At 4:40, after thinking for 2 minutes, Jin Kaide finally made up his mind: "The Enterprise formation attacked the enemy battleship formation according to the direction of Major General Li's instructions, and the Hornet took off the SBD search formation, responsible for searching the 160-degree fan surface from the west to the northeast. ∈♀"

16 sbds carrying 250-pound bombs quickly took off from the Hornet. To make up for the insufficient number of aircraft, each sbd of takeoff reconnaissance carried bombs to attack immediately after the target was discovered. They will use a one-way search method of 10-degree fan surface for each aircraft, covering the entire fan surface within 160 degrees from the west to the northeast. The Enterprise attack cluster has a total of 61 aircraft (the rest are F4F fighters reserved for cover aircraft carriers) that are taking off one after another, preparing to attack the Japanese artillery fleet about 200 nautical miles away.

Almost at the same time when Kincaid issued the order, at the Monta Island Airport, the heads were wrapped in white cloth strips, arranged neatly, and ready to go, Japanese pilots were listening to the speech of the new aviation team commander Lieutenant General Ugaki - he flew over from Rabaul yesterday to arrive at Monta Island to mobilize. At this moment, not only Monta Island, but also all air teams including Bougainville, Rabaul, Laicheng, New Britain and other aviation teams gathered together to wait for the attack order. Horitiki said that the final battle was not just a matter of fun. Not only did the main force of the joint fleet be dispatched, but all the aviation teams in the South Pacific also gathered.

"You are the first group of aircraft to cover our fleet today. The combat mission is to go to the southwest waters of Guadalam to support the Yamato and the commander-in-chief of the Joint Fleet, and to support the entire artillery fleet with air protection parachutes... Our aircraft carrier-based aircraft carriers must concentrate on attacking the enemy fleet. There is no time to cover them too much." Ugaki Chan said to the pilots, "After finding the fleet, he has been guarding the fleet and shooting down any invading American aircraft. Until there is no fuel or there is new instructions..."

What? The pilots all looked at each other - is this what we meant to die in battle?

"Of course it's not for you to die. You are the most precious wealth of the empire. How can you die easily?" Ugaki Chan's face was ferocious, his veins roared, and he waved his fists and said, "If the oil is used up, parachuting. As long as the fleet below is still there, someone will pick you up. Everyone will be alive, don't die! Airplanes are trivial matters, don't take them to heart. There will be updates and better ones..."

Everyone was dizzy. What was the rhythm? From the first day of being a pilot, I was told to care for planes like I was in love with my life. Now, there is more than 200,000 yen for a plane (30 generals can’t afford a Type Zero for a year). If you don’t want it, just don’t want it?

Looking at the at a loss below, Ugaki Chan raised his voice and shouted, "What are you thinking about? What about a Yamato-top 1,000 aircraft... If Yamato sinks, will there be hope for the Joint Fleet? Does Japan still have hope?"

"yes!"

"Report to the sir, the Monda Air Force is ready and can take off."

"All zero-fight pilots are out of the line..."

The 36 fighter pilots took a neat step forward.

Ugaki asked, "Did you remember the direction of Yamato?"

"Remember." All the pilots shouted together.

"Jews, please!" He lowered his head and bowed.

"Combined Fleet on board!"

At 4:45, 36 Zero fighter jets equipped with secondary fuel tanks flew up from Monta Island Airport and flew southeastward.

At 4:45 on November 5, 1942, the sun slowly rose to the horizon. The east was clear and the time for the decisive battle of the Solomon Sea finally came!

Although the radar is better than the US ship, the vision is obviously better than the Japanese sailors. At 4:55, when the two fleets were closer to 47,000 meters, far beyond the radar detection distance, the Japanese lookout post at the top of the Yamato bridge had taken the lead in discovering the US ship looming in the distance. As time went by, the other party's outline became clearer.

The commander's tower ringed loudly, and everyone held their breath and listened to the information reported by the lookout whistle.

"Enemy Fleet: A North Carolina-class battleship (US Washington)." (Note: When the water surface is at a long distance, it is generally difficult to distinguish the number of the other party's ship when it is engaged in a long distance. It can only be called by the level, which is convenient for writing. The author will call it by the name of the ship)

"A New Orleans-class heavy cruiser (San Francisco), a Pensacola-class heavy cruiser (Salt Lake City), an Atlanta-class light cruiser (Atlanta)... 6 destroyers." When the distance was closer to 36,000 meters, the observation post had basically identified the TF64 formation clearly.

At this time, the US ship's watchtower discovered the Japanese fleet shortly after, Major General Li was also nervously listening to the information on the Washington.

"Report, enemy fleet: two Nagamon-class battleships... no...one unknown class battleships... nine heavy cruisers, including three Kaohsiung-class (Aato, Maya, Kaohsiung), two Miao-class (Miao-gao, Yu-gu), four Aoye/Ancient Eagle-class (Aoye, Yiga, Ancient Eagle, Jiagu)..."

"An unknown battleship?" His brows frowned quickly, "What's this thing? Is stronger or weaker than Nagato?"

"This..." The lookout whistle was speechless and could only observe carefully.

"The turrets of this ship are ready." The voice of Captain Yamato Captain Colonel Takayama was heard from the telephone.

"Don't worry, keep waiting." Kondo Nobutake smiled, "Let the Americans get closer... Now firing fires is a waste of ammunition and will scare them."

The distance between the two sides was 3,000 meters closer. "Sir, I see clearly. It should be better than the Nagato-level, at least at the same level as the Nagato-level..." Then the observation post on the Washington screamed in surprise, "The current overall speed of the enemy fleet is 25 knots... It's a hell. Didn't it mean that the Nagato-level can only run 23 knots at the highest?"

The 23rd quarter is a trick of the Japanese Navy's speed when it was built into the Changmen level. In fact, the Nagamen level can run 26 knots, but the US Navy is not clear about this news. Hearing this incident, Major General Li's heart skipped a beat and hurriedly asked the Chief of Staff of the formation: "Has any reconnaissance plane sent an enemy aircraft carrier message?"

"Still not."

"Did our army attack aircraft group set out?"

"I have set out and I am expected to arrive at the battlefield in another 50 minutes."

He heard that it would take 50 minutes to get air support, and his brows frowned even deeper: the Nagato-class was also known as the world's seven battleships back then. Although the Washington in his hand was slightly advantageous in reliance on the small age of the ship, it would be more difficult to pick 2. He thought he would face the old guys of the King Kong class, but he didn't expect to encounter a tough fight. The opponent's speed was not weaker than him, but now he suddenly had an unknown class battleship of no less than the Nagato-class, which made people feel even more difficult, not to mention that Japan's heavy cruisers were also more powerful than the original side. He had to wait for this period of time before he thought for a while before he issued the subsequent order.

"The left rudder is 25 degrees, and the speed is increased to 26 knots, which will increase the distance from the enemy fleet..." While thinking about a proper solution, he issued an order, "Notify tf16\17 to find a super long gate-level item. At present, the enemy fleet has a great advantage. This fleet plans to use the speed advantage to strive to maintain contact with the enemy while avoiding engagement."

"Twenty minutes have passed, and I haven't received a telegram from the reconnaissance plane yet... It can be concluded that the enemy aircraft carrier is at least 100 nautical miles away. My cover aircraft group must have arrived before the enemy attack aircraft group." Kuro Renyi shouted excitedly after returning from the telegram room - the moment was his most nervous moment. Although Hori Teiki had comforted him a long time ago, he still felt as if his heart was being held.

Awakened by the shouting, Hori Teiki finally "recovered" from his eyes closed and took a nap - in fact, he didn't fall asleep either. He joked: "Kun Kuro, didn't expect it - he didn't realize that the enemy aircraft carrier has become a good thing now!"

"Sir..." Cao Lu Renyi lowered her head embarrassedly, "I'm very sorry, my judgment ability is insufficient."

"Notify the Monta Air Force to set off against the ship and attack the aircraft group, and the attack target is an enemy battleship formation, and inform the enemy's expected location after 30 minutes." Horitiki looked at the chart and issued two more orders, "Notify the Rabaul Air Force to set off for the first cover cluster, and inform the fleet of its expected location after 45 minutes; notify the mobile fleet to continue to hide and wait for the attack order."

Cao Lu Ren said loudly: "Yes!"

"The enemy fleet is turning..."

"I want to run? It's too late." Kondo Nobutake, who was commanding the fleet to fight, sneered, "The entire fleet follows the flagship assault, and the Yamato is ready to shoot first."

"Currently, the distance between Washington: 32,470 meters..." Although the tf64 formation tried to turn and disengage, the relative distance between the two sides continued to be close because the speed was slower during the steering.

"Assigned fire targets: Yamato target-Washington; Nagamon target-San Francisco; Muao target-Salt Lake City, armor-piercing missile preparation..."

“31080 meters…”

After the "boom", the Washington turned stubbornly while using the triple-mounted 406mm main gun on the tail turret to fire first.

After a few dozen seconds, three shells entered the water more than 1,500 meters in front of the Yamato, splashing three high columns of water.

"Hmph, it's ridiculously far away." Kondo Nobutake was unmoved, "Don't pay attention and keep moving..."

"29,420 meters." When the observation post reported this distance, the preliminary steering had been completed. The Washington, which could use all the firepower on the side, began to fire in turn. All nine shells crossed the Yamato bridge and entered the water. The nearest one was more than 1,200 meters behind him, and still did not pose any threat.

"It's a little closer." Kondo Nobutake carefully observed the landing point of the shell, his face began to be serious, and he also put away his contempt.

"27835 meters." The lookout sentry reported the latest distance, and it was already 5:15 points. He finally issued an order: "Fire!"

The gunner, who had been impatient for a long time, quickly fired the famous 460mm main gun, but since the Yamato was the bow of the ship against the enemy, only the two turrets on the front deck could be fired.

After the Yamato opened fire, Nagato and Muro fired one after another...
Chapter completed!