Iron Cross

Both Nimitz and Halsey were shocked to see the Japanese planes appear. They had never expected the Japanese to attack so quickly. They had not even received the complete battle report of their first attack wave.

Jiang Kuangshige, who was in charge of the attack, was not aware of the situation faced by the mobile fleet and was prepared to take steady steps. The Japanese attack aircraft group included 29 Comet Kai, 26 Tianshan Kai and 29 Zero Kai - if Tsukahara had not left more than 20 aircraft, the first attack wave would not be so strong.

Facing the fierce anti-aircraft fire of the US military and the interception of F6Fs, the Zero Kai rushed over first, and then the Comet Kai swooped down from high altitude. The first target selected was the Essex, which was the largest, newest-looking and carrying the flagship flag. A total of 6 dive bombers rushed over.

The Essex was one of the few veterans in the US military. It cleverly avoided these bombs and even shot down two Comet-class aircraft with anti-aircraft guns - the attack on it failed;

After the Comet-class and Zero-class aircraft attracted enemy firepower, the Tenzan-class aircraft rushed to low altitude and began to release torpedoes in a fan-shaped manner. Because the US military was busy dealing with medium and high altitude threats, it ignored the low altitude threats. At 11:50, the Japanese army achieved its first victory. The Boston heavy cruiser (Baltimore class), which had just joined the Pacific Fleet for less than two months and whose paint had not yet completely dried in some parts, was blown into two sections by three torpedoes and sank. This was the result of the Boston's desire for benevolence - he blocked the gun for the Saratoga aircraft carrier.

Two minutes later, the Langley light aircraft carrier (Independence class), which was newer than the Boston, was hit by two bombs, and the rear half of the hull was completely blown open. Damage control could not stop the water from entering anyway, and the captain had no choice but to order the ship to be abandoned.

In the third wave of the Tianshan Kai attack, the New Mexico once again acted as a human sandbag, blocking two torpedoes for the Saratoga. The battleship took on more than 4,000 tons of water, tilted more than 11 degrees, and its speed dropped to less than 14 knots.

Egusa Takashige, who had not attacked and was waiting for the best opportunity, took advantage of the gap and led six bombers to attack the rear deck of the Saratoga. The ship twisted and turned, but was still hit by a bomb in the end - the hit position was very close to the Shokaku, also in the rear half, and the elevator was stuck by the deformed steel plate.

"Langley sank, Saratoga lost most of its take-off and landing capabilities, New Mexico was severely damaged, and 21 anti-aircraft fighters were lost..."

Halsey listened to the battle report with a grim face and asked, "How was the first wave of attack?"

"The attacking aircraft group suffered heavy losses, and only more than 30 aircraft may have returned, severely damaging the enemy's Shokaku, Nakaso Zuikaku and a light aircraft carrier, the specific model is unknown."

"What about the second wave of attack?"

"The attack is about to be launched."

At 12:03, the first wave of Japanese attack returned to the base, and the mobile fleet ushered in the second wave of US attack. The number of US aircraft coming to attack this round was slightly less than the first time, but because the number of anti-aircraft fighters also decreased, the intensity of the second round of attacks should not be underestimated.

This wave of US attack aircraft saw the Shokaku moving forward with thick smoke at a glance. They thought that the ship was almost finished, so they aimed at other ships. The first to suffer was the light aircraft carrier Bolzano. This half-way aircraft carrier was hit by two 1,000-pound aerial bombs in succession. It was finally declared unable to save and gave up, and then it struggled and sank a few minutes later.

The Béarn aircraft carrier looked larger than other light aircraft carriers. The US attack aircraft group believed that this was at least a medium-sized aircraft carrier. Although they could not recognize the specific model, it did not prevent the US attack aircraft from sending torpedoes and bombs to the Béarn. The ship was not fast and finally avoided the bombs above its head, but was hit by a torpedo. Fortunately, although the French were unreliable in building aircraft carriers, the hull quality was still okay. It was only after taking in more than 2,000 tons of seawater that the damage control was successful, but the speed slowed down to 12 knots.

The US aircraft group attacking the Zuikaku was strongly sniped by the Zero Kai, and no bombs were dropped. The Zuikaku only received two near misses and lost more than 20 people.

At 12:17, the second attack wave of the US military retreated. In this round, the Japanese lost 19 Zero Kai, and the US lost 14 SBD, 12 TBF and 17 F6F, with an exchange ratio of less than 3:1.

Hearing the news that the second attack wave sank a light aircraft carrier and severely damaged a medium-sized aircraft carrier, there was jubilation in the bridge of the Essex, but hearing that there were only more than 40 aircraft safely out of the battlefield, Halsey and Nimitz could not help but look heavy-this means that the B fleet with more than 200 aircraft lost more than half of its offensive force after the first round of attack, and the remaining aircraft were all added up to barely make up the organization of one Essex.

A major decision was placed before Halsey and Nimitz, should they withdraw or stay and fight another round?

Judging from the current exchange ratio, the US military as a whole is obviously at a disadvantage, but after excluding the losses of Fleet A's suicide attack, Fleet B's losses are basically the same as those of the Japanese: one fleet aircraft carrier was severely damaged (Shokaku vs Saratoga), one light aircraft carrier was lost (Bolzano vs Langley), and one battleship was severely damaged (Haruna vs New Mexico). In other aspects, the Japanese Béarn was damaged, and the US sank a Baltimore-class heavy cruiser. This precious and almost rare exchange ratio was obtained by using Fleet A's 6 escort aircraft carriers and hundreds of aircraft - that is, the American tycoons have the capital to squander.

Halsey signaled to Nimitz with his eyes, stay or fight again?

"How many reserve aircraft can be mobilized?"

"Essex still has 8-9, and Saratoga has about 6."

"Use them all." Nimitz said after thinking for a long time, "The Japanese Empire has weak shipbuilding capabilities. Whether they are severely damaged or destroyed, they will not be able to continue to make trouble for at least half a year. Even if I have to sacrifice Saratoga and Essex, I will also sacrifice Zuikaku - this is their only fleet aircraft carrier. And we will have at least two Essex-class ships in service after October, and the gap between the two sides will be even greater next year! The long-term initiative is in our hands."

Halsey nodded in agreement and suggested that the New Mexico and Saratoga withdraw from the battlefield after launching the attack aircraft , the subtext of this action is to give up the rescue of Tarawa. Nimitz was silent for a long time after listening to it, and finally spoke with a heavy heart-"I will always owe these Marines a favor!"

On the other side of the mobile fleet, the scene was also in chaos, but Tsukahara was very calm and asked: "How many planes did Fuchida Mitsuo take away?"

"About 40, half of them have enough fuel and ammunition, and the other half need to be replenished. They are now in the guerrilla fleet."

"How many planes do we have?"

Genda Minoru calculated: "So far, a total of nearly 60 planes have been lost in the battle, mainly More than 30 aircraft were launched into the sea, and the losses of Jiangca Longfu have not been counted. "

"Let them return to the mobile fleet to land, and Fuchida Mitsuo will lead the next attack wave."

"But the third wave of fighters is not enough. Captain Fuchida brought all attack aircraft, not a single fighter."

"Send a telegram to Kakuta, he will understand."

On the deck, Kakuta told Fuchida Mitsuo: "After replenishment, the whole army will attack!"

The latter hesitated: "We don't have enough escort fighters, so the loss of team members will be too great."

The always brave Kakuta Kakuji pointed to the escort fighters above his head: "My There are 18 more, take them all. "

"What about the cover of the guerrilla fleet?"

"We have not been exposed yet, the enemy will not come, even if they come, it doesn't matter. The guerrilla fleet has only two light aircraft carriers, and the commander has Shokaku and Zuikaku, which are much more important than me." Kakuta patted Fuchida Mitsuo on the shoulder, "We must send Essex and Saratoga to the sea. After they are finished, the Imperial Navy can walk sideways in the Pacific Ocean!"

This optimistic attitude encouraged Fuchida Mitsuo. Although he felt that the battle was indeed a bit unexpected, no one in the world would fight a step-by-step battle with you. He nodded: "Wait for our good news."

Before departure, the guerrilla fleet received news: "Shokaku was severely damaged, Bolzano sank, Béarn was severely damaged, and the rest were intact..."

Mikawa and Kakuta were a little anxious. The US military could come again at this rate, and the enemy must be paralyzed as soon as possible.

On the Musashi, Kusaka Rento reported: "Commander, Tsukahara-kun sent a telegram saying that he will only give us 16 fighters and he will keep all the rest with him."

"12 is enough, let him keep 4 more." After considering it, Hori Teikichi gave an unexpected answer.

"Sir!" Kusa Kazuto was anxious, "No, 12 planes can't stop the enemy..."

"Nimitz basically won't come, don't worry." Hori Teikichi smiled, "If he comes to attack us, at most he will sink 1-2 more battleships, but then the Pacific Fleet will not be saved, so he won't come, he will only attack the mobile fleet."

"Sir!"

"Don't worry, prepare to land!" Hori Teikichi waved his hand lightly, "Believe in Tsukahara-kun!"

At 13:29, Egusa Takashige, who completed the second attack wave, returned to the mobile fleet. He couldn't believe his eyes anyway: Shokaku was emitting clouds of smoke, Bolzano had disappeared, and the Bearn aircraft carrier had a crooked track, and it was obvious that it had suffered a lot of damage. The destroyers were busy rescuing officers and soldiers who fell into the water.

When he landed, the third attack wave of 64 aircraft took off from the guerrilla fleet and headed straight for the US fleet, while the first and second attack waves of the US military had just returned to the Essex. The number of US aircraft was only 40 less than that of the Japanese, but the Japanese had 4 aircraft carriers available, and the Pacific Fleet currently had only 1 aircraft carrier that could function normally, and the operating speed was far behind the opponent.

The two sides were only 460 kilometers apart, and Nimitz and Halsey never dreamed that so far, the enemies attacking them were all from the guerrilla fleet in the west.

This cold and shining wakizashi was finally going to use his strongest attack!