At 7:15, 7:25 and 7:30, the "Imperial Capital" also received three telegrams from the "Zizhou". With-Dream- . com

At that time, Li Mingbo also joked, saying that Liu Xiangzhen had shit luck and was the first to discover the Nuland aircraft carrier task force.

It's just that Bai Zhizhan and Zhou Yongtao didn't mean to laugh.

According to their previous speculation, the Nuland aircraft carrier task force should not have been in the north of the main task force at all, and it would have maneuvered to the south long ago.

The convoy of transports was pulled in the rear, and there was no need to provide anti-aircraft cover at all.

So, what's the use of keeping the aircraft carrier task force north of the main task force?

If you fight the capital ships, will you be able to make the convoy reach the Sayi Imperial Kingdom smoothly?

The Nuland Navy has only five fleet aircraft carriers, organized into two task forces, one in the north, so the one operating in the south must be isolated and helpless, and it may encounter accidents. With the loss of an aircraft carrier task force, the Nuland Navy was not far from defeat.

The point is, the seaplane found the "Sarah".

In other words, it was the 16th Nuland Task Force.

Task Force 17, with its three York-class ships, is definitely to the south!

So, where to the south?

Looking at this problem, we have to empathize.

Because Task Force 43 had already moved south and encountered the Newland Task Force 12, the only thing Spu, who commanded the Newland Task Force 17, could be sure of now was that Liu Xiangzhen could only lead the 21st Task Force to follow behind the 43rd Task Force because he was responsible for providing air defense cover.

In other words, Task Force 21 has also gone south.

As a result, Task Force 17 under Spud's command had to sail northwest to shorten the distance to Task Force 21.

So, when did Sp turn?

The 21st Task Force did not break the radio silence, and Bai Zhizhan did not know Liu Xiangzhen's arrangements, and did not know whether reconnaissance planes were sent to the east and southeast.

Of course, it doesn't matter if you don't know.

In accordance with the requirements of the White Stop-War, Zhou Yongtao made a similar arrangement and dispatched reconnaissance planes to search eastward, focusing on the waters south of the 43rd Task Force.

According to the speculation of the White Stop, it is extremely likely that the Nuland Task Force 17 is in this area.

Fearing that the distance would be too close and that Nuland's Task Force 17 would miss before dawn, the reconnaissance planes of Task Force 41 took off one after another at half past six.

At half past seven o'clock, the third telegram from the "Zizhou" was received, and the first batch of reconnaissance planes had only set off for an hour.

This time is only enough to fly more than 200 kilometers north. For a reconnaissance operation with a radius of 600 kilometers, not even half of it has arrived.

Although the two aircraft carriers of the 41st Task Force carried several additional reconnaissance aircraft, they were still far from sufficient compared to the vast sea area.

For this reason, Bai Zhizhan made arrangements and asked He Weigui to arrange reconnaissance missions for the seaplanes carried by the escort warships.

Because the seaplanes were slow and needed to reach a radius of 600 kilometers, they could only fly to the four heavy cruisers in front of them to replenish fuel, so the twelve seaplanes dispatched by the four ocean-going cruisers all took off before dawn, about an hour earlier than the reconnaissance planes.

All in all, Bai Zhizhan sent all the reconnaissance forces in his hands.

In addition, the 412th detachment had already traveled 100 kilometers overnight.

When the sky was bright, the four "Wuzhou" class ships had already run to about 300 kilometers in front of the "Imperial Capital".

Although the Nuland Carrier Task Force has not been found, its threat is definitely not to be underestimated. As long as they encounter it, the guards will be able to make Sp drink a pot.

In addition, two ocean-going cruisers have also advanced 150 kilometers overnight.

At this time, it was in front of the "Imperial Capital", sailing in a standard battle queue.

If the Nuland fleet flies from the east, it will first encounter these two ocean-going cruisers.

Although he was skeptical about the reconnaissance report of the "Zizhou", all three seaplanes were discovered, and one of them also clearly mentioned the discovery of the fleet aircraft carrier of the Nuland Navy, and also recognized it as the "Leke" class.

Of course, it must have been Nuland's Task Force 16.

It's a pity that it has nothing to do with the White Stop War.

The distance is more than 700 kilometers, not to mention the "Wasp" and "Flying Fish", even if it is "Roaring Sky", the combat radius after bringing the auxiliary fuel tank is not so far.

This situation lasted for about half an hour.

At about 8 o'clock, a seaplane flying northeast sent a telegram, which was intercepted by the long-wave radio station of the "Imperial Capital".

It was a seaplane carried by a heavy cruiser of the 412th detachment.

Because the 412th detachment was 300 kilometers ahead, the seaplane that departed at 6:30 had already flown about 300 kilometers to the north.

That is, at the time of the telegram, it was less than 500 kilometers from the 411th detachment.

The key thing is that the 412th detachment has been sailing eastward at full speed, so the position of the seaplane is actually in the direction of its north-west.

In the sea area where it was reported, there was a Nuland aircraft carrier, and the pilot visually judged that it was the "Leke".

How can it be!

Not to mention Zhou Yongtao and Li Mingbo, don't even be frightened by Bai Zhizhan.

Previously, the "Zizhou" of the 422nd detachment reported that the seaplane had spotted the Newland 16th task force and visually confirmed that there was an aircraft carrier of the "Leke" class, but it did not mention which one. According to pre-war intelligence, both "Lek" class ships were part of the 16th task force.

Now, the seaplanes of the 412th detachment have discovered another "Lek" class.

The distance between these two locations is more than 500 kilometers in a straight line!

It was only half an hour apart.

How could the two aircraft carriers of Nuland's Task Force 16 be in two seas so far apart?

There must have been a seaplane that got it wrong.

In addition, Bai Zhizhan was biased towards the side of the 422nd detachment.

It's just intuition, there's no bias.

If it must be said, between Wei Jun and Li Jiaheng, Bai Zhizhan is more willing to believe in Wei Jun.

If he could, Bai Zhizhan would like to send a telegram to ask.

It's a pity that radio silence can't be broken now.

The point is, the Newland aircraft carrier task force in the northeast is too close!

It is only more than 400 kilometers, and it has already entered the combat radius of carrier-based aircraft.

Fortunately, the guards had very rich experience in actual combat, and without waiting for Bai Zhizhan to give the order, they sent a telegram on the "Wuzhou".

In accordance with his orders, several nearby seaplanes turned to fly towards the sea where the "enemy fleet" was located.

In addition, the guards also sent a telegram to Li Jiaheng of the "Zizhou", asking about the situation there, especially whether there was any official previous discovery.

At the same time, Bai Zhizhan issued a battle order and asked Zhou Yongtao to arrange attack tactics.

Let the first wave of attack aircraft be prepared according to the standards of a strike carrier, and immediately send them to the flight deck to be reloaded and refueled.

Normally, it takes twenty minutes to half an hour to reload and refuel.

As for the attack tactics, it is a trivial matter.

Now there is a voice radio, and orders can be given even after the group has departed.

Shortly before 8:25 a.m., a telegram was sent from a second seaplane.

The report of the previous seaplane was not confirmed, but there was a new discovery, that is, about 50 kilometers away from the sea area reported by the previous seaplane, another aircraft carrier of the Nuland Sea Fleet was discovered, judging by the shape and size of the island, it was a "York" class.

It was only at this time that Bai Zhizhan suddenly understood.