On the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier, Halsey looked at the map of Wake Island on the table with a solemn expression.
He was ordered to lead the Enterprise and Yorktown to conduct a tactical sneak attack on Wake Island.
Sneak attacks are divided into three types: strategy, campaign, and tactics. The target of tactics is the smallest. It only requires that a few planes or warehouses at the airport can be blown up to be successful.
But this seemingly simple goal has now become an extremely dangerous task.
The reason is none other than the extremely long range of the Japanese "Zero" combat capability.
Ultra-long range is extremely advantageous in naval warfare.
For example, now, if Yingjiang wants to attack Wake Island, it must enter a distance of 600 kilometers... This is determined by the range of Yingjiang's "Wildcat" carrier-based aircraft. Its longest range is only 1,200 kilometers. One trip and one return means
The aircraft carrier's attack radius is only 600 kilometers.
In fact, the attack radius of the Yingjiang aircraft carrier at this time is less than 500 kilometers.
The reason is that some fuel consumption needs to be reserved for fighter aircraft emergency response... If the fuel consumption is calculated to be just enough for a round trip, once the carrier-based aircraft is intercepted by enemy aircraft and engages in air combat or deviates from the direction, the carrier-based aircraft will have no choice but to park at sea.
The Japanese "Zero" fighter jet has a range of more than 2,000 kilometers, so the "Zero" has a combat radius of 1,000 kilometers.
This means that the Yingjiang aircraft carrier is within the enemy's combat radius for 500 kilometers and is in danger of being bombed by enemy aircraft at any time.
In the same way, the same situation applies to the aircraft carrier confrontation between Yingjiang and the Japanese. The advantage of the "zero battle" ultra-long range is that the Japanese can hit Yingjiang, but Yingjiang cannot hit the Japanese.
The problem is that the Japanese radar is not advanced enough to detect a fleet a thousand kilometers away, otherwise Yingjiang will only lose in the naval battle.
"We can only hope that the enemy will not discover us!" Staff Officer Ryan said with a very ugly face: "Otherwise, we will pay a huge price for this sneak attack!"
In Ryan's view, this was a plan that cost more than the gain. It allowed two aircraft carrier formations to risk being sunk by the enemy to attack the enemy's island, and it was also a tactical sneak attack... This is simply crazy.
"They don't have many planes on Wake Island!" Halsey replied.
Halsey has always acted resolutely and never hesitated in anything she decided to do.
He actually knew that this was a loss-making deal, and he even knew that only one-third of the carrier-based aircraft sent out would come back.
But he still had to do it.
It was not because of orders from superiors, but because Halsey himself felt that he should do this.
Because this is a war, and you can't stop fighting just because you know you can't defeat your opponent.
The performance of the "Wildcat" fighter jet is indeed not as good as that of the "Zero". Is it just hiding and not taking action?
If so, what is the difference between having an aircraft carrier and not having one?
What's more, hiding to avoid fighting will not only lower morale, but you will never be able to find the enemy's weaknesses.
Thinking of this, Halsey said to Ryan: "Give me my order to get the boys ready. Tell them to carefully observe the enemy planes to find their weaknesses during the battle, and report them in time!"
"Yes!" Ryan's heart was heavy when he responded, because this was actually using the pilot's life to find the weaknesses of the enemy fighter planes.
It would be worth it if he could find it, but Ryan thought it was probably a sacrifice in vain.
Because in that tense combat situation, pilots have to fly the aircraft, find targets, and control weapons. In this case, they also have to observe the enemy aircraft to find the opponent's weaknesses?
At this moment, a communications soldier came forward and reported: "General, the mission is cancelled!"
"What?" Sirsey raised his head and glared at the signal soldier, his eyes full of anger: "We are only four hundred nautical miles away from the target and have entered the enemy's combat radius. Now you tell me that the mission is cancelled? Let's risk our lives to make a trip.
, just to hear the phrase ‘mission cancelled’?”
"General!" the communications soldier hurriedly explained: "To be precise, it's not 'mission cancelled' but 'mission change'!"
As he spoke, the communications soldier handed Halsey a telegram.
Halsey looked at it, his eyes turned from surprise to suspicion, and then from suspicion to shock, and then he became happy for a while: "Send the order, the fleet will turn to a safe area immediately! Also, gather the boys, I have something to say
Tell them!"
The pilots quickly gathered together, and they were also confused about the sudden cancellation of the mission, so some people speculated: "Did the enemy find out that it had to be canceled?"
Major Logan immediately rejected this idea: "If that were the case, we should have been preparing to take off in the fighter plane by now instead of waiting for the bully here!"
"The Bull" is Halsey's nickname. The reason is that he has a fiery personality and dares to fight, but he is also approachable and does not have the airs of a general, so he is very popular among soldiers.
Halsey came in after a while.
"Gentlemen!" Halsey raised the telegram in his hand and said, "Good news, we may have discovered the enemy plane's weakness!"
These words immediately caused a commotion among the pilots.
This is what they are most concerned about during this period, because if they can't find the enemy's weakness, it means death, and it is none other than themselves who die.
Now Halsey says that finding this weakness is tantamount to giving them a gold medal to avoid death.
"Listen to this!" Halsey read the original text while holding the telegram: "We have reason to believe that the reason why the Japs' Zero War has such excellent maneuverability and range is the result of the Japs greatly reducing the weight of the fuselage. Because we can
It is inferred that the dive performance of 'Zero War' may be insufficient..."
Major Logan frowned when he heard this: "Sorry, General! Why 'reason to believe', 'inference', and 'maybe'?"
"Because they're not sure!" Halsey replied.
"Then how did they get this uncertain information?" Logan wondered.
Halsey told the truth: "This is an inference from a Chinese battalion commander!"
Logan laughed: "A Chinese battalion commander? Inference? General! Their inference on the ground may very well cost us our lives..."
"What's the difference?" Halsey asked.
Then Logan understood that they needed to confirm this matter.
But what Halsey said is correct. We are now in the worst situation, with less than one-third of the fighter jets flying out on each mission returning.
Therefore, even if this weakness is "uncertain", you can only give it a try!
Halsey continued: "This tactical sneak attack has changed from a sneak attack on Wake Island to a sneak attack on 'Zero War'. We are going to go after them, boys!"
The pilots in the conference room looked at each other and saw fear in each other's eyes.
Before, I was afraid of "zero war", but now I am looking for "zero war".