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Text Chapter 923 Japan¡¯s Counterattack (1)

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    At ten o'clock in the evening, the Republic of China Navy and Air Force began the second round of tactical bombing of Japan's Kyushu, North Korea, Ryukyu and other places. On the ocean east of Taiwan, the aircraft carriers Fengxiang and Zuifeng also moved rapidly eastward under the protection of seven warships.  Yamaguchi Tawen stood at the window with a scared look on his face.  He was not a god, and he did not understand the prophet. It was a complete coincidence that he could avoid the sneak attack.  As we all know, the anchorage east of Iriomote Island has deep water and a wide bay. It is an excellent anchorage radiating into the Philippine Sea and threatening Taiwan Island.  However, due to Japan's lack of financial resources, most of its money in the early years was spent on naval shipbuilding and bases such as Rabaul. In addition, this anchorage is too close to Taiwan, so it has not built an anti-submarine net for a long time.  The Japanese Navy still remembers the Battle of Qingdao that year. It has regarded the Republic of China submarines as its enemy for decades. However, Taiwan is one of the three major submarine bases of the Republic of China Navy. There are a total of more than 30 submarines deployed in the four bases around the island.  .  Therefore, after he was stationed, he learned that the number of submarines on Taiwan Island was decreasing day by day. He was always worried about being attacked at night, so he led the fleet to leave the anchorage at night and asked the battleships Matsushima and Itsukushima stationed in Naha to also cooperate with the maneuver.

    Because the Japanese fleet was stationed for a short period of time, plus the need to deal with Guam first, and fear of alerting the enemy, the Republic of China Navy Taiwan Garrison Command only deployed four submarines to reconnoiter Ryukyu, and the main reconnaissance mission still relied on daytime reconnaissance aircraft.  Since the four battleships all set sail at night and returned to the anchorage before dawn, the reconnaissance aircraft thought that the four Japanese battleships had been staying in the harbor.  It was precisely because of this negligence that the Hosho, Zuifeng, Matsushima and Itsukushima avoided a catastrophic disaster.  Thinking of this, he was afraid. If the four ships were still at the anchorage, they would have been sunk by the overwhelming sudden attack by Chinese aircraft.

    "Your Excellency, Lieutenant General, this is news from Tokyo." Takeo Shibata came over with the telegram he just received.  He is Genda Minoru's classmate, but the two have completely opposite views on aviation.  The former believes that the aircraft range should be ensured first, so armor can be sacrificed.  And he confirmed that larger, heavy-duty aircraft should be used and require stronger protection.  In the end, the Japanese Navy adopted Minoru Genda's ideas and used them on the Zero fighter, but he was incompatible with the old ideas of the Navy Ministry.  He was almost sent to Wu Zhenzheng's Mansion and left idle.  Fortunately, after Tsukahara 243 became the commander of the First Air Fleet, he discovered that he was good at aviation tactics, so he was transferred to the Second Air Fleet of Yamaguchi Taden as the aviation operations staff.  "The time for China to submit its declaration of war is 8:25." Takeo Shibata smiled bitterly: "I have sent a seaplane back to Miyako Island, and used the telegraph machine on the island and the new password to contact Matsushima and Itsukushima.  , we expect to meet up at three in the morning.¡±

    To prevent leaks of whereabouts, fleets generally do not use their own radios during wartime.  Tonight's situation made Shibata even more afraid to be careless, so he not only changed the password, but also used the army radio station on the island.  "Eight twenty-five" Yamaguchi read the time silently.  Now everyone knows that the first bomb fell on Sasebo at 8:32, which means Japan only had seven minutes to respond!  Not to mention seven minutes, it took the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to receive the declaration of war and forward it to the Prime Minister's Office, then to the palace, and finally to the navy and other key departments.  It takes about an hour of fiddling.  Seven minutes!  This was clearly a premeditated sneak attack!

    Takeo Shibata continued with a cold face: "This is a telegram from Major Okayama of the I-33. He found at least thirteen warships in the Bashi Channel and determined that at least one of them resembled an aircraft carrier in appearance!" After saying that, he immediately looked at the chart  He pointed out the location: "If the judge's judgment is correct, it should be the China Nanyang Fleet." Yamaguchi's heart became colder and colder. He did not expect that his opponent's sneak attack tonight was so large that even the fleet was dispatched.  Attacking the Yaeyama Islands?  Or is it pointed directly at Okinawa?  Or is it to directly attack General Yamamoto's main force?  As for Mariana and Guam, he didn't even think about it. Firstly, they were too far away. Secondly, I was afraid that no one would go deep into the open sea to conduct a landing battle before the coastal barrier was officially broken.

    "If we attack now, we will be able to catch up with the second round of bombing planes in China to return. But judging from the intensity of the enemy's attack and the number of air strikes reported from various places, this must be an attack that was premeditated and prepared for a long time! So!  China must have made all plans. I believe that the air defense forces of major coastal cities such as Taiwan and Shanghai are on standby tonight. So even if we succeed, our position will be exposed! Now it is certain that it is difficult for Sasebo and His Excellency Takasu Shiro to survive, and Yamamoto Dai  We won't be able to arrive until tomorrow evening, so we are the only force in the East China Sea and the Philippine Sea." Shibata is indeed an excellent aviation expert, and can still calmly analyze the gains and losses in the face of a sudden attack: "I'm afraid China already knows that we have avoided sneak attacks, so we must  The fleet will come to find us!"

    Yamaguchi Tawen nodded and asked: "So Colonel Shibata. What is your suggestion?"

    "Back off. Move towards Okinawa!" Shibata said without hesitation: "Our current position is within the radius of Taiwan's fighter jets. If we fight here, China's shore-based aircraft will quickly support us, and we will suffer a huge loss in terms of numbers! Although we were attacked  Shameless sneak attack, but I believe in Okinawa??There will be planes that survive, and Admiral Yamamoto is on his way.  Therefore, the lower official suggested that destroyers should be sent immediately to attack the China fleet and attract their main force to Okinawa. This way, they can not only receive support from shore-based aircraft, but also come to join the battle when General Tsukahara's zero battle begins at noon.  "Zero War has an extremely long range. Now the First Air Fleet is quickly returning support. Zero War will be able to take off to Okinawa at noon tomorrow at the latest to participate in the war. In this case, even if all seven aircraft carriers of China's Nanyang Fleet (counting escort aircraft carriers) come,  , there is also hope of victory. If the main force of the Nanyang Fleet can be defeated, then even the initial defeat can be recovered.

    Shibata¡¯s guess was correct. Shortly after passing through the Bashi Channel, Fleet 23 received an order to change the plan.  Yang Qiu and the General Staff were still worried about the Fengxiang and Zuifeng, so they decided to modify the plan and let the 23rd Fleet change the feint attack into an actual attack and look for opportunities to sink the two aircraft carriers.

    In order to seize Guam, Yang Guochang brought out most of the main force of the Second Fleet, including the two Sichuan-class aircraft carriers Sichuan and Guizhou, the battleships Dinghai and Ninghai, the heavy cruiser Xi'an, and the Wuhan-class heavy cruisers Wuhan and Changsha (obtained  After the French heavy cruise, all the domestically produced heavy cruisers of the Third Fleet returned to the Second Fleet), as well as five light cruisers, the Xiangjiang, Fuchunjiang, Zhujiang, Heilongjiang and Songhuajiang. The first three were all 10,000-ton Xiangjiang class, and the latter  Two ships are Tumenjiang class.  In addition, there are two Taishan-class, six Yongxing-class, 12 Qinling-class destroyers, as well as two supply ships and 11 fast cargo ships.  These cargo ships are all the fastest ocean-going ships in the country, with average speeds exceeding 23 knots. This time, they are deliberately light-loaded to speed up.  So facing this unexpected order, he was both excited and a little nervous. He was excited because he was finally going to have a face-to-face battle with the Japanese battleship, but at the same time, the mission of raiding Guam must also be carefully considered.  Therefore, after careful consideration, he decided to divide his forces and let the three heavy cruisers, the Fuchunjiang light cruiser and the six Qinling-class destroyers protect the fleet to continue to Guam. He would lead two aircraft carriers, two battleships, four light cruisers and fourteen destroyers.  Find and destroy Japanese aircraft carriers.

    "Telegram from Qingdao. The third round of bombing has ended, and the fourth round will begin soon. In addition, the Beihai and Balkhash will also set off in two hours." At exactly 1 o'clock, the main force of the 23rd Fleet sailing on the east coast of Taiwan Island gathered.  The second telegram arrived.  The person who brought the news was Fleet Chief of Staff Lin Ruosheng.  He is a slim man from Guangxi and a graduate of the fifth batch of the Nanyang Naval Academy. He once studied at the Greenwich Naval Academy in the United Kingdom and is a new generation officer in the navy.  He served as captain of everything from destroyers to battleships, and also served as captain of an aircraft carrier for three years.

    "Haven't you found it yet?" Yang Guochang frowned. It could be seen that the superiors attached great importance to the Japanese aircraft carrier, otherwise they would not have dispatched two Beihai-class ships to help.  "The telegram from Miyako Island was intercepted three hours ago, but the Japanese army used a new code and it cannot be deciphered for the time being. Keelung has also been dispatched, but it is too dark and it is difficult for reconnaissance planes to distinguish targets on the sea. What is certain at present is that  , Hosho and Zuiho should still be near the Yaeyama Islands, and the battleships Matsushima and Itsukushima are also coming to join. In addition to these four ships, there is also a Furutaka-class heavy cruiser and two Agano-class light cruisers.  I have asked the Heilongjiang and Songhuajiang to take four destroyers to Miyako Island."

    "It seems they already know we are coming."

    "I just asked someone to analyze the radio signals intercepted when passing through the Bashi Channel. They should be sent by Japanese submarines." Lin Ruosheng said: "We are in a lot of troubles now. First of all, the air force damage report will not be available until at least tomorrow afternoon, so  It is still unknown how many Japanese shore-based aircraft survived in Ryukyu. Judging from the distance, if the battle took place near Miyako Island, the Penghu Air Group could come to help, but if it was in Ryukyu it is hard to say. Yamamoto Isoh  Liu must be working hard to get back, and Zero Fighter should be able to send out help by noon. I think this is probably the reason why the above sent two Beihai to help." After listening to the analysis, Yang Guochang groaned in his heart, Zero Fighter can rely on  The Great Voyage came to help, but the Nine-Seven Ship Attack and the Nine-Nine Ship Explosion did not work, so Yamamoto Isoroku was not a big threat.  What's more, the two Sichuan-class ships each have 36 Lightning fighters. The two accompanying battleships and four light cruisers have already improved their air defense systems, and for the first time they also carried radio proximity artillery shells.  You should know that the latter is still prohibited from being used on land and along the coast for fear of being seized and copied by the enemy.

    "Increase the number of people on deck duty. The Japanese Navy's night fighting level is good. Arrange a seaplane back to Keelung and tell them to send out all the reconnaissance planes in Keelung, Mawei and Penghu at five o'clock. The breakfast time is also advanced to four o'clock, and then  Let the canteen prepare dry steamed buns and chocolates, I guess we won¡¯t have time to have lunch"

    ¡°Dudududu.¡±

    Just as Yang Guochang said that he didn't have time for lunch, the alarm sounded throughout the ship.  He couldn't help but take a look and said with a smile: "It's better now, I can't even sleep peacefully."

    (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to (.) to vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my most important thing.?¡¯s motivation.  Mobile phone users please go to m to read.  )
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