As for aviation fuel? How much aviation fuel can an aircraft carrier carry? According to the standards of Japanese warships, it is about 200 to 300 tons. (Don't think it's too little. In history, large fleet aircraft carriers like Ruihe had only 475 tons of aviation fuel reserves.) What about consumption? The fuel consumption of a fighter's auxiliary fuel tank is less than 500kg, and the fuel consumption of an attack aircraft is about 700kg. In this way, after leaving each aircraft with a 1.5 combat portion of fuel, the remaining fuel can be handed over to the ground-based aviation fleet.

What? You said 1.5 battles are not enough? This is enough, because in the Japanese plan, they only have one daytime engagement with the US fleet. If they cannot annihilate the opponent during the day, then unless they are extremely lucky, after a night of high-speed navigation, the US fleet has a high probability of escaping the Japanese fleet. How much output can an aircraft carrier make in naval battles during the day? At most, all carrier-based aircraft will be released once. Some aircraft may have two opportunities to take off, such as reconnaissance aircraft or fighter aircraft responsible for fleet air defense. Considering the damage to carrier-based aircraft during the battle, it is enough to leave 1.5 combat portions of fuel for all aircraft!

In this way, Betty's suggestion optimizes the resource allocation of the Japanese joint fleet's troop power to the greatest extent. If operated properly, the ammunition and materials on the warships can be transported to the Talao Islands within two days to supply the Japanese twin-engine bombers. In this way, the Japanese's aviation power will have about 45 twin-engine bombers out of thin air. If someone comes from the perspective of God, he will find that in fact, the regular aviation power in the hands of the Japanese is almost twice that of the US military!

After solving the three problems raised by Shigetaro Yoshimatsu, the tactics of the Japanese Joint Fleet have actually matured, that is, the Talao Islands are the core of the entire front, and the main force of the fleet is deployed in the eastern part of the Talao Islands. Seaplanes on the Talao Islands and seaplanes in the Japanese Joint Fleet are used as the main reconnaissance means to deploy a cordon. Then, after the cordon discovers the target, the Japanese Joint Fleet takes the opportunity to attack.

As for whether the Americans will control their speed and use night time to pass through the waters near the Talaw Islands? In fact, this is impossible. The combat radius of twin-engine bombers is at least 300 kilometers. Calculated for 10 hours a night, the US fleet calculated based on the speed of 18 knots. Then, at most, it would be impossible to walk 300 kilometers a night, and it would definitely not be able to walk out of the waters around the Talaw Islands. With this as the center, the aircraft fleet of the Talaw Islands can block the entire eastern exit of the Sulawesi Sea. As for whether the American fleet does not take the Sulawesi Sea, can choose to detour? This is not even theoretically possible, because not only does the destroyer's range not have enough range, but also the main battleship's range may not be enough!

The Japanese joint fleet's participation in the battle sequence was officially released several hours later. There were 13 battleships in total, divided into three battleship teams, namely the first battleship team, including the fleet's flagship Nagamon, Muro, Fusang and Ise. The second battleship team is four Fusang-class battleships, namely Yamaki, Hinaga, Takabo and Tosa. The third battleship team is five battleships, namely the fast battleships Ibuki, the battleships Ibuki, the battleships Kwang and Hazine, as well as the two dreadnoughts Hanoi and Sezu.

There are four aircraft carriers in total, namely the Fengxiang, the Flying Eagle, the Flying Eagle and the Flying Eagle. Among these aircraft carriers, the Flying Eagle was modified using relics from the British "Preparation Aircraft Carrier" plan during the war. It uses a large fleet aircraft carrier built on a high-speed merchant ship with a displacement of 22,000 tons. It is equipped with a double-layer hangar. The upper hangar is open and the lower hangar is closed. The British believe that the number of aircraft carriers can reach more than 92, and the Japanese also equipped the aircraft carrier with 85 aircraft.

As for the remaining three aircraft carriers with displacements of between 15,000 tons and 18,000 tons, they all use a single-layer hangar. In addition to the Flying Eagle, most of the hulls are pure civilian ship structures, and they have been properly enhanced. Although there is a deck system, the number of aircraft carried by each warship is also between 60 and 70, and the four aircraft carriers carry a total of 280 aircraft. In addition to 4 regular aircraft carriers, this time the Japanese Combined Fleet also brought out 2 seaplane carriers for reconnaissance and anti-submarine.

Compared with the large-scale battleship fleet and aircraft carrier fleet, the size of the Japanese auxiliary fleet is pale. Not to mention that compared with the destroyer team of the US Pacific Fleet, even at present, they are far behind the destroyer team in the US fleet commanded by Sims. The main force of the Japanese Joint Fleet, which has a total of 17 main battleships, is only 36 destroyers! That is, 6 6 destroyers teams!

Of course, this does not mean that the Japanese Combined Fleet has only 36 destroyers, but because many destroyers are maintaining or performing other tasks. At the same time, this deployment must emphasize maneuverability and ocean-going operations, so it must be equipped with large destroyers. However, no matter what, there is still a clear gap between just 36 destroyers and the US fleet with more than 50 various destroyers.

As for the cruisers in the Japanese fleet? Sorry, there are no cruisers in the Japanese joint fleet except for the two light cruisers that serve as the lead ships of the destroyer fleet. These two light cruisers equipped with only 6-inch guns are not enough for the US heavy cruisers to fight!

Another weak link in the Japanese Joint Fleet compared to the US fleet is the submarine force. You should know that in order to cooperate with this operation, the US fleet has concentrated more than 40 submarines for reconnaissance and alert tasks! Even many submarines used to perform breakthrough transactions were drawn. However, the Japanese Navy would never be able to gather such a number of submarine troops in such a short time. Not to mention that most submarines also perform breakthrough transactions thousands of kilometers away, the Americans would take weeks to arrange and deploy these submarines. How could the Japanese fleet be properly prepared within a few days? Therefore, the only submarines that the Japanese could mobilize were more than a dozen submarines anchored at the headquarters of the Joint Fleet.

Therefore, these fleets, together with two land-based seaplane squadrons and three bomber squadrons deployed in the Talao Islands, constitute the full strength of the Japanese joint fleet in this Sulawesi Sea Battle.
Chapter completed!