Chapter 716 Coral Sea-Famous General
Rabaul.
October 30, late at night.
Snow-white searchlights pierced the night. Countless trucks were rushing around warehouses and docks. Sailors were shouting from time to time. The Korean and Taiwanese coolies were all huffing and puffing from exhaustion, but no one dared to slow down. The cranes on the ship were The crane's boom swings back and forth much more frequently than usual.
Standing inside the bridge of the battleship Yamato, watching the battleships that had completed supplies sail out of the Rabaul military port one after another, the face of Combined Fleet Commander Yamamoto Isoroku showed unconcealable pride.
Although the Americans used aircraft carriers to break diplomatic ties, they caught the combined fleet off guard. In just one day, three convoys were attacked (at noon on the 30th, another convoy transporting ammunition to Rabaul was hit). It was severely damaged, and six ships sailing alone were bombed and sunk. The total tonnage lost exceeded 120,000 tons, which was greater than the losses caused by British and American submarines and camouflaged assault ships in a month.
But this kind of desperate tactics actually shows that the Americans don't have many cards to play. To use a Chinese idiom to describe it, this is called a donkey in Guizhou who is at the end of his rope - he has no tricks left!
What if three aircraft carriers are dispatched at once to break the relationship? It just caught Japan off guard, and it couldn't change the balance of strength in the Pacific at all. The absolute advantage now is still with Japan. The American aircraft carriers did not dare to fight the Japanese combined fleet in an upright manner. They only dared to use this sneaky method to disrupt Japan's rear. This is completely a sign of weakness!
Moreover, the Americans' break-up of diplomatic relations has angered the Japanese Combined Fleet!
Now, they are about to taste the wrath of the combined fleet!
There was a sound of hurried footsteps, and then the voice of the captain of the Yamato, Takayanagi Hachijo: "Commander, the supply of the Yamato is complete!"
"Let's go, Yamato!"
Yamamoto Isoroku gave Captain Takayanagi the order to attack in a very calm tone.
October 31, 0:15.
Under the surveillance of the USS Dolphin, a US Navy submarine equipped with an SJ sea search radar, the Yamato battleship, escorted by two destroyers, slowly sailed out of the Rabaul base and was waiting at the port in the morning. The main ships of the combined fleet on the outer sea converged.
…
"Commander, the main force of the Japanese combined fleet has left Rabaul Port!"
Spruance happily entered Admiral Nimitz's office, holding the telegram he had just received in his hand.
"Leaved Rabaul?" Nimitz asked quickly, "When and where?"
Spruance replied: "He left late at night on the 30th and early morning on the 31st local time. He left the bay and headed northwest."
Going north!
Australia is in the south. If you go to the northwest, you have to go to the Western Pacific to find three American aircraft carriers that have broken diplomatic ties... That's probably the case!
Nimitz didn't ask any more questions. The SJ radar on the "Dolphin" submarine could only search for these. As for following the Japanese combined fleet northward, it is impossible. The underwater speed of the "Dolphin" cannot keep up with the Japanese fleet at all, and it cannot stay underwater for long. If it comes up for air, it will be discovered by Japanese cat-eye warriors. .
"Where is the FS06 fleet?" Nimitz asked about the FS06 fleet of transport ships heading towards Australia.
"Near French Polynesia, nearly 3,600 nautical miles from Sydney."
The current speed of the FS06 fleet is about 12 knots, and it takes 300 hours to travel 3,600 nautical miles, which is 12 and a half days. As long as these 12 and a half days pass peacefully, the United States will have sufficient troops in Australia, and it will also have a powerful 4th Armored Division!
Because they were worried that Japan might obtain powerful tanks from Germany, the 4th Armored Division strengthened its anti-tank capabilities as much as possible and equipped a large number of M4 medium tanks and M10 tank destroyers. It can be said that as long as this division arrives safely, it will be difficult for the Japanese to capture Australia.
"Twelve and a half days is too long..." Nimitz shook his head. "The Japanese were just angered, but they are not fools. They know the importance of three aircraft carriers and Australia."
It is difficult to hunt down three U.S. traffic-breaking aircraft carrier formations in the vast Pacific, but it is very simple for the Japanese to maintain the security of the mainland-Saipan-Rabaul route and the mainland-Hawaii route. Just form a large fleet and use light aircraft carriers to escort it.
Although doing this is very troublesome and may reduce the efficiency of maritime transportation, it is much easier than chasing American aircraft carriers across the ocean.
Moreover, according to the report of the FS06 fleet, the fleet has been discovered by Japanese reconnaissance aircraft.
As long as the commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet has a normal mind, it is impossible to let go of such a huge troop transport fleet...if the Japanese really want to attack Australia!
Therefore, Nimitz estimated that the Japanese were likely to use their troops at the right time. They will first search north for a few days. If they cannot find the US aircraft carrier, they will divide their forces and head south. At least a few large fleet aircraft carriers will be sent south to attack the FS06 fleet. If these Japanese aircraft carriers catch the FS06 fleet, they will suffer heavy losses.
But Nimitz already had a way to deal with it!
"Form the FS07 fleet immediately!" Nimitz whispered, "The 4th Armored Division must be sent to Australia within a week!"
The plan to form the FS07 fleet was drawn up as early as when the FS06 fleet set sail. It was not to form a new fleet departing from San Francisco, but to merge some of the high-speed cruise ships in the FS06 fleet with the 1st Task Force commanded by Halsey, and have Halsey's fleet escort them to Australia quickly - large cruise ships of this era were fast (later luxury cruise ships were also high-speed ships, generally able to run about 30 knots, and in the 1950s there was an American cruise ship that ran 40 knots), and could keep up with the aircraft carrier task force. So when the aircraft carrier task force and the high-speed cruise ship merged, the average speed of the entire formation could be maintained at more than 20 knots.
In addition, three of the six large cruise ships in the FS06 fleet were specially modified to carry a large number of vehicles. The M4 tanks, M10 tank destroyers and M7 self-propelled artillery of the 4th Armored Division and some tank maintenance vehicles were loaded on these three modified cruise ships. The other three large cruise ships were loaded with personnel and some equipment of the 4th Armored Division.
In other words, as long as these six large cruise ships can reach Australia, there will be an armored division on the Australian continent that is difficult to deal with. Even if the subsequent FS06 fleet cannot arrive, Australia can hold on for a long time.
Of course, these six large cruise ships are not loaded with all the equipment of the 4th Armored Division, and many trucks and towed artillery are not among them. However, it is not difficult to gather vehicles and artillery on the Australian continent. After all, there are 9 American infantry divisions with motorized weapons there, and it is not a problem to allocate some equipment to the 4th Armored Division.
…
"Are you sure you have shaken off the American submarines?" Yamamoto Isoroku asked.
"Very sure!" Yamato Captain Takayanagi Yohachi replied, "The Yamato is equipped with radar wave receivers imported from Germany. Now we can be sure that no American submarines are tracking us with radar."
Although the German radar is not as good as that of the British and American ones, the radar wave receivers are still very reliable. This device was originally developed for German submarines to deal with British anti-submarine patrol aircraft (anti-submarine reconnaissance aircraft will use radar to search for submarines that are surfacing. If there is no radar wave receiver on the submarine, then they will not know that they have been discovered, and they will not be able to dive in time to avoid bombing). However, German submarines are not playing the role of breaking up the enemy now, so this equipment has been "supported" to Japan in large quantities.
With this radar wave receiver, the Japanese Combined Fleet, which is now heading north, can find out if there are enemy submarines or aircraft and then use radar reconnaissance.
At the same time, Isoroku Yamamoto also sent several destroyer formations to search around, and these destroyers were also equipped with sonar purchased from Germany. In addition, there are sharp-eyed "cat-eye soldiers" on the destroyers. If the American submarines do not dive deep enough, they can still be easily discovered in the clear water of the South Pacific.
"Yashi!" Yamamoto Isoroku nodded, and then asked Ugaki Matome, "Has the division plan been made?"
"Commander, the plan has been made." Ugaki Matome replied, "With the six aircraft carriers Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, Hiryu, Zuikaku, Shokaku and the two battleships Kongo and Hiei as the core, form the 1st Air Fleet and go south to the Coral Sea!
With the four battleships Yamato, Musashi, Haruna, Kirishima and the two motherships Hiyo and Hayabusa as the core, form the 1st Fleet and go south to the Coral Sea with the 1st Air Fleet.
The 1st Air Fleet The fleet is responsible for attacking the US aircraft carrier formation, and the 1st Fleet is responsible for attacking the US transport fleet.
In addition, the 5th and 6th fleets, with the four aircraft carriers of Fengxiang, Xiangfeng, Zuifeng and Longfeng as the core, will go north to search for US commerce-breaking aircraft carriers. If no discovery is made, the 5th Fleet will be responsible for escorting the mainland-Saipan-Rabaul route, and the 6th Fleet will be responsible for escorting the mainland-Hawaii route. "
As the saying goes, there is no false reputation under a great reputation. Nimitz, a famous general of the US Navy, is not a fool, and Yamamoto Isoroku, the god of the Japanese Navy, cannot be a fool.
Nimitz tried his best to lure the enemy north, and how could Yamamoto Isoroku be easily deceived? The Combined Fleet's rush north this morning was just a big show for the US submarines ambushed outside the port of Rabaul.
"Very good," Yamamoto Isoroku nodded heavily, "Now continue to go north, and implement the division plan immediately after dark."
"Hay!"