Chapter 44: The Battle of the Ryukyu Sea

  After the first aerial battle, the Japanese headquarters realized that Japan was far behind China in air combat technology, and since the Chinese aircraft carrier was launched, China and Japan were no longer on the same level. Now the only thing the Japanese Navy can rely on is the five newly commissioned "Tidal Wave" class conventional power submarines.

  The "Tatsumi" class submarine is the fourth conventional power submarine built in Japan after the war. Compared with the previous three levels, the "Tatsumi" class adopted a large number of new technologies and was considered an advanced submarine at that time. It took the US "Barbel" class submarine as its mother type, adopting a pure teardrop-shaped hull that minimized underwater navigation resistance, with a cruciform vertical rudder installed at the stern and a propeller installed behind the rudder. The conventional submarine adopted this advanced hull structure for the first time in Japan and was rare in the world.

  The "Tatsumaki" class submarine has a double hull structure, with the pressure hull made of NS63 high-strength steel, which was relatively advanced at that time. This allows the submarine to dive as deep as 200 meters. The class is also equipped with a large amount of advanced electronic equipment, greatly improving its automation level.

  The "Tatsumaki" class submarine has a similar appearance to the "Long Jaws" class, and its displacement, main dimensions, and other aspects are also very similar. Its length is 72 meters, draft 7.4 meters; surface displacement 1900 tons, underwater displacement 2430 tons; surface speed 12 knots, underwater speed 20 knots; it uses a diesel-electric propulsion system, with two diesel engines and one main propulsion motor and four lead-acid batteries.

  However, the "Tatsumaki" class has one difference from the "Long Jaws" class submarine: its six 533mm torpedo tubes are not located at the bow, but rather in the middle of the boat. This layout is very rare on conventional submarines. By moving the torpedo tubes to the middle, space can be left out for installing large sonar equipment on the sides of the stern, improving the boat's detection capabilities.

  The submarine's main armament consists of 16 Type 89 Japanese-made heavy torpedoes.

  Japan's main base plans to use these five new-type submarines and the five "Long Jaw" submarines introduced from the United States to form a submarine strike group, breaking through the aircraft carrier formation defense circle and striking China's aircraft carrier. As long as Japan sinks or severely damages China's aircraft carrier, it will gain the initiative in this war.

  At 10 o'clock, the Chinese aircraft carrier fleet arrived at a distance of 150 kilometers from the Ryukyu Islands. The Japanese Joint Fleet's 1st, 2nd and 3rd Escort Squadrons and Submarine Attack Group sailed towards the Chinese fleet simultaneously, while the air force units at Naha Airport were ready to provide support at any time.

  When the Chinese aircraft carrier fleet arrived at the Ryukyu Islands, the Japanese Navy was already waiting in ambush. Due to the extremely small strategic maneuvering space of both sides, there was no time to set up any encirclement, so this was a battle of needle against awn.

  At 10:11, all 155 aircraft at the Nab Air Force Base took off to prepare for an air raid on the Confucius aircraft carrier. The fleet commander, Wu Shiwen, coldly looked at the flashing dots on the display screen (which were Japanese planes) and gave a combat order to his staff officer: "Activate the fleet's air defense system".

  As Wu Shiwen gave the order, the Chinese God Shield system went into full operation. Through its advanced fire control system "Long Spear", "Sharp Sword" and "Dagger", all long-range, medium-range and short-range missiles were in a state of readiness. "Missile launch preparations are complete, requesting launch," reported the duty officers on board two city-class air defense destroyers to their respective captains.

  "Missile launch 30-second countdown, 30, 29,...10, 9, 8,...2, 1, launch!" With the commander's order, two hundred surface-to-air missiles roared towards the Japanese aircraft. These missiles adopted laser and infrared combined guidance technology, greatly enhancing their anti-interference capability.

  The Japanese pilot only saw a flash of light, and then found that the decoy bombs launched by his plane were useless. He then saw his planes being shot down one after another by Chinese missiles. Many pilots didn't even have time to parachute before their planes crashed into the sea, leaving him terrified. As he flew around like a headless fly, the onboard avionics system issued a warning that it had been locked onto. He hastily launched all the decoy bombs, dropped the external fuel tank and everything else heavy, and then turned his plane towards the airport at full power.

  Ten minutes later, this low-intensity fleet air defense battle ended. In the face of the strong air defense capabilities of the Chinese aircraft carrier formation, the Japanese military's poor aviation forces were annihilated without even making a splash. These Japanese air force planes hadn't even seen the Chinese aircraft carrier formation when they were shot down by the fleet's air defense missiles.

  This battle was won easily thanks to the great role played by the Chinese Divine Shield system, which enabled the Chinese fleet to achieve its expected goal of discovering and striking the enemy first. After receiving a report on the outcome of the battle from his staff, Fleet Commander Wu Shiwen immediately ordered the carrier-based aircraft and drones to begin an air strike against military facilities in Ryukyu.

  At this time, the air power of Ryukyu had basically been lost, but its air defense force was still very strong. After the US military withdrew, all air defense forces were handed over to Japan. This includes an M163 20mm six-barreled Vulcan anti-aircraft artillery battalion, 60 sets of the world's first man-portable shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile - "Red-Eye", and an M48 Chaparral surface-to-air missile battalion.

  "Chaparral" missile is a US-made, short-range surface-to-air missile developed in 1965 based on the "Sidewinder" air-to-air missile. The MIM-72 Chaparral is used for daytime field air defense and is suitable for striking targets within visual range. It belongs to the second generation of land-based air defense systems of the US Army.

  The Japanese troops in Ryukyu can be said to be in a state of high tension, with all air defense radars searching for incoming Chinese aircraft at full strength. However, what puzzles the Japanese headquarters is that no matter how hard the Japanese radar units try, they cannot find any information about the Chinese aircraft. This has left the invading Japanese troops in Ryukyu in a state of shock, as if they are unable to accurately capture the position of the incoming planes, it will put the Japanese troops in Ryukyu in a completely passive position.

  To change the unfavorable situation, the Japanese headquarters ordered the 1st, 2nd and 3rd escort fleets of the Japanese Combined Fleet and the submarine force to launch a full-scale attack on the aircraft carrier formation while Chinese carrier-based aircraft were taking off. Every move of the Japanese military was under the surveillance of Chinese reconnaissance satellites, and as soon as the Japanese side's military mobilization began, the Chinese military had already obtained the necessary intelligence.

  General Chen Mingren of the Taipei Allied Headquarters said to Lin Feng with some concern: "This time, the Japanese are going all out. Can our fleet withstand the attack of the Japanese submarines? Those submarines have the most advanced conventional power submarines from the United States."

  Lin Feng confidently said: "Don't worry, with our current air defense and anti-submarine capabilities, if we call ourselves the second, no one will dare to call themselves the first."

  "If we can destroy this Japanese naval fleet, the Japanese navy's strength will be reduced by at least two-thirds, and it will completely lose its strategic offensive capability."

  Lin Feng smiled and said: "General Zhang is right, as long as we eliminate the Japanese naval force in front of us, we can be considered to have completed the first phase target of this campaign. Next, we can proceed with island landing operations."

  The stealth capabilities of the fourth-generation fighter jets were unsolvable for military forces around the world at that time. Although Japan had deployed strong air defense forces in Okinawa, these defensive forces were just paper tigers compared to the current strength of Taiwan's Air Force.

  At 10:27, the Chinese Air Force successfully broke through Japan's air defense network. The Japanese deployed air defense radar had no reaction at all. After the Chinese bomber fleet evaded the search radar, they began to attack the Japanese military airport, radar base, missile base, and beachhead under the guidance of the early warning aircraft. Suddenly, everything in Okinawa was hit by China's precise long-range strikes, and Okinawa instantly turned into a sea of flames.

  Just as the Ryukyu Japanese military suffered a devastating blow, the Japanese assault fleet approached the Chinese aircraft carrier formation. The formation commander Wu Shiwen looked at the satellite-transmitted position photos of the enemy fleet and said: "Pay attention to the anti-submarine destroyers and escort ships for the enemy submarines' ambushes, anti-submarine helicopters will immediately insert search, prepare to launch anti-ship missiles and anti-submarine torpedoes."

  China, relying on its powerful communication and electronic technology, has grasped the Japanese military's every move, while the Japanese military, despite receiving satellite support from the US, still cannot get a clear picture of China's true situation due to Taiwan's advanced stealth technology. The Chinese aircraft carrier fleet's strong anti-submarine and anti-ship capabilities have completely foiled the Japanese submarine's sneak attack, with ten Japanese submarines sunk by anti-submarine missiles fired by destroyers before they could even approach the defensive range of the Confucius-class aircraft carrier, and some that managed to escape were also sunk by the nearby Imperial-class attack nuclear submarines.

  At 10:41, the Japanese Combined Fleet was attacked by more than 300 Chinese anti-ship missiles after its submarine force was annihilated. Then, the carrier-based aircraft that completed the first wave of attacks launched a second wave of missile attacks on the Japanese fleet. The Japanese Combined Fleet only had time to send a telegram saying "under attack" to the headquarters before it sank to the bottom of the sea. When the Japanese headquarters received the telegram, everyone felt a sense of foreboding, fearing that the Japanese Combined Fleet was completely destroyed. In fact, as the Japanese thought, except for the 4th Escort Vessel hiding in mainland Japan and some local fleets, all the Japanese naval forces participating in the Ryukyu Sea Battle were annihilated.