After getting the U.S. military equipped with a new type of fighter, Koga Mineichi also felt the difference between Captain Harada and Michichi Yamada...... Even if Koga Mineichi is not from the aviation army and does not know very well about fighters and air combat, he also knows what the appearance of this new fighter of the US military means, and even Koga Mineichi also knows that the US military will have the first new fighter, and there will be a second and third new fighters.

Then, it is foreseeable that in the near future, the US military will surpass Japan in terms of fighter planes not only in terms of quantity, but also in terms of quality. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info Koga Mineichi seems to have seen the American planes already soaring over Japan.

Koga Feng was right, and then it was the time when the US military's science and technology exploded, not only the "Hellcat", the previously developed "Corsair", "Thunderbolt" and other fighters were also put into service one after another, and even the US military moved radar and night vision devices to the plane, developing fighters that can fight at night.

But of course, Koga Fengichi couldn't say this to his subordinates, he was just stunned for a while, and then scolded at the microphone: "Bastard, the Americans just scared you out by changing the appearance of the fighter!" That's just a trick of the Americans! What's more, what we use to defeat the enemy is always the spirit and will, understand?! ”

"Yes!" Michiyuki Yamada replied mechanically, but whether it was Koga Mineichi or Michiyuki Yamada, they knew in their hearts that this was nothing more than a lie. It's okay to use this to deceive the army, because the army really has many examples of relying on spirit and will to win, but the navy and aviation ......

If the spirit and will can defeat the enemy, is it possible to fight the US Navy without fighter planes or warships?!

When the Japanese army was shocked by the appearance of the new US fighter plane, the US military felt a little powerless.

The "Hellcat" was used as a secret weapon by the US military, and this fighter had never been put into actual combat before, in order to catch the Japanese by surprise, and on the other hand, it was also to give the Japanese army a psychological shock.

But now, when the U.S. military sent the "Hellcat" to the battlefield with the intention of showing off its skills and giving the Japanese a little color, they basically did not find the opponent.

"Did the Japanese disappear?" Brigadier General Schmidt, who was in charge of commanding the seizure of air supremacy, asked a little strangely.

Originally, he estimated that the Japanese would have 200 to 300 fighters in the Marshall Islands...... This estimate was based on the photographs taken by the reconnaissance plane, but it turned out to be nothing more than a trick by the Japanese.

"General!" The staff officer took a telegram and reported: "This is a telegram that has just been received from an escort aircraft carrier, and they have blown up many enemy aircraft at various airfields!" ”

Schmidt took the telegram and looked at it, then nodded and said, "So it sees...... It was we who came so suddenly, the Japanese were completely unprepared, so that their fighters were blown up at the airfield before they could take off! ”

Schmidt had reason to explain this not only because the US planes did not spot a few enemy planes in the air, but also because the US military launched a surprise attack on the Japanese airfield when it carried out the first bombing.

So Schmidt thought that this was the result of the successful raid, although the battle made him a little dissatisfied, and he originally hoped to use this battle to test the performance of the "Hellcat".

What Schmidt didn't know was that the U.S. raid was actually a failure.

The Japanese army was going to implement the "Z" plan...... The core of the so-called "Z" plan is to preserve strength, and in order to preserve strength, it is necessary to detect and withdraw enemy planes in time before they arrive.

Therefore, Yamamoto Michichi has long set up eyes and ears on the surrounding islands and reefs, which is just like the US military set up coast guards in the waters of Kuah Island, but now because the Marshall Islands are the territory of the Japanese, they have set up guards by the Japanese to warn the Japanese army. This is also the basis for the implementation of Michiyuki Yamada's "Z" plan, otherwise the radar currently equipped by the Japanese army would not be enough to detect US fighters.

As a result, the Japanese fighters on the islands and reefs received the news early in the morning before the US fighters arrived and took to the air in time to evacuate.

As for the Japanese fighters bombed by the US escort aircraft carriers...... It was nothing more than a model used by the Japanese to deceive the Americans, and many of them were even built with wooden planks.

After believing that it had completely mastered the air supremacy of the Marshall Islands, the US military launched an indiscriminate bombardment of the Japanese islands and reefs.

The bombing lasted two days...... The two-day bombing was much smaller in scale and time than the seven-day bombing by the U.S. forces at Tarawa.

On the one hand, this is because the US Navy is not well prepared and the ammunition supply is not very sufficient, which determines that the scale and duration of the bombing will not be too long.

On the other hand, compared to the battle of Tarawa, which mainly bombed two islands, the attack on the Marshall Islands had to deal with six Japanese islands at the same time...... There were three targets in the center of the island and three targets on the periphery of the island, so that the strength of the US forces was relatively scattered, so the bombing time could not last too long.

More importantly, at this time, the U.S. military had already doubted the effectiveness of the bombing, and most of the U.S. admirals felt that ...... If the Japanese fortifications of Tarawa remained mostly intact during seven days of intensive bombardment, the bombing of the Marshall Islands would not have had much effect.

But after the war, it turned out that this was not the case.

This is mainly due to the fact that the fortifications built by the Japanese army on the Marshall Islands are far from those on Tarawabito Island, and many of the islands are even more easily destroyed on the ground due to the needs of life.

Except, of course, Kwajalein Atoll, the main naval and aviation base of the Japanese army.

Unlike the Battle of Tarawa, the bombing of the Marshall Islands added a highlight. This highlight is Zhang Chiti's suggestion to occupy the island and use artillery to suppress the Japanese artillery.

Under normal circumstances, each artillery regiment of the US military has three howitzer battalions equipped with 105 mm M2A1 howitzers, plus one M1A1 howitzer battalion equipped with 155 mm guns.

However, at this time, the US Navy knew that if the Japanese fortifications used to bomb the island were to be effective, they must use large-caliber artillery, so they replaced all the 105-mm howitzers with 155-mm caliber before the attack.

The M1A1 howitzer of 155 mm caliber can fire 43 kg of ammunition to a distance of 15 km, which can damage Japanese fortifications and provide fire support and cover for the landing force, and its effect is even much better than that of warships and warplanes.

(To be continued.) )