"Colonel!" Zhang Chi soon received a call from Halsey: "We need you to attend a meeting!" ”

"Yes, General!" Zhang Chi didn't ask much, because he didn't hear Halsey's tone in the microphone well. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Twenty minutes later, Zhang Chi took off from the "Pinghai" on a Wildcat fighter and landed on the "Essex" aircraft carrier where Halsey was located.

From this point of view, aircraft carriers are still very suitable as meeting places for senior officers, especially at sea...... Because it is equivalent to an airfield, officers can easily and quickly take the plane to gather here, and once there is a war, they can quickly return to continue commanding the battle. Otherwise, if the meeting place was set on a battleship or cruiser, not only would there be little space, but it would also be time-consuming and laborious to move around the ship...... This is an absolute waste of luxury on the battlefield.

It's just that the Americans didn't realize this before, and even used battleships as headquarters during the Battle of Tarawa...... This can only be said that they have not completely departed from the kind of combat thinking of "cannon giant ships"!

Under the guidance of several US military staff officers, Zhang Chi walked into the conference room without much effort.

As soon as he walked into the conference room, Zhang Chi felt a strange atmosphere...... Every US general in the conference room pulled his head and hung his head silently, and the atmosphere was very dull.

So Zhang Chi knew that he must have lost the battle, and it was an unusual defeat, otherwise this situation would not have occurred in the current situation where the US military has fully occupied the sea and air superiority.

Sure enough, when Halsey saw Zhang Chi walk in, he got up and motioned for Zhang Chi to sit down in an empty seat, and then said heavily: "Colonel, our attack on Kwajalein Island has met with extraordinary stubborn resistance from the Japanese!" ”

Zhang Chi didn't say anything because he didn't know what to say...... According to Zhang Chi's thinking, if the US military had not changed the time of the attack without authorization, then these problems would not have arisen at all.

After a pause, Halsey raised his head to the side a little weakly, and said, "It's still the commander of the 3rd Marine Division...... Brigadier General Johnson will give you a detailed introduction! ”

Johnson nodded silently, he first got up and shook hands with Zhang Chi, and then said, "This is the case...... When we launched a landing battle towards Kwajalein Island in the early hours of the morning, we were attacked by the Japanese air force, which had at least one flying division and more than 100 fighters! ”

"What? Flying Division?! Hearing this, Zhang Chi couldn't help but be stunned.

Zhang Chi was also quite surprised by this, and he did not expect that the Japanese army would have a fighter of a flying division in this situation.

Johnson was actually playing a trick at this time, it is true that the Japanese army has more than 100 fighters, but the reason why the Japanese army's more than 100 fighters can play a role is based on the premise that he has made one mistake after another. At this time, Johnson overemphasized this "surprise" given by the Japanese army to the American army, on the one hand, to divert the attention of others, and on the other hand, to tell everyone...... The defeat in this battle was not a mistake on my command, but an accident.

Of course, Zhang Chi knew Johnson's intention when he said this, but he didn't bother to break Johnson, exactly...... This is still a "family matter" of the US military, and how to deal with it or whether to punish Johnson or not is a matter for the Americans.

"We lost all the tank landing ships!" Halsey sighed: "Of the seven landing ships that were just equipped, four sank and three were seriously damaged...... We were expecting it to be able to play a big role in the landing battle, but we didn't expect them to suffer such heavy casualties in the first battle! ”

"Also...... Our landing vehicle and personnel also suffered heavy casualties! Johnson said.

Neither Halsey nor Johnson were going to go on, because the casualties were so great that neither of them could speak in front of the accomplished colonel.

But Zhang Chi soon heard about the casualties from others...... At least half of the more than 200 landing vehicles could not be used normally, because they were strafed and bombed by Japanese fighters from top to bottom, and the landing vehicles, like all armored vehicles, were thick frontal armor, and the top and bottom armor were the most vulnerable, so whether it was the 7.7 mm machine gun or the 20 mm aircraft gun of the Zero fighter, it could inflict a devastating blow on the landing vehicle.

It was precisely because of this that the Japanese fighters almost all of the bullets, shells and shells they brought were emptied.

As for the casualties, it is even more difficult for the US military to talk about it...... More than 2,000 people were killed or wounded, but they couldn't even touch the edge of the beach on Kwajalein.

"Brigadier General Johnson!" Halsey stared at Johnson and said, "We can put the casualties and losses aside for a while, and now the important thing is how to continue this battle!" ”

A hint of embarrassment flashed across Johnson's face, and he could certainly hear that Halsey was dissatisfied with him in what he said.

"I think ......" Johnson replied: "First of all, we should completely destroy the Japanese air division, so that our landing operation can not be interfered with and attacked by the Japanese!" ”

All the admirals agreed one after another, and this is also the consistent tactic of the Americans, first of all, they must master air supremacy, and if they cannot fully control air supremacy, they will at least severely damage the enemy's air force or suppress it to the point of immobility.

Among them, only Zhang Chi stared at the map without saying a word.

"Colonel, do you disagree?" Halsey asked.

Zhang Chi sighed and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, don't you know the purpose of the Japanese to expand the airport and build more airports on the small islands? ”

Hearing this, the admirals couldn't help but look at Zhang Chi in surprise.

"Colonel!" Smith interjected, "You mean to ...... Wasn't the purpose of the expansion and construction of airfields by the Japanese because more fighters were stationed? ”

"Apparently not!" Zhang Chi replied: "Otherwise, our troops on the periphery who are responsible for bombing the Japanese Wick and other Mishima should have been attacked a long time ago." But they don't have a sound at all, do they? ”

Smith nodded, but then shook his head and said: "But that doesn't mean anything, maybe the Japanese didn't dare to challenge our twin aircraft carrier formation, that's why they ......"

"General!" Zhang Chi interrupted Smith and said, "If the Japanese have 600 fighters stationed in the station, as we estimated, and they don't know that we are equipped with 'Hellcats', then why do we think that the Japanese dare not challenge our twin aircraft carrier formation?" ”

Hearing this, everyone couldn't help but nod.

As everyone knows, the two-aircraft carrier formation is a combination of a main aircraft carrier and a light aircraft carrier, and there are only about 140 carrier-based aircraft, and the reason why the US military dares to do this is because it has an advanced radar system and "Hellcat" fighters.

As for the Japanese army, since they did not know that the US military was equipped with "Hellcats", it should be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attack the US double aircraft carrier formation with 600 fighters! (To be continued.) )