In the northeast of the Yanhai Sea, in the southern waters of the Ashishima Strait, the aircraft carrier of the "Imperial Capital" fleet.

The sun had already set on the sea antenna, and it was almost time for dinner, and on the flight deck, the officers and men of the aviation service department were still busy.

To the north, a large fleet of aircraft is approaching.

It was not an enemy plane, but a carrier-based aircraft of the 3rd Carrier Air Wing that had rushed from an inland airfield.

When Li Mingbo brought dinner, that is, an extra-large hamburger with two pieces of beef, the first batch of carrier-based aircraft had already entered the ship's channel.

In terms of eating habits, the Imperial Navy preferred Western food.

It is not that the foreign is admired, but the Western food is made in a simpler way, easy to eat, and higher in calories, which is very suitable for naval officers and sailors with high daily work intensity.

Take hamburgers as an example, one can manage most of the day.

If possible, the chef will also cook some dishes that suit everyone's tastes.

"Any news new?"

After Bai Zhizhan asked, Li Mingbo just shook his head.

Bai Zhizhan didn't ask much, and couldn't help but sigh.

Ten days ago, he did not return to the First Air Task Force, but followed Li Yunxiang to Assassinate Prefecture and boarded the aircraft carrier of the "Imperial Capital" fleet, which had just completed repairs.

Subsequently, Bai Zhizhan was promoted to Commodore and served as the interim commander of the Third Air Task Force.

In addition, he also served as the Interim Commander of the First Air Task Force.

This is not a choice made by Bai Zhizhan himself, but the result of guessing boxing.

Before leaving the imperial capital, Liu Changxun, the new commander-in-chief of the navy, threw a difficult problem to Bai Zhizhan and Liu Xiangzhen.

Who went to Chengjiang Port to command the special group?

Of course, the other one has to go to Assassin Prefecture to take over the Third Air Task Force, which has just formed a combat capability.

Liu Changxun did not directly arrange for Liu Xiangzhen to go to Chengjiang Port, and he had already given face to the battle, after all, Liu Xiangzhen was originally a member of the Southern Fleet.

Out of fairness, Liu Xiangzhen proposed to guess the boxing.

Bai Zhizhan is also very interesting, proposing a decisive victory, if he loses or draws, Liu Xiangzhen will go to Chengjiang Port to command the special mixed group.

As a result, both of them came out with scissors.

As for allowing Bai Zhizhan to retain the title of temporary commander of the First Air Task Force, it is actually out of the need for secrecy, that is, information cannot be leaked because of personnel changes.

It was precisely for this reason that the special task force composed of the first and second air task forces was under the command of Liu Xiangzhen.

Under the command of Bai Zhizhan was the Third Air Task Force with two "Imperial Capital" class fleet aircraft carriers as the core.

This is also a new force in the Imperial Navy.

The two aircraft carriers, the "Imperial Capital" and the "Companion Beijing," were delivered to the Navy at the end of last year, and they have not yet completed all their training subjects.

The key point is that these two fleet aircraft carriers, built in accordance with the standards of the "Hwaseong Treaty" and the "Luntai Treaty", used a lot of new technologies and equipment in order to achieve the tactical performance proposed by the Navy, and many problems were not considered at all in the design and could not be predicted.

According to the plan, both aircraft carriers should join the combat sequence by the end of June next year.

In peacetime, two more aircraft carriers and two less aircraft carriers actually have little to do with the Navy, after all, aircraft carriers are mainly used in the annual fleet exercises.

As the situation deteriorated, the value of these two aircraft carriers became apparent.

Don't forget, the Samusa Navy has already acquired two Ruihe-class, and even the Nuland Navy on the other side of the Guia Ocean has a full five large fleet carriers.

No matter how strong the combat effectiveness of the "Longjiang" class is, it is very difficult to win more with less.

Fortunately, the carrier-based air units assigned to the Third Air Task Force have already completed their training, and two-thirds of the pilots are veterans from the other two air wings.

Actually, for the Imperial Navy, pilots have not always been the main problem.

According to the statistics of non-governmental organizations, the aviation industry is supported and encouraged by holding international flight racing competitions, so the number of civilian pilots in the empire is more than 200,000, the largest in the world, and most of the pilots are between 20 and 40 years old.

In wartime, these civilian pilots were the reserve of naval and army aviation!

According to conservative estimates, the Empire will be able to mobilize 50,000 pilots and form hundreds of wing-sized tactical aviation units within a year.

As for airplanes, that's even less of a problem.

As early as last year, the Imperial Navy formed the Third Carrier-based Aviation Wing and ordered hundreds of carrier-based aircraft. By this year, the Imperial Navy had also applied for an additional amount of funding in the name of training losses, and had ordered additional carrier-based aircraft from several manufacturers that were sufficient to form two carrier-based aviation wings. In total, the ordered combat aircraft reached three hundred and sixty units, of which three hundred were already delivered to the Navy by December.

It's just that it's not that the 3rd Air Task Force lacks anything.

To say, the lack of air defense battleships!

Although fast battleships are assigned to combat fleets, they are in task forces most of the time, providing air defense cover for aircraft carriers.

The value of fast battleships has been proven in fleet exercises over the years.

As early as three years ago, because the Imperial State refused to conclude a treaty, the "long naval vacation" spawned by the "Hwaseong Treaty" and the "Luntai Treaty" must come to an end, and the Imperial Navy decided to build a new fast battleship to deal with the threat of other powers.

Because the treaty had not yet been annulled, the design of the new battleship was severely limited.

Of course, the Imperial Navy needed only "fast", so there were no too high requirements for specific performance.

When the treaty was annulled, the Imperial Navy immediately placed an order for the construction of one each at the Puzhou Naval Shipyard and the Jianzhou Naval Shipyard.

This was to train the shipyards, because the Imperial Navy did not build battleships during the entire treaty!

Both Treaty-type fast battleships were launched earlier this year, and although both were delivered to the Navy last month, they are temporarily assigned to the home fleet. As is customary, after the two warships have completed all their training, they will hold a ceremony to enter the ranks, and then they will consider how to allocate them.

Because the war has already broken out, it is likely to be assigned to the task force.

Only now, those two battleships are still in Masthead Harbor.

By the way, Li Jie and Jin Hong were recalled by the home fleet at the beginning of the year, that is, to go back to replace the two chief supervisors and serve as the temporary captains of the two warships.

As a result, the 3rd Air Task Force did not have fast battleships, and it was heavy cruisers that provided anti-aircraft cover for the carriers.

Can a heavy cruiser compare to a fast battleship?

The answer is clearly no!

Only, what can be done?

It can't be said that because there are no fast battleships to provide air defense cover, let the Third Air Task Force hide in the Ashishima Strait and watch the excitement!

It is the aircraft carrier, not the battleship, that decides the victory!

In fact, Bai Zhizhan also knew this, so when he guessed with Liu Xiangzhen, he deliberately gave the fat difference to Liu Xiangzhen with the scissors.

What do you mean?

It's not the first time the two have guessed boxing.

In the past, Liu Xiangzhen's first punch was either scissors or rock.

As long as Bai Zhi fights the scissors, he will definitely not win.

By the time Bai Zhizhan ate half of a hamburger, the first carrier-based aircraft had already landed on the flight deck, a "flying fish" with an auxiliary fuel tank hanging from its belly.