Chapter 970 Big Has Big Benefits

"Target found, 12 o'clock, altitude 5000, distance 7500, large Japanese aircraft group! Guys, follow me! Revenge for the Californians!"

When Captain Thomas' voice came again, Second Lieutenant George Bush's spirit was immediately highly concentrated. While he controlled his F4U to fly forward quickly with Captain Thomas, he carefully searched the sky below.

Today is not a particularly suitable day for air combat. There are many cotton candy-like clouds floating in the sky. Enemy planes can easily hide in them. If it were not for the radar guidance of surface ships, the more than 200 F4Us hovering at an altitude of more than 6,000 meters would probably not be able to find the Japanese planes flying under the cover of clouds.

Captain Thomas, who led Second Lieutenant Bush to launch the attack, was an experienced interceptor pilot. Before boarding the escort aircraft carrier "San Jacinto", he had played a thrilling one-time Spitfire and shot down two Ju288 bombers - this was definitely a remarkable achievement in the Atlantic battlefield.

Captain Thomas, who had rich experience, did not blindly launch an attack after leading the fleet close to the large Japanese fleet. Instead, he circled half a circle and occupied a position with his back to the sun.

Using the dazzling sunlight to cover the attack on the Ju288 was the most commonly used method in the Atlantic battlefield, especially when the Ju288 had the equally excellent Fw-190 or He219 escort.

The dazzling sunlight could ensure that the fragile "one-time Spitfire" would not face the powerful Fw-190 and He219 head-on. Although the "one-time Spitfire" would still be chased by the Fw-190 or He219 after completing the attack, there was finally a chance to open fire and shoot down the Ju288.

"I repeat, the target is the Japanese bomber, don't get entangled with their fighters, and pull up and leave the battle after shooting down the bomber." Captain Thomas gave another reminder at the end, and then shouted loudly: "Now, follow me! For California! For America!"

He is a Californian, and his hometown is Los Angeles, which is the hardest hit area of ​​the Japanese bacterial attack. So he always talked about revenge for Californians - many American officers whose hometowns were not in California also liked to say this to incite hatred before leading their troops to attack the Japanese.

"For California! For America!"

Bush, who was born in Massachusetts, also shouted along with his superior, and then began to dive down with his four-plane formation.

In the sky about 1,000 meters below, about 200 or more Japanese fighters and bombers formed a dense formation, flying south at a speed of more than 500 kilometers per hour.

Lieutenant Bush found that the Japanese bombers and fighters below were all new to him, and they had not appeared in the enemy aircraft identification atlas issued by his superiors.

Obviously, the Japanese had invested in their new fighters!

At this time, the Japanese had already discovered the F4U above them, and the escorting Zidian modified fighters pulled up their noses and attacked the F4U diving from above. However, the twin-engine "Galaxy" bomber still maintained its original formation, but accelerated its flight, as if trying to use its own speed to get rid of the enemy plane.

"Tututu..."

Just when Lieutenant Bush wanted to control his plane to avoid the oncoming Shiden Kai, the Japanese plane suddenly opened fire at him. Four thick and continuous flashes cut through the air and flashed suddenly from the right side of the F4U fighter, which scared Lieutenant Bush, who had always thought that the firepower of the Japanese plane was weak.

This is not the momentum that a 12.7mm machine gun can produce, this should be the 20mm cannon!

The firepower of this new Japanese fighter is so powerful! Fortunately, the backlit attack position was chosen, otherwise it would be very likely to be shot down. Lieutenant Bush thought of this and did not care about the order of "not entangled with enemy fighters", and quickly pressed the machine gun firing button. The machine gun on the plane immediately spurted out flames, immediately covering the Japanese fighter plane below in a sea of ​​fire - now Lieutenant Bush is an "old bird" who has shot down two Japanese fighter planes, and his shooting skills are still very accurate!

However, the Japanese plane that was hit by several 12.7mm bullets did not show any signs of falling immediately, but whizzed past Lieutenant Bush's plane.

"It's actually quite sturdy!" Lieutenant Bush's brows tightened, and he felt a little bad.

However, he did not go to compete with the Japanese plane that was hit by several 12.7mm bullets, but continued to rush towards the Japanese "Galaxy" bomber.

Although the "Galaxy" was very fast, it was still far behind the diving F4U. So the F4U driven by Bush quickly rushed to the top of a "Galaxy" and shot out six flames composed of 12.7mm bullets again. This time Bush also did not miss, at least 20 bullets hit the big plane (the Galaxy bomber was also very large, with a maximum take-off weight of 13.5 tons, comparable to the "Flying Dragon"). But what surprised Bush was that this Japanese plane also withstood the 12.7mm bullets and still flew forward steadily.

Because of the "one-shot and away" tactic, Lieutenant Bush's plane could not immediately pull up after the dive attack to continue the attack, so it could only use its momentum to continue rushing toward the sea to throw away the Japanese who might be following behind. Aircraft - In fact, the Japanese Shiden Kai did not pursue them, because they were performing escort missions after all, and protecting the Galaxy bombers was the most important thing.

The interception operation just launched by 108 F4Us was only the first wave. The purpose was not to shoot down many Japanese aircraft, but to disrupt their formation. There will be a second, third, and fourth wave of attacks later!

…

"The Japanese have invested in new fighters? Are they very strong?"

Halsey's headquarters soon received the latest battle report from the front line - the two waves of interceptions had been fought, and the initial number of reported kills was only 28 (only 18 were later confirmed, 10 of which "Galaxy", 8 "Zidian Kai"), and its own losses also reached 17.

"Sir, the Japanese's new aircraft are difficult to shoot down." Major General Callahan, chief of staff of the Central Pacific Theater, said while looking through the battle report. "The pilots on the front line also reported that the bombers dispatched by the Japanese army this time are all twin-engine bombers, which are lighter than 'Slightly smaller, but very strong and fast, with a visual inspection of over 500 kilometers per hour."

"Twin engines...are they torpedo planes?" Halsey asked.

"I don't know," Callahan replied. "If it's a torpedo plane, I won't be afraid."

Japanese torpedo aircraft have almost turned into "suicide aircraft" when facing the U.S. surface fleet with strong anti-aircraft firepower, while large twin-engine torpedo attack aircraft are easier to hit.

"Well," Halsey nodded, "I'm afraid it's a dive bomber!"

It is estimated that the Japanese do not have a "missile aircraft" like the Ju288. Although many American companies have long claimed that they can copy the German remote-controlled glide bomb, they have only developed a remote-controlled suicide B-17 after several years of development. And B-24... This kind of thing is not good for dealing with surface ships.

"It could be a dive bomber," Callahan shared the same concern. "The bomb load is estimated to be about the same as the German Ju88... It should be about 2,000 kilograms!"

2,000 kilograms is not a small amount for a surface ship. If it were a bomb, the Iowa-class battleship would not be able to carry it and would be paralyzed with one shot.

"Let everyone be careful." Halsey frowned, seeming to feel that the matter was a little serious.

"Sir, Task Force 51 reported that their destroyers discovered a larger attack aircraft group taking shape over Oahu. The number of enemy aircraft is estimated to be more than 500."

At this time, a staff officer reported another news that made Halsey even more worried - the Japanese Army Air Force's attack aircraft group was almost formed.

…

"Sir, the American fleet has been discovered, right in front of us. The number... there are about 1,000 ships!"

The god of critical strikes, Jiang Cao Fanlong, has already found traces of the American fleet at this time - this is a large fleet that "covers" hundreds of square sea miles, and it is too easy to find!

But easy to find doesn't mean easy to fight.

About a thousand ships of various types have already formed a huge air defense formation on the ocean about 300 nautical miles south of the Hawaiian Islands.

"Start from the periphery!" Colonel Kaio Kamei began to give the order, "Use the onion-peeling tactic to attack the periphery of the U.S. fleet first."

The Japanese had already used the tactics of going straight to the core in the Battle of Christmas Island. The result was that they almost lost all the elites of the naval aviation force.

So this time, Kurojima Ghost, who was responsible for formulating the attack plan, changed his tactics and decided to start from the outside, attack the American destroyers first, and then attack inside layer by layer, gradually weakening the strength of the American fleet.

However, this style of play also has a disadvantage, that is, it cannot crush the aviation combat power of the US fleet in one fell swoop. The attack fleet will have to engage in air attrition battles with the American F4U and F6F again and again.

Just when the first attack wave commanded by Colonel Kamei Kaio broke through four waves of F4U interceptions and rushed in front of the U.S. fleet, more than 200 F6F fighters were already waiting.

At the same time, more than 250 kilometers away, Lieutenant Bush's squadron also climbed to an altitude of 6,000 meters with more than 200 F4Us, preparing to launch an assault against the overwhelming second wave of Japanese attacks.

The fierce aerial war of attrition will soon be staged again!