Chapter 107 finally got you

From the beginning to the end, Halsey has been unable to let go of one thought, that is, where is the Japanese aircraft carrier? In the main war room of Halsey's flagship battleship USS New Jersey, the staff had mapped out the entire deployment of the Japanese fleet on the drawing board, including Nishimura's force. Just to the south the Nishimura troops were spotted. Regardless of whether Kurita's troops or Nishimura's troops are dominated by battleships and heavy cruisers, they do not have aircraft carriers, but with years of combat experience and intuition, Halsey is convinced that in such a large-scale naval battle, the Japanese will definitely use aircraft carriers .

With the aircraft carrier becoming the protagonist in the Pacific, almost every Navy veteran is eager to command an aircraft carrier battle, and Halsey is even more so.Among the admirals of the US Navy at the time, Halsey was the most famous. If you do a poll among ordinary Americans and ask who knows Ginger, Nimitz, and Spruance, most of them will shake their heads and show A look of confusion.In fact, the names of these people are only familiar to some professional military officers and senior colleagues. Halsey is different. From the sailors who just joined the army to the women in the rear, no one knows the reputation of this "savage bull". He looks violent, but he is sincere to his soldiers, and will rush to the soldiers with curses. The victorious man.

To some extent, Halsey can almost be regarded as the MacArthur in the navy, but his prestige mainly comes from his personality charm similar to MacArthur, as well as the similar straightforward character, heroism, and even inspiring quick talk.He lacks the illustrious military exploits comparable to MacArthur. Apart from his calming effect in the early days of the Pacific War and the saving of the battle in the Battle of Guadalcanal, he has never participated in a real decisive battle for various reasons, especially Aircraft battle. Just when Halsey missed the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway Island again and again, his subordinate and good friend Spruance won brilliant victories on the battlefield many times, which made Halsey very sad. Deep down, he desperately hopes to achieve the same or even more glorious victories, to prove that he is worthy of the name people have given him.

Now, the distribution of the Japanese aircraft carrier force has become blank, which once again made Halsey feel like a missed opportunity.In addition, he was also worried that several aircraft carrier brigades had been transferred to attack Kurita's troops. If the Japanese aircraft carrier suddenly appeared, the consequences would be disastrous. The only Japanese army that can be called an aircraft carrier force is Ozawa.In fact, Ozawa's troops have been driving slowly on the sea 200 miles away from Luzon Island, and they have resorted to various means, including letting smoke from chimneys, lifting radio silence, and sending destroyers as avant-garde, etc., just to arouse Halsey's attention. Notice.However, the patrol planes that Halsey sent north at dawn did not fly far enough to spot the bait troop that they hoped to be spotted.

Things in the world are so embarrassing and unfortunate.Throughout the day, Halsey and Ozawa were extremely anxious, and the anxious content was quite dramatic.One is searching and searching: Where are you, the person who is going to be destroyed?The other is hopelessness: the person you are waiting for, why haven't you come yet? At the end of the fifth wave of attacks on Kurita's troops, the sunset was still early. According to the previous air strike frequency, the US plane could launch three more air strikes, but at this time, Halsey waited for the news he had been looking forward to for a day, patrolling The plane found the Ozawa unit, which was the expected Japanese aircraft carrier unit.

A leaf of duckweed returns to the sea, where will life not meet again?Finally got you!Relieved, Halsey was convinced that "all the pieces have been put together": a total of three Japanese fleets were moving centripetally in the direction of Wright Gulf, namely the Nishimura Force in the south, Kurita Force in the west, and the small force in the north. Ze troops. According to the information brought back by the reconnaissance plane, Halsey judged that the strength of Nishimura's army was relatively weak. Although Kurita's army was strong, it was reported that after five surprise raids, the naval guns, firing directors, and communication equipment were all severely damaged. And is fleeing west.

Then there is only Ozawa's unit left, this Japanese aircraft carrier unit that he even dreamed of beating up. Halsey strode into the main war room, put his finger on the location of Ozawa's troops marked on the nautical chart, and said to his chief of staff: "This is where we are going, and attack them in the north!" Halsey decided to abandon the continued air strikes against Kurita's troops, and approached Ozawa's troops under the cover of night, so as to put Ozawa's troops within range of their carrier-based aircraft before the dawn. At this time, Kincaid's Seventh Fleet was covering the landing of the Army on Wright Island. Halsey's duty should have been to defend the San Bernardino Strait and provide cover for the Seventh Fleet.In the Mariana naval battle, Spruance refused to pursue the enemy because of the same consideration.

Halsey does not have the calmness and rationality of Spruance. Thinking of the blame Spruance has received for this, he is even more unwilling to "repeat the same mistakes"-rather than squatting at the hole like a cat waiting for the mouse to come out, it is better Take the initiative to attack and wipe out the remaining Japanese aircraft carriers. As for the Nishimura troops and the Kurita troops who might go back and forth, Halsey decided to leave it to Kincaid to take care of it. He believed that with the strength of the Seventh Fleet, it could fully cope with these two underdogs.

When the mouse came to the cat's mouth, there was no reason not to try something new.At 7:50 p.m., Halsey telegraphed Pacific Fleet Command: "I have severely damaged the Central Fleet. I am now sailing north to completely destroy the Japanese aircraft carriers." The command system of the U.S. military in the Battle of Wright was quite special. Although Halsey cooperated with MacArthur in the battle, he was still subordinate to Nimitz. Only Kinkaid was dispatched by MacArthur himself.The Joint Chiefs of Staff of the U.S. Army who arranged all this wishful thinking believes that Halsey and Kincaid are both battle-tested veterans, and even if they are separated, there will be no major problems in coordination.

In reality, people often think that there is no problem, but it is the most problematic.Although Nimitz and Kincaid knew that Halsey was going north to meet the enemy, they thought that Halsey would at least leave a heavy force to guard the mouth of the San Bernardino Strait. The main reason for this misunderstanding was that, before Ozawa's troops were discovered, Halsey had issued a pre-order to form the 34th Task Force under the command of Lieutenant General Lee to attack Kurita's troops overnight.This advance order was later canceled, but the careless Halsey did not notify Nimitz and Kincaid.

To say that they were worried, what Nimitz and others were concerned about at the time was whether the "Task Force 34" alone could hold the strait.At Pacific Fleet Headquarters at Pearl Harbor, Spruance whispered to Nimitz, "If it were me, I'd leave my fleet in the Strait." Neither Spruance, nor Nimitz, nor Kincaid, could have expected that Halsey did not stay behind, and took them all away, while the submarine force also withdrew to Wright Bay. Unknowingly, the door has been opened, Kincaid, and MacArthur on Wright Island, can they avoid this imminent crisis?