afterglow

Chapter 438 Attack with me; burn, Lexington!

On the Ming army's side, after receiving the telegram sent back by the dive bomber that was being hunted, Captain Zhu Yuanwei requested an attack again.

After thinking for a while, Liu Zaiyao agreed.

The hangar of the Tianshi Zuoyuan suddenly became busy, and excited people shuttled back and forth.

The battle mounting order came over the radio: "The Yan team has mounted aerial bombs, Category A type 1; the Nanhai team has mounted torpedoes, completed!"

Category A refers to the mounting weight plan, and Type I refers to the type of bombs and fuzes selected.

The ground crew members pushed the heavy four-wheeled trolley hard, with 500 kilograms of aviation armor-piercing explosive bombs placed on it. The eight-wheeled trolley transporting the torpedoes was even heavier, because the Type 33 aviation torpedo weighed 1,800 kilograms.

After the aircraft is mounted, it is ready to start the engine to warm up. The Tianshiyuan-class adopts an open hangar design. The hangar is surrounded by transparency, so there is no need to worry about engine exhaust.

Preheating in the hangar can significantly increase take-off efficiency because there is no need to wait for preheating after rising to the deck, which greatly saves preparation time.

The elevator operates repeatedly to lift the ready-to-go carrier-based aircraft.

Not long after, more than a dozen torpedo bombers had gathered on the middle and rear sections of the flight deck of the Tianshi Zuoyuan.

Subsequently, Zhu Yuanwei ordered the aircraft carrier to leave the fleet, turn to the upwind direction, and increase its speed to its maximum speed; the two destroyers also followed the aircraft carrier and left the eastward sailing fleet.

A few minutes later, as the takeoff and landing controller gave an order, the ground team on the deck began to wave their batons, instructing the carrier-based aircraft to accelerate takeoff.

From 16:17 to 16:30, the Tianshi Zuoyuan launched a total of seven fighter jets, dive bombers, and nine torpedo planes.

Because sunset was about to begin in about an hour, Zhu Yuanwei decided not to organize a second wave of strikes after discussing with his staff, lest something go wrong by then.

It was already dark when the first wave of aircraft returned. Landing at night was difficult and inefficient and took more time. If they haven't landed yet, the second wave of aircraft will have to wait in the sky and may run out of fuel and crash into the sea.

More than thirty carrier-based aircraft quickly formed a formation and flew eastward menacingly.

The formation commander is personally served by Major Zhou Qi, the commander of the dive bomber team - this is the first official aircraft carrier showdown in human history, and he does not want to miss this opportunity to leave his name in history!

Based on the information sent back by the previous reconnaissance aircraft, we can estimate the approximate location behind the US fleet. The fleet flew straight there, and then turned to a zigzag path to search back and forth.

The USS Lexington is not yet equipped with radar, but the battleship USS Maryland was undergoing maintenance at the San Francisco Navy Yard a few months ago and was equipped with the XAF experimental radar, the predecessor of the famous CXAM radar.

This is a meter-wave radar with an operating frequency of 200GHz and a power of 15kW. The grid plate antenna is 5.2m long and has a detection range of 77km for medium-sized aircraft.

Discovering that the unknown aircraft group was approaching from west to east, the Maryland immediately informed the TF-12.1 fleet, which was nearly kilometers away.

Soon, after learning of the situation, the Lexington's alarm bells rang loudly, ding-ding battle sirens rang throughout the ship, and the order "general quarters" was also heard on the radio.

17:21, waters south of the Gulf of Papua.

The sun was setting in the west, the western sky was soaked in sunset glow, and the eastern sky was obviously darkening.

Zhou Qi became increasingly nervous and anxious. There were only about twenty minutes left before sunset, and visibility was rapidly declining.

Suddenly, a surprising voice came from the onboard radio earphones.

"I saw it! At four o'clock, the viewing angle is 30 to 40 degrees."

Everyone in the fleet looked in that direction and saw six or seven vague ship shadows moving slowly on the dark sea.

That was the Lexington, the Northampton and the accompanying screen ships.

Although carrier-based aircraft coordinated attack tactics have been explored for many years, they have not experienced actual combat testing. How dive bombers and torpedo bombers should cooperate has not yet been determined.

The current attack tactics adopted by the Ming Dynasty Navy are quite unique. The two types of aircraft are in no particular order, but in essence they still have torpedo aircraft as the core.

It takes a long time for the torpedo plane formation to enter the attack route and complete the launch. During this period, the dive bomber formation will attack in groups of two, with a moment between each group, in order to continue to distract the enemy ships' attention and slow down. The swallowed torpedo machine relieved the pressure.

"Ten o'clock direction, enemy plane!"

"Captain! They are coming to intercept!"

"The escort team will come up to block it. Each team will pay attention to the order and attack with me." Zhou Qi gave the order, then gently shook the wings and steered the plane to change its course.

The benefit of having radar for early warning was reflected in this way. The Lexington took this opportunity to seize the opportunity to release five F4F fighters and three SB2U dive bombers. The former is responsible for direct interception, while the latter can also cooperate with harassment and obstruction.

Coupled with the four F4Fs already hovering over the fleet on alert, the US military aircraft coming to intercept clearly had a numerical advantage.

The seven Type 37 carrier-based fighter jets quickly separated from the fleet, formed two two-plane formations and one three-plane formation, and then faced them while climbing to seize the altitude advantage.

The Wildcats wanted to disperse the Ming Army's bomber formation and did not want to get entangled with the Ming Army's fighter jets, but the other party did not think so.

So the two sides were still fighting together, flying up and down, rolling left and right, and engaging in fierce close combat at an altitude of 2,000 to 3,000 meters.

Near the fleet, as the Ming army aircraft group approached, all warships of the TF-12.1 fleet opened fire immediately.

The twin-mounted Mk12 127mm high-level dual-purpose cannon on the battleship and the single-mounted model on the screen guard ship are both firing at the highest rate of fire.

The vertical wedge-type semi-automatic breech block and electric ejector rod give this 5-inch naval gun an amazing rate of fire, which can reach twenty rounds per minute.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Clouds of black smoke continued to bloom behind the fleet. Occasionally, artillery shells came closer, and the shock wave of the explosion caused the aircraft to tremble violently.

The nine torpedo planes adopted a "\"-shaped right echelon formation, flew forward from the right rear of the Lexington, and then made a large circle while descending in altitude, arriving in front of her.

A 127mm normal bomb exploded less than ten meters behind the torpedo aircraft numbered YH-TSZ-4-8, instantly tearing off the vertical tail and one side of the horizontal tail.

Metal fragments scattered around, and the plane suddenly lost control, burst into flames and plunged into the sea, dragging black smoke.

At this moment, the torpedo plane formation suddenly split into two, with five on the left and three on the right, attacking from the left and right...

Higher in the sky, the dive bomber formation did not circle. They stayed level and flew over the fleet.

The dive bomber formation actually attracted more anti-aircraft fire, and three were lost during the approach in level flight.

Subsequently, formation commander Zhou Qi took the lead and began to dive towards the Lexington, which was performing an S-shaped maneuver, at an altitude of 4,000 meters.

From now on, the excellent 5-inch high-level dual-purpose gun is ineffective - the firing director and fuze tester cannot solve the binding in real time.

The Type 75 carrier-based dive bomber he piloted maintained a high-speed dive at an angle of °, like a falcon pouncing on its prey.

In his eyes, the Lexington's rectangular flight deck grew larger and larger. Countless 28mm high-explosive bombs and tracer bullets passed by near the plane, as if a car was driving quickly through a tunnel, with traces of light passing before the eyes.

The sun is about to set, and the sky is getting darker at a speed visible to the naked eye.

These tracer bullets kept flying, seeming to poke holes in the dark sky.

The huge acceleration made Zhou Qi's eyes slightly black. He tried his best to maintain the correct posture to resist the acceleration, and reached out to pull the speed brake switch, and the air brake speed brakes on both sides of the fuselage immediately deployed.

The sudden increase in drag causes the aircraft's speed to immediately decrease, otherwise the uncontrolled ultra-high speed may cause the aircraft to disintegrate in the air.

The performance of the 1.1-inch Chicago Piano anti-aircraft cannon currently equipped by the US military is worrying. The range, rate of fire, and power of this quadruple-mounted 28mm anti-aircraft cannon are all third-rate.

In the eyes of the Ming army pilots, this thing is not as threatening as the British quadruple bang-bang cannon - at least the 40mm high-explosive shell of the bang-bang cannon is so powerful that it will be destroyed if it is hit.

【Picture】

The gunner in the back seat stared at the altimeter and shouted: "One thousand meters!"

From this moment on, Zhou Qi saw dense spots of light suddenly appearing on the battleships below, and the light trails continued like beads on a string.

These denser and smaller tracer bullets come from twin- and quadruple-mounted M2 anti-aircraft machine guns. Their effective shooting height is really limited, and they have not been fired until now.

"Six hundred meters!"

"Five hundred meters, five hundred meters!"

The wingman next to him dropped an aerial bomb and then changed into a dive attitude.

"Four hundred...Captain!!!"

My partner in the back seat was very surprised that he hadn't felt the sudden light sensation of the bomb being dropped? ! Is the captain out of his mind? !

Zhou Qi's eyes were blank, staring at the aircraft carrier that had occupied most of his field of vision.

He didn't pull the bombing lever until now, and then he yanked the control stick hard with both hands and steered the aircraft upward to the left.

The powerful overload almost caused him and his partner to go into shock on the spot, and the structure of the machine seemed to have been explored to its limit.

In this way, the aircraft piloted by the commander himself dropped a 470kg aviation armor-piercing explosive bomb at a speed of 250km/h. In the end, the aircraft almost hit the Lexington's chimney.

The aerial bomb dropped by the wingman arrived first and landed on the sea, exploding a water column dozens of meters high.

The heavy bomb dropped by Zhou Qi's plane easily smashed through the Lexington's weak wooden flight deck and supporting steel frame!

But her hangar powerful deck armor is 50mm thick, which is the protection index against 500 pounds of aerial bombs.

"Boom!!!"

The 250kg armor-piercing explosive bomb used a 0.08s delayed fuse. Although it was unable to penetrate the powerful deck, it exploded violently in the hangar.

The flames of the explosion swallowed up more than a dozen sailors in the hangar in an instant, and the four TBD torpedo planes that had been filled with fuel were turned into metal fragments on the spot.

The leaked aviation gasoline caused a bigger fire. Half of the hangar was filled with flames, and a large hole was opened in the rear flight deck. Flames and smoke billowed out of it and shot straight into the sky.

The captain's personal start was undoubtedly a good start, and the radio frequency band was filled with cheers and cheers.

The high-spirited pilots were even more excited, and many of them also adopted bombing heights lower than normal training. Ming bombers diving in pairs completed their attacks in about four minutes.

In addition to the three previously shot down, fifteen Type 37 carrier-based dive bombers successfully hit the Lexington three times. This was done under the setting sun and low visibility.

However, two of them were shot down by anti-aircraft fire, or they may have fallen into the sea because they were too low to be lifted up in time.

During this period, the dive bombers who took turns attacking attracted half of the firepower, and the clumsy torpedo plane formation was able to successfully enter the attack route and release torpedoes.

The torpedoes attacking from the front left and right meant that no matter how she dodges, the Lexington would be hit by at least one torpedo.

The two powers were at odds with each other, so Colonel Frederick decisively ordered the left rudder to be full.

After turning left, the Lexington passed leisurely through the path of four torpedoes, but was immediately hit by two torpedoes attacking from the right.

"Torpedo incoming! 100 yards!"

"Be prepared to deal with..."

"Boom! Boom!"

Two water columns tens of meters high were stirred up one after another, as if competing. One was higher than the island, and the other was shorter than the island.

This elegant aircraft carrier was completely unrecognizable at this moment. It was shrouded in thick smoke from beginning to end, with several flames bursting out from time to time.

The strong impact caused a steam turbine on the Lexington to malfunction, and the power supply to the entire ship was temporarily interrupted. The damage control unit quickly activated the emergency diesel generator to restore power to some important equipment.

Hundreds of tons of seawater quickly poured into the two holes on the right side of the ship's hull, and the ship's hull tilted to the right quickly reaching 8°.

Some electrical cables were short-circuited, causing small-scale fires in some cabins. The strong impact of the torpedo explosion also caused the flames in the hangar to spread to the vicinity of the 127mm high-level dual-purpose gun magazine...

The sun has completely submerged below the sea level, leaving only a dim glow, and the bright stars twinkling in the night sky.

One blow severely damaged the Lexington. The so-called U.S. Navy is nothing but mediocre!

After the successful air attack, the Ming army aircraft group returned westward in the darkness. Everyone was extremely excited and reviewed the previous situation.

Zhou Qi waved his fist with satisfaction and felt extremely happy. He couldn't help but look back at the "fire ship" that stood out in the vast night.

But at this moment, the rear seat gunner said in a deep voice: "Hey... Team Zhou, something is not going well now. The fleet sent a message saying that they were also attacked by enemy air attacks just now. They were all single-engine aircraft. They were probably Lexins." It was released by No. 1 Dun."

At this time, at the Ming Army's landing squadron...

There were several balls of fire floating on the dark sea. They were burning aviation gasoline leaked from the enemy planes that had been shot down and crashed into the sea.

The Tianshi Zuoguan was attacked by twenty-one SB2U dive bombers, but the Lexington's fleet was greatly disrupted by the brave fighter jets.

At the same time, the anti-aircraft firepower of the Ming fleet was much more fierce than that of the U.S. military. For U.S. military pilots who had only seen Chicago Piano and Lao Ganma, facing such firepower for the first time was really shocking. Many aircraft had not reached two thousand feet. The bombs were dropped in a hurry.

But in the end, a 500-pound aerial bomb hit the middle flight deck of the Tianshi Zuoguan, causing a raging fire there.

"Tsk..." Zhou Changfeng, who was on the bridge of the Yuanfeng, felt that his mood had not yet calmed down. He turned his head and asked, "What? How will the plane land later?"

(End of this chapter)