As noon approached, the bright sunshine shone on the sea through the diffuse smoke. The warships with star-striped flags, whether intact or in disarray, were actively gathering their formations and re-establishing them to wait for the next wave of attack from the enemy to arrive.

The command ship of this US aircraft carrier combat formation is the "Belle Forest". It is an improved York City-class aircraft carrier with a displacement of 34,000 tons. It has enhanced deck protection on the basis of the Old York City-class, simplified the bow, lengthened the deck, and improved the power system layout. The maximum load capacity is still 96 aircraft. This time, the Marshall Islands Naval Battle was launched, and the experienced Lieutenant General James Richardson served as the commander of the aircraft carrier combat formation as the commander of the 4th Special Mixed Fleet of the US Navy. After being attacked by the Japanese carrier-based aircraft group suddenly and violently, he did not fail, but quickly organized a powerful counterattack.

Less than twenty minutes after the Japanese carrier-based aircraft group left, the deck takeoff areas of the four major American aircraft carriers were filled with carrier-based aircraft that were put into counterattack. On the Capote, the same class as the Belu Forest, the Warhawk number K-307 was the first to fly off the deck. Anyone with a little knowledge knew that this was a Ju-17t dive bomber that was terrifying Britain and dominating the Atlantic Ocean, but few people knew what kind of tough figure was Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Scheram, a retired German Navy pilot, a first-class Iron Cross, and a third-class Red Eagle Medal.

As well as the winner of the Gold Medal of Merit, an outstanding naval bomber pilot and tactical commander, the personal record ranks 14th among all German pilots. The warships sunk by him can form a maritime combat team. The reason why this German Navy ace devoted itself to the Pacific battlefield is not just the high salary of 1,200 marks per week and additional attendance bonuses offered by the US Navy. In a big way, it is to carry forward the spirit of internationalism and help white countries fight against the over-expanding evil empire. In a small way, it is to reflect personal value and strive to climb a new peak in career.

Like Lieutenant Colonel Scheram, there are more than 400 German pilots who retired early and joined the U.S. Navy Air Force as a mercenary, which is comparable to the volunteers in Ireland. However, compared with Irish pilots, the Germans have certain obstacles in language communication and cultural exchanges. Once they are captured on the battlefield, they are more likely to be identified by the Japanese. Therefore, the US military commanders have agreed to list German pilots as the ultimate reserve team, and they will not be sent to the battlefield unless they have to. Now they are sent to Lieutenant Colonel Scheram and the 222nd carrier-based dive bomber squadron, mainly German pilots, which shows the importance of this battle!

After taking off, Lieutenant Colonel Scheram drove his Ju-17t several times around the periphery of the US fleet, and the 11 "Thunder Hammers" to which the squadron belonged came one after another. They lined up in a neat V-shaped formation, and then flew south at a cruise speed of 220 kilometers per hour. This speed is not only inferior to the conventional cruise speed of the US-made SB2U "Guardian", but is even slower than the "Saidfish" torpedo bomber jointly developed and produced by the United States and Britain. This is also the key reason why the aviation commander arranged the Ju-17t formation to take the lead.

The ju-17t under no load state does not fly slowly. If the range is not considered at all, they can soar at a high altitude at a speed of nearly 400 kilometers per hour. However, these "Thunder Hammers" taken off the US aircraft carrier are equipped with the deadliest killer 1,000 pounds, or 450 kilograms of heavy aviation armor-piercing bombs, and carry an additional 200-liter secondary fuel tank, in order to increase the combat radius to the waters where the Japanese aircraft carrier team is located.

The York City class, York City class and the Allied Class secretly leased from Ireland are equipped with three elevators, which can take off carrier-based aircraft at a very fast speed. Within 45 minutes of front and rear intervals, 42 dive bombers, 34 torpedoes and 58 fighter jets that were put into counterattack were all launched.

At this time, in the northeastern waters of Nauru Island, the six aircraft carriers of the Japanese aviation team, "Xianghe", "Ruihe", "Dafeng", "Xiangfeng", "Ruifeng", and "Dragon and Phoenix", were divided into two columns, and under the strict escort of light ships, heading north to Xujin. The middle and senior officers had learned from the radio telegram sent back by the attacking aviation troops that the first wave of air strikes was successful. After sending out the second wave of attack aircraft group, everyone was waiting for the triumph of the pioneers and heroes with joy, but they did not know that the American submarines deployed in the waters of Nauru Island were hunting down their trails...

The first anti-submarine alarm was the escort destroyer on the right wing of the Japanese aircraft carrier team. The watchman on the ship witnessed four torpedoes galloping under the sea and quickly notified the bridge to avoid emergency. The Japanese destroyer avoided this group of hidden arrows with his agile maneuverability, but the crisis was not lifted. The four torpedoes continued to move forward at a speed of about 40 knots. In front of their route, the most precious aircraft carrier of the Japanese Combined Fleet showed their long wall-like side. From the Japanese destroyer that had avoided the torpedo, the more than 20 ships in the aircraft carrier formation formed a huge "section". As long as the four torpedoes continue to maintain their existing speed and course, the possibility of hitting a ship is very high!

In desperation, the officers and soldiers on the destroyer quickly used their naval guns to block the torpedoes. From a distance, the scene was that the destroyer was attacking the aircraft carrier formation of the side. However, the water columns of all sizes were dense, but none of them could detonate the torpedoes.

In order to urgently contact the aircraft carrier formation to avoid torpedoes, the Japanese destroyer did not care whether the radio was silent or not. The commander used a clear code channel to directly inform other escort ships of the torpedo movements. After all, the speed of this torpedo is less than 5 seconds, and it only takes 3 minutes to cross the distance of 1,000 yards. The time is no longer allowed for communication personnel to activate the signal lights!

Influenced by geography, ship design concepts, and construction background, the Japanese Navy's aircraft carriers generally have the characteristics of fast speed and good maneuverability. The design speed of the Ruihe class reaches 34 knots and the "Dafeng" is 33 knots. Unlike other Japanese Navy aircraft carriers, the 30,000-ton "Dafeng" has been given the role of an aircraft carrier commander from the design stage. The communication command capability and protection and sink resistance are better than the carrying capacity and absolute speed. Because it adopts a series of advanced technologies such as lightning walls, lightning protection compartments, and double ship bottoms, it was named "Immortal Dafeng" after it was completed and put into service, and it was said that "can be able to persist without sinking even if it is hit by an ordinary torpedo."

"The torpedo attacks from the starboard direction! Take a evasion! Take a evasion urgently!"

"Quick left full rudder! Left full rudder!"

On the bridge of the "Immortal Big Phoenix", Captain Yamaguchi Daowen tried his best to tear his throat. The rudder plate was rotating rapidly in the hands of the chief mate, and the rapid turn of the warship also caused the deck to tilt slightly. The sound of cannons on the ship was evacuated, and the ground shells quickly sparked large or small water columns on the nearby sea. However, in a hurry, the bullet point of the light and heavy artillery was still a long way from the torpedoes in the water, and the waves raised by the shells did not help change their trajectory. Even so, the most worried thing about the sailors did not happen. Perhaps the captain issued a turning order in time, or perhaps the ground torpedoes fired by the other party were not originally coming for him, and the torpedoes passed through the front of the bow. Seeing the white track formed by bubbles so close, the fragile nerves on the bridge were almost in shock.

Amid the shouts of the officers, the sailors who controlled the naval guns quickly locked the artillery fire on the white water marks that were "swimming" forward rapidly. At this time, the entire fleet was already filled with alarms, and the sound of guns and cannons passed by. Wherever the torpedoes were heading, warships that were turning desperately, whether they were destroyers, cruisers or larger warships, and there was no such great destructive power brought by torpedo attacks. After the efforts of the officers and soldiers, two of the four torpedoes were finally detonated by the artillery fire on the ship, and the other two passed through the entire group of ships.

The crisis was lifted, and then a considerable number of destroyers in the aviation team were sent to search for the attackers. Although the remaining warships escaped the disaster, they had to worry about accidental collisions between friendly ships. This kind of thing happened too many times in modern naval history.

A short while, a dull roar sounded from a distance, which was the Japanese destroyer dropping strings of deep water bombs. The splashes caused by these bombs after the explosion were like white mushrooms growing on the sea. Their sounds seemed to be less than large caliber naval guns, but they were fatal to those submarines sailing under the water. However, this time the Japanese did not seem to have accurately found the target. After dropping dozens of deep water bombs one after another, no trace of oil appeared on the sea. Several Japanese destroyers searched the nearby sea for a long time, but they really found no valuable targets, so they turned around and chased the large army.

After a messy re-formation, the Japanese aviation fleet warship group finally set off again, but after the "shock" just now, they dared not continue to move forward in a straight line. The flagship quickly issued an order to take the "z" anti-submarine route, but in this way, the fleet's maneuver power and efficiency in responding to air strikes were reduced accordingly.
Chapter completed!