Chapter 926: Still Defeated 18 (Four Chapters in the Last Three Days)

"Boom!"

There was a loud noise, and in the center of the US fleet's air defense formation, a fireball rose into the sky from the aircraft carrier "Yorktown", which was defended by battleships and cruisers!

"Oh my God, a plane hit the Yorktown!" Someone on the Hornet's bridge witnessed the collision and immediately shouted.

Rear Admiral Mark Mitchell, the commander of the 58th Breakthrough Fleet, heard the man's words, and his expression suddenly changed. It turned out that he had encountered a similar thing in the first Hawaiian naval battle - he was aboard the Hornet at the time ( The captain of the Yorktown class), the aircraft carrier he commanded was hit by a suicide plane with a propeller mounted on the tail. A large hole was blown out of the bottom of the ship, and the aircraft carrier had to be abandoned in the end.

At this moment, another "Meteor" dive bomber penetrated the fire net composed of anti-aircraft gun ammunition and hit the deck amidships of the "Hornet" with a "bang". A distant explosion followed, and the 30,000-ton aircraft carrier shook violently. All the glass windows on the bridge were shattered by the loud explosion and air waves. Everyone in the bridge held on to the handrails hard to prevent them from falling to the ground.

"Damn! It's a suicide impact!" Major General Mitchell shouted: "Report the damage immediately!"

"Sir," the captain of the Hornet did not call the damage control captain. Instead, he ran directly to the window and stepped on the broken glass to watch the situation on the deck. "It's nothing serious. The flight deck was not penetrated. No. It will affect the takeoff and landing of aircraft.”

Current U.S. aircraft carriers do not have armored flight decks. Even the "Essex" class, which has a full load displacement of more than 36,000 tons, does not have an armored flight deck, so it is possible for a suicide plane to hit a big hole in the deck.

However, an airplane is not a bomb after all. It is difficult to control the angle at which it lands on the ship, and there is no such thing as a warhead. Whether it can penetrate an unarmored deck depends on the quality of the ship. The Essex-class Hornet was lucky enough to not be smashed through the deck, but the Yorktown next to it was not so lucky.

"Sir, the bow lift platform of the USS Yorktown was blown up and a fire broke out. The Yorktown may not be able to take off and land aircraft normally."

"Damn it!" Major General Mitchell cursed, an ominous premonition already rising in his heart.

This is the Western Pacific. Once the aircraft carrier suffers heavy damage, it can only be punished! Six escort carriers have been lost in previous battles. The USS Franklin was also severely damaged and will need to be repaired for at least a few months. Now the Yorktown is in trouble again. If it is also lost, 7 aircraft carriers will be sunk and 1 aircraft carrier will be sunk. Heavy damage, and a battleship was also sunk...the loss was not light!

Being hit by a "Comet" dive bomber carrying a 500 kilogram bomb and destroying the bow lifting platform was just the beginning of the Yorktown's bad luck. Because the explosion of the 500-kilogram bomb ignited something unknown, thick blue-black smoke rose from the Yorktown aircraft carrier. This made it a target for Japanese firepower - a damaged aircraft carrier is definitely easier to deal with than an intact aircraft carrier!

However, the suicide plane collision did not happen again, which shows that the minds of most Japanese naval pilots are still relatively normal. However, the attacks from dive bombers (including Meteor torpedo bombers) continued one after another.

At 8:45, a "Comet" dive bomber finally broke through the U.S. fleet's anti-aircraft firepower network, rushed over the Yorktown and dropped a 500-kilogram bomb. It hit the flight deck amidships of the aircraft carrier. , the bomb exploded below the deck, and the violent vibration cracked several important pipes, one of which was a steam pipe. The aircraft carrier Yorktown suddenly lost more than half of its power.

A few minutes later, another bomb hit the slowed Yorktown. This explosion ignited aviation gasoline that had leaked from the two previous explosions, causing a larger fire.

At this time, the duel between the F6F and the Zero-52 had already decided the winner. Most of the Zero-52 fighters were shot down (42 of the 55 Zeros were shot down and 13 escaped), and the F6F lost 19. (9 pilots were killed). The remaining F6Fs began to join in the strangulation of Japanese torpedo planes and bombers, which put the already dangerous Japanese torpedo planes and bombers into a crisis of annihilation. Some of the planes that had not finished dropping bombs launched a desperate attack and slammed into the US military's anti-aircraft fire network. More than ten of them were shot down on the spot. Only nine of them completed dropping bombs, but only one hit (Yorktown). shot again). Others dropped their bombs and started running around.

"Don't let go of any Japanese plane, shoot down as many as possible!" Mitchell saw the Japanese planes beginning to retreat and immediately issued an order to pursue them.

Then he glanced at the "Yorktown" that was about to burn into flames. At this time, his chief of staff, Arleigh Burke, said loudly to him: "We have to get rid of it! This is the Western Pacific, and we can't bring it with us." A burning aircraft carrier escaped the pursuit of the Japanese..."

Although the Yorktown burned quite intensely, the damage to this aircraft carrier was not fatal. If it were near the Eastern Pacific, it would have been possible to extinguish the fire and return to the home port for overhaul.

"That's all we can do," Mitchell nodded dejectedly, "But we still have a chance to take revenge... The key now is to confirm the position of the main force of the Japanese combined fleet!"

The location of the Japanese Combined Fleet was not easy to confirm, but Ozawa Jisaburo's First Mobile Fleet was quickly found by American seaplanes.

"Commander, the radio has detected an unidentified aircraft, one in number, at a distance of 80, an altitude of 3000, and an azimuth of 350."

At 10:02 a.m. on October 9 (Tokyo time), Jisaburo Ozawa, who was anxiously waiting for the plane to return, heard the report from the fleet staff.

"Is it our plane that has returned?" Ozawa asked.

"It cannot be confirmed," the staff replied, "It is very likely an enemy plane!"

"It is an American reconnaissance plane!" Keizo Furumura said, "The American fleet is not far from us, and their planes should be able to detect us."

"Will they attack with carrier-based aircraft?" Jisaburo Ozawa asked with some concern.

"It shouldn't be," Gucun said, "The report we just received said that the American commerce-breaking fleet only has two large aircraft carriers, one of which was severely damaged by us, so the Americans only have one aircraft carrier left, and the number of carrier-based aircraft that can be dispatched is limited. They should not take risks."

Ozawa frowned, "But they still have three battleships! They are all powerful new battleships... Now we have become prey!"

Gucun was stunned. Admiral Ozawa was right. Before, it was the First Mobile Fleet that chased the American commerce-breaking fleet. And now... Although the three aircraft carriers of the First Mobile Fleet are all there, the loss of carrier-based aircraft must be heavy. Losing more than a hundred is the minimum. The remaining aircraft are not enough to cause a major blow to the American commerce-breaking fleet.

On the contrary, the American commerce-breaking fleet relies on three battleships. Once it catches up with the First Mobile Fleet, it will be a one-sided massacre!

"Or... disband the formation?" Gucun suggested.

"No, no." Ozawa shook his head. "Once the three aircraft carriers are dispersed, there will be too few carrier-based aircraft. If they are attacked by American aircraft, they may lose the aircraft carriers... These aircraft carriers must not be lost now."

Ozawa Jisaburo's words were full of bitterness. The aircraft carriers that must not be lost have actually become decorations. Since the war started on September 24, the loss of Japan's front-line fighters (mostly piloted by elite pilots) has been close to 700 (including the losses in Guam and Saipan)... This does not include the loss of the First Mobile Fleet today!

Ozawa estimated that when the American fleet was really annihilated, the loss of Japan's front-line fighters might exceed 1,000. In addition to the consumption of previous battles, the group of elites who joined the naval aviation before the war may be very few.

Without these people, the combat effectiveness of Japan's aircraft carriers would be greatly reduced.

"We still have the Yamato class!" Ozawa took a breath, "After we retrieve the carrier-based aircraft, let's get closer to the main force of the Combined Fleet and see if we can lure the American fleet over."

...

"Sir..."

When Colonel Arleigh Burke walked to Rear Admiral Mitchell, the latter was watching the slowly sinking Yorktown aircraft carrier... A light cruiser had just fired four torpedoes at it.

"Go ahead." Mitchell did not look back, still staring at the aircraft carrier sinking into the Pacific Ocean.

"The Japanese fleet has been discovered, there are 10-20 ships, three of which are huge." Arleigh Burke said.

The seaplanes sent by the 58th Anti-Traffic Fleet did not dare to get too close to the Japanese fleet, and could only use radar for search, so the intelligence obtained was not very accurate.

"How far is it from us?"

"About 300 nautical miles."

"Chase!" Mitchell said, "Chase for a few hours first, then turn around."

"Understood." Arleigh Burke did not turn around to convey the order, but continued to ask: "Sir, the 70th Task Force is ready and can be dispatched to join us at any time.

In addition, Admiral Nimitz hopes that we will return via the North Pacific as much as possible. In this way, the 70th Task Force can take action in the North Pacific."

"Go through the North Pacific?" Mitchell thought for a while, "Try your best... Let's see where the Japanese aircraft carrier formation is going first? If it's not in the North Pacific, we will go back there."