selecting suitable opportunities to carry out ambushes.

19 submarine flotilla, 7 ocean-going submarines.

The 20th submarine warfare fleet, 6 ocean-going submarines.

There are also 3 submarine carriers Tianwu, Jimeng, and Wuzhiqi, as well as 2 tankers and 4 destroyers escorting.

The third formation, still commanded by Ouyang Zhanghua, is a powerful aircraft carrier combat force, with a total of two sub-fleets.

The 20th Air Attack Fleet, 2 aircraft carriers Taiwei Zuoyuan and Amaichi Zuoyuan, as well as 1 light cruiser and 5 destroyers.

The 22nd Air Raid Fleet, 2 armored aircraft carriers Ziwei Zuoyuan and Ziwei Youyuan, as well as 1 light cruiser and 5 destroyers.

In addition, there are 2 supply ships and 4 tankers.

The fourth formation, commanded by Rear Admiral Zou Pu, was to depart from the Tarawa Atoll and join the large force, and was responsible for ensuring the absolute safety of the transport fleet and acting as the assault force of the entire fleet, a total of three lightning strike fleets.

There are a total of 9 light cruisers, 4 super destroyers, 43 destroyers, and 4 tankers.

The fifth formation, commanded by Major General Wei Yingchun, also known as the Hawaiian Landing Force, consisted of a large number of transport ships and auxiliary ships, and was bloated, cumbersome, and clumsy.

In total, there are 27 cargo ships, 6 landing ships, 3 medical ships, 5 supply ships, carrying about 10,000 ground troops of the 3rd Marine Brigade and 7th Regiment of the 4th Marine Brigade.

The escort force is the only remaining light aircraft carrier Beiluoshimen, as well as 2 seaplane carriers, 1 light cruiser, and 6 destroyers.

With the exception of the 4th Formation, the rest of the formations departed from the Mariana Islands and eventually converged at Midway Island to recuperate.

However, Zhou Changfeng still has some small regrets.

Due to heavy damage and unfamiliarity with the construction, repairs to the Lexington were slower than expected and have not been completed to this day.

At the same moment, a few thousand kilometers away Midway......

"Have a nice trip! Hahaha, what about jokes...... Headwind, headwind! ”

"See you tomorrow."

Four Type 40 large seaplanes were moored next to the pier, and more than 30 crew members boarded their respective planes after saying goodbye to the ground crew.

Soon, the four planes took off one after another, and finally disappeared where the sky and the sea met in the east.

Knowing oneself and knowing that one's opponent will not be defeated in a hundred battles, the first priority of war is intelligence, and it is necessary to do everything possible to reconnoiter Pearl Harbor before the battle begins.

The straight-line distance from Midway to Oahu is 2,000 kilometers, and the capture of Midway Island is undoubtedly a great thing for the Ming army, otherwise it will be even more troublesome to carry out reconnaissance operations.

In order to cooperate with aerial reconnaissance, the Qingmingjia-7 submarine was ordered to provide radio navigation correction assistance at Johnston Atoll.

At 11:16 a.m. on April 21, one of the Type 40 seaplanes suffered a mechanical failure, and both engines on the left wing were abnormal, suspected to be caused by fuel problems.

Ten minutes later, the plane returned home.

At 13:21 in the afternoon of the same day, the other three planes successfully established radio contact with the Qingmingjia-7 submarine and corrected its course.

As a long-range large aircraft, the Type 40 seaplane has quite complete on-board equipment, including electric water heaters, gas stoves, toilets, etc., which can help the crew maintain physical strength and energy during the long flight.

The three Ming planes approached the Hawaiian Islands at dusk and were immediately spotted by Kauai's long-wave early warning radar.

The US troops, who were full of soldiers, immediately sounded the air defense alarm -- the activities of the Ming army in the past month have been too frequent, not to mention four or five times.

Just two days ago, a Ming submarine was sunk, and now again?

The U.S. military quickly sent eight P-36 fighters and F4F Wildcat fighters into the air to intercept the target.

However, the US radar does not yet support precise guidance, and in addition to the dark sky and dense clouds, the eight US fighter planes have not been able to find the invading enemy.

When the three planes flew over Oahu, they ran into the expected trouble—Pearl Harbor and Honolulu were under light control, and it was pitch black below.

"Tsk! It's really black. ”

"Do you see that point of light? Is it a lighthouse? ”

"Uh...... It should be Cape Kena over there. ”

However, they estimated the position of the reference object from a few points of light, and quickly adjusted their course towards Pearl Harbor.

At 18:09, three Type 40 seaplanes came to the sky over Pearl Harbor in a formation of one after the other, and the guide planes in front dropped aviation flares.

In an instant, the dark night was torn apart by the miserable white light!

Immediately after, countless searchlight beams and anti-aircraft gun tracer shells pierced the starry sky from below!

The New Year is too delayed, and I don't like it when I run around the door

(End of chapter)