The 40 "H-9Ds" divided into two groups all took off in the afternoon. After joining up with a large early warning plane and an electronic reconnaissance plane, which were also arranged by the Air Force, it flew eastward at an economical cruising speed for four hours and reached the northwest of the transit island at about 10 p.m. local time.

Prior to this, Task Force 61 had already maneuvered in that direction.

Shortly after nightfall, Task Force 61 dispatched two Finger-6Cs and eight Battle-9Bs in two formations to the predetermined standby airspace to provide cover for the Air Force bombers. It's just that according to the plan, the attack will be launched only after receiving the order.

To this end, the Air Force also specially arranged a group of 8 "Oil-20D" to provide support for combat operations.

If I had to say, the value of large tankers is vividly reflected here.

Although the total number of "Oil-20" is only 128, and the "Oil-29A" exceeds 600, in terms of value, the "Oil-20" is far above the "Oil-29A".

The point is that the "Oil-20" is capable of carrying 180 tons of fuel!

In comparison, the oil carrying capacity of the "Oil-29A", which is less than 100 tons, is simply not worth mentioning.

Don't underestimate the gap of tens of tons.

The reason is that the fuel dispenser itself also consumes fuel.

Normally, when 1,500 kilometers away from the base, the "Oil-20" can output about 120 tons of fuel, and the "Oil-29A" can only output 60 tons, which is twice the difference. If the distance is doubled, while other mission requirements remain the same, the "Oil-20" will still be able to provide 80 tons of fuel for other fighters, while the "Oil-29A" will only have a pitiful 20 tons. The key is that the "Oil-20" can fly up to 5,000 kilometers away for refueling operations. If you don't have to be on standby in the airspace of the front line, the volume of oil can reach 80 tons, and the "Oil-29A" simply cannot fly so far.

In addition, the "Oil-20" can be used as a transport aircraft.

When carrying out cargo missions, the "Oil-20" has a maximum cargo capacity of 120 tons and is capable of flying 8,000 kilometers with this load. If it does not carry cargo, it can take off with full fuel, with a maximum range of more than 20,000 kilometers, and can fly directly to any point in the world.

Crucially, the "Oil-20" has a set of refueling equipment, which can obtain fuel from other tankers, thus greatly extending the patrol time.

Theoretically, a brigade of eight "Oil-20s" can take a relay method, which can ensure that two to four tankers are deployed at any time.

In addition, the D-type added hose refueling equipment to refuel the Navy's combat aircraft.

It's just that "Oil-20" is also very expensive.

If anything, it was because the "Oil-20" was too expensive, and in many cases, there was no need to use such a large tanker at all, that the Imperial Air Force, after purchasing 130 aircraft, switched to the purchase of much smaller, but much cheaper, "Oil-29A", and successively purchased more than 700 aircraft.

When performing important tasks, it is still necessary to rely on the "Oil-20".

Just these 8 "Oil-20D" are capable of transporting 640 tons of fuel.

If desired, it is also possible to raise it to 880 tons.

This is to provide some of the fuel back to other aircraft, and then do an in-flight refueling on the way back to get fuel to fly back to base.

Even if it needs to be on standby for 6 hours, the 40 "H-9Ds" only need to replenish 15 tons of fuel each before launching an assault.

If you don't have to be on standby, you don't need to refuel bombers in the air.

This is arranged, mainly just in case.

After hanging on 24 "KD-30Bs", the "H-9D" can still take off with full fuel, that is, after flying 5,000 kilometers, it can also patrol for 4 hours, or launch attacks on targets 7,500 kilometers away. If the standby time reaches 6 hours and you have to make a surprise flight, you will consume extra fuel, so you will have to refuel before you can fly back to meet the tanker after completing the mission.

It's not unusual to carry out this kind of long-range rush mission, with an air refueling before and after the attack.

Of course, the escort fighters arranged by the 61st Task Force need to be refueled in the air.

Actually, this is also the reason why the "Oil-20D" performed the task.

Of the tankers of the Air Force, in addition to several small tankers in service with special forces, only the "Oil-20D" is equipped with hose refueling equipment.

If anything, the Imperial Air Force has always been resistant to hose refueling systems.

Otherwise, it would not have been 6 years ago, after Zhou Yongtao became the first assistant of the empire, he launched the "Oil-20D" project, and in just a few months, the first batch of "Oil-20" transformation work was completed, and then successfully passed the test and acceptance with the participation of the Navy.

Before the outbreak of the war, there were only 20 "oil-20D" in total, and all of them were deployed on the Guia side.

The reason is also very simple, the Guia Ocean is the home of the Imperial Navy, and the main bases are far apart, which requires a high range.

Fortunately, compared with the "Oil-20B", that is, the main model of the Air Force, the "Oil-20D" only adds a set of hose refueling equipment, and makes necessary changes to the software of the control system, which can be used to control the hose refueling equipment, and other aspects are exactly the same.

That is, the space can transform all the "Oil-20B" into "Oil-20D" as long as there is a need.

It's just that now it seems that there is no need for this for the time being.

If it was just to refuel the escort fighters, even if Task Force 61 sent all the carrier-based fighters on board, it would not be any challenge.

The maximum fuel load of the "Zhan-9B" is less than 9 tons, and the usual refueling volume is between 4 and 6 tons.

It is necessary to use up the 640 tons of fuel carried by the eight "Oil-20D" and have to mobilize more than 100 "Battle-9D", and the 61st Task Force does not have so many fighters in total.

In fact, this can also see the great value of large tankers.

One "Oil-20D" is loaded with fuel equivalent to at least 10 "Attack-5F" aircraft that can provide fuel when performing partner refueling missions.

The Air Force dispatched 8 aircraft at a time, which is definitely a bloody investment!

If I have to say, make sure that you can seize the opportunity when it comes.

As a result, when Bai Huawei gave the order, the two bomber formations had already arrived at the standby sea area, which was actually just there.

At that time, the "Zhan-9B", which was providing cover, had joined the tanker and was undergoing the first air refueling.

After confirming that the combat order came from the commander-in-chief of the front, the large AWACS aircraft responsible for command and coordination followed the bomber group, and the order was forwarded.

If anything, it's too early.

According to Bai Huawei's arrangement, before launching an attack, the 61st Task Force will send an additional batch of fighters to strengthen its cover.

The point is that the range of the "KD-30B" is only 650 kilometers. In order to improve the hit rate, it is necessary to control the projection distance within 600 kilometers.

If the target of the attack was the Nuland Navy's task force, it would certainly have to face air defense fighters.

In fact, this is also the reason why the Air Force dispatched large AWACS aircraft to participate in the attack operation.

The Navy's Finger-6C does not have an air refueling capability and is at best able to assist escort fighters during the standby phase.

After the start of the assault operation, it was possible to rely only on large AWACS aircraft of the Air Force.

Then, it is necessary to arrange fighters to provide cover for AWACS.

Task Force 61 also made special adjustments for this purpose, reducing the number of multirole fighters by one group and increasing the number of heavy fighters by 20 in both wings.

That is, in total, there were 88 "Battle-9Bs".

It was precisely for this reason that Bai Huawei arranged for the 61st Task Force to dispatch a group of 24 fighters, two of which were squadrons to carry out offensive escort missions.

To put it simply, it is to arrange 8 "Battle-9Bs" of one squadron in each of the two offensive directions to open a way in front of the bomber group, in fact, to divert the enemy's air defense fighters. The usual tactic is to surprise the enemy's AWACS aircraft to force the enemy to retreat and shrink the defensive line.

Here, a very important tactic is involved.

The outer air defense circle of the Nuland fleet also extends only 450 kilometers outward, and relies on the AIM-54 used by the F-14 to obtain an interception distance of 600 kilometers. In this case, AWACS aircraft can only remain over the fleet and cooperate with air defense warships.

Of course, this is also seeking cover for air defense warships.

In this way, as long as the AWACS aircraft of the Nuland fleet can be forced to retreat, the "H-9D" has a chance to launch an attack at the maximum range of the "KD-30B".

But the problem is that the second batch of two squadrons of "Zhan-9B" has not yet set off!

According to the plan, the attack would begin as soon as the early hours of the morning, and after the general position of the Nuland fleet had been grasped, the 61st Task Force would send escort fighters.

Prior to this, the patrol planes sent by the Navy did not detect the Nuland fleet, and the 61st Task Force did not send out escort fighters in advance.

In addition, there was no mention in the plans of attacking the landing fleet first.

Fortunately, the combat effectiveness of the landing fleet was far inferior to that of the task force.

It's just that against the landing fleet you need to use all the bombers?

In the telegram, Bai Huawei only mentioned that the air force bombers would launch the attack, and did not put forward specific tactical requirements, nor did it have to do so.

As a result, after a comprehensive weighing, the air force officer in charge of operational command only gave the order to attack Formation A.

20 "H-9Ds", a total of 480 "KD-30B", even if calculated on 80% reliability, there are up to 384 anti-ship missiles.

Against a few dozen landing ships, it will certainly be more than enough.

In addition, instead of waiting for the escort fighters of the 61st Task Force, the eight "Zhan-9Bs" that had arrived earlier and were being refueled in the air were transferred to escort missions. To be precise, the four "Zhan-9Bs" covering Formation B were allowed to accelerate to the front to carry out offensive escort missions, the other four "Battle-9Bs" remained behind to cover the early warning aircraft, and the 20 bombers of Formation B temporarily retreated 500 kilometers. After the 61st Task Force arrived, the additional fighters returned to the standby airspace and continued to wait for the order to attack.

When the AWACS aircraft forwarded the order, it was 22 o'clock on the 12th of the transit island.

The standby airspace of Formation A is 1,500 kilometers northwest of the transit island.

In other words, the "H-9D" of formation B will be able to attack at about 23 o'clock at the earliest.

As for reconnaissance operations before the attack, there was simply no need.

Before dark, the landing fleet of the Newland Navy was in the landing field, and the destroyers, who were providing cover for the fleet, also shelled the defending positions.

The point is also that none of the 6 amphibious assault ships are too far from the transit island.

The main thing is that vertical take-off and landing attack aircraft, carried by amphibious assault ships, have been bombarding transit islands, providing air support to the landing force and suppressing the artillery positions of the defenders, even if only a few mortars remain. This kind of attack aircraft, because it can only take off vertically from the attack ship, at most it can take off after a short distance taxi, and after hanging 2 tons of bombs, it will not fly far at all, and the combat radius is less than 200 kilometers.

In fact, this is the main reason why the Imperial Navy has little interest in VTOL fighters.

Until after dark, the Harrier appeared over the transit island, using 500-pound and 1,000-pound aerial bombs.

In addition, during the first round of reconnaissance at night, a patrol aircraft from the island of Wai spotted the landing fleet, detecting dozens of large ships with radar. It's just that it was threatened by air defense warships, plus the "Harrier" has certain air combat capabilities, so the patrol aircraft did not fly too close.

Combining this information, there is reason to believe that even the landing fleet has already begun to retreat to the east and has not gone far.

If anything, what needs to be worried about is actually the task force left behind to cover.

It is precisely for this reason that the front-line commander of the Air Force arranged for four "Zhan-9B" planes to speed up their advance, not only to attract the enemy's attention, but also to carry out tactical reconnaissance missions by the way.

However, there is no way around it.

The "Zhan-9B" is a typical air superiority fighter, although equipped with a very advanced fire control radar, but the main function is to search for the air. Even if it has a certain ability to search the sea, it will not be very good, and it cannot be compared with the sea search radar carried by large patrol aircraft.

Strictly speaking, the "Zhan-9B" is not suitable for reconnaissance missions.

In fact, the Navy has never thought of sending fighter jets on reconnaissance missions.

In the fleet, the "Attack-5" and "Attack-6" carry out reconnaissance missions, and carrier-based attack aircraft are equipped with sea search radars.

Obviously, this is also the difference between the Air Force and the Navy.

In the Air Force, it is often fighters that carry out reconnaissance missions, especially heavy fighters that are fast and can fly quickly for a long time.

Of course, the reconnaissance planes of the Air Force and the reconnaissance planes of the Navy are not aircraft of the same nature.

To put it simply, air force reconnaissance planes carry out tactical tasks, such as obtaining the deployment of enemy ground forces or screening strike results, and these tasks often have to fly to the target or the air above the reconnaissance area, and they mainly use optical equipment such as cameras. On the other hand, naval reconnaissance planes mainly carry out campaign missions, mainly using sea-to-sea search radars to search for enemy ships, and do not need to fly over the target.

Apparently, the Air Force commander mistook the "Battle-9B" for the "Battle-11B".

It's not a big deal, though.

The landing fleet is there, and it will definitely not run!

In addition, after receiving the order from Bai Huawei, the 61st Task Force also immediately made adjustments, and in addition to sending additional fighters, it also dispatched several "Attack-5" to search for the Nuland fleet. At the latest, around 23:30, these attack aircraft will be able to catch up with the landing fleet.

That is, even if the fighters who came out did not find the landing fleet, they only had to wait for half an hour for the bomber group.

This is not necessarily a bad thing.

If other reconnaissance planes discovered the Nuland fleet, they would be able to make adjustments in time and let the bombers of Formation A launch a surprise attack on the task force first.

As long as the task force can be eliminated, it will be even easier to destroy the landing fleet.

If anything, when making arrangements, the Air Force commander must have played this idea, so he let the 20 bombers of Formation B stay.

If the Nuland fleet is really discovered, then Formation B is the main force of the assault!