Xiang Xiaoqiang has always been known for his boldness and daring to think in the Ming Army Headquarters. Starting from the siege of Pukou and the bombing of Beiqing Airport on New Year's Day, he later proposed the idea of Northern Expedition to the Manchu Qing Dynasty and unification of China, and then again and again in the subsequent wars.
A large-scale and deep raid, the long-distance attack on Altay during the counterinsurgency in northern Xinjiang, and now the pure aircraft carrier formation rushing into the Pacific... time and time again surprised the old men in the headquarters.
Now, he is going to surprise everyone again.
Xiang Xiaoqiang suddenly discovered that the attack was much smoother than he had imagined. Although the loss of aircraft exceeded his expectations and made him very dissatisfied, what he had been worried about was not the Japanese ship's anti-aircraft fire, but the Japanese fighter jets.
Now I didn’t expect that the two Ming army fleets cooperated so accurately. As soon as the aircraft carrier fleet left, Taiwan’s land-based fleet arrived, just chasing the tail of the Japanese planes and fighting for a while. In this way, this group of fighters on Okinawa Island
, the hope of returning to the airport is slim.
This also means that Okinawa will have no air cover for a long time.
He took Xiuxiu and several naval staff around the chart table, sweating profusely, measuring distances, calculating speed, and making various calculations. He wanted to prove to Xiaoqiang that his idea was feasible.
Soon, the results came out.
"Sir," Xiu Xiu suppressed her excitement, pointed at the chart and said word by word, "Ryukyu Island will not receive any air support for at least the next 12 hours. Ryukyu Island is too far away from the Japanese mainland and is beyond the range of fighter jets.
.The southernmost aircraft carrier deployed by Japan is the Kaga, which is currently anchored at Sasebo Naval Port.
"Sir, please see, the distance from Sasebo to point b is 400 kilometers, which is 216 nautical miles. And the distance between point b and Ryukyu Island is 190 kilometers, which is approximately 100 nautical miles. This distance is our assumed Japanese aircraft carrier attack
distance. So if the Japanese aircraft carrier formation sets sail now, it will take 12 to 13 hours to reach point b."
Xiang Xiaoqiang stared at the chart and asked:
"What about us? How long will it take for our aircraft carrier formation to enter aircraft attack range?"
Xiuxiu said:
"Sir, please see, this is point a, which is our assumed take-off point for the air attack on Ryukyu Island. The distance from point a to Ryukyu Island is 180 kilometers. And our Tianshu squadron is here, 265 kilometers away from point a.
That’s 130 nautical miles. It only takes about 6 to 7 hours for our aircraft carrier formation to get here.”
Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled and whispered excitedly:
"In other words, our aircraft carrier entered the attack range on Ryukyu at least 6 hours earlier than the Japanese aircraft carrier. Excluding the time of taking off the formation and flying to the place, we can carry out air strikes on the Japanese Okinawa base at least 5 hours
.”
Xiuxiu smiled and said:
"I'm afraid there aren't five hours... It's 10:30 in the morning now, and it will be 4:30 in the afternoon in six hours. There are only about two hours until dark. But two hours is enough."
Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled, looked at the chart, and rubbed his hands gently. After a moment, he raised his head, looked around at the staff, and said with a smile:
"Everyone, are you sure that the Japanese base in Okinawa has sent out all its fighter jets?"
Several naval staff officers were also very excited, but they looked at each other and were still unsure.
"Basically certain."
A voice came from behind. Several people looked back and saw Xiong Dingming standing behind with his hands behind his back, also staring at the chart, looking quite interested.
The officers quickly made room for the chief of general staff. Xiong Dingming walked to the chart table, propped his arms on the edge of the table, and looked at the neat work on the chart, as well as the small ship models representing the warships of the two countries.
Xiong Dingming looked at the picture and said:
"The naval intelligence department already has relatively reliable information. I know this. The Japanese army has a brigade of fighter jets stationed at the Okinawa base. After the war started, it did not receive information about a significant increase in fighter jets... So obviously there is only one brigade of fighter jets at the Okinawa base now.
...The Tianshu squadron reported that the Japanese army had arrived as large as a large group. If they did not falsely report the enemy's situation, then there are indeed no fighter jets on Ryukyu Island now."
After saying that, he looked up at Xiang Xiaoqiang and said with a smile:
"Sir Xiang, what's the matter? Do you want the aircraft carrier formation to bomb the Japanese base in Okinawa?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled and said:
"How could you give up such a good opportunity? If you don't blow it up, it will be useless."
"Well," Xiong Dingming said, stroking his chin, "tell me what you think."
Xiang Xiaoqiang said:
"Master Xiong, there is one thing in the Okinawa base that is most worthy of our bombing, and that is the Hiei battleship."
"How do you know the Hiei is still in port?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang muttered:
"It feels like it should be in the port. Even if it was sent out before, it's time to be called back now. The examples of Furutaka and Nachi are bloody there, and the Japanese Navy guys are not fools. It's time to wake up.
Without aircraft cover, they did not dare to send a battleship
Send them out to challenge our three aircraft carriers. If you want to send them out, they should form a task force with the battleships after the local aircraft carriers arrive and go to sea together. Now that the Hiei is staying in the port, it can still be attacked by the port anti-aircraft guns.
protection. When it goes out to sea, it can only rely on its own artillery."
"Well, that makes sense."
Xiong Dingming touched his chin and expressed deep agreement.
"There is another reason," Xiang Xiaoqiang continued, "If I were the Japanese military headquarters and the Okinawa base was being bombed indiscriminately, what would I think? I would definitely assume the worst: What will happen next for the Ming army?
It is possible to attack Ryukyu Island (Okinawa) and occupy Ryukyu Island."
Xiong Dingming was startled, looked at Xiang Xiaoqiang, and said with a smile:
"Sir Xiang?...You are not joking, are you? So bold?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang quickly said:
"No, no, I just said that the Japanese army might think so. Mr. Xiong, do you think that if we really attack Ryukyu Island now, will it be possible to occupy it?"
Xiong Dingming smiled and said:
"It must be difficult. On the main island of Ryukyu, there are more than 3,000 Japanese Marines stationed, which is roughly equivalent to the strength of an Army brigade. Of course, our 3 to 4 troop transport ships can transport a division of more than 10,000 people.
But you have to know that these more than 3,000 people are on defense. The main island of Ryukyu is a maritime fortress operated by the Japanese army for decades.
, various fortifications are tightly defended, and we cannot defeat them without paying nearly double the casualties. Moreover, it will be difficult to defend after being captured. The main island of Ryukyu is far away from our homeland, but it is very close to other islands controlled by the Japanese army. It is difficult for us to support, because others
It's easy to provide support. Sir, we'd better not give up on this idea."
Xiang Xiaoqiang chuckled and said:
"So, I didn't have this idea at all. The Japanese army was very skilled in defending the island. The nearly double casualties are an understatement. However, although we do not plan to occupy Ryukyu Island, Tokyo will definitely
It is normal for them to be worried that we are planning this.
We will definitely take precautions in advance and immediately transfer the battleships and cruisers in the Yellow Sea southward to the East China Sea. The first is to strengthen the surveillance of our coastal military ports in Zhejiang, Fujian, and Taiwan, and the second is to strengthen patrols in the East China Sea to strictly prevent us from sending
Troops and fleets came to attack Ryukyu Island.
"In this way, our pressure in the Yellow Sea is relieved. The Dongjiang Fleet can support Dadonggou and Anton from the sea. We can also cross the sea from Shandong to support the Liaodong Peninsula... At the same time, after we completed the air attack on Ryukyu Island
, the aircraft carrier formation immediately quickly moved south, broke into the Pacific Ocean, and then advanced eastward, sneaking close to the Japanese column.
Island. Start air strikes on the military ports and cities on the east coast of Japan and along the Pacific Ocean. Then, the Japanese battleships and cruisers in the East China Sea will definitely be transferred eastward in an attempt to encircle and suppress our aircraft carrier formation. In this way, the Japanese army will have at least half of their mobility in the Western Pacific.
The power is controlled by us. The pressure on our local fleet will be much less.
"We are in the eastern part of the Japanese archipelago and in the western Pacific. We may have one or two tough battles to fight. I am not talking about battleships. There is nothing to worry about against Japanese battleships. I am talking about Japanese aircraft carriers. The Japanese army can compete with our aircraft carriers.
The next ones are the Akagi and the Kaga. These two are also large aircraft carriers, each with about eighty carrier-based aircraft, which is about the same as our aircraft carriers. Before that, if Mr. Xiong allows you,
We can also send the Tianji out to join the Tianshu squadron, and four large aircraft carriers will go together. In this way, we should be more confident in dealing with the Akagi and Kaga. And once the Akagi and Kaga are eliminated
No. 1, then Japan will have no aircraft carrier power. Even if we lose one to one, we will lose two aircraft carriers, so we will still have two large aircraft carriers left. The ocean air supremacy in the Western Pacific is still ours."