On the evening of 22 June, 11 Type 38 dive bombers and 16 Type 36 D-type fighters arrived at Weiyuan Airport.

These latest models of fighter jets sailed out of the assembly workshop of the Changyang Company factory in Shanghai only a few days ago, and after passing the inspection, they did not even spray paint, and flew directly to Kauai Island, which is more than 7,000 kilometers away from the mainland.

The silver aluminum alloy body sparkles in the sunlight, reflecting the afterglow of the setting sun.

Along with the reinforcements came Jiang Xuan, the front-line commander sent by the air force, a colonel in his thirties who always had a straight face, or rather a expressionless face, and spoke like gold.

After walking into the headquarters in the cave of Kawhichini Mountain, he looked at the large sand table in the middle and asked, "Dare to ask the general soldier, is there a new plan?" ”

Zhou Changfeng let out a "hmm", "The fleet needs a big rest, and there is not much time left for us." ”

The 180 special fleet of the Ming Navy, where the essence of the Ming Navy is located, has been rotating for half a year, and it has rested once after the Battle of Tarawa, and it is only a short rest after the temporary retreat some time ago.

Whether it is the physical and mental health of all the officers and men, or the condition of large and small warships, it is no longer at the best level at the beginning, and the combat effectiveness of such a long-term tired division is slowly decreasing imperceptibly.

Zhou Changfeng knew that he did not have a God's perspective, and he could only make decisions based on known, limited, true and false information.

According to the information obtained from aerial reconnaissance and interrogation of the prisoners of the US pilots, he adjusted his overall deployment after deliberation in the past two days, and decided to change the target landing area, abandon Haleiwa, and land on the Mokapu Peninsula in the northeastern corner of Oahu.

Jiang Xuan's gaze jumped left and right on the Oahu model, and he wondered, "Why don't you land in Haleiwa according to the original plan?" ”

"Haleiwa Beach is really good, quite suitable for large-scale landing, but the terrain is relatively gentle, and it is also convenient for the enemy to counterattack on a large scale, so it is not easy to defend." Zhou Changfeng explained.

Even if it's a risky victory, he wants to be safe.

Because assuming that the enemy does not have full air supremacy to land by surprise means that there will be air strikes during the landing, and the whole process will be more time-consuming, more losses, and more likely to go wrong.

The Haleiwa area is easy to attack and difficult to defend, and if the Chinese side manages to open up a landing ground with the loss of some equipment and personnel, and the US forces put in reserves to carry out a large-scale counterattack, the situation will be dangerous at that time.

In order to increase his risk resistance, he temporarily abandoned Haleiwa as a priority landing point.

For the sake of land, the Mokapu Peninsula on the east side of Oahu is the obvious choice.

The north-south Koorau Ridge, which runs parallel to the east coast, separates the Mokapu Peninsula from the land to the west, so that if you go ashore there, the U.S. ground forces will not be able to assemble a large number of forces to counterattack, and artillery will not be able to threaten the Mokapu Peninsula.

Moreover, there are ready-made US seaplane bases and the North Los Angeles Army airfield, the former can be converted into a dock for supplies, and the latter can be stationed in its own air force.

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"It's a coincidence." Jiang Xuan's expression was indifferent, only showing a hint of a smile, he clasped his fists very competently and saluted, and then took out a plan from his satchel and handed it over.

Zhou Changfeng unpacked it and browsed it, and Jiang Xuan briefly introduced: "The enemy's planes are difficult to replenish, but we are different, we can fight them out." ”

After a series of battles in the past few days, both the Ming and American armies realized that the confrontation around Hawaii would be a protracted war, and the decision-makers of both sides discussed and adjusted.

How to obtain air supremacy? This is what the Daming Military Department is most concerned about.

The mainstream view of the Metropolitan Governor's Office is to attack the shortcomings of the other with its own strengths, and even if it pays a large price, it will fight out the US air force in Hawaii.

Cheng Han agreed with this and planned a joint action plan for the Navy and the Air Force.

The Navy should adjust the deployment of submarines in the Central Pacific region, organize forces to establish a hunting zone in the waters east of Hawaii, and strike at the US transport convoy between the mainland and Hawaii.

The Air Force will continue to send additional combat units to Kauai Island and provide a steady stream of blood transfusions, while maintaining air strikes on Oahu and forcing US fighter jets to take to the skies to meet them, thereby continuously depleting their available aircraft.

Hawaii is nearly 4,000 kilometers from the west coast, far exceeding the range of single-engine fighters, so although the Americans can build a large number of aircraft like a wholesale, they cannot replenish them to Hawaii in time, so they can only ship them there.

In contrast, the Ming people had a great advantage, and although the mainland was 7,000 kilometers away from Hawaii, there were many islands to transit through on the way, and planes could transfer from the mainland.

“…… In the past half month, about 50 destroyers have been lost, and not long ago more than 60 destroyers were lost due to our surprise attack. According to the captives' confessions, about fifty were replenished during this period, but half of them were still being assembled. "An Air Force staff officer reported on the state of the estimates.

If we look at the fighters alone, the US military deployed about 150 planes before the start of the campaign, and after deducting the losses and adding the new ones, there are still about 100 planes left.

The remaining hundreds of bombers and torpedo planes are not capable of air combat and do not need to be considered.

"Then let's step up." Zhou Changfeng glanced at several air force officers present, and said thoughtfully: "The land of Hanapepe is quite convenient for construction, the prefabricated runway will be paved soon, and it will probably be ready for use tomorrow." ”

Jiang Xuan nodded, and saluted: "I will go to check afterwards and retire first." ”

Previously, because it controlled only one airfield, the Ming army's aircraft were not very efficient, and the fleet of planes that could be put into operation at a time was only 40 or 50.

Once the Hanapepe airport is completed and put into use, the Ming army will be able to organize a formation of 100 planes to exert more pressure on the US forces on Oahu.

Jiang Xuan believes that it is possible to exhaust the US military's air force in three to four days, and it will not be later than the end of the month at the latest.

The boat sailed slowly on the surface of the sea and carried him to the small village of Hanapepe in the southwest.

The sea breeze is blowing, the flags are waving, and the soft sand makes people think of stepping on two feet in the past.

The slender runway has taken shape, with a large number of perforated steel plates stacked next to it, which sappers are laying on the leveled runway, and several bulldozers continue to build a second runway.

The next day, in the afternoon.

One after another, planes descended from the sky and landed steadily on the runway.

Thanks to bulldozers and prefabricated perforated steel plates, the first phase of the field airfield was completed in just a few days, and Jiang Xuan named it Huaiyuan Airport as the highest-ranking member of the Kauai Ming Air Force.

He and a group of officers planned the next large-scale air raid, and the pilots eagerly accepted the mission, and it can be said that the entire air force is determined to win air supremacy on Oahu.

On the morning of June 24, the sun rose in the east.

In summer, the temperature in Hawaii can reach 30°C, but because of the sea breeze and water vapor, it is not unbearable.

As a yellow flare flew into the blue sky, the fighter planes at the end of the runway of Huaiyuan Airport began to speed up and taxi, and one after another the planes roared up from the ground, retracting their wheels as they climbed.

In a short time, dozens of planes had gathered in the sky, and then pounced eastward.

This time, 47 Type 36 fighters, 8 Type 38 heavy fighters, and 6 Type 38 dive bombers were lifted into the air at Weiyuan Airport; A total of 32 Type 36 fighters were lifted into the air from Huaiyuan Airport, and a total of 91 aircraft were put into combat except for two that returned home due to mechanical problems.

Finding that the Ming army was menacing, the US military also quickly organized a counter-attack force, and the navy, army, and marine aviation units all participated in defensive battles.

Fierce aerial battles broke out between the two armies over the Wai Nai Ridge on the west side of Oahu, with countless planes battling among the dense verdant hills.

A downed F4F Wildcat fighter jet rolled out of control and crashed headlong into Mount Kaala, the highest peak on Oahu, at an altitude of more than 1,200 meters.

The good performance of the 36-type D type and the good quality of the Ming army pilots, such a combination put great pressure on the US pilots, and the most powerful F4F Wildcat and P-40 were at a disadvantage in the face of such opponents.

Ensign Paul seized the fleeting window with his P-40C and opened decisive fire, damaging a Type 36C and forcing it to flee to sea.

But immediately afterwards, another Ming army plane flexibly came to his six o'clock position, gritted its tail tightly, and shot several bullets, hitting one after another, and he could clearly feel the tremor of the bullets hitting the fuselage.

The P-40 was then damaged, losing control of its vertical tail, and a rapidly expanding flame erupted a dozen seconds later.

Warrant Officer Tong Ming'an of the second team of the Ming Army thus achieved his second result of the crash, and at the same time successfully avenged his comrades.

However, four minutes later, he was besieged by two F4F Wildcats, and was hit by multiple bullets, and was in danger.

Tong Ming'an, who got rid of the predicament, found that the plane was slow to steer, probably because the control device was damaged, so he drove the plane back to Huaiyuan Airport.

The ground crew counted forty-two bullet holes in his plane, five of which were just behind the cockpit — 12.7mm machine gun rounds from enemy planes pierced through the aluminum alloy skin and shattered into the armor behind the seats.

This discovery made Tong Ming'an frightened for a while, and a cold sweat broke out.

Thanks to the 36-type D strengthened the cockpit armor, the back of the seat was changed to a 35-point thickness, that is, 11.2mm case-hardened armor steel, otherwise I would be finished today!

Today's large-scale sortie exceeded the enemy's expectations - the American army did not expect that the Ming army would accumulate enough aviation forces so quickly.

In the air battle that day, a total of 11 P-36 and P-40 fighters of the Army Air Corps were shot down; Seven F4F Wildcats and one PBY Katerina were shot down in the Naval Air Force; The Marine Corps Air Corps also lost 2 F2A Buffaloes and 3 F4F Wildcats.

In addition, Ming heavy fighters and dive bombers also bombed the Barbos naval airfield, destroying five US planes on the ground and damaging eight.

In the air battle against the sudden large-scale air attack, the US squadrons participating in the battle achieved lackluster results, shooting down only 10 Type 36 fighters and 1 Type 38 heavy fighter.

According to the plan, the large-scale sorties of the Kauai Ming Army continued in the next few days.

The pilots of the Ming army were particularly excited, their morale was high, and they became more and more energetic; The U.S. military on the defensive side has gradually adapted to such high-intensity operations and has done its best to make defensive deployments.

On the afternoon of June 29, a group of Ming aircraft attacked Pearl Harbor.

The destroyer USS Clark, which ran aground a few days ago because it was seriously injured by a mine, is still parked at Cape Iroquois at the entrance and exit of Pearl Harbor, and she was wantonly attacked by Ming planes.

The Browning anti-aircraft machine gun and the Chicago piano anti-aircraft gun were both bare, without turrets and shields, and the American sailors were bloodied by the dense bullets fired by the fighters!

But at this moment, the shadows of a large number of US military planes suddenly flashed in the sky above, but it was confirmed that there were actually only a dozen of them.

The U.S. planes had a slight advantage in number and altitude, and the wild cats swooped down from a height of 4,000 meters, with a murderous spirit, but the Ming pilots had no fear and immediately defended themselves, ready to seize the opportunity to counterattack at any time.

A tracer bullet flew near the fuselage, which undoubtedly tested the mentality, and if you couldn't hold back your breath and panicked, it would be no fun.

The imposing Major Cui Xusheng was in the middle of this group of planes, he calmly piloted the plane to avoid several attacks, and tried his luck to take a shuttle of bullets.

The Wildcat fighter who attacked him seemed to be very unwilling, or felt that he had already hit and could shoot it down with just one more shuttle, so he did not choose to climb vertically and prepare for a second attack, but followed directly and tried to bite his tail.

Cui Xusheng turned his head and glanced at it a few times, and immediately twisted left and right to implement a scissor maneuver, and at the same time dropped to a height of 500 meters, and then suddenly flipped the fuselage to make a broken S maneuver.

His car spun around in the air with great dexterity, successfully biting the wildcat back. Cui Xusheng saw the right time, and when the target entered the intersection of aviation machine guns, he shot decisively and killed it with precision and lethality.

The 36-type D type that was supplemented from the local transfer of Daming is basically not painted, and the aluminum alloy fuselage is completely exposed, which is not only more likely to be exposed due to reflection, but also easy to be corroded by salt water vapor, but the advantage is that it reduces a little weight and slightly improves the flight performance.

The 36-type D is already cutting-edge, and it is also filled with captured American-made No. 100 high-octane aviation gasoline, which is more powerful.

Rumors spread among U.S. pilots about the fighters, who called the unpainted Type 36 D the Silver Phantom, hating the roll-capable aircraft.

On the last day of this month, June 30, the third pilot of the Ming Air Force to shoot down six planes was born, becoming the first trump card in the Pacific theater since the start of the war.

The trump card stipulated by the Ming army is a little special, it needs to shoot down six enemy planes that are not old types, and the shared results are not counted in the number of falls. The two aces were born in the South Asian subcontinent battlefield, and the results came from the British Royal Air Force.

Because of the lack of replenishment, the U.S. air force in Hawaii showed its inferiority and gradually became inadequate.

As of July 1, the commander of the Air Force, Colonel Clarence, said that only 33 fighters were in serviceable condition, with four remaining assembled and 10 under repair.

In fact, the losses of the Ming army were not small, and a total of 67 light fighters and heavy fighters were shot down, and if the rest of the aircraft were included, it would have exceeded 100.

However, from this day on, it was rare to see U.S. planes with white star insignia on a blue background in the sky of Oahu, and the remnants of the force all retreated to Maui, Lanai, and Big Island.

"Thank you for your hard work, after so many days of continuous sorties, you really drove away the enemy." Yu Daixin, whose eyebrows were dancing, said happily.

"There is no joke in the army, and I never say anything that I am not sure of." Jiang Xuan said disappreciatively.

"I'm afraid I'll have to bother you next." The blazing-eyed Zhou Changfeng took his baton and pointed at the mountains of the Oahu model, "Forts, how many are counted, not one is left!" ”

(End of chapter)