Zhou Zhihan turned on the transparent helmet navigation, and the No. 214 Mustang was like a Pegasus with wings, galloping in the violent storm, bringing up a wide rain curtain wherever it went.
The sound of rain, sea breeze and background sounds of the sea completely drowned out the roar of wild horses.
When it was still 650 nautical miles away from the Japanese coastline, No. 214 Mustang discovered that several Japanese patrol boats were recovering the defense line in an orderly manner with a distance of 30 nautical miles between them.
When 400 nautical miles away from the Japanese mainland, Zhou Zhihan discovered many Japanese fishing boats.
This is very strange.
In such a harsh climate, Japanese fishing boats can still be found, and the distance between these fishing boats is very high. What is even more strange is that these fishing boats did not return due to strong winds and waves, but moved forward slowly. This is different from patrols. The boat's trajectory is opposite.
Could it be that the Japanese sent fishing boats to carry out the first layer of reconnaissance net? It is very likely that these fishing boats are equipped with radios or communicators.
This is very possible.
If you want to raid, you must find a way to bury these fishing boats under the sea.
When it was about to enter the radar area of the enemy array, No. 214 Mustang pulled up to avoid the radar, and soon reached the sky above Zhudao. Zhou Zhihan turned off the engine, slowly spiraled down in the heavy rain, and had a panoramic view of the Japanese fleet.
At this time, the Japanese radar had no idea that a Mustang was above its head. The radar's band was forward, not directly upward. .
The carrier-based aircraft on the aircraft carrier [Hiryu] are ready, [Aoba] heavy cruiser, [Furutaka] heavy cruiser, [Akiun], [Akikaze], [Maiho], [Shigure] The five destroyers No.] and [No. Yumu] are also in place and ready to set off at any time.
Thirty nautical miles north of Hashira Island, the aircraft carrier formation Zuikaku has also been assembled, including the heavy cruisers Myoko, Haguro, Shiroro, Shigure, Ariake, The destroyers [Tide], [Akebono], and [Wangzuki] are ready to go.
There are also 9 submarines, 96 land-based fighters and 112 bombers ready to take off at any time to encircle the incoming US battle group.
At this time, the lights were still bright in the command room of the battleship Yamato. Yamamoto Isoroku and his combat staff were still immersed in beautiful fantasies. The US aircraft carrier formation was stepping into the dragnet step by step. This time they were going to fight with the US military. The head-on confrontation wiped out two US aircraft carriers.
Mustang No. 214 was quietly circling in the rain above the Japanese combined fleet. Zhou Zhihan could see Yamamoto with white hair. If he were not worried that exposure would bring disaster to the US fleet, he would definitely send Yamamoto to the ghost house in advance.
Sure enough, the Japanese army discovered the US fleet coming towards the east longitude.
But judging from the current dynamics of the Japanese army, Yamamoto probably did not expect that the US military would arrive so quickly.
According to the deduction based on the speed of the aircraft carrier, the U.S. military is now less than 1,000 nautical miles away from the Japanese coast. If the Japanese army wants to surround or block the U.S. military 400 to 500 nautical miles away from the Japanese mainland, they should have set off hours ago.
The aircraft carrier's arrival in the designated sea area requires a series of deployments to form the strongest combat effectiveness and defensive power. At this time, the Japanese army stood still. It was obvious that there was an intelligence error and they miscalculated the arrival time of the U.S. fleet.
The aircraft carrier needs to be activated in advance before departure. This process takes at least six or seven hours. Zhou Zhihan saw that there was no smoke coming from the chimneys of the Feilong aircraft carrier and the heavy patrol, which meant that the Japanese army would not be able to go to sea in the next few hours.
Yamamoto, this old dog, miscalculated... Zhou Zhihan was secretly happy. This old dog was worried that dispatching the aircraft carrier too early would be detected by the US military, so he stayed put. Thinking of this, Zhou Zhihan turned around and returned.
On the way back, Zhou Zhihan observed that the Japanese patrol boats retreated to a position 460 nautical miles away from the Japanese mainland and stopped. This showed that the Japanese defense circle was 500 nautical miles. Compared with before, they had retreated more than 100 nautical miles.
After analysis, Zhou Zhihan determined that Yamamoto had miscalculated this time. He believed that the US fleet would not reach the designated position until the 19th, and would release carrier-based aircraft at night to bomb the east longitude.
Mustang No. 214 lands on the Hornet.
Seeing Zhou Zhihan's return, Haxey, Doolittle and others who were waiting in the captain's room stood up to greet them. After listening to Zhou Zhihan's information, everyone was glad that this super ace participated in this attack. The information he brought back this time So important.
"The Japanese obviously didn't expect us to come so quickly," Haxey said, looking at the strong wind and rain still raging outside, "Should we change our tactics?"
With that said, Haxey walked to the tactical board and changed the route outside the [Enterprise] aircraft carrier, heading straight towards the direction of Zhudao: "Since the Japanese have made a mistake in their judgment, let's make a plan. The [Hornet] will proceed as originally planned. The plan is to continue moving forward and bomb the East Longitude, and the [Enterprise] will take the initiative to attack, catching the Japanese by surprise, and raid and bomb the Zhudao base, making them worry about one thing and the other."
Lieutenant General Haxi's plan was so bold that it shocked everyone. No one spoke for a long time, and they all looked at the commander blankly.
When Haxi saw everyone looking at him, he held his pipe in his mouth and took a few puffs: "The Japanese believe that we came to bomb the East Longitude, anyone else would think so.
But they never expected that we would suddenly split into two groups, one going straight to the east, and the other making a surprise attack on Zhudao.
When the battle started, the [Hornet] released its bombers and quickly moved closer to the [Enterprise]. After releasing all carrier-based aircraft, the two aircraft carriers quickly retreated at full speed. All carrier-based aircraft tried to get the bombs and torpedoes in the first wave of attacks. After throwing it away, and when the east longitude direction is bombed, Japan's land-based fighters will definitely focus on defending the east longitude and give up chasing our carrier-based aircraft and aircraft carrier formations. "
Doolittle said: "With all due respect, General! This is a bit risky. If the Japanese discover us after dawn, the [Enterprise] will be plunged into their encirclement without even a chance to turn around. "
Haxey said with great pride: "Then we won't let them find out. Order the submarine to rush forward. As long as Japanese fishing boats and patrol boats are found, they will be sunk quickly. This risk is well worth taking. Coming to the Japanese home At the door, if we don’t beat them to death, we will all regret it in the future.”
Doolittle still had a worried look on his face. He pondered for a while and said, "Even if we use submarines to sink the enemy's speedboats and fishing boats, what about the enemy's reconnaissance planes?"
Zhou Zhihan said: "I can take off early and shoot down the enemy's reconnaissance plane to buy time for the fleet."
A combat staff officer said: "However, there is a prescribed contact time between the reconnaissance aircraft and the fleet. If the reconnaissance aircraft does not receive information for a long time, the enemy will definitely be suspicious."
Haxey said: "In current maritime information technology, Japan is far behind the United States. It is common for the United States' reconnaissance aircraft and fleets to lose contact, let alone Japan.
All sneak attacks involve risks. For example, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor is a good example.
After the Pearl Harbor incident, American experts analyzed that we had at least six or seven chances to discover the Japanese's intentions and make the Japanese irrecoverable, but the incident still happened in the end.
This shows that when people think that something is impossible to happen, it has already developed in the direction of success. "
Everyone stopped talking.
Yes, the Japanese dare to take risks, why don’t we?
Since this is an adventure trip, let’s just pierce the sky above Japan.
