After 4 o'clock in the morning on January 28, the "Endeavour" was already busy.

After watching the first SBD on reconnaissance mission fly away, Spark returned to the Commander's Bridge and sat down in the chair that belonged to him.

In a quiet state, Spu is like a stone Buddha.

Most of the time, it's quiet.

Tian Shi also joked about this, saying that if Sipu was born in the Sayi Imperial Kingdom, he might become a high-ranking monk.

It wasn't until the last SBD flew away that Tian Shi rushed over, and it was 4:30 a.m., about an hour before dawn.

It was Spu's idea to let the reconnaissance planes go out an hour before dawn, and Tian Shi did not object.

The main thing is that both of them believe that the White War will make full use of the advantages of the new carrier-based aircraft with a large combat radius, keep a sufficient distance from the Nuland fleet and the Bran fleet, avoid premature contact, ensure that they always operate in a safe sea area, and take the initiative to approach and engage after discovering opportunities.

It's a bit conservative, but it's realistic.

Crucially, the Liangxia fleet is likely to take the initiative to retreat some distance at night, and then turn back during the day, and at the same time send reconnaissance planes to search for targets.

According to this analysis, even if the 61st Task Force sailed northeast overnight, it might not be able to get close to the Liangxia fleet.

Besides, after the tankers of the fleet are sunk, the White Stop War will definitely consider the issue of anti-submarine, and it will be possible to expand the retreat distance of the fleet at night.

In addition, he may even make a decision to return in the near future.

All in all, before dawn, the distance from the Liangxia fleet is probably still more than 400 kilometers, and may even exceed 500 kilometers.

In this way, even if the cruising speed of the SBD is close to 300 kilometers per hour, and it takes off one hour earlier, it may not be able to detect the Liangxia fleet after dawn.

Of course, an extra half an hour is not a bad thing, because it takes at least an hour and a half to get the carrier-based aircraft ready for the attack mission.

On the flight deck, aviation crews were busy preparing for the strike of the carrier-based aircraft that had been sent in.

There are still a few fewer reconnaissance planes, only 8 in total.

It's not that Spu is reluctant to make more sorties, it's that there are no more SBDs available.

The "Endeavour" carried only 24 SBDs in total, allowing 8 to carry out reconnaissance missions, and the remaining 16 were just enough to form 2 squadrons.

This is the minimum number of simultaneous attacks on 2 aircraft carriers in one dial.

According to the Battle of the Northwest and Guia, the SBD of 2 squadrons was actually far from enough. To deal with 2 fleet carriers at once, at least 3 squadrons of SBDs are needed.

The point is that the number of carrier aircraft of the "Endeavour" is not enough in the first place.

When it set off from Zhenbao Harbor, the "Endeavour" carried 84 carrier-based aircraft, but when it passed through Hejiao, it was reduced to 56 because the wind and waves were too strong. That is, it was not moored on the flight deck, and only the carrier-based aircraft stored in the hangar were retained.

Since then, it has increased to 75 aircraft in the South Sunset.

During the voyage to the Fanyan Ocean, while passing through the westerly wind belt, several carrier-based aircraft tethered to the flight deck were damaged, and the total number was reduced to 68.

Four of them are spare machines, which were assembled only a few days ago, and it is a question whether they can be used normally.

It can be seen that the bad weather has an impact on all aircraft carriers.

From this point of view, it can be seen that the Royal Navy of Bran insisted on using a fully enclosed hangar on the aircraft carrier, which is not an unreasonable blind toss.

Of the 68 carrier-based aircraft available, in addition to 24 SBDs, there are 28 F4Fs and 16 TBFs.

The latter, also manufactured by Grumman, which produces the F4F, is just a pre-production type, almost every one of them is different, and the performance is also flawed.

Only, it's definitely much better than the TBD that was used before.

If anything, it is precisely because the performance of TBD is so poor that there is almost no possibility of a breakthrough in the battle with the Liangxia fleet, so the Nuland Navy purchased dozens of pre-production TBFs in advance for carrier-based aviation, and also gave priority to meeting the needs of the "Endeavour".

At this point, carrier-based aircraft can organize and launch an attack at most.

If you can find the Liang Xia fleet in time and attack first, then even if you only have one chance to attack, it is better than being beaten.

As usual, after sending out the reconnaissance plane, you have to be patient.

Only this time, Sp will only wait for an hour and a half at most.

In accordance with his request, all reconnaissance planes set a search radius of 450 kilometers and turned back after flying 450 kilometers away.

This distance is the maximum combat radius for SBD and TBF to carry out attack missions with bombs and torpedoes.

No matter how far away it is, even if the Liangxia fleet is discovered, it can only let carrier-based aircraft perform one-way missions.

Not to mention that he didn't dare to guarantee that he would be able to annihilate the Liang Xia fleet, even if he was sure enough, Sipu would not let the precious pilot send him to his death.

After the Battle of the Northwest Guia Sea, the "Endeavour" has been operating in the waters east of the Khowaii Islands, and its main mission is to train pilots for carrier-based aircraft.

In fact, in the Battle of the Northwest Guia, Spu clearly understood the value of pilots.

The fact that the Liang Xia Navy was able to win a great victory was directly related to the pilots' rich experience in actual combat.

In Tian Shi's words, after a year of fierce battle with the Sagi Navy, the Liangxia Navy has the best and most experienced pilots in the world.

The invincibility of the Liangxia Navy is inseparable from the outstanding officers and soldiers.

From another point of view, isn't the White Stop War the most typical representative?

This is also related to the fact that the Liangxia Empire has been preparing for war.

Before the outbreak of the Great War, the Liangxia Navy held a fleet exercise every year, or the daily training of the fleet was carried out around the annual fleet exercise.

The most direct impact of this move is to keep the officers and men in a state of combat readiness at all times.

Although the Nuland Navy follows the example of the Liangxia Navy and also conducts a fleet exercise every year, it is far inferior to the Liangxia Navy in terms of intensity, strength, and breadth.

In Tian Shi's words, it's a bit like Dong Shi Xiaofeng.

The key is that when the reconnaissance plane discovers the Liang Xia fleet, the Liang Xia fleet will also find the reconnaissance plane and judge that the Nuland fleet is nearby.

All in all, if the Liangxia fleet had not been discovered half an hour after dawn, that is, around 6 o'clock in the morning, it would have to turn to retreat.

This timing is critical.

Not to avoid a possible attack, but at this time, in addition to 8 air defense fighters, other fighters will be released one after another.

As a result, in the next six hours, that is, throughout the morning, all 28 F4Fs will be on air defense patrol duty over the fleet.

Even if attacked, there are enough fighters for air defense operations.

Don't look at the performance of the "Wildcat" as inferior to the "Roaring Sky," as long as there are a large number of them, they will definitely be able to crush the enemy planes and force the enemy planes to drop their bombs and torpedoes in advance.

If the reconnaissance aircraft discovers the Liangxia fleet, then before 6 o'clock, the carrier-based aircraft on the attack mission will be lifted into the air.

In this case, fleet air defense is a secondary issue.

In terms of tactics, it has been arranged a long time ago.

Only this time, I didn't wait for 1 and a half hours.

Shortly after daybreak, before 5:40 a.m., the communications staff officer sent a telegram he had just received from Cunningham from the Brilliant Fleet's flagship.

The expeditionary fleet intercepted a radio signal, which was later confirmed to be transmitted by the radio of the Liang Xia naval seaplane.

That is, the expeditionary fleet has been exposed.