Film and Television: Starting from the Journey to Guandong

Chapter 168

At 9:20, the fighter jets covering the Neon Fleet began to take off.

At 9:25, a formation of 15 Avenger torpedo bombers (numbered VT-8, commander John C. Waldron) launched from the Hornet discovered the Nagumo Fleet.

Unfortunately, they were running out of fuel and had no fighter escort (due to miscommunication, VF-6, which was supposed to be in support, did not receive a request for assistance and instead waited for Major McCluskey's formation as originally requested).

In a suicide attack, they were all shot down by Zero fighters and anti-aircraft fire, killing all 30 pilots except George H. Gay who survived.

At 9:30, 28 US fighter planes taking off from the USS Enterprise and USS Yorktown followed one after another (should be the VT-6 formation, commander Eugene E. Lindsay) and launched an attack on the Soryu and Hiryu. However, it suffered heavy losses when attacking the Nagumo Fleet and lost 20 torpedo bombers. None of the torpedoes dropped by the US aircraft hit. Commander Lindsay was killed in this battle.

At 9:37, the Tone No. 4 aircraft received the telegram "Low fuel, I want to return" sent at 30:. When Major General Abe ordered it to stay where it was, it said "I can't do it", so it was allowed to return. .

At 10:00, Soryu's Type 4 reconnaissance aircraft failed to find the US aircraft carrier based on the wrong position reported by Tone No. aircraft.

At 10:10, Major Lance Massey's 3rd Yorktown Dive Bomber Squadron began to attack the Hiryu. The commander of the 6 F4Fs covering him, Major Joan Sage, used his "Satch Shear" tactical aspect for the first time. Despite the impressive results against 15 Zero Fighters (one lost, 1 Zero Fighters shot down), 5 of the 12 TBDs were shot down, and the rest eventually made forced landings at sea. None of the five torpedoes fired at Hiryu hit.

At 10:20, due to the attack by the US military, the aircraft deck began refueling and bombing operations for the escorting Zero fighters, and was unable to prepare for a counterattack.

While Japanese fighter jets were busy driving away U.S. torpedo planes at low altitudes, 33 Dauntless dive bombers led by Major Clarence McCluskey taking off from the USS Enterprise appeared in the sky above the Nagumo Fleet.

When they were about to give up the search, they discovered the destroyer Arashi, which was staying in place to prevent the USS Nautilus submarine from rising, and followed its course to find the Japanese aircraft carrier.

At this time, the Japanese ship was turning around to face the wind, and was in an extremely vulnerable position, with only a few Zero fighters parked.

At 10:24, when the first anti-aircraft Neon fighter of the shift left the flight deck, Enterprise's 33 "Dauntless" dive bombers were divided into two squadrons to attack the aircraft carrier Akagi and Kaga respectively.

Since the captain of the VS-6 squadron, Major Junior Crusky, was a fighter pilot and was not familiar with dive bombing procedures - he should lead the leading formation to attack the farther aircraft carrier instead of the nearby one.

As a result, almost all the bombers (30 aircraft) focused on the Kaga. Captain Best, who led VB-6, realized that there was another aircraft carrier that had not been attacked. He called hard and recalled two aircraft to participate in the bombing. They completed the most beautiful bombing in this battle:

Of the three 1000-pound bombs, the first and third were near misses respectively. The second bomb dropped by Best smashed through Akagi's flight deck and detonated the ammunition, creating a record of sinking an aircraft carrier with one bomb. .

The 17 "Dreadnought" dive bombers (VB-3) that took off from the USS Yorktown aircraft carrier then arrived specifically to attack the USS Soryu aircraft carrier.

The three Japanese aircraft carriers turned into three balls of fire in an instant. The planes, fuel and ammunition piled on the deck caused a big explosion, and the flames shot straight into the sky. In just 3 minutes, the three aircraft carriers were completely destroyed. .

10时40分，接替指挥空中作战的日第2航空战队司令官山口多闻少将发动反击，18架由“九九”式俯冲轰炸机和6架零式战斗机组成的攻击编队从飞龙号航空母舰起飞。

On the way to the target, they spotted a group of US bombers returning and followed them quietly. Because of this, the Japanese planes successfully found the Yorktown and immediately launched an attack.

Three bombs hit the Yorktown. Although it was damaged, the sailing function was restored due to the efforts of the US military crew.

At 11:30, Lieutenant General Nagumo and his staff moved to the cruiser Nagara and began to assemble the remaining fleet.

At 13:40, 10 Japanese "6" torpedo attack aircraft and "Zero" fighters flew from the Hiryu and launched a second attack on the injured Yorktown (the Japanese side was commanded by Tomonaga. Since Yorktown had been repaired, Japanese pilots mistook it for another sister ship).

The Yorktown was not so lucky this time. It was hit by two torpedoes, which opened two large holes near the port side and crushed the rudder. Rear Admiral Fletcher was forced to transfer to the cruiser, handing over command to Rear Admiral Spruance.

At 14:45, a U.S. reconnaissance plane discovered the Japanese aircraft carrier Hiryu. Spruance immediately ordered 30 "Dauntless" dive bombers from the aircraft carriers Enterprise and Hornet to take off to attack the Hiryu.

At 15:00, Captain Buckmaster of the USS Yorktown was forced to give the order to abandon the ship. However, it did not sink, so the U.S. military returned to the ship and tried to tow it to Pearl Harbor by tugboats.

At 16:45, dive bombers from the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier successfully attacked the remaining Japanese Hiryu. The Feilong hit four bombs immediately, and the ship was a sea of ​​fire.

At 19:13, Soryu and Kaga sank successively.

At 20:30, Yamamoto Isoroku ordered the submarine No. 168 to start bombarding the AF airport at 23:, and informed that the seventh team (Kurita) would join the bombardment later.

At 22:50, Nagumo reported: "The enemy still has 4 aircraft carriers, and all our aircraft carriers have been destroyed."

At 1942:6 on June 5, 2, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, commander of the Neon Combined Fleet, rejected the plan proposed by his chief staff officer, Colonel Kuroshima, to concentrate all ships on daytime bombing and landing on Midway Island to save the defeat, and ordered: " Cancel the occupation operation of Midway Island." and said, "I will bear all the responsibilities alone. I will go back and apologize to His Majesty the Emperor." He locked himself in the reception room and refused to meet with his subordinates for three days.

At 3:50, Nagumo received Yamamoto's order to "sink the 'Akagi'".

At 5:00, the aircraft carrier Akagi, which failed to be rescued, was sunk by torpedoes launched by the Japanese destroyers Maikaze, Hagikaze, Nowaki and Arashi.

At 5:10, the irreparable aircraft carrier Hiryu was sunk by a torpedo launched by a Japanese destroyer. Second Air Force Commander Yamaguchi Tamon and Captain Kaku Shizuo chose to sink with the ship. Some of the crew members who were trapped in the bottom of the cabin by the fire escaped and were rescued through the hole penetrated by the torpedo.

On this day, the U.S. military sent multiple waves of fighter planes to pursue Japanese warships, but none of them found Yamamoto's main fleet.

1942年6月6日3时45分，日军两艘重巡洋舰最上号和三隈号在浓雾中转向时互撞，最上号重创，三隈号及另两艘驱逐舰留下护航。    8时05分，中途岛起飞的12架陆战队轰炸机追击三隈号及最上号。

The Mikuma was sunk, but the seriously injured Mogami finally escaped the US bombing and returned to the Truk Island base. The U.S. military then tried to pursue the Hiryu, which had sunk a few hours earlier, but only found the destroyer Tanikaze. However, neither side achieved any results.

At 13:00 on June 1942, 6, the Japanese submarine I-7 discovered the Yorktown and immediately launched 13 torpedoes, 00 of which hit the Yorktown and 168 of which hit the escorting destroyer Harman. , the destroyer Harman sank immediately, and the Yorktown floated until noon the next day before sinking to the bottom of the sea.

At the same time as it was attacked, six other US destroyers tried to counterattack the I-6, but the I-168 eventually evacuated safely.

Analyzing the reasons for Neon's failure, the first thing that bears the brunt is the Neon Navy's arrogance and arrogance in underestimating the enemy.

A arrogant soldier will inevitably be defeated. This is a true portrayal of the Neon Navy in this naval battle, and it is also the fundamental reason for the Neon Navy's failure in this naval battle.

In the initial stage of the war, the Neon Navy performed very well, especially in the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. It achieved well-planned, well-prepared, precise operations and achieved unexpected and brilliant results.

However, because this stage was too smooth, everyone in the Neon Navy was dazzled by the victory. In this naval battle, there was no such conscientious attitude as at the beginning of the war.

The battle plan was hastily drawn up, full of loopholes, and objections were ignored. The exercises on the map to test the combat plan were also perfunctory.

For example, during the exercise, the Nagumo Force was attacked by U.S. land-based aircraft during the air raid on Midway Island. The referee determined that the Neon Fleet was hit 9 times and two aircraft carriers were sunk.

Rear Admiral Ugaki, who was in charge of the exercise, ordered the number of hits to be changed to three, and the verdict was changed to one aircraft carrier being sunk and the other slightly damaged. However, soon the sunk aircraft carrier came up from the bottom of the sea again and participated in the next one. stage battle.

The officers and soldiers of Lieutenant General Nihon Nagumo Chuichi's First Mobile Force also had an attitude of "no matter what the mission is, we can complete it" towards the battle, and did not prepare seriously. The entire Neon Navy was arrogant, which was also the root cause of a series of mistakes that later led to the failure of the Japanese Navy.

Then there is the failure of the intelligence war. War had developed into multi-dimensional space at that time, and intelligence warfare and information warfare had become one of the main factors restricting the victory of war.

The trump card of the US military's victory in this naval battle was to decipher the Neon Navy's code in advance and understand the Neon Navy's combat plan and deployment before the battle broke out. In this way, they can concentrate their efforts to ambush the Japanese army.

Lieutenant Colonel Layton, who was in charge of codebreaking at the time, reported to the headquarters: "The Neon Mobile Fleet will come from the northwest, bearing 325 degrees, and will be discovered by us 175 nautical miles away from Midway Island at 6 o'clock Midway time. "

After discovering the Neon fleet at the exact time, Nimitz said to Lieutenant Colonel Layton: "Congratulations, it's only 5 nautical miles different from what you predicted." In contrast, Neon, they did not collect anything of value before the war. intelligence, scheduled reconnaissance operations were also canceled due to various reasons.

Therefore, he made a completely wrong judgment on the enemy's situation. The two sides acted openly and secretly, allowing Chou Country to enjoy all the advantages.

Error in Neon's battle plan. First, Neon made the mistake of spreading its forces. Although Neon has many ships, they are divided into six groups that cannot directly support each other. Two aircraft carriers are used in the far north, so that in the direction of Midway Island, they mainly rely on the four aircraft carriers of the Nagumo Fleet. These four aircraft carriers have a total of 2 carrier-based aircraft.

The U.S. Navy concentrated its forces to the maximum extent, with a total of 354 aircraft available for use in the direction of Midway Island, which gave it an advantage in terms of quantity.

Secondly. The tasks given to the Nanyun fleet are two fundamentally contradictory tasks. One mission was to conduct an air strike on Midway Island to prepare firepower for the landing operation.

This severely restricted the freedom of action of the Nanyun fleet. But another mission is indeed to contact the enemy fleet and destroy it, which requires the Nagumo fleet to be fully mobile according to the situation.

Since there was no indication of which priority should be given, the Nagumo fleet was at a loss as to what to do. They were forced to load ammunition for different missions on two waves of aircraft. Later, the replacement of ammunition was delayed, delaying the fighter planes and suffering a disaster.

Third, the lack of attention to intelligence work and the means of collecting intelligence resulted in the failure to correctly determine the enemy's situation.

The concept of neon combat is backward. The U.S. Army was sunk all of its battleships at Pearl Harbor, which allowed them to let go of their restraints and establish a task force with the aircraft carrier as the core, and other ships surrounding the aircraft carrier to protect it.

Although Neon used carrier-based aircraft to achieve victory in the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, there are still many supporters in the Navy who insist on using battleships as the decisive force in naval decisive battles, including the largest battleship "Yamato" in the world at the time. The battle fleet was kept at the Zhudao anchorage for future decisive battles.

They played no greater role than the U.S. battleship sunk at Pearl Harbor. The Neon Navy was unwilling to mix battleships and aircraft carriers into a fleet with aircraft carriers as the core, and let the battleships provide air cover for the aircraft carriers. As a result, the Nagumo Fleet had to rely on its own patrol aircraft to protect itself.

When attacked by Midway aircraft, the Neon Fleet had no choice but to take off the covering fighters in the second wave of aircraft to fight. As a result, the dive bombers that had been prepared after receiving intelligence from the U.S. fleet were left without fighter cover. Nagumo witnessed the attack without fighter cover. The U.S. fighter plane failed and was unwilling to repeat the same mistake. It decided to reorganize its troops before attacking the U.S. fleet, causing the fighter plane to be delayed.

Moreover, the task of preparing firepower for the landing operation can be completely undertaken by the battle fleet, so that the hands and feet of the Nagumo Fleet can be freed.

Errors in combat command. The first is that the reconnaissance mission was neglected. The Nanyun Fleet did not have a dedicated reconnaissance aircraft fleet. Due to the unwillingness to disperse the offensive power, the reconnaissance mission of the Nanyun Fleet was mainly performed by old-fashioned seaplanes on the battleships and cruisers in the formation.

The Neon Fleet did not conduct a two-phase search that day. Two of the aircraft conducting a single-phase search malfunctioned, delaying the takeoff time and causing a delay in discovering the U.S. fleet, which directly affected the war situation.

Secondly, when Nagumo received information about Ugo's fleet, he did not take Yamaguchi's suggestion and immediately launched an attack with dive bombers without fighter cover, causing the ship and aircraft to sink together.

Third, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto personally led the battle fleet to the battle and voluntarily gave up guidance on the battle in order to maintain radio silence.

(End of this chapter)