Ten minutes later, the seaplane successfully ejected from the "Zhenhai" ship amid the cheers of the crew.
Although Xie Han, who was piloting the plane, didn't show it, tears burst into his eyes uncontrollably the moment it took off... Although it only took ten minutes to prepare for this takeoff, no one knew how much effort they had put in before.
What a risk.
However, although Xie Han was excited in his heart, he calmly said to the two cheering people behind him: "Keep calm and observe, the mission is important!"
"Yes!" the two team members answered in unison.
The seaplane can carry three people, whose duties are: pilot, scout and radio operator.
The pilot is in the front, and the scout and radio operator are in the back.
The scout is equipped with a pair of high-power telescopes to observe the sea surface. He will report the observed situation to the radio operator, who will promptly transfer the situation to the warship.
If necessary, the scouts and radio operators can also swap roles, and even replace the pilot if necessary. For example, if the plane's flight path happens to be facing the enemy fleet on the other side, or the pilot is too tired after driving for a long time.
It is worth mentioning that this kind of seaplane can reach a total range of 3376 kilometers after taking off with full fuel, but its top speed is only 367 kilometers per hour, which means that it can stay in the air for up to 9 hours.
Its actual airborne time can reach more than ten hours, because it usually flies at an economic speed of about 300 kilometers per hour... For reconnaissance missions, after finding the target, the flight speed is not important, what is important is the airborne time.
Therefore, the Japanese seaplanes are very suitable for reconnaissance missions.
On the other side, Toshihei Inoguchi immediately received the information about the seaplane taking off from the "Jinhai" ship.
Toshihei Inoguchi's expression changed, because he knew that if the enemy successfully took off the seaplane, the location and movements of the "Musashi" would no longer be a secret.
"These guys!" Inoguchi Toshihei cursed in surprise: "They can actually take off a seaplane? Is it the fault of those cowards on the 'Natori'?"
When the "Natori" was captured, most of its crew were beaten to death by angry militiamen and workers because they resisted and even tried to drive away the warship. However, dozens of people were still captured... The Japanese navy is not as crazy as the army.
The probability of surrender is higher.
Therefore, the first thing Inoguchi Toshihei thought was that the Eighth Route Army successfully took off the seaplane with the help of these prisoners.
Xu Huandong did say this, but Xie Han rejected him as soon as he said it.
Xie Han gave the reason: "Captain! This risk is too great!"
"What's the big risk?" Xu Huandong asked in confusion. They just asked the captives to provide them with help and advice. How could there be a risk?
Xie Han replied: "Commander, think about it, this is a plane, and it is ejected. What if the Japanese prisoners deliberately teach in the wrong direction? We don't know anything, so we can only follow it? Then we fly
If something goes wrong, the Japanese prisoners can be said to be our improper operation, what can you do to them then?"
Xu Huandong thought about it and thought it was right. This was not something that could be verified by intelligence. There was only one seaplane. There was no cost to the Japs in lying, but the losses to the Eighth Route Army could be huge.
So, in the end, Xie Han and others had to figure it out on their own.
Inoguchi Toshihei hesitated for a while and then gave the order: "Order the water reconnaissance troops to shoot down the enemy seaplane!"
"Yes!" the staff officer responded and immediately conveyed Inoguchi Toshihei's order.
The Japanese took some time to prepare, and they used cruisers to recover three seaplanes... These seaplanes had previously performed reconnaissance missions, so they did not carry bombs.
Although this mission was to "shoot down the enemy seaplane", considering that the enemy seaplane was hovering over the enemy fleet, the imperial water reconnaissance force might have to break through the enemy's air defense network or even bomb the enemy ship, so it was replaced with a guided missile.
A seaplane carrying small bombs.
In ten minutes of preparation time, there were six Imperial planes flying in the sky.
Two of them were not equipped with bombs, and the other four were equipped with bombs.
The division of tasks is very clear: the four water reconnaissance aircraft carrying bombs are responsible for dispersing the anti-aircraft firepower of the enemy fleet in all directions, and the two water reconnaissance aircraft without bombs are responsible for shooting down enemy seaplanes.
The person commanding these seaplanes was Major Akiba Shinichi, who had five years of combat and flying experience... Waterborne reconnaissance aircraft have the longest survivability among the Japanese navy, because they usually perform non-combat missions.
Akiba Shinichi was piloting a water reconnaissance aircraft that intercepted an enemy aircraft without a bomb. He immediately gave the battle plan. He ordered: "The second and third attack groups, your troops will focus on attacking the 'Natori'
, once we entangle the enemy water scouts, we can withdraw from the battle!"
In Akiba Shinichi's view, the Eighth Route Army's "Wrath" class destroyers are not worth mentioning at all, so there is no need to waste too much energy on dealing with them. The most important thing is to contain the firepower of the "Natori" light cruiser.
Akiba Shinichi's idea is correct to a certain extent.
Because Mao Xiong's "Wrath" class warship only had eight pitiful anti-aircraft guns, which was related to Mao Xiong's insufficient demand for the navy during this period, its performance in all aspects was very poor.
The "Natori", which is now the "Zhenhai" ship driven by Xu Huandong, has 35 25mm-caliber twin-mounted anti-aircraft guns (70 in total), and 6 13mm-caliber twin-mounted anti-aircraft machine guns (12 in total).
In this comparison, the anti-aircraft firepower of the light cruiser is much greater than that of the Fury class, and even more than the total anti-aircraft firepower of the four "Wrath" class ships.
The only difference is that the Mao Xiong's anti-aircraft gun is more powerful with a 37mm caliber.
Therefore, Akiba Shinichi believes that as long as the light patrol can be contained, the mission will be half successful.
When the water reconnaissance led by him entangles the enemy's aircraft, the enemy's anti-aircraft firepower will be unable to work... The enemy's and our fighter planes are entangled and unable to distinguish between ourselves and the enemy. The anti-aircraft firepower of the warships has to cease fire for fear of accidental damage.
By then, it will only be a matter of time before the enemy's seaplane is shot down, and the mission will be completed as a matter of course!
This is also the reason why the Japanese staff asked Inoguchi Toshipei whether the water reconnaissance force would launch the first round of attacks on the Eighth Route Army fleet.
In their view, except for the "Natori"'s anti-aircraft firepower, which is worth mentioning, everything else in the Eighth Route Army fleet is just decoration.
The "Natori" was only recently captured by the Eighth Route Army. The Eighth Route Army was not skilled in the control and coordination of anti-aircraft guns and warships. The Empire also had ten water reconnaissance ships, so it was not impossible to blow it up with bombs.
Common sense says that this analysis is indeed correct, but the Japanese did not expect that... the Eighth Route Army had already replaced its backward anti-aircraft guns with anti-aircraft missiles!