afterglow

Chapter 507: Does the biplane count as a victory? Just give it up when it's good, regroup and fight again
As soon as the Ming army's dive bomber attack ended, the torpedo planes followed closely and entered the position.

The Dido-class anti-aircraft cruiser is famous in history, and now it has also impressed the Ming army pilots - the power of these high-level dual-purpose guns is really great!
The torpedo plane formation was divided into two and then divided into four, and attacked the Glorious and Brave at the same time. The Dido was unable to take care of both, and finally chose to give priority to attacking the Ming army aircraft that rushed towards the Glorious.

A total of 13 torpedo planes from Ziwei Zuoyuan's Shangzai team came to besiege Glory, with 6 attacking its port side and 7 attacking its starboard side.

The British radar technology is unparalleled in the world. The 79Z early warning radar has good performance, but the fire control radar that guides the artillery is still under development.

Despite this, the four twin-mounted 4-inch high-level dual-purpose guns fired violently under the guidance of the firing director, which also dealt a major blow to the Ming army's torpedo aircraft formation.

【Picture】

Eight artillery shells exploded behind the fleet, most of them tens of meters apart, but one shell exploded closer.

The 133mm high-explosive bomb with a large charge actually fired twice. One Type naval mine lost control and fell into the sea on the spot. The other one dragged black smoke out of the formation and flew into the distance. It made an emergency landing on the sea four minutes later.

The torpedo planes attacking the starboard side of the Illustrious were broken up by fierce anti-aircraft fire, and then another was shot down by the Sheffield's four-gun bomber.

Among the remaining four, someone acted too hastily and dropped a torpedo when they were only 2,000 meters away.

However, the difficulty is that the torpedo aircraft carrying torpedoes is very bulky, which requires high quality pilots.

The six torpedo planes that attacked the port side of the Glory were in slightly better condition. Zheng Chengwu, the deputy team of the Shangzai team, flew forward bravely in the face of the incoming artillery fire, and dropped the torpedoes when there were only 800 meters left.

Half a minute later, the second torpedo hit the stern of the ship, and the explosion point was two meters below the waterline.

He then pulled the joystick and slid it to the right. The torpedo machine, relieved of its burden, slanted and climbed deftly, but a few seconds later it was hit by a 40mm high-explosive bomb in the belly of the machine.

Although the Ming Navy also lost some precious carrier-based aircraft pilots in the Battle of Tarawa, the impact was very small. Although the pilots added this time did not have the experience of the previous naval battle, they were also well-trained.

Peng Huaiyan, the second lieutenant commander of the Ziwei Youyuan, proposed a new attack mode after the Battle of Tarawa. He called it "Harrier Attack Rabbit"——

A few kilometers away, Brave was attacked three minutes later than Glory, but due to Dido's deflection, Brave was unable to receive strong anti-aircraft artillery support.

The 14 Type 7 mines were exactly split in half, with 7 attacking the left and attacking the right.

This attack mode is designed to shorten the time of low-altitude level flight as much as possible and reduce the possibility of being shot down.

Quite coincidentally, at 17:00:59, the first 448mm aviation torpedo hit the middle of the left hull of the Glorious and exploded a thick and tall column of white water.

The other three pilots also dropped mines at times ranging from 1,600 meters to 1,200 meters, which was obviously too early.

His stern cry came over the radio, "You guys, get on! I'm going to make an emergency landing!"

The Glory, which hit the second mine, took in more than a thousand tons of water in half an hour, and the amount of water increased every minute and every second. Soon the ship's hull tilted to the left by as much as 12 degrees.

The plane fell heavily into the sea. The severe structural damage caused the plane to instantly disintegrate under such a huge impact. Ten seconds later, only floating debris and traces of fuel and oil were left.

One of the two was heavily damaged and chose to make an emergency landing after flying a few kilometers. The rear seat gunner bled to death.

The standard torpedo attack mode is to fly the aircraft from the left or right front of the enemy ship and maintain a low speed and level flight until it is close enough to allow the mine to be dropped. This process is extremely dangerous. At this time, the torpedo aircraft is no different from a living target.

The violent explosion instantly tore open a rounded rectangular hole about five meters long and three meters high, and a large amount of seawater surged into the interior.

Peng Huaiyan came up with this idea based on the fact that the aviation torpedoes of the Ming Dynasty were equipped with water-entry deceleration wooden boxes and tail attitude stabilizing wooden boxes. Those seemingly simple wooden boxes allowed the torpedoes to be dropped into the sea at a higher height and faster speed.

The flanking attack style has been practiced countless times, but the battlefield is still a battlefield after all, and the risk of torpedo attacks is extremely high. Those who are willing to fly torpedo planes in battle are the bravest among the brave.

The torpedo plane formation stayed close to the target at an altitude of 45 meters to avoid the enemy ships' small-caliber anti-aircraft guns. When the horizontal distance was reduced to three kilometers, it began to descend in a gentle dive at an angle of about °. When it reached an altitude of meters, it changed to level flight, and then dropped torpedoes on the enemy ships.

A moment later, two more torpedo planes were damaged by anti-aircraft fire, but luckily they accelerated away from the Glorious and successfully escaped.

If it were replaced by British or American aerial torpedoes that could only be launched at an altitude of tens of meters and at a speed of more than 100 kilometers per hour, there would be no other choice at all.

Before the expedition to Hawaii, Peng Huaiyan only had time to practice with pilots from the same unit a few times.

However, this time he decided to try boldly, so he led his detachment and a total of four torpedo planes to adopt this attack mode, while the remaining three followed the standard mode.

A moment later, a Type 36 naval mine attacking from the right was hit and set on fire at a distance of 1,300 meters.

The pilot resolutely continued to fly the plane forward, and did not drop the mine until 700 meters away. Then he parachuted out of the burning plane a few kilometers away.

At 17:13, the Brave, which was turning sharply, tilted and twisted the hull. The hole in the flight deck blown up by the Ming army's dive bomber was still emitting thick smoke, and the dark smoke column rose crookedly into the sky.

Despite such efforts, it was hit by a mine, and a huge column of water rose up from the stern of the ship.

There were more torpedoes rushing to the port side, and the Brave, which could not escape, was hit by two and a half torpedoes in a minute at 17:17.

Because one of the torpedoes was detonated by the explosion of the previous torpedo before it hit the hull. At this time, it was still dozens of meters away from hitting the ship.

The Brave-class aircraft carrier was rebuilt from the battlecruisers of the 29s, and its underwater protection system was outdated. Historically, the Brave was ambushed by the U-15 submarine, hit by two mines, and sank quickly in minutes.

However, the power of aviation torpedoes is much smaller, and the mines on the left and right balance the water intrusion to a certain extent.

At 17:20, the air attack by the Ming Army's carrier-based aircraft formation ended.

The aircraft that completed the attack flew westward one after another, reorganized their formation dozens of kilometers west of Fleet W, and began to return to the southwest.

Everyone checked with each other, and it was roughly estimated that close to twenty aircraft were lost, and injured aircraft continued to be left behind on the way back.

"The torpedo I threw must have been hit. You should have nothing to say about that, right?"

"I came all the way to help, but I got a few sticks before I even arrived. Let's see where they go next!"

The pilots of the Ming Army who had just experienced the war had not yet completely calmed down and started chatting in the radio frequency band.

A quarrel ensued among the fighter pilots, as some claimed that the Sea Fighters shot down did not deserve full credit.

"No? Are you being unreasonable? If you shoot down a service plane, do you also have to remember one?" "Nonsense! Your face will be swollen because of your nonsense. The British biplane is a serious pursuit aircraft, so why not Not worthy of recording the results of the war?"

The others were arguing, but two of them remained silent.

The two of them didn't believe in evil before. They agreed to swoop and shoot and escape with one blow, but they insisted on engaging in a close fight with the British sea fighters. As a result, the situation was full of danger and they were almost shot down. Fortunately, someone came to rescue them.

More than an hour later.

Because it had been discovered by the US military aircraft hiding in the clouds, Ouyang Zhanghua ordered the C-22 fleet to turn sharply south after ordering the release of the attack wave.

The entire fleet fled at a speed of up to 29 knots, and dropped to 21 knots two hours later, trying to stay as far away from the Big Island of Hawaii as possible.

The US military released a total of three waves of shore-based aircraft from Kahooroy Airport, Hilo Airport, and Babos Airport in the afternoon. Two of them failed to find the target and had to return. The other wave discovered the Ming army fleet at 17:10 and carried out the attack. Heavy air strikes.

In this battle, the US military invested a large number of SBD fearless dive bombers, using 1000-pound semi-armor-piercing aerial bombs and armor-piercing aerial bombs to attack two armored aircraft carriers.

The Ziwei Zuoyuan was hit by two bullets, one of which penetrated the deck; the Ziwei Right Yuan was hit by four bullets, two of which penetrated the deck.

The Ziwei Youyuan was relatively seriously damaged because fuel leaked from several aircraft in the front hangar and caused a fire.

Thanks to fire sprinklers and semi-automatic fire extinguishing equipment, the fire was under control, but it will probably take some time to completely extinguish it.

Damage control team members wearing gas masks and white fireproof suits were working hard. The halon fire extinguishing agent sprayed by the fire extinguishing device had a fragrant smell, but it was highly toxic.

The flames in the hangar surged through the holes in the armored deck, like a fountain of flames in the night.

The carrier-based aircraft formation returned in the dark at night. The Ziwei Zuoyuan turned on the deck floodlights. While she was already recovering the carrier-based aircraft, the pilots of the Youyuan could only fly in circles and wait. During this period, there were The two planes nearly collided.

As the fuel gauge bottomed out, some pilots could not care too much and boldly took risks and forced a landing, but more people did not dare to risk their lives and chose to land on the Ziwei Zuoyuan nearby.

However, there were still more than a dozen aircraft that had just landed on the flight deck of the Zuoyuan, waiting for the elevator to take them down to the hangar, and they were unable to land.

In desperation, Ouyang Zhanghua made a prompt decision.

He looked at the night sky with a slight frown, turned around and ordered: "Send the order! Push all the planes still on the deck into the sea, clear the deck, and make room for the planes in the sky!"

At this time, no matter whether it is a Type 37 ship-driven ship with a purchase price of more than 70,000 yuan or a Type 36 ship mine with a purchase price of more than 80,000 yuan, they will be treated equally.

The ground crews swarmed forward and pushed the planes that had just experienced the war into the sea. Bullet holes or holes cut by high-speed fragments could be seen on many planes.

"The deck is clear, everything is in the air, you can land!" the guidance officer of the Ziwei Zuoyuan greeted over the radio.

When the Ming army's carrier-based aircraft landed in the dark, the situation of Fleet W was much worse.

The Glory was flooded with seawater and flooded the boiler room. The engines were forced to stop running, and the power was soon cut off. Only the emergency generator was still running.

More than 19 tons of water entered the whole ship, and the hull tilted as much as ° to the left. In order to avoid capsizing, Sir Dennis Boyd ordered water to be poured into the right cabin to balance it.

After overnight repairs, the damage control department successfully restored the operation of some boilers and turbines, then restored the main power supply, and began to drain water while sealing the breach in the hull in the latter half of the night.

In contrast, the Brave was not so lucky. She was abandoned as early as 18:30 after being hit by four bombs and three mines.

After the sailors evacuated, the fire on the Valiant got out of control and spread, becoming a floating and broken steel bonfire. It sank on the deep seabed 19 kilometers east of the Big Island of Hawaii at 13:169.

It was destined to be a sleepless night for the officers and soldiers in Hawaii and the surrounding waters.

The successful C-22 air raid fleet turned due west in the middle of the night and continued to stay away from the dangerous Hawaii.

The C-20 air raid fleet once again acted as followers and got nothing. After learning that the two Ziweiyuan-class fleets had successfully severely damaged the British aircraft carrier, they also began to evacuate.

Although he looked calm, Ouyang Zhanghua was quite excited inside - this last attempt was successful!
But after being overjoyed, the question before him was what to do next.

Due to the lessons learned from the last Battle of Tarawa and the previous fierce attack by the US shore-based aviation, he now tends to give up when things get better.

Although we still have three intact aircraft carriers, Taiwei Zuoyuan, Tianshi Zuoyuan, and Fomalhaut Division, objectively speaking, there is no advantage at all.

First, our airport on Kauai is in a suppressed state and cannot provide support.

Second, both armored aircraft carriers have been damaged and are not suitable to continue gritting their teeth.

Third, the U.S. military also has ample shore-based aviation power, and the Saratoga also has full combat effectiveness.

The only remaining advantage of the Ming fleet is that Taiwei Zuoyuan and Tianshi Zuoyuan were not discovered. In theory, they can make a bet - if the two can surprise several airports on Oahu, then this battle will be I can continue to fight.

However, this risk is too great, and there is a possibility of losing everything.

Most officers also agree with this view. There is no need to be too impatient now. It is best to seize the time to rest and then fight again.

In the early morning, after the telegram was sent, Ouyang Zhanghua, who had not slept all night, went to his cabin to take a nap.

At 5:23 on May 6, Song Zhongkai agreed to the proposal of the commander, and the fleet temporarily withdrew to Midway Island for a brief rest, and then fought back.

At the same time, William Halsey on the Saratoga was also weighing the current deployment.

Currently, only two Ming Army armored aircraft carriers and one light aircraft carrier have appeared, and they have dealt a severe blow to the British. However, intelligence shows that there are at least five Ming Army aircraft carriers coming from this expedition. Where are the other two? Woolen cloth?
In the Battle of Tarawa, the Ming army immediately separated two aircraft carriers after being discovered and hid in the depths of the ocean at high speed. Then they hid in the dark and struck suddenly, almost destroying the TF-31 task force.

A wise man will never suffer a loss again after suffering a loss once. William Halsey, who suffered a loss last time, obviously does not want to suffer a loss again.

Finally, he decided to return to the waters north of the Big Island of Hawaii and wait and see what happens.

At 13:25 that afternoon, the Lixia A- ocean-going submarine arrived in yesterday's battle waters to search and rescue the pilot who fell into the water.

A torpedo plane pilot who was rescued claimed to have witnessed the sinking of the Valor with his own eyes, but the Glorious sailed away after dawn, presumably for repairs during the night.

(End of this chapter)