Anti-Japanese heroic righteousness

At this time, the apron of Midway Island was full of fighter jets and bombers. Fifty modified B-24 heavy bombers were hiding among these planes. 45 "Hark anti-ship missiles" had been installed on the planes. Ready to go to the battlefield at any time.

Jiang Haoran and Nimitz patrolled the island, and after confirming that they were correct, they boarded the flagship of the battle—the battleship Iowa, and headed for the Third Fleet, which was [-] nautical miles away.

The USS Iowa is the largest battleship built by the US Navy.On the basis of maintaining the protection level of the South Dakota class, it focuses on increasing the speed of the ship. It is equipped with a more powerful power plant and has a design speed of up to 33 knots. It is the battleship with the largest engine power and the highest speed in history.The standard displacement is 44500 tons, the full load displacement is 55710 tons, the total armor weight is 18466 tons, the total length is 270.4 meters, the waterline length is 262.1 meters, the maximum width is 33 meters, and the maximum draft is 11 meters. There are 212000 guns of 15900 times the caliber of 17mm and 9 triple installations, 50 secondary guns of 406 times the caliber of 3mm and 20 double installations, and 38 carrier-based aircraft with 127 catapults.

Historically, the Iowa was launched in 1942, but the appearance of Jiang Haoran has already made history full of holes.

Although the USS Iowa came into being for the battleship Yamato of the Japanese army, because the islanders adopted extremely strict confidentiality measures for the construction and use of the Yamato, the US Navy greatly underestimated the strength of the ship for a long time. It is wrongly believed that its displacement does not exceed 46000 tons, it uses a 406mm main gun, and its speed is 30 knots.

Based on erroneous information, the Americans believed that while the "Iowa" class battleship reached a high speed of 33 knots, its firepower and armor thickness were sufficient to deal with the new Japanese battleships. In fact, the tonnage, main gun power, and armor thickness of the Yamato ship All of them surpassed the battleships of the same era, and they were still the most powerful battleships in the world worthy of the name at that time.

Of course, in this period of rapid development of aircraft carriers, battleships have actually begun to end from their peak period.

A battleship is a large-scale surface combat ship that uses large-caliber naval guns as its main weapon, has strong armor protection capabilities and strong assault power, and undertakes ocean-going combat missions.In the centuries before the end of World War II, battleships once dominated the ocean world, leading a generation of blue coquettish, and were an indispensable backbone of the naval fleet.

As early as the middle of the 17th century, three-masted sailing warships appeared on the sea. Its hull was made of wood, and its displacement increased to 4000 to 5000 tons. The artillery deck had a maximum of 3 layers and could hold more than 100 cannons.This kind of warship has completely changed the tactics of boarding battles in the past in naval battles. It mainly uses multiple ships in a single column battle line for artillery battles, hence the name "battleship". In the second half of the 19th century, battleships generally used steel armor, with a full-load displacement of 1 to 1.2 tons, a speed of 16 knots to 17 knots, the caliber of the main gun increased from 200 mm to 300 mm to 350 mm, and the thickness of the hull protective armor reached 230 mm to 450 mm.In the previous naval battles of the First World War, battleships fully demonstrated the advantages of large ships and cannons, and thus became the focus of the development of navies of various countries.

The development of battleships reached its peak in the late 20s.The battleships built during this period, such as the Japanese "Yamato" and "Musashi", have a displacement of more than 30 tons. The caliber of the three triple-mounted main guns is 3 mm, and the speed is 460 knots; the thickness of the armor is also roughly the same as that of the main guns. The caliber is the same, and the underwater protection has been strengthened to resist the attack of torpedoes. The characteristics of the large ship's cannon are more obvious.It can be said that before World War II, battleships had always been the battleships and core forces of the fleets of various maritime powers, occupying the position of maritime supremacy.

But in the later period of World War II, the aircraft carrier completely replaced the important position of the battleship and became the supremacy of the sea.

It was already midnight when the battleship Iowa caught up with the third fleet. Under the dim stars and moon, three aircraft carriers and more than a hundred warships of various types braved the wind and waves, and they would expand their battle line to a thousand miles away from Midway before dawn. nautical mile.

The Third Fleet is the frontal force of this battle, and it is responsible for luring the enemy deep. Five hundred nautical miles behind the southwest of the Third Fleet is an aircraft carrier battle group composed of two aircraft carriers of the US Pacific Seventh Fleet. At the same distance from the Seventh Fleet is an aircraft carrier battle group composed of two aircraft carriers of the British East India Fleet.

The three aircraft carrier battle groups formed a huge "pin" character on the vast sea. Just waiting for the third fleet in front to successfully pull the Japanese combined fleet into a distance of [-] nautical miles from Midway Island, the two aircraft carrier battle groups ambushing in the rear immediately Come up and tighten your pockets. The tactical purpose of this campaign is to wipe out all the invading enemies.

During World War II, countries, including the United States, did not have a fixed aircraft carrier battle group organization, or even the concept of an aircraft carrier battle group.Because the fleet composition of the navies of various countries at that time was organized according to the needs of combat missions, the number and size of battleships, aircraft carriers, light and heavy cruisers, and destroyers in the fleet were not fixed. Escorting aircraft carriers, 17 battleships, 18 cruisers, 12 destroyers, other ships, torpedo boats, submarines and about 24 aircraft, while the aircraft carrier task force during the Coral Sea Battle was only composed of 141 aircraft carriers and 1500 destroyers.

It can be said that the brand-new concept of the aircraft carrier battle group was planned by Jiang Haoran. Although the supreme commander of this battle was General Nimitz, the entire plan was almost entirely written by Jiang Haoran.

The three aircraft carrier battle groups can be said to be fighting alone, but they are interdependent and support each other, but the premise is that before the third fleet brings the island army's combined fleet into the ambush circle, the two aircraft carrier battle groups in the rear must be completely invisible. Once detected by the enemy, once it is exposed in advance, if the Japanese army concentrates its firepower on a certain aircraft carrier battle group on the flank, neither the Seventh Fleet of the United States nor the East India Fleet of the United Kingdom will be able to resist. Very slim.Therefore, the distance between the two aircraft carrier battle groups in the rear was increased to [-] nautical miles to prevent this.

But this move also has disadvantages, which means that in the early stage of the battle to lure the enemy, the frontal Third Fleet must complete this arduous task alone, and the risk is not low.

In the early morning of the next day, on the deck of the USS Iowa, Jiang Haoran, Nimitz and a group of general staff stood facing the wind. The sea breeze blew the Mi Zi flag fluttering, and several plated seagulls flitted from the side of the ship. Then, a round of red sun emerged from the sea and hung in the clouds, shining brightly. The sea of ​​clouds was dyed bright orange and red, like a ball of flames boiling, and the sea water was also dyed red, indicating that today is a rare day. The fine weather is suitable for killing enemies and making contributions.In the distance is a battleship with flags waving, the breeze blows the waves, it is such a picture of a sunrise on the sea, Jiang Haoran can't help but softly chant, "Half the river is rustling and half the river is red."

"Ah, what?" Nimitz looked suspiciously at Jiang Haoran. Jiang Haoran spoke Chinese, but he responded in English.

Jiang Haoran smiled and replied in English: "It's nothing, it's just that the sea view is beautiful."

Nimitz shook his head with a wry smile, and said: "You still have this leisurely mood, and there is no sign of the monkey army yet. Whether they will come or whether we can meet them as scheduled is still unclear. My heart is in my throat."

Jiang Haoran smiled slightly and said: "Don't worry, they will come. We chose the best straight-line distance. In terms of range and tactical maneuvering, they will choose to pass by here. We just need to wait patiently."

Nimitz shrugged helplessly, but his eyes fell on the newly restored "USS Enterprise" aircraft carrier in the distance. A plane was taking off from the aircraft carrier. The silver paint was shining in the morning light, drawing a The smooth lines rushed to the sky, slowly turning into a black dot and disappearing from the field of vision, and the reconnaissance plane had already been dispatched.

Jiang Haoran also kept this scene in his eyes, his expression was a bit stern, he didn't know what he was thinking, behind him were Su Canwen and a dozen members of the Snow Wolf Special Forces, although their posture was still as straight and stern as iron, but their expressions were not so Looks good, there is a kind of weak and pale, never been on a battleship or even experienced the bumps at sea, so that they all vomited so much that they all vomited out their urchins. The dozen or so are still good, the rest Those included the Mei family sisters, Liang Xiaotian, Xiaodao and other team members. At this time, they didn't even have the strength to get up, but Jiang Haoran didn't seem to feel anything, just like usual.

Ten minutes later, a senior staff officer hurriedly came to report that the submarine in front had spotted enemy ships, the exact number was unknown, and they were about [-] nautical miles away from our aircraft carrier fleet.

"Okay!" Nimitz waved his arms in the air, ordering all personnel to prepare for battle, pay close attention to the movements of the island army, and send out reconnaissance planes to thoroughly check the number of island army ships.

Half an hour later, the reconnaissance plane sent back news that four Japanese aircraft carriers and more than a hundred other battleships, destroyers, cruisers, and other large and small warships were advancing at full speed, and their target direction was directed at the Third Fleet.

Nimitz was ecstatic. The four aircraft carriers may not be the enemy's entire force, but they must be the main attack fleet. Their appearance proves that the enemy's attack direction is not wrong. What they did was to withstand the first wave of the island army's attack, try their best to mobilize the island army's support fleet, and then lead them into the ambush circle step by step.

Nimitz ordered the fleet to form a defensive formation, ready to meet the enemy.

In a short while, there was a shrill siren on the sea, and the aircraft carrier and the soldiers of the ship began to emerge on the deck and entered the combat position. Carrier-based aircraft also began to take off from the aircraft carrier, quickly forming an air formation.

The reconnaissance aircraft of the Mi Army can find the aircraft carrier of the Island Army. Similarly, the reconnaissance aircraft of the Island Army will also find the aircraft carrier fleet of the Mi Army. A large-scale air battle is imminent.