November 2, South Pacific, Solomon Sea. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

A large Japanese fleet was rapidly moving southeast along the dotted Solomon Islands.

2 Yamato-class battleships, 2 Kongo-class battleships, 2 Eagle-class aircraft carriers, 2 heavy cruisers of the highest class, 3 Kawauchi-class light cruisers, and 9 other destroyers.

A full 20 warships, with 2 Yamato-class battleships like castle walls as the core, formed a column, mighty and cleaved forward. The majestic body and prestige of the Yamato thrilled all the sailors on deck. Coupled with the exciting victory at Port Moresby two days ago, most people now believe that the battle of Australia will be won, and that the great cause of the Japanese Empire will be completed!

Perhaps, as soon as the Yamato and Musashi appeared off Brisbane or Sydney, those timid Americans would be so frightened that they peed their pants and ran back to the American continent crying?

However, in the bridge of the battleship Yamato, the commander of the Combined Fleet, Isoroku Yamamoto, was not as optimistic as the sailors. He didn't think the American GIs guarding Sydney and Brisbane would be easily scared off - the Americans had spent 10 months fortifying their defenses, and it would have been a tough battle to capture them!

So, the Yamato and Musashi are not going to Brisbane or the sea off Sydney to scare people at all. The first target of the two Japanese super-battleships in this operation was New Caledonia, a French colony less than 1,200 nautical miles from Rabaul.

Although this New Caledonia belongs to France in terms of sovereignty, it cannot be ordered by the government of Pétain in Paris. The French colonial authorities in New Caledonia now owe allegiance to the Free French movement in exile in London.

Therefore, after the outbreak of the Pacific War, the Australian and New Zealand troops and the American army were stationed on the island successively. And as Japan pressed closer in the South Pacific, occupying the Bismarck Islands and then the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia's position became very important.

Because the island is only 1,500 kilometers away from the port of Brisbane on the east coast of Australia, if SBD dive bombers and TBF torpedo bombers are deployed on both New Caledonia and Brisbane, the British and American allies can block the Brisbane-New Caledonia shipping route and ensure the safety of the Sydney-New Zealand shipping lane.

If the Japanese Combined Fleet could not pull out or temporarily paralyze the island of New Caledonia, a nail stuck in the South Pacific, then the 1st Air Fleet, which was heading south, could not reach the Americans, would be bombed by shore-based aircraft.

Although the Japanese 1st Air Fleet, escorted by a large number of Zero aircraft, was not afraid of air attacks by British and American shore-based aircraft. But once the 1st Air Fleet is discovered by the enemy, the fleet heading for Australia may go to New Zealand for shelter until the 1st Air Fleet leaves.

Therefore, in order for the 1st Air Fleet to move south, it is necessary to first destroy the US airfield on the island of New Caledonia.

Moreover, this task cannot be completed by the 1st Air Fleet itself, but must be completed by the 1st Fleet, which will go south first. Because once the 1st Air Fleet launched an air attack, the Americans also knew that the main force of the Japanese aircraft carrier force was moving south.

Therefore, Yamamoto instructed Ugaki and Kuroshima Kameto to formulate a 1st Fleet first, first "blinding" New Caledonia (and also creating the illusion that the Japanese were about to attack New Caledonia), and then the 1st Air Fleet and the 1st Fleet went south together.

"Commander, the Yamato's teleprobe has spotted enemy aircraft, number 1." Just as Yamamoto Fifty-six was thinking about how to clean up the main aircraft carrier of the US Pacific Fleet that might appear, the voice of the captain of the Yamato, Takayanagi Yi Yadasa, suddenly sounded a little nervous.

"Oh," Yamamoto replied, "how far is New Caledonia now?" ”

"Less than 300 nautical miles," replied Kuroshima, chief staff officer of the Combined Fleet, "and now it should be the enemy's reconnaissance planes approaching." ”

"Don't let this plane get into the attack position," Yamamoto said with a smile, "and let the Americans see it if they want to." Maybe you can lure out the Americans' aircraft carrier formation! ”

Compared with New Caledonia, the main force of the US aircraft carrier is a more important target! If they can be completely annihilated, New Caledonia and mainland Australia will be the turtle in the urn.

……

"2 'Yamato' class, 2 'Kongo' class, 2 20,000-ton aircraft carriers ......"

News of the discovery of the Japanese naval fleet about 300 nautical miles northwest of New Caledonia soon reached San Diego, thousands of miles away, via airwaves.

Vice Admiral Spruance looked down at the telegram copy, frowned and said to Nimitz: "Admiral, this fleet should be going to occupy New Caledonia. ”

"Occupy New Caledonia?" Nimitz stood in front of the huge chart table, his brow furrowed slightly.

"Yes, first isolate Australia, and then attack." Spruance analyzed, "Now Port Moresby has been occupied, as have the Bismarck and Solomon Islands...... If the Japanese could occupy New Caledonia and New Zealand, then the route between the United States and Australia would be completely cut off. The Australian mainland will become an island, and the island cannot be held for long. ”

Isolated cities are hard to defend, and isolated islands are equally hard to defend.

Although there is no shortage of resources and food on the Australian continent, Australia's local industry is not developed and cannot provide the weapons and equipment needed for a long-term war. And there are not many native whites in Australia, so if you really want to be beaten by a sea of corpses and blood, it is only a matter of time before you die. So as long as Australia is trapped, whether it can be defeated is a matter of determination.

As long as you are determined, not afraid of sacrifice, and fight for ten or eight years, Australia must be Japanese!

And the determination of the Japanese has never been lacking, and they are not afraid to sacrifice them at all. So after taking New Caledonia and New Zealand, the Australian mainland will be really difficult to defend.

Moreover, it will be very difficult for the United States to fight back against New Zealand and New Caledonia. With the exception of New Caledonia and New Zealand, as well as the Australian mainland, the United States has few troops on other islands in the South Pacific, which can easily be uprooted by the Japanese one by one.

If there are no islands where they can stand to rest and recuperate, and the troops are directly allowed to board ships from the US mainland to counterattack, it is difficult to say whether the American GIs who are seasick and dizzy for 11,000 kilometers will be able to walk after getting off the ship.

"Does Admiral MacArthur know?" Nimitz asked.

Naval battles in the Pacific theater were now under the control of Nimitz, and land operations were under the jurisdiction of Admiral MacArthur, commander-in-chief of the Allied forces in the Southwest Pacific Theater, stationed in Brisbane.

"Admiral MacArthur has been informed," Spruance said, "and Admiral MacArthur believes that the route between Australia and the United States must be maintained." ”

"That's to keep New Zealand." Nimitz thought for a moment and said, "The loss of New Caledonia will only cause a serious threat to the shipping routes, but as long as New Zealand has them, we can always maintain the shipping routes." ”

"Admiral, do you want the 1st Panzer Division to go to New Zealand?"

"No, the 1st Panzer Division still has to go to Australia as much as possible," Nimitz said, "but the 1st Army Division can go to New Zealand...... The supplies carried by the FS06 fleet can also be shipped to New Zealand first. ”

"And what about New Caledonia?"

"I can only make plans to give up." Nimitz thought for a moment and asked, "Where's Halsey?" ”

"It's almost time to get to New Zealand, and we can get to the waters near New Zealand in two days at most." Spruance asked, "Admiral, do you want Admiral Halsey's fleet to attack the Japanese fleet?" ”

"Of course!" Nimitz gritted his teeth, "Of course you can't let them go!" ”

These are 2 "Yamato" (through Soviet agents, the United States learned that the name of the terrible Japanese battleship was "Yamato")! How is it possible to let it go?

"But the FS07 fleet must first reach safe waters." "Then Halsey could command Task Force 1 north for engagement." ”

Escorting the 4th Panzer Division to Australia was a very important matter, and Nimitz knew that there could be no mistake - as long as the 4th Panzer Division could reach Australia and the 1st Infantry Division and a few hundred aircraft could reach New Zealand. The battle of Australia was a good one, and even if Halsey's Task Force 1 was defeated, the situation would be maintained in the short term.

"How's the situation with the three broken formations?" Nimitz then asked about the situation of the three broken aircraft carriers.

Although it is a bit of a waste to break the diplomatic relations of the aircraft carrier, the Americans just have this capital and can win while wasting!

The current 3 broken aircraft carriers are just the beginning, and another 19 will be added in the future! At that time, unless the Japanese let the main aircraft carrier escort them, their route will never be safe.

"There were a few more attacks, but the results were much smaller," Spruance replied. "Yesterday only 2 small boats of less than 2,000 tons were blown and sunk."

Three aircraft carrier formations broke into the western Pacific, and the Japanese transport fleet, of course, was scattered, and it was impossible for them to wait stupidly for being bombed. Therefore, after the first day of the big harvest, there were no big results.

"But our submarines and camouflaged assault ships have had a good record," Spruance laughed, "and there were reports of sunken yesterday and today, and maybe six Japanese transports were sunk." ”

The three US aircraft carriers frightened the Japanese transport groups in the western Pacific Ocean into dispersing, and without the escort formation, the submarines and attack ships were naturally easy to get their hands on. In short, from the time when the three broken aircraft carriers appeared in the western Pacific, the days of Japanese transport ships were quite sad. In just a few days, the total tonnage lost was close to 200,000 tons! If such losses continue, it won't take 200,000 tons in a few days, and even if you lose 200,000 tons a month, Japan won't be able to fight! (To be continued.) )