Fletcher commanded two special mixed airships to serve as escorts and left the Southern Solomon Islands at dusk. After receiving the notification, Rear Admiral Turner, the commander of the transport formation, had to immediately arrive at Guardiola to go to Guardiola to meet the British cruiser formation who was serving as cover. Commander Major General Krachley met with Van Vrist, and Turner told Van Vrist that he would lead the transport fleet and the escort cruiser to retreat after dawn due to the lack of air cover.
Van Vrist was very angry. The 3rd Fleet was clearly trying to throw Ziji into a desperate situation. Major General Turner said that he would unload more supplies overnight, and the rest of the matter was There is nothing we can do, "Please search for Piaotianwen, novels are better, updated and faster! .
The meeting lasted for a long time and it ended in a bad mood.
Shihou, who was about to return to the fleet by transportation boat, heard a rumbling sound of cannons in the southwest of Savo Island. The Republican Navy battle fleet headed by the Hengshan and patrolling the southwest of Savo Island. The US ship was in fire.
After the Republican army occupied Japan, they seized four "King Kong-class" battleships and four American battleships that the Japanese salvaged and prepared to repair. After more than a year of shijiān, these damaged and sunken old battleships were restored. However, After the four old battleships of the Americans were repaired, the maximum speed was only 24 knots. They could not follow the speed of the aviation warships and could only be used as a sea defense ship. Instead, they were four King Kong-class battleships, because they were originally battle cruisers. It has a high speed. After repair and modification, the speed actually reaches 30 knots, and is completely used as a frigate of the aviation fleet.
As a retaliation measure against the Japanese plundering the ironclad ship "Zhenyuan" during the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the Republican Navy, after obtaining four King Kong-class battleships, was still using the ship names of the Japanese Navy in the past to humiliate the joint fleet that had been defeated in succession after obtaining four King Kong-class battleships. .
The fleet led by Major General You Ziyong includes the Hengshan, Qilianshan, Zhongnanshan, Altai and two King Kong-class battleships, as well as the heavy cruiser Li Jing and three ships. The 12 destroyers of the Coulon-class cruiser and the 8th Destroyer Fleet, among which the King Kong-class battleship was replaced with the 350mm main gun of the "Parkling-class" yiyàng when modified, but the attack power was improved. 6 battleships and 4 The cruisers lined up in a single column, about 1,200 meters apart, and on their side were 12 "Quanzhou-class" ocean destroyers of the 8th Destroyer. They took advantage of the night to enter the waterway east of Guadalo from southeast of Florida Island.
The Americans expected that the Republican Navy would launch a night attack, and the warships patrolling the channel were unaware of it. At 12:00 a.m., the fleet entered the Iron Desert Bay from northwest of Savo Island. Turned over the island cape. The Hengshan was headed. The first thing I saw was the radar on the radar that was patrolling two American destroyers. However, the US ships equipped with radars carried out the instructions to turn on the plane alternately during patrol, and all turned off the radar.
Unconsciously, the Republic Fleet approached about 9,000 meters from Savo Island, and the radar identified the American fleet that was berthing in the harbor.
"Prepare. Start the attack!" At 12:40 am on June 14, You Ziyong issued an attack order. The destroyer located in front of the battleship side first fired a flare at the target position, illuminating the anchorage of the American shipmen as daytime.
Three heavy cruisers and three destroyers moored in the harbor are clearly presented on the sea surface.
The cruiser of the cruiser "Dihua" opened fire first. The shells poured out toward the heavy cruiser of the Australian Navy "Canberra" more than 8,000 meters away. Then, the cruiser first and the battleships followed, and the destroyers also started to fire in turn.
Launch a torpedo.
You Ziyong wore a steel helmet and stood on the bridge of the Hengshan River to watch the artillery battle in front of him. The main guns and secondary guns on this heavy battleship opened fire together. The shells flew to the opposite side with tracer lights.
The sea surface is bright and dark. There is also lightning and thunder in the sky at this moment, but it is covered by the roar of naval cannons.
Some warships can be seen on the sea about 5 nautical miles away. After a while, two warships were caught fire, which was particularly obvious on the sea. The Australian Navy's "Canberra" and the Americans'
The two heavy cruisers "Chicago" were fireballed into fireballs. Under the attack of heavy artillery battleships, méiyou sank immediately. The unlucky destroyer "Blue" was directly bombed into two pieces, and a ball of people rushed to the sky
After the firelight disappeared on the sea.
"Shipment keeps speed and continues to go north!" During the few minutes of war, the Republican fleet severely damaged the US and Australian fleets. Because it was a night attack, You Ziyong was worried about being attacked by submarines and destroyers running around, and did not fight.
After severely damaging the enemy, the fleet was ordered to quickly move northward to continue sweeping the US and Australian fleets in the Iron Desert Bay.
"...My heroic officers and soldiers of the 3rd Fleet won a great victory in the Battle of Savo Island. In the naval battle, four heavy cruisers that sunk into the enemy, severely damaged two cruisers, two destroyers, and three destroyers.
, 6 other ships. The navy won a perfect victory in the Battle of the Solomon Islands. The 1st US Marine War Division and the 27th Australian Brigade who were trapped in the South Solomon Islands were completely cut off. What awaited them would be hunger.
,The plague, and it will be completely eliminated soon! …”
Just as the naval battle of Savo Island was at the same time, the main force of the Beiyang Fleet led by Admiral Wang Chongwen left Tokyo Bay and entered the vast Pacific Ocean. The fleet advanced southeast in a circular anti-submarine cruise formation, but also found an enemy.
Signs of submarine activity.
On the flagship "Heilongjiang" aviation ship, a group of staff from the fleet's combat office sat in the combat room, and the English broadcast of the "Voice of China" high-power short-wave wireless transmitter platform located in the Kuril Islands was heard from the radio. This radio station
Radio stations based in New Guinea with the Republican Army have always been the main way to promote the people of the United States and Australia.
During the war, most of the bad news was deliberately concealed by the military and government from the people. The Battle of Savo Island was one of the worst failures the US Navy suffered since its establishment, and the cruiser of the 3rd Fleet was almost suffered.
In a catastrophe, this kind of news will naturally be strictly blocked. Only by broadcasting can ordinary people have the truth of some things.
"The Nanyang Fleet is so embarrassed to brag about the cruiser with the battle fleet!" A staff officer muttered that since the beginning of the war, the Beiyang Fleet has been on the edge, except for the vigorous work of the landing in Japan.
In addition, most of the time they played the role of a garrison fleet. Seeing other fleets fighting in the east and west, they were incredible, which naturally made the officers and soldiers of the Beiyang Fleet feel a little unbalanced, and naturally there were more complaints.
"There is no strange thing about nàme. If you win a battle, you will naturally have the capital to brag. If you want to think about the problem in the combat plan, there are still problems with méiyoushime!" Wang Chongwen was sitting at the chart table, and several senior generals were on the chart.
He gestured with Shime and exchanged opinions from time to time. Major General Chen Yinmin, the chief of the fleet operations, raised his head and glared at the staff members who were chatting.
"Sir, the 18th Special Mixed Fleet from the Atlantic Ocean has come to reinforce. In this case, we still have some opportunities!"
"That's right, the 16th, 17th and 51st special mixed fleets coming from the South Pacific will be attacked by the East China Sea Fleet and the South China Sea Fleet. Halsai can only retreat eastward. Our main goal is the airport on the island.
The 18th Special Mixed Fleet will come to reinforce, and we can still get some fuel and water!"
Wang Chongwen gestured on the chart with a pencil. In fact, the attack on Midway Island was only the starting point of the entire battle. The island was not large in size, and even if it was captured, it was difficult to defend. The strategic significance was for the Republican Army.
Not big. But for the Pacific Fleet, this place is very important. Ruguo Midway Island fell, and the entire Hawaii, including the Pearl Harbor Naval Base, will be under the Republic Fleet.
The purpose of the entire battle is to attack it and then wait for an opportunity to severely damage the US Pacific Fleet and clear obstacles for the Republican army's actions in Australia.
Sure enough, after the defeat on Savo Island, the 5th Fleet, which had eight aviation warships, immediately made every effort to reinforce the South Pacific region. The huge Pearl Harbor base is currently relying on several old battleships and some submarines.