It must be said that Spu's decision largely saved Task Force 17, or at least the aircraft carrier Endeavour.

This time it was not fighters that were killed, but torpedo planes and bombers!

It was not the Endeavour that was attacked first, but the Hornet behind the Endeavour.

By daybreak, Task Force 17 had turned to the east, and as was usually the case, the flagship was in front, so the Hornet was actually west of Endeavour.

2 squadrons of "Wasp" and 4 squadrons of "Exocet" concentrated on attacking the aircraft carrier.

At this time, those F4Fs that took off urgently before played a crucial role.

Before the attack aircraft group of the Liangxia Navy flew, to be precise, before the attack, the F4F group intercepted the two "Exocet" groups in front.

Only 5 of the 16 torpedo planes escaped, and the other 11 were all shot down.

Even the 5 that escaped were hastily dropped their torpedoes.

Eight F4Fs that took off urgently from the "Endeavour" were killed, helping the "Masp" intercept one "Wasp" squadron and one "Exocet" squadron.

Although only 3 "Wasp" and 4 "Exocet" were shot down, they successfully forced the other enemy planes to drop their ammunition and abandon the attack.

It's just that these F4Fs from the "Endeavour" did not save the "Hornet", but their own mothership.

When the F4F of the "Endeavour" intercepted the low-flying "Exocet" group, the second "Wasp" squadron was killed, and it launched a surprise attack from a high altitude.

Because of the problem of coordination and command, almost all F4Fs at that time were at low altitudes, so there was no way to intercept dive bombers that hit from high altitudes.

Only one Wasp was shot down by anti-aircraft guns, the other seven all entered the dive bomb dropping phase, and five of them successfully dropped their bombs.

Here, the "Hornet" created a miracle that was not too small or small.

By turning flexibly and quickly like a foxtrot, this aircraft carrier of more than 20,000 tons actually avoided the five bombs that fell down one after another!

Although some "Wasp" pilots reported that they had hit the "Hornet," according to what the escort warships had observed, all the aerial bombs dropped by the dive bombers landed near the "Hornet," and the closest one almost passed by the "Hornet."

It's just that all the luck used up to avoid the bomb.

After the "Wasp" group arrived, it took about 3 minutes for the last "Flying Fish" squadron to be killed, and it was Zhu Huasheng who commanded the squadron.

Because there was a slight problem with the engine of the landline, Zhu Huasheng was the last to take off, and the "Flying Fish" squadron commanded by him stayed last.

For this reason, only one group leader of the 4th Wing could be assigned to command the front.

It must be said that Zhu Huasheng continued his good luck.

At that time, when he led the group to kill, the F4Fs that were still at low altitude before were climbing, trying to intercept the dive bombers that could not be intercepted at all.

In addition, the nearby Nuland battleships were all firing at dive bombers at high altitudes.

One way or another, the threat of dive bombers was too great.

Given the situation at that time, the anti-aircraft gunners on the escort battleships probably mistook the low-flying "Exocet" as an escort fighter.

The point is that 3 squadrons of Exocet have been intercepted before.

That's a full 24 torpedo planes!

Officers and men who know a little about aviation operations know that attack aircraft carriers can mainly attack aircraft carriers, mainly dive bombers, and aerial bombs can more effectively paralyze aircraft carriers.

A 250-kilogram or 500-pound aerial bomb can render an aircraft carrier inoperable.

Obviously, aviation torpedoes may not be possible.

In addition, the bomb hit rate of dive bombers was higher than that of torpedo attack aircraft.

3 squadrons of 24 "Exocets" came, which is already interesting enough.

As a result, no one thought that there was a fourth squadron of "Exocet".

This is also something that cannot be helped, because Liang Xia's 41st Task Force attacked the 16th Task Force first, and the remaining carrier-based aircraft are mainly torpedo planes.

As a result, 8 "Exocet" approached the "Hornet" very smoothly.

Because they were evading the bombs dropped by the dive bombers, the officers and men of the "Hornet" also did not notice the torpedo planes flying close to the sea.

Less than 1,000 meters from the "Hornet", eight Exocets dropped torpedoes one after another.

At that time, Zhu Huasheng saw with his own eyes that at least three aviation torpedoes hit the "Masp", and the hit points were all in the rear of the port side of the battleship.

At this point, the attack of Task Force 41 came to an end.

It was 12:40 p.m.

On the "Endeavour", when he received a message from the captain of the "Hornet", Spu closed his eyes, and Tian Shi was dumbfounded.

After reacting, Tian Shi quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

In this wave of attacks, there was not a single escort fighter!

In hindsight, this is not surprising.

Don't forget, Tami had already envisaged that after recovering the carrier-based aircraft of the 16th Task Force, he would immediately dispatch these carrier-based aircraft.

At that time, he also did not think about providing escort fighters for attack aircraft groups.

White Stop War apparently made the same choice.

To say, this is also the luckiest place.

If there are escort fighters, even if there are only four "Roaring Heavens", they can defeat the F4Fs that have been urgently lifted off on the "Hornet" before the attack aircraft group arrives, and ensure that the first two "Exocet" squadrons can launch an attack smoothly, and then the other squadrons can attack the "Endeavour".

In this case, the "Endeavour" will definitely be in danger.

Judging from the attack on the "Hornet," apart from being particularly lucky and avoiding all the bombs, the quality of the pilots of the Liang Xia carrier-based aircraft has not decreased.

Three of the eight torpedo planes hit the mine, and five of the seven bombers successfully dived and dropped bombs.

This combat efficiency is definitely not bad.

Of course, luck is not a good thing.

If it was the Endeavour that was attacked, it was possible that all 5 bombs would have hit.

The key is also, where did the fighters of Liang Xia's 41st Task Force go?

Even if the fighters were carried according to the normal formation and covered the heavy cruiser formation, Liang Xia's 41st aerobatic fleet still had at least 24 fighters.

Remove the 16 air defenses, then there are still 8 that can be mobilized!

Where are the extra 8?

Could it be, also for air defense?

If so, then the battle reports sent by Rear Adj. Clark and Admiral Dutter were wrong, and they may not have severely damaged the two aircraft carriers of Task Force 41.

Thinking of this, Tian Shi was taken aback.

If the battle report is wrong, the two aircraft carriers of the 41st Task Force have not been seriously damaged, even if only one of them is still combat-effective, it means that Bai Zhizhan has another chance to attack.

The group that had previously attacked Task Force 16 had returned.

Because of the late launch of the attack, Major Dutt's fleet had not yet returned.

Extrapolating from the time, Bai Zhizhan will definitely be able to attack first!

The next time he attacks, he will certainly have enough fighters, at least eight, and eight torpedo planes and bombers each.

As long as there is fighter cover, with the quality of Liang Xia's pilots, eight bombers can blow up and sink the "Endeavour".

With the style of rushing to kill all in the White Stop, I am afraid that two more squadrons will be sent in the form of continuous sorties to ensure that the "Endeavor" can be sunk.

If this is the case, the "Endeavour" will inevitably be in danger!