After the start of the landing operation, the mood of the White Stop War was not very high, or it was not particularly happy that the landing operation went smoothly.

The reason is that we have never heard from Task Force 12.

Although in Li Mingbo's words, no news is the best news, Bai Zhizhan has always felt that it is too abnormal to be so calm now.

Either way, now is the perfect opportunity for the Nuland Navy to launch a counterattack.

In addition, the bombing of the airfield in the northwest of Austria began on 11 November, the day after the landing operation, and two task forces on the Guia side had also appeared.

As a result, only Liu Xiangzhen's 12th task force fleet has not appeared so far.

From Spu's standpoint, whether it is to find the 12th task force or to sneak attack the 2 task forces operating in the Arafura Sea, there is plenty of time.

But until now, the Nuland fleet has not appeared.

The key thing is that even the sixth game did not get the intelligence of the Nuland fleet.

That is, after the Nuland fleet left Sydney in early October, it never returned to port.

Before, everyone thought that Sp led the fleet to Perth.

But now it seems that this is not necessarily the case.

If Spu hadn't gone to Fanyanyang, where would he go?

Apparently, most likely, the Khowaii Islands.

If anything, this is also where Bai Zhizhan worries. The Nuland Navy will take advantage of this opportunity to mobilize all forces to counterattack the transit island.

The key point is that there are only two small aircraft carriers operating on the transit island.

At the end of October, the four small aircraft carriers that had covered the Marine Corps had been divided into two groups, and two of them went to the Dongdu Bay of the Saoyi Imperial Kingdom to join up with the floating dock deployed in advance for the first comprehensive inspection and maintenance after they were completed and put into service.

The most critical improvement was to extend the flight deck by a few meters to accommodate the new carrier-based aircraft.

As a result, only 2 small aircraft carriers remained near the transit island.

According to the plan, these two small aircraft carriers will be exchanged with the two that have completed maintenance and renovation at the end of the year.

In fact, the Navy Command has long recognized the risks of this adjustment, so it has made the necessary preparations to ensure that the news does not leak out.

For this reason, Dongdu Bay was chosen, and a floating dock was arranged to provide maintenance and transformation for the aircraft carrier.

If the news has leaked, it is likely that the Nuland Navy will take this as an opportunity to lead three small aircraft carriers to attack the fleet on the other side of the transit island.

After seizing sea supremacy, the Marines were sent to counterattack the transit island.

Even if they can't defeat the transit island, they can force the Imperial Navy to return to the army, thus eliminating the threat to the Okuzhou side.

If the counteroffensive is strong enough, it may be able to take the transit island, so that the Imperial Navy will have to attack the transit island again in a few months.

On a strategic level, it might also be possible to allow the Imperial Navy to advance into the south-west and east-west seas.

The reason is that after the Nuland Navy recaptured Transit Island, the Empire's top brass may think that the best opportunity to advance into the Howai Islands has been missed. Because it was very difficult to conquer the Transit Island again, the upper echelons of the Empire would think that it would be ideal to march into the Guia Ocean to the southwest.

All in all, it is not necessary to make a fuss about the Northeast Fanyan Ocean.

It was for this reason that on the 11th, Bai Zhizhan sent a telegram to the naval command, warning the fleet operating on the other side of the transit island.

If you can, it's a good idea to step up patrols.

Subsequently, the command of the Navy sent a return call.

In addition to intensifying the search on the transit islands, the Navy Command also issued an order to all submarines operating in the South-West and Middle East Seas to keep an eye on ships and ships heading for the Khowaii Islands, and to report any suspicious sightings in a timely manner.

In addition, several submarines were urgently dispatched to the Tuk fortress.

To put it simply, on the Guia side, the Imperial Navy is already in full swing.

Even so, Bai Zhizhan was still worried.

The reason is that the twelfth task force commanded by Liu Xiangzhen also disappeared.

Although according to the unwritten rules, the 12th Task Force is on a cover mission and will only break the radio silence after discovering the enemy, no one dares to guarantee that Liu Xiangzhen will follow the plan and honestly wait for Spu to die on the side of Fan Yanyang in the northeast.

When he marched into Fanyanyang, didn't Bai Zhizhan act according to the plan?

At that time, if Bai Zhizhan acted honestly according to the plan, even if he could enter Fanyanyang smoothly, there would never be a great victory in the naval battle of Fanyanyang in the southwest.

Liu Xiangzhen can't paint a scoop according to the gourd?

If Sipu led the fleet to the northeast Fanyanyang, or if there was intelligence to prove that he was there, Liu Xiangzhen might still stay near the battlefield.

The problem now is that there is no information to prove that Spu is still in the Fanyan Ocean.

On the contrary, there are many indications that the Nuland Navy may take advantage of this opportunity to operate in other directions.

Then, for Liu Xiangzhen, who is eager for meritorious service, it is really possible to take the 12th task force on an adventure.

It was not until the early morning of November 19, or 20 to be precise, that the White Stop ordered the fleet to turn and leave the Gulf of Aden, after completing the replenishment of fuel.

The landing operation has entered the second stage, and the army's combat units have begun to come ashore one after another.

In addition, the Army's 7th Tactical Air Wing has been stationed on Socotra Island and plans to deploy about 1,200 combat aircraft within the month.

Despite the name of tactical aviation, half of them are twin-engine bombers.

According to the rules of the army aviation, only four-engine heavy bombers and twin-engine long-range fighters belong to the strategic aviation force, and the others belong to the tactical aviation force.

Even transport aircraft, which also have four engines, are subordinate to tactical aviation.

For the sake of the transport plane, Li Yunxiang also made trouble at the residence of the first assistant.

It was only after Li Yunxiang won over that the Army Command opened its mouth and promised that the transport planes in the main theaters would also be subject to the dispatch of the strategic air force.

At present, Li Yunxiang has set up a transport aviation command under the Strategic Aviation Command.

Of course, these are all off-topic.

In addition, the engineering troops, which were the first to go ashore, were preparing to build a field airfield to the north of the fortress.

All in all, there is no longer a need for air cover and air support from the task force.

As for fire support, that's a matter of supporting the fleet.

Because he had stayed up all night, Bai Zhizhan had no intention of going to sleep.

During the day, it is necessary to merge with the returning fast combat support ships to replenish some of the ammunition consumed in the battle.

Because he was worried that he would carry out a naval combat mission in the future, Bai Zhizhan made a special arrangement to let the two fast combat support ships return to Colombo ahead of schedule, load several hundred tons of torpedoes and aviation armor-piercing shells, and bring in a batch of local fruits and vegetables, especially some fruits that can be stored in storage.

If anything, the latter is important.

Since the attack on Socotra, the 11th Task Force has not been restocked, and the fresh fruits and vegetables that had been loaded in Colombo have long since been eaten.

Eating well without winning a battle is the main means of maintaining morale and morale.

Not to mention the officers and men at the grassroots level, even if the war is stopped in vain, after eating frozen food and all kinds of canned food for half a month, they will have no appetite for a long time.

Fortunately, the Imperial Navy had the highest standard of food in the world.

To put it mildly, many officers and men who have joined the navy, especially those at the grassroots level, are here to be able to eat all kinds of delicacies from the mountains and seas.