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Text Chapter 939 Guam, the battle flag is flying (6)

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    "Here, take it."

    220 nautical miles west of Pagan Island, on the flagship heavy cruiser Taiwan Island, Chen Shiying pushed open the captain's cabin door sideways, holding snacks in one hand, two teacups in the other, and a telegram folder under his arm.  "Have a try, Ningbo Zhao Youda's pastries. I specially asked someone to buy them before departure." After putting down the pastries, he pushed the plate in front of Bingwen, who had not slept all night.

    "Well, it tastes good." Bingwen picked up a piece of snack, took a few bites and saw the documents next to the plate, and asked, "What is this?"

    "I almost forgot." Chen Shiying handed the document to Bingwen and started to make tea for himself: "Submarine No. 227 reported that Bai Fuan had a firefight with the Japanese Fifth Fleet 30 kilometers off the coast of Agana, just north of Guam.  The battle is currently ongoing. According to the submarine sonar operator, a strong explosion was heard, and it is estimated that the ship's ammunition depot was hit. But it must not have been us who exploded, otherwise Bai Fuan would have yelled and reported it." He  Passing the tea, he walked to the window holding the cup.  Outside the portholes, there are the Beijing and the sister battleship Nanjing, as well as the heavy cruiser Hainan Island, the light cruisers Yangtze and Huanghe, and six Qinling-class destroyers. Twelve warships are arranged in a diamond formation, heading toward the enemy at a high speed of 28 knots.  Head east.

    "Didn't Ozawa invest in the battleship?"

    "No trace of Japanese battleships was found. Only two heavy cruisers participated in tonight's operation. One of them has been confirmed to have capsized on the rocks north of Rota Island. More than 300 people were captured by the Marines after landing on the island. Captain Kimura  Changfu's whereabouts are unknown." Chen Shiying stirred the coffee.  After many years in Europe, he fell in love with this kind of thing that could both refresh himself and relieve fatigue. He said, "It seems that Ozawa doesn't have much of a gambling bent. Why don't you, Commander, just use the battleship as bait?"

    Bingwen is not used to drinking coffee.  I prefer the strong and bitter Pu'er tea.  He smiled and scolded: "Are you praising me or making fun of me? I'm holding my head up this time. If there are any more scratches, Commander Chen will have to chop me." He said it seriously, but in fact he didn't care.  For him, battleships and aircraft carriers are just war tools to achieve their goals.  As long as it was worthwhile, he would even use a battleship to cover a fishing boat.

    Having known each other for thirty years, Chen Shiying certainly knew his temper and smiled without saying a word.  He walked to the table and took out another telegram: "Look at this again. It's from the General Staff. We have a companion."

    "Companion?" Bingwen was stunned and immediately opened the telegram. After reading it, his expression became solemn.  Because the telegram said.  The Office of Strategic Services discovered that the USS Saratoga aircraft carrier group, which announced five days ago that it would send fighter jets to Wake Island, did not arrive on time.  "

    "The officer leading the troops is named Halsey. He is the most active war-maker in the U.S. Navy. In addition to the aircraft carrier Saratoga, there are two heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, four or five destroyers and 600 destroyers in the formation.  There are many Marines, I guess they should be coming straight to us!" Chen Shiying was a little uneasy in his words: "These Americans are really capable of causing trouble. Judging from the time, Halsey should have been close to Mali  Yana. Now I'm worried that after daybreak the reconnaissance machine will find the wrong target."

    "You said, Roosevelt is not afraid that Ozawa will kill Halsey?"

    "Afraid? Humph! I'm afraid Roosevelt would like to personally send a few shells to Yamamoto Isoroku and let him sink Halsey." Bingwen gradually calmed down.  The uninvited appearance of the U.S. aircraft carrier formation was indeed surprising.  But five days ago it was learned that the Saratoga was delivering fighters to Wake Island.  He was well prepared for emergencies, so he did not panic and said coldly: "Don't worry, the appearance of the Saratoga is very different from that of the Japanese aircraft carrier. There shouldn't be anything wrong."

    Chen Shiying continued to ask: "I heard that Roosevelt's election prospects are not good, and there are questions about whether he can be re-elected. Why is he still sending a fleet into the war zone? Does he want to learn from us and directly enter the wartime act?" Politically speaking, Bingwen could not guess.  It is obvious, but it is obviously easy to see in the military: "When I was learning chess before, my husband said. Playing chess is like fighting, taking the corner to kill the dragon, and abandoning the game to seize the advantage. What it means is that playing chess is like fighting, kill the dragon first and take the advantage.  He would rather give up the initiative than seize the advantage first. The United States is now behind us, but the southwest is one of the most important interests in the Pacific. It must at least maintain its presence and strive to regain momentum, so the possibility that he wants to land on the island cannot be ruled out."

    "Landing on the island? How bold is he?" Chen Shiying was surprised.

    Bingwen said: "You underestimate the Americans. They always act first and speak later. It's not good for Kimmel to send anyone, but Halsey, a well-known hardliner, is here. Do you think he is here for vacation?"  If Japan wins this battle, regardless of everything else, Halsey will definitely turn around obediently. If we win, I'm afraid there will be some trouble and ask to enter Apra Port to refuel and take shelter from the wind or something."

    Chen Shiying¡¯s expression froze. As the saying goes, it is easier to invite gods than to send them away. If Halsey really finds an excuse to enter Apra Port, God knows what trouble will happen.  You know, as far as the League of Nations is concerned, Guam is still a legitimate U.S. trusteeship.  Seeing his anxiety, Bingwen chuckled.??: "Don't worry, as long as we don't die this time, I will go and meet Halsey in person."

    Chen Shiying still felt uneasy and muttered: "Hey, it's all our fault for not thinking carefully. Yang Guochang suffered a big loss that time. If he had known better, he would have prepared for a few more months before taking action."

    "With a few more months of preparation, you can ensure that you can easily capture Guam? Now the Japanese army in Guam is the weakest, with only a few thousand defenders. If it increases to tens of thousands and builds more fortifications, who can say that it will be a sure victory without ten times the cost?  It would really cost us ten times more to build several aircraft carriers. It¡¯s not worth spending so much money on Japan.¡± Bingwen rolled his eyelids and put down his cup.  Pushing the snack aside, he spread out the chart and asked, "Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. Tell me, where are the positions of each ship now?"

    "Bai Fuan is north of Guam, and the Wuhan and Changsha are rushing to rendezvous in the southwest of Saipan. The Baiqi is 80 nautical miles southeast of us, about 137 nautical miles from Bai Fuan, and 150 nautical miles from Guam. Pan Duheng took the Anton and Sun Bin  The number 80 nautical miles behind us. You see, from the navigation chart, the heavy patrol formation is at the front. We, the Baiqi and Pan Duheng have formed an inverted "pin" shape, and the distance between the two sides is about 80 nautical miles. According to what we have done over the years  Exercise experience shows that the maximum visual distance of an aviation search is about 50 nautical miles, so unless luck is particularly bad, Ozawa can only see two of the three of us.

    According to the plan, after dawn, we first dispatched seaplanes and reconnaissance aircraft to Pagan Island and Guam for high-altitude search and standby.  The engines of Japanese fighter jets don't work.  Climbing to an altitude of 7,000 meters should reduce the probability of being discovered.  Then the Baiqi attacked Saipan Airport to support Guam. It accelerated southward to Guam and continued to widen the distance from us.  Then I will ask Bai Fuan to take the initiative to lead three heavy cruisers to deliberately move closer to the Baiqi, which will not only strengthen the Baiqi's air defense capabilities, but also lure Japanese aircraft over.  Pan Duheng will also have the Sun Bin fighter squadron disguised as dive bombers (the Lightning can carry 250 kilograms of bombs), detour to the Baiqi direction and attack Pagan Island, actively exposing us.  He hid behind himself.

    Saipan is the only large Japanese airport nearby that can support Guam at close range. According to previous intelligence, the island is basically populated by Army aviation fighters and bombers, with no torpedo planes and few dives.  So Ozawa must save him.  Because there was no way to determine whether there was one Baiqi or all three, he needed to rely on the number of bombers we launched to make guesses.  First of all, he must not know that all three of our aircraft carriers are overloaded, so according to convention, we can only dispatch a maximum of 80 dives.  Therefore, the Baiqi will dispatch 30 dives and 18 Lightnings, and the 20 Lightnings supported by the Sun Bin will first attach bombs to pretend to be dive bombers, so that it looks like there are 50 dives.  At least the amount of two aircraft carriers!  Secondly, both Longxiang and Xiangfeng are light aircraft carriers with no more than 30 attack aircraft, which cannot deal with our "two aircraft carriers".  So he can only choose one direction between us and Bai Qihao.  Judging from the fact that he did not invest in battleships tonight, he was also afraid of losing another battleship.  Unless he spots the Anton first, our battleships won't put much pressure on him.  Therefore, it is most likely to attack the Baiqi with all its strength. Even if there is a mistake, at least one ship can be sunk.

    As long as you see the direction where the enemy plane appears.  The reconnaissance plane will be able to search along the way, and Pan Duheng will take off in advance.  Follow behind.  I have roughly estimated that Ozawa will never be more than a two-hour flight from Guam, so the Japanese carrier-based aircraft group took about an hour from being discovered by us to attacking the Baiqi.  At that time, even if we realized the mistake and turned around immediately, we could still run 60 nautical miles.  Coupled with the Baiqi's reverse maneuver, it would take at least another hour to find us.  Two hours is enough for Pan Duheng to find Ozawa's main force!  However, we must be prepared for the pressure of losing the Baiqi. We must first resist Saipan's Army Aviation, and we must also face a wave of carrier-based aircraft attacks.  Chen Shiying threw away his pen and said with a smile: "So, either we two can imitate Yang Guochang and teach, or we can invite Halsey to drink coffee later."  "

    "I choose the latter one." Bingwen smiled confidently: "How long until dawn?"

    "About forty minutes." Chen Shiying looked at his watch: "The aircraft carrier should be preparing to take off."¡ª¡ª

    North of Guam, fighting continues.

    The explosion of the Ryota made the Japanese Fifth Fleet feel as if they had been slapped with a sap, and stars were flying around their foreheads.  Because there is no radar, Bai Fuan on the opposite side deliberately made the intervals between salvos completely inconsistent (when you cannot see directly at night, you can measure the ballistics and distance through the muzzle flame interval), and the warships are constantly maneuvering to evade, so they must  Close the distance first.  "These cunning Chinese people!" Nobutake Kondo looked grim, standing in the command tower with a saber in his hand, and nodded to Nishimura to initiate a lightning attack.

    High-speed lightning strikes are the best tactics of the Japanese Navy, especially after the emergence of the terrifying 93 oxygen torpedo. Without radar, I am afraid that there will not be a naval general in the world who dares to face Japanese lightning strikes without changing his color.  After years of exploration and development, the Japanese army¡¯s lightning strike tactics have developed many routines, such asImmediately after Kondo gave the order, nine destroyers rushed out of the formation. Starting from their own side and ending in the bow direction of the Xi'an, they stacked one ship to the left and launched an arc attack at the same time. Each ship was in line with the previous one.  All keep a distance of one kilometer.  If you look at it from the sky, it looks like nine left arcs, layered on top of each other, very neatly.  At the same time, the three light cruisers, the Kumano heavy cruiser, four destroyers, and five ad hoc cruisers of this formation kept parallel to the Xi'an. The bow of the ship was tilted ten degrees, and they were closing the distance while bombarding and harassing.

    This most conventional night assault seems simple, but it actually tests the coordination ability. When the main formation and the assault group are close to a certain distance, torpedo fans will be fired from two directions at the same time.  If there is no radar and no knowledge of oxygen torpedoes, Bai Fuan will definitely suffer a loss, because Kondo's Fifth Fleet can fire 180 oxygen torpedoes exceeding 50 knots at the same time. This number is extremely scary.  Moreover, Japanese destroyers generally reach more than 37 knots, and even exceed 40 knots. On the other hand, the Xi'an and Fuchunjiang only have a maximum of 33 knots, and even the two Qinling-class destroyers only have 36 knots.

    But relying on radar, Bai Fuan quickly discovered the attacking Japanese destroyer.  "Left full rudder. Let Fuchunjiang and the destroyer insert behind the port side of our ship and prepare to deal with the destroyer. Turn sharp alarm! Turn left 287 degrees in one minute. Navigation, how long until daybreak!"

    "thirty minutes!"

    "Control the time, and immediately switch the secondary battery to the bomb at dawn!"

    Bai Fuan was shouting hoarse, and the emergency alarm sounded. As soon as everyone grabbed hold of the fixed objects, the nearly 20,000-ton warship suddenly swerved to the left, and all objects tilted to the left and fell.  The huge inertia makes people feel like their spines are being forcibly pulled apart.  An inattentive cook in the bilge opened the cold storage door.  He was suddenly turned around and thrown into the cold storage, where he was buried under slices of pork, vegetables and fruits on the shelves.  It wasn't until a few minutes later that he crawled out with a pile of sausages hanging around his neck.

    After completing the big turn, the fleet's bow changed from north to south, but the Japanese fleet was making a high-speed assault in the opposite direction.  Therefore, the Fifth Fleet aiming at the original position could only waste artillery shells on the stern of the Xi'an.

    "Report distance."

    "Sixteen thousand meters."

    After getting the distance figures, Bai Fuan did not immediately order the bombardment, but called out another set of figures: "Benchmark, 26 knots/12,000 meters."

    Maybe some people don¡¯t understand, what does ¡°26 knots/12,000 meters¡± mean?  In fact, it is very simple. This is the distance between his assumed speed and the Japanese army's 93 oxygen torpedo.  After learning that Japan had developed a top-secret high-speed torpedo, it was unknown where the drawings and data were obtained.  The Navy summoned the best lightning captains and officers to study countermeasures.  Finally, it was estimated from a series of deductions and exercises that although the range and speed of oxygen torpedoes are scary, the maximum effective launch distance is actually only 10,000 meters. Beyond this range, even the speed can be as high as 50 knots.  It is also difficult to hit a well-prepared ship with a speed exceeding 25 knots.  Therefore, assuming that Bai Fuan launched a torpedo at 12,000 meters and his own speed was 25 knots, the navigation department calculated time and avoidance data based on the baseline.  This calculation is very complex.  Including the sudden stall just now, the arc range of the Japanese destroyer increased.  Pursuit speed, torpedo speed, width of sector area after launch, estimated time of collision, etc.  For example, a Japanese high-speed destroyer can get closer to 373 meters per minute (26-knot target), can run 1,333 meters per minute after launching a torpedo, and can get closer to 640 meters per minute when pursuing a target. It takes four minutes to avoid the torpedo fan area.  Seeing this, some people may say, why do you calculate so much?  Just wait until the Japanese destroyer approaches 10,000 meters and run away.  Unfortunately, naval battles are not like this. The navy is a purely offensive service. Ten thousand meters is exactly the time for warships to exert their best firepower. Unless there are special factors, the first consideration of captains is to destroy the opponent as much as possible before evading.  It¡¯s not about being chased by others and running away endlessly.

    This is the most realistic navy based on current technology!  Definitely not a game for the computer age.  So someone has said that the navy of this era is the real navy. A group of men drive a steel fortress composed of gear bearings and various parts. They rely entirely on their brains and precise calculations to complete a series of tactics and bloom between life and death.  Looking for an opportunity to seal his throat with a sword.

    In less than a minute, the navigator handed over the calculation data to Bai Fuan: "We have twenty-five minutes, and the avoidance margin is set at ten minutes!"

    "Reduce to 26 knots and turn right 130 degrees in fifteen minutes." After Bai Fuan read this, he actively slowed down and turned around and shouted: "Guns!"

    "Understood! Fifteen minutes." After getting the number, the gunnery commander immediately responded loudly and organized the bombardment through the phone again: "Fifteen minutes, normal speed, target No. 1 of the enemy formation, fire!" The gunnery commander did not choose to fire at full speed.  , after all, it was an abnormal state (normally three to four rounds per minute), otherwise there would be no shells in less than half an hour.  Bai Fu'an took the initiative to slow down in the hope that the artillery could fire more accurately and destroy a few more ships.  The efforts of him and the soldiers were not in vain. After restarting the attack, only the second round of volleys were fired.?Several flames appeared in the darkness.

    The outermost Japanese Yura light cruiser and the Kumano heavy cruiser behind were hit by the Fuchunjiang at the same time.

    As a light cruiser, the Fuchunjiang cannot be compared with the Xi'an, but its twelve L55/155mm naval guns are no show. When firing 60kg armor-piercing projectiles, the maximum range exceeds 23 kilometers, and the rate of fire is every  Ten shots per minute.  Therefore, while the Xi'an was still recalibrating its firing, it had already sprayed five rounds of shells and hit the decks of the two ships. Although it could not cause fatal damage, it could cause flames.

    At this time, Kondo was the most depressed, because it was not until Bai Fuan fired again that he realized that the target had turned.  "Electronic reconnaissance, it must be electronic reconnaissance!" The Japanese Navy, which missed the opportunity to develop radar, finally tasted the bitter consequences.  But he couldn't activate the radar immediately, so he had to order the destroyer to turn together with the formation.  At this moment, a fire broke out on the Yura's rear deck. It turned out that the 155mm shell hit several bundles of rope ladders that were too late to be stowed away.  A fire in a night battle is fatal to any warship, because the flames will become the best coordinates for the optical rangefinder!  However, this also allowed the Kumano to escape disaster. Because it was dark and it was impossible to distinguish the specific models of the two ships, the gunnery commander chose the light cruiser with larger flames and easier targeting instead of the Kumano behind it.

    The Yura instantly became a magnet for artillery shells. In just four minutes, it was hit by seven 210mm armor-piercing shells and thirteen 155mm artillery shells. The entire deck was blown to pieces, the bridge was penetrated by the shells, and even the mast was damaged.  It fell, and two large holes were made by armor-piercing shells on the waterline on the port side.  Although Kondo ordered the Yura to make an emergency retreat, the cruiser eventually sank in the deep sea 56 kilometers north of Guam after persisting at sea for an hour.

    When Bai Fuan achieved his second victory tonight, he turned his guns towards the Japanese destroyer Fuchunjiang, and also cooperated with two Qinling-class ships to damage three Japanese destroyers in a row.  But at this time, Xi'an and Fuchunjiang also received several artillery shells, and the latter's No. 4 turret was hit by a 203mm armor-piercing projectile from Kumano and became useless.  At this time, the time to evade was almost up, and the emergency bell was about to sound. Worried about becoming the "second Yura", he decisively stopped the attack and prepared to retreat.

    But at this moment, he received a telegram from the seaplane of the Taiwan Island (when the fleet radio is silent, messages are usually transmitted by the seaplane's radio).

    "Get closer to the aircraft carrier?!" If the communications staff hadn't repeatedly confirmed that the telegram was sent by the flagship, I'm afraid he would have thought it was false news.  Because it was going to be dawn soon, and he believed that Kondo would call for aircraft support as soon as it dawned, so if he approached the aircraft carrier at this time, wouldn't he be exposed?  You know, the Heilongjiang's desperate efforts to protect the aircraft carrier during the Battle of Ryukyu had spread throughout the country, so after the captains discovered the enemy aircraft, they all wanted to take the aircraft to the horizon. How could there be any reason to take it to the aircraft carrier?  !

    "Captain, there are still thirty seconds!" The navigator reminded him loudly when he saw him standing there stunned.  "Fight! Notify all ships to evacuate the waters of Guam immediately. Turn right at 210 hours, maneuver towards the aircraft carrier! Pay attention to the approaching destroyer and prepare the deck for air defense." Bai Fuan did not know what the commander meant,  But orders are orders, and the warships supporting the Marine Corps were immediately ordered to retreat, and at the same time the warships turned sharply again.

    "Look, it's dawn!"

    When the Xi'an and its three partner ships drew a huge arc and once again threw away Kondo Nobutake and the Japanese Fifth Fleet, a hazy white light slowly rose under the sea level to the east.

    If you stop time, you will find that at that moment the Japanese destroyers have fired the first torpedo salvo, Ye Zishan and the airborne troops arrived at the last Japanese defense line in Yona Town, and the Marines occupied the long-coveted Agana Airport.  Dozens of Warhawks are already within a ten-minute flight of Guam, Saipan and Pagan.

    It was daybreak, and the twilight that troubled the eagle finally dissipated.  The game of who will control the Southwest Pacific will be completely clear in a few hours.
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