All-people naval warfare: from patrol boats to aircraft carrier fleets

Naturally, such a big move cannot be so easy and smooth. No matter how good their flying skills are, those Wildcat carrier-based fighter pilots in the sky still have this vision. The huge hull and long flight deck of the aircraft carrier are so in their eyes. conspicuous.

As the F4F Wildcat carrier-based fighter jets dived at high speed, they dropped more 12.7mm empty machine gun bullets and 45KG-level aerial bombs. Not too violent explosions suddenly sounded on the flight deck..

Not to mention the damage to the flight deck, under such a blow, nearly 10 carrier-based aircraft tied to the flight deck were completely blown up. The huge fireballs were like light bulbs on the flight deck. Generally dazzling, thick black smoke rose from the deck, and it felt as if the aircraft carrier had suffered heavy damage.

Because most of the Wildcats went to besiege the aircraft carrier, there were fewer carrier-based fighter jets attacking other escort warships. They did not cause too serious damage to these escort warships, but many anti-aircraft gun emplacements were destroyed. It was blown to pieces, and countless holes were opened in the already imperfect and tight anti-aircraft firepower.

When the number of 64 SBD Dauntless dive bombers that took off later arrived over the fleet, the pilots discovered that the opponent's anti-aircraft firepower was quite sparse, allowing them to successfully fly over the battleship without much interference and transfer the mounted A 700KG heavy aviation bomb was dropped

"boom"、"boom"、""Boom."

Simply comparing the ability to damage battleships, the F4F Wildcat carrier-based fighter cannot even catch up with the SBD Dauntless dive bomber. The 700KG aerial bomb will cause serious damage even to a thick-skinned battleship. , not to mention these relatively weakly armored cruisers and destroyers. The remaining anti-aircraft artillery on the escort warships was still firing 800 times in the air, trying to drive away all the carrier-based bombers flying around the warships. However, its effect is quite limited.

Not to mention the large group of F4F Wildcat carrier-based fighters that are constantly strafing at low altitudes with four 12.7mm airborne machine guns, killing a large number of personnel. Even the SBD Dauntless dive bombers are also equipped with two 12.7mm airborne machine guns. After the machine guns dropped the mounted aerial bombs, the pilots of these SBD dive bombers did not return. Instead, they continued to use the aerial machine guns to join the battle to suppress the anti-aircraft firepower of the escort warships.

"boom"、"boom"、""Boom!"

Violent explosions were heard one after another on the sea. The power of the 700KG heavyweight aerial bomb was fully demonstrated at this moment. Almost all the warships in the escort fleet were hit by more than one aerial bomb, and the superstructure was blown to pieces. Somewhat unlucky. Even the main turret of the battleship was blown away, and a raging fire was ignited on the upper floor of the ship. Fortunately, the fire did not spread to the ammunition compartment, otherwise a large amount of ammunition would explode, even with the special characteristics of the great maritime world. Under the protection of combat rules, the battleship would also sink on the spot.

Despite this, faced with the indiscriminate bombing by the 64SBD dive bombers, the entire escort fleet still suffered heavy losses, especially the destroyer with the weakest armor value, which had been hit by the continuous explosions. As many as 3 ships were sunk.

With their armor value of more than 6,000 points, it would not take too many to face the bombardment of 700KG-level heavy aviation bombs. At most, 5 bombs could kill these destroyers.

Although more SBD dive bombers went to siege the aircraft carrier and heavy cruiser, the number of bombers used to bomb the destroyer was not large, but the armor value of the destroyer was not enough. The bombing did not last long. In just 10 minutes, the fleet sent by Lütjens appeared in the sea about 10 kilometers away from the escort fleet, looking through the telescope at the tragic situation on the battlefield ahead.

Lin Yongsheng, who was in charge of temporarily commanding the fleet, was drooling. It flowed down, no matter what the formation was, and quickly assigned attack targets to each warship. The main gun turrets began to rotate slowly, and the black muzzles pointed at the escort warships ahead that were still undergoing aerial bombardment.

"boom"、"boom"、""Boom!"

Amidst the more intense roars, artillery shells of different calibers flew out from the muzzle, passed through the air, and with a unique whistling sound, fell around the escorting warship, which was already in the situation. The escort warships in dire straits brought an even heavier blow.

The appearance of this fleet, which numbered 11 ships, actually did not hide the radars equipped on the escort fleet warships, but they were trying their best to defend against aerial bombing. , the entire fleet was blown apart, and there was no way to form a battle formation. To meet this new fleet, they could only fight on their own, using the surviving main guns to launch random counterattacks. The shells from both sides staggered in the air. , fell into the vicinity of the opponent's warship, and exploded into huge water columns. However, in comparison, it was obviously the Chinese fleet's attack that was much calmer. There were not a large number of carrier-based aircraft above their heads. Interference and attacks allowed them to devote themselves wholeheartedly to the artillery battle, especially the Booker-class light cruiser that had recently joined the Chinese fleet. Although this class of light cruiser was a product of the United States under the restrictions of the Naval Treaty, the United States The Navy took a different approach. In order to strengthen the firepower of the Brooklyn-class light cruiser, it went so far as to equip five triple 152mm guns, which brought the number of main guns of this light cruiser to 15. The number of such main guns is almost more than It is twice the main gun of other light cruisers. Under this salvo, the firepower is quite amazing.

Although there is no fire control system and no range finder, whether it is a New Orleans-class heavy cruiser or a Brooklyn-class light cruiser, Cruisers are all equipped with seaplanes. When one's own side firmly controls the air superiority, these (ajac) seaplanes are so bold. They fly in mid-air and act as eyes for the light and heavy cruisers to observe the impact points. Those with seaplanes Guidance, and our own side has no scruples. The salvos of the entire fleet are becoming more and more accurate. In a salvo attack, more shells fall on the hulls of these escort warships.

In the escort fleet The remaining three destroyers are the most pitiful. They were already seriously damaged by the indiscriminate bombardment of the carrier-based aircraft group, and now they are attacked by 127mm, 152mm and 203mm diameter artillery shells. It is really worse. There is no With more opportunities to struggle, the armor value was lost and sank into the sea.

However, the blow caused by the Chinese fleet to the escort fleet was far from over. Finally, the 64TBF Avenger torpedo attack aircraft, which was also the slowest, took off slowly and leisurely. arrived over the battlefield.

These torpedo planes carried 907KG-level aviation torpedoes. In terms of power, they were more powerful than the 700KG-level aerial bombs mounted on the SBD. How could the escort warships that had been seriously damaged be able to withstand it.

In order to clear the attack route for the newly arrived TBF torpedo attack aircraft group, the pilots of the F4F Wildcat carrier-based fighter jets and SBD fearless dive bombers, which had been wreaking havoc for most of the day and were almost running out of ammunition, flew their fighters to altitude and formed a formation. Returning, the battlefield was left to the torpedo attack fleet.

At first glance, the number of carrier-based aircraft roaring over the battlefield was reduced by half, but in fact, for the escort fleet, the situation became more serious. The six destroyers with the largest number in the escort fleet All have been sunk, which allows this new batch of torpedo attack aircraft to use all their torpedoes on the remaining six warships.

Even if it is evenly distributed, a warship will face the attack of 10 heavy aviation torpedoes. How can a warship that has been bombed to a miserable and semi-disabled state be able to withstand such an attack, let alone the opponent's 11 warships? They are constantly firing towards this side. The firepower is quite fierce.

"Tom"、"Tom"、"Tom"

"boom"、"boom"、"Boom!

One after another, 907KG-level aviation torpedoes fell into the sea from under the belly of the TBF Avenger torpedo attack aircraft, and then hit the waterline armor part of the escort warship at extremely fast speeds. The aviation torpedoes dropped at close range , very few failed, and most of the torpedoes successfully hit the target.

A series of explosions almost covered up the roar of the artillery battle between both sides, with a large amount of water splashing, and thick smoke with a trace of The flames emerged, and the remaining six warships in the escort fleet really suffered a serious crime.

In the violent explosion, the aircraft carrier in the escort fleet was suddenly blown up, and then the bow of the ship plunged into the water. The tail was raised high, and it could no longer balance. It sank completely into the sea at a very fast speed.

In fact, some sharp-eyed carrier-based aircraft pilots had already recognized it during the first bombing. They knew the identity of this aircraft carrier. Although it was different from the Yanhuang's original body, the Borg-class escort aircraft carrier, the structure and the sparse number of carrier-based aircraft made them almost certain that this was an escort aircraft carrier. That's it.

It's just a pity that because the fleets of both sides were too close, the attack was launched hastily, and no carrier-based reconnaissance aircraft was launched to conduct reconnaissance and take reconnaissance photos. Otherwise, with Ramsey's professional knowledge, he would have been able to recognize it. This aircraft carrier is an improved model of the Borg-class escort aircraft carrier - the Casablanca-class escort aircraft carrier.

In fact, there seems to be a big difference between the two. The Borg-class is modified using the hull of a merchant ship, while the Casablanca is designed separately. It was built separately, and even made up for the Borg-class's difficulty in taking off and landing aircraft in bad weather conditions.

But in the final analysis, this is an escort aircraft carrier with a displacement of about 12,000 tons, and the number of carrier-based aircraft is less than 30 aircraft, not much more powerful than the Borg...