afterglow

Chapter 504 Chapter The daunting distance; air battle in Hawaii!

When the ground forces announced that they had basically taken control of Kauai, the first formation of the fleet immediately set sail, turned around and turned southwest quickly away from Hawaii.

As for the fifth formation, the naval admirals believed that they would not be helpful in the subsequent naval battle, so the remaining ships except Fomalhaut and the other two seaplane carriers stayed in place.

"Currently, the enemy still has five to six airports available for use. It is entirely possible to organize multiple waves of air strikes. However, they have been dormant these days. I am afraid that they will be dispatched in large numbers once the British reinforcements arrive."

"Xia Jinbo, I have re-evaluated these days. The most likely upper limit of the (U.S. military shore-based aviation) attack is a formation of fifty aircraft in three to four waves. It is also possible to organize a single formation of a hundred aircraft."

The huge fleet is sailing in the vast Pacific Ocean. An hour ago, everyone could see Kawaikini Mountain on the island of Kauai, but now looking back, they can only see the vast ocean.

In line with what the Ming Dynasty naval admirals speculated, the Americans carefully planned a trap to contain the invading enemy.

If they go all out to carry out violent air strikes in the past few days, the Ming fleet is likely to flee directly. Therefore, the attacks launched by the US shore-based aviation forces in the past four days have been relatively limited.

On May 5, a total of 12 sorties were launched.

On May 5, a total of 13 sorties were launched.

On May 5, a total of 15 sorties were launched.

"Maybe." Chester Nimitz, with his hands behind his back, looked at the huge map in front of him and said nonchalantly: "But it is impossible for the Chinese to abandon their troops on Kauai. This may be just a tactical retreat. "

As a result, after daybreak, the Catalina seaplane taking off from Babos Naval Air Station sent back shocking news - the main fleet of the Ming army was missing!

However, due to confidentiality reasons, countries around the world do not know the truth.

On May 5, the day when the Ming army began to land on Kauai, the commander of the 10th Infantry Division, Major General William Simpson, was killed by a Do-69 bomber on his way back to the division headquarters.

Kill a general before the war begins? In order to prevent morale from being affected, the US military had to announce that he was injured in a car accident and was hospitalized.

The pace of the German army has never stopped, and the collision of millions of troops is just around the corner.

Before declaring war, the German Air Force planned an air raid. After the official declaration of war, hundreds of bombers took off from various airports and pounced on Portugal's two major port cities.

"Commander, what should we do?"

But before that, the competition in the air had already begun.

Naturally, the results achieved by such a low-intensity air strike were very limited. They only destroyed one Ming Dynasty destroyer, three transport ships, one minesweeper, and some supplies stored at the beachhead supply point.

On May 5, a total of 14 sorties were launched.

Various units of the U.S. 1st Army landed in Lisbon and Porto one after another, and after crossing the ocean, they came to the unfamiliar Iberian Peninsula.

It dragged on for several days before the Army Headquarters announced the news of his death in a low-key manner. In order to avoid a German air attack, the jeep William Simpson was riding in accidentally hit a tree, and he died after rescue efforts failed.

"It's unbelievable, they retreated?!" Lieutenant Colonel Barnett, the operational staff officer, asked in surprise: "Did they discover our plan?"

The game between the two armies of the United States and China around Hawaii is still ongoing. The confrontation between the two major powers has attracted the attention of the world. Even politicians with the least military knowledge know the importance of Hawaii.

"Find them, track them. That's it."

This caused the German army's results in the Iberian Peninsula to dim a bit - a few days ago, several newspapers did not even put the news of the German army's occupation of Madrid on their front pages.

He became the first American general killed in the war.

The European battlefield is proceeding tepidly, seemingly ordinary, but military strategists all know that this is just the calm before the storm.

"Understood, sir."

May 5, noon, Kauai.

A steel-frame warehouse in the northwest of the city was selected as the ground force headquarters. The top was covered with a camouflage net, sandbags were piled around it, and several Z-shaped trenches were dug nearby.

All the ground troops that came with the fleet have come ashore. The available troops for Zhou Changfeng are the entire 3rd Marine Brigade and the 7th Regiment of the 4th Marine Brigade, totaling about 10,000 people.

As of this day, excluding naval losses, the Ming Army's ground troops had a total of 157 killed, 10 dead, and 546 wounded. Overall, it was unsatisfactory and lower than Zhou Changfeng's estimated casualties.

What worries him a bit is the ammunition issue. In previous landing operations, due to the pursuit of high speed, he often only carried a quarter of the standard ammunition. Although he brought double the amount of ammunition during this expedition to Hawaii, he always carried I feel like it’s not enough.

What's more, more than a hundred tons of various supplies were destroyed on the beach by U.S. artillery shelling and air strikes. In addition, the U.S. military on Kauai Island that will attack the front line of Kawaikini Mountain will also spend a lot of ammunition.

"Someone is coming."

"exist!"

"Draft a message requesting Guam to organize air transportation to replenish supplies. The demand..." Zhou Changfeng hesitated for a few seconds, "About fifty tons per day."

If everything was as originally conceived, then the logistical supply of the landing force should have been guaranteed by the transport fleet.

The premise for the Governor's Office and the Ministry of War to agree to the expedition to Hawaii was that the US military lacked aircraft carriers, and the British army was not expected to send reinforcements until July. Therefore, Operation Shuwen was designed based on this major premise from operations to logistics.

Unfortunately, the plan could not keep up with the changes.

Fortunately, the central department of the Ming Army had considered it more comprehensively. The sub-entry of Operation Shuwen already included a plan for air transportation of supplies, which was used to provide the minimum supplies for the landing troops in an emergency.

There are also plans for submarines to transport supplies, but the efficiency is even lower.

If you want to maintain a military presence of 10,000 people, the average daily material supply should not be less than 150 tons.

However, the staff found that this was a fantasy and impossible because the distance was too far - the total voyage from Guam to Hawaii was nearly 6,000 kilometers.

You must know that it is only 1,600 kilometers from Berlin to Moscow, and that is the European continent, with railways and roads.

Fighting in the vast Pacific Ocean, the ultra-long distance of several thousand kilometers is enough to be daunting.

Not to mention 150 tons, even if discounted in half, the average daily air transport volume of 75 tons is a bit reluctant. Finally, the supply quantity in the summer heat action sub-item is based on 80 tons per day, which is the result of all kinds of helplessness.

Even if the air transport volume is cut in half, the Munitions Department of the Ministry of War is still struggling.

The planned route is to take off from Guam, land at Wake Island for refueling, then head to Midway for refueling, and finally arrive at Kauai.

The total flight time is 23 hours. If landing, refueling and rest and maintenance are included, the total flight time is 36 hours.

The Munitions Department first transferred 45 Type 1.5 transport aircraft from the Second Air Transport Detachment from the Air Force. Due to limited range, the transport aircraft with a load of 1 tons can only carry ton of supplies.

In order to fill the remaining gaps, 16 Type 7 and Type four-engine large seaplanes had their cabins removed and temporarily converted into transport aircraft.

The fuel tank capacity of a Type 3000 transport aircraft is 1.8 liters, and it needs to be filled six times for a round trip, which is 80 liters. On average, it takes 67 liters of aviation gasoline to airlift an mm mortar shell to Kauai.

What a costly supply operation!
On the same day, the Governor's Office approved Zhou's request.

The next day, May 5, the first team of 17 transport planes took off from Guam one after another and flew to Wake Island, 16 kilometers away...

At the same time, it was on this day that a fierce air battle broke out over the Kauai Strait!

The First Destroyer Detachment of the Ming Dynasty Air Force has so far had three waves of combat units stationed at Weiyuan Airport, or the renamed Lihue Airport, with a total of 43 Type 6 destroyers and Type heavy destroyers available.

While repairing the Lihue Airport, the Corps of Engineers discovered an undamaged underground oil storage tank containing nearly 100 gallons of No. aviation gasoline.

These good things make the pilots extremely happy. You must know that only the United States can produce No. 100 aviation gasoline. The Ming Dynasty imported and stockpiled it before the war. It has long been used up. Starting this year, only No. 94 aviation gasoline will be distributed.

In order to weaken the US shore-based aviation in Hawaii as much as possible, the officers of the 1st Destroyer Detachment formulated an attack plan to try to suppress the US military airport on Oahu.

The 28 fighter jets that took off from Weiyuan Airport first flew north, and then turned due east, targeting the Haleiwa Army Airport in northern Oahu.

The Ming Army fighter formation was discovered by the US military radar as soon as it took off. The Army Air Force immediately blocked the interception force from Haleiwa Airport and Wheeler Airport, and P-40 fighter jets taxied into the air.

At 10:17, a Ming army fighter formation met 17 U.S. fighter jets head-on. The two sides quickly got into stance and engaged in a melee.

The close-range fight was dizzying, with green-painted US military fighter jets and blue-painted Ming Army fighter jets flying up and down, and strings of tracer bullets sprayed from aviation machine guns flying across the sky...

Adding No. 100 aviation gasoline not only makes the engine more powerful, but also boosts the pilot's confidence on a psychological level.

The cutting-edge Type 36 D-type destroyer showed an astonishing advantage in rolling capabilities. US military pilots found that no matter what defensive maneuvers they made, they could not get rid of the tail-biting Ming fighter jets.

On the contrary, when one's own aircraft is trying to bite the opponent, the Ming army's fighter jets can perform defensive barrel rolls and scissor maneuvers in a very exaggerated manner, just like a slippery fish that cannot be caught at all!
"Grab his back half! Hold still!"

"Slow down, slow down, slow down...beautiful!"

The majestic major - Cui Xusheng, the captain of the first team and the second team, gave his opponent a heavy blow with his superb flying skills, shooting down two aircraft and damaging one in total.

Huang Lu, a taciturn and inconspicuous second lieutenant pilot, was unexpectedly lucky. In this battle alone, he shot down three aircraft. All of them were clearly recorded by the camera, and there was absolutely no false report.

The air battle ended with a score of 6 to 11. To the regret of the Ming army pilots, several US fighter jets escaped with injuries. The Type 36 destroyer's weapon configuration of one large-caliber machine gun and two medium-caliber machine guns seemed to be insufficient. used.

Next, the Ming Army fighter jet formation flew to the Haleiwa Airport in northern Oahu.

The exposed aircraft on the ground were fired at indiscriminately. The US ground troops fired back with M2 anti-aircraft machine guns, but with little effect. A total of 9 aircraft were destroyed or damaged.

Warrant Officer Chen Mouyuan's aircraft was hit by more than a dozen 12.7mm bullets. Three cylinders of the radial engine were blown out, and the carburetor also malfunctioned.

He finally insisted on making an emergency landing over the Kauai Strait, and then paddled the lifeboat back to Kauai Island on his own.

Another small-scale air battle broke out over the Kauai Strait that afternoon. Eight Ming Army fighter jets were ambushed by six U.S. F8F Wildcat fighter jets, and three were eventually shot down.

The next day, Cui Xusheng once again personally led 15 fighter jets to attack, this time including 4 -type twin-engine heavy-duty destroyers, responsible for mounting aerial bombs to conduct rapid raids and bombings on airport targets.

They flew over Pearl Harbor's Ford Island Airport at 8:16 that day. One after another, the Ming army aircraft swooped down and strafed the US military seaplanes parked on the water below.

Heavy fighter jets flew quickly from low altitude and dropped bombs on the dock. Three Catalina seaplanes were blown up. Two barges were also hit by bombs and set on fire. Black smoke billowed straight into the sky...

During this process, a fighter jet was hit by a 28mm tracer bullet fired from the US ship Chicago Piano. It was too low to pull up in time, and crashed and exploded a few seconds later.

Huang Lu, who made a lot of gains yesterday, may have exhausted his life's luck. Unfortunately, he was hit by multiple bullets while flying a plane to swoop and shoot a minesweeper, and the plane lost control.

He tried to stabilize the plane and tried to lower the altitude before making an emergency landing on the nearby sea.

The smoking Type 36 fighter jet crashed into the water with a thud. The violent impact shook Huang Lu to pieces, and his head was covered with blood. He opened the canopy and tried to climb out, but felt himself being pulled by something.

When I turned around, I found that the parachute had opened on its own for some reason and was stuck on the flight seat and other equipment. He was so frightened that he wanted to take off his parachute backpack, but found that the inflatable life jacket had also been activated. The bulging life jacket made it impossible for him to touch the buttons.

At this time, the plane was gradually sinking. The helpless Huang Lu tried hard to tear the parachute, but how could a high-strength parachute made of silk be torn so easily?

Tens of seconds later, he and his plane sank into the sea three kilometers south of Pearl Harbor. The three crash patterns painted next to the cockpit were still brand new.

The air battle on this day impressed the Americans. They reported shooting down 6 incoming Ming army aircraft.

However, the record of the Ming army is that only three fighter jets were lost, and another Type 3 heavy-duty destroyer was seriously damaged and had no repair value, so it was scrapped.

The air battle that broke out over Hawaii is destined to go down in history. From now on, the Kauai Strait, which is 117 kilometers wide, will remain in the history of world wars like the English Channel.

At the same time, 520km southeast of Hawaii...

On the sparkling sea, the Glory and the Brave were sailing smoothly under the escort of several destroyers, and the received San Francisco radio news program was still playing on the radio.

"We are about to enter the range of Chinese submarines. Be alert, guys."

(End of this chapter)