At 10:30 a.m. on the 15th, 128 fighter jets that took off from Pingtung Airport at the southern tip of Taiwan had already flown over the Western Pacific battlefield. At the same time, the Ming fleet was undergoing fierce bombing by the Japanese fleet.
The situation of the Ming Army was already very serious. All the Japanese bombers and almost three-quarters of the fighter jets were swarming on top of the Ming Army fleet. Most of the Ming Army's fighter jets had not landed for a long time, and their fuel was on the verge of running out.
It was exhausted. Most of the Japanese fighter jets were later generations, and although the fuel was not much, it was still more abundant than the Ming army.
Although the number of fighter jets on both sides is equal, the disadvantage has shifted to the Ming army. Due to fuel shortage, many aircraft are faced with a dilemma: either avoid high speeds and other fuel-consuming big maneuvers, and be at a disadvantage in air combat, or how to fight
He tried to fight, but the fuel quickly ran out, and he parachuted and crashed the plane.
At this moment, a large black spot faintly appeared in the northwest, as big as a swarm of locusts. In the headphones of the Ming army fighter jets struggling on the battlefield, there was cheering at this moment. Originally, they did not dare to fight in order to save fuel.
Now I have no scruples and throw my arms away for the final fight, because someone will take over right away.
In the blink of an eye, the huge "Locust Swarms" threw off their auxiliary fuel tanks and rushed over with a roar. Pairs of land-based Kingfisher units dexterously turned over and dived into the battlefield. Suddenly, dozens of Japanese bombers and dozens of Japanese bombers were on the battlefield.
Japanese fighter jets began to be beaten.
The Japanese aircraft fleet suddenly endured several times the pressure as before, without any mental preparation. They were still very sure that they could bomb one or two of Shen Ming's battleships, but now they were suddenly in a situation where they were chased by two or three people and attacked one by one.
The radio headsets of the Japanese fleet were filled with all kinds of yells, calls for help, and calls for help, and there was a panic. There were too many fighter jets from the Ming army, and no one knew where they came from. These Japanese pilots also knew that the Ming army
There is another aircraft carrier in Kaohsiung Port, but that aircraft carrier is injured and cannot fight again so soon. Even if it can, how many aircraft can one aircraft carrier carry? Two brigades can support the sky! But there are three here.
Team!
The Japanese fighter jets and bombers all fell into the sea like dumplings. The pressure on the Ming fleet below was greatly reduced, and they were no longer bombing targets. The Tianquan and Tianshu quickly began to recover the aircraft. Ming had almost run out of fuel.
The warship-borne fighter jets took the opportunity to break away from the battle, descended to low altitude one after another, and landed on the deck.
At this moment, the Japanese aircraft carrier formation 80 nautical miles away to the east heard the radio report. The fleet commander, captain, and staff were all shocked. The entire aircraft carrier formation command fell into a state of near panic. The fleet commander repeatedly asked the Japanese to
The captain of the military aircraft group confirmed the news and confirmed the number of Ming fighter planes. It was not until the Japanese fighter group captain confirmed the report twice that the radio signal suddenly disappeared. The officers in the Akagi's command room looked at each other in horror and understood that this might be true.
Now, the only dozens of fighter jets left by the Japanese army are obviously doomed. Moreover, the position of the Japanese aircraft carrier formation has been discovered by Ming army bombers before. Then, catastrophe will be inevitable. Moreover, it is just morning
It was past ten o'clock, still early before dark. After the Ming army fleet destroyed the Japanese fighter jets, they had a whole day to deal with the Japanese fleet.
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At 11:10, after almost 40 minutes of air combat, all the remaining Japanese aircraft over the Ming fleet - more than fifty fighters and more than sixty bombers - were shot down. The Ming army lost a total of 45 fighter jets.
The military bombers have never had direct contact with Japanese fighter jets and have always protected themselves very well, so they have basically not suffered any losses. Now half of them are in the hangar of the aircraft carrier, and the other half are cruising dispersedly in the surrounding airspace. Now, the bombers in the hangar
They have begun to take off. Together with other bombers, they will go to attack the Japanese aircraft carrier formation.
There are 83 land-based fighters left out of the 128. In order to fly wherever they can and still fight, these aircraft all carry auxiliary fuel tanks and throw them away before flying into the battlefield. Although most of the aircraft still have some fuel, it is definitely not enough to fly.
Back. The leader of the land-based fleet asked for instructions from the Tianquan aircraft carrier below, hoping to use the remaining fuel to escort the bombers to attack the Japanese fleet. However, the aircraft carrier squadron commander on the Tianquan did not agree.
He knew that the prerequisite for the General Staff of the Sea to agree to this plan was to ensure that only the aircraft, not the pilots, would be sacrificed. This plan specifically set the air battle battlefield over the Ming fleet to ensure that the pilots could all fly over the Ming fleet.
If you parachute from the sky, you can be rescued by Ming destroyers instead of falling into the hands of the Japanese. If you want to attack the Japanese fleet now, you will probably have to parachute above the Japanese fleet. Then these pilots will be prisoners.
The Ming Army's land-based fighter group was ordered to parachute a few nautical miles west of the Ming Army's fleet. This ensured that the Ming Army's destroyers would quickly rush over to salvage the ship without being damaged by the falling aircraft.
The 83 fighter jets flew a few nautical miles westward and then began to parachute. For a moment, the sky was filled with white parachutes, and dozens of planes were spinning like meteor showers and falling into the sea. There were floating wreckage everywhere on the sea, as if
It was like having just experienced a big air battle. Each pilot had a colorful smoke canister on his life jacket. Now that they fell into the water, the first thing they did was to cut off the parachute rope, and the second thing was to pull out the smoke canister.
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The 12 destroyers of the Ming Army also flew over at high speed, searching for the colorful smoke pillars on the sea. They spread out evenly in the parachuting area, and then each ship lowered a few lifeboats and rowed to the nearest smoke pillar.
Things went very smoothly. Within an hour, all the pilots were rescued in the lifeboats. An hour and a half later, they had all changed into dry clothes and drank hot tea in the destroyer.
Many days of painstaking planning by the Ming Military and Naval General Staff, the cooperation of the two fleets in the East China Sea and the South China Sea, the unprecedented large-scale dispatch of the Ming Army Fleet, the sacrifice of 128 fighter jets... all these efforts began to reap results at this moment.
The Ming army fleet first passed by the main Japanese battle fleet that was close at hand. A brigade of bombers and a brigade of fighters, a total of more than 80 aircraft, flew majestically towards the Japanese aircraft carrier formation 80 nautical miles away. The Japanese fleet
Faced with this moment, there was nothing they could do. They couldn't even do the same thing. The nearest land-based airport of the Japanese army was Okinawa, which was more than 650 kilometers away, more than 100 kilometers further than the Ming army's Pingtung Airport.
.If the Japanese fighter group carries auxiliary fuel tanks, it can fly as far as here at most. But after flying here, there will be almost no fuel, and it will be impossible to carry out air combat. It can only fall into the sea, needlessly sacrificing one or two hundred more aircraft.
Besides, it's too late now.
When the Japanese officers thought of this, they all felt itchy with hatred. At the same time, they lamented that the battlefield location chosen by the Ming army was so perfect.
In an almost transcendent despair, the Ming army's fleet of planes flew overhead. They roared down like a swarm of wild bees, and bombs and torpedoes fell densely. The Japanese military area consisted of two aircraft carriers, several destroyers, and anti-aircraft artillery fire.
They were quite weak, and they were bombarding them with all their might at this moment. The entire fleet drove an S-shaped route at high speed, trying their best to avoid bombs and torpedoes.
But all this was in vain. Soon, the Akagi was hit by a torpedo. Its speed gradually slowed down and its turns became less flexible. Immediately, the hit rate of bombs and torpedoes became higher. Several consecutive bombs and the first
Two torpedoes hit the Akagi one after another. A huge fire broke out on the Akagi, black smoke billowed into the sky, and half of the ship's hull gradually tilted.
The Kaga was not alone. While Akagi was hit by several bombs, it was also hit by three torpedoes and four bombs. Compared with battleships, the aircraft carrier had almost no armor. The speed of the two aircraft carriers dropped to only
A few sections, leaning and stumbling, dragging raging fire and black smoke into the sky, lingering on the sea.
More bombs and torpedoes hit one after another. The aircraft carrier, which had lost the protection of fighter jets, was now two big fat pigs tied up and unable to fight back. There was no doubt that death was their inevitable fate.
At about one o'clock at noon, the Kaga sank first. At about one-thirty, the Akagi also sank. Several Japanese destroyers opened up high speed and quickly fled the battlefield. The Ming army aircraft group did not pursue them, let them go, and flew to the west.