Chapter 808 The Turning Point Has Arrived
For a commander of an air fleet, the most unfortunate thing in the world is probably that when the reconnaissance plane discovers the enemy's aircraft carrier formation, there is no bomber or attack aircraft available!
And this is what Ozawa Jisaburo is facing now.
"Can the US carrier-based aircraft reach us?" Ozawa Jisaburo asked while walking to the sea chart.
Fleet aviation staff officer Fuchida Mitsuo had already measured the distance at this time. He reported: "About 900 kilometers. According to intelligence, the combat radius of the US SBD dive bomber is about 700 kilometers, and the combat radius of TBF is about the same as SBD."
"What if we go to San Salvador after completing the attack?" Ozawa Jisaburo asked again.
"900 plus 400... 1,300 kilometers, this seems to be enough." Fuchida Mitsuo quickly came to a conclusion.
The people in the bridge of the Akagi suddenly became nervous. Three large aircraft carriers... should they be the legendary Essex class built in a dozen? There should be 270 aircraft on the three aircraft carriers, and at least 200 aircraft can be sent to attack the First Mobile Fleet.
And now there are hundreds of P51s following the first attack wave, which is 370!
"It doesn't matter," Ozawa Jisaburo's "old lady face" has returned to calm, "It's just 370 enemy planes, how many Zero fighters do we have available now?"
"There are 132," Fuchida Mitsuo replied, "and there are 26 Fw-190Ts, a total of 158 fighters can cover the fleet, which should be enough."
Should... If there were no P51, F4U and F6F, it would definitely be enough. But now, the situation is really hard to say.
"Release all carrier-based aircraft," said Jisaburo Ozawa, "and then set up an air defense formation. It's already past 4 p.m., and as long as we hold on for another two hours, we should be able to win a big victory in the Panama War."
There are two conditions for the victory of this "Operation Yama". One is to sink several US aircraft carriers and weaken the strength of the US Pacific Fleet; the other is to blow up the Panama Canal locks, delay the time for US aircraft carriers to enter the Pacific, and buy time for the deployment of defenses in the Hawaiian Islands.
Now the first task is considered to be completed. Although the three carriers sunk are mostly Borg-class escort aircraft carriers, it is better than nothing. And the second goal should also be achieved. The 108 Tianshan carrier-based attack aircraft led by Major Tomonaga Takeichi have taken off (the second attack wave) and are now flying at an ultra-low altitude, preparing to attack the Panama Canal.
From the perspective of attacking the Panama Canal, the first attack wave of 100 P51s sent by the Americans from the Panama Canal Zone to follow back is actually beneficial, which will somewhat weaken the defense of the canal.
So Ozawa only needs to hold on for the critical 2 hours, and victory will be within his grasp!
However, these 2 hours are indeed very difficult for the Japanese. Because there are not only 3 American aircraft carriers in the North San Juan Bay, but 5. In addition, about 550 nautical miles west of Ozawa's fleet is the 16th Task Force commanded by Vice Admiral Spruance, which also has 3 aircraft carriers.
So what Ozawa Jisaburo and his men will face are 456 carrier-based aircraft taken off from 8 American aircraft carriers, and 96 P51 fighters flying from the Panama Canal Zone.
When Ozawa Jisaburo learned that there was a US fleet in the North San Juan Bay in the Caribbean Sea, the attack aircraft group sent by the US 3rd Fleet and the 16th Task Force had already taken off.
Among them, 60 F4U fighters, 36 F6F fighters, 90 SBD dive bombers and 90 TBF torpedo bombers took off from the 5 aircraft carriers of the 3rd Fleet, a total of 276 carrier-based aircraft, forming 2 attack waves.
And 36 F4U fighters, 24 F6F fighters, 60 SBD dive bombers and 60 TBF torpedo bombers took off from the 3 aircraft carriers of the 16th Task Force, a total of 180 carrier-based aircraft, also divided into 2 attack waves.
If the 96 P51s are counted, Ozawa's fleet will have to withstand the attack of 552 enemy aircraft!
However, these 552 enemy aircraft did not fly over the Japanese First Mobile Fleet at the same time, otherwise Ozawa Jisaburo would not be able to cope with it even if he had three heads and six arms. Since it takes time for aircraft carriers to release aircraft and formations, if a large formation is formed, the aircraft that take off earlier will consume too much fuel while circling and waiting. Therefore, carrier-based aircraft attacks in this era are generally divided into 2 waves.
In addition, Halsey and Spruance did not order the carrier-based aircraft to take off at the same time. Because Halsey's 3rd Fleet arrived at North San Juan Bay earlier, and Spruance's 16th Task Force arrived at the attack position later.
So the 552 American planes arrived in 5 waves (the 96 P51s from Panama were also in one wave). And Ozawa Jisaburo was lucky today. The first to arrive was the first attack wave sent by Halsey - if the 96 P51s sent by Panama followed the returning Japanese planes, it would be a big trouble.
"The target is at 8 o'clock, at an altitude of 6,000, a group of American aircraft!"
The tall and thin Nishizawa Hiroyoshi, who looked too haggard to be a pilot, heard the voice of the squadron leader, Major Nakajima, through the headset. This ace pilot of the Tainan Wing was transferred to the aircraft carrier with his former boss, Junichi Sasai, but was assigned to a different squadron.
During the battle on March 17, his fighter squadron stayed on the aircraft carrier Kaga to provide direct cover.
At 5:12 p.m., the first batch of American planes came from the southeast.
"There are at least 100 planes! It seems that we can make great gains today!"
"Yao Xi, the American devils are here to die. I shot down 2 enemy planes today!"
"Shoot them all down, don't let any go back!"
In Nishizawa's headset came the relaxed and cheerful conversations of his comrades. Although the Germans repeatedly warned, many senior officials of the Japanese Navy also realized that with the emergence of new American fighters, the era of Zero dominating the Pacific skies may have passed.
However, most pilots of the Japanese Navy Air Force did not know this information that hit morale - officer pilots from the Marine Corps could know more bad news, but soldiers and non-commissioned officer pilots were not very clear about this.
They only knew to avoid fighting with the new American aircraft at an altitude of more than 7,000 meters, and they could not use dive tactics to get rid of the opponent's pursuit, and they had to tremble as much as possible.
Nishizawa Hiroyoshi also didn't know that American planes were now very powerful. Like others, he was happily planning to shoot down a few American planes to consolidate his ace status.
Amid cheers, Nishizawa Hiroyoshi's squadron had collided with 12 F6F Hellcat fighters. A fierce fight broke out between the Zero 52 and the F6F Hellcat.
Nishizawa Hiroyoshi also found an F6F and started fighting. After the two planes confronted each other at the same altitude of 800-1000 meters for a while, they began to climb at a large angle at the same time, both wanting to occupy a favorable altitude and fire first.
But Nishizawa soon discovered the problem. The F6F climbed faster than his Zero 52!
After determining that he could not defeat his opponent by climbing speed, Nishizawa Hiroyoshi did not dare to continue to increase the altitude, because the Zero aircraft has never been a plane that can dominate at high altitudes. So Nishizawa Hiroyoshi adopted the tactic of luring the enemy, giving up the pull-up and choosing to dive out. The F6F was fooled, and immediately stopped climbing and started a dive attack. "Climb-Dive-Attack-Disengage" was the only way to fight the Fokker Zero on the European battlefield, and almost all British and American pilots knew it. However, it was not easy to hit the Zero by diving, because the Zero was very flexible, and British and American pilots with poor shooting skills would miss it.
Sure enough, Xi Ze Guangyi's Zero was not hit by the first round of strafing by the F machine gun. Xi Ze took the opportunity to pull the plane up and change it to horizontal flight. Because it was biting Xi Ze's tail, the F6F was unwilling to give up. It also flew horizontally. Xi Ze knew that his chance had come, and he manipulated the plane to perform a stunt of climbing and then flipping, which immediately reversed the situation and bit the tail of the F6F in front.
"Haha, you're done!" Xi Ze Guangyi laughed and pulled the machine gun trigger and the cannon button, and fired 20mm shells and 7.7mm machine gun bullets at the same time.
But at this moment, something unexpected happened to Xi Ze Guangyi. The F6F in front of it rolled right and slid down and turned before the bullets and shells were about to hit it. It actually escaped from under the muzzle of Nishizawa's gun and gun. After escaping, the F6F quickly pulled up again, as if it wanted to occupy a high altitude position for a dive attack again.
"It's really difficult!" Nishizawa, the ace, muttered. He finally knew that the Empire of Japan was in trouble now!
The climbing, speed and dive performance of this new American aircraft exceeded the Zero 52, and its maneuverability was not bad, not to mention its firepower and durability. It seems that it is not an easy task to shoot them down!
Nishizawa was anxious, and Ozawa, who was watching the battle on the Akagi, also found that the future of the Empire of Japan was a little uncertain.
Because the battle in the air was extremely difficult! The number of fighter planes sent by their side was obviously superior (Ozawa did not send out all the direct-cover fighters, but only sent out 60 Zeros to fight with the US fighters, and at the same time sent out 26 Fw-190Ts to drive away the SBDs and TBFs hiding in the high altitudes), but they were unable to win an overwhelming air battle. Instead, they ended up with an evenly matched enemy, and from time to time, Zero planes were shot down and turned into "turkeys" and fell from the sky!