On September 18th, 1937, the meeting room of the Proud Sky was packed with people. The captains and chiefs of staff of the various ships, as well as all the pilots of the carrier-based aircraft, had come for a meeting. The host was the person who had always been inseparable from Wei Chenghong, Tatsumi Hengshan.
"Gentlemen, according to our intelligence, the commander has decided to ambush the enemy aircraft carrier near Saipan in three days. The fighter squadron will be responsible for suppressing the enemy's anti-air artillery fire. The bomber and torpedoes will attack separately. If the enemy aircraft carrier and cruiser cannot sink all the enemy ships, our mobile fleet will be dispatched to sink the remaining enemy ships.
The commander of the assault formation will still be Captain Wang Yijun, the commander of the mobile fleet will be Captain Ma Ran of Ritian No. 1, and the commander of this team will be His Excellency. If you have any opinions, you can raise them.”Tatsumi Hengshan drew a circle with her baton. The center was Saipan.
No one objected. The combat power of this battle was a huge advantage for the enemy's aircraft carrier formation. It should be known that radars were not developed yet. Almost all warships did not have radars. As long as they maintained radio silence, the enemy could only use their naked eyes to detect the aircraft carrier. This way, the enemy's aircraft carrier would not have any warning time. They would not be able to take off a few fighter jets, and they would definitely not be able to control the air.
"The code name of this battle is to catch a turtle in a jar.”Wei Chenghong slammed his palm on the table.
Three days later, in Saipan, the weather was clear.
The American sailors were leisurely entertaining themselves in the cabins, hanging their clothes on the cannons of the warships. The sailors on duty on the deck were also drowsy. They found a shady place to squat down without any sense of urgency. They did not know that an aircraft formation was heading towards them.
It was the same for the aircraft carrier. Many people were looking at the scenery of Saipan. There was not a single plane on the deck.
"Enemy fleet, located in the northeast of Saipan, 4 nautical miles away, speed 15 knots.”The pilot of the reconnaissance plane reported the location of the M nation's aircraft carrier to the flight formation.
In order to ensure success, almost all the planes flew at an extremely low altitude. At most, they were 100 to 200 meters above the sea. If they did not fly close, it would be difficult to be discovered.
In addition, the fleet was blocked by the island, so it was almost impossible to be discovered by the relaxed American sailors. In addition, the three cruisers of the mobile fleet were also cruising southeast of Saipan, 20 nautical miles away. Once the carrier aircraft could not sink all the enemy ships, they would pounce on them and eat the remaining enemy ships.
When the fleet flew over the island, it attracted the attention of many locals. A few smart people had already guessed that the target of the fleet was probably the American fleet not far away.
"Sir, the number of planes in Saipan's direction cannot be determined.”The lookout post on duty finally saw the fleet of aircraft flying over from Saipan. However, he could not make a judgment and immediately reported it to his superior.
"What? Dammit, sound the alarm. It's the Japanese monkeys 'plane.”The lookout immediately knew that the fleet was coming for them.
The alarm of the aircraft carrier sounded. The people on the deck of the aircraft carrier also saw the plane flying over from the island. Since the alarm was sounded, it meant that it was an enemy and not a friend.
"Foolish, can you make it in time?" Chen Zhongyan was an experienced Hainan Airlines pilot. He knew better than anyone else that the enemy aircraft carrier had no chance to take off or land. The attack aircraft's torpedoes would send this big guy with a displacement of tens of thousands of tons to the bottom of the sea.
The straight line formation gave the torpedoes the greatest chance. In order to ensure the accuracy, they were only released from within 800 meters.
"Left full helm, hurry up." The sailors on the deck of the aircraft carrier had already seen the trajectory of the torpedoes. It was the death of Hades.
Unfortunately, it was too late. The fan-shaped torpedoes had already locked down the M nation's aircraft carrier. The aircraft carrier had only turned 20 degrees, and four torpedoes were concentrated on it.
The anti-air fire of the three cruisers had just begun to sound, but it was a pity that there was no order at all and no effect at all.
In order to ensure that the aircraft carrier was shot down, the bomber formation had already climbed up and then dived toward the enemy aircraft carrier.
Want to take off? It was too late. Chen Zhongyan saw the aircraft carrier's lift send a Water Buffalo fighter up.
"This one is mine. No one is going to snatch it.”Controlling the plane, Chen Zhongyan flew to the back of the aircraft carrier and fired wildly at the enemy plane and the ground crew beside him. The bullets hit the deck and caused countless sparks.
A few fighter jets swept across the enemy aircraft carrier's deck, causing heavy casualties to the American sailors on the deck.
Water had already begun to flood the area where the torpedoes had hit the ship's hold. Even Titan, a battleship, could not withstand the attacks, let alone the much thinner armor on the Lex. It was likely that it could not even withstand a single torpedoes.?
In just two minutes, the aircraft carrier had already begun to flip to the left side. Some of the American sailors who did not hold on firmly fell into the sea.
" The aircraft carrier has been destroyed. Eagle One to Eagle One. Abandon the aircraft carrier immediately and attack the enemy cruisers. Hand over the Myers, Marblehead, and Trenton to Falcon. Over."”
"Eagle One, copy. Attack the enemy cruiser, the battleships. Over.”
Through the radio, the bomber formation changed their target and prepared to attack the enemy's cruiser.
The three escorting cruisers were all Omaha-class. They had a decent speed, comparable to a destroyer. However, it was difficult to fight against four legs with two fists. There were a lot of bomber planes diving down, and the sharp sound of the bombs being thrown was even more ear-piercing. The 250kg bombs covered a radius of 100 meters around the Myers. Even though most of the bombs were dodged, the cruiser still took seven or eight bullets. One of them even pierced through the deck of the Myers and fell into the ship. Even though it was a dormitory area, it still dealt a heavy blow to the gulf.
The heavily damaged warship slowed down, and the hull was covered in flames. Half of the island was blown up, and the control tower on the bridge was blown up. As a result, there was no one at the scene to command, and the fire was getting bigger and bigger.
"Torpedo found on the starboard side. Torpedo found in front. Torpedo found on the port side.”The Marblehead's captain clearly saw the enemy firing nine torpedoes at their ship from three directions. They thought too highly of them.
In order to frame the Japanese, Wei Chenghong had already made all the warships fly the Japanese flag. The paint on the aircraft was also Japanese. It would be even better if the two countries fought.
Not only Marblehead, but the Trenton was also attacked by torpedoes. The torpedoes from all directions blocked all their movements. No matter how they dodged, they could not escape from one or two torpedoes.
Probably because the ammunition depot was affected by the fire, the Myers exploded. The debris from the explosion also affected a fighter jet, which was the only carrier aircraft that was shot down in this battle.
The attack planes and the bomber planes had all returned. The Myers and the Lex had already sunk. There was nothing on the sea except for some American sailors who were struggling.
The remaining two cruisers were no better. It was only a matter of time before they sank.
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