The Rise of the Third Reich

"Sir, the 4th Fleet reported that a Type 2 large boat tracking the American ship formation was shot down."

At dawn on October 9th, Tokyo time, the Shokaku, the flagship of the Japanese First Mobile Fleet in the waters near the Yana Islands, received a notification from the 4th Fleet stationed in the Central Pacific - the seaplane responsible for tracking the US ship formation was Knocked off.

"The final location of the U.S. break-up fleet?"

Ozawa Jisaburo walked to the chart table in two steps. Chief of Staff Keizo Furumura had already marked on the map the position of the US fleet before the Type 2 large boat lost contact.

"Here, it is about 300 nautical miles away from us." Furumura said, "We can dispatch carrier-based aircraft... If we dispatch them now, we will be able to reach the target sea area in two and a half to three hours."

300 nautical miles is equivalent to 555 kilometers. The Japanese attack aircraft group equipped with bombs and torpedoes took more than an hour to arrive. Including the time for takeoff and formation, it took two to two and a half hours.

"Attack!" Ozawa Jisaburo nodded, "In one wave, send out all carrier-based aircraft! All Meteor torpedo bombers carry bombs for dive attacks... We must destroy all American aircraft carriers and make them lose their combat effectiveness!"

"Hai!"

Almost at the same time, Rear Admiral Mark Mitchell, commander of the U.S. 58th Breakthrough Fleet, also issued an order for the fleet to turn eastward and advance at full speed.

"Sir, the current speed can cover 56 nautical miles, almost 103 kilometers in 2 hours... If we are lucky, the Japanese will spread out and come to us." Arleigh Burke said to Mitchell, "In this way we There is a chance to defeat them all!”

Mark Mitchell himself is an expert in naval aviation. He understood everything Arleigh Burke said. He smiled and said: "Now put all the carrier-based aircraft on the deck. In 30 minutes, the two aircraft carriers will each dispatch a squadron." The F6F serves as the direct cover...I think today will be another unforgettable turkey hunting day!”

"Yes, it will definitely be something we will never forget!"

The unforgettable moment soon arrived. The aircraft carrier of Japan's First Mobile Fleet began to gallop into the wind at 5:15 in the morning on October 9 to release its carrier-based aircraft (the three Japanese aircraft carriers only have flywheel catapults, which can only launch aircraft at one time). Ejecting 54 aircraft into the sky), adopting full-deck assault tactics.

Full-deck assault tactics are commonly used by Americans, because before the United States entered the war, American naval aviation experts believed that aircraft carriers should be deployed dispersedly during wartime to avoid being destroyed by enemy groups - the anti-aircraft guns at that time were not powerful, and the enemy attack aircraft groups The reincarnation rate is very low. Because the aircraft carriers are deployed separately, it is naturally difficult to coordinate more than two aircraft carriers, so the Americans adopted full-deck tactics and released the entire attack aircraft fleet at once.

Before the war, Japan adopted a dual-carrier formation tactic, which was conducive to coordination. Therefore, it did not adopt a full-deck tactic, but divided its carrier-based aircraft into two attack waves and flew in turns.

As the war situation changes, the tactics of the United States and Japan are also changing. Because of the threat of the United States breaking diplomatic ties with its aircraft carriers, the Japanese Combined Fleet had to dedicate part of its aircraft carriers to undertake escort missions. Of course, the aircraft carriers that undertake escort missions cannot be a dual-carrier formation. Therefore, the originally practiced wave attack tactics are no longer suitable, and they can only start practicing full-deck tactics (wave attacks have not been given up). Therefore, the Japanese naval aviation has now mastered the ability of full-deck attack - but it can There are not many Japanese pilots left who are skilled in taking off and landing on the aircraft carrier deck...

Watching the pilot, who was almost the last elite of the Japanese naval aviation force, take off from the aircraft carrier deck for the first time in a fighter plane, Ozawa Jizaburo's heart was shrouded in an indescribable bitterness.

As a result of the successive battles from September 24 to the present, if we look at the traditional criteria for judging victory in naval battles, Japan has undoubtedly won a great victory.

It sank 8 aircraft carriers (actually only 6), 1 battleship, dozens of landing ships, transport ships, and oil tankers, and more than a dozen large, medium, and small broken ships.

But our own side did not lose a ship of sufficient weight.

However, the loss of nearly 700 aircraft of various types and the loss and consumption of hundreds of thousands of tons of fuel have seriously damaged the Japanese Navy's ability to continue operations!

To put it simply, it means I can’t fight anymore!

The battle to win was actually fought to the point where it could no longer be fought...

"Sir, the radar has detected a Japanese aircraft group. The bearing is 253, the distance is 130, the number is more than 30, and the altitude is 5,000."

At around 8:05 a.m. on October 9, Tokyo time, an air defense siren sounded on the USS Hornet (Essex-class) aircraft carrier, and then the radar officer reported the approach of enemy aircraft.

"More than 30 aircraft...the Japanese must have dispersed the large formation!" Arleigh Burke laughed - his conspiracy succeeded!

According to the generally accepted operational principles of naval aviation, the larger the fleet size, the more conducive it is to break through the enemy's air defense. At the same time, the "reincarnation rate" of pilots participating in the war will also decrease accordingly. If a large fleet is broken down into smaller fleets for refueling tactics, it is easy to suffer huge losses and gain nothing.

"Order the direct cover fleet to attack!" Mitchell ordered without hesitation. "Hornet and Yorktown each sent two squadrons of fighters to participate in the battle, including one squadron each of F4U and F6F."

There are now 24 F6Fs circling in the sky. Together with 2 squadrons of F4Us and 2 squadrons of F6Fs, the US military has 72 fighter jets. On the Japanese side, there are about 30 or at most 40 fighter planes, and most of them must be bombers or torpedo planes... a real blow!

A fierce air battle soon began between the aircraft of the United States and Japan. The United States' 72 F4U and F6F fought against Japan's 12 Zero-52 and 24 "Meteor" torpedo bombers.

Because the number was only half that of its opponents, the Japanese aircraft did not dare to fight. All the "Meteor" torpedo bombers threw away the bombs they carried, and then dived at full speed to leave the battlefield. The escorting Zero-52s desperately resisted the overwhelming number of American aircraft, buying the "Meteor" time to retreat, at the cost of all 12 Zero-52s being destroyed.

But this is just the beginning of the fierce battle in the air!

As the Meteor torpedo planes retreated, they also radioed the position of the U.S. fleet to other Japanese aircraft searching nearby.

Taking advantage of the gap before Japanese planes arrived one after another, the U.S. 58th Breakthrough Fleet also ended its eastward maneuver for more than 2 hours and began to set up a circular air defense array at the beginning. Two aircraft carriers were placed in the center, surrounded by 3 battleships and 10 cruisers.

At the same time, the aircraft carrier continued to release carrier-based aircraft, and the battleships and cruisers released seaplanes-these seaplanes were to search for the Japanese fleet. Although it was impossible for Mitchell to launch an air attack on the Japanese fleet, it was still necessary to scare them.

At 8:25, the Japanese attack aircraft groups that were originally dispersed into several groups to search for the American fleet swarmed in from the northwest, due west, and southwest directions, with a total of more than 160 aircraft. They immediately fought with a similar number of American fighter planes in the air. A ball.

I don’t know if the recent days of air combat have tempered the team, but the Americans’ F4U and F6F performed extremely well. This time they did not attack the Japanese fleet in a swarm, but divided into separate waves. The ones at the front were all F6Fs driven by experienced veterans. Their purpose was to use the excellent performance of the F6F to compete with the Japanese aircraft. Zero fighter dogfight.

At the same time, the F4U fighters climbed to an altitude of 5,000 meters, and then circled around the US fleet air defense array.

They used their excellent dive performance and powerful firepower to engage in energy tactics. Any Japanese aircraft that wanted to rush towards the US ship's air defense firepower network from a dive bombing altitude of three to four thousand meters were without exception attacked by the F4U. No. Being shot down on the spot means dropping the bomb and running for your life. Occasionally, a few of them would be lucky enough to successfully penetrate the defenses, and they would become concentrated targets of surface ship anti-aircraft firepower, turning them into balls of fire.

Major Heijiro Abe, who was piloting a "Comet" dive bomber and commanding the Japanese fleet to fight at an altitude of 5,000 meters, saw the scene in front of him of the long-term attack, and he was so anxious that his whole body was about to burn.

He is a veteran pilot of the Japanese Navy. He entered the pilot school after graduating from the 61st class of the Marine Corps, and has been serving in the Naval Aviation since then. He was the fighter squadron leader of the aircraft carrier Akagi during the Pearl Harbor incident, and later participated in the Battle of the Coral Sea, the air tug-of-war in the South Pacific (still fought today), the Battle of Panama and the Battle of Christmas Island. It can be said that I watched the American aviation force grow up step by step!

As the commander of the front-line aviation force, he also understands the crisis faced by the Japanese Empire in the Pacific better than those superior generals and marshals - Japan's aviation force is getting smaller and weaker as it fights. In Abe's impression, all the aces (Japanese aces) were pilots trained before the outbreak of the Pacific War. Those who were trained after the war, especially those who entered the pilot school after the war, were simply pretending to be pilots... They can't beat the Americans!

Therefore, all frontline units are over-reliant on veteran pilots, allowing them to wither in the brutal war of attrition, while the training of newcomers cannot be followed up...

Japan is going to lose the war unless it adopts a strategy of dying with the enemy!

A terrible thought appeared in Heijiro Abe's mind. As an old pilot and a major in the navy, he certainly knew about the "kamikaze" at the beginning of the war.

"Gentlemen, I am Major Abe Heijiro!" Abe pressed the communicator on his throat and began to convey orders to his subordinates. "Now, I will fly the plane into a US aircraft carrier! Die with the enemy! Those who are willing to die for you, please follow me. Go to death!"