According to the previous practice, the fighters on Guadalcanal would take off about half an hour before the enemy planes arrived, and then climb to a higher altitude than the enemy planes to gain an altitude advantage. Altitude is potential energy, which can be converted into kinetic energy. According to the energy of air combat,

In other words, being at a higher altitude means having more energy than the enemy, and you will have the upper hand.

But this time the take-off time was greatly advanced. An hour before the enemy plane arrived, Ron took off with all the P-38s and F4Fs that could fly. The first one to take off was the F4F, and they needed more time.

Climbed to a sufficient altitude, and then the P-38. After taking off, these fighters climbed to an altitude of 5,000 meters, and then flew west in formation.

At the same time, the ground was also busy. On the anti-aircraft artillery and anti-aircraft machine gun positions, soldiers were making final inspections of their weapons and camouflaging these weapons.

There are several anti-aircraft weapon positions protecting the airport. In a small bush at the end of the runway, there is a Vulcan gun position, where two Vulcan anti-aircraft guns and some anti-aircraft machine guns are deployed. And there is a Vulcan gun position on the left side of the runway.

Two other Vulcan anti-aircraft guns are deployed on a small mound covered with shrubs about 20 meters high. Then there are also some anti-aircraft machine guns and some quadruple 20mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns scattered in other places.

The soldiers covered these anti-aircraft guns with camouflage nets. From the air, these anti-aircraft guns looked like part of the bushes. It was really difficult to spot them without firing.

Ron's fleet was divided into several groups, and the distance between each group was quite large, because they were easily discovered by opponents when they were gathered together. A few minutes ago, through the radio sent by the tower, Ron knew that Japan was number one

Bo's attack aircraft group flew over from his left. However, the distance between the two sides was very far, and the aircraft formation on Ron's side was very sparse. Ri himself did not notice them and continued to fly towards Guadalcanal Airport.

At this time, another message from the tower came from Ron's headset.

"Tiger Den calls Tiger, maintain course, expect to contact the enemy's second set of attack waves in 5 minutes." This is the message sent by the radar installed on the island.

"Everyone is ready for battle and strengthens the search." The battle was about to start, and Ron lifted the radio silence.

"Enemy aircraft spotted at ten o'clock!"

Ron looked towards the ten o'clock direction and saw a group of small black dots moving vaguely about 4 kilometers away.

"Everyone turns to the enemy aircraft group. The Tiger is responsible for attacking the enemy bombers, and the Lynx is responsible for containing the enemy fighter jets." Ron began to assign tasks.

As a result, the five P-38 formations numbered Tiger 1 to Tiger 5 spread out and outflanked them from different angles, while the F4F numbered Lynx swaggered directly towards the Japanese military aircraft group.

Now the Japanese army has also discovered American aircraft, at least it has discovered the F4F fleet that pounced directly in a large cluster. The Japanese fleet is configured in a double altitude, which is also the usual way of general escort. The altitude of the Japanese bombers is about 3900

The flying height of a fighter jet is about 4,200 meters. Compared with the F4F's current altitude of 5,300 meters, there is a significant height difference. Even if the zero combat performance is better, especially the climb is better than that of the F4F, it will not be possible for a while.

Climb to the same altitude. Although the number of F4Fs is not as large as the number of escorting fighters, they have a height advantage that cannot be underestimated. In addition, at this time, those behind the F4Fs have not been found to fly higher and more dispersed.

p-38, so the Japanese made the wrong decision. They sent twenty of the 30 fighters to intercept the 13 F4Fs, leaving only 10 aircraft in reserve. This caused the P-38 to join in

In the end, Japan's fighter jets basically failed to effectively intercept the P-38. However, many people believed that Japan's fighter commander Nakamura made this decision and that he did not make a big mistake.

"We first discovered about a dozen enemy planes approaching us at ten o'clock. They had radar and knew when they would encounter us, so they always flew at a higher altitude than us. This time they were higher than us.

About 1,000 meters higher. This would make them dive very powerfully. So Commander Nakamura ordered 20 fighter jets to intercept them. Only 10 fighter jets were left as reserve. But even so, even if the interceptor planes we sent were larger than

There are a lot of enemy planes, but to be honest, we are still not completely sure that we can stop them and prevent them from getting close to the bombers. Because the enemy planes swoop down very quickly, maybe in the blink of an eye, they will cross us and miss us.

But our bombers have poor body defense in terms of range and bomb load. Alas, it would be great if our bombers at that time were as strong as the American B-17. Just like we used to attack B-

When I was 17 years old, I had never heard of anyone being able to shoot it down with just one attack. This gave our fighters room to maneuver. However, Japanese aircraft and even bombers could be set on fire with just one bullet.

The Japanese militarists never consider the life and death of our pilots. Once they need to improve performance and save costs, they will always sacrifice the safety of our pilots without hesitation. Maybe fighter jets can also rely on flexibility to avoid it.

The enemy's attack, but what about the bombers? Do they still expect someone to drive a Type 1 Land Attack to compete with the enemy's fighter jets? The fragility of the bomber makes us must ensure that not even an enemy plane can approach it. So at that time, Chief Nakamura's

Although the order was later criticized by many people for being deceived by the Americans, I would like to say that under the circumstances at that time, Chief Nakamura was actually not wrong in doing what he did." - Excerpted from Japan's ace pilot Koga Hideo's "Sea"

Memoirs of Ace of Space"

Just when most of the escorting Japanese Zero Fighters and F4Fs were caught in a melee, the P-38s were divided into five groups of four aircraft each, and pounced on the Japanese bomber group from different angles. The preparations left by Japan

The number of teams was too small to face such a situation. And because there was no radio station, those Zero Battles who were struggling with f4f did not realize what was going on here.

A Zero Fighter tried to go around behind Ron, but Ron ignored its attempt at all. He rushed directly towards a bomber. As for the Zero Fighter behind him? At his speed, he followed behind.

It's impossible to catch up to shooting distance, so why bother with him?

Aiming at a Type 1 land attack, Ron opened fire. He was satisfied to hear a roar like an electric drill drilling a hole in the wall (when the speed of an aircraft gun or machine gun reaches a certain speed, human ears cannot distinguish each individual sound.

The sound of a bullet (artillery shell) firing, then the sound becomes a continuous sound. For example, American World War II veterans always use "tearing tarpaulin" to describe the sound of the mg42 machine gun with a firing speed of up to 1,200 rounds per minute.

.) Then one wing of the bomber in front was broken off from the wing root as if it had been sawed. With a short click, a bomber was shot down. The Vulcan cannon is so powerful.

Ron pulled the plane up and started looking for the next victim. His wingman Billy exclaimed on the radio: "Sir, good job, they went to hell! Oh my God, this gun is so good! I will definitely give it to you when we get back.

I'll put it on!"

Ron hit another bomber, and just as he was about to launch an attack, another panicked cry came from the earphones, "Damn, I've been hit, someone come and save me!"

Ron looked around and saw an F4F running with smoke on the left. Behind him, two Zero Fighters were chasing after him and firing continuously. In order to avoid bullets, the F4F kept doing barrel rolls.

But this also made his dive speed not very fast, so that the two Zero Fighters could continue to bite him.

Rescuing his comrades is always more important than gaining a record. Ron gave up the food on his lips without hesitation, pushed the throttle to the bottom, and rushed towards the two Zero Fighters amidst the roar of the engine.

There was about 1.5 kilometers between Ron and them. This was originally a very short distance, and they could arrive in the blink of an eye. But the terrible thing was that the direction that the frightened pilot chose to escape was actually basically the same as Ron's flight direction.

Same. The result was a situation where he was running in front, two Zero Fighters were chasing him behind, and Ron was chasing those two Zero Fighters behind. The whole situation was like a large sandwich, with American planes outside,

It contains a Japanese plane.

Fortunately, Ron's plane was faster and he caught up soon. The distance between Ron and Japan's plane was now about 700 meters. Japan's plane might have spotted him, but in the case of a tail chase, the distance was already exceeded.

The range of an ordinary aircraft is long, and even the Vulcan cannon is difficult to fire at such a distance. So the Japanese continued to fire at the F4F, hoping to kill Ron before he got closer. Although the distance was a little farther,

But Ron still decided to fire. Not to mention whether he hit the target or not, the goal was to scare away the enemy planes and make them give up the attack. So Ron placed the crosshair a little above the Japanese plane, so that the cannonballs

It will fly farther in the air with a higher-angle parabola. Ron shot a long shot. This whole shot was just to scare people. Who knows, when luck comes, he can't stop it and bites tightly.

The Zero Fighter behind the F4F suddenly exploded into a large fireball. The remaining one immediately gave up the attack, made a sharp turn, and began to escape.

But at this time, the F4F was almost dying. It was hit by several 20mm shells, and the operating surfaces on the wings and tail were basically damaged. He turned hard and awkwardly and flew towards the airport.

Go. God knows if he can fly back.

"Thank you, brother! I will definitely treat you to a drink if I can go back."

Ron smiled, looked around, and suddenly found that his wingman was missing.

"Damn it! Billy, where have you run off to?"

"Sir, I don't know, there's a lot of chaos in the air... I hit a bomber! I hit him! He's on fire! Haha!"

Ron frowned. Obviously, Billy just chose the former between attacking the enemy plane or rescuing his teammates. Although Billy is a novice, his skills are good, his sense of space is particularly good, and he has great potential for development. Ron

I have been training him, but...

Billy was continuing to shoot the bomber that was already on fire. He was thinking: "Finally one will be shot down. If I were equipped with a cannon like Ron, maybe one would be shot down by now. I would be

Ace, like Ron. One day, I will go back with my chest full of medals, Bronze Heart Medal, Silver Heart Medal, Distinguished Service Cross and even the Congressional Medal of Honor. I want to let those who look down on me, look down on me.

Mom’s people…”

There are not many bombers left in the sky now. Only six of the 30 bombers sent by the Japanese escaped after dropping their bombs in advance, and the others were all shot down. The escort zero battle also lost 12. But the US military also lost 12 bombers.

The price was paid, 6 of the thirteen F4Fs were shot down and 4 were damaged. Two P-38s were also shot down and 8 were damaged - these aircraft may not be able to be repaired after returning, at least in a short period of time.

Ron's available P-38 fighters were reduced by half. Fortunately, the loss of pilots was not too serious, at least compared to Japan himself.
Chapter completed!