The battle against the "Mohe" began after 9:30 a.m.

At that time, Liu Xiangzhen had just received a report from the attack aircraft group that only one aircraft carrier had been found in the northeast direction, the "Sarah" from the Sunset Ocean Fleet.

The key is that Wei Chengwen concluded that the "Sarah" was carrying all F4F fighters, and no SBD and TBD were found.

There is no possibility of misunderstanding of the voice radio except for some current noise.

In fact, when the second batch of enemy planes was discovered, and there were as many as 5 squadrons, Liu Xiangzhen already knew that he had made a big mistake.

In the south-east, the seaplanes of the 41.2 detachment discovered two aircraft carriers.

Previously, the two seaplanes of the 42.2nd detachment were in the northeast direction, and what they found twice before and after was actually a fleet aircraft carrier.

It is not strange that the Nuland Navy left the "Sarah" alone.

After the completion of this aircraft carrier, a large number of problems were exposed, especially the power system, which has always had problems that are difficult to eradicate, making it difficult to sail at high speed for a long time.

It is precisely for this reason that the "Sarah" has been deployed in the sunset ocean.

If it weren't for the outbreak of the war between the Liang Xia Empire and the Narrow Empire, and the Liang Xia Navy only took three days to defeat the once invincible Narrow Navy, and the aircraft carrier became the absolute main force in the naval battle, the Nuland Navy would not have let this sick aircraft carrier come to the Guia Ocean.

Here's the key.

Because it can't continue to sail at high speeds, it is not suitable for rush missions. If it is grouped with other aircraft carriers, it will be counterproductive.

Let's not talk about whether it can help, if it drags its feet and becomes a burden, the consequences will be unimaginable.

Alone, there is no such problem.

Besides, the "Sarah" is actually a real large aircraft carrier, with a tonnage that exceeds that of all fleet aircraft carriers, and has a strong aviation combat capability.

With only fighter jets on board, the "Sarah" is simply a mobile sea airfield.

The aircraft carrier itself is a sea airfield.

Well, let the "Sarah" follow behind the transport flotilla and at the same time provide anti-aircraft cover for the First Fleet, that is, it will work.

It's a pity that no one thought of it.

At 9:25, Liu Xiangzhen gave an order to let all the remaining fighters take off urgently, and if one more could be dispatched, it would be counted as one.

At that time, the radar of the "Luhe" had already detected the SBD of the 2 squadron, and also detected the TBD flying at low altitude.

Moreover, it is to let the "Wasp" on the deck take off urgently.

Although the performance is not as good as that of a fighter, the "Wasp" with two 13 mm machine guns is somewhat useful in the face of bombers.

As for the "Flying Fish", if it doesn't get in the way, it will go straight to the sea.

These torpedo machines are already outdated and are scheduled to be replaced within the year, so even if they are lost now, there is nothing to be sorry for.

In just a few minutes, four "Wasps" and four "Roaring Heavens" on the "Longjiang" flew off the deck.

Unfortunately, none of these fighters arrived in time.

The "Mohe" only released six "Wasps", and because it did not have time to clear the flight deck, there was no way to let the "Roaring Sky" parked behind take off.

Don't look at the aircraft carriers of the Imperial Navy all have catapults, but all fighters are capable of taxiing and taking off.

In fact, this is the basic requirement of the Imperial Navy for carrier-based fighters, which can take off from aircraft carriers under their own power in case of emergency.

In addition, all the "Wasps" dispatched by the "Mohe" were at low altitudes.

At the time of the arrival of 8 SBDs, there was not a single fighter in the sky above the "Mohe".

Although the "Yuejiang" had already circled to the right front of the "Mohe," that is, the direction in which the enemy planes were attacking, and the fire of the antiaircraft guns was extremely ferocious, in the face of eight dive bombers that were not even afraid of death, and eight torpedo attack planes that entered from a low altitude almost at the same time, the cover provided by the escort warships was insignificant, and there was no way to guarantee that all the enemy planes that pounced on the aircraft carrier would be shot down, let alone prevent the enemy planes from dropping bombs.

Don't look at the pilots of the Nuland Navy who have not participated in battles, so they have little actual combat experience, but their quality is not bad.

To say, looking at the whole world, the only one that can compete with the Liangxia Empire in terms of aviation industry is the Nuland Federation.

According to post-war statistics, when the war broke out, there were about 300,000 registered pilots in the Newland Federation, which was no less than that of the Liangxia Empire.

In fact, some of the Nuland pilots have already taken part in the battle.

After the war between the Kingdom of Bran and the Kingdom of Branman, many pilots of the Newland Navy and Army went to the Kingdom of Bran as volunteers, and put on the uniform of the Royal Air Force of Bran and flew the fighters of the Royal Air Force of Bran to fight the Bran Air Force in the sky above the Kingdom of Bran.

It was in the skies over Bran that Nuland's first ace pilots were born.

Many of these pilots came from the Guia Fleet.

Some of them had already returned to the Guia before the war, and many were in service with Task Force 16, the carrier-based aircraft unit aboard HMS York.

The "Leke" had previously been to Austria in the southwestern and eastward oceans, so most of the pilots who returned home were assigned to the carrier-based air wing of the "York." For a long time after that, these pilots were trained in adaptation at naval aviation bases in the Khowaii Islands.

To say, all of them are the elite of the Nuland naval aviation.

In the heavy artillery fire, 5 SBDs were shot down before the bombs were dropped, and only 3 SBDs dropped their bombs.

Of the three 500-pound aerial bombs, one hit the "Mohe".

Even from a distance of several tens of kilometers, you can see the clouds of smoke rising after the explosion.

It's just that there is no time to worry about the "Mohe".

At 9:42, when the "Mohe" was shot, another squadron of SBDs was flying towards the "Longjiang".

With a few more minutes, the distance between the "Luhe" and the "Longjiang" was slightly widened.

In this way, the anti-aircraft guns on the "Longjiang" were also free to play.

If it is to be said, the anti-aircraft firepower on the "Longjiang" is no worse than that of the "Luhe", and because there are more 40-mm anti-aircraft guns, the anti-aircraft fire at close range is more ferocious.

In order to save your life, it is strange not to be fierce!

The point is also that there are no torpedo machines at low altitudes.

Six SBDs were shot down by anti-aircraft guns on the approach, only two managed to enter the dive phase, and one was shot down before the bomb was dropped.

Only one dropped its bomb and was subsequently hit by anti-aircraft guns.

Because it didn't fully dive, the bomb dropped by that SBD didn't pose much of a threat.

The real threat is that SBD!

After being hit by anti-aircraft guns, the SBD did not lose control, but flew directly towards the "Longjiang", to be precise, smashing over.

It happened so quickly, and so suddenly, without warning.

Critically, no one thought that the SBD, which had already caught fire and fell rapidly towards the sea, could still be pulled up.

As a result, there was no time to dodge, and even the anti-aircraft gunners on this side did not react.

Before hitting the "Longjiang", the SBD also raised the nose, and it must have been the pilot who pulled back the control stick at the last moment.

Not because of fear.

SBD crashed into the butt of the "Longjiang" and rolled onto the flight deck, jumping more than 100 meters on a rampage, splashing a large amount of fuel.

In the blink of an eye, the flight deck of the "Longjiang" was engulfed in flames.