When 12 Japanese aircraft carriers began to assemble towards Rabaul Port, six aircraft carriers of the US Pacific Fleet were also concentrated in San Diego. Among them, the USS Saratoga and Enterprise entered the dock and were undergoing routine maintenance. At the same time, the MK1 dual-mounted water-cooled 40mm anti-aircraft guns were also installed, which were a US copycat version of the famous Bofors anti-aircraft gun. Since the second half of 1942, a large number of these anti-aircraft guns were installed on the US Navy's combat ships.

In addition to the MK1 dual-mounted water-cooled 40mm anti-aircraft gun, a secret weapon called "ne-fighting fuse" also appeared on the US Navy's ships.

This "near-fried fuse" is the size of a beer cup, and it is equipped with five tube-shaped radio transmitters on its head, which constantly emit and receive radio signals. When it flies about 21 meters away from the target, the main shell of electric detonation will explode. In other words, the American anti-aircraft shell does not have to hit Japanese planes, but can explode when it gets close!

However, due to the size of "near-fighting fuze", small and medium-caliber anti-aircraft guns such as 40mm and 20mm are not used. Nowadays, radio near-fighting fuzes are used for 127mm anti-aircraft guns.

"Admiral, the Navy Factory told me that the Saratoga and Enterprise will be out of dock on Saturday, and I want to leave next Monday."

"Bao Bull" Halsey had just returned to the Pacific Fleet Command from the naval factory in San Diego. As soon as he saw Admiral Nimitz, he immediately proposed to lead the fleet to attack.

"Strike?" Nimitz looked up at Halsey who was rushing over. "Where to attack?"

"Of course it's the South Pacific!" Halsey said, "Commander, you won't miss the latest war situation report? The Japanese devils' fleet is concentrating on Rabaul, and their planes are still throwing bombs at Port Moresby. This means they will soon attack Port Moresby!"

"William, we know that the Japanese are about to attack Port Moresby, and we know that they are ready to attack Australia." Lieutenant General Spruenz, the chief of staff of the Pacific Fleet, who was sitting in Nimitz's office, interjected, "The Commander and I are working on countermeasures."

"What else can we study? We cannot lose Australia!" Halsey shouted, "That is a continent of more than 7 million square kilometers. If the Japanese devils want Australia, they will sooner or later become a powerful country like ours."

Although he is yelling fiercely now, in the past few months, the fleet he commanded has never been impulsive when performing escort missions. He will never take the bait any kind of bait set by the Japanese. He will be honest in carrying out the escort mission and walking around the Japanese devils. This guy is a slut. Whoever believes his words must be a big fool.

"Well, of course we can't lose Australia, that's for sure!" Admiral Nimitz nodded and said, "William, since you are here, let's discuss it together."

Halsey nodded, pulled a chair and sat at Nimitz's desk. Nimitz personally picked up the coffee maker and poured Halsey a cup of elegant and fragrant coffee.

"Admiral," Halsey picked up the coffee cup, took a sip, and then analyzed, "We now have 6 carriers, and the Independence will arrive in a few days. That is, 7 fleet aircraft carriers. Although fewer than the 1,012 ships that the Japanese could use, our aircraft carriers can carry more carrier-based aircraft, so they may not suffer any loss when fighting.

In addition, we have also deployed many shore-based aircraft in Australia, including p40 and p38, which are sufficient to fight against the Japanese Zero fighter jets. Moreover, the p40 also has certain ground-to-sea attack capabilities, so that they can participate in air strikes on the Japanese fleet when necessary."

It turned out that Halsey had been thinking about how to offset the advantages of Japan's aircraft carriers and carrier-based aircraft, and also helped him find a way to fight the sea with land and make full use of the p38 and p40 deployed in Australia to fight against Japan's Zero.

As for the p51 that made Yamamoto Irojiu, it is not available on the Pacific battlefield now. These aircraft are now fighting against Folk Zero on the European battlefield.

In addition, the f6f and f4u, which have been eliminated in history, have just been released. The f6f is still undergoing the final test flight, while the f4u has just entered the Navy Air Force trial, but because of the poor landing performance of this type of aircraft (a similar problem to the f190t), it is being complained by pilots on the Independent aircraft carrier.

"William, you have a good idea." Nimitz smiled after listening to Halsey's advice, "But we have the United States and the Army, and they have the responsibility to defend Australia, right? Why do we have to put all the burden on ourselves? I remember that in November this year, we had already transported 9 divisions to Australia."

"Remember, of course I remember." Halsey said with his fingers, "They are the 1st, 2nd, 3rd Division of the Marine War, the 6th, 7th, 24th, 25th Infantry Division, the 11th Airborne Division and the 82nd Airborne Division. It took us nine months to transport them to Australia and we didn't have time to fight the Japanese devils."

"But the US President believes that 9 American divisions are not enough to ensure that Australia is not occupied by the Japanese army..." Nimitz shrugged and said, "The Japanese army's combat effectiveness is very strong! Therefore, the president ordered more troops to be sent to Australia."

“More Army?”

"The Army 1st and 4th Armored Divisions will be shipped to Australia in the near future."

"Transport 2 divisions at a time?" Halsey frowned, "There is one armored division among them. How many ships do you need?"

Spruenz added: "There are also 250 A36 Apache dive bombers and 100 P51b fighters."

Halsey didn't hear of the Apache dive bomber, so he asked: "A36 Apache? What kind of aircraft is this?"

"It was a dive bomber modified with P51," Spruins said. "It was originally intended to be used in Ireland, but now it is allocated half of it to Australia."

"Including these 350 aircraft, the strength of three divisions, as well as 9 divisions and hundreds of aircraft that have been in Australia..." Halsimer calculated, "The ground troops are almost 200,000, and there are thousands of aircraft."

"Not only," Nimitz said, "there are the ANZ Army! There are 200,000 to 300,000 people, more than 1,000 aircraft of various types, and a small fleet." He paused and smiled coldly, "Don't the Japanese fight Australia? Let them fight. When will they fight to Brisbane and Sydney, we will have time to rescue them."

"So what are we doing before this?" Halsey asked.

Nimitz stretched out two fingers and replied: "The first is escort; the second is escort. Four large aircraft carriers are the core of the escort formation, escorting the FS06 (from San Francisco to Sydney) fleet to Sydney. The Assaulter and the Hornets do the escort work, just like the Independence. William, you continue to be responsible for escort, and the three escort teams are handed over to Colonel Mitchell, Major General Aubrifitch and Major General Kincaid."

After a few words, Nimitz assigned the task and looked at Halsey's bull face.

"Okay," Halsey nodded, "Then I'll go to Australia again." He thought for a while and said, "This time the Japanese might enter the Coral Sea to intercept FS06...Their fleet in Rabaul is very large."

Nimitz shrugged and said, "Raymond (Sprounz) and I are studying this matter, but unfortunately we haven't thought of any good idea yet... If the three broken-and-out teams we sent cannot lead the Japanese fleet away from Rabaul, we may have to fight to the death."

The Japanese fleet could intercept the FS06 fleet escorted by Halsey by a thousand and hundreds of nautical miles south of Rabaul. If the Japanese reconnaissed the FS06 fleet, it was very likely that Rabaul's fleet would be dispatched to intercept the Coral Sea.

By then, Halsey would be escorting a large number of merchant ships and tens of thousands of US troops, and it would be impossible to escape. He could only bite the bullet and fight with the Japanese fleet.

...

On the second day after Halsey received a very dangerous but very important escort mission, the USS Independence aircraft carrier and the USS Cleveland light cruiser that had arrived all the way from New York finally arrived in San Diego. Colonel Mitchell, who was also the captain of the USS Independence, got off the ship and rushed directly to Nimitz's headquarters. He went to find Nimitz for the F4U on the USS Independence. The landing performance of these aircraft was a bit bad, and they were in danger during the training during the voyage.

"Is f4u easy to use?" Nimitz frowned. F4u is the latest model of aircraft. If it is not easy to use, then the next battle will be difficult to fight.

"It's not bad, it's hard to land on an aircraft carrier... I think this is a shore-based aircraft with very good performance."

"Strait base?" Nimitz shook his head, "But your people have passed the assessment of flying the F4U on board, which means they can handle it. So I cannot agree to replace the plane, and the current situation is urgent and we cannot delay it."

"The situation is urgent? Is it going to fight?" Colonel Mitchell asked quickly, "Is it a counterattack against Hawaii?"

"No, no, it's a battle."

"Break the deal?" Mitchell was a little disappointed, "Use a submarine?"
Chapter completed!