When the air defense siren sounded, not to mention Tian Shi, even Spu was taken aback.

To the west, several planes were dragging black smoke into the sea.

Not an enemy plane, it was a downed Nuland fighter.

The enemy planes have been killed, and the fighters are still rushing ahead, and there are still quite a few of them, and they are frantically attacking the carrier-based aircraft of the 16th Task Force.

Because there were their own planes in the air, the escort warships did not dare to open fire.

For the time being, no enemy bombers and torpedo planes were discovered, and the fighters killed in advance were only attacking the returning carrier-based aircraft, not the battleships on the sea.

This situation did not last long.

Less than five minutes later, two "Roaring Heaven" swooped down on the "Endeavor."

Because both fighters had auxiliary fuel tanks and looked a bit like bombers, and the machine guns of the fighters were also a great threat, the captain of the "Endeavour" did not wait when they were approaching, and gave the order to fire to several anti-aircraft gun crews on the starboard side.

According to the Newland Naval Operational Regulations, if the ship is threatened, the captain has the right to bypass the superior commander and give direct combat orders, including opening fire.

In fact, it is the same in other navies.

As the flagship opened fire, the anti-aircraft guns on the other ships roared.

The "Roaring Sky" flying in front didn't have time to dodge at all, and was immediately shrouded in a rain of bullets, and the one behind it was only narrowly avoided.

Although no one said, the situation is clear at a glance.

Those fighters of the Liangxia Navy flew behind the group of the 16th task force.

At the time of Hal's telegram, Tian Shi was going to tell Spark that accepting the fleet of Task Force 16 was likely to be dangerous.

He hesitated for a moment, but finally held back from saying it.

According to his self-consolation thoughts, he is an advisor from the Narrow Empire, and Hal is a close friend of Sp, and even a great benefactor.

The point is, Task Force 16 is finished, and the pilots of those carrier-based aircraft are all military personnel of the Nuland Navy.

Let Spu refuse to offer help to his best friend, and make him abandon the soldiers of the Nuland Navy?

Inseparable.

Tian Shi must understand this simple truth.

Moreover, sending a telegram could also reveal his whereabouts, and he might not be able to get in touch with Hal of Task Force 16 in time.

"Lek" has already suffered heavy losses and is fleeing the battlefield at full speed.

However, in fact, Tian Shi also wanted to use these carrier-based aircraft from the 16th Task Force to organize an attack in the afternoon.

All in all, for all these reasons, Tian Shi didn't remind Spu.

It's too late to regret it now.

The battle lasted more than ten minutes, and only after all the escort warships were engaged in the battle did those fighters of the Liang Xia Navy turn and fly away.

More than ten minutes is enough.

Dozens of carrier-based aircraft from the 16th Task Force were almost all shot down, and many of them were due to anti-aircraft guns.

"Maintain course and speed, and let the fighter take off when the deck is empty. As for the carrier-based aircraft of Task Force 16, let them all make a forced landing nearby, and send destroyers over to salvage the pilots. At this time, Sp finally spoke. Let the escort warships all come over and sail in a dense queue. Focus on the western sky, all fighters are sent to the west of the fleet, and air defense warships are also to be focused on the west. ”

Sp suddenly issued this series of orders, which made the staff officer a little at a loss.

He hadn't said a word since last night.

When the staff officer was busy, Tian Shi walked to Sp's side.

Sp just glanced at him and didn't say much.

Tian Shi was a little embarrassed and didn't know what to say.

In fact, from Spu's eyes, Tian Shi could already see that Spu didn't blame him, after all, no one could have thought that Liang Xia's fighter would follow.

On the battlefield, no one can predict what is happening like a god.

If Tian Shi could have guessed Bai Zhizhan's every move, he would not have come to the Nuland Navy, let alone fight in the uniform of the Nuland Navy.

It's useless to say anything now.

The most important thing is to fight this battle well!

According to Sp's disposition, it was evident that he intended to abandon the afternoon attack and withstand the attack of Task Force 41 first, and then talk about anything else.

Do you have to resist it?

The two York-class fleet aircraft carriers of the 17th Task Force carried only 56 F4Fs, of which 32 were sent out to carry out escort missions, and the eight that had patrolled the air before were either shot down by enemy planes or had to land as soon as possible because they were running out of fuel.

That is, there are 16 F4Fs left.

With the attack power of the Liangxia carrier-based aviation, 16 F4Fs are definitely not enough.

As long as there are 8 "Roaring Sky" in the escort group, these F4Fs can be defeated.

Failed to withstand the attack of Liang Xia's 41st Task Force, so what should I do?

What can I do!?

Task Force 17 had been sailing southeast at high speed, and Spark ordered to maintain course and speed, intending to retreat after the battle.

What can you do if you don't retreat?

There's no news from Dutt and Clark yet, so that's not something to be happy about.

Even if the attack of Clark's aircraft group has been successful, even if it sinks two "Imperial Capital" class, because there is no spare fuel to return to the fleet, those dozens of carrier-based aircraft will have to be scrapped. When the battle is over, it would be good to leave the broken destroyer to be able to pick up all the pilots who fell into the water.

Dutt?

Even if Dutt's fleet were to return to the fleet and land on the carrier, it would be around 2 p.m.

After that, it will take at least one hour to overhaul the damaged carrier-based aircraft, and the same amount of time to reload and refuel the carrier-based aircraft that have completed the overhaul.

That said, it's nice to be able to organize an attack before 4 p.m.

There are still 4 hours to go!

As long as Liang Xia's Task Force 41 sailed west in these four hours, it would be able to increase the distance by 200 kilometers, and Sp's attack would be frustrated.

Sail west?

What if you can catch up?

Sailing 200 kilometers to the west meant that it was certain that it would not be able to leave the pursuit range of Liang Xia's 43rd Task Force before dawn.

Let carrier-based aircraft carry out a one-way attack?

Let's not talk about whether the pilot agrees or not, even if there is no problem, Sp will never give such an order, because he can't afford to take this responsibility!

If anything, pilots are the most valuable asset of the navy.

As a matter of fact, the narrow-minded navy suffered from not having enough pilots.

After suffering a series of setbacks, by the time Tian Shi was in charge of the overall situation of the military command department, the pilots who had served before the war had been lost.

In any case, after this attack, the battle with Task Force 41 will be over.

Retreat is a wise choice.

At this moment, the communications staff officer hurriedly ran over again.

Noticing the excited look of the communications staff officer, Tian Shi immediately guessed that it was good news.

That's right, good news.

The Clark group had already launched an attack, and the Dutt group had found another "Imperial Capital" class before that, and the attack was very smooth, both "Imperial Capital" classes were heavily damaged, and both were on fire, and the first one attacked was likely to sink within a few hours.

It was 12:25 p.m.

One hit!

So, is there a need for a complementary attack?

Obviously, it is not this question that needs to be considered now.

By the time the communications staff officer sent the message, the anti-aircraft guns on the two heavy cruisers in the rear had already opened fire, and the fleet of the 41st Task Force had been killed.