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Text Chapter 270 Coral Sea

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    At the beginning of 1943, the Pacific was a bleak scene for the Allies, but there were still things that were important to the course of the war.  On January 20, 1943, the Japanese No. 124 was sunk while laying mines in Darwin Harbor. The U.S. military subsequently used a diving vessel to fish out the code book from the No. 124.  In the following months, as intelligence accumulated, especially after the air attack on Tokyo, Japan made an excessive response and almost sent out the combined fleet.  The intelligence office at Pearl Harbor began to gradually decipher Japanese codes and used scattered intelligence to gradually map out the offensive spearhead of the Combined Fleet.  This secret was the most important basis for the U.S. Navy to deal with the combined fleet in the early days of the Pacific War. Although through deciphering the code, it was known that the Japanese army was about to land in Port Morbiz, and its advance team would first occupy Tulagi and then  We basically have a grasp of the amount of troops Japan has invested.  Nimitz was determined to prevent the Japanese from landing at Morbitz. This was not a decision that could be made lightly, because it was not easy for the Allies to assemble the necessary forces to deal with the incoming enemy.  The Saratoga was damaged by a Japanese submarine and repaired on the west coast. The Enterprise and the Hornet were on their way back from the attack on Tokyo. The 8th Task Force Lexington and the 17th Task Force Yorktown were available.  aircraft carrier, 8 cruisers and 13 destroyers.  Under the unified command of Fletcher, the two fleets entered the Coral Sea on May 1.  The first battle began on May 3. When Fletcher's navy received news that the Japanese were landing at Tulagi, his Yorktown was still on the sea more than a hundred miles west of Buttercap Point.  ¡°This is the news we have been waiting for a month,¡± he wrote.  He immediately stopped refueling and ordered to sail north to the central Solomon Islands at a speed of 26 knots per hour.  At dawn on May 4, the aircraft carrier Yorktown arrived at the sea about a hundred miles southwest of Guadalcanal (please remember this name). The aircraft carrier fighter pilot read the introduction in the old National Geographic magazine and asked  Enemy forces in the sea off Tulagi launched a series of attacks, destroying seaplanes and sending back exaggerated reports of how many enemy ships had been sunk.  Fletcher happily reported the good news of victory to Pearl Harbor, and then the US fleet also headed for West Morbitz.  Nimitz later re-evaluated the so-called Battle of Tulagi: "Compared with the ammunition consumed and the results achieved, this battle is definitely disappointing." Another mistake of this attack was to expose the U.S. military's  Due to its strength, the United States had an intelligence advantage before the Battle of the Coral Sea.  After the attack on Tulagi.  The intelligence on both sides was evened out.  On May 6, under the cover of dense clouds, Fletcher rendezvoused with Admiral Grace's heavy cruiser and the Lexington and refueled together.  The latest intelligence from Pearl Harbor indicates.  The troops invading Port Moresby, covered by two aircraft carriers, will pass through the Luisiad Islands the next day.  Fletcher then headed west straight into the Coral Sea.  Little did Fletcher know that he had been spotted that afternoon by a searching Japanese seaplane.  After learning that two US aircraft carriers were heading to intercept the Japanese fleet invading Port Moresby, there was almost panic in the headquarters of Vice Admiral Inoue Rabaul.  The headquarters urgently ordered the transport ship to stop moving forward.  The mobile force led by Rear Admiral Takagi, mainly composed of the Shokaku and Zuikaku, was refueling south of Guadalcanal when it received the alert. When he was ready to reduce the distance to launch an air attack, the fleet encountered a thick  of clouds.  So.  He decided to keep on refueling and wait until dawn to chase again.  At about 4 o'clock on May 7, since the position of the US fleet was basically known, the Japanese mobile formation dispatched 12 carrier-based aircraft into 6 groups to search for enemies within a distance of 250 nautical miles between 180 degrees and 270 degrees.  At 5:45, the Japanese aircraft searching southward reported: "One enemy aircraft carrier and one cruiser each were found."  From 6:00 to 6:15, 9 Zero fighters, 17 bombers, and 11 torpedo planes took off from Zuihe, and 9 Zero fighters, 19 bombers, and 13 torpedo planes took off from Shokaku.  A total of 78 Japanese aircraft.  Fly towards the found target.  But when they arrived at the target, they discovered that it was not the US aircraft carrier formation, but the oil tanker Neosho and the destroyer Sims that separated from Fletcher's team on the afternoon of the 6th. The two ships were zoomed in a circle each, and they must have looked like an aircraft carrier.  and a cruiser.  The Japanese assault aircraft group flew over the team and found that it was not an aircraft carrier.  After repeated searches for two hours on the nearby sea surface, no other targets were found.  Among them, the torpedo planes did not attack and began to return at 9:15, while the 36 draft bombers reluctantly attacked the initially discovered target between 9:26 and 40 minutes.  This is the feeling of killing a chicken with a sledgehammer.  Sims was hit by three 250-kilogram bombs, two of which exploded in the engine room.  It sank in less than 60 seconds.  The Neosho was hit by 7 bombs and sank after drifting at sea for several days carrying the fire.  At this time, Fletcher¡¯s main force of US aircraft carriers was heading west after breaking up with the oil tankers, hoping to intercept the Japanese??'s landing fleet, but the US fleet also made the same mistake: no fleet troops were found.  Two hours after dawn, a patrol plane aboard the Lexington reported "spotting two aircraft carriers and four heavy cruisers."  Fletcher thought this was a Japanese aircraft carrier force and decided to attack with all his strength.  The USS Lexington dispatched 28 bombers, 12 torpedo planes, and 10 fighter planes, and the USS Yorktown dispatched 25 bombers, 10 torpedo planes, and 8 fighter planes. A total of 93 carrier-based aircraft flew toward the target.  After flying to the target, it was discovered that they were two light cruisers and two gunboats. They were the cover force for the Japanese landing. Due to a password error, they were exaggerated into an assault force.  But the U.S. military finally found a target worth attacking in the exaggerated fleet: the aircraft carrier Shoho.  After half an hour of attacks by 93 American fighters and bombers, Shoho had been hit by 13 bombs and 7 torpedoes.  Izawa ordered the ship to be abandoned.  A few minutes later, the Shoho sank, leaving only a cloud of black smoke and an oil stain spreading across the Coral Sea, marking the loss of the first large ship of the Imperial Japanese Navy here.  On the morning of May 7, the attack fleets of the United States and Japan were just on the edge of each other's attack range. However, the two sides did not detect each other due to technical reasons, and each other missed the opportunity to attack first.  The mistake made by the US military was more dangerous because the carrier-based aircraft it attacked deviated from its main threat by more than 90 degrees, but the US military achieved greater results - knocking out an aircraft carrier; the mistake made by the combined fleet was a pity because  They at least knew the approximate location of their primary targets.  When the Fifth Air Force wants to correct its mistakes.  We were faced with a time problem: we would take off at 14:00 in the afternoon and return at 18:00 (2 hours after sunset). This was not an easy decision to make in 1942, but Lieutenant General Hara Chuichi of the Fifth Air Force still sent 12 bombers and  15 torpedo planes separated from the ship at 14:15 and flew towards the expected target.  Dusk.  The fighter plane actually flew over the US fleet, but due to weather conditions, no target was found. It was only when it returned that it discovered the US fleet, but these fighters had already dropped their bombs.  and was intercepted by American Wildcat fighter jets.  In the twilight, several disoriented Japanese pilots mistakenly attempted to land on the Yorktown.  But because the recognition signal was wrong, the anti-aircraft gunners discovered it and shot one of them into the sea, while the others hurriedly fled into the night.  This made Fletcher also realize that the Japanese Navy aircraft carrier was nearby.  The duel between aircraft carriers that determines the outcome of this regular battle must take place the next day.  In the last hour before departure on May 8, the same preparations were completed on the four aircraft carriers within 200 nautical miles of the Coral Sea. The only difference may be that the American pilots were given chocolates, while the Japanese pilots were given rice cakes.  The reconnaissance planes all set off before sunrise.  It was fate that the searching aircraft would discover each other's targets almost simultaneously.  At 8:15, the U.S. military's northernmost reconnaissance aircraft sent back a report: The enemy's aircraft carrier task force was approaching the USS Lexington at a speed of 25 knots on the sea about 175 miles northeast of the Lexington.  Head south.  Mere minutes later, the U.S. aircraft carrier's radio station received an elated report from the Japanese, apparently indicating that they themselves had been discovered.  Subsequently, the Yorktown and Lexington took off a total of 15 fighters, 46 bombers and 21 torpedo planes, a total of 82 aircraft to attack the Japanese fleet.  One hour and three quarters later, the U.S. assault fleet discovered that the Shokaku and Zuikaku were heading southeast, with the two aircraft carriers eight miles apart.  Each was escorted by two heavy cruisers and destroyers.  While the Americans were using their precious few minutes to organize an attack in the clouds, the Shokaku took the opportunity to dispatch more fighter jets, while the Zuikaku hid in the nearby sea under heavy rain.  The American pilots who launched their first attack on the heavily defended enemy fleet's aircraft carrier were still in disarray when faced with a truly powerful enemy.  The torpedo planes and bombers were scattered by the Zero fighters.  And lack of cooperation, the torpedoes were fired into the sea, far away from the target, and the bombing was blind.  Only two bombs hit Shokaku.  A fire broke out on the flight deck of the Shokaku due to a fuel leak.  More than ten minutes later, the plane from the Lexington arrived.  But it was difficult to spot the enemy ships under the thick clouds.  Causes the attack to suffer further setbacks.  Only fifteen bombers finally found a target, but they were only protected by six Wildcat fighters and were easily scattered by Zero fighters. The torpedo attack failed again, and the bombers only dropped one bomb.  When the remaining 43 US military aircraft returned, they found that their Japanese opponents were able to launch a more effective attack.  Thanks to radar, the Lexington's fighter commanders were aware of the enemy aircraft's arrival while they were still more than seventy miles to the northeast and launched fleet aircraft to intercept them.  But the 69 carrier-based aircraft of the 5th Air Force have not yet been intercepted.It has been divided into three attack teams.  The Japanese torpedo fleet first flew over the USS Yorktown.  Because the ship evaded flexibly, the Japanese aircraft's attack was ineffective.  However, as the two aircraft carriers in the circular warning sequence were evading on their own, the distance between the two ships quickly widened and the warning ship was also divided into two, thereby weakening the air defense and giving Japan  There is an opportunity to take advantage of.  Japanese planes launched eight torpedoes on the port side of the Yorktown, but they were all avoided by the ship.  Then the bombers began to drop bombs on the Yorktown.  An 800-pound bomb hit the flight deck near the bridge of the ship, but the battle continued.  When the Japanese torpedo fleet attacked the USS Lexington, it successfully used pincer tactics, projecting torpedoes from both sides of the ship's bow at a height of 15-70 meters and a distance of 1,000-1,500 meters.  Due to the Lexington's large tonnage, large circle radius, and inflexible turning, 2 of the 13 torpedoes launched by Japanese aircraft hit the port side of the ship, causing water to enter the boiler room in three places.  While the Lexington was desperately avoiding torpedoes, the Japanese bomber fleet began to attack it again, and two more bombs hit the target.  The encounter lasted only thirteen minutes, and as the Japanese flew away, they cheerfully reported that they had avenged the Shoh¨­'s defeat the day before, unequivocally sinking a "large aircraft carrier" and a "large aircraft carrier."  Medium aircraft carrier".  In fact, although the Lexington was hit by torpedoes and bombs and had a 7-degree heel, the ship restored its balance after adjusting its fuel and continued to accept returning aircraft for landing.  At the same time, the fighter jets are refueled and forced into the air.  However, due to a fuel leak, a sudden explosion occurred inside the Lexington and caused a fire. The fire spread rapidly and became uncontrollable.  Around 15:00 in the afternoon, the captain ordered all crew members to leave the ship.  At about 17:00, the destroyer USS Phelps was ordered to launch 5 torpedoes at it, and the Lexington sank at 17:56.  The 36 aircraft that had landed on the ship also sank into the sea.  Although there were still 27 bombers and torpedo planes and 12 fighter planes on the USS Yorktown, the 17th U.S. Task Force, it was already night and Fletcher had no intention of fighting anymore, so he led the team to withdraw from the battlefield.  The next day, when the pilots of the Zuikaku conducted reconnaissance patrols again to pursue the US ship, only the wreckage of the Lexington was left on the sea.  (To be continued.,,,. Mobile phone users please go to read
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