The battle began sharply at five o'clock in the morning. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

The first to fire was the Japanese Navy...... Major General Naoto Ohara led a detachment from the Philippine waters to the waters of Iwo Jima and entered the battle.

This fleet includes 1 mixed aviation battleship, 3 light cruisers, 8 destroyers and two tankers, as well as 1 transport ship.

One of the new gadgets is the hybrid aviation battleship...... The so-called hybrid aviation battleship refers to a battleship that has both battleship and aviation functions, which was not available before, because Japan, including the United States, has pursued a policy of "cannon giants" to a considerable extent, and this "cannon giants" refers to battleships, that is to say, the importance of battleships in the fleet is in the first place, and of course it will not be changed.

But...... As the war heated up, both warring sides fully realized the importance of aircraft carriers, while battleships, which were originally in an important position, became chicken waki.

The reason why I say chicken waki, because the battleship is a thing that allows it to participate in battle...... Its firepower is basically not brought into play, what is the use of a big gun and a big ship? It was not yet the target of the enemy's bombers, and the whole battle was almost a bit of use for anti-aircraft guns, and the naval guns could not find the target if they wanted to.

Let the battleship escort the convoy, a slower battleship is really not as good as a destroyer with a smaller tonnage and more agility.

Conversely, if the battleship was sunk, it would have been a heavy loss. The heavy losses here refer to the cost, and the cost of battleships at this time was generally higher than that of aircraft carriers, for example, the "Yamato" battleship cost as much as 120 million yen, while the cost of the "Shozuru" aircraft carrier was only 80 million yen.

So, it soon became clear to everyone that the battleship was a flashy thing, and that it didn't have much to do on the battlefield.

Of course, this is not to say that it is completely useless, such as in a naval battle between the enemy and our two armies with pure warships...... However, this kind of naval battle is rare, and even the Battle of Iron Bottom Bay is because the fighters cannot fight at night. For example, the giant cannons on battleships can also provide strong support for troops on shore...... However, if the battleship is to be reduced to the use of artillery, it can only be said to be a kind of sadness.

On the other hand, the Japanese are not as generous as the Americans.

The Americans also had battleships, but the Americans did not lack resources and money, and they knew that the battleship was useless, so they tried to use it as a command ship, or let it be decommissioned or even used as an ornament.

But Japan lacks resources and money, and it is simply their life to let them retire or use so many things that cost so much money and so much fine steel as decorations.

So the Japanese thought left and right, wondering if they could convert this battleship into an aircraft carrier.

It is unrealistic to completely change the battleship, because the construction period of completely changing the battleship into an aircraft carrier is too long, and at this time the battle situation is tight, I am afraid that the enemy has already hit the Japanese mainland before the battleship is completed. At the same time, they were reluctant to let the Japanese dismantle all the huge cannons on the battleships.

Therefore, it was decided to make a half-change, that is, to remove the two main turrets at the rear of the hull, and use the free space to build a 70-meter-long flight deck and a hangar for nine aircraft.

As a result, the unprecedented type of ship in the navies of the world...... Aviation battleships turned out to be born.

This air battleship looks great on the surface, with both battleship armor and huge guns and up to 22 carrier-based aircraft (note: 13 fighters can be parked on the deck of an air battleship, and 9 fighters can be loaded in the hangar), and its air combat capabilities are almost equivalent to that of a light aircraft carrier.

But in fact, it is a "four-like" battleship.

Let's say it's a battleship, and it doesn't have the firepower of a battleship...... The two main turrets were dismantled, and a lot of space had to be freed up for hangars and carry the fuel and shells needed for the fighters.

Let's say it's an aircraft carrier, but it can't directly recover fighters...... The length of its deck is only 70 meters, which is simply not enough for warplanes to land on it. This is also the reason why most aviation battleships can only carry "Ruiyun" water fighters, which can land on the water and then be transferred back to the aviation battleship with a crane.

As for the "comet" bomber on board the air battleship, it is completely similar to the kind of suicide fighter that has no return, that is, it has no intention of coming back from the moment it flies out.

However, it is very suitable to use this kind of air battleship to reinforce Iwo Jima.

The air battleship brought by Naoto Ohara was the "Ise", which had just been renovated in the shipyard and was ready to test its skills in Philippine waters. But before he could really fight, he was brought back to reinforce Iwo Jima.

Naoto Ohara was still quite suspicious of this, because he felt that a true warrior should be able to face the strongest enemy, so he always hoped to take the "Ise" to fight the American fleet to the death.

However, when Naoto Ohara saw the plan to reinforce Iwo Jima and the situation between the enemy and us, he felt that this was where the "Ise" was coming.

The first is that the enemy has basically no air power.

This point, Naoto Ohara deduced based on the information given to him by Taro Shiina...... The aircraft carriers of the Chinese army have been severely damaged, and all their air power is concentrated on the airfield on Iwo Jima, as long as the intensity and density of the bombardment of the airfield are sufficient, then it is completely possible to crush the enemy's fighters in the airfield and not take off, or even destroy them in the airfield.

Then, the next time is when the "Zuiyun" water fighters on the "Ise" come into play.

At the same time, the four 356mm guns on the battleship could deal a devastating blow to the fortifications of the Chinese army on the shore, in case the Chinese army or American warships arrived to reinforce it...... That was the time for them to taste the power of the "Ise", and even when the "Ise" could use the tactics of carrier-based aircraft and warships to deal with them.

Prior to this, as the captain of the "Ise", Naoto Ohara had been conducting this kind of collaborative training.

For example, now, the "Ruiyun" water fighter plane flew over Iwo Jima and dropped a flare to point out the direction of the bombing by the Japanese fleet.

To be precise, there was also a way to point out the artillery of Kuribayashi Tadamichi's 109th Division, because the artillery fire was simultaneously dropped on the Chinese troops in the middle from both land and sea, and soon the southwest corner of Iwo Jima, the area occupied by the Chinese army, was shrouded in a cloud of smoke and dust, and even the seaplanes dropped flares could not see anything clearly.

Ohara believes that a considerable part of the Chinese army's warplanes have been destroyed, and no matter how bad it is, the No. 1 airfield should be bombed into potholes and unfit for takeoff.

(To be continued.) )