To the west of the mobile fleet, about 200 kilometers.

When Wei Chengwen arrived with his wingman, the air was already in chaos. Dozens of warplanes on both sides flew up and down, as if they were holding a masquerade ball where blood and lives were used as collateral for admission tickets, machine guns were used as weapons, and only the victors could leave alive.

The voice channel was almost entirely filled with swearing, with the occasional cheer.

In fact, the tide of the battle was almost one-sided.

Although the fastest flight speed, climb rate and other performance are no worse than those of the Zero Battle, the firepower is more ferocious, and the protection is much better, but in terms of vital maneuverability, the "Typhoon" is too far behind, for example, the turning radius is almost twice that of the Zero Battle, and the roll speed is much slower.

In a one-on-one fight, "Typhoon" is certainly not a zero-fight opponent.

If anything, it is strong enough.

As long as it is not hit by the vital point, even if it is hit dozens of times by the 7.7mm machine gun of the Zero Battle, the "Typhoon" will be like no.

In the air, almost all of them chased the "typhoon" in zero battles.

Within a minute, three "Typhoons" were shot down by the Zero Fight.

Wei Chengwen wanted to rush over, but he had to pull back the control stick and steer the fighter to steer and chase the attack group that was still flying east.

At the beginning, Wei Chengwen received an order from the group commander to cover the attack aircraft group.

Of course, it was not an order given to Wei Chengwen alone, but an order to all the fighters who did not encounter the Zero War, but there were less than ten in total.

Whether the attack aircraft group can break through the outer air defense network of the mobile fleet depends on the performance of the escort fighters!

At this time, the "Yokoe" was on board.

When the telecommunications officer came to report, Liu Xiangzhen looked at his watch, and it was already past one o'clock in the afternoon.

Now, he has a crucial decision to make.

Do you want to send more air defense fighters to expand the air defense range of the fleet?

According to the information just received, the attack aircraft group of the mobile fleet flying east and west of Foot Island also operated separately, with squadrons as the basic combat units.

Only, there are several problems inside.

First, it is not clear how many squadrons there are, and how many of them are dive bombers and how many are torpedo attack aircraft.

Liu Xiangzhen had already asked the staff officer to conduct a cross-comparison and analysis of the message, but he might not be able to draw a clear conclusion.

Secondly, the attack aircraft group of the mobile fleet is flying to the west.

This point was very clear, and all telegrams reinforced this point, that is, the enemy aircraft flew westward, not to the sea where the task force was located.

Only, herein lies the problem.

Won't enemy aircraft turn mid-flight?

Don't forget that the attack aircraft group dispatched by the task force was actually flying in a northeasterly direction, and when encountering enemy planes, it was in the southwest direction of enemy planes.

Thirdly, none of the reports mentioned the specific circumstances following the encounter with enemy aircraft.

The point is, how many Zeros continue to provide cover for the attack aircraft group? These Zeros, which carry out escort missions, are in front of the attack aircraft group? Did the attack aircraft groups of the mobile fleet gather together after the encounter, or did they still fly westward in a dispersed manner?

In fact, these problems are all caused by chaos.

No one can be blamed, after all, when engaging the enemy, it is difficult for even experienced pilots to be able to write down everything they see and hear while watching and hearing all directions, and then report to the rear exactly to ensure that the reported situation is completely consistent with the actual battle situation. In the heat of battle, it is already rare for the pilots in the cramped cabin to remember to report the engagement to the flagship.

It is these questions that make Liu Xiangzhen very difficult.

What's the dilemma?

Should you temporarily abandon the third round of attacks in order to strengthen air defense?

However, it was only for a few minutes.

After thinking about it quickly and having a relatively clear judgment of the battle situation, Liu Xiangzhen issued an order to strengthen air defense.

To be precise, to bring the fleet into an air defense combat state.

Liu Xiangzhen made this decision on the basis of only one point: if he can't keep the fleet, what will he use to launch a third round of attacks?

In terms of time, even if only one squadron of enemy planes finds the right direction, they will definitely be able to kill the task force before the third round of attacks is launched.

It was 12:55.

In ten minutes, the two aircraft carriers of the Second Air Task Force each flew six fighters, but these were the last fighters.

The point was that aviation operations related to the offensive were stopped.

After the fighter jets were released, the crews began to return the bombers and attack planes parked on the flight deck for maintenance and loading operations to the hangar.

Of course, you have to let go of the fuel and unload the bombs and torpedoes.

In addition, it is to adjust the formation of warships with the aircraft carrier battle group as a unit.

After Liu Xiangzhen gave the order, to be precise, all the fighters took off, the "Nanjiang" fast battleship, which had been staying a few kilometers away, caught up.

In the end, the battleship appeared to the right of the "Yokoe", maintaining a distance of about a thousand meters.

At this distance, the "Nanjiang" was able to use antiaircraft guns to provide cover for the "Hengjiang" and intercept enemy planes that were attacking the "Hengjiang" from other directions except the northwest.

At the same time, a heavy cruiser and two light cruisers belonging to the task force appeared on the left and front and rear of the "Yokoe", respectively.

To put it simply, the "Yokoe" was surrounded by four escort warships!

In addition, the speed of the formation has always been maintained at more than thirty knots!

If it had not been for the drag of the "Nanjiang," the speed would have reached 33 knots, that is, the fastest speed that the "Longjiang" class could achieve under normal circumstances.

It took less than 20 minutes, and before 1:15 a.m., the two aircraft carrier battle groups of the Second Air Task Force were all ready for air defense.

Being able to get into the state so quickly is the credit of the fleet exercises!

During the annual fleet exercises, a lot of time is spent on coordinated training, so that the fast battleships that are usually part of the combat fleet can be integrated into the task force.

The only drawback was that the value of a fast battleship was not fully realized.

Three years ago, Bai Zhizhan proposed to the Navy Command that the fast battleships be assigned to the task force to serve as air defense command ships in the fleet.

It is a pity that this matter is related to the combat fleet, and after Bai Zhizhan raised it, there has been no follow-up.

Now two aircraft carriers received triple protection, the outermost anti-aircraft fighters, the middle anti-aircraft battleship, as well as their own anti-aircraft fire.

It's just that it's not perfect.

It was the "Yuejiang" that covered the "Linghe".

Although this fast battleship has undergone many improvements, its anti-aircraft firepower is very fierce and is definitely not under the "Nanjiang", but in the last improvement, it has not received special care and is not equipped with the kind of secret weapon specially developed for air defense.

What's worse is that when fighting in air defense, the distance between the aircraft carrier battle groups is as far away as possible.

If the "Linghe" aircraft carrier battle group is attacked by enemy planes in a concentrated manner, I am afraid that there will be more than one bad luck.

It's just that I can't manage so much at this time.

According to the report of the escort fighters, if the attack aircraft group of the mobile fleet turns in time, it can reach about 1:30 at the earliest.

Even if you don't turn in time, you will kill before two o'clock.

In other words, the time left for the Second Air Task Force is only more than ten minutes!