The Rise of the Third Reich

"Lieutenant General, the airport on New Caledonia is temporarily unavailable. Six Catalina seaplanes were either destroyed in the air raid or lost contact during the flight..."

Lieut. General Halsey was listening to his chief of staff, Major General Browning, nagging about the military situation in his commander's cabin. He waved his hand impatiently and said, "Major General, pick out the key points."

"Okay, the key point is that New Caledonia was blinded by the Japanese."

"Just blinded... No landing?"

"Not yet." Major General Browning replied.

Halsey picked up his coffee cup, took a sip, and said thoughtfully, "No landing, which means that the Japanese fleet attacking New Caledonia did not carry a landing force."

Colonel Browning was a carrier-based aircraft pilot and an expert in the use of naval aviation, so he also considered the problem from the perspective of an aircraft carrier commander. He thought for a moment, then said to Halsey: "Lieutenant General, there are two possibilities for the Japanese fleet not to bring a landing force. One is that the landing force is still on the way and will not launch a landing until the battleships and carrier-based aircraft completely suppress New Caledonia Island; the second possibility is... there is a second Japanese fleet in the waters near New Caledonia Island, which is the Japanese air fleet!"

"Japanese air fleet?" Halsey gently turned the coffee cup, "But submarine reconnaissance shows that the main force of Rabaul's fleet went northwest... It should be to deal with our three commerce-breaking fleets."

"Perhaps the Japanese fleet heading north does not include all of their large Aircraft carriers!" Colonel Browning said, "The Japanese have a lot of aircraft carriers, perhaps more than 10 large aircraft carriers, and several light aircraft carriers. They are very generous in the use of aircraft carrier forces." "There are already two 20,000-ton aircraft carriers near New Caledonia..." Halsey counted on his fingers and said, "We have three commerce raiders operating in the Western Pacific. If the Japanese want to ensure the safety of their two key routes, they must at least deploy two aircraft carriers on each route. In this way, the location of the six aircraft carriers can be confirmed." "There are 5-6 aircraft carriers waiting for us in the Coral Sea!" Browning The colonel said, "Including the two aircraft carriers accompanying the two Yamatos, the Japanese have at most 8 aircraft carriers, while we only have 4."

"No, no." Halsey waved his hand, "Colonel, your calculation is wrong. The Japanese have at most 5-6 aircraft carriers available, because the two Yamato-class ships are too valuable to the Japanese. If the Japanese use them as bait, they will definitely deploy a large number of Zero fighters on the two aircraft carriers. So in terms of the number of aircraft carriers, we are 4 to 6 with the Japanese. Considering that our aircraft carriers can carry more carrier-based aircraft, we can basically compare with the Japanese aircraft carrier formation in terms of the number of aircraft. "We won't deal with the two Yamato-class ships of the Japanese?" "No," Halsey shook his head, "How can such 70,000-ton or 80,000-ton battleships be so easy to sink? We will ignore them and focus on attacking the aircraft carriers ambushed by the Japanese. Even if we exchange one-to-one with the Japanese devils, it will be worthwhile. Even if we exchange 4 ships for their 3 ships, it will not be a loss! Because we are the US Navy, with the most powerful industry in the world, our Independence-class and Essex-class will soon be put into service in batches!" The first ship of the Independence-class has been put into service, and the first ship of the Essex-class will be put into service in December. By 1943, there will be a lot of them! Not to mention 4 for 3, even 4 for 2, or even 4 for 1, Halsey will sooner or later be able to use up all the capital of Yamamoto Isoroku. Colonel Browning thought for a moment, nodded, and asked, "So... what if there is no Japanese aircraft carrier fleet ambushing north of New Caledonia?"

Halsey put down his coffee cup and spread his hands, "Don't we still have the US Army? They have so many tanks, planes, and artillery, they will definitely be able to protect Australia."

...

November 5, 12:20.

Coral Sea, about 50 nautical miles off the coast of New Caledonia, Yamato battleship.

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto stood in the bridge, listening to the thunderous roar coming from afar. It was the Kongo and Hiei battleships shelling targets on New Caledonia.

This bombardment has been going on for several days, but there is no trace of the American fleet. Some Australian Navy destroyers came, but they did not dare to approach New Caledonia during the day, but quietly approached at night and then left in the early morning.

Obviously, this is the evacuation of personnel on the island! The British and American Allied Forces will soon give up New Caledonia...

Isoroku Yamamoto frowned deeply. He had no intention of occupying New Caledonia. It's not that he didn't know how important this island was, but he thought the Allied Forces would defend the island to the death, and at least tens of thousands of soldiers would have to be deployed to capture it. As a result, his fleet fired for a few days and dropped more than a hundred bombs, and the Allied Forces seemed to start retreating.

It seemed that they only needed to use Rabaul to transport some troops over, and they could capture New Caledonia without bloodshed.

But... where are the American aircraft carriers? Are they really not in the South Pacific?

"Is there a report on the Atlantic war?" Isoroku Yamamoto suddenly turned around and asked.

"Oh, there are some." Ugaki Matoi replied, "The three countries of Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union formed a combined fleet of the Allied Powers, with Admiral Ingersoll, commander of the United States Atlantic Fleet, as commander, and Vice Chairman of the Soviet Council of People's Commissars and President of the National Bank of Russia, Burr Ganin is the military commissar..."

"President of the National Bank? Military Commissioner?" Yamamoto Isoroku was stunned. What is this?

Matoi Ugaki added: "This joint fleet is very powerful. It has now opened up the Arctic Circle route and has also escorted a group of US troops to the northern part of the island of Ireland controlled by the British."

"What?" Yamamoto Isoroku glared.

"Admiral," Ugaki Matoi smiled, "it seems that the Germans really cannot control the sea power in the Atlantic without our help. They are in a bit of trouble. Maybe there will be a fierce battle on the island of Ireland."

Yamamoto Isoroku frowned and was noncommittal: "So... is there any news about US aircraft carrier activities in the Atlantic Ocean?"

"No," Ugaki said, "The Germans are currently attacking the Azores Islands, and the American troops guarding the Azores Islands are also resisting weakly. They seem to be abandoned."

Because of the loss of sea rights in the Atlantic Ocean, the Azores Islands have been semi-surrounded since the spring of 1942. The American transport fleet could not get close at all, and could only use submarines and destroyers to transport supplies in small batches. Therefore, the island's defense force has always been insufficient, and it is unable to carry out effective defense. It is reasonable to become an abandoned son.

"Even the Azores have become abandoned?" Yamamoto Isoroku shook his head, "American aircraft carriers must still be in the Pacific." His tone was solemn, "If they are still in the Pacific, then they will either follow the A large transport convoy is heading to Australia, or it is near us!"

"Commander, it's unlikely that they are nearby, right?" Ugaki Matoi smiled, "If they were nearby, they would probably attack us."

Yamamoto's 1st Fleet (the flagship is Musashi) is actually a decoy. Therefore, each of the two Great Eagle-class aircraft carriers has 24 Zeros (commonly used) and 6 Comets (commonly used). The air defense force is relatively strong. Moreover, all ships, including the two Yamatos, have been modified for the purpose of strengthening air defense in the past 10 months. Therefore, even if it is attacked by aircraft sent by four large American aircraft carriers, it can probably withstand it.

As long as the US aircraft carrier is attracted, it is only a matter of time before its position is exposed, and the lurking Nagumo Chuichi's 1st Air Fleet will have the opportunity to take action.

But even if the American aircraft carrier was nearby, it obviously did not take the bait.

"No, they are probably nearby. Even if they are not, we have to pretend that they are here now." Yamamoto Isoroku paused and then said, "Send out all comets and Zero water reconnaissance! Search carefully, don't Let go of every inch of the Coral Sea!”

…

East of the Australian continent, the Coral Sea.

The flagship of the United States Task Force 1, the USS Lexington.

Standing in the command center on the second floor of the ship island, after seeing the two SBDs returning from reconnaissance landing smoothly, Halsey looked away: "Have you not discovered the Japanese aircraft carrier yet?"

"No." Rear Admiral Browning shook his head, "The seaplanes dispatched by the cruiser and the Catalina seaplanes that took off from the east coast of Australia have searched most of the Coral Sea, and no trace of the main force of the Japanese aircraft carrier force has been found. Is it possible? meeting……"

"Keep searching!" Halsey smiled, "You have to be patient. By the way, those Japanese warships..."

"Also using artillery fire near the island of New Caledonia to bombard targets on the island."

"Haha, then the main force of their aircraft carrier force must be in the Coral Sea!" Halsey gritted his teeth, "Let's disperse the formation now. Let Rear Admiral Fletcher command a 2nd Fleet with the Enterprise and Yorktown as the core. Team, keep 100 nautical miles away from us.”

"Disperse?" Major General Browning was stunned. "If we disperse, it will not be easy to defend against air attacks."

"But we won't be defeated by the Japanese in one fell swoop," Halsey frowned. "The question now is who discovers the opponent first... We must always maintain the power to counterattack, Major General. I have a hunch that in the upcoming battle, We will not escape unscathed, but we will definitely make the Japanese pay a heavy price!”

As soon as he finished speaking, a fleet staff officer shouted excitedly: "Sir, we may have discovered something! An hour ago, the Catalina seaplane sent by Bundaberg discovered a seaplane in the waters east of the Coral Sea Islands. An unidentified vessel and then lost contact."