The guards led the cruiser detachment back to kill, and Bai Zhizhan was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.

At 7:35 a.m., four heavy cruisers of the "Wuzhou" class in the southwest direction took the lead in firing and fired the first salvo at the enemy ships 25 kilometers away.

This engagement distance exceeded the operating range of the optical rangefinder.

Accuracy, of course, there is nothing to count on.

Radar?

The "Wuzhou" and "Changzhou" are equipped with anti-aircraft search radars, and even if they can be used to detect sea targets, they cannot be used as artillery sighting radars.

In the early hours of yesterday morning, in the east of the Shuangche Strait, the battle with the No. 1 main team proved this.

When the anti-aircraft search radar detects sea surface targets, the error exceeds 1,000 meters, and it is indeed difficult to guide artillery battles.

It's just that four "Wuzhou" class ships opened fire on enemy ships.

No matter how large the deviation is, those shells will fall in the vicinity of the four narrow heavy cruisers, and it will allow the lookout to make accurate judgments.

In fact, after the four "Wuzhou" class ships opened fire, the four pursuing narrow warships did not fire at the "Imperial Capital" and "Companion Beijing" again.

It's just that new problems have also arisen.

Prior to this, that is, at about seven o'clock, the reconnaissance plane sent back a report claiming that the transport fleet of the Sagai Navy had been spotted in the previously speculated sea area, and that it was sailing towards Naqiu Harbor, and that it was expected to arrive after ten o'clock, and requested that the carrier-based aircraft be dispatched immediately to launch an attack.

According to the plan, the reconnaissance aircraft did not return home, hovering near the transport fleet.

Shortly thereafter, only about 10 minutes later, a reconnaissance plane sent another message that it had spotted a group of dozens of Type 96 land attack planes about 400 kilometers north of the Third Air Task Force, and it was heading for the Third Air Task Force.

In terms of time, it will be killed at about half past eight.

Fortunately, it was all twin-engine bombers, and the reconnaissance planes did not detect the escorting fighters, and they were not intercepted by the fighters when they were following the flight.

The reconnaissance aircraft did not accurately report the size of the group, saying only that there were "dozens" of enemy aircraft.

At that time, Bai Zhizhan issued an order, and the eight "Typhoons" that had been urgently lifted into the air before dawn immediately went north to intercept the approaching bomber group.

It's just that eight fighters are certainly not enough.

That's not a carrier-based aircraft, it's a real bomber.

Although according to the standards of the Empire, the Type 96 land attack with a maximum take-off weight of only eight tons and a bomb load of only 800 kilograms can be regarded as a medium bomber at most, but the aircraft is equipped with a 20 mm machine gun and three 77 mm machine guns, and its self-defense firepower is very strong.

In the absence of fighter cover, bombers are usually formed in dense formations to cover each other.

Thinking of dozens of bombers, flying over with dozens, even hundreds of bombs, not to mention others, even Bai Zhizhan felt his scalp tingle.

It was in this way that after the cruiser detachment arrived, the first order given by Bai Zhizhan was to let the fighters take off urgently.

There is still almost an hour to go, and it is time to be able to send all the fighters out.

But then what?

To deal with the four heavy cruisers that ran after two aircraft carriers like mad dogs for more than an hour, or to send carrier-based aircraft to bomb the transport fleet as originally planned?

Both Li Yunxiang and Li Mingbo believed that the four heavy cruisers should be killed first.

Even Zhou Yongtao felt that four heavy cruisers were worth more. Not only because it was a battleship, but also because it was the last four large warships of the Sajiyi Navy in the Western and Eastern Seas. Even if the four "High Bears" of the 4th Cruiser Squadron are not finished, it will be difficult to return to the battlefield in the short term.

In Zhou Yongtao's words, after killing these four heavy cruisers, all the small boats that the Narrow Navy could send out to fight were small boats of several thousand tons.

It's a bit of an exaggeration, after all, a few thousand tons are battleships, and those below 500 tons are called "boats".

In the long run, this will go a long way towards the upcoming second phase of combat operations.

Transport fleet?

After the end of the navy, why did the Imperial State occupy and control the port?

Not to mention that it is just a light infantry unit, even if it is a heavy army, after the sea is cut off, it can only sit and wait on the isolated island hanging overseas.

In addition, Zhou Yongtao felt that the transport fleet might not go to the port.

Without the support of the fleet, what can you do if you go?

Fundamentally, none of the three of them took the transport fleet seriously, and even if it was a troop carrier, it could be counted as a military auxiliary ship at most.

What do you mean?

When calculating combat exploits, civilian ships belong to the third category of targets, military auxiliary ships are the second category, and warships are the first category.

In all fairness, this kind of matter, which is closely related to the vital interests of all the officers and men of the fleet, must definitely think twice before acting even if it is a vain war.

Rising from the grassroots level, Bai Zhizhan is very sensitive to merit.

At his current level, credit is not so important, and he may be able to achieve high status, but for those officers and soldiers who follow him, it is not so simple.

Don't forget, Zhou Yongtao is only a second lieutenant.

Even if he gains the respect and appreciation of Bai Zhizhan, he needs to enrich his resume with military exploits, and combat exploits are a hard condition for promotion.

Even Zhou Rongtao is like this, and there is no need to say much about other officers and soldiers.

Without affecting the overall situation, making some military achievements for oneself is not a fake public benefit.

In fact, before the last war, the Imperial Navy did not even prohibit officers and soldiers from obtaining war spoils on the battlefield, and also made clear regulations on the ownership of war spoils. Allowing and encouraging the acquisition of war spoils through normal channels is to boost the morale and morale of officers and men.

Guaranteeing promotion to both officers and soldiers has a similar meaning to allowing the spoils of war.

Only this time, Bai Zhizhan did not back down.

After contacting the guards and confirming that the four heavy cruisers were intact, that they were sure to block the four enemy ships, and that the four light cruisers were already making a detour to the rear of the enemy ships, Bai Zhizhan did not delay any longer, and asked Li Yunxiang to make arrangements according to the original plan and let the attack aircraft group set off after getting rid of the enemy ships.

That's right, to attack the convoy.

Subsequently, Bai Zhizhan contacted the destroyer detachment and asked the six destroyers to obey the command of the guards and assist the cruiser detachment in encircling and destroying four enemy ships.

In order to reassure Li Yunxiang and others, Bai Zhizhan promised that arrangements would be made when the conditions were ripe.

To put it simply, after striking the convoy and returning from the carrier-based aircraft, if the four heavy cruisers have not been sunk, the carrier-based aircraft will be arranged to drop bombs and bomb them.

Here, Bai Zhizhan adopted Li Mingbo's suggestion and sent a telegram to Zhu Huasheng and Shen Pu of the Lotus Military Port Air Station.

Depart immediately and fly to join the Third Air Task Force.

With the situation at that time, even if Li Mingbo hadn't proposed it, Bai Zhizhan would have made such an arrangement.

Don't forget, the second main team is not finished yet, and the fourth cruiser team that followed the first main team is still active. Even if you don't consider intercepting the second main team, you should consider the possibility of encountering the fourth cruiser team and having a battle.

By the time Bai Zhizhan had made these arrangements, it was almost eight o'clock.

Outside, on the flight deck, aviation crews were busy preparing more than a dozen fighter jets loaded with ammunition and fuel to take off.

Launching an attack?

It's still early.

Now it would be nice to get the rest of the fighters into the air, to be busy by half past eight, and to prepare the torpedo planes and bombers for the attack mission.