Before the attack group of Tsukahara Niso San's attack aircraft took off, the Bumblebee carrier-based aircraft formation, which was far less than the mobile fleet, took off to attack the artillery fleet, trying to avenge the destroyed TF64 formation.≤For this attack, Kincaid left 12 F4F fighter jets, ventured to draw the remaining aircraft on the Bumblebee (excluding the 16 SBDs sent out in the morning, and there were 71 aircraft left)

, formed an offensive formation of 59 aircraft, with Major William Wedeheim as the commander-in-chief of the offensive, and the SBD piloted by Welch and Johnson. The Bumblebee attacking formation quickly climbed to an altitude of 3,600 meters and used rain clouds to cover the road all the way to find the Japanese artillery fleet. During this period, due to the storm, Welch lost his target for a while, but found the right direction again after the weather was clear.

The Japanese artillery fleet slightly changed its route according to the report sent by the reconnaissance aircraft, but overall it still galloped to the southwest with all its might. The combat staff expected that the distance between the two sides would be reduced to 190 nautical miles in half an hour.

The progress of the US military was not smooth. The sbd, who was the guide, arrived at the designated location and did not find the fleet for a while, so he used radio to report to Wadeheim that "the enemy fleet is not here." However, Wadeheim thought of McGrasky's experience in Midway Island. At an altitude of 1,500 meters, there was still a possibility of losing an enemy ship. He decided to continue searching. After 5 minutes, the facts proved that his judgment was correct. All ships of the artillery fleet appeared in the field of view of the second attack wave, through the clouds,

He saw the main force of the Japanese artillery fleet that was distributed 14 nautical miles in front and back, and the three ships Nagato, Yamato and Muro in the middle were particularly eye-catching. Especially the Yamato, which had never appeared publicly, made all American pilots take a breath of air conditioning. Because the pilot reported the fierce air defense firepower of the Japanese fleet during the first wave of attacks, he ordered all aircraft groups not to attack the Yamato, the most center of the Japanese fleet, but to detour the left and right wings to attack the periphery. Once the enemy is in chaos, he will wait for an opportunity to attack the central warship.

At 7:47, it was discovered that the news of the US attacking aircraft group was soon reached the Yamato Commander Tower. The lookout post judged that there would be more American aircraft groups in this attack than the first attack wave, but now there are 71 Zero Warriors over the artillery fleet that are responsible for cover, and Kuraku Renyi is very confident. Kondo Nobutake still instructed the fleet to quickly arrange into a wheeled air defense array, and at the same time, he asked the Zero Warriors to attack first and do his best to intercept enemy aircraft outside.

Before the attack was launched, Major Wadeheim did not forget to inform the battlefield situation to Kincaid, who was 200 nautical miles away: "There are many enemy ships. I'm afraid there will be at least another round of attack..."

Almost as the American fleet deviated to the left and right wings, the Japanese fleet's Type 3 bomb began to attack, and then all the American pilots encountered a place that confused them. The Zero fighter fleet, which had more than the offensive fleet, began to pounce on it - but where was the enemy's aircraft carrier hidden?

At 7:53, when Major Wadeheim sent a telegram about the enemy to prepare for the attack, the Enterprise and Bumblebee were receiving the first wave of attacks and returning aircraft. Seeing that the first wave of attacks had only 23 planes returned, and there were 10 injured. Kincaid was shocked, but he tried every means to order the ground crew to take out the inventory of aircraft to replace them. After 19 minutes, 15 SBDs and 4 SBDs who were attacking the "Landing Fleet" also returned to the mothership. He calculated that if he launched the third attack based on his existing forces, he could still take out 38 aircraft. The problem was that he had not discovered the Japanese aircraft carrier so far. In order to speed up the offensive rhythm, he urged the ground crew to speed up replenish fuel bombs for the aircraft, and took the risk of adjusting the formation route to the northeast. He prepared to shorten the distance with the Japanese artillery fleet and save time for the possible third wave of attacks.

Although Kinkaid's second wave of offensive aircraft group is less than that of Zero fighter fleets that provide cover for the artillery fleet, most of this group of US carrier-based aircraft pilots are veterans who have participated in the Coral Sea and Midway battles, and their experience is much better than that of Japanese land-based zero-war pilots (Japanese pilots have been transferred to aircraft carriers, and in addition, the consumption of experienced pilots in the early stage of Guadalam, the quality of land-based pilots has declined rapidly, and many of them are rookies who have only been on the battlefield for 3 months).

Although many aircraft were shot down, the US offensive aircraft group successfully rushed in. Taking the left wing as an example, 14 Zero fighters flew over the shelling fleet, and 8 F4Fs served as escort were cleverly arranged, fighting with opponents that were more than themselves. Under their desperate cover, 15 SBDs were throwing away the remaining blocking zero war, and immediately dived to the outer fleet from a height of 3,500 meters, and a fierce battle lasted 20 minutes began.

Since this time it was the first to attack the Japanese air defense array, the heavy cruisers and destroyers who served as guards around the three battleships were attacked fiercely. The Aoba heavy cruiser ate three bombs, a torpedo, and the hull was 15 degrees, and the speed dropped to only 10 knots; the three heavy cruisers, Miaogao, Kaohsiung and Kagu, also each ate one bomb, blowing up a bunch of anti-aircraft guns, and killing a circle of sailors; serving as a guard for the Nagamon

The 27th Destroyer of the Guard suffered a heavy loss. The Youming destroyer suffered two torpedoes and sank on the spot. Ximu and Bailu ate a bomb and a torpedo respectively. The small body of less than 2,000 tons was sank after struggling for a few minutes. The Shiyu destroyer of the same team ate a near-lost bomb and a torpedo. As a result, the torpedo was a dud and escaped without any danger, becoming the only lucky person to survive in this team.

The US military sacrificed a lot. The first one was the F4F fighter pilots who were responsible for the fighting mission, including 11 aircraft including Lieutenant Grant, Lieutenant Fisher, and Lieutenant White, who were shot down one after another. Some of the SBDs who completed the dive dropping successfully pulled up and left, and some were shot into the sea by anti-aircraft guns and air defense machine guns. The US commander Wadeheim's own landline engine suddenly overheated and caught fire. Although he did not retreat and continued to rush, the engine stopped completely before reaching the bomb dropping position. He threw the bomb at the end and forced the plane to land on the sea.

Seeing that the ships on the sea kept catching fire and exploding, the Zero War pilots who were responsible for intercepting but were not as skilled as humans were red-eyed. The pilots of several aircraft remembered the situation that they were told by the commander before departure that they could give up the plane to jump. They gave up their plans to compete with the F4Fs, and found the SBD and TBF and hit them head-on. The pilots parachute at the moment of the impact. The American pilots who were caught off guard were hit one after another. They screamed in a hurry in the phone, and in the end they could only struggle to jump.

Relying on this forced method of counter-for-member, the Zero War Cover Cluster barely curbed the US offensive situation. This round of air defense war was very fierce. 32 were missing from 71 Zero due to various factors such as hitting and impact. The losses of the US carrier-based aircraft were not light. They were destroyed on the spot, and 28 of the crashed aircraft were also hit. Many of the 31 planes that struggled to fly back were injured. Because they hated this group of US aircraft, even after they evacuated, the unyielding Zero fighter fleet still bit their tails and chased for more than 50 nautical miles. As a result, both sides dropped 6 and 4 planes respectively.

There are only 33 left in the Zero Battle above the artillery fleet, but Kuro Ren Yi is more worried about Yamato's injuries: the three battleships Zhongmu Olympics are the best, and there is nothing wrong. Nagato ate a bomb on the front deck, Yamato hit 2 torpedoes on the starboard side, and two bombs on the front deck, and the Zhongtuo was in a mess. Fortunately, the turret defense is thick enough and it is still standing stubbornly. Yamato tilts slightly to the right after the starboard thunder. The captain decisively ordered the water to be injected and restored balance. Now there are more than 2,900 tons of sea water in the Yamato cabin, and the maximum speed has dropped by 2 knots, and it can only drive to 25 knots...

When he heard that the Japanese artillery fleet was still advancing southwest, even Kincaid was shocked, and what was even more shocked was the dense air defense aircraft over the artillery fleet and the accusations of the Japanese using impact techniques heard on the radio.

"Madmen... are all a group of madmen!" His face twisted, showing a ferocious look, and he said gritting his teeth, "Since you want to die so much... I will fulfill your wish!"

Considering that the new attack waves have been prepared and the large number of escort fighters over the Japanese fleet and the barbaric tactics, he gritted his teeth and pulled out eight reinforced attack aircraft groups from the fleet cover fighters, bringing them to 46. Now there are only 20 of his TF16\17 formation defense fighters left.

But he didn't know that just after the second offensive wave retreated, a total of 32 Zero fighters from the Rabaul base of Japan's Third Air Reinforcement Wave, which had arrived above the artillery fleet, and now the cover group of the artillery fleet reached 65 more aircraft.

Horitiki listened to Kuroren's report calmly: "This is the last batch of reinforcement aircraft. At present, all fighters from the air fleets of Monta, Bougainville and Rabaul were drawn. Except for Bougainville, there are 40 Zero Warfare Zero Fleets serving as cover for the mobile fleet, there is no fighter of our army at the other airports. Even some pilots who usually drive ships and attacks have been temporarily drawn to the reserve fighter."

Hori Teiki pondered for a moment and issued an order: "Let the destroyer Toshiyu cover Aoba to return to Truk... The rest of the fleet continued to advance southwest, and the entire army assaulted."

"Sir!" Cao Lu Ren screamed in surprise.

"Sir!" Kondo Nobutake persuaded in tears, "There is no problem with the attack, but if the Yamato continues like this, I am afraid that I will not be able to hold on. Should you lead two expulsion teams to leave first? I will lead other troops to advance..."

The commander of the First Fleet, Shimizu Mitsumi, who was on the Nagato, also sent a telegram, urging Yamato to leave the battlefield and Nagato could take over the follow-up responsibility.

"No, Yamato is the flagship of the Joint Fleet. How can it be the first to escape? American planes rushed to Yamato. What should I do if I can't find Yamato and the others searched randomly? What should I do if I found a mobile fleet?" Horitoki said with a sigh, "I just acted as the bait to attract firepower - today, the Yamato Shen here cannot change this fact. What responsibility do I have? After the war, my commander will take it with all my strength!"

The two of them could only agree with tears.
Chapter completed!