Tan Renhao arranged Yang Qinkai to take off in the second batch, and also delayed the departure time by half an hour, which has his own reasons.

Even if Yang Qinkai's group set off immediately after the Qiu Gengbo group, it would be at most the fifth bomber group to reach the battlefield, and before that, the two bomber groups of the second task force, the Qiu Gengbo group, and the first bomber group sent by the fourth task force had already arrived at the battlefield. Even if the U.S. military had three task forces there, four bomber groups would be enough to disintegrate the U.S. military's air combat capability, and the task of the bomber groups that arrived later was no longer to assault aircraft carriers, but to sweep the battlefield and annihilate the U.S. fleet that had already been defeated. Relatively speaking, Yang Qinkai is more suitable for performing this kind of mission, rather than going to assault the US aircraft carrier.

More importantly, Tan Renhao felt that the third task force of the US military was not in the northwest direction. After the departure of the Qiu Gengbo group, he received more information from Task Force 2, which made this idea even more confirmed. If the third task force of the US army is in the northwest direction, then the other reconnaissance planes of the second task force will not find anything, and the number of air defense fighters over the US fleet is on the low side. From then on, Tan Renhao judged that the third task force of the US military did not operate on the battlefield, at least far away from the other two task forces.

In addition to stressing the importance of annihilating the US fleet, Tan Renhao also focused on arranging a new task, that is, before attacking the US task force, he should first search the north and northwest of the US fleet, and if a third task force is discovered, he should concentrate all his efforts on attacking, and only when the search is fruitless can he attack the two US task forces that have already been attacked.

It was already 8:50 a.m. when the bomber group departed, which was exactly forty minutes later than the last bomber in the Qiu Gengbo group to take off. Yang Qinkai knew the importance of this mission, and he also felt that even if he rushed now, it would not be possible to receive any good results, and four bomber groups were enough to completely finish off the two task forces of the US army. Maybe the second bomber group of Task Force 4 is still in front of you. Therefore, Yang Qinkai will not have any good gains in rushing now, if he can find the third task force of the US army, then he will be able to get more opportunities and reap greater results.

"Colonel, are we going to go north?"

"Yes, 20 degrees off, in addition. Spread out in squads. Yang Qinkai knew very well what he should do, "Contact Colonel Zhu Xiaohuo's fleet as soon as possible, if they have enough fuel, then help us search the US fleet, I don't want to run around with 500 kg of bombs!" ”

"Understood, I'll try to get in touch."

The cabin was quiet, Yang Qinkai was searching the surrounding sea, while paying attention to the movements of other groups, and the navigator in the back seat was contacting Zhu Xiaohuo.

The fighter group led by Zhu Xiaohuo carried out an escort mission, because the First Task Force no longer had extra fighters to escort Yang Qinkai's group. Therefore, Zhu Xiaohuo's group of fighters are all hung with large auxiliary fuel tanks. Able to fly sustainably for almost four hours. According to Tan Renhao's arrangement, after Zhu Xiaohuo and the others completed the task of covering the Qiu Gengbo group, they would also join Yang Qinkai's group on the way. Responsible for covering Yang Qinkai's fleet. But the problem is that now the route of Yang Qinkai's group has deviated 20 degrees to the north, and if Zhu Xiaohuo's group still returns as planned, it will be impossible to rendezvous with Yang Qinkai's group, and it must be contacted as soon as possible. In addition, the US air defense fighters have been defeated, and there is basically no need for Zhu Xiaohuo to escort Yang Qinkai, but the task of searching for the third task force of the US army is more important, and Zhu Xiaohuo's aircraft group is still ahead, so it can carry out the search faster. Find the possible presence of a third U.S. task force faster.

"Colonel, I'm in touch, Colonel Zhu Xiaohuo, they're turning." Ten minutes later, the navigator delivered good news, "They will search in the northwest direction of the American fleet, and we will be responsible for searching in the north." ”

"Very well, how long will it take for us to get to the battlefield?"

"Half an hour."

Yang Qinkai glanced at the index on the fuel gauge. "Contact the fleets, maintain the current speed, and spread out head-on. Maintain a visual distance between the fleets and report any findings immediately! ”

The fuel of the bomber is rapidly depleting, which is a problem that Yang Qinkai must consider. By the time he set off, Task Force 1 had sailed about 30 nautical miles to the northwest, and the U.S. fleet was also sailing east, so the actual distance between the two sides was about 24 nautical miles, nearly 30 nautical miles closer than when the Qiu Gengbo group set off. But the actual problem is not here, carrying out a search mission with a bomb is quite fuel-intensive, and the "water bird" must drop the bomb and return to the aircraft carrier if it flies up to 350 nautical miles with the bomb hung. Therefore, there was not much time left for Yang Qinkai to search, and he had to find the target as soon as possible, otherwise he could only return to bomb the two American fleets that had already been defeated.

"Colonel, Qiu Gengbo and they have returned, just south of us."

"South? What are they doing on our side? ”

"I don't know, do you want to talk to Colonel Qiu Gengbo?"

"No, he doesn't have any good things to say about his dog, just let him go proudly, let's do our thing!"

The two fleets were about 20 nautical miles apart, Yang Qinkai didn't want to listen to Qiu Gengbo's cool words at this time, and he didn't feel the need to argue with Qiu Gengbo's madman, and when he found the third task force of the US army, he was guaranteed that Qiu Gengbo would be dumbfounded.

The group is advancing rapidly, and Yang Qinkai's group has four "water bird" teams and four "sea eagle" teams. Unlike other aircraft groups, Yang Qinkai temporarily reorganized the bomber squad under his command, that is, some bombers were transferred from the squad with large losses, and the other squadrons were replenished, or even overstaffed. At present, three of the four squadrons of "water birds" are fully staffed, and this squad under the personal command of Yang Qinkai has 14 bombers. The other four squadrons of the "Sea Eagle" group had a total of 55 bombers. This is also Yang Qinkai's understanding of aviation operations, reflecting his talent in commanding aviation operations, relatively speaking, he is more suitable than Qiu Gengbo to act as a front-line commander.

As time passed, Yang Qinkai became irritable. There was still nothing on the sea, and the radio did not serve any purpose other than the occasional report from other bombers that nothing had been found.

"How long do we have to complete the search?"

"The next turn, we'll be able to complete the search." The navigator has been tracing the flight lines of the bomber group on the chart board. "Colonel, are we in the wrong place?"

"Contact Zhu Xiaohuo and ask them if they have found anything, damn, did the Yankees run away?"

The navigator quickly contacted Zhu Xiaohuo, who was searching for the west of the group, and he received a negative answer.

"They didn't find anything?" Yang Qinkai really had a headache, "Damn, it looks like we have to find a place to drop the bomb." Which fleet is fighting in the south now? ”

"It should be the bomber group led by Colonel Zhang Zhiyun of the Fourth Task Force. Colonel Hao Lingheng's fleet had ended the bombing fifteen minutes earlier. "Is there any specific information on the U.S. fleet?"

"No, I have no contact with Task Force 4."

"Then get in touch as soon as possible and see what else is worth dropping bombs." Yang Qinkai gritted his teeth, "After completing the last round of the search flight, if you haven't found the target yet, then go to deal with the US fleet in the south, I don't want to return with bombs, otherwise Qiu Gengbo's dog will laugh at us to death." ”

The navigator quickly made contact with Colonel Zhang Zhiyun, and now both US task forces have been routed, and four aircraft carriers have been sunk. The other two aircraft carriers are also on the verge of being saved. Four battleships. Two have already been sunk, and two more are on the verge of losing their combat effectiveness. Zhang Zhiyun: They are attacking the cruiser of the American army. And Zhang Zhiyun's reply is very simple, if you want to drink leftover soup. Then Yang Qinkai and the others had to speed up and rush over.

Ten minutes later, Yang Qinkai and the others completed the last lap of the search flight.

"Zhu Xiaohuo and they still haven't found out that the third US fleet is not in this sea area." The navigator contacted Zhu Xiaohuo in advance.

"Damn, report to the fleet, we didn't find the third task force of the U.S. army, and now that more than half of the fuel in the fleet has been used, we have to drop the ammunition and go home." Yang Qinkai could only make a reluctant decision, "The group is ready to turn, I hope we are not too late!" ”

The bomber group quickly turned around, and when Yang Qinkai was heading south. More than 20 fighters led by Zhu Xiaohuo staggered past them. These fighters also don't have much fuel left, so they will not accompany Yang Qinkai and them to attack the US fleet, but will return to the fleet ahead of schedule. At this time, Yang Qinkai and the others did not need escort fighters, there were no air defense fighters over the US fleet, and the escort fighters sent by the Fourth Task Force had not yet left.

When Yang Qinkai and his men arrived at the waters near the 51st Task Force of the US Army, Zhang Zhiyun was organizing the last batch of bombers under his command to attack the US escort warships. Task Force 51 had been completely disrupted, and many of the escort warships had left the battle alone, some fleeing east and some south. And a battleship that escaped alone was no match for bombers at all. In particular, those cruisers and destroyers can easily become live targets for bomber strikes as long as they are out of formation.

"Scatter your squads, don't waste your ammo, and try to get as many results as possible." Yang Qinkai glanced at the fuel gauge, "We only have fifteen minutes of combat time at most, brothers, seize the last chance, let's end this battle!" ”

This is not a battle, but a one-sided slaughter.

The "Wright" was hit again by two bombs and three torpedoes, and the life of this aircraft carrier came to an end, and in the afternoon of the same day, the US military gave up the rescue work and finally sank the "Wright" by itself. The US officers and men on board the "Hancock" had already given up rescue work when Yang Qinkai's group arrived, and as a result, another 614 bombs hit, and the aircraft carrier sank at 12:37 p.m. on the same day.

Also attacked at the same time as the aircraft carrier were the battleships "Illinois" and "Iowa". These two battleships held out to the end, and they were the last to be sunk. Yang Qinkai and the others spent a lot of effort and used nearly half of the ammunition to deal with these two behemoths. In the end, the "Illinois" sank after a total of 14 bombs and 8 torpedoes. The "Iowa" held out a little longer, and after 17 bombs and polyester torpedoes, the massive battleship also sank in the explosion of the main ammunition compartment.

The mopping up battle was scattered, and Yang Qinkai dropped his bomb on a cruiser, and he was the first to complete the bomb drop, and then began to command the other bombers wholeheartedly. This is also a characteristic of Yang Qinkai, who rarely competes with his subordinates for credit, and is relatively more popular with other pilots, and is more popular than Qiu Gengbo, who often ventures to eat alone.

The attack lasted from 10:15 to 10:30, and by the time the last bombers dropped their bombs, there were no more warships on the sea capable of navigating on their own. In addition to a few large warships that were still dying, the warships of the 51st and 53rd U.S. task forces were all sent into the sea. Judging from the documents of the US Navy, only five destroyers of the two task forces escaped the attack, and all five destroyers were out of battle shortly after the outbreak of the battle, so they were not the target of priority in the following strikes. About ninety percent of the US officers and men of these two task forces were killed, missing, or captured, and nearly two-thirds of the elite of the US Fifth Fleet were completely annihilated in less than three hours.

The war was quite brutal, and perhaps among the six bomber groups that participated in the attack, only the pilots of Yang Qinkai's group did not feel this way, because the losses of this group were minimal. In order to completely annihilate the two American task forces, the Imperial Navy also paid a huge price. Two aircraft carriers of Task Force 2 were seriously damaged, and nearly 150 combat aircraft were lost in the battle, and more than 200 pilots were killed. Task Force 1 lost 85 combat aircraft and 123 pilots were killed. Task Force 4 lost 118 combat aircraft and 149 pilots were killed. Compared to the results achieved, this loss is completely bearable.

The battle did not end at this time, Tan Renhao's worries were not out of nowhere, when Yang Qinkai's group returned, the danger was quietly approaching the first task force.