The "Dafeng" aircraft carrier is an aircraft carrier with a full load displacement of more than 34,000 tons that has only been in service for three months, and this displacement is even more than 1,000 tons heavier than the "Xianghe," which is called the "ideal fleet aircraft carrier," that is, the "Pinghai" in the hands of the Chinese Navy. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

However, this does not mean that the "Dafeng" can carry more carrier-based aircraft than the "Xianghe......

Unlike other Japanese naval aircraft carriers, the "Taiho" is prepared to undertake to support other aircraft carriers in the fleet, and does not take the number of aircraft on board as the highest priority, but puts the ship's protection in the first place, and focuses on improving its defense capability.

To put it simply, when the Japanese Navy built this aircraft carrier, it took into account that it might lose air supremacy in the Pacific theater, so the aircraft carrier was likely to be heavily bombed by the US Air Force...... Prior to this, because the Japanese army was very confident in its "Zero" fighters, the armor of the aircraft carrier was very weak, and a large amount of weight was used to load the carrier-based aircraft and fuel supply to the maximum extent, so that in actual combat, only one aerial bomb would make the Japanese aircraft carrier lose its combat effectiveness.

With this in mind, a considerable part of its displacement is used for protective armor, such as 75 mm thick armor on the flight deck, and 20 mm special steel plates under it, which can resist the bombardment of 500 kg of bombs. Under the waterline, protective armor with an inclined arrangement was also added.

This is also the reason why the "Taiho" was selected as the flagship by Jizaburo Ozawa, and at the same time, the "Daiho" was hit by a torpedo by the US military, but it was not a major problem, but it was only an oil and gas leak.

However, the focus at this time is far from being as simple as oil and gas spills...... Jizaburo Ozawa soon realized that his fleet could be in unprecedented danger.

The fact that the US submarines had already fired torpedoes at their flagships meant that the US military certainly knew the location of the main force of the Japanese Combined Fleet; on the other hand, the US military had a large number of new fighters, and these new fighters proved to have an overwhelming superiority over the Japanese "Zero" fighters in the morning battle. In other words, the more than 200 fighters left by the Japanese army can be said to be almost worthless in front of the new fighters of the US military.

So...... The U.S. military will certainly take advantage of this opportunity to attack the Japanese Combined Fleet in a big way.

As soon as he thought of this, Jizaburo Ozawa couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat, so he immediately ordered: "Order, all ships turn around and sail to the second attack position!" ”

The reason why the order was to sail to the second attack position instead of returning north was because Ozawa Jizaburo was still unwilling to admit defeat, and he wanted to rely on the few fighters he had to launch a new round of attack on the American fleet again.

"Your Excellency, Lieutenant General!" The staff officer reminded: "The 'Dafeng' is still under emergency repair......

"There's no time!" Jizaburo Ozawa ordered: "Repair while sailing!" ”

"Yes!"

So the "Dafeng" dragged the hull of the ship that was leaking oil and gas...... If this is not done, it will almost mean that the entire fleet will accompany the "Dafeng" in place and wait for the US fighters to come and bomb it. Or the Japanese army can also leave the "Dafeng" alone, but how can the Japanese army, which is seriously lacking in materials and equipment, be willing to abandon the aircraft carrier, which does not seem to have much problem and has combat effectiveness, and the "Dafeng" at this time is also loaded with 75 fighters...... There were 27 ships in battle, 27 in ship explosion, 18 in attack and 3 reconnaissance aircraft.

So, on the surface, Ozawa's order is still right, and he only has this choice at this time.

And the "Dafeng" sailed with injuries and it didn't seem to be a problem at all...... The speed was still able to reach a relatively ideal 30 knots, so Ozawa almost forgot about the injury of the "Taiho".

As a result, five hours later, another explosion suddenly came from the "Taiho", and the shock of this explosion threw Ozawa, who was resting in bed, down.

"Bastard!" Ozawa scolded: "Damn American ghost animals! ”

Ozawa thought that it was another torpedo fired by an American submarine that hit the "Taiho", but he soon learned that the situation was much more serious than he thought.

"Your Excellency, Lieutenant General!" The staff officer ran in in a panic and reported: "The front of the bow of the ship...... There was an explosion due to an oil leak! ”

This should be an inevitable result, oil and gas leaks have not been repaired in time, aircraft carrier voyages have exacerbated the spread of oil and gas, and these diffused oil and gas are still enclosed in the hull, and the concentration is getting higher and higher...... The slightest spark can cause an explosion.

"What?" At this time, Ozawa realized that the oil and gas leakage problem had not been solved.

In fact, this is also because the staff officer sympathizes with Ozawa's hard work in commanding the operation, so he thinks that there is no need to bother the lieutenant general for a small problem like an oil and gas leak, and it is enough to find the location of the leak in private and then solve it, who would have thought that the final result would be like this......

Ozawa was about to get angry, but he didn't expect another explosion, and the violent concussion knocked Ozawa and the staff officer down again...... This time it was more serious because the oil and gas explosion detonated the former ammunition depot.

"Your Excellency, Lieutenant General!" The staff officer shouted, "Please move quickly!" ”

Ozawa could only sigh and bow his head.

Then Ozawa hurriedly moved to the heavy cruiser "Haguro". It didn't take long for the "Dafeng" to sink into the sea in the sight of all the Japanese officers and men, and along with the "Dafeng" it sank to the bottom of the sea, along with more than 600 Japanese troops and more than 70 warplanes. One by one, the Japanese officers and soldiers stood on the side of the ship and watched quietly, and then one by one silently took off their military caps.

This was not only the sinking of an aircraft carrier, but also the hope of the Japanese army to defeat the enemy, and it also represented the collapse of the Japanese Combined Fleet.

Afterwards the evaluation of the "Dafeng" incident...... Jizaburo Ozawa clearly made a serious mistake in command.

The reason is that at this time, the most precious thing for the Japanese army should be fighters and not aircraft carriers...... After the Battle of the Marianas, the Japanese army had many aircraft carriers but did not have enough fighters to do carrier-based aircraft, and the aircraft carrier without carrier-based aircraft was even stronger than the destroyer, and the reason why it was said to be stronger was because it had many anti-aircraft guns on it that could still be used. So the Japanese even used aircraft carriers as decoys.

Therefore, after Ozawa knew that the "Taiho" was injured, the most important thing he should do was to transfer the fighters and personnel to other aircraft carriers and abandon the "Daiho...... It is indeed a treasure when there are carrier-based aircraft, but when there is a serious shortage of carrier-based aircraft, it is just an iron lump, and it is not worth the carrier-based aircraft and other ships and personnel to accompany this iron lump to adventure together.

However, the stubborn character of the Japanese, or the cost and habitual thinking of the aircraft carrier, affected Ozawa's judgment, and eventually caused a huge loss that outweighed the loss. (To be continued.) )