It was almost half past four o'clock that the aviation service personnel prepared the attack aircraft group for take-off and sent dozens of carrier-based planes onto the flight deck.

Li Yunxiang had already arranged the mission, and the pilots were all on standby at the aviation operations center.

It's just that I have to wait for half an hour.

The second main team is closer, with a sortie distance of almost 300 kilometers, and the return distance can be shortened, and there is no need to move forward to reconnoitre. According to Li Yunxiang's arrangement, the group only needed to fly in the direction of the Watchman Strait, and did not need to spend time searching before attacking.

And if the second main team didn't go to the Overwatch Strait?

That couldn't be better.

Don't look at the combat effectiveness of the four former treaty-type battleships, which are all backward in all aspects, but without them, the first main team may not dare to go to the Watchman Strait. In the decisive battle of the fleet, the four battleships of the second main force were equivalent to two-thirds of the total strength.

Even if it is a gun hole, the second main team has to rush forward.

Without them, even if the two "Gate" class ships of the first main force team gave birth to three heads and six arms, they would definitely not be the opponents of the four "Longxing" class ships of the home fleet.

Setting the time for the departure of the group at five o'clock was not a decision made on a whim by Bai Zhizhan.

The meaning of the white stop war, to launch an attack in the evening, preferably at sunset, so that Takano would not have time to make adjustments after receiving the news.

To put it simply, it is to minimize the reaction time left for Takano as much as possible.

Li Yunxiang did not raise any objections to this.

It's not that he thinks the arrangement of the White Cessation of War is right, but no matter when it is dispatched, it is already dark when the group returns to the sky over the fleet.

At half past seven and eight o'clock, it was so dark that I couldn't see my fingers, and there was no difference between rookies.

According to the arrangement of the White Stop, the group set off at five o'clock, flew in the squadron in the direction of the Watchman Strait, and launched an attack after discovering the second main team. If the second main team sails in the direction of the Watchman Strait, then the battle will take place between six twenty and six thirty. The Third Air Task Force was in the southeast, and the sunset time was a few minutes earlier, so the sky in the battlering waters had not yet completely darkened.

Li Yunxiang had already thought of it, and Bai Zhizhan didn't take the second main team in his eyes.

When Bai Zhizhan made this arrangement, Zhou Yongtao told Li Yunxiang that if there was a choice, for example, in the morning, there would be enough time for the fleet to maneuver, and Bai Zhizhan would leave the carrier-based planes behind, and after the distance was shortened, he would concentrate his forces on the first main battle team.

The art of war is cloudy: capture the thief and capture the king first.

Overthrowing the first main team, even if Gao Ye is not killed, he can force the enemy to withdraw his troops and end this naval battle that has no great meaning.

This is precisely the key to the mobilization of the 1st Carrier Air Wing in the White Stop.

From a higher perspective, the time has come for this naval battle to come to an end.

From the perspective of the Liang Xia Navy, under the condition that a great victory has already been achieved, not only will it not be able to expand the results of the battle, but it is also very likely to suffer unnecessary losses.

In other words, what Bai Zhizhan is seeking now is actually to end the battle!

Of course, it is to end the battle on the basis of controlling the Watcher Strait and retaking the North and South Sadou Islands.

Rationally speaking, the most ideal way is to force out the two main teams.

Focusing on the second main team may not be able to achieve its goal. If Takano is cornered, it will have the opposite effect.

It is precisely because of this that Bai Zhizhan delayed the attack to the end to see if there would be a turnaround.

When it was almost five o'clock, Li Yunxiang and Zhou Yongtao came to the commander's bridge.

Everything is ready, just wait for the commander's order.

Bai Zhizhan stood by the porthole, and when Li Yunxiang and Zhou Yongtao came in, Li Mingbo, who was standing in the commander's position, shook his head at them.

Do you want to go over?

When Li Yunxiang hesitated, Zhou Yongtao had already hid to the side.

"It's almost five o'clock, isn't it?" After saying this, Bai Zhizhan turned around and saw Li Yunxiang and Zhou Yongtao, he just nodded.

"Two minutes left." Li Yunxiang glanced at his watch.

"You don't need to be so punctual, go ......"

Before he finished speaking, Bai Zhizhan's gaze turned to Li Yunxiang's left side and looked towards Li Yunxiang's left rear.

The hatch to the telecommunications center is over there.

"Report!"

Sure enough, it was a telecommunications officer.

Li Mingbo got closer, stopped the telecommunications officer, took the telegram and quickly glanced at it, before handing it to Bai Zhizhan, who had already walked in front of him.

Just glanced at it, and Bai Zhizhan handed the telegram to Li Yunxiang.

What was sent by the Navy Command was not a forwarded battle report, but an operational order issued by the commander-in-chief.

Save your forces, intercept the approaching Sagai convoy on the 28th, and do your best to prevent the Sagai ground forces from coming ashore at Naqiu Harbor.

How is that ball port?

Li Yunxiang was shocked, but he knew he was not mistaken.

According to previous information, the Satsui Navy will first seize and control Shoudao and Wangjima, and block the Watcher's Strait, and then it will be Naqiu's turn.

Obviously, the Narrow-Minded Navy adjusted its battle plan.

Now, it's damning!

The harbor is northeast of the Watcher's Strait, about 500 kilometers away, and closer to the Sagi mainland.

The point is that the distance to the Watchman Channel is almost equivalent to a day's voyage of an ordinary ship.

Because they did not expect to suffer setbacks before starting the war, and were not fully prepared, let alone mobilized before the war, the narrow navy used to transport troops was some ordinary ships with a speed of only fourteen knots. Extrapolating from the time, the convoy will arrive at Naqiu Harbor tonight, or tomorrow morning at the latest.

Sending carrier-based aircraft to attack at night is not a rush to the shelves?

Besides, the Third Air Task Force was operating southeast of the Watcher Strait, not close to the port of Naqiu, and it would take several hours to sail north to shorten the sortie distance of the group. Even if you don't consider the night, you won't be able to launch an attack until the early morning of the 28th at the earliest.

Maybe it's not that bad.

If the convoy had been sailing in the direction of the Watchman Strait and was not on the route to Naqiu Harbor, it would have been farther away from Naqiu Harbor.

How far away it is depends on when the transport fleet turns, that is, when the base camp of the narrow navy makes adjustments.

"Go ahead and make arrangements, and turn the fleet around at once."

After Bai Zhizhan gave the order, Li Mingbo didn't ask much and called the communications staff officer over.

The battle was returned to Bai and Li Yunxiang, and Li Mingbo was solely responsible for navigation and communications.

"Cancel today's operation and let the pilots all go to rest and get a good night's sleep. If you don't know well, I'm afraid that the group will have to be dispatched in the early hours of tomorrow morning. When Bai Zhizhan said this, his expression was obviously much more relaxed, as if he was relieved, and he was suddenly refreshed.

"I'll go." Zhou Yongtao volunteered, but actually took the opportunity to slip out.

Although it is no longer difficult to choose between the first and second main teams, the troubles have not gone away, but have become more prominent.

Prior to this, it was not without reason that the White Stop War had not allowed the Third Air Task Force to move north.

A little further north, reaching the sea area where carrier-based aircraft were dispatched to attack Naqiu Harbor, the Third Air Task Force would also be attacked by the shore-based air force of the Narrow Navy.

Over there, it is within the strike range of the long-range attack aircraft of the Narrow Navy!

At that time, it will be more than just the issue of sending carrier-based aircraft to bomb the transport fleet. d