New World War II Eagle Strikes the Sky

The use of battleships, um, is really a very, very painful thing for the Japanese Navy.The reason is nothing more than the following points.

First, battleships are too expensive to build.Unlike the United States, which battleship in Japan is not the people of the whole country tightening their belts, relying on the domestic smoke industry, coupled with decades of efforts by the smoke-free industry (seq industry) exported to foreign countries, one by one Save it up.Take Yamato, the most powerful battleship in the empire, as an example, the cost is 1.25 million US dollars.The buddies who are used to the current numbers will probably curl their lips in disdain and say: "What is 1.25 million, the average amount of US Treasury bonds we buy every day is more than this figure, small sample, I have never seen money..."

To say that milk bottles are poor, I have never seen much money.However, nai bottles still have to be said, that was the price in the 30s and 40s.In terms of purchasing power, it is completely different from now.In fact, if you think about it, it doesn’t have to be too long ago. In the 90s, a catty of meat for a bottle of milk cost just over one yuan.Let's take a look at the price of the most expensive aircraft carrier in the modern navy, and we can have a certain understanding of the degree of money spent by battleships.Take the U.S. Navy as an example. At that time, an Essex-class fleet aircraft carrier (a large aircraft carrier, which is now a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier) cost more than 2000 million U.S. dollars, and a Yamato was as expensive as six large aircraft carriers.Other battleships are certainly not as expensive as Yamato, but they are not cheap either.So even though it was during World War II, Ri himself understood that battleships are not expensive, but they still can't beat those flat-top fly ships, but they can't stand the price of that thing back then. The United Fleet still regards this thing more than an aircraft carrier It's precious.

Second, battleships also cost a lot of money to use, first of all, burning oil.If the gang of the United Fleet's battleships with the lightest weight of more than 3 tons and the heaviest weight of 60 tons go out together, the Japanese Navy's [-] tons of fuel reserves are really not enough.However, fuel is still the most lacking thing for Ri himself.If it hadn't been forced by the oil shortage, Japan would not have fought with the United States.It is said that after Daqing was discovered, some old militarists in Japan burst into tears one by one: If we knew that Manchuria had this, how could we go to the tiger's head to slap lice?Excluding science and other factors, according to superstition, this is called luck!As for the giant cannon that countless bb parties (battleships are abbreviated as bb) are most obsessed with, it is even more tragic.Generally speaking, after firing seven or eight hundred rounds, the barrel will be scrapped.And the price of a barrel is close to that of a low-end destroyer!This thing immediately reminded Nai Ying of his HP printer.The machine is very cheap, and the quality is good. Well, it is the original ink cartridge, which is really not only a little more expensive.

Therefore, when he heard that a battleship was going to be used for a small island, Naval Minister Nagano (that) cultivated his morals and quit. Of course, people said very euphemistically: "Don't break the warship."

Therefore, after serious consideration, Yamamoto decided that the battleship is still going.But can't go for the latest and greatest.Instead, let the cheapest and fastest go.So the task fell to the four King Kong brothers.

The King Kong-class battleship was ordered by Japan in the United Kingdom before World War I.It is also the last battleship built by Japan in a foreign country.She was originally a battlecruiser, but after modernization, she was renamed a battleship.It is the oldest and cheapest battleship in Japan.And when used in Guadalcanal Island, she has another advantage, that is, she can run fast!The maximum speed can reach 30 knots, which is enough to take advantage of the night to enter Guadalcanal, and then escape the striking distance of the plane on the island before dawn.

However, the price of sending four King Kong-class battleships at once is still too expensive.So Yamamoto decided to send two ships first. On October 10, the bombardment fleet was dispatched from Truk. This fleet consisted of two battleships, one cruiser and nine destroyers, led by the battleships "Kong Kong" and "Haruna".

The Americans are not unaware of Ri's actions.Recently, more and more Japanese troops have come to the island.Although a large number of personnel and materials were sent to the sea by the Cactus Air Force.As a result, the number of fish in the waters of Guadalcanal Island, especially the number of large predatory fish, has increased significantly, but Ri himself is still tenaciously filling people into this big pit.

Ron didn't remember the history of Guadalcanal very clearly, but he still remembered a little bit about the history of Ri himself sending battleships to bombard the airport.Although I don't remember exactly when, but seeing that the current situation is so unfavorable to Japan, Japan himself still has the courage to push these few people into this big pit, and it is estimated that the artillery bombardment will not be far away.

Fortunately, he was not unprepared.After the last monster siege.Ron has been worried about this, and after he and Vandergrift mentioned this concern, Vandergrift was also worried.As the commander of the First Marine Division, he knows better than anyone else how important the airport is to Guadalcanal.What would it be like without the airport? Ri himself over there is an example.Those Japanese people would come to harass every day, and then be killed in front of the US military positions.The average weight of these Japanese soldiers who died in battle is constantly decreasing, and problems such as slow response and insufficient strength have also obviously appeared during the battle.So much so that Vandergrift is now wondering if these people were sent to die over there to save supplies.

Once the airport is lost, the situation of both sides will be reversed immediately.As for Ron's concerns, Vandergrift also agrees, and unlike Ron, Vandergrift has a clearer understanding of the battleship's artillery power.He had witnessed the bombardment of a battleship on one of the maneuvers before the war.A one-ton shell can easily leave a crater with a radius of 75 meters and a depth of more than 10 meters on the ground. People can feel obvious vibrations when standing 5 kilometers away. If you stand within 500 meters, congratulations, you just got it God's call.This is not comparable to that little thing on the destroyer.And compared to Ron, Vandergrift is more worried about one thing: If one night, Ri himself makes a feint attack on his position, and when all his men are on the position, the battleship shells will be overwhelming Drop it... If so, Vandergrift is almost certain that his position will be over in no time.

So Vandergrift asked Ron, "What trick do you have?"

"I hope to open up another bomber runway as soon as possible. In addition, we need to build more and more scattered aircraft shelters. This requires the cooperation of your Marine Corps to push the defensive position forward. In addition, our best There can still be a large number of fake planes and so on, which can be placed in other places for Japan to blow up."

Pushing ahead also fits with Vandergrift's thinking: It's safer to stay farther from shore now.However, continuing to move forward will also bring about the problem of troop dispersion.However, after testing the flat she of the Vulcan cannon a few days ago, Vandergrift felt that as long as there were more Vulcan cannons and Vulcan machine guns (. 50 caliber), the problem of troop dispersion would not be unsolvable.

"However, it takes time to make a fake airplane. Is there still time?" Vandergrift said while thinking: "It's better to make a fake cannon, just cut down a few trees."

"Oh, I made a request to the country and urgently ordered a batch of inflated fake planes. I think it should be deceiving from a distance."

This kind of inflatable false target is the most common thing in modern times. With the technology at that time, it is not difficult to create a large balloon that only needs to deceive people's eyes without considering electromagnetic and infrared.Boa constrictor engineers went back with this design and two others a few days ago after they replaced all the p-38s with vulcans.At the same time, Ron also reported to his superiors that he wanted a fake plane.

"Is there such a thing now? I also want to make a report and ask him for a batch of fake tanks." Vandergrift thought.

However, these are not fundamental solutions to the problem.The best way, the most fundamental way to solve the problem, is to let the US Navy also send a few battleships over.As long as enough damage can be caused to the Japanese in the night battle, the problem can be solved fundamentally.However, after a series of night battle defeats, would the navy dare to use battleships at night?

"Halsey might dare to do this, but Gormley would definitely not agree." Vandergrift thought.

So an unscrupulous destruction of forest vegetation unprecedented in the history of Guadalcanal Island began.Numerous trees were felled or simply bulldozed.A new runway is under construction.Meanwhile, more dispersed aircraft shelters are being built.

10月13ri，又有一批运输船抵达了瓜岛。这条船给瓜岛带来了美军陆军第164团3000人、16辆轻型坦克、12门37毫米反坦克炮。以及一大堆的特种气球。另外，一些试验xing的新武器——一种全新的步枪——也被运到了岛上。

This rifle is the next generation of the Boa Constrictor.The akm of later generations is the prototype.The boa constrictor named it "jungle python", which means that it is specially designed for jungle combat.The U.S. military does not like this weapon. First, the bullets are not powerful enough (they are used to full-power rifle ammunition), and second, the precision is not good enough (it can’t compare to the fully manual Springfield, nor can it match the Semi-automatic m1), in the words of these guys: In terms of power and precision, it is an insult to the name of the rifle. It is almost the same as a submachine gun, but it is a little heavier.

Along with these things came an old acquaintance—Hai Lan.

"Why are you here?" Ron frowned when he saw her.

"Why can't I come?" Seeing Ron's expression, Hai Lan's eyes widened, as if you made me angry, I'm very upset now, and I really need your apology.

"Guadalcanal Island is very dangerous recently, don't run around here if you have nothing to do!" Ron said still angrily.

Upon hearing this, the frost on Hailan's face immediately melted at a rate a thousand times faster than the global warming and glaciers melting, and the slightly raised corners of her mouth showed a smile that couldn't be concealed.

"What's the danger? Let's hear it?"

Although Ron believed that Hai Lan would definitely not be Ri's own spy, but according to discipline, many things could not be told to her.However, with Hailan's years of experience as a war correspondent, she immediately realized that something important was about to happen.

"If you don't tell me, I won't leave!" Hailan began to cheat.

"Hey, be professional. As a reporter, you should understand discipline."

In the end, Hailan couldn't figure out anything.When the fleet was about to return, Ron personally sent her to the ship and watched the ship leave slowly.

Later, Hai Lan regretted not finding a chance to sneak back, because she missed the most shocking night on Guadalcanal Island.