Chapter 711 Coral Sea-Mi Operation

As the Minister of State in charge of the wartime economy and President of the Planning Agency, Suzuki Sadaichi's approval of the civilian ship mobilization plan for the Australian operation was actually just a formality.

Because the Australian operation had long been the national policy of the Japanese Empire, Emperor Hirohito and Prime Minister Tojo both approved this "ultimate plan to go south", and Navy Minister Shimada Shigetaro, Chief of the Military Command Nagano Osami, and Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet Yamamoto Isoroku supported it.

So whether Suzuki Sadaichi could deploy enough transport ships, attacking Australia was imperative!

However, for the purpose of the Australian operation, the calculations of various parties were actually different. Emperor Hirohito and Tojo Hideki really wanted to take over Australia - this was an unprecedented expansion of territory! In the current situation where the dream of conquering the East Asian continent cannot be realized, taking over the Australian continent is enough to ensure that the Japanese Empire will become the leader of the Eastern world in the next 1,000 years. So Tojo and Hirohito were very serious about the Australian operation.

However, the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet, Isoroku Yamamoto, in the "Yamato Hotel" in Rabaul Port, was not thinking about the Australian continent itself. The powerful shipbuilding capabilities of the United States and the remaining aircraft carriers of the Pacific Fleet were what really worried him - if the US Pacific Fleet could be destroyed, Australia would not be a problem at all.

From the beginning of 1942 to the present, Isoroku Yamamoto has always wanted to set a trap to destroy the American fleet aircraft carriers in the Pacific. But the Americans have always avoided fighting. After the fall of Hawaii, the US Pacific Fleet seemed to be doing only one thing, which was to transport troops and supplies to Australia.

The six fleet aircraft carriers of the US Pacific Fleet (Lexington, Saratoga, Yorktown, Enterprise, Ranger, Wasp) all became escort aircraft carriers, taking turns to cover the US transport fleets traveling between the United States and Australia.

These US transport fleets were not afraid of detours and did not pass through the 1,500 nautical miles near Hawaii. Even if the Japanese submarines discovered them, it would be difficult for the fleet to intercept the US fleet from Hawaii. The American fleets were all large formations, with at least three aircraft carriers escorting them. If the Japanese aircraft carriers were sent too few, they would not be able to fight, and if they were sent too many, the logistics support and maintenance problems would cost lives. The Pearl Harbor base captured by Japan was almost in ruins, and it was impossible to become the fleet's home port without reconstruction. Moreover, it was impossible for Japan to deploy its main fleet in Pearl Harbor for a long time, and the logistics line of more than 3,000 nautical miles would not be able to bear it.

Therefore, in the first nine months of 1942, the US Pacific Fleet's "avoidance of war" was successful, and a large number of troops and supplies were transported to Australia. In addition, Yamamoto Isoroku also received intelligence that the American engineering corps was going all out to expand the Port of Brisbane and the Port of Sydney. Not only were they expanding port facilities, but they were also building large-scale barracks, airports and warehouses.

Obviously, the US Pacific Fleet was preparing to use Brisbane and Sydney on the Australian continent as the base camp for launching a counterattack!

Once the Americans' terrifying shipbuilding plan is completed, there will be a large number of American ships that are enough to crush the Japanese Combined Fleet heading north from Sydney and Brisbane...

So Yamamoto Isoroku wanted to seek a decisive battle before the US counterattack deployment was completed, breaking the US counterattack deployment by severely damaging and annihilating the aircraft carrier forces of the US Pacific Fleet, and winning more time for Japan.

Another reason that prompted Yamamoto Isoroku to seek a decisive battle as soon as possible was that the Fokker Zero on the European battlefield gradually showed signs of fatigue! Even in the medium and low altitudes where it is good at, it encountered an opponent that can compete with it-the American P51 fighter!

According to the latest report of the German Air Force, if there is no cooperation with medium and high altitude models similar to the Fw-190 series, the Fokker Zero will find it difficult to fight against the P51. Because even the low-altitude P51 has a high-altitude performance that exceeds the Fokker Zero. Once it is at a disadvantage in a low-altitude fight, the P51 can choose to dive out and quickly pull up to escape.

Even the P51 can use its good diving performance to continuously confront the Fokker Zero with the tactics of diving + pulling up, thereby completely avoiding getting into a fight!

Therefore, in the last 2-3 months, in most cases where the Fokker Zero fought against the P51 alone, the Fokker Zero was at a disadvantage. Therefore, in the latest air combat tactical arrangements of the German Air Force and Naval Aviation, there is no longer a tactic for the Fokker Zero to escort long-range bombers alone.

This shows that the myth of the Zero's invincibility has been completely broken, at least on the European battlefield!

Of course, this situation is not entirely because the performance of the Zero aircraft is really not as good as the P51. It is because after the Fw-190T was finalized, Fokker abandoned the Fokker Zero's medium and high altitude performance and launched the Fokker Zero D series that focuses on low altitude.

This series of Fokker Zeros shortened the range (the combat radius without auxiliary fuel tanks was reduced to 500 kilometers), increased armor protection (reduced the weight of fuel for enhanced protection), and strengthened firepower (6 MG131 aircraft machine guns), and completely became a "Yak Killer" and "Il Killer" specializing in medium and low altitudes-such changes are of course also for the needs of the Eastern Front battlefield.

The main function of the Fokker Zero has now become to cover ground forces, while also providing escort for ground attack aircraft such as the Hs-129, Ju87 and Breguet Br.703.

However, the German Fokker company's approach still sounded a wake-up call to the Japanese Navy - the era of the Zero as an excellent all-round fighter may be coming to an end!

For this upcoming change, Isoroku Yamamoto on the one hand requested to speed up the development of the new fighter "Seventeen Test Ship War" project (Gale); on the other hand, he was more actively preparing for the Mi-Operation aimed at destroying the aircraft carriers of the US Pacific Fleet.

The so-called Mi-Operation was actually to besiege a point and attack the reinforcements - to lure the main force of the US Pacific Fleet to appear in the Coral Sea northeast of the Australian continent by besieging Port Moresby. If the US Pacific Fleet watched Port Moresby fall, the Japanese army would land near Cape York on the Australian continent next!

…

“Commander, the aircraft carriers that can be deployed in the Mi-Operation now include ‘Hosho’, ‘Akagi’, ‘Kaga’, ‘Soryu’, ‘Hiryu’, ‘Zuhe’, ‘Shokaku’, ‘Shokaku’, ‘Shoho’, ‘Zuiho’, ‘Hiyo’, ‘Hayayo’, ‘Ryuho’ and other 12 ships! They are far more powerful than the 6 aircraft carriers that the United States may deploy, and the carrier-based aircraft on these 12 aircraft carriers have also been upgraded. The carrier-based fighters have all been replaced with the latest Zero 32 type, and the carrier-based bombers are Comet 33 type. Therefore, the Mi-Operation is bound to win.”

The person who was talking to Yamamoto Isoroku was the immortal staff officer Kuroshima Kameto. He was quite proud of the current strength of the Japanese Combined Fleet.

In fact, the 12 aircraft carriers he just reported were not all the assets of the Combined Fleet. Now the Combined Fleet has also sent an Indian Ocean Task Force, with the battleships Fuso, Hyuga, Ryujo and Hosho as the core, to help Germany attack South Africa, Madagascar and Ceylon.

Precisely because of the powerful force of up to 12 aircraft carriers, the current Japanese Combined Fleet also disdains the "Blue Ribbon Aircraft Carrier" provided by Germany.

Moreover, since the Japanese Navy has not fought any fierce battles in the past 9 months, the loss of pilots is very small, and new pilots who have completed the training of naval aviation pilots are constantly joining, so the support of German pilots is no longer needed.

After the outbreak of the Soviet-German War, all German pilots serving on Japanese aircraft carriers left.

In addition, with the help of the Germans, Japan's Hitachi Company has successfully developed the No. 13 radar (air search radar) and the No. 22 radar (sea search radar). The fleet's air defense and night combat capabilities have been further enhanced.

"Kuroshima-kun, we have more than 12 aircraft carriers in our hands!" Yamamoto Isoroku said slowly, "Yamato and Musashi are the most powerful battleships in the world. Now we have the No. 13 and No. 22 radars, and their power will be even higher. Therefore, in the Mi-no Operation, we should also fully consider the power of the two super battleships, Yamato and Musashi."

In the Battle of Hawaii and the Battle of the Sea of ​​Mist in this time and space, battleships played a great role, so now no one dares to say that battleships are outdated weapons that will be eliminated. Therefore, the Shinano aircraft carrier will definitely not exist in this time and space. The No. 3 and No. 4 ships of the Yamato are now being built with the support of Germany.

Among them, the No. 3 ship Shinano is expected to be launched before the end of October and will be in service before the end of 43. The No. 4 ship Kii will also be launched in early 43. It will be completed and put into service by June 44 at the latest. By then, the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet will have 4 Yamato-class battleships, which are enough to fight against the Iowa-class and Montana-class battleships under construction by the United States.

"Hai," Kuroshima Kameto replied, "2 Yamato-class and 4 Kongo-class will all play a role in Operation Mi."

Among the current Japanese battleship forces, only the Yamato-class and Kongo-class have the speed to follow the fast aircraft carriers. Therefore, these 6 battleships are now anchored in Rabaul Port, ready to participate in Operation Mi.

For this "Operation Mi", Yamamoto Isoroku regarded it as the ultimate battle to determine the future hegemony of the Pacific. Therefore, the manpower invested was unprecedented, far exceeding the Battle of Midway, which also used the code name "Mi" in history.

Yamamoto Isoroku nodded and said with a smile: "12 aircraft carriers, 2 Yamato-class, 4 Kongo-class... This battle is indeed a sure win. And the US Pacific Fleet cannot avoid fighting again unless the Americans are willing to hand over Australia."