That Time When I Was Suddenly Reincarnated in a Fleet Battle

Chapter 11 - Bomber Unit Destruction

Not all of the seventeen bombers of the Yorktown were carrying bombs. I don't know if it's true, but according to a certain book, about thirty percent of the squadron's planes accidentally dropped bombs due to troubles or accidents after takeoff. To protect the ones carrying bombs, they turned their noses towards us. Three of the Zero fighters from the Kaga air group confronted them upon seeing this.

The SBD Dauntless, a dive bomber, is not a match for the Zero fighter in any aspect. Whether it's speed or maneuverability, the Zero far surpasses the SBD. Nevertheless, the 12,7 mm machine gun mounted on the SBD's nose is a formidable threat to the vulnerable Zero. If hit by a continuous burst, the Zero would lose its combat capability unless the hits were particularly unlucky, and it could even be shot down. Ignoring it was not an option. Losing four Zero fighters out of seven was painful, but there was no other choice.

While three Zeros faced the bomb-less SBD, the D4Y I was on and four Zeros chased the SBDs carrying bombs. I instructed the pilot to maintain a slight distance below the SBD and prepare to launch fireballs with added automatic tracking magic. Then, I opened the canopy and fired at the SBD, which was carrying bombs and losing speed. I aimed for the leading aircraft and the bomb it carried in its belly. My fireball hit the bomb as intended, creating a large blossom of death in the air. The explosive power of the 1.000-pound bomb was tremendous, and the following aircraft were shaken to some extent.

The Kaga Zero fighter squadron didn't miss the opportunity presented by the disrupted enemy formation. The four Zeros fired 20 mm rounds successively at the SBDs from behind and above. With Zero fighters above and fireballs from below, the SBDs were in a tough spot. Out of the 12 to 13 SBDs, almost half were shot down in the initial attack. After that, it was like cleaning up the remaining enemies. The D4Y and four Zero fighters mercilessly slaughtered all the remaining SBDs in a short amount of time.

After confirming all the dive bombers were shot down, I instructed the pilot to raise the altitude of the D4Y so that it could respond to the surviving members of the Enterprise squadron entrusted to the Hiryū and Sōryū squadrons, or the Hornet bombing squadron or fighter squadron that couldn't make contact with the 1st Air Fleet in OTL.

The four Zeros and the three that separated initially joined in. I activated detection magic to search the surrounding airspace and confirmed that about a dozen aircraft were approaching from the south. If they were SBDs that had broken through the Hiryū and Sōryū squadrons' defense lines, it would be another battle. Initially specks, they soon took the form of airplanes. As the aircraft shapes became clear, it was evident that they were Zero fighters from the Hiryū and Sōryū squadrons. Although they faced almost twice the number of Enterprise bombing squadrons, they managed to achieve remarkable results in a challenging mission.

Moreover, my detection magic did not detect any other aircraft approaching the 1st Air Fleet. In other words, just like in history, the Hornet bombing squadron and fighter squadron could not discover the fleet. For the time being, the 1st Air Fleet had temporarily, or perhaps at the height of the crisis, avoided danger. There were still things to be done, but even so, I couldn't help but release a sigh of relief.