The fleet first sailed to the Marshall Islands. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

At this time, the Marshall Islands had obviously become the forward base of the Sino-American coalition, where supplies were gathered from all directions, where the marines and infantry divisions were assembled, where the fleet was also assembled, and more importantly, ...... The remnants of the Marshall Islands have not yet been cleared.

It may seem like a nuisance to be cleared of the remnants of the enemy, but sometimes a nuisance can turn into a good thing.

For example, now, these remnants of the enemy have not been eliminated to provide a good place for the Sino-US coalition forces, which is a bit like the modern so-called "adaptive training", simply put, in order to better adapt to the geography, climate and hydrology of the battlefield, often find some places with similar geographical conditions for training before the troops enter the battlefield.

To be precise, the training in the Marshall Islands is better than "adaptive training" to enable the troops to adapt to the battlefield as soon as possible, because at least the Japanese army here is still real, although the Japanese army in the Marshall Islands has basically run out of ammunition and food by now and has no power to fight back.

The Chinese fleet resupplied again at Kwajalein, and after a short stop, proceeded to a location called Gilles Island to assemble with the 7th Detachment.

When he arrived at Gilles Island, Zhang Chi learned why the detachment needed the protection of the Chinese fleet...... This detachment had a total of five escort carriers, but only four destroyers escorted it, and on average one aircraft carrier was less than one destroyer.

Later, Zhang Chi learned that there were actually three other formations like this, and they were the fifth, sixth, and seventh detachments...... Most of these three detachments were composed of escort carriers, and needless to say, they were used to bomb Guam, Saipan, and Tinian Islands, which were to be attacked.

Among them, the seventh detachment, which Zhang Chi belonged, was used to bomb the third largest island, Tinian Island.

In this battle, the focus of the US offensive was undoubtedly Guam...... Of course, this is correct, because the US military is very familiar with the environment of Guam, and it has also detected the positions of the two Japanese airfields on Guam, so Guam is a battle that must be won, and after taking Guam, it can use Guam as the basis for further development to the north.

On the other hand, because the U.S. military did not believe that the Japanese would put the Combined Fleet into the Mariana Islands campaign, it basically did not consider the threat from the sea and air...... Halsey's idea is that the main aircraft carrier detachment of the US military will take air supremacy at the first time, so that there will be basically no air threat, and the Japanese combined fleet will not be able to shrink under the condition that the US military has air supremacy, so what sea and air threat should be considered? Let the escort aircraft carrier rest assured to bomb the target island. Taking a step back, even if there is a sea and air threat, then the radar of the US military will detect them first and prepare in advance.

As a result, the U.S. military assigned most of the main aircraft carrier detachments to Guam, intending to concentrate on taking Guam as quickly as possible, and only one main aircraft carrier detachment, that is, the third detachment, was assigned to Saipan and Tinian Islands...... In the eyes of the U.S. military, the battle in these two directions was to bomb and reconnoiter first, so that the Japanese troops on Saipan and Tinian Island could not support Guam.

Of course, the US military at this time did not know...... The Japanese airfields were mainly located on Saipan and Tinian Islands, and compared with the two airfields in Guam, the two unfocused islands had a total of seven airfields, and these airfields were also the basis for the Japanese army's long-range strikes.

While the U.S. military was actively preparing for war, the Japanese army was also making various preparations.

The Japanese army called this plan of using aircraft carrier islands and airfields to coordinate "Operation A," and in this plan, the Japanese army organized the few warships of the Combined Fleet into a large number of detachments in detail...... It is also an aviation team, and it is also an aviation fleet, and there are a total of thirteen detachments such as a mine fleet and a surface fleet.

On the one hand, the reason for this is that the Japanese army's battle plan itself is very complicated, and they want to take advantage of the dual dispatch of aircraft carriers and island airfields, so they will raise various problems, such as which fighters will return to the aircraft carrier, which fighters will go to the islands, who will command them after going to the islands, and when will they fight again. Because the plan is complicated, the command and formation are naturally complicated.

On the other hand, there is the character of the Japanese, who always want to take into account every detail, which warships are responsible for laying mines, which are responsible for covering, which warships are responsible for baiting, etc......

This can be said to be a common problem of the Japanese.

As we all know, it's one thing to think about the details, it's another thing to be realistic...... The plan is carefully made, but once the battle is fought, it often does not go according to the plan or the original plan, so the more careful and detailed the plan is made, the more chaotic the actual fight, and in the end every part is like a fly without a head.

On the contrary, it is a simple plan, such as the arrangement of the US military, the main aircraft carrier is responsible for seizing air supremacy, the escort aircraft carrier is responsible for bombing, and the Marine Corps and infantry division are responsible for landing operations...... On the contrary, it is easier to execute in wartime, because everyone and every part knows what their goals are.

These are not what Zhang Chi needs to care about, what Zhang Chi needs to care about is how to protect these light aircraft carriers.

The speed is only 18 knots, and each aircraft can only intercept about 20 aircraft...... Looking at the data of these escort aircraft carriers, Zhang Chi couldn't help frowning, especially the terrible thing is that these aircraft carriers have no firepower and protection, similar to merchant ships and transport ships, and their only advantage is that they can be used for US fighters and bombers to take off and land, and the combat effectiveness of US fighters and bombers is very strong.

What Zhang Chi didn't know was that these escort aircraft carriers were ridiculed by the US military as "baby aircraft carriers", which means that because this kind of aircraft carrier is flammable, fragile, and consumable, it is as fragile as a baby that needs to be taken care of.

However, this does not seem surprising, because the construction period of these aircraft carriers is very short, and the United States has built fifty of them in just one year...... The fastest of these, the Bougainville, was built in just 76 days, and it would be a bit harsh to ask for something that left the factory so quickly to rival an aircraft carrier.

It's just that the problem now falls on Zhang Chi......

In Zhang Chi's view, the most important thing is that these aircraft carriers only have a speed of 18 knots, and the second is that they all have no radar...... This is due to the limited load capacity and electrical load of the escort carriers, which have almost reached their limits with 28 fighters and 25 20-mm guns.

It is conceivable that such an aircraft carrier detachment would be a nightmare if it was attacked by enemy fighters or warships.

(To be continued.) )