Chapter 557: The Battle of the Coral Sea Aircraft Carrier One
The next day, the news of the Far East Army's air attack on Japan immediately spread. For a time, various countries around the world had different opinions. Even some Allied countries did not speak for little Japan. However, they were not fighting among themselves, but because all their countries had issued statements.
He gave a vague apology, but Little Japan carried it to the end.
Once the war breaks out in some parts of Asia, it is naturally impossible to stop so quickly. Especially in the past five years, with the help of Britain and the United States and other countries, Japan's military strength has also recovered, especially by strengthening its navy and building new ones.
sea weapons aircraft carrier.
This is not because the little devil is smart, nor does it mean that he learned from the Yankees, but rather he is following the model of the Far East Navy.
Therefore, after Japan was bombed, the commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet, Yamamoto Isoroku, immediately organized all Japanese maritime forces to prepare for a decisive battle with the Far East Navy. Different from previous naval battles, this time was the world's first naval battle between aircraft carrier formations.
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Everyone knows that coral is a beautiful decoration, but it is formed by coral polyps. Coral polyps are a kind of marine cylindrical animal. In the larval stage, they are automatically fixed on the ancestors' coral piles. Corals are coral polyps.
The secreted shell is mostly branch-like in shape with vertical stripes.
Coral not only looks like branches, but also has bright and beautiful colors, so it is made into decorations and has high medicinal value.
The sea area with a large area of coral is called the Coral Sea. It is named because of the large number of coral reefs. Among them, the Great Barrier Reef is the most famous. The world-famous Great Barrier Reef is distributed in this sea area, where the corals move toward the fortress.
Similarly, from the Torres Strait to the south of the Tropic of Capricorn, it stretches for 2,400 kilometers from north to south, with a maximum width of 150 kilometers from east to west, and a total area of 80,000 square kilometers. It is the largest coral body in the world, but most of it is hidden in the
It becomes a reef underwater, and only a few tops emerge from the water to form a coral island, which also poses an obstacle to maritime traffic.
This time, the Far East Navy aircraft carrier battle group was engaged in a desperate battle with the new combined fleet of the small Japanese navy in this sea area. However, only five years later, the current small Japanese navy has still established a considerable
In terms of scale, the comparison of the main battleships of both sides this time can be said to be one to one.
The Far East Navy dispatches the East China aircraft carrier battle group, which is stationed at the Hawaii Naval Base. Since the East China aircraft carrier battle group was established relatively late, there are currently only four Yanhuang-class light aircraft carriers in Fujian, Jiangsu, Shandong, and Jiangxi, Taiwan, Zhejiang, and Anhui.
Three aircraft carriers are still under construction. Precisely because the army was established in a short period of time, the aircraft carrier battle group only has three heavy cruisers and more than ten Huaxia-class destroyers as escort formations.
Therefore, although Japan's new combined fleet only has three aircraft carriers, Zuikaku, Shokaku, and Shoho, the size of the entire escort fleet greatly exceeds the Far East Navy's East China aircraft carrier battle group, so the combat effectiveness of both sides can be said to be the same.
Compare one.
However, in this naval battle, the Far East had the right time, location, and people. The timing was because after the Far East Second Artillery Force attacked the Japanese mainland, the little devils must take the initiative to declare war with the Far East Navy. The Far East Navy could just sit back and wait for work, or it could sit back and wait, the location was favorable.
This is because the Far East Navy's East China aircraft carrier battle group has the Hawaiian Islands as a maritime support point. People in Japan are now panic-stricken, while the Far East is full of anti-Japanese passion.
With the above points, it can be said that the Far East Navy has no chance of failure. However, as the new Japanese combined fleet sails into the U.S. Midway Naval Base, everything becomes a bit not so easy.
Since the confrontation between the Far East Army and the United States in the Pacific, Midway Island has been vigorously constructed by the U.S. Navy. There is currently a large fleet there, including the only two medium-sized aircraft carriers of the U.S. Navy, the USS Lexington and the USS Yorktown.
The USS is stationed in the bay, and there is also a cobbled-together U.S. Navy aircraft carrier escort fleet.
But Li Ningyu really has no other way to deal with this. You must know that the Northeast Battle Group is stationed in the North Sea of Europe, and the Southwest and Northwest battle groups want to block the Mediterranean. The only possibility is to temporarily draw out the Far East Fleet to support, but
After all, they are too far apart, and the time before the Far East Navy is running out.
But in the end, the two Typhoon-class strategic submarines originally affiliated with the Yellow Sea Fleet were mobilized to increase the number of troops in the Pacific region. The Japanese Navy's new combined fleet had already formulated a plan for the Coral Sea operation and had joined forces with the U.S. Navy.
began to gather in the Coral Sea area, and finally the Far East Navy's East China aircraft carrier battle group had to sail out of the harbor alone and headed to the Coral Sea area to prepare for battle.
On the eve of the battle in the Coral Sea, the Far East Intelligence Group did an excellent job of figuring out the deployment of Japanese and US military forces. The commander-in-chief of this naval battle was not Isoroku Yamamoto, but Japanese Lieutenant General Narumi Inoue. The Japanese Navy's own command headquarters
, located on Truk Island, has a naval force protecting the command headquarters.
The main attack formation of the Japanese Navy is escorted by the light aircraft carrier Shoho, Aoba, Kako, Kinugasa, and Furutaka, four heavy cruisers, and 11 destroyers form a large formation to open the way. Japanese Navy Rear Admiral Yu Goto
At the same time, this aircraft carrier formation also carried the Japanese Army's Nanhai Detachment. They set off from Rabaul Island and planned to use landing operations first to attract the attention of the Far East Navy.
Then it turned to the west. But after such a battle plan was known to the Far East Army, it was impossible for the little Japanese to attack the east and west. It also gave the Far East Navy sufficient deployment time to annihilate the Japanese Navy's Xianghe first.
USS aircraft carrier.
However, the Japanese Navy's Shokaku aircraft carrier, according to the Japanese military's combat plan, will be a maritime mobile force, consisting of two aircraft carriers, Zuikaku and Shokaku, three heavy cruisers, Myoko, Haguro, and Ashigara, and six destroyers.
Formed together, it was commanded by Takeo Takagi of the Japanese Navy, and the aviation force of the two aircraft carriers was commanded by Yoshino Yakuza.
Its main combat purpose is to support Moresby's landing operation immediately after setting off from Truk Island. Therefore, the Japanese aircraft carrier Shokaku is all Japanese Sanyi attack aircraft, about 65, and this time the U.S. Navy
His subordinates are not very clear, but they only know that the commander-in-chief is named Frank, and he is a U.S. Navy rear admiral.
However, judging from the deployment of troops at the midway base of the U.S. Navy, the five heavy cruisers USS Minneapolis, USS New Orleans, USS Astonia, USS Chester, and USS Portland will definitely participate in the war, and among them there will definitely be
A certain number of destroyers.
As for the two American medium-sized aircraft carriers that the Far East Navy is most concerned about, they know nothing about them. They only know that there seems to be some conflict between Captain Sherman, the captain of the Lexington, and Colonel Master, the captain of the Yorktown.
From the emotional side.
Because a formation composed of three heavy cruisers, Australia, Chicago, and Hobart, and six destroyers, Perkins, Walker, Morris, Anderson, Hanman, and Russell, the two U.S. Navy ships
The medium-sized aircraft carrier formed two circular warning curtains.