"Prime Minister, Prime Minister, the Airborne Forces have suppressed Yamaguchi City and captured Yamanomiya Airport in Yamaguchi City!"

Less than two hours after the "bad news" of the Navy came, a senior army staff officer brought good news to Chang Ruiqing and others, who were waiting for the news in the command center of the Ministry of National Defense.

"Yamaguchi City is an empty city, there are only a few thousand Japanese Red Guards and an airport garrison of less than 500 people, the 1st Airborne Division took them by surprise and quickly suppressed the whole city, only the Yamaguchi County Party Committee building is still in the hands of the Japanese. Now that the airfield has been activated, the artillery of the follow-up 2nd Airborne Division and the 1st Airborne Division will soon be in place. Zhao Fatzi took the telegram from the staff officer's hand and laughed when he saw it.

"The Japanese counteroffensive will begin soon, right?"

"I'm afraid it's not so fast, yesterday afternoon's fake airborne landing must have disrupted their deployment, it will take time for the troops to disperse and then retract, and the transfer of troops from Ogi City, Masuda City and Nagato City to attack Yamaguchi City will have to enter a large section of mountain roads, which will easily be blocked by the troops of the 1st Airborne Division. As long as Yamaguchi City is in hand, the troops of the Japanese Western Headquarters will not be able to move, and we can eat their troops in Kyushu in one bite first, and then attack the western part of Honshu and Shikoku Island. ”

"The key is still at sea," Chang Ruiqing frowned, and his eyes fell on Chen Shaokuan, commander-in-chief of the navy: "Houfu, haven't found their capital ship yet?" ”

Chen Shaokuan shook his head: "3 Akagi level, 2 Kaga class...... I'm afraid this is the wonder soldier of Little Japan, right? He thought for a moment and said, "These 5 capital ships should not be with their aircraft carriers, otherwise Yamamoto (the Chinese don't know that it was Onishi Takijiro who commanded the Japanese aircraft carriers) would not have sent 6 heavy cruisers to engage our battle cruisers." I estimate that these 5 capital ships should be in the Pacific Ocean southeast of the Japanese archipelago. They will enter the Tsushima Strait through the Bungo Waterway and the Kanmon Strait at the right time. ”

The breakthrough of 5 capital ships into the Tsushima Strait is no joke! Moreover, the Japanese probably would not do such a thing in broad daylight, and if they broke through the Guanmen Strait at night, it would be difficult for the Chinese army to give full play to its air superiority. It was difficult to withstand three Akagi-class and two Kaga-class battlecruisers with three Cantonese-class battlecruisers.

"Since the Japanese capital ships are not with the aircraft carriers, it is better to transfer the Jiangsu and Hunan back to the Japanese task force." Zhao Zhen was also worried that the route of the Tsushima Strait would be cut off by Japanese warships, so he said: "I will arrange for a plane to lay mines in the Guanmen Strait tomorrow morning, and it should be able to block it." ”

"There is no need for this," Chen Shaokuan waved his hand and said with a smile: "Since we have guessed the Japanese army's intentions, the navy still has a way to deal with five Japanese capital ships." ”

Chang Ruiqing glanced at Chen Shaokuan and saw that the other party looked triumphant. smiled and said: "Houfu, don't sell Guanzi, how is the navy going to fight." Speak up and listen to it. ”

"Surface ships and submarines cooperate in combat, if little Japan thinks that we only have the killer feature of aircraft bombing, it is a big mistake, our underwater fleet is one of the best in the world, and after the emergence of shipborne radar. The submarine force has come up with a night ambush tactic in which surface ships and submarines equipped with radars are coordinated. It was supposed to deal with the Japanese fleet in the Straits of Malacca and Makassar. Now it's good to use it in the Tsushima Strait, and the specific way to play is like this......"

As soon as Chen Shaokuan finished speaking, Chang Ruiqing knew that this plan was feasible, and said with a smile: "Very good, it is very good that the navy can come up with such a tactic, so let's do our best to implement it." ”

"yes, let's just fight like that. Let's also fight a Tsushima naval battle with little Japan, as long as this battle can be won. The overall situation of the Battle of Kyushu was decided. Zhao Zhen also nodded with a smile. Seeing that the Minister of Defense and the Chief of General Staff both nodded in agreement, Chen Shaokuan picked up the phone and said with a smile: "The submarine force has been waiting for this day for more than ten years. Now we have more than 100 submarines, and no less than 30 of them are cruising in the Sea of Japan, the East China Sea, and the Yellow Sea. ”

"They're definitely not going to escape." Zhao Zhen slapped his face and smiled: "This time, the Great East Asia Unification War should be victorious!" I've heard people say that the taste of Japanese girls is very good, and after this time I beat Japan, I must get a little wife of the Japanese tribe to have fun for two years, and I will be content in this life. ”

By this time in the early morning of March 3, 1936, the military leaders of both China and Japan had already made up their minds to launch a decisive naval and air battle. So when the first rays of morning light fell on the Greater East Asia region and the western Pacific Ocean on March 3, millions of soldiers in China and Japan knew that a decisive moment was coming.

And this decisive battle of the General Assembly began first and foremost in the Western Pacific theater.

The flagship of China's South Sea Fleet, the aircraft carrier Zhongshan.

Feng Yundong, who had just spent a sleepless night, looked up at the sunlight shining in through the window, put down half of the breakfast in his hand, stood up and walked to the platform on the second floor of the ship island, and looked at the deck of the Zhongshan. As daylight approached on March 3, the 27,000-ton steel giant was once again the dominant maritime power of the era – a sea hegemon that showed its weakness and had to hide carefully when night fell. But now, aircraft carriers have once again become a symbol of invincibility.

Although the order to prepare for the attack was not yet given, the flight deck was already busy, and the two J-4E Dragon Eagles with folded wings were lifted onto the deck by the elevator, and the ground crew immediately pushed them to the take-off assembly point in the stern, and slowly sent a 500-kilogram armor-piercing bomb into the lower belly of the plane with a cart.

Because of the 1800 horsepower air-cooled engine, the J-4E Dragon Eagle carrier-based fighter can now be used as both a fighter and a dive bomber very calmly - in fact, the practice of letting the fighter work part-time as a dive bomber was very common in the Pacific War in history, and the American F4U and F6F both relied on the high-horsepower R-2800 engine in the cameo dive bomber. In the process of designing the J-4 series of fighters, Chang Ruiqing asked to take into account the fact that it could undertake dive bombing missions. Of course, compared with the Ju.87 Stuka specializing in dive bombing, the J-4E's dive bombing performance is still somewhat insufficient. But compared to the Japanese Type 93 shipboard critter, I don't know how many times stronger.

Seeing that the last J-4E was lifted to the deck, it was pushed to the take-off assembly point and lined up neatly, and finally the bomb was hung. Feng Yundong returned to the combat command center on the ship's island: "Did the seaplane send out?" Did the Ju.88 reconnaissance aircraft from the Taiwan base depart? ”

"The seaplane and ju.88 have long since departed." Li Zhilong, chief of staff of the fleet, replied: "A total of 36 aircraft have been dispatched, and if the commander still feels that it is not enough, a few J-4E Thunder Eagles can be dispatched." ”

"No, no, little Japan won't run away!"

Feng Yundong said with certainty: "They have now reached the time of extinction, so they will not hide, and they will definitely fight with us." Even if they are bound to lose, they will fight...... And judging from last night's battle, they may not have a chance of winning, so Yamamoto Fifty-six will definitely fight! ”

"That's right. Yamamoto's determination was already clear there when he dared to take 6 heavy cruisers to fight our 3 battle cruisers, and I also heard that Yamamoto was a famous gambler in the Japanese Navy, so he would definitely gamble on him. ”

"So. This is the best time for us to annihilate the main forces of the Japanese Combined Fleet. I reckon Yamamoto Isoroku will let us discover his fleet, and then direct us to the Philippine Islands or the Mariana Islands, and use the airfields there to release suicide planes! Feng Yundong's eyes were cold, he walked to the chart, looked at it for a while, and said, "But I will still destroy his fleet!" ”

As soon as his words fell, the communications staff officer shouted excitedly: "Sir, the seaplane has discovered the main force of the Japanese Combined Fleet!" The location is at the east longitude xx and north latitude, about 210 nautical miles away from us! ”

"Sure enough!" Feng Yundong slapped his face. sneered: "This gambler really didn't leave!" He looked at the communications staff: "How many aircraft carriers have been found?" ”

"I found 10 Canglong-class ships this time!"

"So much?" Li Zhilong silently calculated in his heart: "That is, 560 to 720 carriers, how many ships will we send to attack?" ”

"Dispatch 8 into carriers! Sue sù brethren. Hit Lao Tzu hard, don't give the enemy a chance to escape! ”

"Order the fleet to turn as soon as it completes the release of carrier-based aircraft and move at full speed in the direction of discovering the Japanese fleet!"

After the chief staff officer of the fleet left with Feng Yundong's order, Li Zhilong walked to the edge of the chart table and personally marked the location of the Japanese fleet that had just been discovered with red and blue pencils: "The Japanese fleet left the Philippine Islands about 420 nautical miles, it seems that they want to lead us over, commander, do you want to send bombers on the island of Taiwan to attack the Japanese airfield on the Philippine islands?" ”

"No, don't bomb the Philippines." Listening to Li Zhilong's construction, Feng Yundong seemed to remember something, and gave another order: "Order the ju.88 bombers at the Keelung base to attack, and the target is also the Japanese fleet that has just been discovered!" ”

"Bombing with ju.88? Wouldn't it be too dangerous? ”

"Let them use the tactics of horizontal bombing."

"Horizontal bombardment? Isn't that a waste of bombs? ”

Walking to the platform again, looking at the blue fighters covering the deck taking off one after another, Feng Yundong sneered: "There is nothing wasted, this is a fatigue tactic, carrier-based aircraft can't stay in the air all the time!" ”

……

"Comrade Commander......"

The chief of staff of Japan's First Air Fleet, Kuroshima Kameto, handed the report he got from the pilot of the cover plane to Takijiro Onishi: "We were discovered, 10 minutes ago the cover plane found a seaplane that was rioting the Navy!" ”

"...... Nishi" Onishi Takijiro squinted his eyes at Kuroshima Kameto and said with a smile: "Distressed? ”

"Sort of." The Black Island Turtle Man nodded and let out another long sigh. The 10 aircraft carriers of the First Air Fleet can be said to be the essence of Japan's Combined Fleet, and once they are sunk by the Chinese army, then more than 90 percent of the combined fleet's combat strength will be lost, and I am afraid that there will never be a day before it crisscrosses the Pacific Ocean again.

"It's nothing, there are no more aircraft carriers to rebuild." Onishi Takijiro barely squeezed out a smile: "As long as we can win the Battle of Kitakyushu and keep the hope of Japan's rejuvenation, even if the navy is completely destroyed, it will be worth it!" ”

"I understand......" The Black Island Turtle Man nodded slowly, the failure of the world revolution was inevitable! And what Japan is fighting for now is nothing more than a "conditional surrender" outcome. But conditional surrender is also surrender. Therefore, it is impossible to keep the Combined Fleet, and if it is not destroyed in this battle, it will end up like the German High Seas Fleet at the end of World War I. Self-sinking. I wonder if the remnants of the Combined Fleet will become the spoils of war for the victorious nation, and then it would be better to sink cleanly!

"Can you estimate the approximate location of the enemy?" Onishi Takijiro asked Kuroshimamichi.

"The seaplane should have taken off around 4:30 a.m., and there may have been dozens of planes dispatched at the same time, and now it's 6:50 a.m....... Taking into account the speed of the seaplanes, it is estimated that the distance between the Riot Fleet and ours is between 200 nautical miles and 300 nautical miles, and their fighters should arrive in an hour to an hour and a half, and no more than two hours at most. ”

"Then get ready for battle!" Onishi Takijiro gritted his teeth and said, "Put up an air defense formation." Carrier-based fighters take to the air after 50 minutes, send 50% of the carriers first, and then send all carriers after discovering the opponent! ”

……

563 J-4E Dragon Eagles formed a huge and neat formation under the dazzling morning glow. The twelve-pointed white sun markers on the fuselage and wings shine brightly. Looking down on the entire formation from a high vantage point, Colonel Liu Tianyun, who was the air commander of the air raid operation, could hardly suppress the excitement in his heart when he saw the scene of countless blue war eagles covering the sky with glow, and he even felt trembling all over.

these aircraft. Each one is the pride of naval aviation. They are the pride of China's aviation industry, and because they are equipped with 1,800 horsepower high-power engines, these J-4E Dragon Eagle aircraft can still carry out air combat flexibly and lightly even if they carry 500 kg of heavy bombs.

It's a pity that in order to maintain outstanding aerial combat performance, the design plan for the J-4 series aircraft to carry torpedoes finally failed - because torpedo attack aircraft are usually three-seat and two-seater, and if one more pilot is carried, then the air combat performance of the J-4 will be greatly reduced. Moreover, the top management of the HNA also believed that the loss rate of torpedo attack planes in actual combat was too high, and it was better to use all fighter-bombers to be "safe" and efficient. So the anti-ship attack capabilities of the Chinese naval aviation. It's always a little lacking, and it makes people feel a little regretful.

Liu Tianyun glanced at his watch, it was already 5:58 a.m., and the group had left the sky over the Nanyang Fleet almost an hour and a half ago. At a cruising speed of 380 km/h, the fleet had already flown almost 570 kilometers, or 308 nautical miles, over the sea, but still no trace of the Japanese fleet had been found, and it seemed that it was time to disperse the formation to expand the search range.

At this moment, the airborne radio, which remained silent, suddenly sounded.

"We've been spotted, and there's some flying dots on the sea!" Amid the roar of the engines, the voice of Major Liu Zhesheng, squadron leader of the 201st Carrier-based Fighter Group of the HNA Navy, who was on a pilot mission, rang out in each cockpit at the same time.

"At 12 o'clock, it seems to be a Type 96 fighter, and there are probably more than a hundred of them! It seems that the aircraft carriers of the Japanese are nearby! Oh my God, I saw the Japanese warships, I saw them! It's right in the lower right of the Japanese plane......"

Liu Yuntian looked in the direction of 12 o'clock, and at a distance of about five or six thousand meters below, about 100 Type 96 fighters were desperately pulling up, as if they wanted to seize the commanding heights and dive. However, don't these Japanese know that the latest model of the J-4E Dragon Eagle has a practical ceiling of 11,000 meters?

"It's funny that the Japanese want to compare the height with us, haven't they heard of the word dwarf Toyo?" Liu Tianyun turned on the intercom and made a joke about the height of the Japanese easily, which made the originally tense atmosphere much more relaxed.

"The 201st, 202nd, 301st, 302nd brigades are going to deal with them." Liu Yuntian's voice suddenly sank, showing a hint of solemnity: "You have to fight with bombs, so ...... Don't be reckless, don't be nimble with the Type 96, avoid aerial grappling, and try to use high-speed dives to deal with them! ”

"The rest of the brigades pay attention, lower the altitude and prepare to break into the sky above the Japanese ship formation, remember, the first target is the Japanese aircraft carrier!" Liu Yuntian took a deep breath and pushed the lever forward. After more than three years of world war, the Chinese Army has long been prestigious, and it is time to let the world know that in addition to the invincible army, the Great China Federation also has an equally powerful navy guarding the hegemony of the Western Pacific!

"Naval aviation, sortie!"

With Liu Yuntian's shout, the huge group of planes in the air immediately split into two, and more than 100 war eagles of the four fighter groups roared and climbed quickly into the air, while the remaining twelve fighter groups collectively rushed downward.

The piercing sound of air defense sirens sounded from every Japanese warship on the sea, and these warships had long been arranged into an anti-aircraft formation under the order of Onishi Takijiro, and anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns of various calibers were turned, and the muzzles and muzzles of the black holes were all aimed at the sky! All the sailors were guarding their respective combat posts, but their eyes couldn't help but look at the mast, and the Z-shaped military flag representing the final battle was flying high.

The survival of the Japanese nation will be fought here!

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