Lieutenant General Haxey ordered that the [Hornet] continue to the east longitude as originally planned, and the [Enterprise] aircraft carrier changed its course and sailed towards Zhudao. At the same time, he ordered the leading submarines to quickly attack Japanese patrol boats and fishing boats once they discovered them. Get close, launch torpedoes and sink them, denying them a chance to send a message.
A torpedo can easily blow a patrol boat or fishing boat into powder.
After research, Lieutenant General Haxi and all the combat personnel believed that judging from the concentration of the Japanese fleet on Zhudao Island, the Japanese were already aware of the intention to bomb the east longitude. In this case, they should also attract the enemy's attention in the direction of Zhudao Island. Come here to reduce the pressure on the [Enterprise] and increase the success rate of the raid.
In order to bomb the east longitude, sixteen B25s all practiced ultra-low-altitude raids. Doolittle was confident that he could lead everyone to avoid detection by Japanese radar and sea reconnaissance boats.
In this raid, whether it is bombing the east longitude or bombing Zhudao, as long as there is one success, it is victory.
At 3 o'clock in the morning, the battle alarm suddenly sounded inside the black-out "Hornet", and the aircraft carrier's radar first detected two Japanese submarines.
All personnel immediately went to their respective positions in the darkness, and there was still no light on the entire aircraft carrier.
The aircraft carrier radar officer analyzed calmly and quickly. He believed that the Japanese submarine had not yet discovered the aircraft carrier formation, and suggested that he immediately change course to avoid the enemy submarine. The reason was that Japan's radar technology lagged far behind that of the United States, and the aircraft carrier formation could not be detected at this distance. .
Haxey made a prompt decision and ordered the aircraft carrier to change course.
Ten seconds later, the Hornet flashed a weak signal light with its back facing the Japanese submarine. A minute later, all the battleships followed the aircraft carrier and turned the rudder and changed course. The battleship group plowed through waves, and in the dark night It still looks spectacular.
Time passed by, and all American officers and soldiers stood ready.
The pilots of the seaplanes carrying torpedoes, depth charges and sonar had already sat in the cabin and were on standby. As long as the Japanese submarines followed, they would immediately take a preemptive strike and kill the two submarines.
Several radar officers were constantly calculating the distance between the aircraft carrier and the Japanese submarine. The air in the radar room was so tense that it solidified.
In the command room, Hakxi was holding a pipe with a serious expression. If he was discovered by the Japanese now, the situation would become complicated and the fleet would be in an awkward position.
Haxey took a few puffs of cigarette: "The fleet changed from a curved defensive driving state to a straight line, accelerated to 28 knots, and formed a fan-shaped defense between the destroyers."
The signal soldier immediately sent out a weak signal, and all the warships executed it in unison. Zhou Zhihan secretly praised and was extremely envious at the same time.
Twenty minutes later, the radar officer wiped the sweat from his head: "General! We got rid of the Japanese."
Haxey breathed a sigh of relief: "Well done. Order the fleet to resume course and continue to the east longitude. Maintain 25 knots."
The signalman sent a signal: the battle alert was lifted, the Japanese submarine was successfully avoided, and the aircraft carrier resumed its original course and continued to the east longitude. Speed 25 knots.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but everyone knew that as the country gets closer to Japan, the density and frequency of enemy reconnaissance will continue to increase.
Eastern longitude time, at 4:30 in the morning, No. 214 Mustang took off from the USS Hornet aircraft carrier and did not fly towards Zhudao but towards the east longitude direction.
Zhou Zhihan knew that during the bombing operation on the east longitude, after avoiding the Japanese submarine at 3 o'clock in the morning, it was during the period before dawn that the aircraft carrier formation was discovered by the Japanese patrol boat.
Therefore, he wanted to kill the Japanese patrol boats in advance, delay the discovery of the fleet, and at the same time lure the Japanese reconnaissance aircraft defending Zhudao to kill them.
If the patrol boat here is killed, the Japanese will definitely send a reconnaissance plane in the direction of Zhudao Island, which is closest to here, to check. In this way, the [Enterprise] can increase the success rate of the raid.
The heavy rain turned into moderate rain, the strong wind gradually weakened, the sea surface was gray, and the visibility was very low. At this time, the power of Zhou Zhihan's transparent helmet was revealed. He could detect the enemy's reconnaissance plane in advance and kill it silently.
After taking off, the Mustang quickly raised to 2,000 meters, turned on the afterburner, reached the speed limit, and flew towards the east longitude. When it was still 500 nautical miles away from the east longitude, it discovered two patrol boats in advance, one behind the other, 40 nautical miles apart, and launched Fan search, heading towards the [Hornet].
According to the historical trajectory and time calculation, the two patrol boats will discover the aircraft carrier formation at 6:00 and 7:00 in the morning. The former discovered the "Enterprise" and the latter discovered the "Hornet" and immediately sent a clear message. It is said that three American aircraft carriers were discovered 700 nautical miles east longitude.
But now there has been a slight deviation in history. The Enterprise did not follow the historical trajectory to the east longitude, but changed its route to the Pillar Island for a surprise attack. This aircraft carrier has also changed from a knife guard to a protagonist.
After discovering the enemy, No. 214 Mustang continued to pull up and jump, increasing altitude and flying back, always maintaining an undetected distance to monitor the patrol boat.
Killing the enemy now may expose it in advance. The best time is to sink the Hornet before the enemy is about to discover it, which can buy the aircraft carrier at least half an hour.
Due to the harsh weather, the sky was still gray at 5:50, no sunlight could be seen, the moderate rain turned to light rain, and the visibility was still very low, which was a good thing for the fleet.
Zhou Zhihan turned off the engine, and No. 214 Mustang slowly descended from high altitude, avoiding the radar on the patrol boat. From his helmet, he saw that the Japanese on the patrol boat immediately dived and opened fire after finishing the call. The six 12.7 mm machine guns did not spare bullets. , just a dive destroyed the small patrol boat, and several Japanese soldiers were buried at the bottom of the sea.
At this time, the two patrol boats were 40 nautical miles apart. The latter patrol boat could not hear the machine gun fire of No. 214 Mustang. Several crew members had just contacted the headquarters and everything was normal. They were now listening to radio music, smoking and chatting.
With one successful attack, the first crisis was resolved, and No. 214 Mustang was raised again, waiting for the arrival of the second Japanese small patrol boat.
At this time, the [Hornet] is still 720 nautical miles east longitude from Japan. If the second patrol boat can be destroyed silently, the aircraft carrier formation will have the opportunity to enter the waters 600 nautical miles away from Japan, which will greatly increase the number of bombers. of flights, with more fuel to fly to China.
The wind gradually subsided, the light rain stopped and fell, the sun was faintly visible, and the visibility gradually improved.
At 6:20, the second Japanese small patrol boat appeared on time. No. 214 Mustang had already shut down its engine and was waiting at high altitude for a long time. Through his helmet, Zhou Zhihan could see that the Japanese army was talking on the phone. Judging from his expression, it seemed that he had received some order.
After the Japanese soldier ended his call, No. 214 Mustang swooped down and blew up the small patrol boat.
Shortly after No. 214 Mustang blew up an enemy patrol boat, one of the three reconnaissance planes that took off from the USS Enterprise spotted a Japanese patrol. It did a side roll and quickly turned around. Flying back to the top of the USS Enterprise, he dropped a bamboo tube on the deck of the aircraft carrier: "A small Japanese patrol boat was found ahead. It was very close. We can't confirm whether it found us."
