Just as the four Japanese divisions advanced rapidly to northern Myanmar in early May, according to the instructions of the Japanese base camp, the Japanese land and navy fought with the United States and Australian coalition forces in New Guinea Island and the Coral Sea. [..cm]

The purpose of the Japanese army's battle is to capture key areas such as southern British New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, cut off the Australian mainland from this aspect, and control nearby waters, and carry out landing operations near the Cabernet Gorge in northern Australia to capture the Cape York Peninsula or the Darwin Port in the west, reducing the threat from the US and Australian coalition forces to the Japanese army...

In order to realize the above combat intentions, the Japanese base camp not only selected the 17th Army in advance to form the 2nd, 29th, and 38th divisions to be responsible for land combat tasks, but also decided to use the Navy's South China Sea Detachment and the 4th Fleet as the backbone, and supplemented by the 5th Aviation Fleet to provide firepower support for maritime protection and landing attacks for this battle.

Although it was because of the US airstrike of Japan that the Japanese base camp decided to launch this battle, in fact, as early as late January, after the Japanese army captured Rabaul and occupied the northern part of New Guinea Island, they had already begun to dispatch troops to capture the Port of Morbiz in the southern part of New Guinea and gain a foothold in northern Australia, and carried out landing operations. However, due to insufficient troops at that time, the Japanese army did not achieve the expected results, and even suffered a lot of losses.

In late February, due to the emergence of US Navy mobile forces in the eastern waters and the Coral Sea of ​​Rabaul, the 4th Fleet of the Japanese Army had to postpone the capture of Laicheng and Saramoa. It was not until the night of March 7 that the Japanese land and navy jointly fought together that they successfully landed in Laicheng and Saramoa, and defeated the local defenders the next day, occupying two places.

Later, because of the US and Australian coalition forces using land-based fighter jets, they caused a lot of losses to the Japanese naval forces. The 4th Fleet was not equipped with an aircraft carrier at that time, and the US maritime maneuvering power appeared in the adjacent Solomon Islands. The Japanese army delayed its combat plans against Port Moresby and northern Australia.

It was not until mid-April that the Japanese base camp assigned the 5th Air Force to the 4th Fleet after Nagamo led his troops to win the Ceylon operation in mid-April, and several army divisions also arrived at the pre-delayed position one after another. The originally postponed plan was put on the agenda again.

However, although the base camp issued an order in late April due to the US airstrike of Japan's mainland, instructing the commander of the 4th Fleet, Naimi Inoue, and the newly formed 17th Army Commander Haruyoshi Moritake to launch Australian operations. However, for the subsequent Midway Island battle, the Japanese base camp clearly required the 5th air force assigned to the unit to be restored to its original structure on May 15.

This forced Inoue Narimi and Hyoyoshi Yui to achieve a key victory in the Australian operations by May 15, and to the lowest extent, they would seize important places such as Port Moresby to obtain the front airports so as to get support from land-based aviation forces. Otherwise, the Japanese army's subsequent combat operations would be carried out without air cover and risking fierce air strikes from the enemy, which is almost synonymous with failure!

Although the time has been a little hurry, with the previous preparations to make the foundation, and with the advantages of both land and sea, Naimi Inoue and Haruki Hyoki still have a lot of confidence. However, the subsequent development of the battle situation made the two of them feel mixed.

Due to the sufficient army's troops and occupying the northern area of ​​New Guinea Island, the 17th Army commanded the attack on Port Moresby from land, which became the first choice. After all, landing operations near the port not only require the counterattacks launched by the US and Australian coalition forces on land, and the troop transport ships also faced the attacks of Allied naval forces and the air strikes of Allied fighters from airports in northern Australia during their maritime voyages. The risk is too high.

Besides, although Naimi Inoue's words are all the same, the performance of the 4th Fleet has been unsatisfactory since the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor, and Haruyoshi Hakusaki is not at ease to hand over the fate of the army to this theoretically boastful naval person.

Of course, the navy is not nothing to do. In addition to guarding against the raids of the U.S. and Australia coalition forces, the Japanese naval forces also provide air cover and nearshore fire support for land attack forces. In addition, the navy must also capture Tulaji alone to obtain another aviation base outside the Port of Moresby. [w.w.cm

｜I&|】 After all these goals are basically achieved, the Japanese army will carry out landing operations in northern Australia with the support of land, sea, sea and air force to achieve the strategic intention of the base camp to gain a foothold in northern Australia and to compress the living space of the coalition forces.

The devils dared to launch Australian operations again without the end of the war in China and Southeast Asia. Although the United States, Britain, the Netherlands and other countries were caught off guard in the early stages of the Pacific War, which made the Japanese army succeed in attacks in Southeast Asia one after another, which stimulated the Japanese army to become more arrogant, the most fundamental reason was that after Japan removed the threat of Soviet Far East troops, it suddenly drew more than 300,000 troops from the Far East to the Pacific battlefield! When the mobilization effect of the United States, Australia and other countries had not yet been shown, the sudden increase of more than 300,000 troops was enough to further expand the advantages gained by the Japanese army in the early stage of the Pacific operations, and thus achieve greater results.

In fact, whether it was the 24th Division, which was used to prevent the People's Army from advancing east at the Dongge Pass in southwest of Myanmar, or the 25th and 28th Divisions that were prepared to conduct ground operations with Lan Fang in northern Borneo, and the 29th Division, which is now used for operations in New Guinea, are part of the more than 300,000 troops drawn from the Far East, which was not available in the early days of the Pacific War in history. Yes, it was precisely because of these sufficient troops drawn from the Far East that the Japanese base camp was full of confidence in carrying out Australian operations.

Because the 17th Army had sufficient troops to attack Port Moresby on land, and with preparations since March, Hakuyoshi's progress was much greater than in history. It took only about eleven days from departure on April 28 to capture Port Moresby with the support of the naval forces on May 9.

The 3rd Navy Special Marine Corps commanded by Inoue Naimei took over Tulaji's operation at dawn on May 3, and controlled the local aviation base without bleeding. However, from the early morning of the 4th, Tulaji was attacked by about 80 US carrier-based aircraft, lasting nearly 6 o'clock, causing a destroyer, two minesweeping boats, and a submarine hunting boat to be sunk, land facilities were severely damaged, and many casualties were also caused.

Previously, in the attack on Wake Island and the confrontation with Halsey, the performance of Inoue's 4th Fleet was disappointed by the top Japanese troops. Now that the army has made contributions and the navy has been damaged, this makes Inoue even more embarrassing.

After learning that the US carrier-based aircraft appeared, Nai Ui, who was angry and embarrassed, immediately ordered the Japanese naval main force to increase its search efforts to find the US fleet hidden in the nearby waters as soon as possible and annihilate it.

In the next two or three days, Japan and the United States maritime fleets caught hide-and-seek in the waters near New Guinea, both trying to discover each other first and strike them.

Interestingly, in this hide-and-seek, both Japan and the United States mistakenly took Feng Jing as Ma Liang on May 7th, and attacked the other side's auxiliary ships as aircraft carriers and main ships. In the misunderstanding on this day, the Japanese army sunk the USS Neoshau oil tanker and the Sims destroyer, while the US army sunk two Japanese light cruisers and two gunboats.

But on the 7th, the US military's results were even greater. In addition to the four Japanese ships that had sunk before, the US military also discovered the Japanese Xiangfeng light aircraft carrier near these ships. Under the repeated attacks of 93 US carrier-based aircraft of half a time, the Xiangfeng, with a displacement of more than 14,000 tons, was hit by thirteen bombs and seven torpedoes, and the Japanese captain Izawa had to order the abandonment of the ship.

"Excellent! We finally achieved a relatively decent result!" After learning about the sinking of the Xiangfeng aircraft carrier, Major General Fletcher, the commander of the US fleet, laughed happily, "Try more hard and find out the enemy's other aircraft carriers. We can go through triumph!"

The US military was greatly excited to sink the Xiangfeng, but Naimei Inoue's face was so gloomy that water dripped out! This was the first time that the Japanese army had sunk the aircraft carrier, and this unfamous thing happened under the command of Naimei Inoue. Thinking of the ridicule from her colleagues in the military in the future, Naimei Inoue was going crazy!

"I'm sure the American aircraft carrier is in the Coral Sea!" Inoue Narimi said with gritted teeth, "Tomorrow, except for the 25th Air Force leaving half of the fighter jets to provide air support for the army to attack Port Moresby, all other land and sea aviation forces are ready to attack. Once the 5th Air Force discovers news about the US aircraft carrier, they will be dispatched immediately and must sink it completely!"

Perhaps God was unwilling to let these two opponents continue to go around the circle. At around 8 a.m. on the 8th, the US reconnaissance planes heard the news that "the enemy's aircraft carrier task force was sailing south at a speed of 25 knots on the sea about 175 miles northeast of the Lexington."

"Great! This time we must send all the Japanese motherships to the bottom of the sea!" Excited, Fletcher immediately ordered, "Order all the fighter jets on the Lexington and York City aircraft carriers to take off and kill all the Japanese devils!"

However, just a few minutes after Fletcher's order was issued, the radio station on the US aircraft carrier heard the news that the Japanese reconnaissance plane had reported to the rear that "the discovery of the US aircraft carrier" was reported.

Because our own fleet was discovered by the enemy, Japan and the United States had to prepare to prevent the enemy's attacks while launching attacks on each other. The balance of the war once restored balance, and it only depends on which side's attack can succeed first.

Although the US military first discovered the Japanese fleet, the carrier-based pilots who arrived on the York City above the Japanese aircraft carrier formation were the first to face the enemy's fleet hiding under the cumulonimbus clouds and waiting for the enemy, the attack effect was extremely unsatisfactory. After the torpedo and dive bombers were dispersed by the Japanese army in zero form, the torpedoes and bombs were basically thrown into the sea due to lack of effective cooperation. Except for two bombs falling on the Shochi and causing the fuel leaked on the deck to catch fire and burn, they did not achieve much results.

The USS York City aircraft carrier that arrived later was difficult to detect the Japanese fleet hiding under the thick clouds, and the Japanese Zero fighter jets were implementing air interception. In the end, only one bomb dropped by a bomb hit the Japanese USS Shochi aircraft carrier, but the torpedo attack also failed.

In contrast, stimulated by the previous sinking of the Japanese aircraft carrier, the Japanese attacked the US aircraft carrier much more than a death. Although the US military had the advantage of radar discovering enemy aircraft in advance, York City was hit by a bombshell, while Lexington was hit by two torpedoes and three bombshells, which were hit by severely damaged.

Afterwards, both sides had their own concerns and separated from each other's battle.

However, although the USS Lexington was treated with damage and sailed at a speed of 25 knots for a time, it suddenly exploded in the afternoon of the 8th. After the fire burned to the oil depot on the ship, the fire was completely out of control. Captain Colonel Frederick Sherman had to order the ship to abandon at around 5 pm.

Because the flames on the Lexington were more than 100 meters high, in order to avoid being discovered and captured by nearby Japanese troops, Fletcher had no choice but to order a destroyer to fire two torpedoes at the burning aircraft carrier at close range and sink it.

Seeing that the victory that was about to be won became a sinking of aircraft carriers on both sides, this not only surprised the US Pacific Fleet Command, but also added some regret to Fletcher.

However, Inoue Narimi was greatly relieved by the sinking of Lexington. No matter what, it would be a good thing to exchange for the sinking of the US large aircraft carrier Lexington at the cost of a Xiangfeng light aircraft carrier. Inoue Narimi can also save some face.

The Coral Sea Battle was the first ever battle between aircraft carrier formations. From the results, the Japanese lost the USS Xiangfeng light aircraft carrier, two destroyers, two gunboats, and seventy-seven fighter jets; the USS Lexington heavy aircraft carrier, one destroyer, one oil tanker, and sixty-six fighter jets, and the USS York City aircraft carrier was damaged.

Judging from the losses, both sides seem to be half a dozen, but considering the strong industrial heritage of the United States and sufficient reserve of flight talents, the result of this on the surface is still unfavorable to the Japanese army. In particular, the USS Shochi aircraft carrier was damaged and the carrier-based pilots on the USS Ruichi aircraft carrier suffered too much loss, resulting in the two ships being unable to participate in the subsequent Midway battle on time. This casts a shadow on the future of the Japanese army. Of course, the future will not be considered by Narimi Inoue.

With the withdrawal of the US fleet, the Coral Sea aircraft carrier war came to an end temporarily, but the Japanese army's Australian combat operations were still underway. On the 9th, the 38th Division took the lead in attacking Port Moresby, announcing the Japanese occupation of the entire New Guinea island.

After the news of the Japanese occupying New Guinea Island spread, Australians were panicked. After many people met, they almost had to talk about "When did the Japanese land in Australia?"

In order to deal with the Japanese threat, the Australian Army Command decided to abandon North Australia and retreat to the Brisbane line in Southeast Australia. It even formulated a detailed scorched earth policy to abandon North Australia, in order to destroy North Australia's ports, bridges, power plants, water plants, and food burning measures, so that the Japanese army could not gain a foothold in the local area.

Faced with the panicked Australian military, MacArthur was surprised and, as the commander-in-chief of the Allied Forces in the Southwest Pacific Theater, disagreeing with the opposition, and expressed his determination to stick to North Australia and fight the Japanese to the end. He claimed: "As long as I am here, I will never allow Japanese soldiers to get involved in Australia!" Although many Australians remember that MacArthur gave up on the Philippines and fled here, under his insistence, the Allied forces sent a brigade of troops to the Port of Darwin to prevent the Japanese from landing.

However, due to insufficient troops, MacArthur could only deploy defenses in key areas and could not stop the Japanese army from landing operations on the long coastline in northern Australia with its superior forces. Especially after Fletcher led the 17th Special Mixed Fleet to evacuate the Coral Sea, and the Japanese army relied on the airports it obtained in the southern part of New Guinea, it was even more difficult for MacArthur to stop the joint operations of the Japanese land and navy.

On May 11, under the escort of the Japanese land and naval air force, the 2nd Division of the 17th Army successfully landed in Cape York and Burketown on the south side of the Gulf of Cabernet. This action not only allowed the Torres Strait between Australia and New Guinea to be fully controlled by the Japanese army, but also allowed the Japanese army to successfully establish two extremely important advance bases in Australia. At the same time, this action was one step closer to the Japanese army's strategic goal of cutting off the US and Australia ties.

It seems that God does not want the Americans to turn the situation around easily. Shortly after the Japanese army landed in Australia to give the United States and the Australian coalition was greatly shocked, on May 23, the York City aircraft carrier, which was still four days away from Pearl Harbor, was attacked by a submarine in the Central Pacific basin area between the Phoenix Islands and the Hawaiian Islands and sank by submarines.

Although the Japanese did not happily release the war report in time to promote their great achievements, the United States still recorded the accounts on the Japanese submarine forces.

"Apart from the damn Japanese, I can't think of anyone else who can run to our doorstep to sink our aircraft carrier! This must have been slid over from Truk Atoll!" General Jin, commander-in-chief of the US Navy Fleet, decided, and called the commander of the Pacific Fleet Nimitz, and clearly demanded, "They must be taught a lesson in the subsequent battle!"

Not only General Jin believes so, but also the Pacific Fleet, including Nimitz, also believes so. Even Roosevelt is convinced: "This must be done by the Japanese!"

As far as the United States knows about countries or regions that have submarines in the Pacific, except Japan, only Lan Fang owns several offshore submarines obtained from the People's Party. But Lan Fang has no reason to attack his allies to do things that harm others and do not benefit himself, even if they can break through the Japanese maritime blockade, and the limited range of his submarines is not enough to reach the Central Pacific basin east of the international date change line!

As for the People's Party, its maritime power is divided into two parts: one is the coastal speedboat force established around Shandong, and the other is the fleet built in the area of ​​Chittagong and Achabu Port in Shannan. Judging from the submarines provided by the People's Party to Lan Fang, whether from Shandong or Chittagong, the Minister's submarines are not enough to cross the ocean to the Central Pacific basin to attack the US aircraft carrier. Moreover, as the mortal enemy of the Japanese, the Minister's Party has no reason to help the Japanese fight the US aircraft carrier!

The Americans have sufficient reasons to determine that the sinking of the York City can only be done by Japanese submarines!


Chapter completed!