This situation can indeed only be solved by seaplanes, and it is related to the life and death of the entire fleet.
Without seaplane reconnaissance, the fleet would not be able to detect the approach of the Japanese battleships, and would therefore be constantly being chased and bombed by enemy ships.
At that time, the coastal defense regiment will probably have no choice but to retreat in advance...Retreating in advance can ensure that the fleet will not be approached by Japanese battleships.
However, if the coastal defense regiment retreats, it will obviously be unable to complete its mission of leading the Japanese fleet to the port.
When he heard about this later, Wang Xuexin regretted giving this order.
The reason why Wang Xuexin asked Xu Huandong to lead the Japanese fleet to the port was because a large number of anti-ship missiles were deployed there, and the Eighth Route Army could use the longest range to control the Japanese fleet entering nearby waters.
This is actually one of the weaknesses of anti-ship missiles.
During this period, the Eighth Route Army worked overtime to produce at several arsenals at the same time. It has deployed more than 500 anti-ship missiles in Dalian, of which 50 were installed on warships, and there were more than 470 on the shore.
These missiles are enough to deal with Japanese warships... If twenty missiles are used to shoot down one warship, these missiles can sink more than twenty Japanese warships.
The problem is that the missile requires the cooperation of fighter planes. To be precise, the final stage requires the pilot to pilot the fighter plane to guide the missile to hit the enemy ship.
Moreover, from the theory of "offense is greater than defense", we can know that the Eighth Route Army in a defensive state must defend the entire Dalian coastline, and the Japanese fleet may appear at any location.
So there will be some problems. For example, what if the Eighth Route Army's missiles are deployed at the port but the Japanese fleet attacks Jinzhou?
The straight-line distance between the port and Jinzhou is more than 60 kilometers, the gun range of the Japanese battleships is more than 40 kilometers, and the distance here is more than 100 kilometers.
Then it takes twenty minutes for a missile with a speed of more than 300 kilometers per hour to fly more than 100 kilometers. During this time, the Japanese warship drives in the opposite direction and is almost out of the range of the missile.
What's more serious is that when the Japanese warships are leaving, the Eighth Route Army needs fighter planes to track them, otherwise the Eighth Route Army's missiles will not know where to hit them.
As mentioned before, TV guidance can only barely see the fleet three to five kilometers away. At other times, it is necessary to know the exact position of the Japanese fleet and cooperate with radar control.
The range limitation of the "La 5" makes it unable to track the Japanese fleet more than 100 kilometers away.
This has nothing to do with the combat radius. The combat radius is to rush to the battlefield and fight the enemy aircraft and then return. However, cruising and tracking must have a longer time in the air and be ready to fight the enemy aircraft at any time...The Japanese will definitely send out an air force.
Cover the fleet.
Therefore, it is possible for the Japanese Air Force to calculate the flight time of the Eighth Route Army fighter planes, and then launch an attack when the Eighth Route Army fighter planes have almost used up their fuel.
This is very dangerous to the Eighth Route Army Air Force.
In short, the layout of anti-ship missiles of the Eighth Route Army must be focused, and the entire coastline of Dalian cannot be defended everywhere.
Being defensive everywhere is equivalent to having no defense at all and leaving loopholes everywhere.
Wang Xuexin’s defense focuses on three areas:
The first point is the Golden State Line of Defense.
The Jinzhou defense line is the main defense line of the Independence Regiment. If the Japanese Fengtian sends troops to attack the Jinzhou defense line and the fleet bombs from the rear, the mechanized force of the Independence Regiment will probably suffer heavy casualties. Naval guns are no joke.
They can blast this choke point, which is only seven kilometers long, back and forth several times. By then, tanks, half-tracks, and even independent regiments will all be blown to pieces.
Then the Japanese troops in front charged forward again... and the Jinzhou defense line collapsed.
This is indeed the case. According to the intelligence coming from the Jinzhou defense line, the Japanese have regrouped a division in front of the defense line and launched a tentative attack (to find out the location of the Eighth Route Army's firepower points and the deployment of troops).
Wang Xuexin deployed one hundred missiles at Zhoushuizi Airport.
The second place is the shipyard.
Although the shipyard is not a strategic location, it is the lifeblood of the Coast Defense Corps... Without the shipyard, there would be no warships, and without warships, of course there would be no Coast Defense Corps.
To put it simply, the shipyard is the future of the Eighth Route Army Navy. If it is bombed by the Japanese, the Eighth Route Army and the five warships of the Coastal Defense Regiment can fight for as long as they can.
Wang Xuexin also deployed a hundred missiles here.
The third place is the port.
This is the top priority of Wang Xuexin's defense.
The reason is that a large amount of materials have accumulated at the port and there is no time to disperse them.
There is no need to disperse. Dalian is only so big. To be precise, the safe area that the Eighth Route Army can completely control is not large. It is only more than 60 kilometers from the northernmost Jinzhou defense line to the port. The massive strategic materials in the port must be dispersed.
Where can it be dispersed?
And they are the key to the victory or defeat of the current battle of the Eighth Route Army: the food, clothing, and equipment and ammunition of the militia all come from here, and even the supply of warships also requires this port.
Wang Xuexin deployed all the remaining two hundred or so missiles here.
These three points roughly form a triangle, and coupled with the missile's two hundred-kilometer range, it can reduce the pressure on the aviation team to detect and guide the missile.
Under this situation, what Wang Xuexin hoped most was that the Japanese could attack the port.
This is not only because there are many missiles deployed at the port, but also because the port is the farthest away from Bangzi... The Japanese deployed their fighter planes at Bangzi, and increasing their flight distance will give the Eighth Route Army as much combat advantage as possible.
What Wang Xuexin didn't expect was that Xu Huandong would bet the entire fleet to execute the order he gave in order to gain these advantages.
Xu Huandong believes that an order is an order. Although there are indeed difficulties and dangers at hand, isn't it possible to solve these difficulties and dangers?
Therefore, the specific situation was not reported to Wang Xuexin.
What's more, it's not too late to discuss whether to retreat until the seaplane cannot take off or fails to take off.
Therefore, Xu Huandong made a phone call to Xie Hanna, who was in charge of the seaplane, and asked: "Squad leader Xie, you should be aware of the situation. The fate of the fleet depends entirely on whether your plane can take off! How about it? Are you sure?
"
"Report to the leader!" Xie Han replied confidently: "I'm sure!"
In fact, how could Xie Han be confident? He planned to go there himself. If he failed, most of them would not be able to come back alive. So why should we consider the question of "whether we are sure?"
When the time comes, you, Xu Huandong, will not be able to find anyone to question Xie Han!
Xu Huandong didn't know that Xie Han thought this way. Seeing that Xie Han answered without any hesitation, he thought he was full of confidence, so he nodded and said: "Very good, be careful not to fly too far after takeoff, just above the fleet."
Turn around as long as you can see the Japanese battleship!"
"Yes!" Xie Han responded, and after hanging up the phone, he and several of his pilots got busy.