Reconnaissance aircraft focus on speed and flexibility, and are indeed harder to capture than fighter jets. However, Okamoto obviously overestimates his own strength and underestimates the strength of the enemy he faces. If he adopts the tactics of hiding and escaping, then the battle will be difficult. It is possible to escape even though he is not much faster than the white-tailed dolphin, but he is obsessed with getting rid of his opponent and wants to go deeper. For Lian Xiaosheng, it is like a meal delivered to his door.
Even Xiaosheng's two consecutive dive attacks failed to hit the target even though he used the crosshair to trap the opponent. Gu Cun would have been discouraged and even suffered from a loss of self-confidence. However, for him, Okamoto's tenacity was This aroused his competitive spirit, so when he locked Okamoto again, he did not rush to fire. Instead, based on the experience gained from the previous two failed attacks, he moved the nose of the aircraft slightly forward, and then pressed the shooting button. , for Okamoto, dodging the opponent's inevitable blows twice in a row greatly increased his self-confidence and made his tactical movements extremely smooth. However, there was a problem with this smoothness. After he dived to a certain height, Habitually trying to make a turn, Okamoto ran into the fire net set by Lian Xiaosheng and was hit by three consecutive artillery shells. The fragile reconnaissance plane exploded and disintegrated directly in the air. Okamoto didn't even have a chance to parachute. He was hit in the vital part by the flying debris of the plane, screamed and died immediately.
"It hit the head, it's awesome." Gu Cun saw this scene and praised on the intercom,
Lian Xiaosheng had no time to enjoy the joy of victory. He said to Gu Cun: "I have a hunch that the Japanese fleet is not far away. Let's go over and have a look. If we can find the Japanese fleet, we will have made a great contribution." ."
As a new recruit, Gu Cun had no say in this matter. Even Xiaosheng didn't even bother to ask for his opinion. After telling him this, he immediately adjusted the call channel and called a friend. The walkie-talkie equipped with the Baiji Dolphin was powerful and could communicate effectively. The distance was about thirty kilometers, and his call was quickly answered. The person who responded to Lian Xiaosheng happened to be one of his subordinates, named Du Tiancun. Lian Xiaosheng was overjoyed. He told Du Tiancun of his plan and ordered him to follow him. , and asked him to contact nearby friendly aircraft to form a communication line to ensure smooth communication with the fleet commander. Du Tiancun followed the order, so with Lian Xiaosheng as the leader, a reconnaissance line composed of twelve fighters was formed. ,
Out of practical considerations, Koizumi only wanted to launch a tentative attack on the Pacific Fleet, while Chen Shichang, out of the need to train his team, was eager to get an opportunity for actual combat. Of course, he also knew that it was not realistic to challenge the United Fleet at this stage, but According to the information provided by the General Headquarters, the combined fleet was divided into two at this time, one was resting in Japan, and the other was still offshore Shanghai. In other words, the Japanese army in Southeast Asia only had the Western Expedition Fleet and an unknown number of escort fleets. The Western Expedition Neither the fleet nor the escort fleet is equipped with aircraft carriers, which means they do not have the ability to carry out air strikes, so he is not afraid of fighting them. Chen Shichang did not hide this idea from his officers. Lian Xiaosheng happened to be qualified to know , so he came up with the idea of looking for the Japanese fleet after shooting down the Japanese reconnaissance plane.
Morikawa sent a total of two water reconnaissance planes to look for the Pacific Fleet. The one piloted by Okamoto flew southeast, and the other one flew due south. The walkie-talkie range of the Japanese reconnaissance planes was about 15 kilometers. When Okamoto sent the report, there was a Japanese submarine in the sea area centered on him. However, the submarine was sailing underwater at the time, so it did not receive his report. Therefore, before being found by Lian Xiaosheng's reconnaissance unit, Morikawa did not make any tactical adjustments and continued to drive towards the Mindanao Island according to the original route. At this time, the straight-line distance between them and the Pacific Fleet was only about 150 kilometers.
At about 12:10 noon, Lian Xiaosheng saw the Japanese assault fleet heading through the waves. He immediately shouted on the walkie-talkie: "Found it, found it, Du Tiancun, please reply after receiving it."
"Du Tiancun received it, please give instructions."
"Hurry up and report to the headquarters that I have found a Japanese fleet and request the next step of action."
After Chen Shichang received the report from Lian Xiaosheng passed back by the reconnaissance aircraft group, he was convinced of his judgment, so he agreed to his request to find the enemy fleet, and then ordered the entire army to prepare for first-level combat.
After Lian Xiaosheng discovered that the intelligence of the enemy fleet was transmitted back, the aviation units equipped with the three aircraft carriers were ready to attack. Chen Shichang decided to send a torpedo plane group, a bomber group and a fighter squadron according to the size of the enemy fleet. At the same time, he Ordered further strengthening of anti-submarine operations, and finally called Guo Kui to inform him of the news and ask him to prepare for air defense operations.
The Japanese army built airports in New Guinea, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines and stationed a certain number of army aviation units. After confirming that the combined fleet was still in Japan and offshore Shanghai, these army aviation units became students. In the final analysis, the biggest threat to the Pacific Fleet was Chen Shichang's lack of self-confidence. He did not know how large-scale the Pacific Air Force could withstand a Japanese aircraft cluster raid, so he worried about gains and losses, and was a little timid when fighter jets arrived.
Compared with him, the commander of the Japanese raid fleet, Colonel Morikawa, was too confident. He rashly headed towards dangerous sea areas without receiving a report from the reconnaissance force. It gave me a valuable practical opportunity to learn from the Pacific Air Force.
At this time, Wang Hai had just arrived in Karachi, so his deputy Xu Sidong was responsible for the Pacific Air Force that accompanied the fleet this time. Xu Sidong was 33 years old and was a captain of Boeing Airlines in the United States before being recruited in New York. This is Pacific Airlines Xu Sidong attached great importance to the Corps' first actual combat and personally served as the commander of the sortie group. He led 84 fighter planes that took off from three aircraft carriers and flew towards the sea area where the Japanese raid fleet was located under the guidance of liaison reconnaissance aircraft. Along the way, he summoned the baijis who were on reconnaissance missions to close the nearby airspace. By the time he and Lian Xiaosheng spoke directly, he already had ninety-eight fighters under his command.
Lian Xiaosheng was very shrewd. He discovered from a distance that the Japanese fleet did not continue to approach, but just hid in the clouds with Gu Cun and watched from a distance. This move ensured the suddenness of the air strike. When Xu Sidong gave an order Next, when as many as seventy-two fighter planes swooped towards the Japanese raiding fleet, this sudden blow immediately caused a collective panic among the Japanese soldiers.
"Enemy attack." The Japanese lookout soldier who first discovered the enemy's situation shouted, and then the shrill air defense siren sounded.