As a matter of fact, the US military has already detected some signs of irregularities in the Japanese Combined Fleet. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

After all, at this time, the US military has a large number of submarines in the waters controlled by the Japanese army to carry out the task of attacking transport ships, and these submarines are very scattered, and there are always a few submarines that will be lucky and collide with the Japanese warships that are gathering in the direction of the Mariana Islands.

For example, the American submarine Exocet spotted a Japanese fleet in the San Bernardino Strait; Another U.S. submarine, the USS Seahorse, also spotted another Japanese fleet near Mindana'e in the northern part of the Surigao Strait in the Philippines, and both fleets were heading in the direction of the Mariana Islands.

That's the benefit of submarine reconnaissance...... If it was aerial reconnaissance, the Japanese lookouts would see the slightest shadow of the aircraft from afar, and the fleet would temporarily change course in order to confuse the reconnaissance planes and make it impossible for the enemy to know the purpose of the fleet.

In this respect, the Japanese are indeed stronger than the Americans, and the Americans rely more on radar, so although the lookout sometimes works, compared to the Japanese lookout, it is one in the sky and one in the ground.

But if it's a submarine reconnaissance...... It was obvious that its course was exposed, because the Japanese were driving without spotting the submarine in the vicinity (and if they did, they would have been driven away by destroyer bombing).

It should be said that it is clear that the Japanese will commit the Combined Fleet in the battle for the Mariana Islands.

However, this information did not attract the attention of the US Navy, on the grounds that the submarine did not find an aircraft carrier in these warships......

It should be said that this statement does have its truth, because at this time, both the US and Japanese forces are very clear about the significance of air supremacy in naval warfare, and if a fleet is not covered by aircraft carriers, it is basically no different from committing suicide on the front line.

Therefore, Vice Admiral Raymond, commander-in-chief of the US Fifth Fleet, believes that this may be just an action of the Japanese army to protect the transportation line, after all, the US Navy's submarines have gained a lot during this period, which has put great pressure on Japan's maritime transportation.

But in fact, these Japanese warships were not without the cover of aircraft carriers...... Rather, the aircraft carrier formation, escorted by a handful of light cruisers and destroyers, followed far behind.

The Japanese army's tactical thinking is to use the island airfield as a transit station, so the aircraft carrier actually does not need to drive to the front line at all, and even if it drives to the front line, it can keep a distance from the US aircraft carrier, and use the island airfield to mobilize fighters to fight a "non-contact war" with the US military.

As a result, the Japanese Combined Fleet sailed toward the Mariana Islands without the US Navy being caught off guard, and finally reached the target sea area after a whole night of high-speed sailing. (Sailing at high speed at night can avoid the fleet being discovered by the enemy)

At 4:20 a.m. on the 19th, Vice Admiral Jizaburo Ozawa, commander of the Japanese Third Fleet, ordered the reconnaissance unit to conduct reconnaissance for the last time.

This reconnaissance was decisive because it could determine the specific location of the enemy and the target, so as to facilitate the Japanese to carry out accurate strikes on the target.

Then the information continued to pass to Ozawa Jizaburo like snowflakes.

Jizaburo Ozawa was pleased with this information, because the positions of the US fleets had hardly changed compared to the previous day. This means that the U.S. military has not noticed that the Japanese Combined Fleet has approached at all, otherwise the U.S. Navy would have changed its formation and come to meet the battle.

"Your Excellency, Lieutenant General!" At this time, the staff officer reminded Ozawa: "It's already dawn!" ”

The staff officer means that he can carry out an attack.

But Ozawa Jizaburo hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Order, postpone the attack!" ”

"Your Excellency Lieutenant General......" Staff Officer looked at Jizaburo Ozawa in surprise: "Why postpone?" It's the best time to sneak up! Time delay...... If you are spotted by an enemy submarine or reconnaissance plane, you will lose this opportunity! ”

"The enemy won't find out about us!" Jizaburo Ozawa replied: "They didn't know that we were coming, and they were concentrating on bombing and attacking the islands with all their might, so the reconnaissance force was very weak, and we were very little exposed!" On the other hand, this is not a very good time to attack, the enemy slept last night, and at this time he is in good spirits, and he has not yet launched a day's offensive, and when our fighters fly over their heads, they can calmly organize the defense. ”

Jizaburo Ozawa paused, then continued: "But...... If we delay the attack by a few hours, the situation is completely different. The enemy has already attacked the island several times back and forth, the fighters are in a tense dispatch, and the flight deck is still full of bombers, and our sudden arrival will definitely make them feel at a loss! ”

"Yes!" When the staff officer heard this, he couldn't help but be deeply impressed by the commander's resourcefulness, and immediately passed on the order to refrain from attacking.

At this time, Zhang Chi and John had no idea that the Japanese Combined Fleet was approaching the Mariana Islands, let alone that their seventh detachment had been locked on by the Japanese as the main target.

At this time, the seventh detachment was advancing towards Tinian Island under John's orders...... At this time, it was actually past the "fifty kilometers of advance" that John had previously said, but John still did not give the order to stop the advance, because he felt that it was not close enough, and John felt that it was ...... The only thing that the Japanese army can threaten the US fleet is artillery, and it is impossible for artillery to hit such a distance of 100 kilometers, so pushing forward a little further can increase the bombing efficiency exponentially, so why not?

It was only then that Zhang Chi received the aerial photos sent by John...... John didn't think this was a very important thing, on the other hand, aircraft were needed to send photos between aircraft carriers, and at this time it was a time when the planes were nervously scheduled, so the matter of sending photos was put aside by John for the time being.

After Zhang Chi received these photos, his face changed greatly before he could see a few of them, and then he quickly dialed John's phone.

"General!" Zhang Chi said in a serious tone: "I don't think we should continue to move forward, but prepare for defense!" ”

"What?" John incredulously asked rhetorically, "Defense?" Defend against whom? ”

"Japanese planes!" Zhang Chi replied: "I guess they are most likely planning a large-scale attack!" ”

"That's impossible!" John laughed: "Our bombers are flying around the islands and dropping bombs everywhere, but we have never found any Japanese fighters to intercept them!" ”

Zhang Chi took one of the photos and said: "Although there are no planes on the island, there is an airport...... If you look closely at the photos, you'll notice that some places are always obscured by smoke! Elsewhere, it looms, and judging by the shape and extent of the smoke, it is likely to be an airport, and there are four ...... If there was no offensive plan, why did the Japanese cover the airfield with smoke? ”

(To be continued.) )