While Yamamoto Isoroku was preparing for the "Operation I" plan, Halsey also deployed defenses on Kuah Island because of Zhang Chi's suggestion.

Of course, this defense was against the air, because it was obvious that the Japanese navy no longer dared to invade the waters of Kuah Island, and the Japanese army did not benefit at all.

The first thing to be deployed is, of course, a radar, and one equipped on Kuah Island is a CXAM-type radar.

Good guy, Zhang Chi thought that this radar was just a gadget, because in modern times, he saw too much of the kind of radar that runs around with a car, so he thought that the radar of this era was also like this...... Unexpectedly, it was a big thing of more than 2,000 kilograms, and it could not be transported with the equipment of the US military on Kuah Island, so it had to be disassembled and then assembled, which took a large number of US military technicians three days.

Later, I heard Smith say that if it was a more advanced SC type anti-aircraft radar, it would be lighter, only about half the weight of the CXAM type radar. But this new, lighter radar is definitely more suitable for installation on warships...... Warships need to free up some weight to transport supplies or whatever, and Kuah Island has basically no requirements for radar weight.

What's more, in fact, it is not very important whether Kuah Island is equipped with radar, on the one hand, because Kuah Island has "coastal monitors" to cooperate, and Australia and even many small islands in the Solomon Islands have "monitors" deployed by the US military to the Australian military, and they can provide early warning for Kuah Island in a timely manner.

On the other hand, many warships of the US Navy are equipped with radars, and they can also issue warnings to Kuah Island.

However, thanks to Torda, Kuah Island has been equipped with generators since then, and electric lights have been hung in the soldiers' dormitories, and they have finally escaped the living conditions of primitive people.

Second, Halsey transferred more than 20 destroyers and two cruisers into two fleets to patrol the waters around Kuah Island day and night, and when he had time, he would also conduct exercises with the "Cactus" air force to temper in the cooperation between the air force and the navy's warships.

Arguably. The US Navy is fully prepared on Kuah Island.

It was only 12 days before Kuah Island was equipped with radar, and the radar came into play.

At noon that day, Zhang Chi, Pete and other officers enjoyed lunch...... At this time, the lunch on Kuah Island was no longer like before, except for canned food and compressed biscuits, and the officers could already eat fresh vegetables and fruits after meals. Not only that, the sappers also built wooden houses on the island for the use of the troops, which naturally included dormitories, hospitals, bathhouses, etc. It's like a base.

Zhang Chi still felt quite awkward about this, because junior officers and soldiers did not have such treatment at present. However, think about it, Kuah Island is an island after all, and it is not easy to transport supplies from Australia, which is thousands of nautical miles away, and the small number of middle and senior officers can barely guarantee it, and if junior officers and soldiers also want such food, it will be too difficult for the US Navy.

At this time, suddenly a signal soldier ran to Zhang Chi and reported: "Tuanza, the radar unit has sent news. Spot the enemy swarm! ”

Zhang Chi couldn't help but be stunned, and immediately stood up and shouted: "The enemy is attacking, all return to the combat post!" ”

"Yes!" In the cafeteria, both Chinese and American officers threw down their utensils and hurried out of the canteen.

"The location of the enemy swarm?" At this time, Zhang Chi returned to the first sentence of the conductor.

"Two fleets in the northwest and northeast!" Staff Officer Liang searched for a while on the map, then marked two dots on the map and said, "Da Yi is here, about a hundred kilometers away from us!" ”

"Hmm!" Zhang Chi nodded.

Based on a rough calculation of the time, the Japanese Zero War cruising speed was roughly 300 kilometers per hour. Then a hundred kilometers will take twenty minutes.

"Immediately transfer the information to the fleet and ask them to cooperate with our air defense!" Zhang Chi ordered: "At the same time, order all fighters to take off and intercept!" ”

"Yes!"

One after the other, orders were issued. The warships and warplanes on Kuah Island swarmed in the direction of the Japanese fighters......

This is the difference between having a radar and not having it...... Kuah Island, which has radar, can be said to know the situation of the incoming Japanese army very clearly, but the Japanese army knows nothing about Kuah Island.

In this situation of intelligence asymmetry, the Japanese army was doomed to suffer another crushing defeat.

This time, the Japanese army sent a total of 200 sorties, and they were divided into two groups of 100 planes each.

Their goal is still Kuah Island Airport, hoping to destroy as many American fighters as possible...... However, this strategic goal has become a fantasy in the face of the radar of the US military.

Smith sent one hundred and twenty planes, divided into two groups of sixty, and met them.

Although the number of sorties of US fighters was less than that of the Japanese army, the US fighters fought at home and were also clear about the location of the Japanese fleet...... Smith even used the planes separately. The 60 planes of each batch were divided into three parts, each with 20 planes, and these three parts were waiting for the Japanese fleet at high places in different sections and directions.

Then, when the Japanese aircraft group appeared, they drove the fighters to dive down and hit them fiercely, and then quickly left the battlefield.

As a result, the Japanese aircraft group was ambushed by the US military all the way, and when it flew over Kuah Island, it was attacked by US warships and fighters. In the end, only a dozen bombers were able to break into the airspace of Kuah Island and drop bombs over Henderson Airport.

However, as usual, wounded Japanese fighters continued to crash into US Navy warships...... This group of Japanese troops will not hesitate at all, because Kuah Island is more than 1,000 kilometers away from Rabaul, which has reached the limit of the range of Japanese fighters, so once the Japanese fighters are damaged, it means that they will definitely not be able to return to Rabaul, so it is better to die at sea than to drive the fighter plane into the enemy ship and die with the enemy.

So, in this battle, the Japanese still sank an American destroyer, an oil tanker and a frigate.

The price paid by the Japanese was the destruction of 59 fighters.

However, what is interesting is that after returning home, the Japanese pilots told Yamamoto Isoroku that they had sunk one US cruiser and 18 transport ships, shot down more than 130 US warplanes, and bombed the US airfield beyond recognition, and could not continue to use it for some time to come.

False reporting of battle results was quite common among the Japanese army at this time, because they needed to anesthetize themselves with victory, and they also needed to use victory to anesthetize the common people at home, such as the Japanese navy after the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Midway, still singing a triumphant song and posing as a victory to return to port......

However, what is even more interesting is that Yamamoto Fifty-six actually believed in this result, which cost him his life.

(To be continued.) )