afterglow

Chapter 676 Variable Time Device; Bunker Hill!
"Instructions from the Commander-in-Chief! The opportunity cannot be missed. All fleets must attack bravely and take advantage of this opportunity to inflict heavy damage to the enemy fleet and gain supreme glory!"

"As ordered!"

"Dismiss, everyone take your positions."

The neatly lined up Ming army pilots clasped their fists and received the order, then trotted towards their respective planes.

After continuous work, ground crews have loaded aerial bombs and aerial torpedoes on fighters and bombers, and dozens of aircraft are ready to go in this darkest moment before dawn.

After reviewing the landing and anti-landing operations throughout the day yesterday, Zhou Changfeng determined that the U.S. military lacked sufficient breakthrough capabilities due to insufficient air superiority, so he decided to change his target and attack the U.S. aircraft carriers.

It is a rare opportunity for an aircraft carrier fleet to remain within the combat radius of its own shore-based aviation force. Since we have the spare capacity, we naturally have to give it a try.

Aircraft carriers are at risk of being sunk, but land-based airports will never sink, so attacking aircraft carriers with shore-based aircraft is a sure-win business.

As a large number of Ming army planes roared into the sky at dawn, American generals were arguing.

Major General Mark Mitchell, commander of the carrier task force, was unwilling to stay within the combat radius of the Ming army's aircraft. It was too dangerous.

However, the landing force commander Richmond Turner strongly requested that the aircraft carrier fleet stay for two more days, otherwise the Oshima Army Aviation alone would not be able to provide sufficient close support.

"Our airport is the ship, and the enemy's airport is the Earth. The task force should stay away from this damn place after supporting them to land, but now they have opened up a landing site."

Just as Mark Mitchell was complaining, someone came hurriedly and reported some bad news - the radar detected a large number of enemy planes approaching!

The most worried thing happened. The aircraft carrier task force was bound to be baptized by war.

"Send as many planes as possible into the sky! Immediately!" Mark Mitchell ordered with determination: "The fleet will break away to the north. We can't continue to take risks. The commander will understand."

The battle started a quarter of an hour later.

The Air Force fighter-bombers that took off from Oahu Airport No. 4 arrived first, and because they did not require escort, they naturally avoided the time of waiting for the escort fighter formation.

A total of 33 Type 1000 Golden Eagle interceptors were equipped with a single 520 kg heavy bomb filled with kg of D-type explosives.

The tactics of sea attack have been continuously optimized and improved since the outbreak of the war - the formation style, bombing altitude, entry direction, weapon type, etc. are already very different from the early days of the war.

For example, for the same payload, is it more effective to have multiple small bombs or to combine them into one large bomb?
The more bombs there are, the higher the hit rate will be. The heavier the bombs are, the more damage they can cause even if they miss.

Everyone has their own opinion. The test conducted by the Naval Ordnance Institute can only be used as a reference. The final result depends on the actual combat results.

The Ming army's attack formation accurately captured the location of the US aircraft carrier fleet. More than 30 golden eagles broke through the blockade of the Hellcats and rushed towards the target despite the dense anti-aircraft fire.

The US fleet formed a wheel-shaped formation to protect the aircraft carrier in the middle, and one after another, the dual-purpose guns opened fire. The Ming army fighter-bombers did not conduct dive bombing, but simply flew straight over the fleet at a very fast speed and dropped bombs at the same time.

The one-ton bomb was extremely powerful. The thick water column that rose up to a height of tens of meters was so large that it seemed able to swallow an entire warship. It was as powerful as a giant armor-piercing shell fired from a large-caliber naval gun falling into the water.

The destroyer USS Hazelwood (DD-531) was severely damaged by a near miss. The underwater shock wave tore several large holes in her hull and the water could not be stopped. The ship announced that it would abandon the ship at 1:27 am on January 8.

The Saratoga, which became the focus of the attack, was also damaged by two near misses. In addition, several other warships were damaged to varying degrees.

As one wave leaves, another comes.

The second wave of attack formations came from the naval aviation force on Kauai Island. They were larger in size, with a massive fleet of nearly 100 fighter jets and twin-engine torpedo planes.

The continuous air strikes overwhelmed the task force, and the oversaturated attacks made the US military unable to cope.

After one air raid ended, the next air raid came before the ammunition was fully replenished.

"Another wave of enemy aircraft, seven o'clock!"

"There are so many of them, we're going to be overwhelmed!"

"Sir, sir, the Helena requests the use of the variable time device!"

In response to the adjutant's anxious inquiries, Major General Mark Mitchell nodded in agreement.

The so-called variable time device is the VT (Variable Time) radio proximity fuze.

Because it is not yet mature, the entire fleet is only equipped with two light cruisers, the Helena and the San Juan, and the purpose of their distribution is to test whether their reliability is qualified in actual combat conditions.

The T3 VT fuze had only a 52% detonation rate at the test site, and it would undoubtedly be lower in actual combat.

On this day, the U.S. military used proximity fuzes in actual combat for the first time.

During the day on January 1, the Ming army carried out an operation code-named Jiuque. The navy launched a total of 27 sorties and the air force launched a total of 175 sorties, attacking the TF-322 task force with all their might. Both the Saratoga and the Bunker Hill were seriously damaged.

In addition, the Ming army's air force also sank two oil tankers, one ammunition supply ship, and two destroyers, and lost a total of 2 aircraft.

The Saratoga's power system was less damaged, so it escaped quickly at night.

The Bunker Hill was hit by two torpedoes and two 500 kg bombs, both of which damaged its steam turbines. It took on thousands of tons of water and moved slowly. At dawn the next day, it was hit by a torpedo fired by an unknown Ming submarine. This fatal injury caused the Essex-class ship Bunker Hill (CV-17), the ninth ship, to capsize at 1:28 in the morning on January 6.

No telecommunications were sent before and after the attack. In recent days, a total of three Ming submarines operating in this waters were sunk. It is unknown who delivered the final blow to the Bunker Hill.

Afterwards, the US aircraft carrier fleet quickly disengaged to the northeast and withdrew from the coverage of the shore-based aviation force.

The Hawaiian Ming Air Force, which had little strength left, insisted on fighting again and turned to attack the US landing fleet. In the afternoon of January 1, the flagship of the 28rd Task Force, the new battleship Iowa, attracted most of the attacks. She was directly hit by three 3kg bombs and one 500kg bomb, and was also hit by a torpedo. The SC warning radar on the top of the main mast was also blown up and disappeared.

The flagship was badly damaged, and Richmond-Turner was forced to move to the South Dakota with his staff.

In the last naval battle west of the Maury Fault Zone, the Iowa had a main turret destroyed. Because it took a long time to rebuild the turret and artillery, only other parts were repaired before rushing to participate in the counterattack on Oahu.

Since then, the Ming army's ten-day air raid was temporarily suspended.

Several consecutive days of high-intensity attacks left the pilots, ground crew, and command staff physically and mentally exhausted. Captain Liu Changpu, a recipient of the Silver Eagle Medal who was hailed as an air raid hero, died in a crash while landing his Type 6 torpedo bomber. His clear combat records since he served included 3 freighters, 1 landing ships, 8 minelayer, 35 barges, dock facilities, and he also participated in the air raid that sank the USS Nevada.

While the Hawaiian Air Force achieved a series of victories, it also suffered heavy losses. Less than half of its aircraft were left, and a considerable number of them were in urgent need of repair. Therefore, its actual combat power was only one-third of what it was at the beginning of the battle.

The air force was undoubtedly very brave and provided strong support for the anti-landing operations, but their casualties were also extremely heavy. The seaplanes that went to search and rescue could only rescue a small number of surviving crew members each time.

In order to maintain military morale and boost morale, Zhou Changfeng personally attended the event to commend the Air Force and Naval Aviation combat units, publicly awarded medals, issued commendations, issued bonuses, and promoted military ranks to the officers and soldiers who had made outstanding contributions.

Be it false fame or real benefits, all aspects are included. Zhou Changfeng was almost exhausted after working so hard in five or six airports all day long.

Starting from the third day, the US landing troops resumed the attack.

The 1st Marine Division replaced two regiments that had suffered heavy casualties, and temporarily formed a regimental combat team with the fully equipped and staffed 4th Marine Regiment, which advanced toward the western suburbs of Kaneohe town.

The three battalions advanced in parallel, and they advanced steadily with the support of the field artillery battalion. If they encountered tough resistance, they would send out a combat engineering team to use flamethrowers and explosive packs under the cover of tanks to destroy the Ming army's strong fortifications.

The battle that broke out on the main defense line was extremely fierce. The Ming army infantry who held their positions fought bravely, attacking US tanks with anti-tank guns in the front and suppressing US infantry with mortars in the back, repeatedly disintegrating the US offensive.

The 66th Regiment of the 22nd Division repeatedly sent out suicide squad members carrying rocket launchers, who ambushed in groups of three or four on the flanks of the positions and attacked the weak sides of the US tanks.

After two days and nights of hard fighting, the brave and fearless 4th Marine Regiment barely tore open a breakthrough about 910 meters wide in the main defense line. With a total of 228 casualties and deaths, it was forced to withdraw from the battle.

The division commander, Major General Alexander Vandegrift, immediately sent out the 1st Marine Regiment, which had rested for two days, to take over, and 713 Spitfire Shermans from the 22th Flame Tank Battalion to assist.

The noise of the battlefield had not died down for long before it was once again filled with shouts of killing, and the two sides launched a brutal battle over this breakthrough point.

The flamethrower Shermans spewed out scorching fire dragons that were dozens of meters long, enveloping the fortifications and the soldiers inside in flames and burning them to charcoal. The explosions that occurred when they were destroyed were also extremely spectacular.

Several positions changed hands three times, and the bodies of officers and soldiers on both sides were smashed into pieces, with broken limbs everywhere.

The commander of the 22nd Division, Chen Jie, was determined to recapture the position in one fell swoop, so he sent out two teams of reserve troops to launch a night attack.

At midnight, after a sudden round of rapid rocket fire, hundreds of officers and soldiers shouted and launched an attack. The flares floating in the night sky emitted a pale light, dragging the swaying shadows into a long line.

In the melee, the battalion commander, Major Mandel, was killed by a rocket-propelled grenade. Companies F and H of the 1st Marine Regiment could no longer hold on and retreated.

After daybreak, the U.S. troops, unwilling to accept defeat, counterattacked again.

Several destroyers and cruisers launched fierce artillery fire there, and more than a dozen bombers dropped hundreds of napalm bombs, completely burning the entire area into a sea of ​​fire. The rolling heat waves brought by the raging flames could be felt even at a distance of several hundred meters...

While the 1st Marine Division was fighting bloody battles for several days, the 4th Marine Division, advancing southward in the Kailua area, successfully occupied the ruined town of Kailua, encountering no resistance except for cold guns and cold artillery.

However, the good times did not last long. After occupying the airport in the south, they soon ran into the main defense line of the Ming army on this side. After attacking for half a day, they made no progress. The ubiquitous minefields greatly slowed down the advancement.

Seeing that the Marines were defeated, the friendly 38th Infantry Division of the Army to the west sent the 130th Infantry Regiment to attack southward, and later received support from the 787th Tank Battalion. A total of more than 2800 people and 32 tanks tried to put pressure on the flank of the Ming army's main defense line.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Changfeng decisively ordered the armored reserve to launch a counterattack, striving to divide, encircle and annihilate part of the enemy.

The 101st Tank Battalion and the 602nd Assault Vehicle Battalion went into battle together. The 21st Regiment of the 7th Division had volunteered three times before, and Zhou Changfeng ordered them to send two battalions to participate in the battle after careful consideration.

The sudden large-scale counterattack by the Ming army was beyond the expectations of the U.S. military. The Sherman could only fight the Type 40 Clouded Leopard on equal terms at most, and was no match for the Tiger (P) at all - even if half of the Tiger (P) broke down halfway.

One Sherman after another was turned into a steel bonfire in the exchange of fire, and the 787th Tank Battalion was almost wiped out, with only 4 tanks left. The US infantry initially tried to block the attack with bazookas and 57mm anti-tank guns, but they were soon overwhelmed by the surging Ming infantry.

The 130th Infantry Regiment retreated in great strides within three hours and desperately called for support from the fleet, but still suffered heavy casualties under the relentless pursuit of the Ming army's counterattack forces. Six companies were dispersed, and as many as 540 people were captured.

The battle lasted until January 1, when the 29st Marine Division was the first to suspend its attack, followed by the other two divisions.

"The enemy has not made much progress along the entire front, and the main defense line is still relatively stable. It is estimated that the enemy has lost about 4,000 people in the past three days." A staff officer stated.

Chen Jie let out a long sigh and said, "The commander's judgment is very accurate. The US military's advance relies heavily on tanks. During the first day of the assault, there were many flamethrower tanks assisting in the battle, which was quite fierce. Now it is roughly estimated that dozens of tanks have been destroyed. The US military's breakthrough capability is obviously much weaker."

"The enemy has stopped now. They have suffered heavy losses after several days of attacks. They will probably wait and see for a while and wait for reinforcements." Zhao Hanfeng said, and then looked at Zhou Changfeng.

The latter was puffing away, hesitating whether to take another puff, but after hesitating for two seconds he threw the cigarette to the ground and stomped it out.

"The Americans can't afford this kind of fighting style. Now they are in a dilemma. If they retreat, all their efforts will be wasted. If they continue to attack..." Zhou Changfeng said calmly, "Then people will continue to die. Just to attack this line of defense, they will have to prepare for another 6,000 to 8,000 casualties."

"What a pity! Alas!" Zhu Lishuo sighed with a look of regret on his face, "If our fleet could come here now and drive away the enemy fleet, then the 30,000 enemy troops on the island would definitely be wiped out."

"It's meaningless to say that. The purpose of fighting a war is to achieve a goal under existing conditions." Zhou Changfeng waved his hand, then pointed at his feet and said, "Now we just have to wait and negotiate. Whether we can reach an agreement at the negotiation table depends on the outcome of the game on the battlefield."

"Can the court make a good choice?" Yao Liangchuan said in a skeptical tone: "The last time I returned to my homeland to report on my work, the topic of peace was still quite sensitive."

Zhou Changfeng said casually: "So we need a transition period, and then we can't be greedy. Those people in the court... are still rational."

(End of this chapter)