Liu Xiangzhen didn't make adjustments, but what happened next almost completely exceeded his expectations.

At around 7:15 a.m., the 42.2nd detachment's flagship "Zizhou" sent a telegram that a seaplane dispatched by it had spotted several large warships about 150 kilometers to the northeast. The seaplane was not only fired upon by anti-aircraft guns, but was also shot down by Nuland fighters on the way closer.

The word "fighter" was heavily emphasized in the telegram.

It's just that there is no mention of "shipborne".

In addition, the seaplane was intercepted about 200 kilometers from Detachment 42.1 and more than 400 kilometers from Detachment 43.1. If the Nuland Carrier Task Force were there, it would be able to provide air defense cover for up to two main formations, as well as dispatch carrier-based aircraft to attack Detachment 42.1. Because it was so far away, it was very difficult to bomb the 43.1st detachment.

Of course, the possibility of an aircraft carrier battle group south of the sea where the seaplane was shot down is not ruled out.

It's just that in principle, Liu Xiangzhen still prefers that the seaplane reported the wrong situation, and may have encountered a water fighter.

If it had happened suddenly, there is a chance that the seaplane would have been shot down by anti-aircraft guns.

According to previous inferences, the Nuland Navy's aircraft carrier task force is more likely to be in the southeast than in the northeast.

Previously, Liu Xiangzhen asked the 42nd Task Force to send seaplanes to search in the northwest direction, mainly to find the other six battleships, as well as to monitor the transport fleet that had stopped moving forward after yesterday's attack and had long since disengaged, that was more than a hundred ocean-going freighters!

Although the command of the Navy has not yet given an order, there is reason to believe that after the battle with the Nuland Navy begins, the convoy will definitely have to be intercepted. Regardless of the outcome of the battle, the ocean-going freighters carrying millions of tons of strategic supplies could not be allowed to reach the Sashiroi Empire.

On a strategic level, after the Newland Federation entered the war, the first unlucky thing was the Narrow Imperial State.

Unsurprisingly, the war against the Eastern Sasashi regime will end within the year, or at the latest in the first half of next year.

It can be seen that in any case, the Nuland fleet must be prevented from going to the narrow imperial state.

When making this arrangement, Liu Xiangzhen never thought that there was a Newland aircraft carrier task force over there.

However, this is not the case.

At 7:25, the "Zizhou" sent another telegram.

Another seaplane was intercepted while searching northeast, and the key point is that this seaplane sent a telegram before it was shot down, claiming to have spotted the Nuland Navy's fleet aircraft carrier, and judging by the shape of the island, it was a large "Leke"-class aircraft carrier.

"Lek" or "Sarah".

This judgment is most likely not wrong.

The "Leke" class was a modified version of the battle cruisers, similar to the "Longjiang" class, and its most striking feature was the ridiculously large ship island.

It should be said that the ship islands of the "Longjiang" class are not small.

In addition, it was highlighted in the telegram.

The seaplane had lowered its altitude about ten minutes earlier, after receiving a telegram from the mothership, to avoid the fighters of the Nuland fleet.

Otherwise, the aircraft carrier will be shot down by fighters before it is discovered.

Colonel Li Jiaheng, who was transferred from the captain of the "Longxing" to the commander of the 42.2nd detachment, must be mentioned here.

It was he who deduced from the previous battles that the Nuland battleship was equipped with an anti-air search radar, and promptly gave the seaplane an order to reduce the flight altitude.

The area where the aircraft carrier was found was less than 50 kilometers south of the previous seaplane shootdown.

That aircraft carrier, sailing south!

Although the pilots did not see the port number of the aircraft carrier clearly, maybe there was no port number at all, at least the aircraft carrier of the Imperial Navy would erase the port number before the expedition, and perhaps the Newland Navy would do the same, but based on the black smoke emitted by the aircraft carrier at high speed, it was roughly concluded that it might be the "Sarah".

It had been reported that the "Sarah" was not in good condition, and it had been in the Sunset Fleet.

Is that Nuland's Task Force 16?

"Lek" is nearby?

In addition, Nuland's Task Force 16 sailed south at full speed, indicating that Task Force 43 was already eyeing it, and that carrier-based aircraft might be about to launch an attack.

One way or another, four fast battleships are certainly more attractive than four old ones.

The situation is obvious, and the Nuland Task Force 16 is ready to strike.

Only five minutes passed.

At 7:30 a.m., the "Zizhou" sent a telegram for the third time.

Another seaplane was intercepted, and in a telegram it was declared that the enemy aircraft was an F4F Wildcat.

That's a carrier-based fighter for the Nuland Navy!

In addition, there are no islands where carrier-based fighters can be deployed within a radius of 1,000 kilometers in the vicinity.

There is no doubt that the "Wildcat" must have come from the Nuland aircraft carrier.

This is tantamount to proving the report of the second seaplane.

At this point, Liu Xiangzhen did not hesitate any longer.

At 7:35, Liu Xiangzhen gave the order to attack.

According to the previous plan, the two aircraft carriers each dispatched two squadrons of bombers and one squadron of torpedo planes, and each sent a squadron of fighters to provide escort cover. Divided into two large groups, each responsible for attacking a Newland aircraft carrier, the commander of the group coordinated by himself.

Normally, whoever arrives first will attack first, and the one who arrives late is responsible for searching for and attacking the other carrier.

For these battle-hardened veterans, tactical issues don't need to be explained too much.

At 7:45, the first "Exocet" took off from the "Longjiang".

Because of the overload take-off, it is necessary to overload the catapult, so the "Exocet" is arranged in front to ensure a smooth lift-off.

In fact, the attack range is still a little farther, more than 500 kilometers.

In this way, carrier-based aircraft are required to maintain their cruising speed as much as possible after takeoff, and the cruising speed of the "Exocet" is the slowest among the three carrier-based aircraft.

It is precisely for this reason that it is necessary to let the "Exocet" take off first, so that they can rendezvous and form during the flight.

When it was the turn of the "Wasp" to take off, the course of the "Longjiang" turned to the northeast.

It was busy until 8:15 a.m., when the last "Roaring Sky" left the flight deck.

It's just that the "Longjiang" did not turn and is still sailing in a northeasterly direction.

Considering the possibility of a fierce battle, it is necessary to let the aircraft carrier sail in a straight direction, shorten the return flight distance of the group, and ensure that those "Exocets" and "Wasps", which are not enough in the first place, can still fly back to the aircraft carrier after completing the attack mission, and will not make a forced landing at sea due to fuel exhaustion.

If we want to expand the results of the war, we must do everything possible to preserve the carrier-based aircraft.

If you miss the opportunity, the 41st Task Force will definitely not be polite!

It's just that Liu Xiangzhen didn't let the aviation service personnel idle.

The Newland Task Force 16 has been found, and it is a matter of vain to deal with the Newland Task Force 17, and it is not known where the Newland Task Force 17 is until now, so after arranging for the air defense fighters to take off, the other carrier-based aircraft must be sent to the flight deck.

The key is to prepare for the attack on the capital ship.

In addition to deploying tactics in advance, it is also necessary to have the service department ready to deal with 500 kg of aviation armor-piercing shells specifically against capital ships.

If the White Stop successfully eliminated the 17th Task Force, then before sunset, carrier-based aircraft would have to be dispatched to send ten Nuland capital ships to the bottom of the sea.

In this way, when it comes time to calculate the results of the battle, the task force will be the main merit. 8)