.Chapter 36 Be careful of going too far

When Mu Haoyang saw the commander of the Japanese fleet, he felt a little familiar.

Although he was given analgesics, the Japanese fleet commander still recognized Mu Haoyang at a glance. As long as he was a naval soldier, there was no one who did not know Mu Haoyang.

"Hiroto Imai, commander of the Indian Ocean Fleet, and commander of the battle group of the aircraft carrier "Akagi" and the Rear Admiral." The commander of the Japanese fleet sat upright, raised his chest, saluted Mu Haoyang, and spoke in English. "General, I can only tell you so much, don't even think about getting other information from me."

Mu Haoyang was stunned, then smiled and shook his head.

“According to the international war law, I can only provide mine…”

"What is your relationship with Imai Tsukumura?"

Hirochi Imai was stunned for a moment and said, "He is my clan uncle and a distant relative."

"No wonder I think you look familiar."

"I'm different from him, I..."

Mu Haoyang pressed his hand and said, "I'm not here to interrogate you, I just want to know, how do you know we will be waiting for you to come to the Coral Sea?"

"this……"

"You must admit that you are a very tricky opponent, at least the most difficult opponent I have ever encountered so far, much better than your clan uncle." Mu Haoyang pulled the chair over and sat down and said, "I even think that if you have the fleet in my hands, the result will be completely different."

“It’s a pity that I don’t.”

"Of course, you can't blame you. In fact, when the Japanese Navy decided to send troops to the Indian Ocean, the end of the "Akagi" aircraft carrier battle group was destined."

Hirochi Imai sighed and his expression dimmed.

"I believe you have been mentally prepared."

"The only thing I didn't expect was that you would personally lead a fleet to the Indian Ocean."

"Yeah?"

"Anyway, the Western Pacific is much more important than the Indian Ocean, so I think you're going to stay in the Western Pacific and let others lead the fleet into the Indian Ocean."

"Only by chance can you defeat the enemy."

Hirochi Imai forced a smile, his expression slightly cheerful.

"Get care about your injury, I won't send someone to interrogate you. If you can get out of bed, you can come to me and talk about anything. After all, you are no longer my enemy." Mu Haoyang stood up and said, "If there is any personal matter, such as if you want to contact your family, you can ask."

After saying that, Mu Haoyang walked towards the door of the infirmary.

"General..."

Mu Haoyang stopped and looked at Hirochi Imai.

"I'm convinced by losing to you."

Mu Haoyang smiled, said nothing, and left the infirmary.

Hirotochi Imai was not uncommon. As Mu Haoyang said, if he had enough troops in his hands, the defeat might not be the Japanese fleet.

After instructing medical staff to take good care of Hirochi Imai, Mu Haoyang returned to the fleet combat command center.

At this time, Zhou Yusheng had already counted the basic results.

In addition to sinking two cruisers and eight destroyers, three rapid combat support ships were also captured. Because the situation of the "Achidun" has not been completely determined, it was not included in the capture list. In addition, according to Zhou Yusheng's estimate, there is still a chance to sink or capture three oil tankers.

In terms of personnel, more than 3,700 officers and soldiers have been captured, of which more than 3,300 are from the "Chiacheng".

The salvage work is still in progress, but the number of prisoners will not increase significantly, because all ten Japanese warships sank at very fast speeds, and the officers and soldiers on the warships have little chance of escape.

In this battle, the Second Fleet suffered 67 casualties, including 52 of whom were crew members of the "Guangzhou".

Based on this, Ma Mingtao drafted a battle report.

After carefully reading and modifying some places, Mu Haoyang asked Ma Mingtao to send a war report.

At 4:30 in the morning, Yan Yingbo sent a survey report of the "Achihe". Because the loopholes in the hull were mainly left by naval gun shells, the water inlet in the hull was not serious. After the generator was repaired, the water inlet could be controlled. At most two days, the "Achihe" could be towed away.

Before Mu Haoyang made the decision, the General Staff sent a call back.

"Let's go back?"

"The order is very clear, return to the South China Sea from the Bashi Channel, and then let the damaged warships go to the nearest port, and the other warships return to Zhoushan."

"This..." Zhou Yusheng was a little incomprehensible.

"Since it's an order, there's nothing to say." Mu Haoyang breathed a sigh of relief and said, "First arrange the damaged warships, leaving two destroyers towed the Akagi, and other warships form formations to return on the shortest route. After dawn, the radio silence will be restored."

Two hours later, the Chongqing, Fujian and Guangzhou set sail first with the three rapid combat support ships.

Subsequently, under the cover of two cruisers, three destroyers and eight frigates, the two aircraft carriers embarked on a journey back with the captured three Japanese rapid combat support ships.

On the battlefield, there were only two destroyers and the "Akagi" full of holes.

At this time, Teng Yaohui handed over the organized and polished battle report to the Ministry of National Defense. As expected, the Ministry of National Defense will announce the news at around 8 am Beijing time.

However, Teng Yaohui was not happy.

The reason is simple, the Second Fleet is in danger, at least he believes that the Second Fleet is under threat.

When the Battle of Makila started, the first batch of four anti-submarine patrol aircraft had arrived at Iwoyu Island, and immediately took off to air for search missions after replenishing fuel.

At that time, an anti-submarine patrol aircraft flew to Nanbird Island.

According to the judgment of the II Ministry, if the Japanese Joint Fleet did not go to other countries, the possibility of being near Nanto Island is the greatest, and it is very likely that the damaged warship has been repaired.

After the anti-submarine patrol aircraft took off, the first fleet had already advanced to the south of Iwo Huang Island.

According to Teng Yaohui's arrangement, as long as the joint fleet is discovered, the first fleet will immediately launch an attack, rather than waiting for the second fleet to return before launching an attack.

The problem is that the anti-submarine patrol aircraft did not find the joint fleet

At that time, the anti-submarine patrol aircraft arrived near Nanto Island at around 1 a.m. on the 28th. They circled for several times but did not find Japanese warships.

It's just not immediately discovered.

Two hours later, the Navy Command found suspicious traces in the photos taken by the anti-submarine patrol aircraft.

There are large oil traces on the sea south of Nanto Island, indicating that a large number of warships had been anchored here not long ago, and maintenance operations must have been carried out.

In other words, the judgment of the second division is not wrong, and the joint fleet is indeed hidden in Nanto Island.

The problem is that the joint fleet had already slipped away before the anti-submarine patrol aircraft arrived.

Because the order was to search for the sea areas where the fleet could be anchored, the anti-submarine patrol aircraft did not continue to fly east after arriving over Nanbird Island.

This discovery made Teng Yaohui feel more alert.

In his opinion, the Joint Fleet may have recovered its combat effectiveness, and after receiving the news that the battle group of the Akagi aircraft carrier "Akagi" was attacked, heading south at full speed to intercept the second fleet that was operating alone, rather than sailing westward to deal with the first fleet.

This is also easy to understand, because the First Fleet has not fully exposed its whereabouts.

Even if the Japanese Navy knew that the First Fleet was active near Iwoyu Island, it could not determine the exact location of the First Fleet, but it could make an accurate judgment on the whereabouts of the Second Fleet, that is, after annihilation of the "Akagi" aircraft carrier battle group, the Second Fleet would definitely go north to meet with the First Fleet.

Because the battle on Iwo Huang Island has not ended yet, it is unlikely that the First Fleet will head south to welcome the Second Fleet.

In this way, as long as the joint fleet arrives in time, there will be a chance to fight the Second Fleet alone on the night of the 29th, and may even ambush the Second Fleet.

That's why Teng Yaohui ordered Mu Haoyang to return to his hometown instead of meeting the First Fleet.

In Teng Yaohui's view, if the joint fleet is ambushed, the second fleet will be destroyed, and the joint fleet will not suffer much loss.

If there are any mistakes in the Second Fleet, the battle situation will become beneficial to the Japanese Navy.

The problem is that the actual situation is completely opposite to what Teng Yaohui expected.

By the early morning of the 28th, the joint fleet had not completed the restoration work, and only two aircraft carriers had recovered their combat effectiveness, and the other two aircraft carriers had one catapult each had not been repaired. Even if it was not affected, the joint fleet could only restore all combat capabilities after July 30th.

At that time, the joint fleet did leave Nanto Island, but did not go south, but sailed eastward.

After the Japanese Navy Command intercepted the rapid combat support ship and sent a telegram, it immediately realized that the battle group of the "Akagi" aircraft carrier was finished. Before that, the defenders on Iwoo Island had reported the latest situation, that is, the Chinese Navy's anti-submarine patrol aircraft had arrived at Iwoo Island.

Combining these two pieces of intelligence, the Japanese Navy Command immediately ordered the joint fleet to leave Minamito Island.

At about 11 o'clock on the night of the 27th, the joint fleet set up anchors and sailed eastward at the fastest speed. The Chinese Navy's anti-submarine patrol aircraft arrived around 1 a.m. on the 28th. At that time, the joint fleet was about fifty-five nautical miles east of Nanniao Island, and the two engineering ships landed at the end were only about thirty-five nautical miles from Nanniao Island. If the anti-submarine patrol aircraft expanded the search range eastward, they would definitely find the joint fleet.

Unfortunately, the anti-submarine patrol plane did not fly east, but flew south after hovering for several weeks.

Obviously, in this direction, the United Fleet cannot be found anyway.

The Second Fleet was not threatened, but it was unlikely to destroy the joint fleet immediately. Under the circumstances at that time, even if the Second Fleet headed north to meet with the First Fleet, it would be impossible to find the joint fleet before thirty days. The main reason is that under the influence of particle storms, large-scale searches cannot be carried out during the day.

Of course, the Joint Fleet will not return to Minamito Island, nor will it return to Japan.

In order to complete the final restoration work, the United Fleet still had to go to a certain island, and the closest to South Bird Island is Wake Island controlled by the United States.

Although the United States has long stated that it will not provide direct assistance to Japan, the United Fleet can only go to Wake Island without a choice.
Chapter completed!