When Lieutenant General Halsey received the urgent telegram from the forward reconnaissance aircraft, he immediately ordered to sound the combat readiness alarm. The USS Enterprise aircraft carrier quickly took off twelve F4F "Wildcat" fighters and two "Dreadnought" dive bombers.
Go out for reconnaissance and warning.
The entire aircraft carrier task force jumped up like a hornet's nest that had been stabbed by a pole. Under the order of Vice Admiral Halsey, the fleet immediately formed a battle formation and sailed toward the southwest.
"Sir, our reconnaissance plane reported that an American water reconnaissance plane was spotted 150 kilometers ahead of our fleet. They suspect that there is an American aircraft carrier fleet operating nearby." forward reconnaissance was received in Halsey.
At the same time that the aircraft sent back intelligence, Chen Shaokuan on the "Zheng Chenggong" aircraft carrier also received a telegram from his own reconnaissance aircraft.
Chen Shaokuan nodded calmly, "I understand. Immediately order the fleet to reduce its speed to twenty knots, advance in battle formation, and order the "Chen Tang" to release a squadron of "Hellcats" and a squadron of "Dauntless"
"Be on guard"
"yes"
Seeing the communications officer hurried away with an excited expression, Zhang Shouye couldn't help but asked with some worry: "Sir, is it too murderous to order a squadron of "Hellcats" and "Dauntless" to go out on guard?"
"
Chen Shaokuan shook his head, with a determined look in his eyes: "No, not much at all. Do you dare to bet with me? I can be sure that the Americans will definitely send no less than a squadron of fighter planes to guard you.
And there will be reinforcements at any time. You have to know that this is our first time to patrol the Bering Strait. We will definitely have to deal with the Yankees in the future. If this head is mute with one shot today, it will be very detrimental to our future patrols.
, so we must let the Americans know our determination."
Major Jack led a squadron of "Wildcat" fighter planes on a search flight to the southwest. Their mission was to search for the Chinese aircraft carrier formation on the sea ahead and report their size and exact location to the fleet.
"Lao Chao, Lao Chao, I am Red Lightning. We have been flying forward for twenty minutes and have not found any trace of the Chinese naval formation."
"Lao Chao understands. You continue to search forward and report immediately if you find anything." The voice of the fleet's communications officer came to my ears.
"Yes, continue the search, over." Major Jack released the button on the communicator and turned his gaze upwards. Only then did he suddenly notice a group of black shadows flying above the "Wildcat" formation.
"Damn it, all attention, all attention, start the battle formation immediately, stay alert, no attack is allowed without my order." After finishing speaking, Major Jack changed the channel again: "Lao Lao, Lao Lao, I am Red Lightning, we found the Chinese
A formation of fighter jets, they are flying towards my formation, asking for instructions, asking for instructions."
The voice on the other side fell silent, and after a while, an old and calm voice came: "I am Fleet Commander Halsey. I am ordering you to contact them and ask them about their purpose, but you must not go first."
Fire."
"Red Lightning understands." Jack switched the channel to the formation public channel and ordered: "Red Lightning Squadron immediately formed a patrol formation and headed forward to meet them."
At this time, a harsh English sentence came from Major Jack's headset: "We are the aircraft carrier task force of the Pacific Fleet of the Republic of China. We are now ordered to patrol the Bering Strait. The aircraft in front of us, please report your identity, purpose, and purpose."
reveal your identity and purpose."
At this time, the formations of both sides were in contact, and the distance between the two sides was close enough that they could clearly see the other side's aircraft model and the markings on the fuselage.
"Oh, is that a Chinese carrier-based aircraft? Why does it look so similar to our fighter planes?" Pilots exclaimed in public channels. What appeared in front of them was a "Wildcat" fighter plane that was very similar to the one they flew.
A new aircraft looks very much like an enlarged version of the "Wildcat" fighter jet. This aroused the amazement of US military pilots.
"Oh my God, that's our "Dreadnought" bomber. This is crazy." There was another burst of exclamation in the formation's public channel. It seemed that they were all frightened by the carrier-based aircraft equipped by the Chinese Navy. Before they
It seems that the carrier-based aircraft of the Chinese Navy are almost the same as those of the U.S. Navy, and some are even exactly the same.
"Shut up, everyone." The voice of the formation commander, Major Jack, came over the channel. "We don't care what kind of fighters they are equipped with. First of all, we have to do our own thing."
After saying that, Jack immediately changed to the public channel: "I am Major Jack, commander of the carrier-based aircraft formation of the First Fleet of the Pacific Fleet of the United States of America. I am currently performing a patrol mission. Our ship formation is about to pass by. I will inform you now.
, please move your fleet out of the way so that our fleet can pass." Although Major Jack tried his best to soften his tone, his tone was still involuntarily mixed with the unique arrogance of Americans.
Soon, the Chinese pilot's voice came from the other side: "Unfortunately, Mr. Major, that is your business. Our navy does not have the habit of giving way to the waterway. Please demonstrate it first."
"You bastard, you rude guy." When Jack heard this, he almost broke his teeth. When did the Chinese Navy dare to speak like this to the great U.S. Navy?
"Very good, I will convey your words to our commander truthfully. I hope you will still be so calm by then." Although he was very angry inside, Jack still did not lose the reason of a commander, and just stayed angrily.
After saying this, he and the Chinese flight formation on the opposite side were separated from each other.
What happened to the alert flight formation and the Chinese flight formation soon reached the ears of the fleet commander, Lieutenant General Halsey.
"Haha, interesting Chinese people, do you want to patrol the Bering Strait? Let me see what your fleet is like." Halsey didn't mind how his flight formation was talking to the other party.
In his opinion, being able to observe China's aircraft carrier formation up close is the most important thing.
"The flying formation was ordered to return immediately, and the fleet was preparing to pass through the Commandor Islands. Captain Dreher immediately ordered the fleet to change to a sailing formation and move forward at full speed. All personnel except the sick patients and those on duty were prepared to go up to the deck to line up and march towards
Our Chinese colleagues, please show your respect."
"Yes, let's move the sailing formation forward at full speed." The captain standing beside him immediately executed this new order.
At 328 pm on October 3, 1941, the Chinese Pacific Fleet and the U.S. Pacific Fleet, which were patrolling the Bering Strait for the first time, encountered each other near the Comandore Islands. The two sides conducted innocent passage in accordance with international navigation principles.
, the respective Pacific fleets of the two countries met in this way.
"Everyone stand at attention and turn right."
Under the leadership of Chen Shaokuan, all officers and sailors of the fleet, except those on duty, came to the deck and lined up in a neat formation to pay respect to the naval officers and soldiers from the U.S. Pacific Fleet.
On the deck of the USS Enterprise, Vice Admiral Halsey felt very complicated as he looked at the huge aircraft carrier formation passing by and the Chinese navy officers and soldiers who were neatly lined up on all the ships and were saluting their side.
Colonel Dreher, the captain of the USS Enterprise, who was beside him, saluted and said quietly to him: "Your Excellency, Commander, I didn't expect that the Chinese could build such a majestic aircraft carrier. It seems that their displacement is at least six
With more than 10,000 tons, this is a formidable opponent."
"Yes, but so what, our big men in Congress are very nervous about the navy's military budget. Now our entire navy only has five large aircraft carriers at full capacity." Halsey said bitterly.
"Yes." Dreher smiled bitterly, "We Congressmen only care about their votes and wallets, and their thinking is still stuck in the era of giant ships and cannons. How can they care about the construction and development of aircraft carriers? Now
Even the Chinese and Japanese have more aircraft carriers than we do in the United States. Now the Chinese's aircraft carrier capabilities have left us far behind. Just watch, one day we will suffer big losses for this."
"Forget it." Halsey said with a stern face: "This issue is something that the Secretary of the Navy should be worried about. We are soldiers, and it is enough to do our job well."
Dreher was stunned for a moment, then looked at the endless stream of Chinese ships on the other side that were slowly passing by, and said nothing.
In the White House office, Admiral Nimitz, commander-in-chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, said softly to Roosevelt. "Mr. President, this is a telegram from General Halsey, commander of the First Pacific Fleet. The Chinese have officially sent a fleet to the White House.
Order patrol in the strait."
Roosevelt flipped through the telegram and put it on the table, "Chester, what do you think the Chinese patrolling the Bering Strait means? Are they trying to compete with us, the United States, for control of the Pacific Ocean?"
Nimitz shook his head: "No, Mr. President, I don't think so. The Chinese people's energy is currently consumed on the Soviet-Russian battlefield, and they cannot compete with us for control of the Pacific Ocean for the time being. But" as the conversation continued
Turning around, a look of worry appeared on Nimitz's face, "As soon as the Soviet-Russian battlefield is over, I can be sure that their fleet will appear in the Pacific on a large scale."
Roosevelt took a deep breath: "Chester, you are right. I think so too. Now they are patrolling the Bering Strait just to express an attitude to the world. Their army has already reached the Chersky Mountains.
They will hit Uelien in a few months, and then they will be across the sea from our Las Vegas. This is terrible, but what is even worse is that we have no way to stop them."
Looking at Roosevelt's worried expression, Nimitz fell silent.