At the same time as the USS Enterprise was attacked, the radar of the Forward Group finally reacted, and the captain of the USS Hornet, Colonel Mark Mitchell, hurriedly ordered his carrier-based fighters, that is, 27 F6F Hellcats, to take off urgently to reinforce his main general.

However, the situation he faced was even more severe. As a result, as soon as the first plane left the deck, three warplanes suddenly rushed out of the clouds, and a dense 30mm cannon shoveled over, and the plane was smashed to pieces in the air.

It turned out that in order to decide the outcome of the first battle, Bai Shujie ordered all fighters and bombers at the three airports to be dispatched at the same time. Now there are 48 Jian-9 fighters and 48 Nulong bombers from the other two airfields.

However, the pilots kept in mind Bai Shujie's order: "Just blow up and sink the aircraft carrier, minimize the casualties of the US troops, and let them leave some seeds to fight the little devils in the future." So in the course of the battle, as long as the other warships are not too excessive, they will not be left alone for the time being. ”

Three minutes later than the Enterprise, the USS Hornet almost crushed and sank into the Banda Sea. There was nothing to be seen on the surface of the water, except for a large area of oil and deck debris, a huge whirlpool that was constantly tumbling, and a few officers and men who had fallen into the water swimming desperately outward.

You can't do it without desperately swimming out.

The huge hull sinks into the sea, creating a huge whirlpool with a diameter of more than 300 meters. Once you are involved, the gods can't save you.

The naval and air battles were so brutal, the two sides prepared for three days, and the battle process added up to less than ten minutes.

It can be said that the real naval and air battles are already clear as soon as they are shot, and they are really "earth-shattering", "flesh and blood flying", and "you live or die", and there is no room for opportunism.

Of course, this is based on the fact that Bai Shujie was not prepared to eat the entire 17 battleships and then send them all to the bottom of the sea.

Therefore, for Bai Shujie's side, fulfilling his promise and making others no longer treat his warning as a fart has ended the battle.

What is Deterrence? Bai Shujie struck an angry blow today, which was to announce to the world: "Lao Tzu does what he says, who dares to be a fart, the fate of the two most advanced aircraft carriers at the moment is the best explanation!" ”

The J-9 fighters were only three hours in the air, and now that the enemy's aircraft carrier had been sunk, the bomber formation was no longer the slightest threat, so all the fighters returned home. Leaving 72 Raging Dragon bombers hovering in the air, monitoring the movements of the enemy fleet.

The Raging Dragon bomber uses an economic speed of 720 km/h and can be in the air for 20 hours. Of course, it is impossible to fly for that long today. On the one hand, the bomb was only half dropped; On the other hand, a third less fuel is carried today.

The remaining six heavy cruisers and nine destroyers of the US army saw the enemy's bombers hovering at an altitude of more than 3,000 meters and did not continue to drop bombs.

Six hours later, 15 warships wanted to return the same way and leave this sad place.

It's late!

A fleet suddenly appeared directly south of the Banda Sea, all of them were drawn in a horizontal row and surrounded it, and the cannon had already begun to fire at a distance of 40 kilometers. And the shells were thin and long, flying one after another, with almost no gap in between, and a mist exploded in the sea area 3 kilometers in front of the US fleet!

Rocket!

There were huge bombers overhead, and there was a dense rain of shells on the way back. What is a dilemma? Look at the remnants of the US 16th Task Force, and everything will be understood.

Soon, presumably the whole world would be able to receive a telegram in clear code: "The commander of Task Force 16, Rear Admiral Raymond Spruance, officially orders all warships to cease resistance and surrender to the South China United Front!" ”

In fact, all the battleships did not resist, because the enemy's battleships were still 40 kilometers away. The foredeck main guns of the 6 heavy cruisers are all 55 times the caliber 203mm main guns, and the maximum firing range is only 27 kilometers, which is simply out of reach.

The commander did not die, which was great news, and the 15 battleships raised the white flag almost at the same time, then put all the cannons in their gun jackets, and then waved the flag of surrender separately.

An hour and a half later, the fleet due south finally came up, and after a brief negotiation, the ships sailed to the port of Darwin according to Bai Shujie's wishes.

It was only at this time that these US officers and men understood: "No wonder there are no main bombers to deal with the enemy's warships, and the largest military base in the north has fallen into the hands of the enemy." ”

Going back to the 32 warships that were preparing to land on the beach in Port Moresby, the fleet commander was the commander of the 17th task force, Rear Admiral Fletcher.

At ten o'clock in the morning of May 31, 1942, he also received the final warning of "South China United Front, Commander Zhang Xiang". Major General Fletcher sent a telegram to the Allied Command in Brisbane, only to receive an order to "move on".

At about 12:00 p.m., the fleet headed north to the sea 50 kilometers east of Port Princess Charlotte, and 500 kilometers from its destination, Port Moresby.

Rear Admiral Fletcher gave the order: The USS Yorkton was immediately put into battle, and 18 fighters of the VB-3-SBD dreadnought dive bomber squadron immediately took off to launch an air raid on Port Moresby as the first wave of strikes. VS-3 - 19 SBD dreadnought dive bombers, while being combat-ready.

The trajectory of events was far from following the predetermined plan of Major General Fletcher.

After the first wave of 18 dive bombers took off, they had just completed their formation over the USS Yorktown, and a white spot suddenly appeared in the clouds more than 10,000 meters high, swooping down with a dazzling light.

Enemy! It was not until the US officers and men were clear about the appearance of the plane that they heard a loud roar in their ears!

All the US officers and soldiers understood at once: "Supersonic fighters, those who buy cakes, is this God who came down to punish us?" ”

The concept of a supersonic fighter is now not unfamiliar.

Germany and the Soviet Union have already claimed to have mastered the technology of supersonic fighters, and the Americans are also stepping up their development. Boeing, for example, has already carried out in-depth research.

But research is research, and the enemy planes that come out now are flying at supersonic speeds, and the target is the 18 dive bombers that have just completed the formation!

The SBD dreadnought dive bomber has a maximum level flight speed of only 410 km/h, and the practical ceiling is only 7780 meters.

The maximum speed of the J-9 fighter is 1025 km / h (Mach 1), the practical ceiling is 16,500 meters, and the cruising speed at 9,500 meters is 925 km / h.

In other words, even if the J-9 fighter does not fly at supersonic speed, according to the most ordinary cruising speed, it is 2.3 times faster than the SBD dreadnought dive bomber.

Coupled with the fact that the ceiling is more than double that of the SBD dreadnought dive bomber, it occupies absolute air superiority, and it is always attacking from the top down, and air combat cannot be carried out at all.

Nine J-9 fighters did not open fire, and they flew in the sky above the formation of 18 SBD dreadnought dive bombers. As a result, the altitude of the dive bomber formation was getting lower and lower, and soon it was close to the height of the landing.

The fighter and bomber pilots of the US military quickly understood: "This is not to kill them all, but to demonstrate that while we are demonstrating, let us land as soon as possible, and we must not be delusional about bombing others." ”

There was no way, the dive bomber formation had to land. The Jian-9 fighter lost the cover of the enemy plane, so it had to quickly pull up, get out of the range of the enemy's artillery fire, and return to an altitude of more than 5,000 meters to conduct surveillance.

Fortunately, the enemy showed mercy and did not come to fight, but to stop the fleet. If you don't know each other and look for death, this fleet will be all finished.

This battle can't be fought!

Rear Admiral Fletcher did not want to continue to ask for instructions, but immediately gave what he thought was the most correct order: "The whole fleet should turn westward and move closer to Cairns Harbour, and strive to get reinforcements from shore guns and anti-aircraft guns!" ”

The nine Jian-9 fighters had three hours in the air, so they were always hovering about 6,000 meters above the head of the fleet, and the huge roar made all the officers and men under Rear Admiral Fletcher uneasy. For fear that the enemy will change his mind, a dive down will suck.

Because this huge fleet has 18 transport ships, which are transporting officers and soldiers of the 7th Division of the Australian Army.

No matter how majestic your army is, when you stuff it into the cabin, all combat power is zero. Once spotted by enemy bombers, you have to wait for the bombs.

Now that he has been discovered by the enemy, it is a blessing that he has not been attacked, and he must burn high incense as soon as he returns.

The "air combat zone" is only 50 kilometers from the port of Cairns, that is, 27 nautical miles. Although the transport ship had a speed of only 18 knots, it reached the periphery of the Great Barrier Reef in an hour and a half.

When all the fleets had dropped anchor and the assault boats used for landing were put into the sea, an unexpected change suddenly appeared, making the more than 20,000 officers and men of the army and navy all dumbfounded!

True, the planes in the sky did not drop bombs, and there was no threat. But Rear Admiral Fletcher's fleet was greeted not by the cheers of the officers and men of the Australian Third Division, but by the blackened muzzles of the fortresses.

Although the cannon was not fired, the veteran oilman knew that all the shore guns of 410mm caliber had been aimed at the fleet as soon as he looked at the elevation angle of the barrel!

410mm shore guns, with a range of 45 km, now all ships have reached within 15 km.

Want to run? Not to mention the speed of 18 knots of troop carriers, even high-speed cruisers and destroyers of 39 knots cannot outrun the speed of shells!

The worst thing is that all the ships have already broken down, and the huge fleet has become a "dead target", even if you want to, you can't do it.

Wait until all the officers pick up the binoculars and look: my God, don't talk about the American flag on the shore, not even the Australian flag. There are three big flags on the shore, but they are very unfamiliar: a golden dragon with a red background, arrogant!

An officer and soldier who knew Chinese blurted out: "Australia has been lost!" On these flags are the armored regiment, tank regiment, and air defense regiment of the 2nd Division of the South China United Front! ”

Rear Admiral Fletcher sat down on the special chair on the command platform and said weakly: "We have completely lost the ability to resist, and we have also done our duty to order our fleet to surrender." ”

"Let's go ashore in landing craft and lifeboats! If the stalemate continues, in case the enemy gets impatient, the powerful fire of the shore artillery is not something we can resist. ”

It turned out that after Zhong Guitang led the armored regiment to leave Darwin Airport, he rushed east all the way. First took Nulamba, then continued to sweep along the coastline.

Two days and two nights of continuous fighting, no, it should have been two days and two nights of desperate running, and finally ran out almost nearly 2,000 kilometers, fortunately the armored vehicles are all solid tires, otherwise it would not be possible.

At about two o'clock yesterday afternoon, Zhong Guitang and the others finally arrived in Cairns.

The coastal defense unit here belonged to two battalions of the 3rd Division of the Australian Army, but no one resisted. Because their cannons are all facing the sea, and they are still inside the fortress, they can't move at all.

Besides, even if you want to, you can't move, dozens of armored vehicles and bundles of cannon barrels scare you to death.

After all, what happens next, let's see how it will be broken down next time.