The massive bombardment lasted only one day, and in the following days, when the 12th Task Force withdrew to replenish ammunition, only suppressive air strikes were carried out on the Kib fortress, preventing the damaged airfields and harbors from being put back into service.

In fact, the main thing is to prevent the Bran army from deploying long-range combat aircraft to the Kib fortress.

As for tactical aircraft, the threat is not too great.

This repressive combat operation continued until 12 October.

On the same day, the first field airfield on Socotra Island was completed, and the supporting trestle pier was officially put into use.

Crucially, the deep-water anchorage area outside the pier has also begun to take shape.

Although the cargo needs to be transported by a small landing ship such as a barge, it is much faster than a landing craft to the beach.

It was in this way that the shore-based aviation units deployed on Socotra were able to be dispatched on the same day.

After the shore-based aviation was put into battle, the 11th Task Force was also freed on the same day, retreated about 400 kilometers overnight, joined up with the supply fleet in the rear, replenished ammunition and fuel in advance, and then followed the 12th Task Force north.

To say, this is also what makes Zhou Yongtao and other staff officers dissatisfied.

From the beginning of the assault on Socotra, the 11th Task Force followed the 12th Task Force and acted as a small follower to the 12th Task Force.

To put it nicely, it is a coordinated operation with the 12th Task Force.

However, it's more like an errand worker.

All in all, the 11th Task Force became a supporting role.

In the Guia Ocean, the task force commanded by Bai Zhizhan has always been the protagonist.

Even when attacking Liuhuang Island, Bai Zhizhan only used 1 fleet aircraft carrier, and it became the protagonist of the annihilation of the permanent fleet of the Saoyi Navy.

This kind of inferior people, or in other words, is restricted everywhere and has to be based on others, which makes Zhou Yongtao and other young staff officers very uncomfortable.

In this regard, Bai Zhizhan and Li Mingbo did not think so.

Before the outbreak of the war, Bai Zhizhan had always been a supporting role, and Liu Xiangzhen came first in everything.

Of course, this combat operation can be said to be a rare leisure.

In the words of Bai Zhizhan, Liu Xiangzhen was in charge of taking the lead in this combat operation, and they were able to save a lot of worry by picking up leaks in the back.

Besides, after the naval battle of Fanyanyang in the southwest, Liu Xiangzhen has always been active here.

Although the decisive victory was written by Bai Zhizhan, the advance into the Maldives and the landing in Gwadar were all the responsibility of Liu Xiangzhen.

If you want to say it, Liu Xiangzhen knows more about the battlefield situation.

Because the ammunition consumption was not too large, mainly to replenish fuel, the replenishment operation took only one day, and it was completed on the night of the 13th.

At this time, north of the Mua Sea, the battle for the march to Posha Bay had begun.

On the night of the same day, the raid fleet headed by four "South Zhuhai" class fast battleships rushed 300 kilometers into the Strait of Hormuz, shelled the coastal defense positions on several islands north of the strait, destroyed the heavy artillery deployed by the Polish State in the area, and opened the door to Posha Bay.

Let the fast battleships rush to the Strait of Hormuz, which Liu Xiangzhen came up with.

This bold tactic proved to work.

Prior to this, the raid on Socotra Island and the storming of the Kib fortress were carried out by the task force, and the carrier-based aviation carried out strike missions.

As for the battleships, they always stayed out of range of shore artillery.

Crucially, in the previous months, the Imperial Navy was also dominated by task forces.

As a result, the Boi and the local Bran forces have been reinforcing the turrets on the northern shore of the Strait, and the main focus has been on bombing.

In order to cope with the air attack, not only the shore artillery turret was strengthened, but several anti-aircraft gun positions were added, and more anti-aircraft guns were deployed. The Royal Navy even dismantled the anti-aircraft guns of some damaged ships and incorporated the officers and men who operated the anti-aircraft guns into the shore defense force.

The task force, which is mainly carrier-based aviation, can only launch an attack during the day, and the task force may not dare to venture into the strait until the coastal defense positions on the north side of the strait are destroyed.

With regard to the coastal defense forces of the Polish-Iraqi country, which had been prepared for a long time, if they adopted the old routine and still mainly bombed, it would certainly take several days to achieve their goal.

During these days, the enemy had enough time to block the Strait of Hormuz with water mines.

To be precise, there are actually several major shipping routes in the strait.

After the Battle of the Southwest Fanyan Ocean, the Royal Navy used minelayers to lay mines on the southern side of the strait, blocking several shipping routes close to the Oman Peninsula. Several deep-water routes to the north were retained, mainly for the purpose of delivering supplies to Posha Bay and, if necessary, to pick up troops deployed there.

In fact, the 11th Task Force was previously active in the Mua Sea, and its most critical mission was to prevent the Bran Royal Navy and the Boi Navy from laying mines in the strait.

It was also under the suppression of the 11th Task Force that it was unable to make sorties during the day, and the Royal Navy of Bran was not able to complete the minelaying operation in time.

Unfortunately, the task force could not prevent the enemy's minelayers from firing at night.

Interestingly, because they were able to be dispatched at night, a few months before that, the Royal Bran Navy and the Boi Navy had thought that they could send minelayers at night to block the main shipping lanes with mines, rather than blocking the entire strait in advance.

If you want to say it, this is also an opportunity that Liu Xiangzhen sees.

The operation to enter Posha Bay, especially in the initial stage, must be based on surprise attacks, which must also be taken by surprise.

For this reason, Liu Xiangzhen carefully prepared for several months.

The most representative thing is that in the months before this, Liu Xiangzhen had not sent fast battleships and heavy cruisers to shell the coastal defense positions of the Polish country. On the contrary, they constantly arranged for reconnaissance planes to go to the Strait of Hormuz and put on the appearance of eliminating the threat by large-scale bombing.

In addition, the Sixth Bureau also made efforts, mainly to carry out false propaganda to convince the enemy that the Imperial Navy would not risk its capital ships.

Combining these reasons, Liu Xiang Zhencai proposed to let the fast battleships rush to the Strait of Hormuz at night.

The key is not only to destroy the northern shore defense turret, but also to prevent enemy minelayers from entering the strait and ensure that the main channel can remain navigable.

If the enemy succeeds in laying mines in the strait, even if a minesweeper is sent to clear the channel, it will take a lot of time.

To say that the shelling lasted less than three hours.

To be able to destroy the shore defense turret in such a short period of time, the intelligence provided by the Sixth Bureau was crucial.

To be precise, it was actually the Sixth Bureau that turned against a Polish naval commander and obtained information on the deployment of the coastal defense forces in the Strait of Hormuz.

The results of the battle proved that the defective Rear Admiral Boi was quite reliable.

In just three hours, the raiding fleet not only destroyed 12 threatening coastal defense turrets, but also wiped out the ammunition depot of the coastal defense forces in one fell swoop.

The flames produced by the explosion can be seen from tens of kilometers away.

According to information available after the war, approximately 100,000 tons of artillery shells were stored in ammunition depots.

Among them, about 50,000 tons of large-caliber artillery shells provided by the Royal Navy of Bran, as many as 15,000 armor-piercing shells of the 14-inch level alone.

Although they are all old shells produced in the last war, some of them are not yet functional, and they are not powerful enough to deal with the new fast battleships, but they are definitely more than enough to deal with other ships.