. "Prepare for battle!" Yamamoto Isoroku shouted at the surrounding generals: "Repel the enemy!" ”

It was the habit of the Japanese soldiers, even if they organized defense, not to say "to organize defense", but to "repel the enemy", otherwise they would be considered cowardly or affect the morale of the troops.

Several generals answered, and immediately went to convey the order.

But in fact, there was no need for Yamamoto Isoroku to give an order at this time, and the Japanese junior officers were not fools, they already knew what to do next when they saw this scene, so before the order was transmitted, they ran to the anti-aircraft machine guns and anti-aircraft guns, and the pilots rushed to their planes as fast as they could.

However, it was already too late to organize defense.

As mentioned earlier, from the very beginning, Yamamoto 56 and other Japanese generals seized the two points of the long range of the Japanese Zero fighters and the fact that it would be dark after the return flight, and prepared to fight a war with the US aircraft carriers in which "only I will fight you and you will not be able to fight me." Therefore, Yamamoto 56's fleet did not make any air defense preparations at all, and the 17 battleships, cruisers, and destroyers escorted by it were scattered around the aircraft carrier in an irregular manner, and many of them even followed the aircraft carrier and could not provide cover for the aircraft carrier at all.

In the air, there were only six Zero fighters on patrol duty, and because the focus of the patrol was to the southeast of the US aircraft carrier, the US fighters had not yet discovered that the US fighters had pounced on their aircraft carriers.

Gunfire and artillery soon rang out.

For example, its two aircraft carriers, the "Zuihe" and the "Xianghe", each have 45 25MM anti-aircraft guns and 22 13.5mm anti-aircraft guns, and the two aircraft carriers add up to more than 100 anti-aircraft guns.

But even this could not stop the offensive of the "Cactus" air force...... Warplanes are weapons that operate at high speeds. Its speed and agility made it difficult to target, and it was also because of its speed that the anti-aircraft guns had no time to fire a few shots before the aircraft flew in front of them and launched a dive attack on the Japanese fleet.

With a piercing whistle, bombs fell from the sky and then smashed heavily on the Japanese warship, followed by a bang, and the warship soon burst into flames.

Of course. The main target of the "Cactus" air fleet is undoubtedly the enemy aircraft carrier...... Smith only hated that his plane was carrying machine guns instead of bombs, but he was soon surprised to find that the Japanese aircraft carriers were neatly lined up with planes, and some of them were even gliding on the runway to prepare for takeoff.

Smith shouted at his subordinates with cheers, "Kill them!" ”

As he spoke, he swooped down as soon as he swung the nose of the plane, and as rows of bullets rained down, the Japanese fighters on the aircraft carrier exploded into fireballs one after another.

However, this was only the beginning, and the bombers followed immediately after the fighters, and bombs fell from the sky and smashed directly at the Japanese aircraft carrier, and the "Zuihe" aircraft carrier was immediately blown up with black smoke and slanted to the side, losing its ability to navigate.

The condition of the "Shozuru" will be better. The reason was that it was located behind the "Zuihe," and there were seven warships in front of it that were constantly sending bullets and shells into the air to cover it, and six Zero fighters on patrol duty also arrived in time and were engaged in air combat. It's just that the carrier-based aircraft on it are still not spared...... At this time, because the "Cactus" air force had quite a large number of fighters, and the bullets carried by these fighters were armor-piercing incendiary bombs, a piece of bullets went down and the Japanese fighters on their decks were set on fire.

In the fierce melee, the US "Avenger" torpedo planes also seized the offensive position...... although the speed of the "Avenger" torpedo planes was faster than that of the bombers. But the operation of torpedo aircraft is much more complicated than that of bombers. (Note: The speed of the "Avenger" torpedo aircraft is 483 kilometers per hour, and the speed of the "Dreadnought" bomber is 410 kilometers per hour.) ）

This is not so much a problem with the US "Avenger" torpedo machine. As a matter of fact, the "Avenger" torpedo plane was a very reliable torpedo plane that had just been developed by the US military and was put into use for the first time in the Battle of Midway.

THE PROBLEM LIES WITH THE MARK 13 TORPEDOES OF THE AMERICAN ARMY...... The torpedo is fragile, it has to be dropped from a low altitude at a speed of less than 210 kilometers per hour, and not only that, but it often loses its temper: it often hits the target without exploding, or it explodes early.

As a result, the pilots of the "Avenger" torpedo planes had to take great risks, and when they reached the target, they had to reduce their speed to less than 210 kilometers per hour and had to be at a low altitude, so they became good targets for the enemy's anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns.

In the end, five of the 15 torpedo planes of the "Cactus" air force broke through the Japanese air defense network and entered the offensive position. Moreover, the target of their attack was still the Japanese "Xianghe...... This is the conscious initiative of the US pilots, who could have attacked the "Zuihe" that had already been beaten to immobility, and the "Zuihe" covered warships were fewer and easier to attack, but these pilots thought that it was more meaningful to attack the "Xianghe," so they all pointed the finger at the "Xianghe."

They were right, of course. Because the hull of the "Zuihe" was tilted at this time, although it may not be sunk, it is certain that it will not be able to accept the landing of fighters, and if the "Xianghe" is no longer able to receive fighters, then all Japanese fighters flying in the air, including those that went to attack the US aircraft carrier, will "land in the sea."

However, the Japanese also showed a spirit of sacrifice at this time, and the two destroyers saw the US torpedo planes flying from a distance, so they accelerated forward and blocked between the torpedo planes and the aircraft carriers......

With a few "booms", five torpedoes were fired, two missed, two exploded on the same Japanese destroyer, blew a large hole in the starboard side and quickly tilted it into the water, and one hit the aircraft carrier "Xianghe" behind it through the gap between the two destroyers, but unfortunately this torpedo did not explode.

Later, even Yamamoto 56 secretly rejoiced: If this torpedo exploded, I was afraid that the Japanese Navy would completely lose the sea and air supremacy of Kuah Island and even Kuah Island.

(To be continued.) )