“…… Outside the mouth of the Nanjiang River, at the mouth of the Taishan Mountain, in the Dongdu Bay, under the Shiquan City......"

With a loud roar, the "Typhoon" fighter on the right side of the deck, propelled by a catapult, flew out like a cannonball.

Actually, it's not so exaggerated.

The hydraulic catapult gives the carrier aircraft only one speed increment, making take-off a little easier.

Looking up at the tweeter on top of the rear mast, Liu Xiangzhen pushed open the hatch and entered the aviation operations center on the bottom floor of the island.

Inside, the commander of the Second Carrier-based Aviation Wing, Brigadier General Li Hengjia arranged tasks for dozens of pilots.

Because Li Yunxiang followed Bai Zhizhan to the Third Air Task Force, here, Li Hengjia is the supreme commander of the carrier-based aviation.

According to the usual practice, Li Hengjia made a mission briefing in advance, so that he could be dispatched after Liu Xiangzhen gave the order.

Liu Xiangzhen stayed at the door and didn't bother.

There is only one key: the search width must be expanded to 100 kilometers, so the "Exocet" squadron that must go forward should fly as far as possible.

The reason is simple: intelligence is time-sensitive.

The mobile fleet discovered by the reconnaissance planes after half past seven o'clock, the attack group of planes could not set off until nine o'clock at the earliest. If there had been an attack before that, the departure time would have been delayed. The mobile fleet will not stop, and it may not always sail eastward at a speed of twenty-eight knots. In the case of circumvention by lateral navigation, the width of the sea area to be searched is increased by 100 kilometers for every hour of delay.

Of course, this is only a theoretical result.

Because the mobile fleet is unlikely to evade to the north and will not abandon the breakout operation, the range of maneuvers available is very limited.

In addition, it is the order of sorties.

According to the arrangement, a squadron of "Exocet" torpedo planes will be dispatched first, and these torpedo planes will be piloted by all veterans who had participated in the battle yesterday. Their mission was to fly to the front to search for the mobile fleet and guide the carrier-based aircraft that were following behind. If they successfully flew near the mobile fleet, they would also have to take on the heavy responsibility of front-line command, leading and directing various aircraft groups to launch attacks.

Yesterday, the first sortie was the fighter jets.

If it's arranged today, there's no way around it.

Before that, even Liu Xiangzhen did not expect that he would be discovered by the mobile fleet early in the morning, so he had to strengthen air defense.

As a result, it is necessary to leave enough fighters for air defense missions.

Now, those fighters that are rising into the air one after another outside are used for air defense.

In addition, based on yesterday's engagement, I am afraid that no one will take it for granted that the "Typhoon" can easily seize air supremacy.

Compared with the zero war, the gap between the "typhoon" and the "typhoon" is not a little bit.

To say, the dive performance is slightly better, and it can make a difference while occupying the height advantage, otherwise it can only be beaten.

In escort battles, it is difficult for escort fighters to maintain a high superiority all the time.

Besides, the mobile fleet will also make adjustments to air defense according to yesterday's engagement, and will definitely increase the patrol altitude of fighters.

If we continue to use yesterday's escort tactics, that is, let the escort fighters go forward, it will be tantamount to sending the bombers and torpedo planes that have not been covered to death.

Tactical adjustments are definitely needed.

Because there were not enough fighters in the first place, according to the new tactics, a large group formation was adopted, and fighters accompanied the escort.

With such an arrangement, a lot of fuel will definitely be consumed when in formation.

The combat radius is not enough, what to do?

The task force will continue to sail eastwards to minimize the return flight distance of the group.

In addition, there is the option of a crash landing when necessary.

In Liu Xiangzhen's eyes, carrier-based aircraft have never been a problem.

At the beginning, the emperor had already given the order to mobilize for war, and the first to be launched was the military industry, which was dominated by munitions factories.

Aircraft production plants are also within the scope of mobilization!

According to the mobilization order, all aircraft factories in the empire were to be under the direct supervision of the wartime cabinet to complete the assigned production tasks. In a matter of tradition, the mobilized factories directly activated the rationing mechanism. Both the factory manager and the workers can only obtain the ration of daily necessities after completing the production target. If you exceed the task, you can also get a corresponding reward of extraordinary value.

After the war machine is launched, do you still need to worry about not having enough planes?

Besides, the three main fighters of the Imperial Navy are actually outdated, and the replacement of new fighters has long been tendered and designed.

In peacetime, the tender process, which took years to complete, now gives a successful result in a few months.

When the new fighters are put into service, these carrier-based aircraft can only be used by second-line troops if they are kept.

In fact, the tradition of the Imperial Navy was to sacrifice ships to protect people.

From the time of Emperor Shiwu to the era of Chen Bingxun, no matter how difficult the conditions were, the Imperial Navy always put people first.

This tradition was once ridiculed by the Western powers.

In the eyes of the Western powers, this is fueling the trend of greed for life and fear of death, and in the end it will only make the officers and men of the navy retreat from the battle, rather than fighting bravely to kill the enemy.

But in the past few decades, the Imperial Navy has not flinched from battle. From the commander of the fleet to the boiler crews in the engine room, they all fought bravely to kill the enemy. It is precisely because there are no worries and knowing that at any time, as long as you are alive, there is hope of being rescued, so whenever you encounter a strong enemy, the officers and men of the Imperial Navy can unite as one and move forward bravely!

To this day, the Western powers have long accepted the traditions of the Imperial Navy.

The Nuland Navy is the most representative.

Leading the Nuland Navy on a path of rapid development, President Teddy Sr., nicknamed the "Cowboy of the Seas", said that the Nuland Navy was the number one follower of the Imperial Navy.

Of course, even now, the Nuland Navy is learning from the Imperial Navy.

Not to mention anything else, in terms of attitude towards aircraft carriers, the Nuland Navy followed closely behind the Imperial Navy, and it simply followed suit.

It didn't take much effort, Li Hengjia arranged the task. After seeing Liu Xiangzhen shaking his head, he didn't delay any longer and asked the pilots to prepare.

Outside, after the last fighter jet was released, the ground crew could finally rest for a while.

Ready to attack?

It's still early.

Liu Xiangzhen didn't delay much, he started to go to the restaurant to drink a cup of coffee, and happened to pass by outside the aviation command center, so he came in by the way to take a look.

By the time he returned to the Commander's Bridge, it was already 8:50.

Zhuang Bisheng was about to send someone to find him.

For the same reason, the "Nord Rivers" activated the radar five minutes ago and did not detect the unidentified aircraft.

It's just that it doesn't mean much.

More than an hour had passed, and the reconnaissance plane sent by the mobile fleet had already flown away.

Even if you're not afraid of being discovered, consider the fuel you want to return to.

In addition, there is no need to follow the special mix all the time.

Don't forget, the Task Force kept sailing eastward and didn't turn around.

Of course, the activation of the radar is also not aimed at finding enemy reconnaissance aircraft.

Now, be patient.

From then on, within the next hour, a group of attack planes consisting of dozens of bombers and torpedo planes issued by the mobile fleet could be killed at any time.