"Retreat! Fall back! Hiroki Abe screamed like crazy into the walkie-talkie.

As a Japanese rear admiral, he knew very well what it meant for the Japanese Navy to continue to stay in the waters of Kuah during the day without the cover of aircraft carriers, although he also knew that the appearance of the US Air Force was likely to be only a small batch, which was determined by the repair of the Kuah Island airfield, and according to his inference, the Kuah Island airfield was only partially repaired, which meant that the American planes were only stationed in small batches in batches, and they could not send more planes to deal with warships.

However, it will also take time for the warship to sail out of the waters of Kuah Island and into a safe area, and he must get out of here before the American bombers are ready.

Abe's idea was right, the maximum range of US fighters and bombers was only more than 1,000 kilometers, and the distance from Espírito Santo to Kuah Island was 900 kilometers, which almost reached the upper limit of the range of "Wildcat" and "Dreadnought", so they had to stop at Kuah Island to refuel before they could continue fighting...... But this was very difficult, the American pilots were already very tired after a two-hour flight, and the Yankee pilots did not have the same endurance as the Japanese pilots, who could fly in the air for more than seven hours in the Zero.

Objectively speaking, the average person has already reached the limit of his physical strength by flying for one and a half to two hours under intense alert, so it cannot be said that the American pilots are too squeamish, but that the Japanese pilots are too crazy.

And the range of the Zero fighter reaches more than three thousand kilometers of metamorphosis, which can be said to be its advantages and disadvantages.

It is said that it is an advantage, and the pilot basically does not have to think about saving fuel when flying in the sky to fight, and he can fight the enemy with confidence.

Say it's a disadvantage...... Many Japanese pilots believed that such a long range was completely unnecessary, and they did not take into account that the Zero was a single-seat fighter, and that a single person could not fight in the air continuously for seven or eight hours with a fighter plane, and even if it could do so, it would cause the pilot's combat effectiveness to decline in stages due to excessive fatigue and the pilot's inability to concentrate.

The Japanese pilots preferred to reduce the range of the Zero and add some protection and armor appropriately. Meantime. If the range is reduced, the ultra-long-range combat plans that do not look at the facts will not be worked out.

Of course, the Japanese military simply did not think about this, they always believed...... These difficulties can be trivialized by the "spirit of bushido".

On the other hand, the US military will also pay more attention to the lives of pilots...... Facts have also proved to be wise to do this, because as the war progresses, the US pilots can survive because they have survived more and even had the experience of being shot down a few times, which makes them accumulate rich combat experience, so they naturally fight more and more easily in the air, while the Japanese army is just the opposite.

With that in mind. Halsey did not think it was suitable for the American pilots to fight in a state of extreme exhaustion from a long flight, knowing that the Japanese warships also had a lot of anti-aircraft firepower, and even sinking the Japanese warships in such a state would pay a considerable price.

So from the beginning, Halsey did not intend to pursue the Japanese, but this did not mean that the American Air Force did not have to fight......

The second group came up with 12 "Avenger" torpedo planes, which directly crossed Kuah Island to attack the Japanese warships...... "Avenger" torpedo planes had a maximum range of more than 2,000 kilometers, so they were not busy landing and refueling after arriving at Kuah Island, and they could fly for at least two more hours. Their mission was to scare off the Japanese naval ships as if they were in pursuit, because if they didn't. It is very likely that the Japanese warships will return to continue the bombing of Henderson Airport, which will cause great trouble for the fighters to land on Kuah Island.

Sure enough, as soon as the Japanese Navy warships saw the US bomber group flying in, they turned around one after another and sailed away from the waters off Kuah Island. The "Avengers" chased after them for a while, and then took a few Japanese warships that still wanted to transport supplies to the island for a burst of indiscriminate bombardment, sank them, and then flew around the island a few times to ensure safety, and then flew back to Kuah Island to land.

At this time, there was already a cheer on Kuah Island, and the Sino-US coalition troops stationed on Kuah Island knew about it. The re-stationing of the US air force means that the Japanese army will once again lose air and sea supremacy in the waters off Kuah Island, and it also means that they will be saved.

Yamamoto Fifty-six soon got the news that the US fighter plane had returned to Kuah Island, and he couldn't help but ask Haruyoshi Hyakutake with anger on his face: "How can this be?" Didn't you block the Kuah airport with artillery fire all the time? Why can American planes still land on Kuah Island ?! ”

"Your Excellency, General!" Hyakutake Haruyoshi replied ashamedly: "The capacity of our warships is limited. They were also tasked with transporting supplies to Kuah Island and bombing airfields, which was already very tense, and the army asked the navy to coordinate the bombing of the Sino-American defense line during the attack, so we had to reduce the bombing of the airfield accordingly. Unexpectedly, the enemy took advantage of this gap to repair part of the airfield......"

Hearing this, Yamamoto Fifty-six couldn't help but sit on the chair for a long time, and he couldn't breathe.

"Your Excellency, General!" Hyakutake Haruyoshi pleaded, "Please allow us to attack again tonight, and in the evening, we will definitely be able to take Kuah Island!" ”

Yamamoto Fifty-six shook his head and sighed, "Baiwu-kun, give up!" ”

"Your Excellency the Admiral means ......" Hyakutake Haruyoshi looked at Yamamoto Fifty-six in shock.

"Give it up! We lost! ”

"No, Your Excellency!" Hyakutake Haruyoshi replied: "It is impossible for us to lose, we will fight until the last moment, please give me one last chance, if you can't get back Kuah Island tonight, I will personally lead my troops to launch a jade crushing attack on Kuah Island!" ”

"Bastard!" Yamamoto fifty-six scolded: "What if you launch a jade crushing attack and can't recapture Gua Island? What you are carrying to death is the army and warships of the Great Japanese Empire, without the army and warships, what are we going to fight the enemy with?! ”

"But Your Excellency ...... General"

"No, but!" Yamamoto Fifty-six interrupted Hyakutake Haruyoshi's words: "Obey the order and make a retreat plan immediately, the sooner the better!" ”

"Yes!" Hyakutake Haruyoshi wanted to say something, but when he saw Yamamoto Fifty-six's resolute look, he swallowed everything he wanted to say.

For Japanese soldiers, dying in battle is not terrible, and defeat, especially if they have a huge advantage, it is a great humiliation.

Therefore, Hyakutake Haruyoshi hoped to either win or die in battle, but Yamamoto Isoroku's order dashed this hope.

(To be continued.) )