Fate played a merciless joke with Halsey, and at 5 o'clock in the afternoon, almost 100 minutes before dark, he thought that the Japanese would not send out any more attack groups before sunset and concentrate on night attacks, but in fact it was the opposite, and the attack teams of the Second and Fifth Air Battles under Horiyoshi had already taken off and swooped down on his fleet. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

This time the attack wave arrangement was more unexpected, originally Horikichi had planned to attack after nightfall, so it was more certain, but at 15 o'clock, Kusaka Ryunosuke sent a telegram on behalf of Tsukahara to Horiyoshi with the idea of organizing the first attack wave, and he only thought about it for 10 seconds before deciding to attack!

Because he thinks that Tsukahara's tactics are more reasonable than his, as a humble naval commander, he will not refuse a better tactical arrangement.

At 16:17 on October 30, 1944, Tsukahara used a new tactic - the cross of the gods after using the "U-turn of the gods" tactic in the Panama campaign!

Of course, the cross of the gods is summarized by military enthusiasts in later generations, and the name of Tsukahara's report is "cross shuttle", which was formed by him and a cadre of staff officers for most of the afternoon, and repeated operations on the drawings, the logic is not complicated, but the requirements for personnel are relatively high, especially suitable for the current technical level and mental state of the combined fleet, the specific points include:

1. The attack group was scheduled to take off at 4 and a half in the afternoon, and it was assembled and set off within 20 minutes, at which time Horiyoshi's attack group was about 780 kilometers away from Halsey, and it actually had to fly about 840 kilometers -- because in the course of nearly two hours of flight, Halsey's fleet could run another 60 kilometers;

2. At half past 6 o'clock, Caiyun changed to provide the specific direction, course, and speed of the US fleet for the attack group to make the final course correction, and at this time, the attack group had not yet entered the detection range of the US radar, and the US military would not be aware of it;

3. At 18:45, prepare to attack after dark, first send fighter jets to explore the way to test the US anti-aircraft fire and response, if the US military reacts strongly and responds well, the attack aircraft will attack the periphery, mainly to preserve strength and deter the US military, if the US military has no way to respond, you can target the Essex class;

4. Finally, and most critically, this group of attack aircraft will no longer return to the second and fifth air battles after completing the attack mission, but will come to Tsukahara to land in the fleet, because at this time Tsukahara's second attack wave has already attacked, and the deck is all empty, and what is more friendly is that Tsukahara will increase the speed of the three aircraft carriers of Dafeng, Xianghe, and Zuihe to 32 knots after 6 o'clock, and for the returning aircraft group, as long as the landing is more than 600 kilometers, although the risk still exists, even if the fuel runs out and makes a forced landing, It is also possible to count on the arrival of a destroyer to catch dragonflies......

In Hori's view, there are three highlights in this plan:

First, the cross-shuttle compresses the flight distance and greatly improves the safety of the aircraft;

Second, the first wavelength departure flight is performed when the sunshine conditions are good, which saves physical strength and energy, while the attack is at the beginning of the night, and the pilots' eyes have gradually adapted to the flight, which is relatively not a big challenge;

Third, because the last colored cloud change before sunset was forcibly reconnoitred, it was guaranteed that it would not be in the air, which improved the combat efficiency.

Watching the attack group leave, Horikichi sighed with emotion: "Is it Tsukahara-kun, I heard that he released a group of American pilots and wounded people back when he attacked Christmas Island?" ”

"Yes, Chief Tsukahara did a very detailed understanding, released this group of wounded and got some medicine, by the way, he also invited the American ambassador and military attache to visit the Yamato ...... in Lima," Chiaki Matsuda added, "Many of us didn't understand it, and now it seems that he has a lot of bamboo in his mind." ”

"Show strength to strength! Well done this move! Looks like I could have retired sooner. ”

"Sir?" Everyone was stunned.

"Just kidding, just kidding......" Horikichi laughed self-deprecatingly, "It's all said that I will retire if I succeed, but I haven't done it yet, so I can't retreat......"

Several other generals were very happy, and after such a fight, they could release a steady stream of attack waves, and the US troops had no room for resistance at all -- the staff officers had already calculated,

At 7 o'clock, the first wave of the five air battles;

At half past eight o'clock, the second wave of the first air battle;

At 10 o'clock, the third wave of the second air battle......

The essence of the whole tactic is to use elite carrier-based aircraft pilots to fight the US military that has no ability to fight at night! Didn't the Combined Fleet endure for a day and accompany the Americans for a day to pick such a time?

At this time, Horiyoshi had an advantage in the redundant pilots in his hands -- although there were so many planes, the pilots could be completely replaced, and it was guaranteed that they could be replaced without changing planes in the next few rounds of attacks, so as to achieve maximum success.

At 18:28, the TF50 received the last round of scans of Caiyun Change, and there were quite a few of them, still retreating eastward at a speed of 18 knots. Now the entire fleet is only more than 1,500 kilometers away from the west coast, and as long as it survives this dark night, the TF50 can basically escape.

In the flagship of the Franklin, Halsey didn't bother to check the air defense fighters that were landing one after another, and deployed the next action: "After 7 o'clock, convinced that these damn Japanese reconnaissance planes were not there, the fleet immediately changed formations, let the cruisers and destroyers meet the evacuation of the personnel on the escort carrier, and the four capital ships first advanced eastward at full speed, first eastward, and then separated after a while...... Avoid Japanese night reconnaissance planes, and make use of all fighter pilots who can fly at night as much as possible. ”

After explaining this, he told McCain: "Let the captains distance the Casablanca class from each other a little more and disguise themselves as large formations, whether they can deceive the Japanese depends on this trick." ”

After explaining this, he sat down with his head folded in his hands, and complained to McCain: "I would never want to run away like this, but ......"

McCain comforted him: "William, if you want to open up, it's not a big deal to lose some escort carriers, this thing can reap a dozen in a few months, let the Japanese bomb if they want, but the personnel and 4 capital ships are the most important thing - this is the capital of our comeback." Do you remember that in the first Battle of Pearl Harbor, almost all of our battleships sank, and then they also rose again? ”

Halsey shook his head and smiled bitterly: The Battle of Midway killed 4 Japanese aircraft carriers, he almost thought he had won at the time, but he didn't expect to kill Horiyoshi in the air, and he forced the momentum back, Japan has such a figure, why doesn't the United States -- this is not scientific!

At the Washington headquarters, Turner, Spruance, and Nimitz paced restlessly, anxiously awaiting news from the front, and when they heard Halsey's report that the Japanese had just carried out their last reconnaissance, the three of them breathed a sigh of relief—it was good that they hadn't called before sunset. Delay for another hour, and it will be time for the escort aircraft carrier group to use the golden cicada shelling method. Now that all the superfluous items on the cruisers and destroyers have been emptied, they are waiting to accommodate the officers and men of the 12 escort aircraft carriers, a total of more than 9,000 people, to be transferred to the cruisers and destroyers in the shortest possible time, which is a very dangerous and difficult task.

Spruance himself had done a job in the Mid-Atlantic, using a destroyer to take all the officers and men on the aircraft carrier, which had become a nightmare that he could not shake away-compared to the time when he was seriously wounded and dying off the coast of Australia, sometimes he hated why he didn't die at that time, at least a hundred, he didn't have to worry about so many things, watching the army lose the battle and be powerless to return to the sky is the most painful thing for a senior general.

At 18:45, the first attack wave of the Japanese army had arrived only 120 kilometers away from the fleet, and the thought of putting the first nail in the big coffin of the US imperialist Pacific Fleet, the leader of the team felt that he couldn't suppress the excitement in his heart, who would dare to think of such a thing when the war started? After losing the Midway, he felt that the whole world had collapsed, and it was the fate of Japan to stay up for one more day, but an Optimus Prime-like commander was born, and he almost single-handedly changed the fate of the entire war!

The officers and men on the more than 100 planes behind him were also excited, not only looking forward to the merits of the war, but also to a better life after the war -- the commander had already unofficially announced that once the war was over, land would be distributed in India according to everyone's merits and ranks, and the area and quality would be guaranteed to everyone's satisfaction, and the greatest credit would be given not only to the land but also to the servants!

O land! This is something that the Japanese peasants in the small country and the barren land dare not think of, especially in India, where the officers and men of the Combined Fleet have generally been to India, and know that the good land there can be harvested three times a year, which is simply a treasure trove.

"Fighter squad, follow me in...... Let's tease the Americans! ”

At 18:49, Takashi Ekusa and eight fighter planes broke into the outer air defense circle of the US military, and the sky was gradually darkening, and one warship after another was in sight, but it began to transform into a vague shape.

"Sir, radar reports that 9 unidentified planes have broken in."

Halsey's brows furrowed suddenly: "How many night fighters are patrolling in our army?" ”

"6."

Halsey shook his head helplessly: "This is mostly an annoying reconnaissance plane, drive them all away!" ”

"Sir, it seems that there are US military planes coming." Egusa's headphones suddenly sounded Sugida Shoichi's voice.

"Can you shoot them down?"

"I'll give it a try!"

"If you can't shoot them down, it's okay to lure them away...... We're ready to dive ......" After saying that, Jiang Cao Takashi took the lead in diving, and then fired a series of flares, and the dazzling light illuminated the following as if it were day, and then the heavy anti-aircraft artillery fire of the US army pulled up a barrage in the air.

"Very good, such a fierce firepower, it must be South Dakota......" Ekusa Takashi didn't actually see what warships were down there just now, he guessed completely based on anti-aircraft fire, and the result was not bad at all.

Two minutes later, he fired another series of flares, and this time he finally saw clearly - a wide flat deck, and there seemed to be rows of planes parked behind it, "Hahaha, this must be an Essex class." ”

"I've found the Essex class, all the troops are assaulting!"

At 18:53, with the order of Jiang Caolongfan, more than 100 attack groups hovering around the periphery suddenly pounced, and the radar of the US military was densely packed with light spots......

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