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Text 99. Coral Sea (5)

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    A red sun gradually disappeared under the sea level. At dusk, 38 landing ships carrying the 13th Marine Division appeared in Suafa Bay at the northern end of Malaita Island. Without encountering any resistance, the land forces  The 13th Division began to land smoothly.

    The US military has an infantry regiment on Malaita Island as a defensive force. This regiment comes from the US 27th Division. This is an army unit adapted from the National Guard. Its combat effectiveness is still the same as that of the Marine Corps composed of volunteers.  There is a certain gap.  More than 3,000 U.S. troops are mainly stationed in the Oki area in the middle of Malaita Island. For Malaita Island, which has an area of ??nearly 4,000 square kilometers, this garrison is basically no different from being undefended.

    The afterglow of the setting sun reflects on the tangled coastal plains of the calm Suafa Bay, and beyond are the rolling mountains and dense tropical jungles.  In the dim light of dusk, the entire coast looks blue-black, but the mountains in the distance look a bit gorgeous under the sunset.

    Fang Minghao stood on the tall bridge of the "Himalaya" about 5 nautical miles away from the coast, observing the landing of the army team through high-power telescopes. Since everything went well, the six battleships originally prepared for fire support were scattered on the sea doing nothing.  .  About ten nautical miles away, two combat formations were formed around four aviation warships.  Further out on the sea, the destroyer fleet and the escort fleet were patrolling back and forth to prevent the fleet from being attacked by enemy submarines.  This possibility is not very likely. The water depth of Suala Bay is only more than fifty meters. Such a shallow water area is not suitable for submarine operations.

    The enemy¡¯s infantry is still fifty kilometers away.  Although the beach was busy, the supplies that had just landed were piled up in a mess at the landing site.  Since there was no fighting, it seemed relatively peaceful.  Fang Minghao went down the gangway outside the combat command room to the officers' dining room on the second floor of the bridge. It was already past dinner time, but there were still some officers who had just changed their posts dining in the restaurant.

    The orderly brought a stainless steel tray to the fleet commander, which contained a set meal. The staple food was rice and three side dishes.  If it were during the war, it would be difficult for him to have time to eat so leisurely.

    At this time, the chief of staff also came down from above.  Sit in front of him.

    "You haven't eaten yet?" Fang Minghao asked.

    "After eating, bring me a cup of coffee!" the chief of staff said to the orderly.

    "What's the emergency?" Fang Minghao scooped up a few pieces of fried green pepper with a spoon.

    "It's nothing serious. The radio surveillance ship reported that it had just intercepted a long series of radio signals, but it could not be deciphered. The sending location is about twenty nautical miles away from us. I think our position was probably discovered by an enemy submarine." Staff Officer  Chang said.

    Fang Minghao didn¡¯t say a word. He put a piece of beef into his mouth.  After chewing hard for a while, he said: "Well, this is inevitable. We will start changing positions after 12 o'clock."

    ¡°I don¡¯t think the enemy will give up on the Solomon Islands easily, and things will definitely not be peaceful for some time to come!¡± the chief of staff picked up the coffee, took a sip and said.  "The transport fleet should be the enemy's key target."

    "According to reports from the submarine force, two enemy fleets were discovered in Vanuatu entering the South Coral Sea. However, the Seventh Fleet, which was originally operating in the Gilbert area, has now lost its trace. This is a dangerous signal. They are ready at any time.  It might appear near us." Fang Minghao quickly finished the food on his plate.  He drank coffee and looked at the sea through the porthole.  The light outside had dimmed.

    After dinner, Fang Minghao climbed up the gangway with the chief of staff and returned to the bridge outside the war room. He had a premonition of some danger and asked the landing fleet to speed up unloading overnight and move the supplies close to the beach to a relatively secluded location as much as possible.  .

    The submarine force discovered very early that there was a second surface fleet behind the U.S. Southwest Pacific Fleet behind them to reinforce Guadalcanal Island. This was not surprising.  The two American fleets, one in Port Vila and the other in Menua, would be strange if they did not move together. The one at the back should be the third fleet commanded by Halsay.

    At 1 a.m. on November 12, Fang Minghao ordered the fleet to retreat to the southeast of Isabel Island. The Republican Army built a military airport on the island, and stationed a naval aviation brigade with approximately 92 combat aircraft.  According to intelligence, the U.S. military urgently expanded two military airports on Guadalcanal Island. The "Cactus Air Force" currently stationed there has about 300 combat aircraft, which is not enough for the landing fleet in Suala Bay.  Yan must be a big threat.

    At 1:18 pm, General Cheng Yaoheng sent a telegram, discovering a large number of radio signals in the waters southwest of Nauru, and the submarine force also reported that it had discovered the enemy's air fleet.  Admiral Cheng judged that it was the main force of the Seventh Fleet commanded by Spruance, and he decided to lead the fleet from the north of Santa Cruz to intercept "the enemy's main fleet."

    Just fell asleepFang Minghao was called up again and returned to the war room. The combat staff had already marked the location of the enemy fleet on the chart based on the intelligence forwarded from the "Guangdong". Subsequently, the communications room received another message from the submarine No. 5216.  A telegram was sent back, reporting a new position of the enemy fleet in the waters west of Nauru.

    Fang Minghao looked at the course of the enemy fleet on the chart, and suddenly turned to his chief of staff and said, "What do you think of this situation?" The course of the enemy fleet was clearly marked on the chart, but it didn't seem to be the same.  It didn't come towards them, but went around to the northwest.

    "Sir, I think there are two possibilities. The enemy fleet may think that our transport fleet has just set off from Rabaul, and they want to launch an attack on us in the northern part of Bougainville Island." Zhao Youting pointed to the track on the chart and said  , "Another possibility is that this is just a bait for the enemy, with the purpose of luring the Second Fleet away from the north of Santa Cruz, so that their main force will rush towards us, and we will be in trouble."

    "It's possible, but where can the enemy summon a task force? They don't have so many aircraft ships." Fang Minghao said, "But the enemy's actions are very suspicious. You would think they would shoot  Are you scared if you don¡¯t let go?¡±

    "The commander of the Seventh Fleet is a cautious person, so it is possible."

    At 5 o'clock in the morning, General Cheng Yaoheng, who was located southeast of the Nukumanus Islands, also sensed the danger. He could not leave the transport fleet too far away. Although the transport fleet was escorted by the Fifth Fleet, they were left to resist the enemy's main fleet alone.  The offense also carries a lot of risk.

    In the war room of the aircraft carrier "Guangdong", the debate about whether the enemy fleet was luring them away has never stopped from the beginning.  When Cheng Yaoheng initially ordered to approach the enemy fleet, he did not expect to leave the transport fleet too far.

    Suafa is now 180 nautical miles away. If it is further away, he may not be able to return support in time.

    Cheng Yaoheng ordered the fleet to give up the pursuit and began to turn around and return south, staying in the eastern waters of Ontong Java Atoll.

    By about 5:10, the sky was already showing white, and it seemed that it would be a clear dawn.  Two squadrons of fighter jets carrying out search missions took off from the "Guangxi" and "Zhejiang" in the white morning light, heading towards the sea area expected last night to search for traces of the enemy fleet.

    At this time, more than 800 nautical miles away to the southwest, Chen Shiying and Kinkaid's fleets also began to send aircraft to search for opponents. In the Coral Sea, due to the rain, it will be more difficult to find the enemy.

    About thirty nautical miles east of Malaita Island and Isabel Island, Fang Minghao did not rush to send out reconnaissance planes. Based on his intuition, he believed that the enemy would not easily give up the attack on the landing fleet. He needed to calmly judge the final outcome.  Dangerous position.

    As if to confirm his idea, at about 6:20, an enemy reconnaissance plane appeared over Suafa Bay. This was a reconnaissance plane dispatched by the enemy from the airport on Guadalcanal. Subsequently, an enemy reconnaissance plane was dispatched from Tulagi.  Seaplanes taking off from the island also appeared in this sea area.

    At 6:45, Fang Minghao decided to send two groups of reconnaissance aircraft in the direction of the Santa Cruz Islands, because that was the place where danger was most likely to occur. On the contrary, the land planes on Guadalcanal Island did not worry him so much.  The Republican Army's military airports in the north of New George Island and Isabel Island can provide cover for the landing troops in Suafa Bay, and the aviation reconnaissance opportunities in the west of Malaita Island can provide early warning for the island.

    His judgment was correct. At this time, Spruance had led the Seventh Fleet to the northern part of the Duff Islands.  (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian to vote for recommendations and monthly votes.
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