Chapter 208: Solomon Checkers (19)

Through layers of barrage, fireballs bloom, slid across the end of the black smoke in the blue sky, and the body rotating and throwing fragments plunged into the blue sea. Snow-white waves marbles dispersed. Can it represent the life destined to disappear in the unpredictable future?

Among the 68 first attack wave aircraft of the British and American Toucan United Airlines that took off from Kirakira at 8:30, in addition to one fighter and torpedo aircraft, each returning early due to mechanical failure, 66 were successfully flew over the East Asian Army's mobile troops to launch attacks, including 20 Royal Aircraft Factory S.e.5 and S.e.5a fighters, 29 Thorpeways "Cuckoo" MK3 torpedo attack aircraft, 17 Handlipet O400 and Martin MB-1a bombers.

The sky was extremely clear that day, and the huge fleet was discovered at a distance of 30,000 yards. First, it was intercepted by 12 fighters, the second and third group of guards of the mobile forces. The air raid team was then divided into two: the torpedo fleet entered a low altitude under the cover of the fighter fleet, waiting for an opportunity to detour to the starboard side of the fleet to launch a torpedo attack, and the horizontal bomber fleet climbed to high altitude alone, attempting to carry out carpet-style intensive bombing following the fleet's trajectory.

While the guards were fighting the incoming aircraft fleet at the first time, the 16 fighter jets (7 of Jinpeng and 9 of Hunter) who were scheduled to serve as the third attack wave guard also took off urgently as the first special guard. In addition to the fleet's woven air defense fire, the second round of interception of enemy lightning strikes entering low altitudes was carried out.

With the full interception of a total of 28 "Sea Cloud Lightning" and "Sea Shock Lightning" ship fighter jets, the first attack wave of Kilakira lost more than half of the lightning strike team before entering the Chinese special mixed fleet air defense fire.

When the air strike was launched, the mobile troops of the East Asia Army and the main force had just merged into the "Tail Solomon Fleet" and were reorganizing the formation. The air defense and fire organization had not yet taken shape. The main force belonged to North Korea and the Japanese Navy ships lacked the experience and coordination of air combat. In addition, the interference of the opponent's horizontal bomber fleet intensively dropped bombs, although the clumsy two-wing "Cuckoo" in the sky fell one after another like a fireflying insect, in the end, six or seven enemy aircraft were able to approach the core of the formation and threw thunder.

Dodging left and right, located on the right side of the formation core, the two aircraft carriers, the larger and conspicuous "Jinpeng" hit two thunders on the starboard side. The first boiler cabin was soaked in water and immediately lost one-quarter of its power. The ship was once tilted to the right and nearly ten degrees. Although it was restored to balance after pouring water into the port oil tank and ammunition warehouse in time, no matter how fast the "Jinpeng" with a designed speed of 28 knots was at this time, it could only barely maintain the formation speed of 20 knots.

At 10:35, the remnants of the first attack wave of Kirakira, who had lost most of the losses, had not yet fully withdrawn from the battlefield, and the formation reorganization of the Solomon Task Force of the East Asian Army was not completed. The first air strike team of the 51st Special Mixed Fleet of the British and American Combined Fleet suddenly appeared. Among the 60 aircraft at the departure, two fighters and one torpedo aircraft returned early for some reason. At this time, a total of 57 aircraft approaching the target and putting into combat were: 28 Thorpeways "Camel" 2f.1 and the US Navy Aircraft Factory Ts-1 carrier-based fighters, as well as 29 Thorpeways "Dujuan" MK3 carrier-based attack aircraft.

In the battle to intercept the first attack wave of Kilakira, 5 of the 28 Chinese military duty guard fighters who were in the air control mission fell into the sea. At this time, 23 were hovering over the Solomon Task Force. However, due to the fierce battle from the clouds to the sea before, most of them were still at low altitudes that were not conducive to intercepting enemy aircraft, and it would take a certain amount of time to reach the best interception position. As a result, a considerable number of fighters failed to launch an attack before the enemy aircraft broke into the air control circle.

Outside the air control circle, the British and American escort fighters, which had a slightly superior number, successfully dragged down most of the Chinese military guard fighters that came to intercept in time, and most of the torpedo planes were able to continue to advance towards the fleet without any damage.

It was not until the fleet's own air defense fire circle that the torpedo aircraft group was intercepted by a small number of late Chinese military guard aircraft. Although the fragile "Dujuan" was ignited and shattered by the "electricity" from the sky, under the strong counterattack of the rear-seat machine gunners of various aircraft, nearly half of the torpedo aircraft were able to break into the increasingly dense air defense fire of the task force.

Among the layers of blooming empty smoke balls and the sweeping traces of traces, some American pilots who could not bear this terror threw lightnings in advance before approaching the target, and most of the brave men who continued to move forward could only be torn apart by shrapnel, surrounded by fire, and drowned in the sea...

Only five or six pilots who were most courageous and enjoyed the most luck were able to rush into the core of the fleet to throw thunder. At the end of several snow-white trails in a fan-shaped shape, two 18-inch (457 mm) torpedo hit the rear of the starboard side of the Jinpeng, bursting into a water column, which immediately caused the first round of cabin to be soaked in water. The hull was once again tilted to the right. After emergency water injection into the second boiler cabin on the port side, the inclination could only be controlled at 15 degrees.

At this point, the "Jinpeng" lost three-quarters of its power and its speed dropped sharply to less than 10 knots. The tilted flight deck caused the carrier-based aircraft to take off and landing operations to fail normally, and also caused the anti-aircraft artillery on both sides to have large 'fire' dead ends.

During the fierce battle, the group of guards lost another 6 ship fighters, and the remaining three "sea shock electricity" of the second batch of guards were exhausted due to the exhaustion of oil bombs. They were forced to subdue the "Hunting Falcon" before the enemy planes left. At 10:45, there were only 13 guards left over the task force.

At this moment, our mobile troops, who were heading to attack target No. 1 (i.e., the enemy's 52 special mixed fleet), returned one after another, and had to all land on the "Hunting Falcon". The 15 ship fighter jets of the escort team landed first (24 at the departure), and then the 10 ship attack aircraft of the lightning strike team successfully hung up the interception cable (30 at the departure).

At 10:55, the other five seriously injured "Golden Eagle" in the Lightning Strike Team appeared on the southern sea skyline. Almost at the same time, the observation post of the "Hunting Falcon" found that behind them was a dense large group of as many as 60 aircraft!

This is the second wave of air raid team of the Kirakira "Toucan" air team. Among the 63 aircraft that set off, one torpedo plane and one horizontal bomber each returned early. At this time, the air raid teams that appeared above the East Asian Army Task Force also had 22 fighter jets, 26 torpedo planes, and 13 horizontal bombers, a total of 61.

At the critical moment, the five injured "Golden Eagles" who were no longer able to escape the pursuit of enemy fighters had to urgently land on the sea. Eight of the 10 crew members were rescued in time.

Although the task force at this time had completed the formation formation, due to the drag of the lame "Jinpeng", the speed of the entire formation was not as fast as that of the merchant fleet. Facing the high and low attacks of the enemy torpedo fleet and the horizontal bomber fleet, it was not much better than the live target.

The 13 duty-guard aircraft left in the air had consumed most of the ammunition and medicine in the first two fierce battles. It was difficult to deal with the more than 20 escort fighters that had not fired a single bomb alone.

Solomon, what's the end?

Pan Guochen was not desperate. In fact, no one on the Jinpeng account was desperate. It was just that everyone had to face reality.

The second batch of three pilots of the second batch of guards who just landed on the "Hunting Falcon" ten minutes ago (formerly "Jinpeng"), had no time to take a breath, and hurriedly boarded the three spare fighters provided by the "Hunting Falcon" and took off as the fourth batch of guards to fight.

In the second attack wave escort fighter fleet that landed later, six pilots forced the plane to take off despite the exhaustion of oil bombs in the fighter. Afterwards, they followed up with the second special guard.

Even with the addition of these 9 fighter jets, the group of guard aircraft still failed to intercept most of the enemy aircraft outside the fleet's air defense fire circle.

More than half of the "Cuckoo" mk3s were able to break into the fleet's fire, with only five or six being able to throw 18-inch torpedoes under the belly before losing control.

Two water columns that instantly rushed to the top of the warship mast bloomed almost at the same time: a thunder hit the rear of the starboard side of the Jinpeng, causing its third boiler cabin to be soaked in water and intensified inclination; a thunder hit the battleship of the Korean Navy "Li Sun-sen" located behind the right side of the Jinpeng. Due to the inadequate operation of the damage management department, thousands of tons of water were entered on the starboard side of the hull, and nearly a thousand tons of water were poured on the port side, so the damage was completely controlled.

Seeing the fifth torpedo hit the starboard side and exploded, Captain Yang Jingxiu of the Captain of the "Jinpeng", immediately ordered all crew members to go to the port side for "human balance", but it was still useless. In despair, he had to order water to fill the second-wheel cabin of the port side, and at the cost of immediately losing all power, to prevent the hull from capsizing rapidly in exchange for the crew's escape time.

Just before the "Jinpeng" was about to become a living target, the second attack wave of the Toucan air fleet, the horizontal bomber fleet of the second attack wave, entered from the rear of the fleet in a dense formation, aiming at the two aircraft carriers in the core of the fleet at an altitude of 1,500 meters. At this time, they could only slowly "squirt" at a speed of less than ten kilometers per hour, and dropped nearly 100 250-pound (113 kilograms) bombs in two minutes: one of them hit the front of the flight deck of the "Hunting Falcon" and exploded between the anchor chain compartment and the front hangar, causing the part about 40 meters at the front of the flight deck that was arranged in the front of the flight deck waiting to be entered into the hangar. Four ship battles were brought into the sea, three ship battles and one ship attack were scrapped, 15 people were killed and 27 were injured.

Several other bombs exploded underwater near the hulls of the "Hunting Falcon" and "Jinpeng", forming the so-called "near-lost bomb". The bow of the "Hunting Falcon" seeped slightly, and the "Jinpeng" that tilted rapidly to more than 20 degrees was no longer injuring. It soon became like a dead fish and was whipped by someone on the water.

At 11:07, the destroyer "Wenyang" ventured to the starboard side of the "Jinpeng" and prepared to transfer to the Mobile Force Command.

Before leaving the bridge, Dongfang Gao's last words to Pan Guochen were: "It's not over yet."

Pan Guochen did not intend to blame anyone. He was not the commander and had no right to interfere in command. However, from the perspective of Dongfang Gao's decision, from his experience, common sense and the consistent combat spirit of the Imperial Navy, there was nothing wrong with it.

Dongfang Gao is right, it is not over yet, it is just the beginning.

As soon as the Commander of the Oriental had left, Captain Yang Jingxiu ordered people to find the rope so that he could tie him to the compass pillar, obviously intending to live and die with the ship.

Pan Guochen understood his mood, took out his pistol, smashed him out with a gun, and ordered someone to drag him away.

After coming to the bottom of the island by the crowd, Pan Guochen did not go to the deck immediately, but instead drilled into the winding hull, looking for the female pilot who made him care for no reason without any restrictions in the crooked aisle flashing with green emergency lights.

Solomon, it's over.

Solomon, it began.

Whether it is the end or the beginning, whether it is accidental or destined, whether it is bad luck or opportunity, no matter... no matter what, at this moment, Pan Guochen doesn't want to care about anything except her.

The cabin door of the rescue room was open, and the blood-stained operating table was empty. A doctor who was taking off his surgical gown saw Pan Guochen standing in front of the cabin door and tilted his head knowingly: "There is no one here, so the wounded are transferred first. Captain Cai, who had just finished the operation, has been lifted to the deck."

Pan Guochen held the tilted wall and was stunned for a few seconds. He suddenly lowered his head and smiled, thanked him, and walked back tilted and obliquely.

The corridor, the gangway, the green light flashing in the darkness, Pan Guochen knew that he was possessed, but - so what?

No matter what obstacles you encounter, just know your direction and keep moving forward. Even if you may be tripped, this trip may not be a necessary condition for the next leap. I'm sorry, what do you mean by this? Where are you going to leap? You kid just say it clearly if you want to fly together, so you are so serious and righteous, and you are not afraid of lightning strikes?

Pan Guochen smiled foolishly and turned the last turn, his pupils suddenly filled with the shining sunlight at noon in the South Pacific outside the port... Solomon, I will come back!

One thousand and two hundred kilometers away, New Britain Island, Rabaul, and the Southeastern War Theater Command.

"...I don't know where your navy's confidence comes from. What frontline commanders have the right to measure and judge for themselves. I think it's "chaotic" playing the piano and showing off heroes. If you find that the situation is wrong, you should retreat immediately... Thank you for your blessing, the Southeast War Zone raised by my second mother will have another large parade for retreating in front of the enemy."

Faced with the sarcasm of Marshal Zhang Yiye, the chief of the theater commander-in-chief of the Joint Fleet, Major General Ye Fei, had a red face and a white blush, but he was still showing off his strength: "It's not over yet, we still have the Falcon and six elite main battleships. After these three rounds of air strikes, the opponent's aviation attack forces should have been almost exhausted. The task force will retreat to the north of Maleta Island and support the landing fleet nearby. The combat can continue, and there is no need to retreat."

"I made a complete mistake in my previous judgment on the enemy situation. Now you still want me to believe that the opponent's strength is only as much as we know for the time being?"

Zhang Yiye deliberately elongated his tone on the word "temporary", and the meaning is obvious.

Ye Fei clenched his fists and his cheeks flushed: "It is impossible to have more than now. Please believe in the Navy's judgment. You must not lose your opportunity and never come again. As long as the Army boards and gains a foothold, the Navy will mobilize all its forces to come and reinforce - on behalf of the commander-in-chief of the Joint Fleet, I assure you."

Zhang Yiye sneered in his nose: "What's the use of guarantee? The guarantees of the base camp can fart! I don't want your guarantee. As long as I don't get any trouble here and I won't be criticized by thousands of people to settle the score later, I will be content. Chief of Staff Ye, just think I'm asking you and go to other war zones to play. I'm wrong. My temple is small and I can't afford the great Bodhisattvas of your navy."

Ye Fei was choked and couldn't speak for a while. He was about to get the cold tea on the table to moisten his throat. He knocked on the door slightly outside the door. Zhang Yiye responded, and a young staff officer pushed the door in and said, "Report, call from the base camp--"

...

In the afternoon, 40 nautical miles northeast of Kirakira, the Allied Forces 51 special mixed ship flagship, the Royal Navy Fleet aircraft carrier "Glory".

The bridge, through the rectangular porthole equipped with thick glass, Major Fletcher looked up at the distance, and ten thousand yards away, the similar ship shadows of the "standard battleships" of the 52 Special Mixed Fleet stood tall.

Fletcher counted from one to eight, blinked and counted again, then he breathed a sigh of relief, lowered his head and continued to write the evaluation report that was about to be submitted to Lieutenant General Schroeder in his notebook.

"...Of all 18 fighter jets in the Honor escort fleet returned early and returned to the ship; one emergency landed on the sea near the fleet, and the pilot was rescued; five were successfully returned to the ship after the battle, all of which were injured and waiting for repair."

"Of the 15 attack aircraft of the Lightning Strike Team: One emergency landing on the sea near the fleet, and the pilot was rescued; three were successfully returned to the ship after the battle, all of which were injured and waiting for repair."

"At 12:30, including spare aircraft, the actual strength of the Honor Unit was: 31 fighter jets, 6 of which were to be repaired, and 26 units were available; 17 attack aircraft, 3 of which were to be repaired, and 14 units were available."

"Of the 12 fighter jets of the Panama escort: 1 returned early and returned to the ship; four were successfully returned to the ship after the battle, all of which were injured and waiting for repair."

"Of the 15 torpedo aircraft of the Lightning Strike Team, one crash landed on the sea near the fleet, and the pilot was rescued; one was successfully returned to the ship after the battle, and was injured and waiting for repair."

"At 12:30, including spare aircraft, the Panama actually had troop strength: 19 fighter jets, of which 4 were to be repaired, with 16 units available; 6 attack aircraft, of which 1 was to be repaired, with 5 units available."

"... In this way, the carrier-based aviation units of the 51 Special Mixed Fleet suffered heavy losses while giving the enemy a fatal blow. Only 15 of the 60 aircraft of the first air strike team survived, and most of them were injured and waiting for repair. Although the remaining aircraft and crews may still form the second air strike team, their combat effectiveness will be far less than the first attack wave, and the losses may be even worse."

"According to the aviation reconnaissance report forwarded by Kirakira at 11:45, the reorganized enemy and special fleet is centered on 1 fleet aircraft carrier, 6 battleships and battlecruisers, located at 5 degrees and 120 nautical miles of Kirakira's azimuth, and heading north at 23 knots at the current time. At 12:45, the distance from this fleet has been widened to 100 nautical miles."

"The maximum speed of the battleship formation of the 52 Special Mixed Fleet is only 20 knots. After the Tennessee was injured, the speed dropped to 17 knots. Regardless of whether the Tennessee is left or not, the battleship group of the 52 Special Mixed Fleet will never be able to catch up with the enemy Special Mixed Fleet."

"The two quasi-fleet aircraft carriers assigned to the 52-special mixed fleet were not equipped with special carrier-based aircraft troops. The shore-based fighter jets they carried could only land at land airports after taking off. What's more, during the air strikes that began at 9:10, the thunder in the Pearl Harbor sank, and the Manila was injured and lost its ability to navigate. This means that once the pursuing troops leave the protection circle of the Kilakila shore-based fighter jets, they can only rely entirely on the carrier-based aircraft troops that have suffered heavy losses on the Glory and Panama for protection."

"Considering that the waters near Kirakira are already within the range of the shore-based aviation strikes of the enemy's New Georgia Island Aviation Base, the 51-Supermiss fleet that has weak escort forces will continue to pursue, which will inevitably take considerable risks."

"...To sum up, the results that can be expanded by continuing to pursue enemy spy fleets are expected to be very limited, but the risks they bear are too great to predict... If our army meets existing results, it will be enough to achieve the goal of defending San Cristobal Island. However, if we continue to carry out the "Sentinel" operation landing on Guadal, the existing forces can no longer meet the mission needs..."

The whistle sounded, and outside the window, Lieutenant General Schroder's flagship "Tennessee" was slowly sailing towards "Glory". Fletcher knew that there was not much time, so he had to come up with the final conclusion immediately.

"So, I suggest..."

...

San Cristobal Island, Kirakira Air Base, "Toucan" United Airlines Command.

"This is not a fight...it is 'suicide'."

Faced with the loss report just counted, Lieutenant Colonel MacArthur, who had experienced such a large-scale sea and air battle for the first time, was shocked.

At 11:45, Kirakila airports began to recover the first attack wave.

Of the 17 twin-engine bombers in the horizontal bomber fleet at the time of departure: 13 returned to the base, one of which crashed when landing; 4 of the 12 bombers that successfully landed were injured and waiting for repair; there were only 8 crews left that could continue to perform the mission that day.

Among the 30 torpedo attack aircraft of the Lightning Strike Team, one returned early due to mechanical failure; only 4 of the 29 aircraft that carried out the attack returned to the sky above the base, one of which crashed into a tree while landing; all three aircraft that successfully landed were injured and waiting for repair; only 3 units were available on the same day.

Among the 21 fighter jets in the escort, one returned early; after the battle, only five returned to the air base, one of which crashed on the runway when landing; two of the 4 aircraft that landed safely were injured and waiting for repair; only 5 fighter pilots who could still perform missions remained.

At 12:30 45 minutes later, the second attack wave returned to the sky above Kirakila, and the loss rate was still shocking-

Among the 14 twin-engine bombers in the horizontal bomber fleet: 1 returned early; 3 of the 9 aircraft that landed smoothly after the bombing were seriously injured and waiting for repair; 10 units were available on the same day.

Out of 27 lightning strikes, one of which returned midway; only four were successfully returned to the base after launching the attack, three of which were injured and waiting for repair; only 5 units were available on the same day.

Among the 22 fighter jets in the escort team: 7 returned to the air base, one of which rushed out of the runway and burned down when landing; 3 of the 6 aircraft that successfully landed were waiting to be repaired; there were only 6 available fighter pilots left.

In addition, among the 48 fighter jets that took off in batches by the 52 Special Mixed Fleet, the two quasi-fleet aircraft carriers of the 52 Special Mixed Fleet, the 12 aircraft on duty on the fleet landed in Kilakira without fighting, but at 9:30, three were blown up and one was shot down.

By 9:45, 23 fighter jets that survived the fierce air battle to defend the 52 Special Mixed Fleet were successively submerged in Kirakilaga Airport, of which only 14 belonged to the second and third combat fleets that took off from Pearl Harbor and Manila, and the other 8 were the first combat fleets assigned to the 52 Special Mixed Fleet.

As of 13:00, the "Toucan" air force stationed in San Cristobal is as follows:
To be continued...