The wing lights of the fighters at the front of the line are on, indicating that they are ready for takeoff, and the red and blue signal lights of all aircraft have been turned on.

"All planes are ready to take off!" The commander of the aviation reported loudly to the captain's room.

The "Jeju" was sailing against the wind at a maximum speed of 30 knots, and the wind was blowing outside the bridge. Admiral Feinberg, who was standing in the command room, nodded slightly after hearing the report of the aviation commander.

"Start taking off!" On the bridge, Captain Clint gave the order to take off, and the "All Sortie" signal flag on the flagship was raised at the same time.

The aviation commander shook the green take-off signal and drew a circle in the air.

The two commanders standing on the deck made a take-off gesture to one of the fighters in the first line when they saw the take-off signal.

The brakes were released, and a Nanchang FW190S "Haiyan" fighter first increased its horsepower, sprang out along the take-off runway of the deck, and began to take off before reaching the end of the deck. The first aircraft was followed by fifteen fighters, followed by a squadron of 18 Shenfei SFB03S "Sea Harrier" bombers each carrying two 250-kilogram aerial bombs. Amid the cheers of the crowd on deck, the blue sky rose one after another.

In the sky above the mothership, the fighter squadron that took off first was in air formation, and the dive bomber squadron was also taking off one after another, and the sky was densely packed with aircraft groups. The fighters who took off quickly formed a formation and, under the leadership of the fighter formation, roared over towards the sea and sky in the southeast direction.

Since it was found that it was a small aircraft carrier and not many fighters, according to the plan, the two "Jeju"-class aircraft carriers each sent a fighter squadron and a bomber squadron, while the smaller displacement "Yiju" and "Qiongju" each sent only one bomber squadron.

In the first attack, the Polish Imperial Air Fleet sent a huge fleet of 32 fighters and 72 bombers, a total of 104 combat aircraft.

The deck of the planes, which had been noisy just now, suddenly fell silent, and the aircraft carriers began to use three elevators from the hangars to lift one aircraft after another to the flight deck, preparing to launch a second wave of attacks. A lift in front lifts the fighter, while the amidships and stern lifts lift the bomber. The ordnance crew used a cart to drag the bombs and torpedoes out of the ammunition compartment and load them under the belly of the plane, and all the personnel began to work nervously again.

Captain Su Qun returned to the standby room unhurriedly, and the planes of their squadron were still being raised up below deck, even if they wanted to make a sortie, it was not now.

The atmosphere in the bomber squadron standby room was somewhat unusual, with most people smoking cigarettes and some muttering about possible bombing missions. The Shenfei B03S "Sea Harrier" can carry one 550-kilogram aerial bomb or two 250-kilogram aerial bombs to carry out dive bombing missions, or an 860-kilogram aerial torpedo to carry horizontal low-altitude bombing missions. Now the pilots are nervously waiting.

"6th Fighter Squadron and 6th Bomber Squadron, board now!" The order of the aviation commander was heard from the loudspeaker. The fighter pilots jumped up from their chairs, their heavy leather boots rattling across the wooden deck, nervous and enthusiastic expressions on their faces.

This time, it was the first time that most of them had participated in a real battle.

The real battle is about to begin.

That area was covered with low cumulus clouds, and it was not easy to spot the enemy's whereabouts.

The first wave of attack aircraft, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Li Zhitong, did not immediately spot the East Frankish fleet when it reached the previously reported sea area. Li Zhitong immediately divided the formation into three groups and searched for the north, northwest and west. It had now been an hour and a half since the previous reconnaissance had sent the information, and the East Frankish fleet would have left the sea as fast as possible if it had discovered that its location had been exposed.

They were troubled by heavy cumulonimbus clouds in the sea and sky, and there seemed to be light rain and snow in some areas of the sea, which further obscured the enemy's fleet.

Li Zhitong flew through these clouds and climbed all the way to the clouds.

As soon as the fleet came out of the clouds, it immediately searched separately by area according to the original plan. A few minutes later, a bomber spotted an enemy plane from a gap in the clouds.

Li Zhitong immediately dived down with the fighter jet.

It was a large four-engine seaplane used by the East Franconians for passenger and postal services between Marseille and Tunisia. The plane has a wingspan of nearly 40 meters, which is larger than the giant fast airliner used by China Southern Airlines in the South China Sea.

The large reconnaissance plane was about a thousand meters below them and flew at an altitude of 1,500 meters above the sea, and Li Zhitong and his wingman rushed straight down towards it. The Franks apparently also saw the Tang fighter and burrowed into a cloud, and the fighter circled around the edge of the cloud, waiting for it to burrow again.

The Frankish seaplane came out of the rain again, and Li Zhitong did not attack immediately after discovering the target, but waited until it was completely exposed to the rain clouds before diving towards it. The Frankish seaplane, armed with several self-defense machine guns, began firing at a great distance.

Two Don fighters continued to approach the enemy aircraft and fired at it. Bullets hit its fuel tank, and gasoline sprayed from behind. Then the plane burst into flames. From behind the streamlined fuselage spewed out huge tongues of white fire and billowing smoke, tumbling towards the sea.

Two large East Franconian reconnaissance planes were shot down nearby, but they must have sent telegrams before, and the enemy was apparently aware of their presence.

In this way, the Japanese fleet is probably already dozens of nautical miles away. The air defense fighters led by Li Zhitong were about 50 nautical miles ahead of the bomber group that followed behind, so he had to find the Japanese fleet for the bombers.

Li Zhitong continued to be responsible for the search in the southeast direction, which was the most likely course for the East Frankish fleet. 50 nautical miles, or 15 minutes for a fighter cruising at 400 kilometers per hour. However, it only took ten minutes for Li Zhitong to find the target.

"Lieutenant Colonel, there is a fleet of ships on the sea, consisting of more than a dozen warships!"

Li Zhitong was in charge of air vigilance, and as soon as he heard the wingman pilot's call, he immediately shifted his gaze to the sea. Sure enough, in the southeast, under the thick clouds, more than a dozen warships were sailing at maximum speed in a circular air defense formation, moreover, fighters on two of the small aircraft carriers were taking off.

Li Zhitong shouted to the formation behind him in an excited voice: "All the bombers start attacking!" I repeat, all offense! ”