, 840 landed in the Americas Four Heavenly Techniques

March 4, 1939, 5:30 p.m., Eastern Pacific.

USS Enterprise, an American aircraft carrier.

Standing beside the railing of the ship's island, Admiral Halsey stared at the huge aircraft carrier task force beside him, and then looked down at the urgent telegram sent by Nimiz in San Diego, and took a sharp breath of salty sea breeze, and a kind of pride that the enemy would be destroyed spontaneously.

Nimitz sent this telegram to Halsey on the instructions of Admiral Leahy, Chief of Naval Operations. In the telegram, Nimitz did not urge Halsey to start a decisive battle with the Japanese aircraft carrier as soon as possible, but conveyed to the vice admiral, who is known as the "brute bull," the predicament that the United States is currently facing.

The unexpected landing of Japanese troops in Costa Rica and the sabotage of the Panama Canal disrupted the overall strategic layout of the United States at once. In order to maintain its prestige in Latin America, the United States can no longer tolerate a Japanese aircraft carrier fleet cruising off the west coast of America! Who knows if they will launch another landing war on the coastline of some Latin American country? The Panama Canal has been unusable for six months, if the South American wallgrass turns against it...... It will be difficult for the newly commissioned warships of the United States to bypass the entire South American continent and reach the west coast.

Therefore, Halsey was even more sure of his judgment: he must immediately start a decisive battle with the Japanese aircraft carriers, even if it is a lose-lose battle!

"Mr. Lieutenant General, the urgent telegram of the aircraft carrier 'Bayarn', the reconnaissance plane they sent has spotted the Japanese aircraft carrier 120 nautical miles off the coast of Nicaragua!" Strourns' voice echoed through the flagship Enterprise's operational command center. Halsey immediately strode up to Struance, took the telegram, and swept it through it at a glance. Then he walked to the chart table, and by this time, the staff officers had already marked the exact location of the Japanese aircraft carrier on the chart.

"How did the Japanese get there?" Halsey lit a cigar and took a sharp puff, his brow furrowed. "What do they want to do? Is it to threaten Mexico? ”

Mexico has not yet made it clear that it is on the side of the United States, considering that Mexico lost 2.3 million square kilometers of territory in the Mexican-American War of 1846...... Their ambiguous attitude is really worrying. If Japanese aircraft carriers were to appear near Mexican territorial waters, they would most likely refuse to be wooed by the United States in favor of neutrality.

"Perhaps, but it's more likely that the Japanese have sensed our intentions." Strøance pointed to the charts and said, "They should have guessed that Jean. The fleet commanded by Vice Admiral Sur is just a decoy, and we're making . Behind the Sur fleet once they made a . If the Sur fleet uses suicide aircraft, then we will take the opportunity to attack their aircraft carriers. That's why they're maneuvering all the way north to avoid a decisive battle with us during the day. ”

"Do they want aircraft carriers to fight at night?"

"Of course not, the Japanese may want to take advantage of this evening to make a big detour of the fleet and make a detour to our west. Then tomorrow morning, they will have a chance to spot our 3 American aircraft carriers here first. ”

Listening to Strørance's analysis, Halsey also nodded secretly in his heart, in fact, he had already guessed the intentions of the Japanese, judging from the fact that the Japanese reconnaissance plane did not take the initiative to attack after discovering the French aircraft carrier, the commander of the Japanese fleet had seen through his own deployment.

"Let's. Where is the Sur fleet? How far is it from us? ”

"They are 30 nautical miles off the coast of Costa Rica, about 100 nautical miles away from us, and at full speed we can make it in three and a half hours. The Sur fleet converged. Strøon said. Command Jean. The Sur fleet is on standby, and the whole fleet is moving at full speed. The Sur fleet approached. Halsey looked up at his watch. Strive to join them before 9 o'clock, and then go north to pursue the Japanese fleet. ”

"Sir...... Don't you have to take refuge in the deep sea tonight? What if we encounter the Japanese fleet going south? Struance reminded.

"What to do? Hit! Halsey took another puff of his cigarette and said with a smile: "According to reconnaissance, the Japanese have only 2 heavy cruisers and 4 light cruisers. And we and let. After the Sur division, there were 6 heavy cruisers and 6 light cruisers! The advantage is on our side. ”

"6 heavy cruisers!?" Strance asked, puzzled. He remembered that his fleet consisted of only three Brooklyn-class heavy cruisers.

"That's right! That's 6 ships. Halsey nodded his head and said with certainty: "The three aircraft carriers of the French can be used as heavy cruisers." Their firepower is no less than that of a heavy cruiser, and the protection is better than that of any heavy cruiser, in fact, these are three heavy cruisers with aircraft on board. And our heavy cruisers and aircraft carriers are in accordance with the radar, which has a clear advantage in night battles. If they had encountered the Japanese devil's fleet at night, they might have been able to sink one or two of their aircraft carriers. ”

……

March 5, 0:30 a.m.

Off the coast of Nicaragua.

The night is hazy, the sea is filled with a layer of mist, and the sky is full of stars reflecting the sea, rippling with the waves. The hull of the aircraft carrier Akagi, which is more than 20,000 tons, rises and falls in the waves, but there is no light shining through.

Inside the shipjima, Inoue Narumi sat on a chair with her arms crossed, closing her eyes and recuperating. Chief of Staff Kuroshima Kameto was discussing calculations with several staff officers around the charts.

By this time, Japan's First Air Fleet had turned back and was heading south along the coastline of the narrow West Coast of the Central American Corridor at a cruising speed of 19.5 knots. This route was determined by the Kuroshima Kameto and the team's staff team after careful calculations. Although the Japanese fleet, which had two of the latest Tone-class heavy cruisers and "man-operated torpedoes", was not afraid of night battles. However, as an aircraft carrier task force, fighting close combat with the enemy is always risking valuable aircraft carriers, so it should still be avoided as much as possible.

And Kuroshima and others believe that the commanders of the US and French aircraft carrier formations must have the same idea, and they will hide in the deep sea after dark, away from the Central American coastline. Therefore, the Japanese fleet seemed to be the safest to move south along the coastline......

"Report, received a telegram from the heavy cruiser USS Tone, whose radar detected an unidentified fleet 50 kilometers southwest of us!"

The voice of the communications staff officer made the air in the entire island tense. Inoue Narumi hurriedly got up and walked to the chart and asked, "How many ships does the other party have?" Are there aircraft carriers? ”

"There are more than 10 of them, and it is impossible to determine whether there are aircraft carriers or not." The communications staff officer replied.

"Your Excellency, Commander, it should be against the US-French task force with three French aircraft carriers as the core!" Kuroshima Kameto took the message from the communications staff officer, looked at it and made a judgment. "Against it there should be 1 heavy cruiser, 3 light cruisers and 11 destroyers...... What has been discovered now may only be part of it. ”

"Maybe the other side's radar spotted us first, and their aircraft carrier has been withdrawn!" Kengoro Hetofu suggested: "Please also order the aircraft carrier to retreat, let the heavy cruisers and light cruisers go to compete with each other, with our people operating torpedoes, tonight's victory will definitely belong to Japan!" ”

"Man torpedo!" The name is known as a suicide weapon. This is a suicide torpedo developed by the Japanese submarine force on the basis of the Type 93 spear torpedo, this kind of torpedo is piloted by a daredevil, and like the kamikaze aircraft, it also adopts the tactic of "one mine, one life" for "one ship". At present, Japanese heavy cruisers and light cruisers are also armed with such suicide weapons. However, this weapon has not been put into actual combat, so the United States is not aware of its existence.

"Alright," Inoue commanded, "order the captain of the heavy cruiser Tone, Takashi Kuroda, to command the heavy cruisers Tone, the heavy cruisers Tone, the Chikumo, the light cruisers Isuzu, Natori, Yura, and Kinu, and the first destroyer detachment to attack!" The rest of the ships retreated for the time being. ”

……

At the same time, on board the aircraft carrier USS Bayarn, Jean. Lieutenant General Sur took the telegram from the communications staff officer, looked at it, and took a deep breath.

"Vice Admiral Halsey ordered me to command 3 French aircraft carriers, 3 heavy cruisers, 6 light cruisers, and 16 destroyers to engage the Japanese fleet!"

"General, are the Americans going to let our aircraft carriers go to close combat with Japanese ships?" The chief of staff thought for a moment and reminded.

"It doesn't matter, our three aircraft carriers have no less protection than battle cruisers and firepower that surpasses that of ordinary heavy cruisers." Let. Sur pursed his lips and smiled, "Actually, they are designed to deal with the current situation. ”

"General, the Japanese fleet has regrouped." The voice of the radar director of the Byan rang out, "A formation of about 10 or more Japanese ships is coming towards us, and the rest of the Japanese ships are turning north, as if to avoid the engagement. ”

"General, it seems that the Japanese are already equipped with radar!"

The words of the chief of staff made Lieutenant General Suer's face solemn, and now the two sides were almost 50 kilometers apart, and it was still night. If the Japanese fleet did not have radar, it would not have been possible to find itself. Although the current radar is not a fire control radar but a search radar, it can still play a certain role in the night battle with flares, which is enough to offset the Japanese army's strong night combat training. But now the Japanese fleet is clearly equipped with radars as well! It seems that China and Germany have provided them with technology in this regard. Without the advantage of radar, I am afraid that there will be a tough battle tonight.

However, the numerical superiority of 6 heavy cruisers (including 3 aircraft carriers with strong firepower and defense), 6 light cruisers, and 16 destroyers will still ensure that tonight's victory belongs to France!

Let. A cold glint flashed in Suer's eyes, and he began to give orders for battle. "Let's form a shelling formation, with the New Orleans at the top, followed by the Astoria, the Minneapolis, the Bayarn, the Charfieu, the Belvi, the Cleveland, the Columbia, ......."

"Target, Japanese fleet, full speed ahead!"

……

"Dazuo, the enemy fleet has accelerated and is rushing towards us......"

Without waiting for the radar director to finish speaking, Koji Kuroda interrupted him and said hurriedly: "Report the size and distance of the enemy fleet again." ”

"There are about 20 or more enemy ships, of which there are 3 large ones. The distance is about 33 kilometers and the speed is about 30 knots. ”

"What? The other side has 3 large ships? The captain of the heavy cruiser Tone, Koji Kuroda, took a sharp breath of cold air. Hurriedly walked to the radar screen, staring at the two dozen green light spots that flickered on the screen, three of which were significantly larger than the rest.

It can't be a battleship! Although Japan sank eight American battleships at Pearl Harbor, the United States still had at least seven battleships, five of which are now on the west coast of North America, and French and British battlecruisers may also be sent to the west coast...... Thinking of this, a drop of sweat seeped from Kuroda's back, and the vest was wet in the blink of an eye.

Retreat, I'm afraid it's already too late! Now his fleet is only more than 30 kilometers away from the other party, even if he can't catch up all at once, he can use destroyers to bite himself, and there are 4 aircraft carriers behind him! Once they are discovered by the other party, the consequences will be unimaginable!

"Dazuo, let's use a man-torpedo to launch a decisive attack!" The first mate of the heavy cruiser Ligon reminded: "The man-operated torpedo is improved from the Type 93 spear torpedo, and it can have a range of 23,000 meters at a high speed of 30 knots!" It's night, and at this distance the enemy artillery fire poses little threat to us. We can repeatedly attack with man-operated torpedoes at a distance of 20,000 to 18,000 meters. ”

A man-torpedo, as the name suggests, is a manned torpedo! The firing accuracy of this suicide torpedo is naturally incomparable with that kind of unmanned ordinary torpedo.

"Roar! That's it. Koji Kuroda ordered loudly: "Order all kamikaze torpedo squadrons to be ready for battle!" The formation is moving at full speed and firing man-operated torpedoes at a distance of 18,000 meters! ”

……

"The distance of the Japanese ships is 20,000 meters, the speed is 30 knots, and the number is 11!"

With the shouts of the radar director, the atmosphere inside the USS Bayarn was already tense to the extreme. Everyone held their breath and waited for the Japanese fleet to come within range of their artillery.

3 New Orleans-class heavy cruisers with 27 203mm guns; 3 French aircraft carriers have 36 203mm guns, 18 of which can fire at one side. That is, let's . The fleet commanded by Sur had a total of 45 203mm guns, while the Japanese had only 2 heavy cruisers, which were 16 to 18 203mm guns at the top. Therefore, the American-French task force has an absolute advantage in tonight's artillery battle! And in terms of light cruisers and destroyers, it is also the US-French task force that has an overwhelming numerical superiority, so tonight's battle should be a sure victory, right?

Let. Vice Admiral Sur exhaled lightly, raised his binoculars and began to search for the Japanese fleet in the dark night, and at this moment he seemed to be looking forward to the upcoming decisive battle.

At this moment, a bright and dazzling ball of fire suddenly reflected in Jean. Sur's eyes. This is a flare for the Japanese? Jean who was flashed his eyes. Sur was slightly puzzled. Now the distance between the two sides is 18,000 meters! At this distance, even if you engage with 203mm naval guns during the day, the hit rate is extremely low, let alone fight at night? What do the Japanese want to do with flares so far away?

"The kamikaze members are in place! Man torpedo ready to launch ......"

Just let. Sur was surprised by the flares that the Japanese fleet had shot at the same time in a corner of the deck of the heavy cruiser Tone. The twelve members of the Kamifeng Mine Special Attack Squadron of the Ligon were already lined up in front of a specially modified torpedo launcher.

Second Lieutenant Anayama was the leader of this special attack squadron, and this young man who graduated from the Yokosuka Mine School was the first batch of officers to sign up for the kamikaze special attack team, but since he was not a pilot, he was assigned to the kamikaze torpedo special attack team, and after two months of special training, he was sent to the heavy cruiser Tone with his eleven members.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the time has finally come to be loyal to His Majesty the Emperor!" At this time, Cave Mountain burst into tears, and in the face of death, his eyes showed not fear but an indescribable excitement and excitement. He shouted loudly with all his strength: "We have been waiting for this day for more than 20 years!" Now that I can finally get my wish, the actual combat is in vain. Gentlemen, see you at Kudansaka! ”

After saying this, Anayama solemnly bowed to his teammates, then turned around, and with the help of two sailors, he got on a man-operated torpedo that had already been prepared. This torpedo has a narrow cockpit in the middle, and after entering the cockpit, kamikaze members can observe the situation outside through a periscope, look for and aim at the target. In addition, the man-operated torpedo has a simple escape device, which theoretically allows the kamikaze to escape from the man-operated torpedo at the last moment. However, due to the tight schedule, the entire Tone-kamikaze torpedo squadron, including Tone, did not learn how to use the device.

"Ready for No. 1! Launch! "With the command of the torpedo operator, Ensign Anayama and the man-operated torpedo he piloted were fired at once. And then the second kamikaze climbed up to another ready guy to the torpedo! According to Kuroda Daisa's order, in the first wave of kamikaze attacks, the 6 Japanese cruisers will each launch 6 man-operated torpedoes, for a total of 36 man-operated torpedoes, and the target is the opponent's three large aircraft carriers!

Thirty-six man-operated torpedoes swooped down on the target at a speed of 30 knots under the cover of darkness, while Japanese cruisers continued to fire flares over the US-French task force 18,000 meters away, illuminating the entire sea as if it were daylight.

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