It wasn't Task Force 51 that rushed ahead!

Although he was extremely surprised, and even couldn't believe it at all, in the face of the facts, Bai Huawei had to admit that the problem had become serious.

The point is that Task Force 51 may not be in a decisive battle with Task Force 41.

After the end of Task Force 52, Stark's first consideration must be to preserve his strength and allow Task Force 51 to return smoothly. Because the landing fleet had also been completely destroyed, and the capture of the Khowaii Islands had become a luxury, the Nuland Navy would inevitably choose to retreat.

The release of Task Force 51 was definitely not something to be happy about.

Theoretically, as long as the 51st Task Force is still there, the Nuland Navy is sure enough to hold the strategic bottom line, that is, the Wangxi Canal, which is located between the northern and southern continents.

From a strategic point of view, whether or not the Republic of Nuland can defend the Wangxi Canal is the key to whether the Nuland Republic can defend itself from the enemy. As long as the Wangxi Canal can be defended, it will be able to force the Liang Xia Empire to focus on the Guia Ocean, and it will be difficult to invest heavy troops in the Sunset Ocean and the Nangu Continent. On the other hand, if the Wangxi Canal is lost, the Liang Xia Empire will definitely be able to sweep through the Southern Lonely Continent and attack the Northern Lonely Continent.

In fact, it only needs to control the Wangxi Canal and cut off the shipping routes between the east and west regions of Newland, which can greatly weaken its defense deployment in the west coast area. That is, the rail connecting the east and west of Newland provides only one-third of the capacity of normal demand, while the other two-thirds has to rely on sea freight.

In order to hold the Wangxi Canal, not only sufficient shore defense troops are needed, but also a fleet.

Strictly speaking, the fleet is more important.

According to the conclusions of the Imperial Navy through confrontation exercises, a fleet that was actively active on the south side of the canal, covered by shore-based aviation, posed a mortal threat to the attacking side. Whether it is a strong attack or a sneak attack, you must deal with the fleet that goes out before you can attack the Wangxi Canal. The problem is that simply engaging the fleet will certainly reveal tactical intent, making offensive operations extremely difficult.

Of course, even the protection of the West Coast of the homeland requires a fleet.

Theoretically, a fleet deployed near the west coast is equivalent to extending the territorial air defense circle by hundreds, if not thousands of kilometers.

According to the calculations made by the Imperial Navy, a task force with three aircraft carriers as the core can reduce the strike efficiency of strategic bombing by more than 90 percent.

It can be seen that since the hope of capturing the Khowaii Islands has been lost, there is no reason to continue to take risks.

Even if Task Force 51 were to follow behind Task Force 52, after the destruction of Task Force 52, it would certainly immediately turn to evade.

Do not forget that in the battle against Task Force 61, the Nuland fleet also suffered considerable losses.

According to a telegram sent by the command of the Navy, in the first round of engagement, the air defense fighters of the sixty-first task force shot down dozens of incoming enemy aircraft, including at least one group of heavy attack aircraft. Next, more than a dozen enemy planes were shot down in the second round of engagement. Overall, Task Force 51 lost almost a third of its carrier-based aircraft, many of which were heavy attack aircraft and heavy fighters.

Unless it is replenished, the attack power of Task Force 51 will definitely be greatly reduced.

Obviously, it is not easy to get replenishment so far from home.

That leaves Stark with no reason to stay.

Accelerated pursuit?

The thought flashed through my mind.

Although the 51st Task Force suffered heavy losses, its air defense capability has not been reduced, and it will not be neglected because of the losses.

Crucially, the Nuland Air Force is definitely on standby.

If Task Force 41 reveals its whereabouts before taking out Task Force 51, it will certainly be attacked by the Nuland Air Force. If the Nuland Air Force can dispatch dozens of bombers against Task Force 61, it will certainly be able to dispatch more bombers against Task Force 41.

Obviously, Stark must have hoped that Task Force 41 would catch up when he chose to retreat.

However, the number one problem at the moment is not whether to pursue Task Force 51, but how to avoid being attacked by the Nuland Air Force.

Although there is enough reason to believe that the enemy does not know the location of Task Force 41, that is, it cannot make a judgment from the direction of return of the attack group, after all, the combat planes involved in the attack operation are divided into multiple groups and evacuate from different directions, but no one dares to guarantee that the 41st Task Force has not revealed its whereabouts, and it is not known whether it will be bombed in the next few hours.

With the encounter of the 61st Task Force, as long as it is attacked by the Nuland Air Force, it will definitely be more than lucky.

Here, too, the issue of air defense of the fleet is involved.

Although reinforcements have been received from shore-based aviation, around the evening, the returning fighters will definitely have to be recovered, and it will not be possible to send additional air defense fighters. But the terrible thing is that the air defense fighters sent out in the afternoon will all return around the evening, at least to the vicinity of the aircraft carrier.

In other words, in the evening, Task Force 41 was at its most vulnerable.

As for expanding the range of air defense, it will be necessary to wait until about 8 o'clock in the evening at the earliest, because it will not be possible until about 7:30 a.m. for fighter jets to take off.

For this reason, the 41st Task Force must definitely carry out maneuver evasion.

So, in which direction to circumvent?

Obviously, continuing to sail west or turning east is not in the table.

It can only go south, or it can go north.

After weighing it, Bai Huawei still chose to avoid it in the south.

Although this is also the easiest way for the enemy to guess the evasion, sailing north will only move away from the Khowaii Islands, thus losing the cover of shore-based aviation.

Only by sailing to the south will it be possible to get cover from shore-based aviation.

In addition, there is a very critical issue involved here.

If you want to pursue Task Force 51, you will need to refuel before turning north.

Then, support from the rear is needed.

Don't forget, before heading north, Bai Huawei sent away the fast combat support ships, and at that time it didn't even occur to him to pursue the 51st Task Force.

Although all three aircraft carriers still have enough fuel, there is not much fuel left for the escort warships.

In this case, it is necessary to contact the rear and ask the Jumbo Harbor side to send a few oil tankers over.

In order to get supplies as quickly as possible, the fleet would definitely have to turn south.

The main thing is that all the ships that remain in Jumbo Harbour and operate in the eastern waters of the archipelago are civilian ships, and their speeds are not much faster.

If the situation changes, Task Force 41 will still be able to pass through the Khowaii Islands.

In any case, it is certainly safer to go to the south of the archipelago than to stay in the north of the archipelago.

As for the fear of being attacked by the Nuland Air Force, it can only strengthen the air defense of the fleet as much as possible.

Shortly after Bai Huawei made this decision, around 4:30 p.m., the Navy Command sent an exact battle report.

The headquarters of the 61st Task Force has withdrawn the "Liu Xiangzhen".

Although thousands of officers and men from the captain down have not given up and are still trying to rescue the battleship, the water has entered more than 15,000 tons, and there is only one generator left. Even if you maintain your balance and don't roll over due to severe water ingress on one side, you will still sink eventually.

In addition, it is impossible to risk an entire fleet for the sake of a doomed aircraft carrier.

The key point is that the sea area where the "Liu Xiangzhen" is located is more than 4,000 kilometers away from the North Malaysia Islands, and the cover range of the large anti-submarine patrol plane is only 3,000 kilometers at most. Even if the range can be extended with the help of large tankers, it is difficult to conduct uninterrupted anti-submarine patrols in such distant sea areas.

As for the anti-submarine warfare ships in the fleet, priority must definitely be given to the protection of another aircraft carrier.

The most lethal thing is the loss of the ability to navigate.

An aircraft carrier parked on the surface of the sea is simply an ideal target, and the submarine can fire at the extreme range of heavy anti-submarine torpedoes. The maximum range of the Nuland Navy's MK48 torpedoes is more than 50 kilometers, while the Imperial Navy's absolute anti-submarine net, supported by anti-submarine warfare ships, is less than 50 kilometers.

For this, the command of the Navy has already given an order.

By the early morning of the 14th at the latest, if the speed of water intrusion could not be controlled and the ability to sail was restored, the captain had to give an order to abandon the ship.

It's not all bad news, though.

Another aircraft carrier of the 61st Task Force, the "Tang Shengxian," has already controlled the speed of water intake, and it is expected that it will be able to regain its navigation capability on the night of the 13th. Although completely incapacitated, as long as he can return to port, he will be able to go again in a few months.

It was precisely for this reason that most of the anti-submarine warships were sent to cover the "Tang Shengxian".

In any case, it is good to keep 1 aircraft carrier.

Subsequently, while having dinner, the command of the Navy sent a crucial piece of information.

To the west was indeed Task Force 51.

In the early morning of the 13th, a "Dark Night Phoenix" arranged by the Air Force discovered this fleet, to be precise, it photographed 3 supercarriers.

Unfortunately, this information came almost 10 hours late!

This is not the fault of the Air Force either, the main thing is that there are too many photos that need to be processed, and it is difficult to distinguish the specific model of the battleship on the photos that are not enlarged. What's worse is that these three aircraft carriers appeared in three photos separately, which did not attract the attention of intelligence pilots in the first place.

By the time intelligence analysts found out about the problem, several hours had passed.

After that, it took a few more hours, combined with other photos, to make an accurate interpretation of the type of the battleship, and it was determined that it was 3 supercarriers.

As a result, by the time the intelligence was sent to the naval command, the naval battle had already been fought!

If anything, this is also the key reason why the Navy is reluctant to purchase the "Night Phoenix".

However, this information is not without value.

Based on this information, it can be inferred that the distance between Task Force 51 and Task Force 61 is most likely only 1,000 kilometers. When the battle began, Task Force 51 was very close to the landing fleet blocking the guns, almost at the edge of the bomber strike area.

In other words, if a few bombers deviated from course, they might have fired anti-ship missiles at Task Force 51.

From this point of analysis, it is very likely that after the landing fleet was attacked, Task Force 51 had already turned, that is, it did not continue to sail eastward.

Well, on the morning of the 13th, Task Force 51 was already sailing north.

In other words, even if the 41st Task Force is at full capacity, it may not be able to catch up with the 51st Task Force, not to mention the need for fuel replenishment.

That's why the command of the Navy has only sent information until now.

When he received the telegram, Bai Huawei thought of it.

If it's just an afterthought, you can wait for the fleet to return and let it know, and there is no need to spoil the atmosphere before the fleet returns.

was anxious to let Bai Huawei know that he wanted him to give up the idea of pursuing the 51st Task Force, or to accept it when he saw it.

Of course, Bai Huawei had already made a decision.

"It's a shame that if we had known that Stark was so bold, our route would have been further north, and maybe we would have been able to catch ......."

"Is it that easy?"

was asked by Bai Huawei, and Liu Zunling closed his mouth.

"Don't forget, the heavy damage to the Tang Shengxian was carried out by heavy anti-ship missiles dropped by bombers, and those bombers most likely flew by us to the north. If the route is farther north, can we ignore the bombers coming from the east after the AWACS planes detect them? As long as fighter jets are dispatched to intercept them, even if they can shoot down those bombers, they will be discovered by the enemy and hit more violently. Bai Huawei only paused slightly, and then said: "What's more, there is no such thing as 'early knowing' in this world." From a relative point of view, no matter which route we take, we will not be able to attack Task Force 51 before the 61st Task Force is attacked, and we will not even have time to find Task Force 51, and on the contrary, we will probably miss the opportunity to deal with Task Force 52. ”

"I just think it's a shame that we didn't get rid of Task Force 51."

"Perhaps, Task Force 51 hasn't been withdrawn yet."

Jiang Wenlong suddenly said something, and Bai Huawei and Liu Zunling immediately turned their gazes.

"I'm also guessing that after this big battle, Stark might gamble everything because he is desperate."

"He's not a gambler."

"The question is, is it best to lead the fleet to retreat?"

Bai Huawei's brows jumped a few times, and Jiang Wenlong continued.

"Withdrawing, at most, is to stick to the homeland. From a strategic point of view, if the Nuland Republic wants to avoid rapid defeat, it must shift its focus to the Western Continent, provide support for the Western Continent Group, and even directly participate in the ground war. It's just that in the end, the end of defeat still can't be avoided. ”

"Even if you stay, you can't turn defeat into victory."

"But there is an opportunity to force us to sit down and negotiate."

"This ......" Liu Zunling was dumbfounded for a while.

"It's not to force us to negotiate, but to let the Nuland authorities recognize the situation," Bai Huawei let out a long breath before he said: "If he can get favorable bargaining chips for the next negotiations, such as a few islands in the archipelago, then even if he loses the war, he will be a hero of the Nuland Republic." ”

"You mean ......"

Bai Huawei didn't answer, but just set his eyes on Jiang Wenlong.

"It's just speculation, but it's impossible to say what the actual situation is. Besides, even if the 51st Task Force only evades to the north and does not retreat, we cannot blindly catch up, after all, the Nuland Air Force has proved with its actions that it has an extremely powerful naval strike capability. ”

"No matter what, let's go back first and wait for ......"

Before Bai Huawei's words were finished, the aircraft carrier suddenly tilted to the right, and it was obviously accelerating.

What's going on!?

Before the officers inside the cafeteria could react, the alarm sounded.

Sharp and short.

This is an anti-submarine alert!