Chapter 62 Chapter Seven: The Guide to the Gates of Hell

At 5 o'clock in the morning on June 18, Ozawa's troops took a serpentine movement and rushed 700 nautical miles west of Saipan. Ozawa's troops had been raining in the first few days of their trip, and the visibility was very low. Not only could they not conduct aircraft searches, but anti-submarine alert aircraft could not take off.Since June 17, the weather has gradually improved, and it was completely cleared that morning, and the sea was calm. Such excellent weather is a good opportunity to launch a decisive battle. On the one hand, Ozawa ordered the three aviation teams to form a battle formation, and on the other hand, he sent planes to search the surrounding sea.

During the Battle of Midway Island, Nagumo’s closed eyes and listening made the Japanese mobile troops suffer. Afterwards, the Japanese army attached great importance to enemy reconnaissance in naval battles. This time, Ozawa sent three batches of 42 patrol planes. At 3 p.m. Before and after, the patrol plane finally discovered the "unknown number of aircraft carriers" of the US military. At this time, the closest to the U.S. aircraft carrier is the Sanhang War, and the commander is Major General Sue Obayashi.In the Santa Cruz naval battle, Obayashi served as the captain of the "Zuifeng" aircraft carrier. In that naval battle, the U.S. Navy should be said to have suffered a defeat, but Obayashi's face was dull. His "Ruifeng" was attacked by a US plane, injured and forced to leave the battlefield.

Dalin still had a fresh memory of this, and after notifying Ozawa, he ordered an immediate attack in order to follow the most basic principle of pre-emptive strikes in air combat, and punch the opponent before he could stand still. Ozawa's call back was to request that the attack be suspended that day and prepare to fight again the next morning.When the telegram was received, some of the carrier-based aircraft of the Third Aviation Battle had already flown into the sky, and Dalin had no choice but to order them to return, while comforting the staff around him: "Let's do a good job tomorrow."

In private, Dalin was very worried about missing this hard-won opportunity, and as his boss, Ozawa had his own calculations. Although the U.S. aircraft carrier was discovered, the distance between the two sides is still very far. If the attack is launched on the same day, the carrier-based aircraft will return at night after the attack. It will be difficult to return to the aircraft carrier safely and can only be forced to land at Guam Airport.In this way, it is bound to have a great impact on the next day's battle. Now that the initiative on the battlefield is in your own hands, why not simply go all out to attack the locked target the next day?

Ozawa's target is the 58th Task Force.According to Spruance's instructions, the current main task of the 58th Task Force is still to cover the landing on Saipan, so Fleet Commander Mitchell did not take the initiative to set off to find Ozawa's troops, but sent seven fast battleships to The enemy's possible approach forms an anti-aircraft firepower network, and the main body of the fleet patrols near Saipan. At dusk, Pearl Harbor's radio direction finders detected the location of Ozawa's force - just 355 nautical miles southwest of TF 58! Mitchell served as the captain of the USS Hornet. The experience of the "Bumblebee" sinking to the bottom of the sea in the Santa Cruz naval battle traumatized Mitchell's mind, and at the same time enhanced his instinct and high sensitivity to seize fighters.After receiving the report from Pearl Harbor, he immediately suggested to Spruance through the high-frequency radio that he drive west overnight to attack Ozawa's troops.

Mitchell wanted to attack, but Spruance was thinking about defending.Leading the Fifth Fleet, the mission he received from Nimitz was to "capture, occupy and defend Saipan, Tinian and Guam". Starting from this, the US military's beachhead on Saipan must first be protected And amphibious ships, it would be a great "risk" to allow Mitchell to step away from this responsibility. In addition, Spruance is still not sure whether the Japanese fleet will adopt two-way pincer attack or flank assault tactics. In previous naval battles, this is an old Japanese tactic.After an hour of tense discussions with his staff, he overruled Mitchell's suggestion and instead ordered Task Force 58 to move eastward to prevent the Japanese from turning around behind the fleet to attack the landing formation.

Spruance's decision made Mitchell very melancholy. He complained: "The enemy ran away. It was within my attack range for a while."