The decisive battle of the fleet can also be regarded as an option.

If Liang Xia's fleet retreats and hangs up the battle exemption card, it will be a trouble.

Only now the situation of the Nuland fleet is also bad.

Task Force 51 is located northwest of the transit island, and is less than 700 kilometres away.

This arrangement is mainly to take care of the F/A-18 fighter-attack aircraft.

This carrier-based aircraft does not carry out in-flight refueling, and the maximum combat radius is less than 800 kilometers. Because aircraft carriers do not operate in one sea area for a long time, they must leave some redundancy when arranging missions, usually leaving 15 minutes of fuel left, which means limiting the combat radius to 700 kilometers.

Since the naval air station on the transit island had already been destroyed, and the landing force had advanced outside the airfield, this distance was not dangerous.

The key point is that Task Force 52 is located northeast of the transit island, about 700 kilometers away from the transit island.

As a result, Task Force 52 is actually to the east of Task Force 51, and the distance from Task Force 51 is about 1,000 kilometers.

This distance, so to speak, is quite delicate.

Although the F-14B fighter has a combat radius of more than 1,400 kilometers when performing an air defense interception mission, and a refueling in the air can also extend it by hundreds of kilometers, so the fighters of Task Force 52 can fly over and provide air defense cover for Task Force 51, but to achieve the maximum combat radius, the F-14B can only fly at subsonic speed, and must control the supersonic sprint time to less than 5 minutes.

This means that at a critical moment, Task Force 52 will certainly not be able to be relied upon.

Even if it wasn't at a critical moment, Task Force 52 couldn't be relied on.

The F-14B flew to a distance of 1,000 kilometers for less than 15 minutes and needed to be refueled in the air to extend it. Rather than sending A-6F to refuel the fighter jets of the 52nd Task Force in the air, it is better to have their fighters on patrol and reduce the frequency of takeoffs and landings.

In addition, the 52nd Task Force also needs to strengthen its air defense.

Under these circumstances, Task Force 51 and Task Force 52 are actually separate from each other, and there is no way to cover and support each other at all.

Obviously, that's where the hell comes in.

According to Stark's arrangement, the main task of Task Force 52 is to cover Task Force 51 and assist Task Force 51 in operations when necessary.

In terms of deployment, Task Force 52 should be behind Task Force 51, that is, to the north.

To put it simply, Task Force 52 should keep a low profile and stay in relatively safe waters to avoid encountering the Liang Xia fleet too soon.

As it stands, Task Force 52 is in the most prominent position.

After Stark adjusted its operational deployment, Task Force 52 moved to the front and took on the heavy responsibility of supporting the landing force. Although the 51st Task Force had moved out to the west of the transit island, in front of the 52nd Task Force, in the most dangerous direction, the 51st Task Force did not send carrier-based aircraft to bomb the transit island, so it was in a state of concealment from the night of the 9th.

If the Liang Xia Navy launches a counterattack, it will definitely target the 52nd Task Force first.

In fact, Stark also thought the same way when making adjustments to the deployment, to be precise, using Task Force 52 as a decoy.

According to his assumption, if the 41st Task Force had returned to the west of the Transit Island and was waiting for an opportunity to counterattack, then after discovering the 52nd Task Force, or concluding that there was a task force in the northeast of the Transit Island, Bai Huawei would probably lead the fleet to the east.

In this way, it will directly hit the muzzle of the 51st task force.

The key is that in order to achieve suddenness, before reaching the sea area where the 52nd Task Force can be attacked, Bai Huawei will keep the 41st Task Force covert, such as maintaining radio silence, and mainly rely on shore-based aviation or air force to conduct forward reconnaissance.

By the time he sensed the danger, he was very close to Task Force 51.

Perhaps, after being attacked, he will suddenly wake up.

Even if we were cautious and adopt more ingenious tactics, such as the assistance of the Air Force's large AWACS aircraft, so that carrier-based aircraft could still be used for reconnaissance missions without breaking the radio silence, there would be a high probability of spotting the ambush of Task Force 51 ahead. There was nothing to worry about, at most, it was just a decisive battle with the Liang Xia fleet in a situation where the strength was evenly matched.

Because Stark was prepared, he had a better chance of winning.

As it stands, Task Force 41 may not be on the west side of the Transit Island, and Task Force 61 is likely to have arrived.

Even if the 41st Task Force is on the west side of the transit island, the situation is not optimistic.

After the two task forces converged, they would inevitably advance into the Guia Ocean. Since it is looking for the Nuland fleet for a decisive battle, the Liang Xia Navy will inevitably come out of the nest, and it will let the Air Force go all out. Then in the next decisive battle, it is not the two task forces that act as the attack fists.

In terms of strike capabilities, the Air Force's strategic bombers far surpass carrier-based attack aircraft.

Stark knows this better than anyone.

The reason is also very simple, he is one of the few young officers in the Nuland Navy who supports the development of bombers.

As for the reason, it's also very simple.

A bomber group of 20 B-52s capable of flying up to 5,000 kilometers away and attacking with 480 air-launched anti-ship missiles with a range of 600 kilometers. To achieve this scale of strike, 10 Tikan-class cruisers or 120 heavy carrier-based attack aircraft of 6 carrier-based aviation wings are needed. It is clear that the bomber is the best choice for both the military and the Congressional Budget Committee's cost-effectiveness, and no combat platform can surpass the bomber with the current technology.

It is precisely for this reason that the Nuland Navy independently invested in the development of the air-launched AGM-109B on the basis of the BGM-109B, the anti-ship "Tomahawk" missile. According to the original plan, the missile was to be used to equip large combat aircraft, such as the P-3C anti-submarine patrol aircraft.

It is a pity that the air-launched Tomahawk was not able to receive congressional appropriations due to the opposition of the Air Force.

After completing all the tests, the Nuland Navy had no choice but to abandon the idea of developing an air-launched cruise missile and instead cooperate with the Air Force.

As early as three years ago, the Navy joined the Air Force to dominate the "Advanced Cruise Missile" project covering the army, navy and air force.

Codenamed "Silent Rainbow," the project aims to develop a high-speed cruise missile that can be used by the army's long-range rocket artillery, the navy's heavy carrier-based attack aircraft, and the Air Force's strategic bombers, and has a variety of mission capabilities.

It was first determined that the anti-radiation type of the Air Force was developed as a basic model.

Although the priority of the Navy's anti-ship version is slightly lower, in the Navy's procurement program, this type of missile has an irreplaceable and important value.

If the project can be successfully completed, it will be the first supersonic anti-ship missile for the Nuland Navy!

Prior to this, the AGM-84 "Harpoon" and the BGM-109B "Tomahawk" were both subsonic missiles and did not have supersonic penetration capabilities.

If I want to say, this is also the result of the Nuland Navy closely following the pace of the Imperial Navy and learning from the Liangxia Navy everywhere.

After entering the missile era, the Liangxia Navy, with its world's largest strength, has not cared much about naval operations, and has not even developed special anti-ship ammunition for a long time, after all, after all, after the war, there is no opponent on the ocean that is worth making the Liangxia Navy fight.

As a result, almost 20 years after the end of the war, other countries had developed and equipped anti-ship missiles, and the Liangxia Navy came to its senses. It's just that by this time, the Liangxia Navy still didn't attach much importance to anti-ship missiles, or it didn't have too high requirements for the performance of anti-ship missiles.

Looking at the world, no opponent can withstand the three-plate axe of the Liang Xia Navy. After gaining air supremacy, there are ways to send the enemy's warships to the bottom of the sea.

For this reason, for more than 20 years after that, the anti-ship missiles of the Liangxia Navy were mainly sufficient, all of which were subsonic models that were light and had no special requirements for the platform. Even if there is technology to develop heavy supersonic anti-ship missiles, the Liangxia Navy has not made efforts in this direction.

Probably for the sake of face, or to put it bluntly, the Liang Xia Navy has been promoting the disadvantages of supersonic anti-ship missiles.

The most prominent, that is, the target signal is too obvious, it is easier to detect, and therefore easier to intercept. Secondly, the speed of the final penetration is too fast, and it needs to be equipped with a more advanced guidance system, otherwise there will be no time to search and lock on the target again after being interfered with.

Relatively speaking, these are the advantages of subsonic anti-ship missiles.

Because the unit is smaller and the flight altitude is lower, some advanced models can reduce the flight altitude to 5 meters, or even less than 3 meters in the penetration stage, so the subsonic anti-ship missile is more concealed and has a higher probability of penetration. Slower, the guidance system can also make adjustments after being jammed, such as eliminating the enemy's Hong Kong and Macau, or re-conducting the search and launching another attack on the target warship.

Affected by this, the Nuland Navy has also been dominated by subsonic anti-ship missiles.

The difference is that the Nuland Navy pays more attention to anti-ship missiles.

Take AGM-84 as an example, although the overall layout is very similar to the C8 series anti-ship missiles of the Liangxia Navy, and the basic performance is not much different, but AGM-84 can choose a high-throw trajectory in the penetration stage, that is, it climbs first, and then attacks from the zenith direction.

After more than 20 years of following, the Nuland Navy found out that this was not the case.

Strictly speaking, it's actually a pot of technology.

More than 20 years ago, electronic technology was not advanced enough, and it could even be said that it was very backward, and the fire control and guidance of missiles was a very high hurdle. Not to mention the Nuland Navy, even the Liangxia Navy, did not find a way to deal with it, and had to find another way in front of the technical threshold.

Obviously, this is the reason why the Liangxia Navy insisted on using subsonic anti-ship missiles.

Let the missile fly a little slower, and many of the already very serious problems will be solved, and subsonic anti-ship missiles also have a cost advantage that cannot be ignored.

With the development of science and technology, many technical difficulties in limiting supersonic anti-ship missiles have long been overcome.

It is in this context that the "Silent Rainbow" project, in which the three armed forces jointly participate.

To say that the anti-ship version of the Navy and the anti-radiation version of the Air Force are not missiles at all, and they were jointly developed in order to obtain congressional appropriations.

According to the technical specifications proposed by the Navy, the launch weight of the anti-ship version must be less than 2,000 pounds, that is, 908 kilograms, and it can be mounted by the A-6F; The length is not more than 4 meters, which ensures that it can fit into the internal bomb bay of the AX attack aircraft; The firing range should reach at least 350 nautical miles, that is, comparable to the BGM-109B; The flight speed must not be less than Mach 2.5, the sprint speed must be at least Mach 3.5, and the mass of the warhead must reach 1,000 pounds, which can be appropriately reduced if high-performance explosives are used, but at least not less than 500 pounds.

If this missile can be successfully developed, it will definitely be the strongest anti-ship missile in the world!

It is precisely because the performance indicators set by the Navy are too high that the anti-ship type in the "Silent Rainbow" project has not only greatly exceeded the development budget, but also repeatedly delayed the progress. According to the latest plan, it would be nice to be able to come up with a sample bomb before 92 in the Gregorian calendar and deliver it to the Navy for testing.

In addition, according to the extent of the exceedance of research and development funds, if it were not for the outbreak of the Great War, the project would have been launched long ago.

Crucially, there is a more serious problem for the Nuland Navy.

Lack of suitable delivery and delivery platforms!

The bombers all belong to the Air Force, and the largest aircraft in the Navy is the P-3C anti-submarine patrol aircraft with a take-off weight of less than 65 tons.

Although at the time of design, the P-3C retained the ability to mount anti-ship missiles and perform sea attack missions, but due to its own performance limitations, it could only use small anti-ship missiles of the AGM-84 level, and could not mount and use heavy anti-ship missiles.

In other words, even if the anti-ship missile of the "Silent Rainbow" project is developed and successfully put into production, the Nuland Navy will not be able to use it effectively.

Let carrier-based attack aircraft mount heavy anti-ship missiles?

It works technically, but it's basically not worth it.

Take the A-6F as an example, with four anti-ship missiles weighing 2,000 pounds each, the combat radius is less than 800 kilometers. If only 2 are mounted, and the other 2 hardpoints carry auxiliary fuel tanks, extending the combat radius to 1200 kilometers, it will also reduce the strike intensity by half.

In addition, the launch weight of such an anti-ship missile, which is not known when it will be developed, may not be less than 2,000 pounds.

In the current situation, it is definitely overweight, and it is likely to be 100% overweight.

If this is the case, then only strategic bombers can mount it.

Of course, the use of strategic bombers as a carrying and projection platform is not a problem at all.

Even weighing 2 tons, the B-52 and B-1B can easily hang 12 pieces and strike at enemy ships after flying 5,000 kilometers.

If anything, this is exactly the emergency response of the Nuland Navy.

Before officially entering the war, the Nuland Navy took 1,000 BGM-109Cs in stock for improvement, replaced them with guidance equipment developed for AGM-109B, installed anti-ship warheads, and matched with the two main bombers of the Air Force to ensure that they could be mounted and projected by bombers.

In addition, after the intervention of the president, the Air Force handed over a wing of B-1Bs to the command of the Navy.

There are a total of 40 aircraft, divided into two groups, stationed at the air station at Diego base, and at Liangxiahu air base in the northern part of the west coast.

At the same time, 40 B-1Bs are capable of delivering 960 air-launched anti-ship missiles at once!

Not to mention the 41st Task Force, even if the 61st Task Force is counted, it can be destroyed in a battle.

But the question is, doesn't the Liang Xia Navy have such a trump card?

No matter how much the Liang Xia Navy neglected anti-ship missiles in the past, it was not difficult to borrow dozens of bombers from the Air Force and prepare thousands of air-launched anti-ship missiles.

To say anything, it is not even necessary for the Navy to come forward.

As long as the Nuland fleet is found, the Liangxia air force will immediately attack.

In Stark's view, the Liang Xia Air Force sent large planes deep into the Beidong Ocean regardless of losses, in order to annihilate the Nuland fleet before the navy.

As a result, the situation of the Nuland fleet is now very dangerous.