Over the two aircraft carriers, the Flying Dragon and the Canglong, 32 Type Zero fighters, 32 Type 97 torpedo attack planes, and Type 99 dive bombers, a total of 96 fighters, formed a huge group of planes and rushed mightily towards Midway Island.

Soon after, the Midway Garrison Command received a coded report of a patrolling PBY Catalina seaplane.

"Midway was 310 degrees azimuth, and a large number of enemy aircraft were spotted at a distance of 140 nautical miles. In a 310-degree azimuth of Midway, a large number of enemy aircraft were spotted at a distance of 140 nautical miles・・・・・・"

Shortly after receiving the reconnaissance plane's report, a similar report came from the radar station of the defenders of Midway.

"A large number of enemy aircraft were detected approaching in a 310-degree azimuth at a distance of about 90 nautical miles."

A few minutes later, at the Midway airfield, the roar of aircraft engines was deafening, and twenty-six Bison fighters took off one after another, flying mightily to the northwest to intercept the Japanese attack group.

The figure of the fighter group disappeared shortly after the airfield.

The Midway Garrison Command received another piece of important information, a telegram from another PBY Catalina reconnaissance plane patrolling northwest of Midway.

"In the direction of Midway 310 degrees, a Japanese fleet was found at a distance of 210 nautical miles, with at least two aircraft carriers in it."

After receiving information, 34 Dreadnought and Avenger dive bombers on the airfield discharged a long line, one after the other, rushed off the runway and into the sky.

The propellers of 4 B-26 bombers, which had been converted into torpedo machines, and 6 TBF torpedo planes, also rotated at high speed and joined the take-off queue.

Soon after the departure of the huge attack planes, the Japanese bombers flew over Midway.

Behind them, the escorting Zero fighters were already in a mess with the Bison fighter group at Midway.

The sky was full of tumbling and chasing fighters, and clouds of black smoke burst out of the blue sky.

The anti-aircraft guns of the defenders of Midway also joined the warband. Trying to secure the airport with a dense rain of bullets.

32 Type 99 dive bombers dived to the ground one after another, and the oil tanks exposed to the ground became the first victims.

250 kg bombs and 60 kg bombs fell into the tank farm, and in the sound of explosions, the tanks were torn apart, and aviation gasoline was sprayed into the sky and ground, which was subsequently ignited by Mars.

The fire covered the tank farm. The black smoke from the soaring flames shot straight into the sky, and the air was filled with scorching waves and a pungent smell of oil smoke.

The Type 97 torpedo attack aircraft followed closely after the attack, and as a multi-functional fighter that could be used as a torpedo, bomber, and reconnaissance aircraft, the Type 97 attack aircraft played the role of a horizontal bomber this time.

Bombs fell from the sky in waves, and in the continuous sound of explosions, hangars collapsed and turned into rubble, and there were seven or eight more huge craters on the runway of the airport.

The power plant did not escape the catastrophe, and the generators took to the skies along with the houses. The transformers also turned into a pile of scrap metal in the flames and flames, and the power poles fell domino-like one by one, tearing off the fragile wires, and the glare of electric light shone on the ground at the fractures.

During the bombardment for nearly half an hour, the Japanese attack aircraft group severely damaged the Midway airfield at the cost of losing seven fighters.

When the Japanese bombers departed, the sappers ran down the runway. Frantically filling the crater with dirt to fill the crater.

Fire trucks also rushed to the edge of the fire. Spraying white water into the raging flames・・・・・・

In addition to the heavy damage to the airfield, only nine of the 26 Bison fighters that attacked returned home, and all of them were wounded.

In accordance with the direction provided by the reconnaissance planes, the bomber group of the US forces at Midway did not make much effort and easily found the aircraft carriers Wyvern and Soryu.

U.S. military planes were spotted. A terrible siren sounded in the two aircraft carrier formations, and clouds of smoke rose around the aircraft carriers, floating between the sea and the sky, disrupting the sight of the American pilots.

On the aircraft carriers Wyvern and Soryu, as well as the surrounding warships responsible for escorting. Anti-aircraft guns fired a dense barrage of shells to intercept enemy aircraft that pounced on the two aircraft carriers.

Hovering over the fleet, the Zero fighters responsible for protecting the fleet also turned their noses and rushed towards the American fleet.

Under the combined cover of smoke, fighter jets and anti-aircraft guns, six TBF torpedo planes and four B-26 bombers staggered close to the surface, dodging the rain of anti-aircraft shells while rushing towards the aircraft carrier on the S-shaped route.

Two B-26s were the first to be hit, plunging headlong into the blue water, followed by four TBF torpedo machines.

The torpedoes thrown by ten torpedo planes disappeared and did not cause any impact on the Japanese aircraft carriers.

With mottled bullet holes, the four surviving torpedo planes staggered out of the battlefield and flew towards Midway.

High in the air, the US dive bombers fearlessly launched dive bombing again and again in the face of the oncoming antiaircraft shells, but because most of them were rookie pilots who had just graduated from the aviation school and lacked combat experience, none of the bombs hit the target, and only the bombs dropped by the squadron leader, Major Henderson, exploded at a distance of about 10 meters from the Wyvern, and the shrapnel hit the right hull of the Wyvern, leaving more than a dozen scratches and abrasions of different sizes.

For these scratches and abrasions, which were not worth mentioning to the huge Wyvern, the US dive bomber force paid the price of nineteen dive bombers being shot down.

On the way back to Midway, three more bombers, including the dreadnought bombers piloted by Major Henderson, were forced to land on the surface of the sea due to their injuries.

In the end, out of 34 dive bombers, only twelve aircraft returned.

And what awaits them at Midway will be a major test of a forced landing on a dilapidated airstrip.

At the time of the great battle between the aircraft carrier battle group with the Flying Dragon and the Soryu as the core and the US forces at Midway, the core of the battlefield, on the deck of the aircraft carrier Akagi, where Nagumo was located, the Type 99 dive bombers and the Type 97 torpedo attack planes with torpedoes were parked neatly.

The same scene was seen on the aircraft carrier Kaga, which was adjacent to the Akagi.

Only on the temporary big brother, Japan's first and the world's first aircraft carrier officially put into service, the Fengxiang light aircraft carrier, eight Type 97 attack planes took off one after another and flew towards the east in a fan shape.

Less than half an hour after the departure of the eight planes. Eight more Type 97 attack planes took off smoothly and flew in a fan shape toward the southern seas.

Within 30 minutes of the disappearance of the 16 Type 97 attack planes, seven seaplanes in the cruiser fleet escorting the Akagi and Kaga were ejected into the air to form a third wave of reconnaissance units. Search the east and south for the exact location of the American fleet.

Nagumo stood in the bridge, his saber in both hands, his face full of flesh and no waves, quietly waiting for the news from the reconnaissance plane.

In the lounge of the battleship Yamato, about 150 nautical miles directly north of the Akagi, where Nagumo was located, Yamamoto Isoroku leaned back against the back of the sofa, closed his eyes tightly, and looked like a monk who had settled down.

It is different from Yamamoto fifty-six who entered the set. In the sky outside the battleship Yamato, sixteen seaplanes disappeared into the sky to carry out the mission of searching for the American aircraft carrier formation.

Unlike Yamamoto and Nagumo, who patiently waited for information, about 300 nautical miles northeast of Midway, inside the bridge of the Hornet, Halsey's information was extremely easy to obtain.

Almost at the same time as the headquarters of the defenders of Midway, Halsey received a clear-code telegram from the PBY Catalina reconnaissance plane.

Lying next to the chart with four staff officers, Halsey watched as one staff officer headed northwest of Midway on the chart. The position of the Japanese naval fleet is marked at a position of 310 degrees 210 nautical miles.

"Only two aircraft carriers? Where did the other two go? ”

Halsey frowned and walked to the window, looking at the neatly arranged deck. A fleet ready to go.

Under Halsey's order, the two task forces with the three aircraft carriers USS Hornet, USS Wasp and USS Yorktown as the core turned their bows and headed west.

"We are so far away from them that we have to get closer to within 175 nautical miles and bring the enemy's fleet into the radius of the torpedo planes."

The fleet had almost just completed its U-turn. Halsey saw a communications staff officer rush into the bridge.

"I just received a telegram that at a 310-degree azimuth of Midway, 240 nautical miles, another aircraft carrier formation of the Japanese Navy was found."

Halsey slashed his head and asked, "How many aircraft carriers are there?" ”

"Three."

Halsey opened his mouth to laugh, eight teeth glistening in the sun.

"Sure enough, there is one more than in the intelligence. But it doesn't matter. ”

Confirming that the number of Japanese naval aircraft carriers was one more than expected, Halsey was not nervous.

Although the Japanese Navy had an advantage in the number of aircraft carriers, it had to deal with two targets, Midway and the fleet led by itself, and it only had to deal with one target.

At the same time, its own fleet has the advantage of a preemptive strike.

All you have to do now is to bring the fleet closer to the enemy as soon as possible and bring the enemy into the combat radius of the torpedo machine.

In the process of charging the Japanese fleet, on the deck of the Hornet, four SBD dreadnought bombers rushed into the sky and flew to the west to find the location of the Japanese fleet and keep a close watch.

Like the Japanese Navy, Halsey's aircraft carriers also did not have full-time reconnaissance aircraft, and the Japanese Navy used Type 97 torpedo attack planes to make cameo reconnaissance planes, and the same role was played by SBD dreadnought dive bombers in the US Navy.

Halsey waited anxiously, looking at his watch.

An hour and a half had passed since the Japanese fleet was received at 6:11, and another half an hour would allow the carrier-based aircraft to take off.

The hum of the propellers spinning at high speed was heard from the deck, and the carrier-based aircraft had already started their engines.

While Halsey was expecting the moment of battle, he did not notice that in the sky northwest of the fleet, a Type 97 torpedo plane was approaching the sky above the fleet.

Informed by the observation post, Halsey looked up at the sky, but did not find the plane that was clearly there to reconnoitre, so he gave up searching.

After radio access to Fletcher's Task Force XVII, Halsey sent a telegram: "I will keep the promise. ”

After half an hour of contact, Halsey and Fletcher were on the same page.

As agreed in advance, only one wave of the attack was launched, and then the retreat.

Except for the necessary escort fighters, all other fighters made sorties.

Halsey knew that the location of his fleet had been exposed, and that the Japanese reconnaissance plane in the sky would inevitably report to the Japanese fleet, but he still decided to launch a wave of attacks.

After contacting the garrison headquarters at Midway, Halsey confirmed the timing of the attack by the Japanese Navy's carrier-based aircraft.

After extrapolating the time it would take to travel back and forth between Midway and the aircraft carrier formation, Halsey said with a smile: "When our attack aircraft group arrives, at least half of the enemy's carrier-based aircraft should, no, definitely be refueling and replenishing ammunition, this is an opportunity left to us by the Japanese, and we must not miss it." ”

Half an hour passed in a flash, and Halsey decisively gave the order to attack.

Looking at the planes on deck that were bursting into the sky, Halsey muttered, "Catch them, kill them." ”

On the two aircraft carriers Hornet and Wasp commanded by Halsey, a total of 70 dive bombers, 30 torpedo planes, and 20 fighters rushed out of the deck one after another.

Two groups of torpedo aircraft flew at low altitudes, fighters with dive bombers flew at high altitudes.

It's not that the four groups don't want to assemble into a larger formation with more offensive power, and the second is that Halsey ordered the group to attack as soon as possible in order to get the group to attack as soon as possible, and there is no need to assemble.

Saving time was only Halsey's first purpose, and the reason why he really gave the order not to assemble in a large formation was that he knew that most of the pilots on the two aircraft carriers were rookie pilots, and flying in a large formation of more than a hundred aircraft was a difficult task that was simply impossible for these rookies.

About twenty nautical miles southwest of Hal, on the USS Yorktown, Rear Admiral Fletcher also released all of his carrier-based aircraft.

Major General Fletcher watched as the group disappeared into the white clouds, but a report was heard in his ears.

"An aircraft is approaching us, probably a reconnaissance aircraft of the enemy."

・・・・・・

In the bridge of the Akagi, Nagumo Tadaichi threw the saber in his hand to the adjutant and took the telegram.

"Two aircraft carriers? Less than expected. Yo Xi, American, I finally caught you, you can't run away. ”

"Order, Akagi and Kaga to release carrier-based aircraft. Then inform Commander Yamamoto of the enemy's position. ”

The communications department had just sent a telegram on Nagumo Tadaichi's order, but it received a telegram from the main fleet led by Yamamoto almost at the same time.

"Report, the commander called, and their water reconnaissance aircraft discovered another American fleet with an aircraft carrier in it." The staff officer handed the telegram to Nagumo.

"Three? This should be the full strength of the enemy, and anyway, I've got you. ”

When Nagumo Tadaichi was excited about catching the position of the US aircraft carrier formation, in the battleship Yamato, Isoroku Yamamoto gave the order.

"The main fleet is moving forward at full speed, informing the Shohe and Zuihe that the carrier-based aircraft will be released in an hour." (To be continued.) )