The Beacon of Laiyang Metal

Chapter 61 "Skylark 2" Feint Attack

“出云号巡洋舰”属于出云级装甲巡洋舰中的首舰，该舰舰长121.92米，舰宽20.93米，吃水7.37米，标准排水量9906吨，航速20.75节，编制672人；舰上装备203毫米炮4门、152毫米炮14门、12磅机关炮12门、2.5磅机关炮8门和4具450毫米鱼雷发射。

It also served as the Japanese Emperor's ship and participated in World War I and the Russo-Japanese War. It was also a star warship in Japan. It was originally sunk by US bombing during the Pacific War.

The other two "Kaga" and "Kawauchi" are light cruisers, and their firepower and defense are slightly inferior to heavy cruisers like "Izumo".

What they didn't know was that today they would be attacked by the Aviation Regiment of the 7th Temporary Division, which would give them an early taste of what it means to be attacked from the air.

In the early 30s, both sea strikes and air defenses were blank. The Army Aviation Force of the Seventh Division lacked experience in sea operations. Similarly, the Navy of the Little Devils had no precedent for air defense operations. The previous wars originated from World War I and The maritime combat experience during the Russo-Japanese War came from ship attacks and shore attacks. As for air combat, this was the first time.

It should not be said that the combat literacy of the Japanese sailors during this period was indeed excellent. After the flagship issued the air combat order, the warship formation quickly entered combat status.

The Japanese's rapid-fire gunners quickly rushed to their respective positions, loaded their magazines immediately, and shook the elevation and azimuth wheels. The muzzles of the rapid-fire cannons of various calibers were aimed at the direction of the flying fighters in the sky. The whole process started from the discovery of the enemy. It only takes less than 3 minutes for the fighter to be ready for combat.

However, after receiving the order to fire freely, the Japanese sailors, who lacked air combat, had just completed their combat preparations and before the five attack formations in the sky entered the optimal range, they started "boom, boom, boom" under the command of their respective gun commanders. The first wave of air-to-air shooting began.

Cruisers, destroyers, troop carriers, and supply ships were fired simultaneously by nearly a hundred rapid-fire cannons. For a time, the sound of gunfire and explosions in the sea area was deafening.

The flight trajectory of the artillery shells drew streaks of bright light in the air, and one after another explosion points were scattered in the airspace above the fleet. The fire and smoke that appeared after the explosion were like blooming fireworks, and the hot shrapnel also began to scatter. Splashing, a dead airspace was formed above the fleet, and the air began to be filled with the smell of gunpowder smoke.

If viewed from the air, the simultaneous shooting scene of the fleet below is really spectacular. The flames ejected from the muzzles and the streaks of light created by the flight of the cannonballs make the entire fleet look like a huge fire hedgehog, and that one The rapid-fire gun barrels that stand upright are the spikes of this "hedgehog", thus showing to the outside world that it is not easy to mess with. However, except that the explosion sound is more spectacular, it is not for the fighter planes in the sky. There is no real threat.

The main air defense firepower equipped by the Japanese army during this period was the Type 25 20mm anti-aircraft cannon, which was praised by later generations as the shame of air defense. This artillery was successfully developed in the 20s and could be used for field air defense and for shooting ground targets. Originally developed for the Japanese Navy to enhance naval firepower, the Army also placed an order after seeing its high-speed shooting performance.

However, this kind of machine gun has many operators, a small magazine capacity, slow loading speed, low firing speed, and low projectile muzzle velocity. The aiming device is simple and relies on an aiming ring, which is the same as the sight of an anti-aircraft machine gun, and the hit rate is not high. High, and the actual combat on the ship mainly used barrage shooting for air defense. Later, the Japanese Navy carried out an upgrade, from the original single installation to a triple installation.

However, the inherent design flaws of the Type 1 cannon made it very difficult to reload the middle one of the three rapid-fire cannons. Moreover, the limited space on the ship and the insufficient loader staff made it difficult to achieve rapid loading. In fact, after the first salvo, it was It only fires about the same firepower as the joint-mounted one. This kind of anti-aircraft machine gun is not actually suitable for air defense, but is suitable for shooting ground targets. As we all know, any weapon used for air defense will be very effective when used to attack ground personnel.

While the first round of rapid-fire cannons was being fired and reloaded, fleet commander Tokuo Hirata hurried to the command position on the bridge of the "Izumo" with a flush on his face stimulated by alcohol.

"Nani? Do Chinese pilots still have the courage to fly to fight again?"

This was indeed a bit beyond Tokuo Hirata's expectation. He originally thought that the two planes had fled back, but he turned around and called for more planes. It seemed that the Chinese defenders, who lacked ships, wanted to use planes. Air strikes were used to delay or even destroy the imperial fleet.

"If the order is passed, the fleet will continue to sail at full speed. Each ship will pay attention to avoid enemy planes throwing aerial bombs. Once an enemy plane is found approaching the fleet's rapid-fire guns, it will immediately fire away."

Although Hirata Tokuo is an arrogant old man, his decades of military career have allowed him to develop very keen battlefield intuition. Just a moment after entering the bridge command room, he realized the true purpose of the 7th Division Air Force and issued an order. A series of combat orders that are very correct for the current fleet.

Squadron leader Dai Xingzhou was the leader of the attack formation composed of five "P5s". As soon as he discovered traces of the enemy fleet, he adjusted from the V-shaped formation in flight to a dispersed formation, and began to continuously decrease altitude. Put on a state of being ready to dive and attack at any time, but always keep the flying altitude above 39 meters. According to the information given by the regiment in the flight briefing room before departure, the air attack range of the anti-aircraft rapid-fire artillery currently equipped by the Japanese army basically does not exceed 3 kilometers. As long as the flying altitude is not lower than 3 kilometers, the Japanese air defense firepower will not Endangering the safety of the fighter planes, as the intelligence in the regiment said, the Japanese anti-aircraft firepower seemed to be huge, forming a blockade of fire nets in the low-altitude area, but the first wave of attacks did not even hit the skin of the fighter planes in the sky. Not to mention destroying or damaging fighter planes.

On the contrary, through the first wave of offensive of the Japanese fleet, the air defense firepower of the fleet below was basically exposed, and it was mainly concentrated on the three leading cruisers. In other words, as long as we find a way to deal with the three cruisers, the entire In front of our own fighters, the fleet is like a tiger without teeth or a hedgehog with its hair plucked. The meat on the sticky board is at anyone's disposal.

Although the order of the air commander before the appearance was to try to delay the movement speed of the Japanese fleet and test the deployment of Japanese anti-aircraft firepower, while ensuring the safety of one's own fighter planes, one could seize the opportunity to launch an attack without inflicting heavy damage on the enemy warships, as long as it could cause The purpose of training is to accumulate experience for sea attacks. After all, the real highlight is the drone attack squadron at night.

But squadron leader Dai Xingzhou didn't think so. In his opinion, since he was here, he was not ready to go back empty-handed. It would be embarrassing in front of other squadron leaders if he returned without success.

After circling the fleet for several times, Dai Xingzhou discovered that the Japanese in the fleet below seemed to have discovered their purpose. They were still moving at full speed towards Anton Port. They did not shoot at them in the sky again, or in other words, found them at low altitude. Shooting was not of great significance to the cluster in the sky, so they gave up the second wave of air attacks, probably waiting for the cluster to lower their altitude before launching an attack.

"Skylark 2 received, please reply." Dai Xingzhou adjusted the communication channel to the shortwave channel and began to call the "Skylark 2" that was performing surveillance missions on the enemy fleet.

"Skylark 2 received it, please speak on behalf of the squadron, over!"

"Skylark 2, our squadron is preparing to launch an attack on the enemy fleet. In order to ensure bombing accuracy, we need to lower the flight altitude to below 500 meters. Judging from the anti-aircraft firepower just exposed by the enemy fleet, it will pose a certain threat to the dive bombing of our bombing formation. Considering that Skylark 2 does not carry aerial bombs and is more maneuverable, can Skylark 2 take the lead in launching a feint attack? After the enemy fleet's anti-aircraft ammunition is consumed, our formation can take advantage of the enemy's anti-aircraft gun reloading interval to launch another attack."

"Skylark 2".

The remaining four attack aircraft formed a formation.

6 Ah, although I know that my squadron leader is not a loser, this approach is really too stupid. Let the comrades on the side consume the firepower, wait until the enemy is out of ammunition, and then they will swarm up and destroy the wings of the aircraft. The aerial bombs mounted below are thrown onto the enemy's head. This tactic is really difficult to describe, but I have to say that this tactic is indeed a very good choice for the current situation.

After a brief silence, Skylark 2 replied again: "Skylark 2 received it, and will try to attract the anti-aircraft firepower of the fleet below later. Please pay attention to your own safety when performing dive bombing on behalf of the squadron. Over."

After finishing speaking, the two "P39" fighters hovering on the edge of the battlefield shook their wings a few times and immediately accelerated from the original speed of 300 kilometers per hour to the maximum speed of 612 kilometers per hour. They took the lead towards the Japanese fleet from two directions in a high-speed dive. launched an attack.

Dai Xingzhou did not expect that "Skylark 2" would agree so easily, and said in a somewhat touched tone: "My squadron has received it, Skylark 2 must pay attention to tactical maneuvers, and I will treat you to a drink after returning!" After saying this, he ordered The squadron fighters each looked for a favorable position and prepared for the next dive bombing of the Japanese fleet.

After receiving the order from the squadron leader, other fighter planes responsible for bombing missions also began to look for attack positions. The thick clouds in the sky became the best cover for these fighters. Fighters loaded with aerial bombs penetrated into the clouds one after another. After that, there was no trace. Except for the two "P39" responsible for the feint attack, the only buzzing sound coming from the engines of the Japanese fleet was left in the entire airspace.

此时两架执行佯攻的“P39”战机已经下降到3千米以下的高度，并利用机身下方装备的4挺12.7毫米机枪和一门37MM机炮，率先对下方舰队发起了攻势。

"Xinxi, these China Air Forces still have some military courage. They ordered each rapid-fire artillery group to choose their own shooting according to the flight trajectory of the fighter planes. If the China fighter planes are too close to the fleet, they will immediately concentrate the entire ship's air defense firepower and shoot them down."

For Tokuo Hirata, who upholds the spirit of Bushido, the sudden attack by China's Sky fighter planes did not bring him any worry or panic. He did not think that just a few small fighters would threaten the already huge fleet. On the contrary For the two Chinese fighter planes who dared to launch an attack alone despite the overwhelming anti-aircraft firepower, I felt a burst of heartfelt admiration from my heart.

At this time, the airspace that had just calmed down was instantly enveloped by dense anti-aircraft fire. The roar of the Japanese Type 96 machine gun pierced the sky, and strings of shells rushed into the sky with blazing flames, creating dazzling streaks. trajectory.

The two "P39" Skylark 2s responsible for the feint attack mission were like two lonely boats in the turbulent waves in the sky. They used the speed of high-speed dive and the flexible maneuverability of the "P39" to keep rolling. Or suddenly turn, dive, climb, use daily training to simulate the attack of ground anti-aircraft fire, and make various maneuvers again and again, so that the anti-aircraft fire can never form an effective lock. Although the artillery fire under the fuselage is fierce, it can never Touched these two fighters.

(End of this chapter)