On the morning of December 1, north of Zugail Island in the southern part of the Narrow Sea.

After the last "Mosquito" was shot down, it took more than 10 minutes for the ocean-going cruiser commanding the air defense operation to give a signal and lift the air defense combat state.

Subsequently, all the officers and men on the aircraft carrier were busy.

The reason is the same: it is necessary to return and land those fighters involved in air defense operations as soon as possible, and to urgently lift the fighters on standby.

This is just the first wave of attacks, and today's battle is not over yet!

In fact, this wave of attacks has proven everything.

The most important thing is that the enemy's reconnaissance aircraft were not detected before they were attacked!

In addition, Task Force 11 was not on the usual southern route, but switched to the northern route in the early hours of the morning.

This can be guessed by the Royal Air Force of Bran, and it must rely on more than luck.

In other words, the Royal Air Force of Bran roughly grasped the location of the 11th Task Force without sending reconnaissance aircraft.

Of course, it can also be said that the general location of the 11th Task Force was calculated.

Although there is sufficient reason to believe that there may have been one or several Torpedo boats of the Royal Navy of Bran nearby when entering the narrow sea from the Bab el-Mandeb Strait last night, that is, the whereabouts of the fleet have been revealed, but there is no definite information, or the overall operational intention of the Imperial Navy, that is, to send a fleet to attack the Shifan Canal, then the Royal Air Force of Bran cannot guess the whereabouts of the Eleventh Task Force in any case.

Without a doubt, that's the key.

With the current situation, even if the Imperial Navy has absolute superiority, it is necessary to first lay the Kibu Fortress and then consider entering the Shifan Canal.

In fact, as long as the Kibu fortress was laid, it would not be much difficult to capture the Xifan Canal.

Because the fortress has been surrounded, the Bran army guarding the fortress does not have much fighting spirit, and the imperial army has the advantage of strength and the initiative to attack, so it will definitely be able to take the Kibu fortress in the near future, at most a month or two.

Is this or two months missing?

The answer is clearly no.

Even if the Confederate forces had landed in Casablanca and gained the port, it would take time to gather forces and even more time to stockpile supplies.

The Rangman army had already moved, and it was almost impossible for the Allied forces to take Tunisia in a month or two.

It can be seen that no matter how you look at it, there is no need to enter the narrow sea in advance.

Of course, even if the Imperial fleet is discovered, it may be thought that it is to control the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and prepare for the next advance into the narrow sea.

Even if you are worried about the Imperial fleet heading north, you should first send reconnaissance planes and then launch a strike after determining the whereabouts of the Imperial fleet.

Apparently, the Royal Air Force did not do this.

As soon as it was launched, it launched a direct attack.

The point is, the strength of the attack is still very large.

In the first wave of attacks after 8 o'clock, about 40 Mosquito bombers came, at least half of which carried aviation torpedoes.

Only half an hour later, the second wave of attacks came, and the same 40 Mosquito bombers.

However, this time the bomb was all hung.

If it hadn't been prepared, I'm afraid the 11th Task Force would have been bombed.

The reason is also very simple: In order to intercept the first batch of "mosquito" bombers, the more than 20 fighters that took off in the early morning were all at low altitudes, and few were at high altitudes.

The speed of the "Mosquito" is too fast, and the fighter is very difficult to intercept.

Of course, the half-hour time difference is also very critical.

During this half-hour, 32 "roaring sky" planes of four squadrons on standby on the aircraft carrier took off urgently, and three of them climbed to an altitude of 8,000 meters in time to intercept those bombers that broke through from a high altitude in time, without giving the enemy the slightest chance.

However, the battle is not over.

At about 9 o'clock, the third wave of enemy planes arrived, and it was still "Mosquito" bombers, but there were more of them, and the total number of them in two clusters exceeded 60.

By this time, the 11th Task Force had no fighters available.

The point is that before entering the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, before Zheng Jiangming's arrival to be precise, Bai Zhizhan did not know that he would face such a dangerous situation.

As a result, each of the two aircraft carriers carried three squadrons of fighters.

Because it was an assault mission, it carried more dive bombers and torpedo attack aircraft.

Fortunately, cover provided by Task Force 12 arrived in time.

In the end, it was with the help of four squadrons of "Roaring" fighters sent by Task Force 12 that the last wave of attacks launched by the Royal Air Force of Bran was defeated.

Throughout the battle, the Royal Bran Air Force committed about 150 Mosquito bombers.

Without advance preparation, or rather without receiving reliable information in advance, it would have been impossible for the Royal Air Force to dispatch so many bombers on combat missions in one morning.

What's more, almost all of these bombers have come and gone.

Such a resolute and cost-effective attack must be supported by sufficient and reliable intelligence.

According to the information provided by Zheng Jiangming, because the fierce fighting in Malta has not yet ended, and the Allied forces that landed in Casablanca have not advanced eastward, the route from Telok Fortress to the Xifan Canal has always been in a semi-paralyzed state, and it is very difficult to transport equipment and materials to the Xifan Canal.

So far, no more than 200 Mosquito bombers have been deployed in the canal area and can still be lifted into the air.

Crucially, the task force is still more than 1,000 kilometers away from the Syvan Canal.

In other words, the Bran fighters deployed on the other side of the Shivan Canal could not fly at all.

Actually, this is also evidence.

The reason is that if there is not enough certainty, the Royal Air Force will never let bombers attack the fleet without sending fighters.

The commander of the Royal Air Force was confident that it would be possible to reduce the rate of battle losses with the help of a surprise attack.

In fact, as long as the suddenness of the sneak attack is achieved, there is a great deal of certainty that the 11th Task Force will be destroyed, and it is even expected that the 12th Task Force will be killed.

Don't forget, the Mosquito is by far the fastest twin-engine aircraft.

In order to cope with night bombing, the Royal Air Force also converted the "Mosquito" into a night fighter.

In addition, with its extremely fast speed, the "Mosquito" type has become the absolute main force of night bombing operations against the Hindan Empire.

There is also reason to believe that the Royal Air Force is targeting more than just the 11th Task Force.

The point is that against an unprepared task force, it is not necessary to dispatch three bomber groups at all.

It can be seen that this morning's battle has proven all the problems.

When the air defense fighters returned one after another, Bai Zhizhan and Zheng Jiangming had already returned to the officers' quarters.

Li Mingbo was very knowledgeable, not only did not follow him, but also stopped Zhou Yongtao and others.

After learning that Zheng Jiangming was coming, Zhou Yongtao had already realized that something very important must have happened, so he was extremely cautious.

After the morning's battle, he was even more cautious.

If you want to say anything, Zhou Yongtao is really a little afraid of Zheng Jiangming.

In his words, Zheng Jiangming, who is engaged in intelligence work, always has such a terrifying and chilling aura of slaughter.

To put it mildly, it is awe-inspiring.

If you're not too polite, it's a little yin.