Shortly after nightfall, the battle began again.

This time, it was not the combat aircraft that attacked, but the torpedo boats that had been worried before the White Stop.

Fortunately, after Zheng Jiangming's reminder, it is accurate to say that under the arrangement of the Sixth Bureau, the two task forces were ready to deal with the night attack in time.

As in daytime air defense operations, the key to dealing with torpedo boats is still timely detection.

To put it figuratively, a torpedo boat is like a torpedo machine flying over the sea, capable of projecting 2 or even 4 heavy torpedoes at a time

The difficulty of detecting torpedo boats with radar at night is also above the detection of enemy aircraft at ultra-low altitudes.

Fortunately, torpedo boats were much slower than airplanes.

Although most of the time, the distance from which the radar detects torpedo boats is about 20 kilometers, the effective range of the heavy torpedoes of the Royal Bran Navy is less than 10 kilometers, and in order to ensure the accuracy of hits, the distance needs to be shortened to 5 kilometers or even closer.

That is, the battleship had about 15 minutes to intercept the torpedo boats.

The night's fighting also showed that the most effective weapons against torpedo boats were actually various medium-caliber anti-aircraft guns.

Among them, 80-mm anti-aircraft guns are the most.

This kind of medium-caliber anti-aircraft gun, which was officially equipped with the Imperial Navy during the Great War, has a rate of fire of 60 rounds per minute, and uses a twin turret, the actual rate of fire is 120 rounds per minute, and the ammunition investment density far exceeds the twin-mounted 130-mm anti-aircraft gun with a rate of fire of 32 rounds per minute, and the ammunition per unit time is more than that of a quadruple 40-mm anti-aircraft gun, which has the highest comprehensive combat efficiency.

In addition, the effective range of the 80-mm anti-aircraft gun was the same as that of the 130-mm anti-aircraft gun.

In air defense operations, the damage effect on enemy aircraft is not fundamentally different from that of 130-mm anti-aircraft guns, and it can also shoot down tactical aircraft with a single shot.

Against small ships, the power of 80-mm high-explosive shells is sufficient, and the actual damage effect is not lower than that of 130-mm shells.

Much more than 40-mm anti-aircraft guns, of course.

It was this that after being the first to equip ocean-going cruisers, and having proven their combat effectiveness in battle, 80-mm anti-aircraft guns began to be generally equipped with various types of battleships. On large warships, the firepower of long-range air defense interception is enhanced by retrofitting. On part of the cruisers, 80-mm anti-aircraft guns replaced part of the 40-mm anti-aircraft guns. On these small battleships, the destroyers completely replaced the 40-mm anti-aircraft guns.

Today, the task force ships are all armed with 80-mm anti-aircraft guns, which are well-deserved pillars in anti-aircraft operations, as well as in close combat.

In many cases, 80-mm anti-aircraft guns were able to retreat incoming enemy aircraft or ships simply by relying on a dense barrage.

If anything, thanks to this new anti-aircraft gun.

During the night's battle, the destroyers and cruisers dispatched by the 11th Task Force formed a line of dense fire in the sea area 30 kilometers and 50 kilometers away from the aircraft carrier. In the battle, which lasted all night, more than 20 attacking torpedo boats were intercepted.

In addition, Task Force XII was also attacked.

Because the 11th Task Force was in the front, attracting most of the torpedo boats, it was able to bypass it, and there were not many torpedo boats attacking the 12th Task Force, in fact, they were mainly fish that slipped through the net, and all of them were scattered and could not organize to launch a threatening attack.

Fierce fighting continued until just after 4 a.m.

It must be admitted that the Royal Navy of Bran fought very bravely, literally at any cost.

On the side of the 11th Task Force alone, 23 of the results were confirmed, and more than half of the torpedo boats were sunk after a large explosion, and none of the officers and men on them survived. On the side of the 12th Task Force, 6 ships were sunk, and the officers and men on it were also unlucky.

According to the information obtained later, the Royal Navy of Bran dispatched a total of 30 torpedo boats that night, and all of them were damaged!

Only 1 ship was not directly sunk in the middle of the battle, but sank on the way back.

Of the 572 officers and men on these 30 torpedo boats, only about 30 survived.

After paying such a huge price, it also achieved good results.

The 11th Task Force had 1 heavy cruiser and 3 destroyers mined, 2 of which were sunk and the other 2 were evacuated before dawn.

Because of the serious damage, the two battleships could only end the combat operation of the expedition to the Xifan Canal ahead of schedule.

On the side of the 12th Task Force, 1 destroyer was sunk and 1 was torpedoed to the bow.

Fortunately, due to the excellent damage management work, the decapitated destroyer did not sink and arrived on Socotra Island a few days later, and entered the floating dock for repairs. Three months later, the lucky, and tenacious, destroyer was back in battle.

After this battle, it was also fully proved that in narrow sea areas, especially at night, small high-speed ships such as torpedo boats pose a great threat to large warships.

However, this was the last counterattack of the Royal Navy of Bran.

By the time the battle ended in the wee hours of the morning, Bran's army's counterattack was over.

Crucially, during the battle, which lasted all day, the two task forces of the Imperial Navy did not stop, and still headed for the Shifan Canal as planned.

After a full day's voyage, the two task forces were less than 700 kilometers from Suez City, south of the canal.

Just after 10 a.m. that day, fully prepared, the 11th Task Force took the lead in sending a group of aircraft to bomb Suez City.

The battle for the Xifan Canal also began.

The first shot fired by the 11th Task Force could be seen as a reward for the officers and men of the fleet for their courage and skill, as well as a reward for the fierce fighting of the previous two days.

It was this first shot that allowed all the officers and men of the 11th Task Force to receive the medal awarded by the Emperor of the Empire, and they also became honorary citizens of the Task Force.

In the afternoon, the 12th Task Force was engaged in battle.

During the day, the two task forces launched a total of five attacks, dispatched more than 400 sorties of carrier-based aircraft, and focused on bombing the port of Suez.

Crucially, the entire canal was blocked.

Being able to attack the Xifan Canal with free hands and feet is related to a prerequisite.

There are no locks on the Shifan Canal!

Because there is almost no difference between the sea level of the narrow sea and the Luxinhai, unlike the Wangxi Canal, the Xifan Canal does not need to use locks to control the water level.

It was in this way that it was possible to bomb and blockade the canal, without worrying about not being navigable after the capture of the canal.

At this time, whether to block the canal or not is not the key at all.

The Royal Navy had long since withdrawn the large warships deployed in the Narrow Sea, leaving behind only speedboats such as torpedo boats. Since the Kib fortress was already surrounded by Imperial forces and the sea routes had long been cut off, there was no need to send convoys to the narrow sea via the Shifan Canal.

As for the fleet, it is even more unlikely.

Is there still a fleet available for the Royal Navy of Bran?

To say anything, on the issue of blockading the canal, the Royal Navy of Bran was more active.

The reason is also very simple, since the Xifan Canal cannot be defended, then the only way to prevent the Imperial Fleet from entering the Luxinhai is by blocking the Xifan Canal.

Before dawn, the Royal Navy dispatched dozens of small ships of various types to begin laying mines in the Shifan Canal.

This also shows that the Royal Navy of Bran has abandoned the Kibu Fortress and the entire Van Yan Ocean.