afterglow

Chapter 518 Father’s Day Offensive; Attack on SK-23 Fleet
Because the day of the Ming Army's large-scale aviation sortie was very close to the third Sunday in June, American officers and soldiers privately called it the Father's Day Offensive.

Father's Day first appeared in the United States thirty years ago. Mrs. Dodd of Washington State proposed to establish a holiday to commemorate the hardworking fathers all over the world. The state assembly agreed with this initiative and designated the third Sunday of June each year as Father's Day. Father's Day.

Although the scale of this battle for air supremacy is small in terms of numbers, except for a few cases where the total scale exceeds 150, most of the air battles only have a few dozen aircraft, and hundreds or thousands of aircraft are frequently dispatched. The European battlefield seems a bit petty in comparison.

However, considering that the combat area is located in the Pacific Ocean, far away from the homeland of the two armies, the difficulty of delivery is not the same. The difficulty of fighting here is much more difficult than on the Eurasian continent.

The Father's Day Offensive can be described as a major development in the Hawaiian Campaign and will certainly leave a lasting mark in the history of war.

连续高强度作战的大明空军部队难以为继，接下来两天的出击架次显著降低，7月2日为46架次、7月3日为43架次。

However, the ground forces were not idle during this period. In Hanalei Bay in the north of Kauai, the Air Force survey team selected a more suitable flat land in the southwest of the bay and decided to build another alternate airport here.

At the same time, the Navy also sent shore-based aviation units to assist in the battle.

A total of 21 Type twin-engine torpedo aircraft arrived in two days. They were the first batch of medium-sized aircraft deployed to Hawaii. They almost occupied the remaining open space around Weiyuan Airport.

"The fleet is running low on fuel. All the accompanying tankers have drained it. We will replenish it in two days when the supply fleet arrives."

Although the Rock Island Arsenal has been working overtime to imitate the Oerlikon and Bofors anti-aircraft guns, unfortunately, the U.S. military on Oahu, which currently lacks small-caliber anti-aircraft guns, can only use anti-aircraft machine guns to provide weak resistance.

If they forcefully engage in a bombardment with coastal defense artillery, they may end up killing a thousand enemies and damaging themselves eight hundred. At this time, it would be terrible if the US main fleet takes the opportunity to launch a massive counterattack.

The second echelon includes all remaining units of the 4th Marine Brigade, as well as the 1st Battalion of Army Attack Vehicles and the 5th Battalion of the 2nd Field Heavy Artillery Brigade, totaling about 7,000 people, followed by a large number of heavy weapons.

The instructions given by Zhou Changfeng were simple - leave no bunkers, fortifications, military camps, artillery batteries, assembly areas, and railway shunting yards behind, and wipe them all from the face of the earth!
The wolf-like Ming army aircraft fleet rushed towards Oahu, and the feeling of occupying air supremacy was so wonderful that many people subconsciously regarded the current action as actual combat training.

The M1 76.2mm anti-aircraft guns roared one after another, spitting out orange muzzle flashes and shooting high-explosive shells into the blue sky in an attempt to break up the invading enemy's formation.

On the two airport runways on Kauai, fighter jets and dive bombers have already warmed up their engines. The morning light shines on the aerial bombs hanging under the belly of the aircraft. The words "100 kg aviation anti-personnel explosive bomb" are painted on the outer shell. "The white Chinese characters are clearly visible.

40㎜高射炮的有效射高约2700m、20㎜高射炮的有效射高约1800m，而12.7㎜高射机枪却仅有1000m而已，这是多么大的火力空缺。

The exchange of bombardments between warships and coastal defense guns is something any naval commander would try to avoid. It is really not cost-effective.

The other news is good news, the second echelon will arrive in Kauai soon.

When a warship is hit by a large-caliber coastal defense artillery shell, it has to return to port for repairs. It takes an unknown amount of time to go back and forth, and it is a waste of money.

From now on, targeted and devastating air strikes will officially begin.

There were not many sorties in the first two days, which allowed the pilots and ground crews to take a breather.

July 7, dawn.

The fleet's liaison officer stationed on Kauai reported the latest situation to Zhou Changfeng, and then added: "By the way, Zhou Taizhao, Xia Jinbo wants to remind you that if it is attacked by the enemy's remaining shore artillery, the fleet will definitely give priority. retreat."

Since the U.S. Pacific Fleet has not yet been annihilated, Song Zhongkai judged that it was not time to spend money, so he took a precaution first.

The Ming army's aircraft group accelerated and turned while the fighter jets in the formation broke away according to their pre-assigned tasks and dived straight down to attack.

The three-blade variable-pitch propeller manufactured by Ziyun Precision Instrument Company rotated rapidly, pulling the aircraft to slowly slide forward.

The transport fleet full of ground troops set off from Saipan and Guam, and the crossing of the long ocean was finally coming.

Coastal defense artillery relies on land, has high bombardment accuracy, and the target is small, often only a dozen meters; warships inevitably roll and pitch at sea, and the overall projected area is larger, often hundreds of meters.

The latter nodded slightly, "I understand, please ask them to do it as soon as possible."

The fighter jet fired a series of dense bullets as it dived, and then dropped the two 50kg light aerial bombs mounted under the wings. Then it calmly came out of the dive and pulled up calmly.

In the smoke and dust of the explosion, the Browning anti-aircraft machine gun fire suddenly stopped, and another anti-aircraft position was reduced to fly ash.

The severed limbs and internal organs were scattered on the ground. The bloody situation made people sick to their stomachs. The survivors' cries for help made other officers and soldiers even more frightened.

"Seriously, if you go to Europe and buy some small cannons, it won't be like this. They are not short of money."

"It's really sad. You have to suffer the consequences of putting your sword and gun in storage."

the pilots lamented over the radio.

After suppressing most of the anti-aircraft machine gun positions, the Ming army aircraft began to attack the anti-aircraft guns.

Without the protection of close-range air defense weapons, those artillery pieces became lambs to be slaughtered. The US anti-aircraft artillerymen had no better choice but to retreat and run away.

As the 250㎏ bombs dropped by the dive bombers fell, one after another 76.2㎜ anti-aircraft guns turned into twisted scrap steel after the flash of fire, with wisps of blue smoke rising...

This kind of battle situation can also confirm the importance of a complete weapons and equipment system. What is worse than mediocrity is the lack of it.

In the current situation, even if it is replaced by the German 88mm anti-aircraft gun, the same result will occur.

In the next three days, the Kauai Ming Air Force made a total of 421 sorties, losing 22 aircraft and confirming the death of 34 crew members.

They destroyed many military facilities on Oahu. Some small ships stranded in Pearl Harbor were also attacked. A total of 23 patrol boats, minesweepers, minelayers, barges, etc. were sunk.

The Clark, which ran aground a few days ago, was also completely destroyed. She fought until the last moment, until she was hit in turn by more than a dozen 250kg missiles dropped by the Ming army dive bombers that besieged her.

Bystanders described the scene as "a group of falcons taking turns swooping down to kill a large stranded fish."

At the same time, hangars, ports, workshops, military camps, warehouses, train stations and other buildings on Oahu were severely damaged. A downed Type 38 dive bomber crashed into an oil storage tank at Pearl Harbor's Upper Oil Depot. The concrete protective layer could not withstand such a violent impact. The tank wall cracked instantly and the diesel fuel inside quickly burned.

The flames spread rapidly along the flow of diesel until they were blocked by an earth embankment, thus not threatening the adjacent oil storage tanks.

【Picture】

Fire and thick smoke shot into the sky, and the scene was as frightening as a volcanic eruption.

Some planes were also ordered to airdrop leaflets to Honolulu, and countless leaflets flew all over the sky like a goddess scattering flowers.

Due to lack of experience during the first release, most of the flyers were blown to the sea by the wind. Only in the following few times did half of the flyers finally fall into the city.

Honolulu is only ten kilometers away from Pearl Harbor. Seeing is believing, and citizens are clearly aware of the changes in the war situation in recent days.

Disappointment in the military, confusion about the present, and fear of the unknown are intertwined. Criminal cases in Honolulu have increased sharply. Military and police officers performing wartime security tasks have fired without scruples, and sporadic gunshots can be heard from morning to night. intermittent.

Out of fear of the enemy, the frightened American officers and soldiers were often suspicious and made a series of mischief, large and small.

Some people mistook the stars at night for enemy planes and fired indiscriminately. Some 28mm high-explosive bombs without delayed self-destruct fuses fell into the city, causing more than a dozen civilian casualties and causing multiple fires.

This situation is so chaotic. For ordinary people living in Honolulu, this is undoubtedly the darkest time in life.

"...the remaining aircraft were not sufficient to maintain Oahu's defenses, and to extend the time they (remaining aircraft) had retreated to Lanai and Maui...We were under constant bombardment, every minute. Being weakened, we need to replenish aircraft as quickly as possible..."

Chester-Nimitz turned to Washington for greater reinforcements, knowing full well the consequences of losing air superiority.

Oahu, the base of the Pacific Fleet and the core of the United States' interests in Asia, is now in danger!
Of course, Americans were not idle during this period. A large number of merchant ships set off from Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles to Hawaii to transport supplies and equipment.

Unlike the British, who suffered heavy losses, the Americans seemed to underestimate the difficulty of anti-submarine escort.

They did refer to the experience and lessons of the Royal Navy. Many merchant ships leaving the port were organized into convoys of varying sizes in several gathering areas on the west coast, and sailed together accompanied by escort ships.

However, there is still an opportunity to take advantage of this. Since the change of combat missions in late June, many Ming submarines have been ordered to come to the waters east of Hawaii to cruise and hunt here.

According to the results reported by the submarine force, in less than ten days since the end of June, the total tonnage sunk has reached 9.2 tons, and it has only lost one submarine for the time being.

On July 7, the submarine No. 9 Equinox ended its mission because it ran out of torpedoes and began to return to Midway Island. However, in the evening of that day, they discovered a huge fleet coming from east to west.

The boat immediately sent a message and summoned other nearby submarines to hunt, claiming that the target fleet consisted of at least twenty merchant ships.

The Ming Army aviation unit on Kauai also decided to conduct a long-distance attack in an effort to destroy the fleet as much as possible.

At noon the next day, 14 Type shore-based torpedo aircraft belonging to the Navy took off from Weiyuan Airport.

The attack formation first flew to the northeast, then turned due east, corrected its course according to the guidance of the submarine force, and took five hours to reach the target sea area, and then sent a telegram.

"I saw three large transport ships and sixteen freighters, escorted by five destroyers, and the aftermath of deep bombs could be seen in the distance."

At this moment, in addition to the Equinox B-14, which has no mines to launch, there are two submarines present. One of them has launched a salvo, but it has no effect, and is now being attacked by a depth charge from a US destroyer.

This fleet, codenamed SK-23, performs transportation missions from Seattle to Kahului, Maui, carrying hundreds of aircraft, tanks, artillery and other equipment.

More than a dozen twin-engine torpedo planes in high-sea painting - dark blue on the fuselage and light blue on the belly - entered the attack position with murderous intent. The aerial torpedoes under the belly of the aircraft were scary to look at.

The cutting-edge Type 37-B has a longer range, not to mention that this time there is an additional auxiliary fuel tank under the left and right wings. The pilots are not in a hurry and plan to hunt this fleet leisurely.

The two torpedo planes first conducted a low-angle dive and strafing attack on the destroyer USS Noah (DD-343). The bullets ejected from the 12.8mm aviation machine gun on the nose swept across the bridge and middle deck of the destroyer.

The bridge glass crackled and shattered, and more than ten sailors were killed or injured immediately. Several twin-mounted anti-aircraft machine guns immediately misfired, and the sides of the ship were hit by bullets and leaked water in many places.

The remaining torpedo planes carefully selected their targets and struck the clumsy transport ship at the right time.

The YH-3-1-3 aircraft aimed at the largest transport ship USS Leonard. It first fired machine guns at its bridge to create chaos, then dropped a torpedo at an extremely close range of only meters, and then fired ten meters above the target. Jimmy whizzed past, and the self-defense machine gun did not forget to fire a few more shots at this time.

The torpedo hit the middle of the hull, and a large amount of seawater surged in. The commandeered civilian freighter immediately couldn't hold on, and it tilted significantly within a few minutes.

The attack formation took turns strafing and dropping mines, and several U.S. destroyers opened fire with all their strength in an attempt to protect the merchant ship loaded with important equipment.

However, the anti-aircraft firepower composed of the Chicago Piano and Browning anti-aircraft machine guns was too weak to stop the wanton Ming aircraft.

The battle lasted for nearly an hour. It took another ten minutes after the Ming army plane left. The F4F Wildcat, which hurriedly took off from the Big Island of Hawaii, arrived late. Unfortunately, it was too late.

The US escort ships only shot down 2 Ming army torpedo planes, and another one crashed into the sea due to heavy damage. The fleet suffered heavy losses, and a total of 1 merchant ships were sunk.

The P-40 fighter jets, M2 medium tanks, and M2 howitzers loaded on it were almost all brand new from the factory. As soon as they left the production line of Curtiss Company or the Detroit Arsenal, they were directly transported to the port for shipment, and ended up sinking into the deep seabed here forever.

However, the nightmare is not over yet. Taking advantage of the chaos, the Ming submarines who are eyeing the situation are also fishing in troubled waters.

The two submarines suddenly fired mines and captured many merchant ships. Even the USS Paul Jones (DD-230) was sunk because it failed to dodge in time.

The white tracks of the fleet have not yet faded away. Countless debris, debris, and oil are almost floating on the sea. Some oil barrels are still burning, becoming a real bonfire at sea.

One lifeboat after another struggled to shuttle between them, and it took a long time for some of the crew members who fell into the water to be rescued. Their bodies were covered with heavy black oil.

In the end, less than half of the equipment arrived in Maui, which at best could only alleviate urgent needs, but was far from meeting the need to regain air supremacy over Oahu.

(End of this chapter)