The sun rose over the sea in the east, and the officers and men on the aircraft carrier seemed to suddenly appear, and the flight deck and the personnel in the hangar were busy. One by one, the combat planes were transported by elevator to the flight deck, where ground crews began to do the final checks and attach ammunition to the planes. The pilots are already in the aviation war room, waiting for a briefing on the operation, and then they will board the planes to "destroy" the First Fleet.

Tan Renhao had given the attack plan to Colonel Ji Xiaobin two hours earlier, and by this time the colonel had already assigned the relevant plan to the commander of the Fifth Air Wing. At this point, the mechanism of independence of the Fifth Air Wing from the Fifth Fleet raises questions. If the Fifth Air Wing was directly subordinate to the Fifth Fleet, then Tan Renhao could directly send the operational plan to the combat unit as an operational staff assistant, without the need for Colonel Ji Xiaobin to transfer his hands. Perhaps, this problem is not too obvious in methodical exercises, but in real combat, it is certainly a big problem.

Watching a group of pilots walk onto the flight deck and then board the fighter plane with the assistance of ground crew, Tan Renhao felt a little nervous. The first to take off will be the Sparrowhawks, which will serve as escorts. If the First Fleet had not been covered by shore-based fighters, they would have been bombed on bombing missions. Then the Kingfisher dive bomber took off, and finally the bulkiest Osprey.

"Nervous?" Ji Xiaobin walked to the porthole, the aviation operations center is on the fourth floor of the ship island, and he can clearly see the flight deck on the left.

Tan Renhao smiled awkwardly, and he felt a layer of sweat already appearing on his palms.

"Actually, we have already done everything, and if we are convinced that the path we have chosen is the right one, then the results will prove it." Ji Xiaobin patted Tan Renhao on the shoulder, "Moreover, you are the one among us who knows the most about aviation combat theory, if you don't have confidence, then we don't have confidence." ”

"Colonel, it's not that I'm not without faith." Tan Renhao took a deep breath, "I'm just a little nervous, how many air defense fighters are there in the First Fleet this time?" ”

Ji Xiaobin shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't know, but the First Air Company has five fighter squadrons, and there are at least 120 fighters." However, it is impossible for them to all participate in the exercise, and they are still equipped with the 'gull' type, so it is impossible for them to be the opponent of the 'sparrowhawk'. ”

Tan Renhao nodded. "This is the best, as long as we seize air supremacy, then the First Fleet will only be tied to death!"

Both of them laughed, although this was the first real combat exercise of the Fifth Fleet, they had already done countless wargames. The result of each war game is exactly the same, as long as air supremacy can be seized, those battleships with only anti-aircraft artillery on the sea are by no means the opponents of bombers.

At this time, a communications staff officer ran over. "Colonel, the order has been received, we can begin."

Ji Xiaobin looked at the navigation clock, and at half past seven, he nodded to the communications staff officer, and then gave the signal for the start of the exercise.

The three carriers quickly turned around, and the southeast wind was blowing at this time, and sailing into the wind allowed the carrier aircraft to take off with more fuel. There are no catapults on all three carriers, but they all have reserved places for their installation. As long as the catapult is successfully developed, three aircraft carriers can be improved at any time. Anyone who knows about aircraft carriers knows that catapults are the most important equipment on aircraft carriers, and if there are no catapults, they can only carry light combat aircraft, and they must also limit the ammunition and fuel that aircraft can carry. If there is a suitable catapult, then not only can it carry heavy fighters, but also can allow combat aircraft to carry more ammunition and fuel, which is the best way to improve the combat capability of aircraft carriers.

The first to take off were 72 Sparrowhawks, which, as soon as they took off, were divided into two groups. Forty-eight fighters were the first to fly to the sea where the First Fleet operated, while the other 24 remained to escort the bombers that took off later. Then, 72 Kingfishers also left the flight deck of the aircraft carrier and rose into the air. These 72 dive bombers first completed their formation over the fleet, waiting for the "Osprey" torpedo bombers to take off last.

This exercise was not a complete test of the actual combat capability of the aircraft carrier fleet, but only a test of the strike capability of the aircraft carrier fleet. He lined up all the fighters, and more than 200 fighters were to be organized into two attack groups to strike at the First Fleet in turn. And the fuel carried by these fighters is enough for them to fly for several hours, so there is no problem of "grabbing the deck" when returning home. If it were in an actual naval battle, I am afraid that doing so would be tantamount to suicide.

Forty-five minutes later, all combat aircraft on the three aircraft carriers had risen into the air. The aircraft carrier quickly changed course and returned to the ship formation. In the absence of combat aircraft, the aircraft carrier basically has no combat effectiveness, and the 130-mm high-level dual-purpose guns equipped with it may not be able to deal with even light cruisers, let alone battleships with thick skin.

Tan Renhao looked at his watch, and the whole take-off time was about the same as he expected. If you set off in two batches, then the take-off time of each batch will be at least 25 minutes, and in order to cope with the unexpected, you must prepare for 30 minutes of take-off time, which is already very good.

"Let's go to the intelligence center!" Ji Xiaobin called Tan Renhao, there is nothing to see now, and the roar of those planes when they take off makes Ji Xiaobin feel very sore in his ears.

The intelligence center is on the next floor of the aviation operations center, which was previously the headquarters on the aircraft carrier and was temporarily converted into an intelligence center. The messages sent back by the attack aircraft will be summarized here, and only then will important messages be sent to the flagship. More than a dozen communications and intelligence staff officers are busy. In order to command the attack aircraft group in front, a total of more than 10 communication channels were prepared, and each squadron leader of the 5th Air Wing was able to communicate directly with this place to report on the course of the operation and the final results.

Tan Renhao felt a little nervous, but this time he controlled his emotions. The First Fleet is more than 200 kilometers away, and it takes about 40 minutes for the aircraft group to reach the skies over the First Fleet. Therefore, during these 40 minutes, unless a plane needs to return due to a breakdown, or crashes into the sea, there will be no news to be sent back.