Film and Television: Starting from the Journey to Guandong

Chapter 169

Then there is the difference in scientific, technological and industrial economic strength between the two countries.

Neon lags behind the United States in science and technology. An obvious proof is the application of radar technology.

At that time, the Ugly Fleet was already equipped with radar, and it discovered the Neon fleet before it arrived and made preparations in advance. However, the Neon Fleet was not equipped with radar, and all warnings relied on visual inspection. When the Ugly dive bombers took advantage of the cover of the clouds to attack, they could not Respond promptly.

The industrial and economic strength of both sides also played a big role.

The Battle of the Coral Sea occurred before the Battle of Midway. Neon's aircraft carrier Shokaku was injured and required a month of repairs. Zuikaku was unable to perform combat missions due to too many personnel losses.

The U.S. aircraft carrier "Lexington" sank and the "Yorktown" was injured.

In order to allow the "York City" to participate in the Battle of Midway, Ugly State concentrated all its efforts on the "York City" for three days and three nights of emergency repairs, and finally put it back on the battlefield, making great contributions to the victory.

The two sides can compare their level here. Neon has lost 2 aircraft carriers, but Chou has added 1. The comparison of aircraft carriers between the two sides has become 4:3, which greatly reduces the gap between the two sides and lays a solid foundation for Chou's victory. Foundation.

中途岛战役美军只损失一艘航空母舰、1艘驱逐舰和147架飞机，阵亡307人；而丑国却损失了4艘大型航空母舰、1艘巡洋舰、332架飞机，还有几百名经验丰富的飞行员和3700名舰员。

The Neon Navy has since failed. In order to cover up its defeat and avoid damaging the morale of the troops, Neon Radio played a loud naval song on June 6 and declared that Neon had "become the most powerful country in the Pacific." When the defeated fleet returned exhausted, While stationed, Tokyo actually held a lantern parade to celebrate the victory.

The head of the US Navy later commented: "The Battle of Midway was the first decisive defeat of the Neon Navy in 350 years. It ended Neon's long-term offensive and restored the balance of naval power in the Pacific."

At the same time, this battle also caused wounds that were difficult to heal on the top of the Japanese military. This painful memory lingered until the end of World War II, making it impossible for them to make a clear judgment on the war situation.

The famous American naval historian Samuel E. Morrison called the American Navy's victory in the Battle of Midway a "triumph of intelligence."

The Ugly Navy discovered the Neon Navy's plan in advance, which was the single most important reason for the Neon Navy's failure.

Morrison also believed that just because the Japanese anti-aircraft artillery did not prevent a bomber from dropping bombs in the Battle of Midway, and that the anti-aircraft artillery only caused the loss of several American aircraft in the Battle of Mariana, it was inappropriate to incorporate battleships into aircraft carrier formations for air defense. Expectations are too high for the role played.

To be fair, the Chinese ship-borne anti-aircraft guns were very unsatisfactory before they were replaced with the powerful Bofors 40mm and equipped with proximity fuses. Moreover, Neon and Chou were both engaged in a battleship construction competition before the war.

The most obvious mistake of the Neon Navy plan is the dispersed deployment of forces. Each unit of the combined fleet operates alone at a long distance apart, while the Ugly Navy deploys its forces to the maximum extent possible.

The advantage of the combined fleet was diminished. Another mistake in the Japanese plan was that the attack on Midway was originally intended to induce a decisive battle by the enemy fleet, but instead it assigned the aircraft carrier the task of supporting the occupation of Midway, believing that the enemy fleet would not leave its base until Midway was attacked.

The Japanese reconnaissance and search plan was equally unfavorable. In the end, Nanyun encountered a dilemma and the embarrassing situation of changing torpedoes and bombs back and forth.

The Battle of Midway changed the balance of strength between Japanese and American aircraft carriers in the Pacific. The Japanese army has only 2 large aircraft carriers and 4 light aircraft carriers left.

From then on, Neon began to lose its strategic initiative in the Pacific battlefield, and the war situation took a turn in favor of the Allies.

The characteristic of this naval battle is that the maritime combat formations of both sides carried out assaults with ship-based aviation outside the range of naval guns.

The reason for the failure of the Japanese army was that they overestimated the combat effectiveness of their own aircraft carriers, fought in two battle directions at the same time, and dispersed their forces; they misjudged the situation and believed that the U.S. aircraft carriers would not have time to gather in the theater;

The communications technology was backward and there was a lack of thorough maritime reconnaissance. The location of the US aircraft carrier was not identified until the critical moment. The battlefield command was improper and the determination was changeable.

The reason for the U.S. military's victory was to grasp the Japanese attack plan and assemble its forces in time to stand by; with most of the torpedo planes lost, the bombers continued dive bombing, causing the Japanese torpedo planes to explode with mines, and the aircraft carrier was completely destroyed.

After three hours of fierce fighting, the neon defense barrier seemed to prove unbreakable, so the Japanese changed the missions of 3 bombers and torpedo planes. But at 93:10 a.m., a breach finally opened in this impenetrable defensive barrier.

The "Flying Dragon" aircraft carrier suddenly broke away from the box formation and headed north; but the remaining three aircraft carriers still huddled together and fought back at the take-off point of the aircraft.

Their flight decks have become places that invite disaster: a group of pilots excitedly revving their engines, piles of bombs scattered in a mess, officers and soldiers running nervously, and high-octane fuel hoses like snakes under people's feet. Twists and turns. It only takes 5 minutes to complete the attack and prepare to destroy the Ugly aircraft carrier in one fell swoop.

The "Zero" aircraft was flying at low altitude, chasing the low-flying US torpedo aircraft. This leaves the Neon aircraft carrier lacking fighter patrol cover to deal with high-altitude attacks.

At this time, 36 "Dauntless" dive bombers led by Major Wade McCluskey of the U.S. Navy took off from the "Enterprise" aircraft carrier, and Major Maxwell Leslie led by Major Maxwell Leslie took off from the "Yorktown". The aircraft carrier flew down and suddenly broke through the clouds. Accompanied by blood-curdling screams, they launched an attack on the 17 dive bombers taking off from the neon aircraft carrier below.

In Japan's history, there is no "fateful five minutes".

"When the Nagumo fleet was hit, the reloading (bombs for torpedoes) of the First Air Battle had not yet been completed, and the attack team was preparing to take off. Although it is common to say that the first fighter was hit when it slid out of the deck, it is certain that this The fighter jets are fleet direct cover aircraft and not escort aircraft for the attack fleet of the US task force."

According to the testimony of the lookout on the Akagi bridge, there was not even a single attack aircraft on the Akagi flight deck at the moment of being shot. There are only 3 Zero fighters. One of them seemed to be a cover aircraft prepared for the second attack team, but it could not be determined.

Because almost all of the escort fighters prepared for the 2nd Attack Team were in the air to cover the fleet. The other two aircraft can be concluded to be direct cover aircraft that have just landed to replenish ammunition and fuel.

According to the pilot's testimony, the Zero fighter that took off at that time was because its pilot spotted the US military plane swooping down and immediately jumped on the plane in front of him and took off.

It can be confirmed that before Akagi was shot, there were only three Zero fighters on the deck, and none of them had pilots. The 3th ship attack pilots of the 2nd attack team were waiting in the waiting room to take off.

In fact, the casualties suffered by Akagi and other aircraft carrier pilots were not large, which also proves that they should not have been in the cockpit of the aircraft at that time, because if they were in the cockpit of the aircraft neatly arranged on the deck, they would be shot in a very short time after being shot. The planes that explode one after another will kill their pilots in large numbers.

There is no accurate statement as to whether the deck of the Kaga aircraft carrier was already filled with aircraft from the 2nd Attack Team at the moment it was hit, but there is testimony that the 97th carrier was hit while on the lift.

At the moment Soryu was shot, there was testimony that "there were about 10 ships attacking on the deck." This may be the return ship attack of the 1st attack team that has just landed, or the "2 dive bomber" prepared for the 99nd attack team. In any case, it does not prove that the second attack team can take off in 2 minutes. Moreover, if the 5st and 1nd aviation battles were shot within the "fateful 2 minutes", then the flying dragon that was not shot should take off all the 5nd attack team fighters within 5 minutes.

But in fact, the start time of the 2nd Hiryu Attack Team was 3 minutes after all three aircraft carriers were hit. It can be seen that at least Feilong will definitely not be able to take off its attack team in 30 minutes.

At least one conclusion can be drawn - when the three aircraft carriers were hit, it would take at least 3 minutes for Soryu and Hiryu's second attack team to take off, while Akagi and Kaga would need more time.

According to the testimony of Lieutenant Akagi Koto, "There are still 5 minutes, probably 5 minutes, before the attack fleet in the hangar can complete the work of replacing bombs with torpedoes, and then the aircraft will be lifted to the deck through elevators. , arrange it at the take-off position, complete the test run, and then take off, which takes at least 30 minutes."

At that time, the 1nd aviation staff officer of the 2st Air Fleet (the first staff officer was Major Genda), when answering questions from the post-war committee, said "the five minutes of fate are all nonsense."

Even if there are "30 minutes of destiny" or "60 minutes of destiny", "5 minutes of destiny" absolutely does not exist.

This is probably the unique way of thinking of the Neon people. "5 Minutes of Destiny" means the projection of the Neon people's subjective wishes of "we could have won" and "just a little bit of bad luck".

In December 1941, Little Book launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and achieved a huge victory, which attracted the attention of the whole world.

Xiao Benzi's morale was greatly boosted. In the following months, the Neon Navy was invincible, creating "myths" of victory again and again in the Pacific.

At that time, after winning one victory after another, Neon had already determined that it would become the victor of the war, and it was natural that it regarded the entire Pacific as its own.

Midway Island is an important military base and transportation hub for the U.S. in the Central Pacific region. Its geographical location is crucial and its military significance is of great importance.

If Neon wanted to continue to expand eastward and even "swallow" the entire Pacific Ocean, it had to capture Midway Island first.

Therefore, the ambitious Neon Navy Commander Yamamoto has long been determined to win Midway Island.

Yamamoto was the planner of the Pearl Harbor incident. At that time, he was enjoying great fame because of the "huge victory" at Pearl Harbor.

On the other side, General Nimitz of the Ugly Kingdom was sent to "clean up the defeat" after the Pearl Harbor incident, and received an order with high hopes from the boss: "Stay there until victory."

The Pearl Harbor incident was a huge victory that Neon was proud of, but it was also a shame and defeat that the Ugly Nation was brooding over.

After Nimitz arrived at Pearl Harbor, he quickly launched a "revenge". He organized a fleet and launched an attack on the Japanese troops on the islands in the Central Pacific. After that, he made a decision that stunned everyone - bombing Tokyo.

At that time, many people thought that Nimitz was just being alarmist. After hearing the news, Yamamoto just laughed it off, saying that the other party "can only say harsh words."

However, in April 1942, 4 US military fighter jets really appeared over the Neon Capital and fired dozens of ammunition downwards.

Nimitz did not really intend to start a war in Tokyo, and the bombers left immediately after dropping their bombs. But this behavior is undoubtedly a provocation to neon.

Yamamoto was furious after receiving the news, and became more determined to attack Midway Island and dominate the Pacific as soon as possible, and immediately began to formulate a battle plan.

Before the Battle of Midway began, the War of the Coral Sea broke out first.

This was the first large-scale battle of aircraft carriers in the world. The Japanese fleet was damaged in this battle, but the US military suffered even more heavy losses.

After the battle situation in the Coral Sea was reported back to headquarters, Yamamoto became more confident in the Battle of Midway, believing that the US military's aircraft carrier strength was no more than this.

On April 4, Yamamoto had finalized the battle plan to attack Midway Island. After the Coral Sea War ended in May, Yamamoto was even more confident. He immediately arranged a series of preparations such as pre-war exercises, and couldn't wait to start the war as soon as possible.

Although the country's military technological strength has always been at the forefront of the world, the US military did not have a crushing advantage in armaments compared to the Japanese army at that time. Even judging from the number of troops and ships participating in the war, the US military was at a disadvantage.

As a result, he confidently went to war, but suffered a heavy blow.

It was this blind blow that caused Xiao Benzi to lose the chance to finally rise and completely failed, not only in the Pacific Ocean, but also in the entire war.

It can be said that the Midway stop destroyed Xiao Benzi's final war potential and lost the opportunity to start over. Naturally, he was unable to support the attack on land, and the final result was doomed.

And the entire country was punished by dirty bombs after that.

The "great victory" at Pearl Harbor was a double-edged sword for the Neon Navy.

On the one hand, this incident boosted the morale of the Japanese army and brought more victories, but on the other hand, it also made the Japanese army dazzled by the joy of victory and became more and more conceited and underestimated the enemy.

Because they were too conceited, the Japanese army's pre-war preparations for the Battle of Midway were very sloppy and perfunctory.

During the pre-war exercise, because the "Japanese side" in the exercise lost so miserably, the officer in charge of the exercise even directly asked the referee to change the result.

As everyone knows, deceiving oneself and stealing the bell is just deceiving oneself and others. The outcome of the war is a fact that no one can change, and the failure of the Japanese army in the entire war has long been doomed.

(End of this chapter)