Chapter 83 amazing predictive power

There is a saying that ignorance is heaven, or how much you know you get old quickly.At first everyone thought that what they were attacking was the main force of the Japanese army. Unexpectedly, the main force had not yet appeared, and none of the sturdy "Zero" type and large aircraft carriers had yet appeared. Although there are many fighters in the aviation team, not to mention "Catalina" and "Flying Fortress", even the fighters, including the older "Buffalo" type and the mainstream "Wildcat" type, none of them are "zero" type of opponent.

Enthusiasm belongs to enthusiasm, strength belongs to strength, and the lantern and shadow play is good-looking, but it is not good to pierce the layer of paper.Among the pilots, even those who were usually confident and cheerful became serious, and their companions stepped forward to persuade them pretending to be relaxed: "By this time tomorrow, everything will be over." It’s okay if you don’t say this, but when you say it, the listener feels even more uncomfortable, so they can only nod with a wry smile: "Yes, for those who can survive, everything will naturally pass."

A pilot has always been famous for his boldness, and he has never purchased military insurance. At this time, he was also scared, and hurriedly asked someone to buy a $10,000 insurance.The person in charge replied: "Sorry, the forms to fill out the insurance have been sold out." Nervousness is inevitable, but no one wants to be a coward.Some vowed that as long as the Japanese aircraft carrier came into the attack range tomorrow, he would voluntarily fly the plane to attack; Said that in case of an emergency landing on the sea, he would not starve himself. Americans have a natural optimism and humor, no matter how difficult the situation, they can always find a way to fight against the tension.

John Ford, a well-known American director who is good at making Western films, also joined the army at this time. He was a lieutenant colonel in the Naval Reserve. He was shooting a documentary on Midway Island.Saimad suggested that he go to the top of the power station to take pictures tomorrow, and Ford readily agreed, saying that it was indeed a good place to take pictures, and he might be able to produce a batch of good works. Saimad grinned: "Please try to forget about the photography, we will be attacked tomorrow, I hope you can accurately report the upcoming bombing." At first Ford didn't quite believe that the war would really be fought, but he had to believe it when he saw that Saimad said so.

In order to keep himself and others from getting too nervous, Ford told a lot about Hollywood's sexy stories, some of which he blew a lot of, and the officers and soldiers around him couldn't even blink their eyes, and they felt much better.Before I knew it, it was dawn. In the early morning of June 4, 1942, the patrolling "Catalina" and "Flying Fortress" took off as usual and conducted a focused search to the northwest. At 5:34, "Catalina" passed through the clouds on the sea surface, and suddenly saw two aircraft carriers appearing 20 nautical miles away.As time was running out, the pilot abandoned the secret language and sent an urgent message to Midway directly in plain language.

The telegram was quickly forwarded to Pacific Fleet Command, and Nimitz called it "the most significant contact report of the Battle of Midway." After reading the content of the telegram, everyone including Nimitz was stunned. In terms of the distance, azimuth and time of the appearance of the main force of the Japanese army, Layton's prediction was close to perfect, with errors of 5 nautical miles, 5 degrees and 5 minutes! Mobile Force was 180 nautical miles northwest of Midway. Nagumo was not clear about the fact that the transport fleet in front was discovered and attacked twice.It stands to reason that the Yamamoto Fleet is in control of this situation. Although the mobile force is in a state of radio silence, the Yamamoto Fleet can forward information to it in one direction.

But no, from the beginning to the end, Nagumo did not receive any information. After the battle of Midway Island, Nanyun and his staff were furious when they learned the inside story: Anyway, the wind and rain can't hit your heads, right? Why didn't you know it? Yamamoto's staff members were full of grievances. They felt that what they did at the time was precisely for the benefit of the mobile force: "What if your position is exposed because of radio communication? We thought that the enemy was entangled by the transport fleet and you were halfway through the attack." The island will be smoother!" Who would have expected that the mobile unit would have been exposed long ago?

In the process of advancing to Midway Island, the Yamamoto Fleet and the Mobile Force were like a married couple for the sake of confidentiality. One pretended to be deaf and the other was dumb. In fact, even if there is no telegraph contact, the mobile unit itself can also send carrier-based aircraft for reconnaissance, but the tradition of the Japanese navy is to attach more importance to attack than reconnaissance and search. There are so many carrier-based aircraft in the mobile unit, but there is no special reconnaissance When there is a need for reconnaissance, the attack aircraft will make a temporary guest appearance.

After the Pearl Harbor incident, mobile troops went to the Indian Ocean to fight, and non-professional reconnaissance planes often got lost when searching for the British fleet, so that the aircraft carrier had to send out radio signals to guide the return flight, and the location of the aircraft carrier was thus exposed.After learning the lesson, Nagumo would try not to send planes for reconnaissance if he could. The Battle of Midway Island was like this. The defenders had already noticed him. He thought he was wearing an invisibility cloak, and no one knew it. At the same time that the U.S. patrol plane detected the mobile force, the first shock wave launched by the mobile force to Midway Island began. At 5:40, the attacking aircraft group was discovered by a US patrol aircraft, and the pilot issued an alarm to Midway Island in plain language: "A large number of aircraft are flying towards Midway Island!"

Ten minutes later, the Midway Island radar station reported that the Japanese plane was approaching.The sirens on the island were loud, and some pilots were warming up their planes. Their voices were very loud. The command post was afraid that they would not be able to hear them, so they sent trucks to drive along the runway with the sirens. When the planes on the island were lifted into the air, Semad issued instructions to the fleets by radio in accordance with Nimitz's previous request: "Fighters intercept enemy planes, dive bombers and torpedo bombers attack aircraft carriers!"

A hand-to-hand battle in the air is about to start. In it, the weakest "Katerina" is not even qualified to participate in the battle. Saimad told them to stay away from Midway Island and go to a remote place around to take shelter. When the radar showed that the Japanese plane was only 29 nautical miles away from Midway Island, all the planes that could take off from Midway Island had been dispatched, and all the returning planes were dragged into the bunker.The air above the airport was empty, only a fake plane assembled with wooden boards and iron sheets lay motionless near the runway.