In the early hours of the morning, Li Shenzhi received a message from the Navy Command, which was actually a telegram ordering him to prepare to lead the task force north.

As for the task, it was to escort the convoy of convoys to Novorossiysk in the Ink Sea.

Before the end of the Polish-Iraqi War, after withdrawing troops from the Boi region to be precise and losing this mess to the Liangxia Empire, the Republic of There declared permanent neutrality. After the end of the Polish-Iraqi War, the Liangxia Empire and the Terman Empire signed an international treaty recognizing and guaranteeing the permanent neutrality of the Republic of There.

This is known as the Istanbul International Convention.

The core clause of the convention is the recognition of the Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara and the Dardanelles as unconditionally open international shipping lanes.

In fact, this is also the basic condition for ensuring the neutrality of the Republic of There.

According to the provisions of the Convention, in peacetime, ships of any country can pass through the strait unconditionally, only need to report to the strait management agency in advance. In times of war, the Republic of There unconditionally opened its straits, allowing ships of any country to pass through without harm.

Of course, the Republic of There does not provide services to the military ships of any country.

The States parties to the Convention shall recognize and accept that even in time of war, military action shall not be taken in the strait, including attacks on ships sailing in the strait.

After that, this "freedom from war" was extended to all the territorial waters of the Republic of There.

As a result, ships of the Imperial Navy could enter or exit the Sea of Mexico via the Bosphorus, Marmara, and Dardanelles.

However, even if you can pass through the Bosphorus, it does not mean that you will be able to reach Novorossiysk safely, let alone control the entire Mexican Sea.

If I want to say anything, the Navy Command asked Li Shenzhi to serve as the interim commander of the Lu Xinhai Detachment, and also handed over the 51st Task Force to him to command, the main purpose of which was to open up the route to Novorossiysk and let the transport fleet send supplies and equipment over.

This route can be said to be the key to whether or not the shackled land bridge can be kept.

To this end, the Navy Command also sent the "Li Mingbo" aircraft carrier battle group, which had previously been operating in the narrow sea, back to Luxinhai, and incorporated it into the 51st Task Force, forming a two-carrier battle group with its sister ship "Bai Zhizhan" to ensure that it could control the sea supremacy in the eastern land and Xinhai.

But the problem is that the Navy Command has transferred the "Tang Zude" and "Liu Changxun" that were previously active in Lu Xinhai.

Although they are only two "Chen Bingxun"-class large aircraft carriers, their combat effectiveness is certainly not as good as that of the "Xue Yuanzheng"-class supercarriers, but these two aircraft carriers carry nearly 180 carrier-based aircraft, and they are a force to be reckoned with wherever they are placed, and they even have the value of influencing the battle situation.

A few days ago, Li Shenzhi also called the commander-in-chief of the Navy about this matter, proposing to keep two, or at least one of them, and form a three-carrier battle group with two supercarriers.

To his great dismay, the Navy Command rejected his request on the grounds that the two large aircraft carriers had to return home for overhauls.

As for whether the two-carrier battle group will be enough, the command of the Navy does not care.

To put it bluntly, if Li Shenzhi thinks that there is no way to complete the combat mission of going north to Mohai, he can give up the position of commander of the detachment.

Fortunately, the telegram sent in the early morning gave Li Shenzhi hope.

Before the end of the counterattack, the strategic command system of West Luosha will be destroyed to ensure the smooth entry of Task Force 51 and the transport fleet into the Mo Sea.

In order to reassure Li Shenzhi, the Navy Command mentioned in the telegram that the Air Force had made a bloody effort to complete the mission.

In the midst of last night's fighting, a new type of combat aircraft was sorted.

Although he did not say it explicitly, Li Shenzhi immediately thought of the "H-X", which had already entered the prototype test flight stage.

In accordance with the guiding ideology of the third round of military reform, among the several new combat aircraft developed, the closest thing to practical use is the "H-X" project, which is regarded as the lifeblood of the Air Force.

Crucially, the "H-X" is the core equipment of the third round of military reform.

As far as Li Shenzhi knows, the key to whether the air-ground joint combat theory proposed by the empire and based on technical equipment can replace the theory of great depth that has existed for decades, and whether it can enter the electronic age from the mechanized era depends on this kind of bomber.

Otherwise, the Imperial Air Force would not have been unswervingly advancing the project after burning nearly 10 billion gold dollars in research and development funds.

Even according to the most optimistic estimates, the H-X project will burn 20 billion gold dollars.

Judging from the current situation, the original plan of 20 billion gold dollars is definitely not enough, because almost 20 billion gold dollars have been used up in the early stage of research and development alone.

Although the Air Force has secured additional funding, it is unlikely that the two chambers will provide unlimited funding.

In order to control the total expenditure of the project, the Air Force is even considering the possibility of reducing the number of purchases.

According to the procurement plan proposed by the Air Force at the beginning of the year, for the time being, only the "H-X" will be considered to replace a large number of early "H-9" bombers to maintain the size of the bomber group. As for the replacement of all active bombers, it will be possible only during the war, when military spending is no longer limited. ，

In fact, if the "H-X" is really as powerful as it is rumored, there is no need to purchase too much.

All in all, if the Imperial Air Force did make a sortie of the H-X, there was a high probability that it would paralyze the command system of Xiluosha.

However, the real key operation was actually in the counterattack operation in the first half of the night.

By the time the news was received, the Air Force had already destroyed the forward command of the Western Continent Group, blowing up the command train that was parked inside the Volgograd station.

In addition, the tactical aviation of the Air Force destroyed several other command trains.

Here's the key.

Although only one of these command trains is "Li Kui", and the others are all "Li Ghosts", there is no difference in hardware between these command trains, the difference is only whether or not they carry the headquarters. In other words, other command trains are also command trains.

On any command train, there is a whole set of communication equipment.

These communication devices all need to use encryption chips.

Because there is no guarantee that these command trains will not be used, and the communication equipment has already been installed in place, the chips used for hardware decryption are stored in the communication equipment carried by these command trains, and they may not be damaged when they are bombed.

As long as a complete chip can be obtained, it is certain that the military communication code of the Western Continent Group will be mastered.

That's the real key.

According to a telegram from the Navy Command, the counterattack in the first half of the night was a cover for this, and it was the Military Intelligence Agency that led the operation.

As soon as the counterattack operation begins, the MIA sends in special forces.

As for how sure it is, no one can guarantee it.

However, this pushed Li Shenzhi to the brink of danger.

Because there was no way to predict whether the CIA's operation would be successful, the combat units involved in the operation, including Task Force 51, had to act strictly according to the plan. Only after receiving an order from the command of the Navy was able to return to Alexandria with the fleet.

Although before this, in order to cover Alexandria, the 51st Task Force had already gone to the open sea, to be precise, it had been operating in the heart of the Eastern Continent, and had not dispatched carrier-based aircraft to bomb Iraq, but there was no need to venture north, let alone the possibility of challenging the enemy.

Most of the time, Task Force 51 operates under the cover of its own shore-based air forces.

Because there is no clear threat, the 51st Task Force is not very eye-catching on the side of the East Continent Heart Sea, and the probability of being attacked is not very high.

According to Li Shenzhi's arrangement, the 51st Task Force could turn around and withdraw to the Xifan Canal at any time.

If the threat grows, it can also retreat into the narrow sea.

Now, this is clearly not possible.

After receiving the telegram, Li Shenzhi ordered the 51st Task Force to move to the south of Cyprus and enter a state of combat readiness.

Just before dawn, dozens of sorties of carrier-based aircraft were dispatched.

As arranged, carrier-based fighters extended their patrols to the airspace of the Republic of There and repeatedly entered the Aegean Sea to the west.

Although it was a defensive mission, it was a typical offensive deployment.

This type of deployment is often used when operating in high-risk waters and there is a clear threat.

Offensive deployment can expand the defensive range of the fleet, increase the number of interceptions, and increase the probability of interceptions, but there is a prominent problem.

It will quickly deplete the combat power of the aircraft carrier battle group, to be precise, the combat power of carrier-based aviation.

Of course, the aircraft carrier battle group in an offensive state is a huge threat in itself.

If you want to say, this is also where the value of aircraft carriers lies.

In any case, the aircraft carrier is responsible for the deterrence and strike mission, that is, the aircraft carrier itself is a huge threat, and only by demonstrating its own presence can it have a threatening effect.

To put it bluntly, only an aircraft carrier that shows its own presence can produce a deterrent effect.

It is precisely because of this that for decades, the Imperial Navy has never considered the concealment of aircraft carriers, and the possibility of concealment at the tactical level does not exist.

Aircraft carriers dominate the seas, and they do not rely on concealment.

When carrying out combat missions, aircraft carriers embody aggressiveness.

In the past, when dealing with regional conflicts and even local wars, this trick was very effective, and it basically had the effect of curing the disease.

The aircraft carrier has therefore become a "panacea" in the hands of the empire, no matter where there is a problem, sending 1 aircraft carrier over can often have an immediate effect. If not, then send 2 or 3 aircraft carriers over and the potential threat will definitely be eliminated.

Looking at the world, there are no more than 20 countries that can withstand an aircraft carrier battle group.

The strike force of a 3 aircraft carrier battle group exceeds 95% of countries around the world.

The problem is that in all-out warfare, this trick may not work.

Although the Western Continent Group has no supercarriers so far, and the only few large aircraft carriers have their technical basis from the Liangxia Empire, the Western Continent Group attaches great importance to anti-aircraft carrier operations, especially the Yamaman Empire, and has always regarded dealing with the aircraft carrier battle group of the Imperial Navy as the number one task.

To this end, the Western Continent Group not only has the largest number of anti-ship missiles in the world, but also specially formulated anti-aircraft carrier tactics.

That's right, it's the saturation attack tactics of anti-ship missiles.

It was also the most serious challenge that the Imperial Navy faced after the war.

The heavy anti-ship missiles of the Xilu Group often have a range of more than 500 kilometers, a flight speed of more than Mach 2.5, and a warhead of at least 500 kilograms, some even reach 1 ton, and only one can kill a 10,000-ton cruiser, and 3 to 5 can seriously damage an aircraft carrier. Theoretically, a few dozen of these heavy anti-ship missiles can take out 1 aircraft carrier battle group.

If it is an operation in the open sea, it is not a big problem.

According to the experience summed up by the Imperial Navy, the biggest problem in anti-aircraft carrier warfare is not to strike aircraft carriers, but how to find aircraft carriers and launch attacks in a timely manner.

An aircraft carrier is a maritime combat platform that can be navigated and does not stay in a certain sea area of the group.

The Imperial Navy's large aircraft carriers and supercarriers are capable of sailing at speeds of more than 30 knots for several days after encountering a serious threat.

This means that anti-aircraft carrier operations have a very obvious timeliness.

According to the experience of the Imperial Navy, the time from reconnaissance to the completion of the attack was only 3 hours at most.

If the attack is not completed within three hours, the carrier battle group will be able to sail to 100 nautical miles, or almost 190 kilometers away.

This range exceeds the search range of almost all anti-ship systems.

Of course, in real combat, there are no 3 hours at all.

The reason is also very simple: after discovering that the whereabouts are exposed, or the threat is enhanced, the aircraft carrier battle group will inevitably strengthen its air defense, and through electronic jamming and other means, cover up the whereabouts of the aircraft carrier, reduce the probability of the aircraft carrier being attacked, and let the enemy miss the opportunity to strike.

In this regard, Xilu Group is also well aware.

One way or another, the Western Continent group has several aircraft carriers, understands the purpose of aircraft carriers, knows what the puzzles of anti-aircraft carrier operations are.

In fact, this is also the key to the West Continent Group's concentration on the development of heavy supersonic anti-ship missiles and the first to propose saturation strike tactics.

Compared with traditional anti-ship means, heavy supersonic anti-ship missiles are not only powerful, but also take less time to complete an attack.

An anti-ship missile flying at Mach 3 speeds at Mach 10 can fly 500 kilometers in just 10 minutes!

If it is an attack aircraft, even if it penetrates at high-altitude supersonic speed, it takes 15 minutes to fly 500 kilometers, and it takes 30 minutes to penetrate at ultra-low-altitude high subsonic speed.

However, this does not solve the most fundamental problem, how to find the aircraft carrier in time.

To this end, the Xilu Group has equipped more than 100 maritime patrol planes, specially developed marine reconnaissance satellites, and even sent submarines on reconnaissance missions.

Unfortunately, these investigative methods have obvious flaws.

Patrol planes are easily shot down, the intelligence obtained by reconnaissance satellites may not be able to be used in a timely manner, and submarines themselves are the targets of aircraft carriers.

Until now, the discovery of aircraft carriers operating in the far seas has been a world-class problem.

As long as the aircraft carrier battle group is active in the open sea, the possibility of being hit is not very large, and the probability of being hit suddenly is even more minimal.

This is also the reason why the Imperial Navy is more willing to deploy aircraft carriers in the Fanyan Ocean and the Guia Ocean.

If operating in a relatively narrow sea area, the aircraft carrier is vulnerable to strikes.

Luxinhai is such a narrow sea.

To put it mildly, if it weren't for the control of the vital Xifan Canal and the defense of Alexandria, the Imperial Navy would have abandoned Lu Xinhai long ago.

After the end of the Polish-Iraqi War, the Imperial Navy once planned to withdraw the Luxinhai Detachment.

This meant that the Imperial Navy had to consider the challenges it would face when operating in confined seas.

To put it bluntly, it is necessary to directly face the anti-aircraft carrier system built by the Western Continent Group to ensure that it can withstand the saturation attack launched by it.

Undoubtedly, this is also the most critical tactical topic of the Imperial Navy in the past ten years!