Chapter 48 The most perfect lesson plan

When he received Halsey's order, Kincaid still didn't know the exact location of the Nanyun Fleet. He decided to adopt the same tactics as in the Battle of Midway Island, that is, to send fighter planes to reconnaissance in advance under the conditions of sunrise to find the enemy's tracks. Then attack again. On October 26, at 4:30, a round of red sun slowly rose above the sea level, and the brilliant glow reflected half of the sky, indicating that it would be a sunny day. Kincaid issued a combat order through the loudspeaker of the flagship "Enterprise": "Start the plane." 16 "Dreadnought" dive bombers rose from the flight deck to search for the Japanese aircraft carrier.

When Nanyun decided to withdraw northward, he also predicted that there might be a US aircraft carrier in the nearby waters, so he also sent 24 planes to reconnaissance southward.In the process of mutual search, the planes on both sides had met each other, but everyone was not interested in each other. After looking at each other indifferently, they went back to their own serious business. The Japanese search plane then discovered the Kincaid formation, and the pilot immediately sent an urgent report to Nagumo: "To the southeast, at a distance of 200 nautical miles, one US aircraft carrier and five other types of warships were found."

Although Nanyun and Caolu tried their best to avoid the battle, they were only 200 nautical miles apart, and they couldn't avoid it even if they wanted to.In the end, it was a veteran general who had experienced previous sea battles such as Midway Island. Nagumo made a decisive decision and ordered the first wave of attacking teams to attack immediately. The Nanyun Fleet has three aircraft carriers, namely "Zuihe", "Xianghe" and "Zuifeng". "Erhe" was the main aircraft carrier during the Battle of the Coral Sea. The "Xianghe" was damaged by bombing, and now it has been restored as Nanyun's flagship. "Ruifeng" is a light aircraft carrier, a sister ship of the same type as "Xiangfeng" which sank in the naval battle.

When Nagumo announced the retreat, he deployed the first attack team on the flight decks of the three aircraft carriers.After Nagumo gave the order, the attack planes began to take off one after another with deafening roars. In an aircraft carrier battle, whichever side's carrier-based aircraft succeeds first will win a lot of money. This is the lesson Nanyun and Caolu learned from the defeat at Midway Island.Before the last few planes of the first attack team left the deck, Caolu asked the second attack team to follow closely. At the same time, U.S. bombers serving as reconnaissance captured the Nanyun Fleet.After sending information to Kincaid, two of the "Dreadnought" type drilled into the thick clouds, avoided the "Zero" type that came to intercept, and hid above the Nanyun Fleet.

Among Nanyun's three aircraft carriers, the relatively weak "Zuifeng" became the prey selected by the attackers. The two US planes formed up and rushed down from an altitude of 4,000 meters side by side. Like the perfect lesson plan for dive bombing, "Ruifeng" was firmly locked in the aperture of the sight by the American pilot, and two 227kg bombs flew towards the unshielded wooden flight deck. The "Ruifeng" in the morning light.In the photo, it can be seen that the clouds were very low that day, and a "ship attack" (namely "97" torpedo plane) was taking off from the bow of the "Zuifeng". Less than an hour after this photo was taken, the "Zuifeng" was about to Wounded and returned.

The "Zuifeng" hurriedly turned around to avoid it, but one of the two bombs still hit the rear of the flight deck. The stern of the ship caught fire immediately, and the flight deck was blasted into a large hole with a diameter of 15 meters. Most of the carrier-based aircraft on the "Zuifeng" have already attacked, so the loss is not too great, but the aircraft carrier has been unable to recover the aircraft.Seeing this, the captain had no choice but to lift off all the remaining aircraft on the ship, and the "Zuihe" was responsible for containing them, and then commanded the "Zuifeng" to evacuate to the Krut berth, which was dragging the raging fire.

Nagumo stood on the bridge of the "Xianghe", watching the "Zuifeng" evacuate with a complicated expression.Before the full-scale play started, the cards in his hand were already reduced by one-third. Nagumo could still pretend to be calm, but his chief of staff was jumping up and down nervously.Caolu walked from one end of the bridge to the other, and kept urging the officers on the deck. Like that, he wished that the planes on the ship were all made of paper, and they would all rise to the sky when the wind blew. After the greeting in front of him was over, he picked up the binoculars and looked at the "Ruihe", and saw that the aircraft carrier was moving more slowly.Caolu stomped his feet and ordered the signal flag bearer to raise a semaphore to the "Zuihe" and ask, "Why the delay?"

In fact, it is not surprising that the preparations for take-off are too hasty, and the crew and pilots will inevitably be in a hurry. After the second Solomon Sea Battle ended, the carrier-based attack aircraft lost by the Nanyun Fleet had not been replenished in time, which made the existing attack aircraft insufficient. There were no fighter jets left. The first attack team had 67 aircraft, the second attack team had 53 aircraft, and a total of 120 fighters flew southeast.Caolu stood on the bridge and muttered to himself: "When the enemy comes, you have to pick up the spear...you can take anything!"