Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.

Let's get to it.

Chapter 34- Lightning Strike

In the cockpit of his F-14, Commander Owens scans the skies ahead. His F-14s, flying ahead of the rest of the strike force, are coming up on the point where they should be making contact with the Japanese invasion fleet. Owens knows that there will be at least some Zeros over the fleet from the carriers believed to be with the fleet, but hasn't picked them up yet.

"Anything?" he calls back to his RIO.

"Nothing yet," his RIO calls back. However, only seconds later, he says, "Wait. I may have something."

Owens waits for his RIO to say something more. He has to wait only a few moments before his RIO calls out, "Four contacts, directly ahead, distance 50 miles."

"We've got 'em," Owens says. Owens then gets on the radio and says, "Jolly flight, bandits directly ahead, distance 50 miles. Lock bandits up and prepare to fire."

The four Tomcats leading the strike force power up their powerful radars and lock the four patrolling Zeros they have detected. With the Zeros having no radar detection systems, they don't have to worry about warning them prematurely.

The Tomcats continue closing in, waiting to fire to give the Japanese less time to react. Finally, at a distance of 20 miles, Owens calls out "Fox Three!" An AIM-54 Phoenix drops from underneath the Tomcat and its rocket motor ignites. Across the flight, three more AIM-54s drop from the other Tomcats and streak away.

Moving at Mach 5, it takes the missiles only about half a minute to reach their targets. As the AIM-54s streak in towards their targets, their proximity fuses detonate, ripping apart the four Zeros patrolling over the fleet.

In his cockpit, Owens hears, "We got 'em all!"

Owens gets on the radio and calls out, "Hawkeye 1-1, Jolly 1. Splash 4. Repeat, splash 4!"

Behind them, the Hellcats, Helldivers, and Avengers speed up and prepare to start their runs. At the same time, the Tomcats slow down slightly and continue to scan the airspace ahead of them. They have orders from Yelland to stay out of sight as much as possible, to avoid the Japanese realizing that the Nimitz has returned to the Pacific for as long as possible.

Meanwhile, down on the ships of the fleet, Japanese lookouts notice the explosions as the AIM-54s take out the unexpecting Zeros. On the battleship Musashi, the fleet flagship, the lookout passes the message to one of the ship's officers, who races into the flag bridge where the fleet commander, Admiral Kondo, is waiting. "Admiral, the four fighters we had patrolling over the fleet just exploded."

Kondo's face hardens. "It's the Americans. Aircraft either from Midway or a carrier force. Scramble our remaining fighters and ready every gun," he orders.

The order is relayed across the fleet. On the four escort carriers accompanying the fleet, the remaining 16 Zeros are quickly prepped and made ready to fly as crewmen race to their guns.

The Japanese wait in silence for several minutes, waiting anxiously for any sign of the elusive Americans. Then, they hear something, the roar of Pratt and Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engines. Looking up, the Japanese feel a chill as they see 50 F6F Hellcats diving towards the task force.

Guns quickly start to train towards the incoming Hellcats as the Zeros aboard the escort carriers prepare for takeoff. However, they soon hear another sound. An even more shrill roar. Gunners look up and see the Helldivers starting their dives. Most gunners don't even see the Avengers swooping in for their attacks.

First to start their attacks are the fast Hellcats. The fighters swoop in on the ships of the fleet, focusing on the destroyers and the vulnerable transports, unleashing torrents of 50 caliber machine gun fire. Gunners fire back at the Hellcats, but many gunners are torn apart by the bullets. More bullets tear through the unarmored transport ships, killing many crew and soldiers aboard the transports and wounding many more. Two Hellcats are shot down, but the fighters continue strafing.

The Japanese gunners frantically fire at the Hellcats, but the marauding fighters are merciless as they strafe their targets. A number of Hellcats head straight for the escort carriers, strafing the Zeros on deck, causing the Zeros to explode and send burning fuel across the deck.

As the Hellcats continue their attacks, the Helldivers continue their dives as the Avengers close in to drop their torpedoes.

The first bomber to drop is a Helldiver diving on the battleship Fuso. The Helldiver pilot drops his 1,000 pound bomb and quickly pulls out of his dive. The bomb strikes directly amidships, penetrating the deck and exploding two decks down, starting a fire.

In the next 20 or so seconds, seven more Helldivers drop their bombs on the Fuso. Three more 1,000 pound bombs score direct hits on the old battleship. One of the bombs plunges right through the armor next to the number 2 turret, and plunges into the depths of the battleship before exploding among the forward ammunition magazines.

A split second later, sailors across the fleet watch in horror as a massive fireball erupts just forward of the Fuso's superstructure, blowing out the sides of the ship before severing the bow completely and causing heavy damage to the rest of the ship. Immediately, the Fuso's bow begin to dip into the sea as it slows down. Everyone watches as the battleship's stern begins to rise out of the water.

For a moment, everyone watches the Fuso start to sink. They are drawn back into the battle when a 1,000 pound bomb from another Helldiver hits the escort carrier Hosho, shattering her flight deck and starting several fires.

The Japanese gunners resume firing at the Helldivers and Hellcats, still not noticing the incoming Avengers. One Hellcat is shot down, but the Helldivers are virtually untouched as they continue to rain bombs down on the Japanese fleet. Two more bombs hit the Hosho, causing heavy damage below decks and starting more fires. One Helldiver manages to hit the Musashi with a 1,000 pound bombs, but causing little damage.

Nine Helldivers concentrate on the heavy cruiser Mikuma. The first Helldiver misses, but the second bomber scores a direct hit just forward of the number 1 turret, exploding on the second deck and starting a fire. Three seconds later, the bridge takes a direct hit, killing the captain and the bridge crew. Three more bombs strike the cruiser, exploding below deck and starting multiple fires and opening a small leak.

The remaining Helldivers concentrate on the unarmored transports and other auxiliary vessels. Seven transports are hit with a total of 12 bombs, sinking all of them, killing hundreds of Japanese soldiers and crewmen. Another Helldiver hits an oiler with a bomb, causing the entire ship to explode in a massive detonation.

As the Helldivers are attacking, the Avengers, most now closed in to no more than a mile from their targets, begin dropping their torpedoes. Most of them are focused on the heavier warships and the carriers.

The first torpedo dropped is dropped against the Musashi. The torpedo streaks in and strikes her directly amidships, sending a huge column of water skywards. It doesn't cause too much damage, but it does open a leak in the hull.

Several more Avengers drop their torpedoes on the battered Mikuma. In the matter of seconds, four torpedoes strike the ship from bow to amidships. The ship, already burning from bomb hits, starts listing rapidly to port, and the captain gives the order to abandon ship.

More Avengers close in on the battered Hosho. They score two hits on the ship's port bow and a third on her stern. The already burning carrier starts listing to port.

More Avengers close in on the tiny escort carrier Akitsu Maru. The Avengers quickly drop seven torpedoes on the small carrier. Three torpedoes streak her all along her port side in a matter of seconds. The ship quickly begins listing heavily to port. It will take the carrier only 12 minutes to capsize.

More Avengers quickly target the light cruisers Kiso and Kinu, which are steaming very close to each other. Over a dozen torpedoes are dropped against the two cruisers. Kiso is hit only twice, with one causing very little damage, and her damage control crews are able to contain the leak, resulting in just a 5 degree list. However, Kinu takes six torpedoes along her length. The damage is extensive, and she capsizes 20 minutes later.

A few remaining Avengers drop their torpedoes on several destroyers. They succeed in hitting the Akikaze twice, splitting her in two. Another torpedo hits the Namikaze, but fails to explode. The impact ruptures a small portion of the hull, causing a small leak, but it is quickly contained with little effect on the ship.

The final Avenger, looking for a good target, sees a transport a little further away from the rest of the transports. The Avenger pilot drops his torpedo and pulls away. The torpedo strikes the transport directly amidships. The transport quickly begins to sink, and disappears about 16 minutes later, taking over half of her complement of troops with her.

The strike force quickly begins to pull back as the Japanese gunners fire away at them. Two more aircraft are lost to anti-aircraft fire, but most of the Japanese anti-aircraft gunners have been taken out by strafing from the Hellcats, as well as the Helldivers as they pulled out of their dives.

Finally, the Hellcats, Helldivers, and Avengers are able to get out of range of Japanese AAA. As they do, Owens descends enough to get a visual on the Japanese fleet.

The first strike on the invasion fleet had met wit reasonable success. They had sunk two escort carriers, a battleship, a heavy cruiser, a light cruiser, a destroyer, 8 transports, an oiler, and two minesweepers sunk by strafing runs, with more ships damaged

Owens turns to head back to the Nimitz. As he does, he gets on the radio and calls out to the Hawkeye on station, "Jolly 1 to Hawkeye 1-1. Report 17 ships sunk. Repeat, 17 ships, including two escort carriers and 1 battleship, sunk."

And, I'll end there. Hope you liked this chapter.

So, the Occupation Force has been hit, but is far from out. However, further operations will mostly focus on the main fleet. However, I will promise that Task Force 36 will engage the Occupation Force in a surface battle.

Next chapter should be up soon. Until it is, please leave a review, and stay tuned!