Saipan (Tokyo) time, 5:10 a.m. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

In the Pacific Ocean, 150 nautical miles east of Guam-Saipan, the aircraft carrier "Enterprise".

Halsey looked up at the sky, which was still dark. It's near the equator, and the hours of day and night are very even, with 5:10 a.m. just before dawn arrives.

However, Halsey did not intend to wait any longer, he waved his hand sharply and ordered: "Turn on the lights and let the carrier-based aircraft take off now!" ”

"Lieutenant General, we are now in the sentry circle of Saipan, and it is very likely that there are Japanese reconnaissance planes active......"

"Afraid of what?" Halsey interrupted the staff officer with a wave of his hand, "I have 5 aircraft carriers and more than 400 commonly used aircraft in my hands, how many planes can I have on Saipan?" ”

Pearl Harbor has only 400 commonly used aircraft, and no matter how important Saipan is, it can't be compared with Pearl Harbor. Moreover, Japan is not as generous as the United States, how many years has it taken to hold back about 3,000 commonly used aircraft, how can it be willing to put 400 in a place like Saipan?

"And," Halsey continued, "the Japanese aircraft carriers are attacking Pearl Harbor, and there are no Japanese aircraft carriers near Guam-Saipan at all." So we're invincible here! ”

Halsey's personality is a bit reckless, but to be able to become the most outstanding naval commander in the world, he certainly has a few brushes. With a simple analysis, we can speculate on the comparison between friend and foe near Saipan.

"Lieutenant General, are we going to go back to Pearl Harbor immediately after we bomb Saipan?"

Halsey shook his head and said, "We're 3,000 nautical miles from Pearl Harbor, and we can't get there with our wings." At such a distance, it will take 6-7 days for the fleet to walk in a straight line. The Japanese couldn't have stayed that long near Hawaii unless they wanted to occupy Hawaii. But here's ...... Impossible! ”

"If we don't go back to Pearl Harbor, where are we going?"

"A trip to the Marshall Islands," Halsey said after a moment's thought, "the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor must have been part of a larger offensive plan." And the goal of this huge offensive plan should be to gain sea supremacy over the entire Pacific region. I think Guam, Midway, and Wake Island, which are important islands in the Pacific Ocean, must have been something that the Japanese wanted to seize from the beginning. Our bombing of Saipan could crush the Japanese army's attempt to seize Guam, and the bombing of Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands could also thwart the Japanese army's attempt to occupy Wake Island. Maybe you can even attract Japanese aircraft carriers to the Marshall Islands for a decisive battle! ”

Under Halsey's orders, all five U.S. aircraft carriers turned on their deck lights at 5:15 a.m. on December 8 (Tokyo time) and began to release carrier-based aircraft with the help of lights.

On December 8, it was clear that at 6:30 a.m., on the island of Saipan, which was about to be next to each other. Major General Tomitaro Horii (Rear Admiral), commander of the Nankai Detachment of the Japanese Army, and Rear Admiral Atsushi Kasuga (Rear Admiral), commander of the Guam Raider Force, were discussing the operations to begin at the headquarters.

The two Japanese devils were in a very good mood, the news of the victory at Pearl Harbor had just arrived, and the home port of the US Pacific Fleet had now turned into a hell of a nose. It seems that the supremacy of the Pacific Ocean is in hand!

And for the two of them, the next task that needs to be completed is extremely easy, which is to occupy Guam with overwhelming force superiority.

According to reliable intelligence, the total strength of the US military in Guam is only 550-750 troops, and a considerable number of them are indigenous soldiers in Guam, and they have no combat effectiveness at all. In addition, there are four US warships, three patrol boats, and one small oil tanker stationed in Guam.

The strength of the Imperial Japanese Army was very powerful, with 4,886 men and horses, infantry, cavalry and artillery. The Navy has invested 21 ships, including a 4,000-ton laying ship (with mine-laying, supply, anti-submarine and other functions), four destroyers, one 6,800-ton special water engine carrier, and eight other special destroyers and sea sweepers. In addition, there are four heavy cruisers in the waters north of Saipan that are ready to come for reinforcements.

Rear Admiral Atsushi Kasuga, who once served as the captain of the battleship "Mutsu," said with confidence: "There was no problem in the first battle of Guam, and now even if the Americans send a battleship to reinforce it, the navy can completely cope with it!" ”

He did not yet know that the Americans sent 5 aircraft carriers......

Major General Tomitaro Horii also boasted along the way: "Even if there are 10,000 U.S. troops on Guam, the 5,000 elites of this officer will definitely wipe out one of them!" ”

"Huh? What is this sound? Major General Tomitaro Horii's ears were pointed, and he suddenly heard a familiar "buzzing" sound, and it was getting louder and louder, but he couldn't remember what it was for a while.

"It's the sound of an airplane!"

"Buzz ......" Kasuga Atsushi reacted quickly, but as soon as he said it, he felt that something was wrong. No, it's only six o'clock, and Saipan's plane hasn't taken off yet! ”

"Could it be an enemy plane sent from Guam?" Major General Tomitaro Horii's face changed slightly, but he was still quite calm on the whole, and he smiled faintly, "The Americans reacted quite quickly, but what kind of threat can a few planes on Guam become......"

Before he could finish his words, a piercing air raid siren sounded outside, and then the office door was slammed open, and a young naval lieutenant surnamed Hefu appeared in the doorway, his face full of panic.

"What's going on?" Because it was someone from the navy who came, Rear Admiral Atsushi Kasuga asked with a frown.

"Air raids! Air raid! Lieutenant Hefu shouted.

"Baga!" Rear Admiral Kasuga looked at the lieutenant who had only graduated from the naval academy for a short time with disdain, "What are you panicking about?" How many American planes are still afraid of the emperor's samurai? ”

"Commander," shouted Lieutenant Hefu, stomping his foot, "not just a few, but at least 100 enemy planes!" Covering the sky and the sun! ”

At least 100? How is this possible! The United States doesn't have that many planes in Guam!

Two Japanese generals hurried out of their headquarters with a question mark on their heads. The headquarters of the Japanese army on Saipan was directly opposite the port, and the airfield on Saipan was about five or six kilometers to the south. When Tomitaro Horii and Atsushi Kasuga rushed out of the headquarters, the sound of explosions was already heard from the direction of the airport.

Tomitaro Horii and Atsushi Kasuga hurriedly took the binoculars from their adjutant's hand and looked into the southern sky. I only saw hundreds of small single-engine planes painted in dark blue, flying towards me in groups, and some small planes that looked like SBD Dreadnoughts were also in a formation of diving and bombing, which should be bombing the airfield on Saipan.

Before the two Japanese generals could react, most of the American planes had already passed over their heads and pounced on the 21 ships docked on the pier.

"Baga!" Kasuga Atsushi immediately knew what these evil American planes were going to do. "They're going to bomb my fleet!"

Major General Kasuga now wants to die, that's at least 100 planes, and he recognizes SBD dive bombers and TBD torpedo bombers among them! Even the battleship "Mutsu" is now parked in the port of Saipan, and it cannot withstand so many aircraft bombing. Moreover, he now has only 4 small destroyers and 2 large and useless laying boats and seaplane carriers in his hands.

However, Rear Admiral Kasuga Atsushi is really looking for a place to stroke his belly now, and he can't save his small fleet. Although the American carrier-based pilots are not very skilled in dropping bombs and mines at present, the forces that Halsey is now using to attack Saipan are not at all capable of a small Japanese fleet that does not even have light cruisers, and this small fleet is still in a state of stalling and anchoring.

At around 6:20 a.m. (Tokyo time), the SBD Dreadnought dive bomber, which had taken off from the "Enterprise", was the first to make a successful move, dropping two 500-pound armor-piercing bombs on the 6,800-ton special sea-plane carrier "Saikawa Maru". The mothership, which carried six small seaplanes (3 Zero and 3 Zero) had no armored deck at all, and one of the two 500-pound bombs came in from the top of the bridge amidships, exploded inside the bridge, killing a large number of officers on board, including the captain, first officer, and second officer. The other one ran all the way from the stern seaplane deck to the bottom cabin, then blew up the keel, and opened a large hole in the bottom of the ship, and the sea water rushed in, and a few minutes later, with a strange "crunch, crunch" sound from the hull, the "Shengchuan Maru" suddenly broke in two, and then sank to the bottom of the sea with more than 100 sailors and more than 500 army officers and men (who were preparing to land on Guam), and finally less than 30 people were rescued.

Another minute later, the TBD "Destroyer" torpedo bombers that took off from the "Saratoga" dropped five torpedoes on another large ship in the port of Saipan, the "Tsugaru", two of which hit the starboard side of the "Tsugaru", and in less than five minutes, the 4,000-ton ship capsized to the right and sank into the sea. There were more than 500 sailors and army officers and men on board, and only 23 survived.

Subsequently, the four destroyers in the harbor, the "Kikuzuki," the "Yuzuki," the "Utsuki," and the "Haku," were attacked by US dive bombers and torpedo bombers, with the "Kikuzuki" and "Yuzuki" each hit a 500-pound bomb, while the "Utsuki" suffered a torpedo, and only the "Haku" was lucky enough to avoid the attack.

However, for the Japanese forces in Saipan, any luck was apparently only temporary, because the more than a hundred American planes attacking Saipan now were only the first attack wave sent by Lieutenant General Halsey, and the second attack wave consisting of almost the same number of planes would soon come! (To be continued.) )