All night, Stark pondered a question.

Do you want to pull back, or let Task Force 52 follow?

Let the two task forces get closer, even if they encounter an accident, they can deal with it together, so that they will not face the powerful Liangxia fleet alone after being alone.

It's a pity that after thinking about it all night, Stark didn't make up his mind.

The point is that the battle on the transit island is still ongoing, so the only way to do this is to let Task Force 51 withdraw, and not to let Task Force 52 keep up for the time being.

In this way, it will be impossible to deal with the threat from the west.

As mentioned earlier, compared with the Liangxia fleet, the strategic bombers of the Liangxia Air Force are more worth worrying about.

Even with the C8C anti-ship missile with a maximum range of 250 kilometers, as long as enough bombers are dispatched and willing to bear huge combat losses, the bombers of the Liangxia Air Force can take out the 51st task force, and even deal with two task forces at the same time.

In addition, previous battles have proven that the Liangxia Air Force does not care much about losses.

There's nothing strange about that.

As the world's largest and most powerful air force, the predecessor of the Liangxia Air Force was the army's strategic aviation force, and it has always been dominated by strategic aviation. Even in peacetime, the Liangxia Air Force maintained a bomber fleet of more than 3,000 aircraft, and about the same number of retired bombers that had been mothballed and properly kept. In terms of strategic strike capability, the Liangxia Air Force is certainly unique in the world.

According to Stark's latest information, the number of bombers in the Liangxia Air Force has expanded to 5,000.

In addition to the mothballed bombers, about 500 newly produced bombers were added.

This production efficiency can be said to be frighteningly high!

Don't forget, even since the outbreak of the Poshawan War, it has only been 3 months, and the aircraft manufacturing company of the Liangxia Empire has delivered 500 bombers to the Air Force in such a short period of time, and all the latest signals, and the annual output after conversion is as high as 2,000 aircraft.

Crucially, this is the capacity before the mobilization is completed.

By the time mobilization for war is completed, production will have to be increased by at least two times, even by the minimum standard, to 6,000 aircraft per year.

This is a strategic bomber!

As far as Stark knows, the aircraft factories in the Republic of Nuland can only produce about 3,000 aircraft a year, even if they are running at full capacity and at the fastest efficiency.

It can be seen that the gap in strength between the two sides is not ordinarily large.

The Liangxia Air Force also has the great advantage of maintaining a large bomber force in peacetime, which can train and maintain enough elite pilots to ensure that after the outbreak of war, that is, when expanding the size of the fleet, there will be no pilots available.

If you want to say, the most important thing in the Liangxia Air Force is pilots, especially pilots of all kinds of large aircraft, including bombers. That is, the Liangxia Empire has the world's largest civil aviation market, with more than 1,000 airports, thousands of routes, and about 30,000 regional and trunk passenger aircraft, as well as more than 10,000 civil transport aircraft, and more than 500,000 pilots engaged in civil aviation.

And that's not even counting about 10 times as many aviation enthusiasts.

When all things are counted, the number of pilots in the Liangxia Empire is more than 5 million.

Even if not all of them are physically fit enough to be able to fly fighter jets, there are many pilots who, after the necessary training, are able to fly bombers and transport planes, which are relatively simple to maneuver and control.

This also proves from one side that the Liangxia Air Force will not care too much about losses. As long as the Nuland fleet can be killed, even if it loses dozens, even hundreds of bombers, it is not unavoidable.

Theoretically, only 20 strategic bombers of the "H-9D" class need to be dispatched to launch a saturation strike against the 51st Task Force.

If there is a fighter escort, it is even more incredible.

This is precisely the role that carrier-based aviation, or aircraft carrier battle groups, play in modern naval warfare.

Normally, fighter jets are dispatched by aircraft carrier battle groups to provide cover for strategic bombers of the Air Force in order to increase the combat effectiveness of bombers. As for the attack aircraft on the carrier, they are more used to carry out tactical tasks, such as providing support to the Marine Corps during landing operations.

In battles where the density of firepower is decided, carrier-based aviation occupies a secondary position.

In fact, after the end of the Second Global War, to be precise, after the birth of anti-ship missiles, the problem of insufficient attack power of carrier-based aviation was exposed.

The most conspicuous problem is that due to the limitation of aircraft carriers, carrier-based aircraft are always tactical aircraft, which cannot be compared with strategic-class bombers.

It's just that, even now, no one wants to admit it.

The reason is also very simple, for the Navy, carrier-based aviation is the main assault force, even if it is not used, it cannot be discarded casually.

Based on these, it is not difficult to speculate on the tactics that Bai Huawei may adopt.

After joining up with Task Force 61, he would take two task forces north, and try to stay as covert as possible, using shore-based aviation to search for the Nuland fleet. After the discovery of the Nuland fleet, bombers will be dispatched by the Air Force to attack under the cover of carrier-based fighters. If necessary, the Air Force will also arrange support aircraft such as large early warning aircraft, refueling planes, and electronic reconnaissance planes to support the operation.

If we want to fight like this, we will definitely need to work logistical support.

To put it simply, it is necessary to deploy enough combat aircraft at forward bases.

In fact, this is also what Stark is most concerned about, or most worried about.

Every day, Stark would receive satellite photographs from the rear of the military bases in the North Malaysia Islands, Tube Island, and Wai Island.

It is also in the past few days that the Liangxia Air Force has strengthened its deployment in these areas.

At the Li Mingbo Air Station on Guan Island alone, at least 120 large combat aircraft have been added, including bombers from the Air Force.

The island of Wai is also stepping up preparations and adding a lot of temporary parking sheds.

If you count the three air bases in the North Malaysia Islands, the Liangxia air force can deploy up to 500 bombers, and let one-fifth of them carry out sea missions.

Theoretically, these bombers could be involved in the battle against Task Force 51!

In fact, the Liangxia Air Force has been using bombers deployed in the North Malaysia Islands to carry out long-range raid missions, including using cruise missiles to attack the west coast of Nuland mainland. Although the intensity is not too high, and it does not cause much damage, the impact cannot be ignored.

The key is that the Liangxia Air Force has not yet made a big fight, and it is very likely that the stock of missiles has been used up, and it is necessary to give priority to ensuring the needs of the mainland battlefield.

This situation will not last long, and at the end of the year, it will be resolved when several arms companies producing cruise missiles complete their mobilization.

At that time, with enough missiles, the Liangxia Air Force will first intensify its efforts to strike at the Nuland mainland.

This is the key to the Liangxia Air Force's active search for Task Force 51.

When the strategic bombing begins in full swing and the offensive is frustrated, the withdrawn 51st Task Force will become a roadblock in front of the Liangxia Air Force.

It can be seen that the Liangxia Air Force must be ready.

In this way, it is actually useless to let the 52nd Task Force come up.

The only option was for Task Force 51 to withdraw.

It's just that the crux of this issue is not here in the fleet.

Until now, even if no one wants to admit it, even Stark is no exception, but in his heart, Stark has long had a clear understanding.

The assault on the transit island has been a failure.

According to the original plan, the transit island was laid within 3 to 5 days. Even from the day of landing, it was already five days until the 12th. Unfortunately, the landing force was still not able to annihilate the defenders on the transit island, and did not even have full control of the vital airfield.

Both sides are still fighting near the airport!

The decision to set for 3 to 5 days was not a decision made on the head.

This time is actually the time it takes for Task Force 41 to return.

If the capture of the transit island cannot be completed during this period, then after the return of the 41st Task Force, a dilemma will inevitably be found.

To this end, Stark also drew up a backup plan.

As soon as Task Force 41 returns, Task Force 51 and Task Force 52 will switch to sea supremacy, and at the same time end the combat operation of attacking the transit island. After defeating the Liang Xia fleet, the attack was resumed. If the battle is lost, the landing force will have to be withdrawn.

Now the problem is that Task Force 41 did not return to the transit island!

If anything, Stark was already holding back.

Don't forget that when making adjustments to the deployment, he asked the landing force to suspend the offensive and set about consolidating the defense of the landing field.

It's just that he didn't give the order to retreat.

Obviously, that's the problem.

Even if he knew that if he continued to survive on the Transit Island, he would only become more passive, miss all opportunities, and even suffer a fiasco, but in his heart, Stark didn't want to give up the opportunity to occupy the Transit Island, even if he had to bear the risk of being wiped out.

At stake here is the overall strategy of the Republic of Nuland.

To put it bluntly, if the first offensive is thwarted, the Nuland Republic will become strategically passive and have little choice.

On the Guia side, it was not only from offense to defense, but also from a total retreat.

At that time, they could only retreat to the west coast of the mainland, mobilize heavy troops to defend the vital Wangxi Canal, and rely on the mainland and the isolated continent to deal with the expeditionary imperial navy.

To put it simply, it is to exchange space for time.

Fortunately, even if the Guia Battlefield had the highest priority, it would take 2 to 3 years for the Liangxia Empire to gain the ability to cross the Guia and attack Nuland proper. Even if it is to march into the Wangyu Canal, it will take two years to strengthen the combat capability of the fleet.

Before that, the most that could be done was to blockade the Wangxi Canal and cut off the shipping routes from the east and west coasts of Newland.

For the Nuland Republic, these two to three years are a buffer period.

During this period, in addition to building more aircraft carriers and enhancing naval combat effectiveness, it was also necessary to contain the Liangxia Empire in other directions.

The most direct is to send troops to participate in the battle of the huge land.

In any case, relying on a fairly powerful air force and military bases on both sides of the ocean, there is no danger in controlling the sea in the north and setting the ocean for the time being.

This means that hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Nuland officers and soldiers will die in battle in a foreign land.

Moreover, how much point does such a sacrifice make?

If anything, Stark has always looked down on the Army and is skeptical of the Army's combat effectiveness.

The reason is simple: after the end of the Second Global War, the Republic of Nuland retreated to an isolated continent, and for decades afterward, it was buried in development. Even if it is necessary to teach a lesson to those small countries that are not very obedient, there is no need to make a big move, it is enough to use the Marines who obey the command of the Gray House.

Crucially, the Nuland Army has long been reduced to a "shore defense" force.

For decades, the Army's number one mission has been to prevent enemy landings on the mainland, as well as in key areas of the isolated continent, and to defend strategic points such as the Wangxi Canal.

In terms of equipment construction, it is very prominent.

For example, the Nuland Army's M1 main battle tank, which weighs more than 60 tons in battle, uses a gas turbine with very high fuel consumption, but is equipped with a 105mm rifled gun. Such a bulky tank was actually used to deploy in the shallow depth of the coastal defense line and launch a counterattack immediately after the enemy landed. Because the combat range is very limited, there is no need for too much mileage, but there are high requirements for maneuverability, especially in complex terrain, so the gas turbine with higher power density and very outstanding starting performance is adopted. Besides, in the event of a fierce landing operation, the tank will definitely be taken care of and will need better protection. On the contrary, the landing force is generally not heavily armoured, usually an amphibious combat vehicle, which can be solved with a 105-mm tank gun.

Even the improved M1A1 was only replaced with a 120-mm smoothbore gun.

The rest of the main battle equipment is similar.

This kind of thinking has also affected the establishment of the armed forces.

For example, in order to obtain better tactical mobility capabilities, especially after retreating to the second line of defense, the Army attached great importance to aviation forces, and not only retained the 82nd Airborne Division, but also reorganized the 101st Division into an air assault force, that is, the 101st Air Assault Division. It is planned to add one additional air assault brigade to all divisional units in the future.

As a result, the Army has spent a lot of money on thousands of helicopters over the past 20 years!

The actual combat on the huge land side proved that tanks are still the absolute hegemon on the ground battlefield, and light infantry units such as air assault units have very limited combat effectiveness. Even if there is some value, combat use is severely limited, not as powerful as it has been boasted in the past.

In Stark's view, even if the army goes to the huge land, it can only take on defensive tasks.

It's a pity that what the West Continent Group lacks now is actually an offensive force!

Winter in the Northern Hemisphere is just around the corner, and with temperatures already below freezing in the hinterland of the Giant Continent, there is not much time left for the Western Continent Group.

This is also the key reason why Stark is reluctant to give up.

It's too late to adjust your strategy.

Even if the Nuland Army can fight, it is willing to pay, and when the main force arrives, the dust has settled on the huge land side, at most, it will help the Western Continent Group to consolidate the defense line in the past, and when the Liangxia Army launches a counterattack, it will be able to hold on for a while longer, rather than being directly defeated.

It's just that in the end, it is still inevitable to lose miserably.

The Western Continent Group was defeated, and the Nuland Republic did not want to hold out to the end.

It can be seen that the key is to maintain the momentum of the offensive, take the transit island, attack the Khowaii Islands, and let the Liangxia Empire exert its strength in the Guia Ocean.

Since you give up now, you will inevitably lose in the end, so why not fight for it!?