"Yokoe".

By the time the staff officer sent the assembled war report, it was already past twelve o'clock. Liu Xiangzhen couldn't believe the result of the attack, to be precise, the heavy losses suffered, and the others were even more dumbfounded. It's a pity that no one can change or deny this fact.

Of the one hundred and fifty carrier-based aircraft, less than thirty flew back, of which eighteen were escort fighters.

To be precise, only 18 fighters, seven dive bombers, and four torpedo attack planes returned to make a forced landing in the waters east of Foot Island.

In other words, the dive bombers and torpedo attack aircraft that were sent out were all lost!

In terms of personnel, it is even more tragic.

According to the information received so far, dozens of pilots of the crew, including Major Zhu Huasheng, the captain of the Second Brigade of the First Wing, have been killed or missing.

There must be survivors, but certainly not too many.

According to this ratio, two more rounds of attacks will be launched, and the carrier-based aviation of the Imperial Navy will be turned into an empty shelf.

The result?

The only result confirmed by many people was that a dive bomber of the 1st Carrier-based Aviation Wing succeeded, dropping a bomb that hit the "Jiahe" and exploded inside the hull. It is only from the results of visual observation that it is impossible to conclude that the aircraft carrier has been sunk.

In addition, the 2nd Carrier Air Wing attacked the "Chicheng", but unfortunately none of the bombs and torpedoes dropped hit.

Sadly, the "Canglong" and "Feilong" of the Second Air Force were not found.

Didn't the Second Air Force come?

Apparently not!

About half an hour ago, Liu Xiangzhen received a telegram from Chengjiang Port, two successive waves of bombing, and the total number of enemy planes exceeded 200.

Obviously, this is the intensity of sorties that can only be achieved by four aircraft carriers.

Considering that the two "Ruihe" class ships of the Fifth Air Force have only been delivered for a short time and have not yet formed combat effectiveness, and that the two small aircraft carriers of the Third Air Force are not suitable for large-scale battles at all, it can basically be concluded that the Second Air Force is accompanying the activities of the First Air Force.

In fact, only the pilots of the Second Air Force were able to complete such a difficult attack mission.

So, where is the 2nd Air Force?

According to the report, there was a thunderstorm cloud about 50 kilometers south of the First Air Force, so there is reason to believe that the two aircraft carriers were hiding under the clouds.

Of course, whether it is or not, a second round of attacks must be launched immediately.

In fact, after receiving the news sent back by Zhu Huasheng, Liu Xiangzhen issued an order for all major teams to send out carrier-based aircraft as soon as possible.

Timing is everything!

From a tactical point of view, if you can launch a second attack before the enemy detects it, it will basically be a sure victory.

The reason is very simple, the mobile fleet is definitely preparing for the offensive, there will not be too many air defense fighters. If there is no way to launch a counterattack in time, when it is attacked again, the mobile fleet may not be able to withstand it, and it may not be able to get the opportunity to counterattack.

This is not Liu Xiangzhen's speculation, but the experience gained from the confrontation exercise.

To this end, Liu Xiangzhen personally arranged the attack tactics.

According to the arrangement, the 1st Carrier-based Aviation Wing will continue to attack the "Chicheng".

There is no way, it is the flagship of the mobile fleet, at least from the intelligence obtained before the war, the "Chicheng" has always been the flagship of Lan Yun.

The two groups of the 2nd Carrier-based Aviation Wing will delay their arrival by 15 minutes by controlling the flight speed.

Why?

If all goes well, the 1st Carrier Air Wing has already taken out the "Chicheng" and can therefore concentrate on the two aircraft carriers of the 2nd Air Force.

This is also the key to the key.

Liu Xiangzhen made it very clear that the two brigades each dealt with an aircraft carrier, and the heavy damage would prevail, and they would not seek to sink it directly.

In order to let the pilot understand the severity, Liu Xiangzhen directly mentioned that after the second round of attacks, there will be a third round of attacks, so as long as it can be hit hard, it will definitely be sunk!

In fact, half an hour has passed since I received Zhu Huasheng's report.

When Liu Xiangzhen made tactical arrangements, the four aircraft carriers had already begun to release carrier-based aircraft, but this time it was the fighter planes that took off first.

In order to increase the range, all of these fighters have a drop fuel tank in the belly.

Because the drop fuel tank will increase the dead weight, especially when the fuel inside has not been used up, thus reducing the maneuverability of the fighter, the Imperial engineers also specially designed a disposable pylon, which can throw the drop fuel tank along with the external pylon when needed.

The value of the drop fuel tank is indeed very significant, and it can extend the endurance of a fighter by an hour under normal circumstances.

Fifteen minutes earlier, at eleven o'clock, the first dive bomber rose into the air from the "Yokoe".

There is also no way to put the dive bomber in front, because the aerial bomb is lighter, it is easier to mount, and the preparation time before take-off is short.

With the help of catapults, the "Yokoe" flew sixteen dive bombers in ten minutes.

As for the life of the catapult, who cares now?

Then, it dragged on for another ten minutes.

It was not until the beginning, that is, after twelve o'clock, that the "Yokoe" ejected the first torpedo attack aircraft.

By this time, the fighters and dive bombers that had previously lifted off were gone.

The squadron was not assembled over the fleet, but was formed during the flight, with the squadron as the basic combat unit and the squadron leader in charge of combat command.

It can be seen that Liu Xiangzhen's tactics are almost the same as Tian Shi's.

Less than 12:15 a.m., the last few torpedo attack aircraft took to the air.

It's just that none of the four aircraft carriers were idle.

Although the catapult could not continue to work due to overheating due to high-intensity use, and had to be cooled down for at least half an hour, the four aircraft carriers were still sailing against the wind, according to the order. Next, six fighters will be sent each to strengthen the air defense of the fleet. Because it is air defense, it does not need to mount auxiliary fuel tanks, takes off at a normal weight, and can be lifted off by its own power without the help of a catapult.

In fact, this is also a prominent feature of the "Typhoon" fighter.

At the time of design, the Navy required that it could take off at a normal weight without a catapult to ensure that it could be lifted off urgently in case of danger. As a result, because of the overemphasis on low-speed stability, the high-speed performance of the "Typhoon" fighter is very poor.

This battle has proven that compared to the Zero War, the maneuverability of the "Typhoon" is not ordinarily poor.

It's just that no matter how bad the performance of the "Typhoon" is, it can only be used.

When making this arrangement, Liu Xiangzhen did not expect that this order would change the fate of two task forces, four aircraft carriers, and thousands of officers and men.

At that time, the 2nd Air Task Force was in front, and the northeasterly wind was blowing.

The 1st Air Task Force is about 50 kilometers behind, and the northwest wind is blowing!

Don't forget, it's already noon.

In the northern part of the Scorching Sea, especially near the land and islands, the wind direction changes at noon, late evening and late at night.

As a result, after half past twelve, the two aircraft carriers of the Second Air Task Force turned to the northeast, and the two aircraft carriers of the First Air Task Force turned to the northwest.

The distance between the two task forces has been widened!

In another half an hour, the fleet of the mobile fleet will be killed.

The two fleets that are at opposite points will also take different paths home!