bullyxtreme Chapter 190 Sinking the Akagi and Kaga Aircraft Carriers
Chapter 190 Sinking the Akagi and Kaga Aircraft Carriers
Feeling the dense artillery shells whizzing past him, Gao Zhihang's eyes did not fluctuate at all. He continued to control the fighter plane to accelerate and dive, with the crosshairs firmly fixed on the rising sun logo on the deck.
When he was within the effective range of the rocket, he decisively pressed the shooting button and had no intention of letting go.
"Swish swish swish..."
One after another, the 70mm caliber Giant Rat rockets roared towards the rising sun on the deck of the Kaga aircraft carrier.
"Kill them..."
The Type 89 anti-aircraft guns on both sides of the aircraft carrier deck were constantly roaring, but they did not pose much threat to the jet-based carrier-based organizations diving down at high speed.
Instead, dozens of Giant Rat rockets whizzed down and washed the deck of the Kaga aircraft carrier.
On the deck in the area where the Rising Sun flag was located, several planes were piled together, ready to line up for takeoff.
When they saw the whistling rockets, they were so scared that they prepared to open the hatch and jump out of the plane without saying a word.
But it's too late to run now.
"Boom...boom..."
A series of dense explosions sounded, affecting all the fighter planes near the rocket explosion, and several fighter planes were directly hit.
As the fighter planes exploded, fireballs rose from the deck.
More than ten fighter jets were affected by a wave of rockets.
In addition, the deck of the Kaga was made of wood, and the raging fire spread directly across the deck of the Kaga.
The eyes of the remaining F-8 fighters suddenly lit up after seeing Gao Zhihang's attack on the Kaga aircraft carrier.
Their mission is to gain air superiority.
If they blow up the deck of the Japanese aircraft carrier, wouldn't that be equivalent to completing the mission of gaining air supremacy?
Immediately, one F-8 Crusader carrier-based fighter jet after another began to follow suit and launched attacks on the Akagi and Kaga aircraft carriers.
This also caused all the fighter planes, pilots and ground crew on the decks of the two aircraft carriers to suffer.
However, at this time, the two cruisers and four destroyers in the surrounding area had also approached and used anti-aircraft guns to attack the F-8 fighter jets that were constantly diving down.
As the saying goes, a skilled person is a bold one. Coupled with the advantage of fighter jets, they are not afraid of the Japanese's not dense air defense network at all.
Dozens of fighter planes from the two aircraft carriers that had not yet taken off were destroyed by a group attack by more than ten F-8 fighter planes.
Raging flames and thick smoke also enveloped the decks of the two aircraft carriers.
This also means that the two aircraft carriers have completely lost their combat effectiveness.
"Where are the Army Aviation? Why haven't they arrived yet? Tell them to support us as quickly as possible."
At this time, Major General Nishida Ryoji could only seek help from the Army Aviation Baka, whom he had always looked down upon.
Ten minutes ago, their telegram had been sent to several military airports in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and the southern part of the Fuso Islands.
One after another, Type 96 fighter jets with more advanced performance took off from multiple airports of the Army Aviation.
The Type 96 fighter is the land-based version of the Type 95 carrier-based fighter. There is not much difference between the two fighters.
More than 100 Type 96 Army Aviation fighter jets took off from multiple airports and headed towards the Tsushima Strait.
At their speed, it would take about half an hour to an hour to reach the sea area where the aircraft carrier formation is located.
But will the Renaissance Army's carrier-based aircraft give them this opportunity?
When the F-8 Crusader carrier-based fighter jets launched attacks on the Kaga and Akagi aircraft carriers one after another.
A group of F9F Panther fighter-bombers flying at low altitude has also arrived at the battlefield.
The F-8 Crusader carrier-based fighter was responsible for kicking the door, and the F9F Black Panther was responsible for dropping the bombs.
This time, a total of two squadrons of 36 F9F Panther carrier-based fighter-bombers arrived.
Compared to the F-8 fighter, the Black Panther is just a straight-wing, single-seat, single-engine jet fighter-bomber.
It is equipped with a Pratt & Whitney J47 turbojet engine, with a maximum flight speed of 925 kilometers per hour, a maximum range of 2100 kilometers, and a climb rate of 18.3 meters per second.
As a fighter-bomber, it has plenty of power.
It is equipped with four 4mm cannons in the nose and six underwing pylons, with a bomb load capacity of one ton.
At this moment, each of these F9F Panther carrier-based fighter-bombers was carrying two 500-pound bombs and two 250-pound bombs on its underwing pylons.
When Major General Ryoji Nishida saw this scene, his heart was completely chilled.
Instead of waiting for reinforcements from the Army Aviation, the Fuxing Army had new fighter jets joining the battlefield.
One after another, F9F fighter-bombers roared into the battlefield.
They were all a little surprised when they saw the two aircraft carriers with thick smoke billowing out.
"Damn it, why are these fighter pilots trying to steal the work?"
"Go, don't let the fighter planes do all our work!"
One after another, the F9F Panther fighter-bombers began to accelerate.
But not all of them were heading for the aircraft carrier.
Destroyers and cruisers were also their targets.
As long as part of their anti-aircraft firepower is destroyed, the attack aircraft group in the rear can also finish the job with peace of mind.
There is still a certain difference between dropping bombs nowadays and dropping bombs during World War II.
Because now iron bombs have more advanced fire control systems, fighter-bombers can drop them more accurately and quickly.
One after another, F9F Panther fighter-bombers swooped down, dropping 500-pound and 250-pound bombs.
Four destroyers and two cruisers also suffered varying degrees of damage.
Like the aircraft carrier, a raging flame ignited, thick smoke rose into the sky, and the Fuso sailors on the ship suffered heavy losses.
However, at this moment, the AD-4W early warning aircraft responsible for surveillance reported an urgent air situation.
"A large number of Fuso aircraft were spotted approaching at 9 o'clock, 67 in number, at a distance of 127 kilometers."
"A group of 3 Fuso aircraft were spotted at 82 o'clock, 136 kilometers away."
When this information was transmitted back to the Chishan cruiser, Song Yang was not surprised.
The Japanese deployed the aircraft carrier in this position to facilitate support from the land aviation on both sides.
However, even if the Fuso Army Air Force reinforcements came, it could not change the fate of these two aircraft carriers.
In addition to the F-8 Crusader, the F9F Black Panther is also capable of combat on the Restoration Army side.
It may not be very effective against fighters of the same level, but it is no problem to use it against the propeller fighters of the Fuso Army.
When 18 F8 Crusaders and 36 F9F Panthers received the air situation alert, they also began to take action.
Eighteen F-18 Crusaders flew towards the smaller Fuso group.
The reinforcement aircraft along this route also took off from the Korean Peninsula.
In addition, 36 F9F Black Panthers that completed the bombing mission went to meet the 82 fighter planes that took off from Fuso.
However, participating in this interception mission are not only the carrier-based aircraft of the two aircraft carriers, but also shore-based aviation forces.
From the two shore-based aviation bases in the eastern part of Qidong Province, 24 F-8 Crusader fighter jets from two squadrons took off one after another.
Carrying auxiliary fuel tanks, the 24 fighter jets of the two squadrons rushed to the battlefield more than 1000 kilometers away at a speed of more than 700 kilometers per hour.
At the speed of the F-8 fleet, it only takes more than 40 minutes to reach the battlefield.
When Major General Ryoji Nishida, commander of the 3rd Air Fleet, saw the jet fighters of the Restoration Army leaving one after another, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"It seems that Luhang's reinforcements have arrived!"
"Quick, turn around and enter the Whale Sea and get out of here as fast as possible!"
Although the two aircraft carriers were badly burned, there were large holes on their wooden decks.
But this injury did not hurt the foundation of the aircraft carrier at all.
However, two destroyers were in a worse condition, with severe water ingress and even no longer worth repairing.
Therefore, the Fuso army decisively opened the sea valve and let the two destroyers sink themselves.
But before they could go far, they saw a large group of planes flying low over the sea behind them, roaring towards them.
"It's over!"
When he saw the dense formation of aircraft, Major General Nishida Ryoji felt cold all over.
The fighter planes of the Restoration Army specifically targeted their anti-aircraft artillery and bombed them.
All the warships have lost most of their air defense capabilities.
The army aviation fleet that came to support was probably stopped by the Fuxing Army.
What can they use now to stop the large number of Fusion Army aircraft?
What made Major General Nishida Ryoji even more disappointed was that this time not only were there more fighter planes, but they also seemed to be carrying torpedoes.
Anyone who is not blind can basically see the MK4 aerial torpedoes mounted under the wings of the A-25 Skyhawk attack aircraft.
Moreover, each A-4 carried two missiles in order to completely destroy the aircraft carrier formation.
The MK25 aerial torpedo is a straight-line aerial torpedo with a weight of 1 ton, a range of 2 kilometers, and a maximum speed of 40 knots.
After the end of World War II, aviation anti-ship torpedoes basically lost their living space.
Because torpedoes have a short range and slow speed, attack aircraft become targets of air defense missiles.
Therefore, aviation torpedoes have basically been transferred to the anti-submarine field.
Because during this period, the biggest threat to ships was various submarines.
For this reason, the A-4 attack aircraft can only use aviation anti-ship torpedoes that were only developed at the end of World War II.
If we want more advanced aviation anti-ship torpedoes, we can only rely on our own research.
Even if it only has the MK25 aerial torpedo, with the support of the A-4 Skyhawk jet attack aircraft, its penetration and attack capability is very strong.
The slowest aircraft carrier, the Kaga, was the first to be besieged by nine A-9 Skyhawk attack aircraft.
The nine A-9 Skyhawks formed a small formation of three and launched a torpedo attack from the left and right sides of the Kaga aircraft carrier.
At an altitude of more than 300 meters, the A-4 Skyhawk attack aircraft approached the Kaga aircraft carrier at a speed of more than 300 kilometers per hour.
When they approached within a range of more than 1 kilometer, two aerial torpedoes entered the water one after another and quickly headed towards the Kaga aircraft carrier.
The huge Kaga aircraft carrier could not withstand the siege from two directions.
One torpedo after another successfully hit the Kaga aircraft carrier.
Continuous explosions sounded on both sides of the Kaga aircraft carrier, and columns of water shot up into the sky.
The huge Kaga aircraft carrier also shook violently under the attack.
Flames and thick smoke rose from the aircraft carrier.
The underwater part was torn into gaps by torpedoes, and tons of seawater were pouring back crazily. Even the watertight compartments seemed helpless under the more than ten large holes blown open.
This also caused the huge Kaga aircraft carrier to begin to tilt to one side.
It was no use pouring water on the other side.
Because the other side is already flooded.
Otherwise, the Kaga aircraft carrier would tilt faster.
Compared with the Kaga aircraft carrier, the Akagi aircraft carrier is even worse.
It was besieged by a group of 12 A-4 Skyhawk attack aircraft.
Of the 24 torpedoes, it directly took down 18, each weighing 1 ton.
This torpedo is even heavier than the MK35 submarine-launched torpedo.
Although the Kaga aircraft carrier was attacked first, the Akagi sank faster.
Enveloped in billowing smoke and flames, the Akagi aircraft carrier, which had remained on the water for less than 15 minutes, collapsed and capsized on the sea.
Ten minutes later, the Kaga aircraft carrier followed in the footsteps of the Akagi.
The remaining destroyers and cruisers were also killed along with the two aircraft carriers under the attack.
Both heavy aircraft carriers of the 3rd Air Fleet were sunk.
This was also a heavy blow to the Fuso Navy.