Chapter 134: Guarding and not guarding

The Second Fleet missed the opportunity to attack the US Third Fleet, which is not a pity, because on the night of the 28th, Nixon received an order from Admiral France to increase the alert level of the fleet, and planned to expand the air defense alert range before arriving in Honiara, and send reconnaissance aircraft to the Bismarck Islands to the north. From time to time, Nixon had reason to believe that the Chinese fleet had arrived near the Bismarck Islands. In addition to the US Third Fleet increasing its alert, the US patrol aircraft deployed by the US Mén Islands also strengthened its search efforts.

In other words, even if Tong Shaoyun leads the Second Fleet to stay near New Ireland Island and seizes the opportunity, he is likely to be counterattacked by the US military. You should know that by the night of the 30th, the First Fleet was still in Micronesia, and the distance from the Second Fleet was more than 1,400 kilometers. The air defense cover it could provide was very limited. The Second Fleet could only rely on its own air defense forces to deal with the US military's air strikes.

The Second Fleet's maneuver to the north of Kaping Amarani Atoll has another advantage, that is, it can provide artillery support to the Marines landing on Bo Nape Island.

In fact, this is also the main reason why the Second Fleet moved to the north of Kaping Amarani Atoll.

Although the landing fleet had eight fire support ships, 32 large-caliber electromagnetic guns, and the second fleet had only twenty-four large-caliber electromagnetic guns in total, Pang Yuelong seemed to have no trust in the fire support ships. When arranging combat missions, he asked the second fleet to provide early artillery support to the landing troops, and the fire support ships only provided support to the Marine Corps after the landing began.

That's true, there are two fast combat support ships in the Second Fleet.

On the 29th, both sides were at peace.

Although the US military dispatched a large number of patrol aircraft on this day, it did not search for the near Kaping Amarani Atoll, but focused on the north side of the Bismarck Islands. In Micronesia, the Chinese Navy is preparing to attack Bo Nape Island, and the First Fleet and the Landing Fleet are both outside the US military's search range.

In the early morning of the 30th, the artillery fire strike before landing began.

In Micronesia, Bo Nape is the only place where there are US garrisons. To be precise, the island has a US-leased military base, including a port that can accommodate 1,500-ton warships, an airport with a runway of 1,500 meters and a Marine Corps barracks.

At that time, there were about 2,000 US troops on the island, one of which had a land battle camp with a force of about 500.

In the US military's defense system, Bo Nape Island plays a role in connecting the Solo Mén Islands and the Mariana Islands, but it was not at the forefront before. More importantly, Bo Nape Island is a small island with a small area and is located in Palikiel, the capital of the Federated States of Micronesia, with a population of about 100,000. Therefore, the US military's defense deployment on Bo Nape Island is not perfect.

After the Battle of Micronesia, the US military even planned to give up Bo Nape Island because the island was too difficult to guard.

According to the defense plan proposed by France, the US military should voluntarily retreat to the Marshall Islands, Gilbert Islands and Tuvalu Islands, and deploy heavy troops in Nauru, connecting the Solo Islands to the south and Wick Island to the north, forming a complete strategic defense line. Because Bo Nape Island is too far ahead, only more than a thousand kilometers away from Guam, and there are a large number of islands that can be used by the Chinese Marine Corps, so it does not have much defensive value, it is not worth spending too much troops, and it is not worth the decisive battle with the Chinese Navy for this island.

The problem is that not many people in the US Navy have known French like this.

Politically, the US authorities are even less likely to allow for a big strategic retreat, especially after the Battle of Micronesia, what the United States needs most is a significant victory.

You know, Australia had already shown signs of withdrawing from the war alone at that time.

In May, Australian pacifists organized a national strike, demanding that the current government step down, hold general elections in advance, and shouted the slogan of ending the war. Although the strike was eventually suppressed and several anti-political players who organized the strike were arrested secretly, the dissatisfaction among the people in Australia was already very obvious. If measures were not taken, there was a high possibility of riots.

Politically speaking, the so-called measures are to strengthen confidence in winning.

If you want the people to believe that victory is right in front of you, you must show it on the battlefield. You cannot mention strategic retreat, but emphasize strategic offensives.

As a result, French's claim was not supported.

The US military did not give up on Bo Nape Island, but did not enhance Bo Nape Island's defense deployment. No matter what politicians think, on the military level, guarding Bo Nape Island is indeed not worth much. What is more realistic is that the US military has to focus on the Solo Mén Islands.

In fact, if the Chinese army intends to march into the southwestern Pacific, it will have little to do with Bo Nape Island.

At least, in France's view, the Chinese army will only send troops to occupy Bo Nape Island when it marchs into Hawaii, and it is basically impossible before this.

The problem is that what French saw as impossible became a reality.

Now, even French couldn't figure out the intentions of the Chinese army.

The intelligence is very accurate. All the combat fleets of the Chinese Navy left the port, and there was also a landing fleet that was not too small to occupy a small island on the Hawaiian Islands. It has also left Osaka, Fuso. In other words, the Chinese Navy is likely to point its finger at the Hawaiian Islands.

Less than four hours after the Second Fleet shelled Bo Nape Island, General Marshall gave French an order to clarify the battlefield, prevent the Chinese fleet from advancing eastward, and prepare to defend the Hawaiian Islands, and send the Third Fleet to the war if necessary.

At first, French also believed that the Chinese Navy was aimed at the Hawaiian Islands.

However, after receiving the order from Admiral Marshall, he believed that the Chinese Navy would not attack the Hawaiian Islands, because even General Marshall, who did not understand naval warfare, made such a judgment, indicating that the Chinese Navy's intention was to make the US Navy make the same judgment.

In this way, the Chinese Navy's attack on Bo Nape Island is likely to be forcing the US fleet to fight to the decisive battle.

You should know that at this time, only Major General Nixon's third fleet, and the Fifth Fleet will have to stay in San Diego before the end of the year. The main reason is that the three American-class aircraft carriers will replace the last interception system and make comprehensive improvements to the power supply equipment. In fact, this is also the arrangement of Admiral France. The previous naval battles have made him realize that the warship's last-stage defense system is crucial. Since the 72mm electromagnetic speed shè gun has been developed and mass production has begun, there is no need to wait until the third batch of American-class aircraft carriers are put into service before use.

At that time, among the reasons why French concluded that the Chinese Navy would not attack the Hawaiian Islands, there was another thing that General Marshall ignored, that is, the Chinese fleet had only two aircraft carriers and less than 200 carrier-based fighters. The US military deployed more than 1,000 fighters on the Hawaiian Islands, and could mobilize strategic bombers deployed on the local area. Therefore, the Chinese fleet had no possibility of posing a threat to the Hawaiian Islands.

More importantly, as long as you wait a few more months, the Chinese Navy will be able to obtain five aircraft carriers.

With seven aircraft carriers, the Chinese Navy is sure to have a much greater grasp on attacking the Hawaiian Islands. In addition, the US Navy will not be able to obtain the third batch of "U.S." class aircraft carriers until the end of March 2054, and will be able to pose a threat to the main fleet of the Chinese Navy. That is to say, during this period, the Chinese Navy has three months to implement the Hawaiian Islands strategy and will be sure to occupy an island that is not too large. If the Chinese Navy's purpose is to occupy a large island, then even by the end of 2054, there will be no enough combat forces.

Based on these factors, French concluded that the intention of the Chinese navy was still to attack the Solo Islands.

The attack on Bo Nape Island was just to allow the US fleet to fight to the decisive battle so that when attacking the Solo Islands, there was no need to worry about threats from the sea.

Immediately, French thought of another possibility.

If the Chinese Navy is not sure to occupy the Solo Islands in a very short time, it must make long-term plans, that is, to fight the US Navy in 2054. In this way, before attacking the Solo Islands, the Chinese Navy must try to improve the defense deployment in the Western Pacific, and Bo Nape Island is a crucial link. In other words, this island can extend the Chinese Navy's warning range thousands of kilometers eastward. At that time, the Chinese fleet can operate in the waters between Micronesia and Bismarck Islands and support the Marines to attack the Solo Islands. The US fleet must advance westward to fight the Chinese fleet.

The result is that the US Navy must counterattack Bo Nape Island.

There is no doubt that this proves General French's judgment, but it also brings a new question, namely, whether to concentrate troops to defend Bo Nape Island?

Although Bo Napei is not very valuable in defense deployment, after the US military turns to an attack, Bo Napei has great strategic value.

Obviously, throwing away Bo Nape Island will turn the US military's strategic counterattack into vain.

Now, French had to consider another possibility, that is, Mu Haoyang had never thought about attacking the Solo Mén Islands, but was just expanding the strategic defense circle in the western Pacific and laying the foundation for the decisive battle in 2054.

If this is true, French has no choice but to guard Bo Nape Island.

You should know that 2054 is definitely a crucial year. Whoever can gain strategic advantages in this year will have greater confidence in winning this world war. Not only the Pacific battlefield, the Middle East battlefield, the Iranian battlefield, and the mainland battlefield, that is, whoever can gain strategic initiative in 2054 will have greater confidence in breaking the deadlock and entering the strategic offensive stage.

The problem is that if you guard Bo Nape Island, you have to bet on the Third Fleet.

Keep it, or not?
Chapter completed!