.Chapter 32: Division of troops to intercept

When the shift consultant brought the breakfast, Mu Haoyang was still standing by the chart table, staring at the desktop monitor intently.

"Yan Yingbo has confirmed that what the pilots discovered was the Japanese fleet. The reconnaissance planes were not exposed to radar and did not detect abnormal electromagnetic activities."

Mu Haoyang looked up at Ma Mingtao, and then turned his gaze back.

"It seems that the Japanese fleet did not find our reconnaissance plane." Ma Mingtao picked up a loaf of bread and handed it to Mu Haoyang, and said, "But it cannot be ruled out that the Japanese fleet also used passive detection methods, and did not turn immediately after discovering the reconnaissance plane."

“Is this important?”

"this……"

"From the situation we have already grasped, the Japanese fleet will enter the Coral Sea after dawn and leave before dark, and will cross the Coral Sea during the day." Mu Haoyang put down his bag and lit a cigarette, saying, "It is obvious that the Japanese fleet commander knows that we are here and that we will launch an attack at night, otherwise we will not pass under our noses during the day."

"Then let's wait patiently for a day and then take action after it's dark."

Mu Haoyang shook his head and said, "Obviously, the Japanese fleet commander has taken this situation into consideration. If our reconnaissance aircraft is discovered, the Japanese fleet will definitely turn, such as sailing eastward, sailing from the north of New Caledonia to the direction of the New Hebrides, and then heading north from the east of New Hebrides, sailing as close to the island as possible to avoid revealing its whereabouts again."

“It can’t escape our air strikes, either.”

"But our fighter planes will inevitably enter the airspace of other countries and violate the sovereignty of third parties."

"You still think about this?"

Mu Haoyang smiled and said, "You don't have to think about it, but I am the commander of the fleet and I must consider it."

Ma Mingtao sighed and said, "Yan Yingbo said that the pilot's request for battle are very high. Even if aerial strikes are arranged during the day, it will..."

"I've considered it, but I won't take the life of a pilot."

"What are you going to do?"

Mu Haoyang took two puffs of cigarettes and said, "Go and call Lao Zhou and Yan Ying, and let Zhuo Yuming come over by helicopter. I will arrange the tactical missions myself."

"Okay, you've eaten breakfast."

"I'm not hungry."

"You have to eat if you are not hungry. You are the commander of the fleet. You are hungry and command the battle. How can the officers and soldiers below behave?"

When Ma Mingtao said this, several newly-employed staff officers looked at Mu Haoyang. They did not eat breakfast in the officers' restaurant, but brought the breakfast to the command center. Seeing Mu Haoyang didn't eat breakfast, they didn't do anything, and seemed embarrassed.

"Okay, I'll have breakfast first, you go and call someone."

Mu Haoyang smiled and shook his head, picked up the bread, and glanced at the staff officer who was looking at him.

Seeing that the commander started eating, the few brave staff members took action.

Five minutes later, Zhou Yusheng and Yan Ying arrived first. Ten minutes later, Zhuo Yuming, accompanied by Ma Mingtao, hurried to the fleet combat command center.

"Now, the Japanese fleet is just south of us." Mu Haoyang adjusted the charts himself. "Next, there may be two situations. One is that the Japanese fleet discovered our reconnaissance plane and knew that we were on standby in the north, so it turned to sail towards New Caledonia after dawn. The other is that the Japanese fleet did not find our reconnaissance plane and still sailed towards the Solomon Islands at a speed of thirty knots."

"I'll send a few more reconnaissance planes if needed."

Mu Haoyang waved his hand, rejected Yan Yingbo's proposal, and said: "My arrangement is to immediately send a destroyer to the north of New Caledonia to patrol between the Hueon Islands and New Caledonia. Do not use radar, nor do you send unmanned reconnaissance aircraft to maintain the highest speed throughout the journey. After discovering the Japanese fleet, open fire at the area designated by me. I will arrange the specific orders separately."

Zhuo Yuming frowned and nodded immediately.

"The remaining four cruisers and seven destroyers form an artillery formation, sailing south first, and going to the waters north of the Hueon Islands to stand by." Mu Haoyang glanced at Zhuo Yuming and said, "If you encounter the Japanese fleet before 4 o'clock in the afternoon, you don't have to be polite. Do you know how to do it?"

"I understand." Zhuo Yuming's answer was very simple.

"We will turn to the southeastern waters of the Solomon Islands and then sail northwest along the Solomon Islands." Mu Haoyang marked a route on the chart. "After four o'clock, the shelling formation must meet with us along the shortest route and strive to arrive before 10 o'clock in the night."

"What is the speed of the aircraft carrier battle group?"

“It will not exceed eighteen verses.”

"Okay, that's fine."

Mu Haoyang nodded and said, "If we had not encountered the Japanese fleet during the day, we will arrange the first batch of reconnaissance aircraft after dark, focusing on searching the waters between New Caledonia and the New Hebrides, and strive to launch an air strike before the early morning of the 28th."

"If you encounter a Japanese fleet during the day and the Japanese fleet deploys carrier-based fighter jets, we..."

"I will dispatch fighter jets in time." Mu Haoyang smiled and said to Zhuo Yuming, "In fact, there is not a high possibility that this situation will occur. Affected by the particle storm, the radar on Japanese warships will definitely not be used during the day, and the Japanese fleet is unlikely to send reconnaissance aircraft during the day. As long as the Japanese fleet can be discovered in time and attacked in time, it can prevent Japanese fighter jets from taking off. In addition, there is only one aircraft carrier in the Japanese fleet, and the carrier-based fighter jets will not be deployed very quickly, and you have eleven large air defense warships."

Zhuo Yuming breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I will return to the 'Chongqing' immediately."

"In five minutes, I will send you the specific combat order."

Zhuo Yuming nodded, saluted several generals, and turned around and left the fleet combat command center.

After formulating specific combat orders, Mu Haoyang asked the communications staff to send them out.

About fifteen minutes later, the cruiser "Chongqing" took the lead in turning. The one who rushed in front was not the cruiser, but the destroyer "Nanning" that was carrying out the reconnaissance mission.

After the shelling formation left, the two aircraft carriers and the accompanying frigates, and the rapid combat support ships also turned.

At this time, there was only one attack nuclear submarine in the second fleet, because after entering the Indian Ocean, Mu Haoyang asked Zhou Yusheng to arrange three attack nuclear submarines to go to the Malacca Strait, the Sunda Strait and the Lombok Strait, and then sent two attack nuclear submarines to the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea.

There is no big problem with this arrangement.

The reason is that when the fleet sails at full speed, the attack nuclear submarines must also sail at full speed, which will generate very obvious noise and easily expose their whereabouts.

For submarines, if they are exposed, they will lose their value.

More importantly, when dealing with the Akagi, Mu Haoyang basically doesn't have to consider the threat from underwater, because the Japanese AIP submarines cannot keep up with the Akagi at all, and cannot fight with the Akagi, and it will not pose a threat to the Chinese fleet.

As for third-party submarines, Mu Haoyang has enough reason to believe that no country dares to provoke China at this time.

Don’t forget that in the face of unprecedented natural disasters, only China has the ability to assist other countries, and almost all countries need China’s assistance.

When the Second Fleet was dispersed, it was already past 8:00 a.m. on the 27th.

At this time, the battle group of the "Chengcheng" aircraft carrier had passed through the South Bellona Reef and entered the Coral Sea.

In fact, the Japanese fleet did not detect reconnaissance aircraft.

At that time, it was around five o'clock in the morning (the southern hemisphere is winter, and the night is relatively long, and the sunrise is about seven o'clock), and the Japanese fleet kept radio silent and did not start the radar. Although the passive detection systems on several air defense warships were working, no reconnaissance aircraft thirty kilometers away were found. It was not that the performance of the passive detection system was not advanced enough, but that the ionosphere disorder caused by particle storms and the sky background interference was very serious, which greatly shortened the effective detection distance of the passive detection equipment on the warships, while the passive detection equipment on the fighter worked towards the sea and received much lower background interference, so the effective detection distance was farther than that on the warships.

More importantly, when the reconnaissance plane discovered the Japanese fleet, it had already flew to the end of the reconnaissance route.

In other words, after discovering the Japanese fleet, the reconnaissance plane did not continue to approach, but flew for five minutes while maintaining a distance.

Because no reconnaissance planes were found, the Japanese fleet continued to head north.

After dawn, Japanese warships shut down all electronic equipment, and carrier-based fighters were left in the hangar to avoid being affected by particle storms.

The problem is that the battle group of the Akagi aircraft carrier was heading straight towards the Solomon Islands.

Although in order to avoid international routes, the route of the "April City" aircraft carrier battle group deviated about 100 kilometers eastward, pointing to Guadalcanal in the center of the archipelago, instead of Bougainville in the northwest, nor Makira in the southeast, this route did not pass through the Huñen Islands, nor was it close to New Caledonia, and the shortest vertical distance from the shelling formation was more than 100 kilometers.

Obviously, this distance exceeds the maximum visual range and also exceeds the detection range of the passive detection equipment.

However, the Akagi will never go to Guadalcanal because the island is one of the most populous islands in the Solomon Islands. If you are close to Guadal Island, you will definitely encounter ships moving nearby, and the Akagi aircraft carrier battle group will also be exposed.

The Japanese fleet commander attaches most importance to the hidden whereabouts.

Even if the Chinese fleet does not operate in the Coral Sea and is about to arrive at the mainland, as long as the whereabouts of the "Achievement" are exposed, the Chinese Navy will send another fleet to intercept it. Before finding the joint fleet, killing the "Achievement" is definitely one of the main purposes of the Chinese Navy.

For the battle group of the Akagi aircraft carrier, exposing their whereabouts in the Solomon Islands is really desperate.

To this end, before approaching Guadalam, the battle group of the USS Akechin aircraft carrier must turn, either sailing northeast or southwest, passing through the Solomon Islands from the open waters, and then heading north. Because the international waterway from Australia to East Asia passes between Bougainville and New Ireland, turning southwest and bypassing the Solomon Islands from the east of Makira Island is the best choice.

This route is slightly longer, but it seems to be more reliable in the eyes of the Japanese fleet commander.
Chapter completed!