"Imperial Capital".

After receiving the news sent back by Shenpu, the commander's bridge suddenly boiled.

It's just that Bai Zhizhan didn't look the slightest bit excited.

Seeing that the commander was like this, the other staff officers became honest one after another.

Prior to this, that is, after receiving the news from the 21st Task Force that it had begun to attack the 16th Task Force in Newland, Bai Zhizhan immediately thought that the attack aircraft group led by Shenpu would definitely be able to enter the soul with one shot, and there was no suspense in the battle in the northwest direction.

Attacked by two groups of aircraft at the same time, and it was a flanking attack, it was strange that the Nuland fleet was not finished.

According to Shenpu's report, the 4th Wing led by him attacked a York-class aircraft, and at the end of the attack, the aircraft carrier exploded.

The ship's hull was heavily rolled and was expected to sink within a few hours, making it unnecessary to relaunch the attack.

In addition, the 3rd Wing group attacked another aircraft carrier about 10 minutes later, and the lead pilot of the captain was visually judged to be a Lek-class.

After the aircraft carrier was hit by 5 bombs and 3 torpedoes in a row, there was also a large explosion, and the fire inside the hull was completely out of control.

It's just that Bai Zhizhan is not concerned about these.

Shenpu also made it clear in the report that when the attack was launched, there were not many carrier-based aircraft parked on the flight decks of the two aircraft carriers.

Well, where did the other carrier-based aircraft go?

According to previous reports, Task Force 21 was attacked only once, and the attack group sent by Task Force 21 did not encounter another Nuland group during the flight. However, the carrier-based aircraft carried by those two aircraft carriers can completely form two attack aircraft groups!

Inside the hangar?

Apparently unlikely.

Whether it is to attack the fleet of Task Force 21 or the air defense fighters, there is no possibility that it will be necessary to return to the aircraft carrier and land in a short time.

In addition, the Nurant Task Force had almost an hour to prepare before the attack aircraft group of Task Force 21 arrived. In the meantime, bombers and torpedo planes will certainly be prepared on the flight deck, rather than rusting in the hangar.

Until the fleet led by Shenpu arrived, the two aircraft carriers were not threatened.

At that time, the fleet of Task Force 21 was intercepted on the periphery and did not approach the aircraft carrier.

In other words, there is no possibility of propelling carrier-based aircraft that have been filled with fuel and loaded with bombs and torpedoes because of the threat.

There is only one explanation.

Prior to this, the Newland Task Force had already sent a second attack aircraft group, but it was not the 21st Task Force Fleet commanded by Liu Xiangzhen that attacked it.

Who is it?

Is there anything else worth attacking in the vicinity?

Task Force 43 to the north?

Whoever commanded the carrier task force would not waste its forces on Task Force 43 after intercepting the seaplanes flying from the south.

Only Task Force 41 could possibly be!

It is precisely in this way that at about half past 10 o'clock, Bai Zhizhan found Li Mingbo and asked the ships to pay close attention to the low altitude.

In addition, Zhou Yongtao was also asked to make adjustments to the deployment of air defense.

If enemy planes also adopt the tactics of penetrating defenses at low altitudes, they must let some air defense fighters stay at low altitudes to ensure that they can intercept incoming enemy planes at the first opportunity.

The key is to let some of the fighters come forward.

It was clear to Bai Zhizhan that it was not the 41.1 detachment that was most likely to be attacked, but the 41.2 detachment that was in front of the attack.

Prior to this, the 41.2 detachment had been exposed.

This judgment of Bai Zhizhan was quickly confirmed.

Less than 10:50 a.m., the "Wushu" sent a message that the fighters providing anti-aircraft cover had spotted the enemy plane that had been killed from the north.

That's right, the attack aircraft group from the Nuland carrier task force to the north.

It's just that these enemy planes did not fly low.

There were still more than 100 kilometers left in the 41.2nd detachment when it was detected by the radars of four heavy cruisers, otherwise it would not have been possible to organize air defense fighters to intercept it.

Is the enemy careless?

Apparently not!

In the case of the situation, it may be that the commander of the enemy fleet, when making tactical arrangements, misjudged the distance from the 41.2 detachment.

The reason is also very simple, after sending the telegram, the 41.2nd detachment slowed down and shortened the distance with the 41.1st detachment.

In addition, Detachment 41.1 turned to the north when the carrier-based aircraft were dispatched, so its actual position was more westerly than it was during normal sailing.

As a result, Detachment 41.2 was closer to the Nuland Squadron than expected.

As a result, the group of attack aircraft sent by the Nulant Task Force did not reduce the flight altitude in time and was detected by the air defense radar of the 41.2 detachment.

Because the fuel consumption of low-altitude flight is very large, in the cruising flight stage, it has to be at medium and high altitudes.

Only when entering the attack phase, it is necessary to lower to a low altitude.

If it flies at low altitude throughout the whole process, whether it is the carrier-based aircraft of the Imperial Navy or the Nuland Navy, the combat radius may not exceed 200 kilometers.

It is precisely for this reason that, at the stage of tactical planning, the aviation combat commander has to mark in advance the position to enter the low-altitude flight.

It is usually set to a specific moment, such as how long after takeoff to lower the flight altitude.

It should be said that this is also a new requirement for aviation combat staff after the change of tactics.

As early as a few months ago, Zhou Yongtao organized the staff officers of the 41st Task Force to study and exchange ideas on new attack tactics.

Obviously, after having radar, the Nuland Navy is probably the same.

Eight "Roaring Sky" arrived in time to intercept the Nuland group.

In fact, there were only about a dozen F4Fs escorting bombers and torpedo planes, which was much less than the escort fighters attacking the 21st Task Force.

It's not that the 41st Task Force is underestimated, but that no more fighters can be sent.

Do not forget that at the time of the assault of the group led by Shenpu, there were no fighters on air defense missions near the Nuland aircraft carrier at all.

Just as Bai Zhizhan worried, the 41.2nd detachment became a substitute for the dead.

It was precisely because of this that the Shenpu group did not encounter the attack group sent by the Nulant Task Force during the flight.

The Nuland fleet was flying southward, while Task Force 41 was actually heading northeast, and the two fleets did not stagger, with a distance of more than 30 kilometers at the midpoint of the route, and only 20 kilometers for pilots in good weather.

Apparently, the two sides almost passed by.

Despite the best efforts of the eight "Roaring Heavens", more than 20 bombers and torpedo planes still broke through the air defense network and approached the 41.2nd detachment.

Interestingly, those enemy aircraft did not immediately attack the heavy cruisers of the 41.2 detachment.

They were carriers to attack Task Force 41, not heavy cruisers, so they would not waste valuable bombs and torpedoes on heavy cruisers.

It's a pity that there are no aircraft carriers around here at all.

Although Detachment 41.2 had slowed down, it was still more than 200 kilometers away from Detachment 41.1, and there were two ocean-going cruisers behind it.

At 11:15, the "Wuzhou" sent another telegram.

Enemy aircraft have attacked, but several SBDs have dropped bombs and have flown away to the south and west.

Apparently, these dive bombers also had reconnaissance missions on their shoulders.

And that's not all.

Before the bombing of Detachment 41.2, the second group of enemy aircraft had already arrived, and it was from the east!

When this group lowered its flight altitude, it was detected by radar on heavy cruisers such as the "Wuzhou".

The hidden Nurant Fleet has finally been revealed!