There are many things that Bai Zhizhan can't and doesn't dare to say directly.

Fortunately, Li Yunxiang had already thought of it. Li Mingbo was a little sluggish, but after being reminded, he immediately understood the powerful relationship.

It's past nine o'clock in the evening, but I still haven't heard from the special mix.

The telegram received in the afternoon, forwarded by the Navy Command, only mentioned that the task force had sunk two aircraft carriers and was searching for other warships of the mobile fleet, striving to organize two more rounds of attacks before dark, and striving to sink or severely damage the fast battleships of great value.

It's been almost seven hours!

There is still no news, and one point has already been explained: the task force did not find the four fast battleships in the afternoon, so it is impossible to talk about organizing an attack.

What the hell were the Mixes doing all afternoon?

Obviously, this is the biggest concern of the White Stop War!

If everything goes according to plan, anything is easy to say.

On the contrary, the trouble is great!

According to the original plan, after destroying the mobile fleet, the task force would continue to sail eastward, reach the west of the Shuangche Strait before dawn on the 27th, dispatch carrier-based aircraft to block the Shuangche Strait, and attack the main force to the east of it if necessary.

To put it simply, during the battle on the 27th, the special task force had to undertake part of the strike mission.

This was precisely the prerequisite for Bai Zhizhan to adopt Zhou Yongtao's suggestion and let the Third Air Task Force gallop in a southeasterly direction and go to the west and east to ambush him.

At the current speed of the Third Air Task Force, it will be out of the cover range of the Ashishima shore-based air force before dawn.

What can two aircraft carriers, with less than one and a half hundred carrier-based aircraft left?

Even if you use your strength to eat, it will be difficult to take out two main teams and one air force in one day, not to mention the defeat of the mobile fleet and the fifth air force. You must know that theoretically, the "Imperial Capital" class aircraft carrier can make up to 150 sorties a day, and two aircraft can make 300 sorties. A maximum of 240 sorties can be used to carry out attack missions, excluding air defense patrols. Even without taking into account the physical fitness of the pilots, as well as the losses suffered, it would be enough to organize and launch four attacks.

Rely on four sorties of about 60 aircraft to defeat the entire permanent fleet?

That's begging for God's blessing!

During dinner, Li Yunxiang repeatedly emphasized the issue of dispatch rate.

At that time, Li Yunxiang proposed to send a telegram to contact the special mixed group to find out Liu Xiangzhen's intentions, so that he could plan and adjust the aviation tactics at night.

Bai Zhizhan did not agree, believing that there was no need to break the radio silence for this.

Li Yunxiang said very clearly, if the special mixed group followed up and attacked the first main team according to the plan, then tomorrow's battle would basically be nine out of ten, and it could be said that the victory was in hand. If the special group does not keep up, then it will definitely have to make a trade-off in the target.

The implication is that the Third Air Task Force cannot deal with three fleets in one day.

Zhou Yongtao was an aviation staff officer, and he was originally a member of the Third Carrier-based Aviation Wing, so he thought of these problems at the first time.

Li Mingbo didn't expect it, because he didn't know anything about aviation operations.

After discussion and discussion, the final conclusion is still to look at the situation of the special mixed group, but we have to make more preparations for possible accidents.

Here, Zhou Yongtao made a suggestion.

If we can first find and eliminate the Third Air Force, which poses the greatest threat, sink the two small fleet carriers, and eliminate the biggest threat, we can let the "Typhoon" fighters hang bombs and carry out bombing missions in the following battles, so as to reduce the intensity of air defense to a minimum.

In short, all available sorties are used to carry out strike missions.

Can the "Typhoon" fighter carry out bombing missions?

Absolutely!

On the center of the belly, in addition to the auxiliary fuel tank, a 250-kilogram bomb can also be hung, but there is no way to dive and drop the bomb.

It's not that the dive performance of the "Typhoon" is not good enough, but it is not equipped with the telescopic pylons necessary for dive bombing.

Using ordinary pylons for dive bombing, as long as the dive angle is slightly larger, theoretically more than 70 degrees, the dropped bomb may hit the propeller in front. It is also for this reason that dive bombers are equipped with a special pylons that can be extended outward when dropping bombs.

Fortunately, without diving, horizontal flight can also drop bombs, but the accuracy is poor.

Zhou Yongtao also made an opinion.

When searching for and striking the Third Air Force, arranging seaplanes carried by escort warships to carry out reconnaissance missions can further reduce the combat burden of carrier-based aircraft.

These are all good suggestions, but they all address the symptoms rather than the root causes.

While they were discussing, the telecommunications officer on duty rushed over and delivered the telegram he had just received.

Still forwarded by the command of the Navy.

What worries Bai Zhizhan happened.

About three hours earlier, at sunset, after two rounds of reconnaissance and searching, the Task Force had turned westward.

Why?

Return!

Liu Xiangzhen gave three reasons. Most of the tankers of the task force have already reached the vicinity of the cordon, and they must be replenished according to the rules of operation. Carrier-based aviation suffered heavy losses, and only half of its carrier-based aircraft were able to take to the skies for combat, and they may not be able to replenish again on the 27th. The pilots were extremely tired, and many of them were still wounded, and even if they could fly into the air to carry out combat missions, they would not be in good shape.

In a word: the special group can't continue to fight.

Of course, it's not all bad news.

In the first half of the night, combat planes originally belonging to the 1st Carrier-based Aviation Wing had departed from the special task force and flew to the naval aviation base on Ashishima.

There are not many of them, just over eighty in total, and a third of them are fighters.

However, there is no limit on the sortie rate of the air base, and all these carrier-based aircraft can be lifted into the air in a fully loaded state during an attack operation.

Crucially, the unit remained under the command of the White Stop.

According to the telegram sent by the Navy Command, the unit was deployed by 10 a.m. on the 27th at the latest, and it would certainly be able to enter combat status in the afternoon.

At that time, as long as Bai Zhizhan gives the order, dozens of carrier-based aircraft will be able to immediately take off into the air.

At the end of the telegram, one more point is mentioned.

Whether or not to continue to pursue the narrow fleet is to be decided by Bai Zhizhan in the light of the actual situation, and not to force total annihilation, but to preserve the strength of the fleet.

Not the fear of losses, but the second stage of combat operations will be launched according to plan.

Although it is not explicitly stated, the Navy Command's emphasis on the second phase of combat operations is actually a reminder to stop the war in Belarus. Because the Second Air Task Force has lost its combat capability, the Third Air Task Force, which originally served as a replacement, is now the absolute main force and cannot afford any mistakes.

To put it simply, without two "Imperial Capital" classes, the battle behind it will not be able to be fought!

In fact, this is precisely the reason why Bai Zhizhan came to the Third Air Task Force.

Whether it was Zhu Shijian or Liu Changxun, they all felt that Bai Zhizhan had a stronger ability to lead troops, so it was more appropriate for him to go to the Third Air Task Force. What's more, Liu Xiangbin served as the acting commander before, and arranging for Liu Xiangzhen to come over is afraid that it will backfire.

It was precisely with these in mind that Bai Zhizhan deliberately "lost" to Liu Xiangzhen when guessing boxing.