Diego Garcia is located at 7°20′ south latitude and 72°25′ east longitude, more than 1,900 kilometers away from the southernmost tip of the South Asian subcontinent. It is the largest and southernmost coral island of the Chagos Archipelago in the central Indian Ocean and is the Cape of Good Hope. It is the meeting point of many shipping routes between Singapore, the Red Sea and Australia, and its strategic position is very important.
Diego Garcia is a coral atoll with a land area of about 27 square kilometers. The reefs are distributed in a V-shape open to the north. The terrain is low and flat, with sand on the outer edge. The central lagoon is 24 kilometers long and 6 kilometers wide. It is about 4 kilometers long and has a water depth of ten to twenty meters. It is a natural harbor.
Diego Garcia was discovered by the Portuguese Diego Garcia in the early 16th century and occupied by the British in the early 19th century. After the last European war, according to the Washington Naval Treaty, the British navy retreated to Singapore. Due to the proximity of Diego Garcia, In the subcontinent, Britain saw the strategic importance of this island and spent more than ten years gradually building it into a large military port that can accommodate aircraft carriers and battleships.
After the Japanese navy advanced into the Lanyin Islands at the end of 1937, the British felt that danger was approaching and built a military airport and radar station on Diego Garcia. However, before they were completed, the island fell to a sneak attack by the Japanese navy. Japan took over the British The unfinished project, after more than two years of construction, finally made it an important transportation hub and material transfer station in the Indian Ocean, as well as a military base connecting the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
Before formulating the combat plan, the intelligence department used satellites to conduct thorough and detailed scans of the area. Reconnaissance airships also came here several times to observe Diego Garcia for a long time at an altitude of more than 20,000 meters. , to determine the number and distribution of its garrison, as well as the status of its permanent and passing fleets.
However, aerial surveys can certainly reveal the contours of the coast, the location of possible landing beaches and weakly defended areas, but there is nothing that can be done about the areas covered by jungles and deep grass. This is also the case between the Anjiajun Naval Staff and the Indian Ocean. The important reason why the Theater Command's landing operation plan for the Seychelles Islands was full of loopholes was that there were too many unexpected factors.
During the day on April 4th, the entire Central Indian Ocean region was calm and the sea was shrouded in fog most of the time. In the afternoon, it was even more cloudy and without rain, and the zenith was very low. This allowed the Japanese army to conduct routine aerial reconnaissance, as well as to monitor The air-to-sea radar scans did not achieve the expected results.
Without the Japanese army being aware of it at all, the transport and landing fleet, under the cover of the Anjia Army naval vessels, crossed the channel between the Egmont Islands and Diego Garcia Island in the evening, arriving all the way to the northwest of Diego Garcia Island The other route is waiting on the periphery of the West Island and Zhongdao channels. After the western landing battle begins, it will directly enter the central lagoon and block the escape route of Japanese warships.
In the dead of night, off the western coast of Diego Garcia.
In the command post of the heavy cruiser "Guo Ziyi" (ca-18), the flagship of the landing fleet, the former enemy commander-in-chief in this battle - Colonel Guo Yibo, commander of the Indian Ocean Fleet's Second Cruiser Group, raised his wrist and watched the time passing by. , and waited until ten o'clock. He shouted an order to Lieutenant Colonel Meng Qinhai, the combat staff standing by and ready to attack: "Fire!"
"Boom boom——"
Almost instantly, the sound of the artillery roared like thunder, and the entire sea surface was filled with crimson tongues of fire and red flames. On the beach in the east, fire splashed into the sky, and violent explosions came one after another. The entire island was
Trembling under the fierce gunfire.
On the decks of the two escort carriers, a squadron of fighters and a squadron of bombers took off respectively, and immediately entered the battle in the East without forming a team in the air.
Due to the advancement of radar and guidance technology, coupled with the use of lens-type optical assist mirror devices, the carrier-based aircraft of the Anjia Army Navy are now basically able to perform combat missions around the clock.
According to the design requirements, in the dark night, this landing mirror device will emit five layers of light beams. These five layers of light beams are parallel to the flight runway and maintain a certain angle with the sea level, forming five layers of wave surfaces. The middle of these five layers of light beams is orange.
The beams are yellow and red respectively up and down, with green reference beams on both sides. These signals help the carrier-based aircraft pilot judge the orientation and angle when landing, correct the deviation in time, and ensure the correct completion of the landing action.
When the carrier-based aircraft pilot enters the landing airspace, he begins to observe the signal provided by the landing mirror. When everything is normal on the aircraft carrier and the carrier-based aircraft is allowed to land, a set of green lights, called cut-off lights, will be turned on to indicate that it is allowed to enter the descent. The pilot begins
Enter the ship landing operation and continue to observe the signal,
When you see an orange light, it means that the bearing is correct and you can land safely on the ship. When you see a yellow light, it means that the bearing is too high. When you see a red light, it means that the bearing is too low. The pilot needs to adjust the bearing in time to avoid mistakes or accidents. If you see a green light, it means you are off track.
The horizontal position needs to be adjusted to the left or right.
When the carrier-based aircraft is preparing to land and the aircraft carrier cannot allow it to continue landing due to special reasons, it is necessary to turn on a set of red flashing "missed approach lights" on the left and right of the central light box, and at the same time turn off the green reference light and the central light box.
At this time, the pilot of the carrier-based aircraft quickly boosted the engine and pulled it up, stopped the landing action and began to hover in the air, waiting for further instructions to arrive.
The landing directors who control these lights work at the rear of the aircraft carrier. They need to observe the position of the landing aircraft, landing gear, flaps, tail grooves, etc., while talking to the pilots, while controlling the light signals. On the ship island
In the main flight control room at the rear of the upper part, the flight controller will closely monitor the situation on the flight deck and in the air, and make final checks on the safety of the ship and aircraft.
Back to the main story, the landing beach selected by the staff department on Diego Garcia is located between the two military ports in the north and south, one kilometer southeast of the military airport, and this military airport is also an important target that needs to be struck first.
When the assault waves hit the beach one after another, no gunshots were heard on Diego Garcia. The navy's covering forces and aircraft carrier aircraft quickly bombarded the beach, and even more completely destroyed the airport and surrounding areas.
According to reports from aerial reconnaissance and limited intelligence sources, this was the location with the largest concentration of Japanese troops.
The offensive troops landed quickly and decisively. After occupying the beachhead, they advanced to the northwest airport at high speed and encountered several waves of small groups of Japanese attacks along the way. However, faced with the overwhelming superiority of the Anjia Army Marine Corps officers and soldiers, the Japanese counterattack was crushed.
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The land-based fighter planes that the Japanese army relied on were the most miserable. Half of them were destroyed in the first salvo of naval guns. The remaining planes tried their best to get into the air, but when they barely climbed to the halfway point, they encountered the F2 that was waiting for them.
-b A head-on attack by the "Golden Eyed Eagle" carrier-based fighter jet.
The Japanese naval aviation force stationed here had more than 40 aircraft of various types, but in the end only six successfully took off, and all of them were agile Zero fighters, which posed little threat to ground troops.
Compared with the radar-guided "Golden Eyed Eagle", the Japanese military's zero combat aircraft has evolved to the sixth generation. However, due to its own shortcomings, such as the aircraft design being too small, it cannot install larger engines.
It is extremely difficult to increase the power of the engine, and the power increase is limited. Therefore, after the current Zero is equipped with armor, although it has been replaced with a more powerful engine, the unit power has not increased much, and the combat performance cannot continue to improve due to improvements.
dropped.
In particular, the Japanese fighter planes are not equipped with an avionics system that can receive radar signals at all. In night battles, they rely entirely on the pilot's on-the-spot performance. They often do not notice that the Anjiajun fighters are approaching and have been locked by the aviation machine guns. They turn into beautiful fireworks in the sky.
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At 11:30 p.m., two battalions of the 1st Regiment of the 5th Marine Division of the Anjia Army landed. They successfully occupied the airport and the logistics base, military camp and military dock in the southeast of the airport. At this time, they were at the landing point in the southwest.
Large troops are coming ashore in a steady stream.
After interrogating the prisoners, the fleet command learned that the Japanese army only deployed two squadrons on Diego Garcia. Only one squadron was deployed at the airport, and the other squadron was distributed in the main port in the northwest and throughout the atoll.
The troops were so small that they could not pose a threat to the superior Anjiajun landing force.
At two o'clock in the morning, after occupying the aircraft repair shop in the northwest of the airport, the Marine Corps broke into the main port area of Diego Garcia Island. At this time, more than 30 Japanese naval ships docked at the dock were attacked by the Anjia Army's second navy.
Attacked by S1-A carrier-based bombers and T1 torpedo bombers that took off in waves, they escaped from the port area in embarrassment. When they retreated into the lagoon waters outside, they were attacked head-on by another Anjiajun navy fleet that quietly arrived.
This Anjia Army naval fleet consists of two French "La Galissonier-class" cruisers, four "Utopia"-class super destroyers, and six new M1935 destroyers. Among them, the "La Galissonier-class"
"The cruiser is 177 meters long
, 17.5 meters wide, with a draft of 5.4 meters, a standard displacement of 7,600 tons, and a full load displacement of 10,850 tons. After modernization, its main weapons are two triple-mounted 152 mm main guns, which can fire new artillery shells with VT tubes.
The secondary weapons are two 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns, four 20mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns, and eight 12.7 high-level dual-purpose machine guns. The power is 84,000 horsepower, four-shaft drive, the maximum speed is 33 knots, the side armor is 105mm, and the deck
It has 38mm armor and has four seaplanes and one helicopter.
Except for the eight destroyers in the Japanese fleet, the rest were gunboats, torpedo boats, minesweepers and transport ships of smaller tonnage. Logically speaking, with a careful ambush in advance and a first-mover advantage, the "Lu Xiufu" (cl-16)
), the two triple-mounted 152mm main guns on the bow of the cruiser "Zhang Shijie" (cl-17) started bombarding the Japanese ship almost immediately, and they should have gained a greater advantage.
However, the war situation did not develop in the direction envisioned by the Anjiajun Navy. Although only in the first round of attacks, a Japanese destroyer and two torpedo boats were caught off guard and were sunk. In the subsequent battle, the Japanese destroyer and two torpedo boats were sunk.
The artillery shells also made great gains. Although many of the shells did not hit the Japanese ship, they automatically detonated when they were a certain distance away from the Japanese ship, causing huge damage to the Japanese ship's crew.
However, unexpectedly, the Japanese ship that was ambushed did not choose to shoot at the Anjiajun warship, but wisely chose to attack with torpedoes.
On the dark sea, the flash of light from the muzzles of the Anjiajun battleships became the best aiming point for the Japanese ships.
In less than half an hour of chaotic night battle, the Japanese's excellent torpedo technology was proved. The Japanese fleet equipped with Type 93 oxygen torpedoes flexibly and maneuverably dealt with the Anjiajun warships. Among them, the light cruiser "Zhang Shijie", during the battle
Hit by two torpedoes separately
The bow and stern of the center ship withdrew from the battle early. Although the "Lu Xiufu" persisted in fighting to the end, it was hit by three torpedoes in a row during the battle. It was lucky that it did not sink because it missed its vital points. After the battle, it had to enter the shipyard for repairs.
Three months of repairs.
Other warships were not so lucky. Two new M1935 destroyers with a displacement of 1,010 tons and equipped with a twin 127 mm gun and two twin torpedo tubes were sunk. One was seriously damaged, and another "M1935" destroyer with a displacement of 2,610 tons was sunk.
The Utopia-class super destroyer was accidentally fired by the "Lu Xiufu" and was towed to the newly occupied Diego Garcia shipyard for repairs.
The result of this battle was that the Japanese army, at the cost of sinking three destroyers, four gunboats and five torpedo boats, successfully broke through the ambush circle carefully designed by the Anjiajun Navy and escaped from the channel to the north of the lagoon. The Anjiajun Navy's Indian Ocean Fleet was ready to annihilate
Plans for a Japanese naval squadron in this area collapsed.
The ground battle in the port area lasted until 4:50 in the morning. The Japanese army that relied on the buildings in the port area to resist was completely wiped out. In this way, the most important part of Diego Garcia Island completely fell under the control of the Anjia army, but it was completely pacified.
The resistance of the Japanese troops on the island came only half a month later.
The jungles on these islands near the equator are mostly tropical rain forests. In addition to tall and dense trees, various vines, plants and shrubs grow everywhere on the ground. They are so dense that the naked eye can only see through a few meters away. Various
Strange birds are on the top of the tree, but below
In the world of insects, the different sizes of their species can be described as horrifying. The pain of an ant bite is as uncomfortable as the burning of a cigarette butt on the surface of the skin. There are poisonous spiders, fist-sized wasps, and densely packed...
The heart-stopping scorpions and centipedes...
There are relatively few mammals on the island. The most common ones are various rats. Lizards range in length from a few centimeters to three or four meters. Most of the few snakes are twisted. In addition, there is a special blood-sucking leech.
On the branch, when the officers and soldiers passed by below, it suddenly fell on the body, which made people's skin crawl.
The air in the dense forest does not circulate at all, and the scorching humidity makes people feel unbearable. Under the lush and prosperous appearance, there are rotten things everywhere, and the ground is covered with rotten plants, giving off a disgusting feeling.
The sour smell. The big tree may look solid on the outside, but it may be rotten on the inside. If you lean on it, it will break immediately.
As the officers and soldiers marched, many giant trees would suddenly fall down automatically in a gust of breeze, and the animals they had just killed would begin to decompose in just an hour or two. In the dense forest, there were also some swamps, which harbored terrible dangers.
Mosquitoes, in addition to transmitting malaria, also harbor more than a dozen lesser-known viruses. There are also giant crocodiles in some short dense forest streams, so you must be vigilant at all times.
In this extremely dangerous environment, the officers and soldiers of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd regiments of the 5th Marine Division completely sorted out the entire island from northwest to southwest, then from southwest to southeast, and finally from southeast to northeast. The officers and soldiers
They cut through the jungle, jumped into swamps, waded through rapids, and compared heads with each other.
Advancing through the tall thatch, the Japanese strongholds in the tropical jungle were uprooted one by one. By the final summary of the campaign, a total of 496 Japanese troops had been wiped out, while our troops had sacrificed as many as 360
Most of them died in the horrific conditions of the tropical jungle.
While the battle on Diego Garcia was successful, the landing on Male Island in the north was also successful.
Since Male Island covers an area of less than two square kilometers and was developed early, the island is full of sparsely grown coconut trees and breadfruit trees. In addition to having no strategic depth, it does not have the elements of guerrilla warfare. Therefore, the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Anjia Army Navy
Under the attack of the 1st Cruiser Formation and the 4th and 5th Regiments of the 5th Marine Division, a squadron of Japanese troops stationed on the island was quickly wiped out.
After the occupation of Male Island, the Anjia Army Marine Corps' clearing operations on surrounding islands were more cumbersome than those on Diego Garcia. However, with the help of helicopters, it still took only two months to completely clear the Japanese army.
Strongholds scattered on more than a hundred islands were uprooted.
After these two small-scale but significant operations in the north and south, the Anjiajun Navy finally completely guaranteed the security of the Eighth Strait, the First and Half Strait, the Equatorial Strait and the Central Indian Ocean routes, and effectively supported the operations in the southwest Indian Ocean.
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ps: It seems that after midnight, the monthly ticket will be doubled. At that time, the brothers will give the emperor a little excitement, right?
The emperor sincerely requests double monthly tickets. If there is a free annual ticket, that would be fine, I would be very grateful! (To be continued)
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