The bombers flew one after another, and one after another, and when the sky finally calmed down, the sea was not calm, and Spruance's mood also fluctuated with the waves, as if with the explosion on the battleship, his mood also sank into the deep sea, and he could not calm down for a long time.

The moment when the Fifth Fleet was attacked was all too familiar to Spruance. The combat efficiency of the carrier-based bombers of the Tang Empire was still so high, the pilots of the Tang Empire were still so brave and fearless, and the bombs and torpedoes dropped by the bombers were still so deadly. Spruance could not remember the first time he felt the biting cold at the screeching of dive bombers in the Don Empire, and the fear of death when the torpedo hit the hull of the battleship. The war was merciless, and so were the pilots of the Don Empire, and when one aircraft carrier after another caught fire and burned amid the explosion of bombs and torpedoes, the little hope that Spruance had in his heart was extinguished, leaving him with only endless darkness.

Task Force 51, a little further north, was the first to come under concentrated attack by Task Force 4 bombers. As in every previous battle, from the very beginning, the bombers with the "death summons" were the first to deal with the carrier, and never wasted ammunition on other warships until the carrier was completely destroyed. This was the basic tactic of the naval aviation of the Tang Empire, and it was also the most lethal tactic, and in battle, escort battleships did not have much attraction and could not even pose much of a threat to those bombers flying at high speed.

The first to be bombed was the "Bennington", when the "Hancock" was less than 5 nautical miles from the "Bennington", Spruance almost saw the first dive bomber drop bombs at the extreme drop altitude, although the bomber was hit by an anti-aircraft shell when pulled up and hit the nearby sea, but the bomb dropped also landed accurately on the flight deck of the "Bennington". It was at this time that the catastrophe began. In less than five minutes over the next day, the Bennington was hit by two more bombs. Fortunately, not a single bomb hit the island, and the carrier did not lose power before dodging all the torpedoes. Otherwise, the aircraft carrier would definitely have been hit by more torpedoes and would have remained on the seabed forever thousands of meters below the surface of the sea.

"Hancock", the second flagship of the fleet, was bombed. Spruance and his Fleet Command Staff Officer had been forcibly taken out of Commander Cambridge by this time and to a safer "shelter" below. The Hancock had been trying to avoid the attack, and Spruance clearly felt that the carrier was making a final resistance, like a dying struggle. There is little hope, but there is a silver lining. The captain of the "Hancock" really performed a miracle, in ten minutes he avoided 10 of the 12 aviation armor-piercing shells, and avoided 17 of the 18 torpedoes fired, and finally hit the aircraft carrier The two aviation armor-piercing shells exploded above the main deck, that is, in the hangar, and only one steam turbine was damaged, leaving the aircraft carrier without a quarter of its power. In addition, the torpedo that hit the port side of the aircraft carrier flooded several compartments inside the hull. However, the watertight door eventually saved the crew in the other cabins. Also saved the aircraft carrier.

The Boxer, located south of the task force, was the last to be attacked, but was attacked with the greatest concentration, with 12 dive bombers. All 18 torpedo bombers flew towards the carrier. In addition, the "Boxer" was also the most unlucky aircraft carrier, as if the other two aircraft carriers had used up the luck of Task Force 51. Only five of the 12 dive bombers were successful, but three of them hit the carrier, one of which burrowed into the hull behind the main armor, destroying both steam turbines. In addition, 8 out of 18 torpedo bombers successfully dropped mines, at least 8 torpedoes hit, and 1 of them did not explode. This was the only good luck of the "Boxer", but the other two torpedoes almost destroyed the aircraft carrier instantly. Both torpedoes hit the port side of the aircraft carrier. One was outside the boiler compartment, the other near the former ammunition depot. If it had not been for the timely order of the captain to close the boiler compartments No. 1,3 and additionally fill the front ammunition compartments with water, the aircraft carrier would have been doomed. Even so, the aircraft carrier had nearly 4,000 tons of water in half an hour, and if it could not quickly pump water and restore the balance of the aircraft carrier, the "Boxer" would not be able to return to Pearl Harbor.

In less than 20 minutes of bombardment. Dozens of bombers did not attack a single escort ship, using both bombs and torpedoes on the carrier. Except for a light cruiser that was particularly lucky, and an aerial torpedo was accidentally fired at the "Bennington" and broke in two and sank 15 minutes later, not a single escort battleship was damaged, but all three aircraft carriers completely lost their combat capability, and whether the "Boxer" could return to Pearl Harbor was still a question. In other words, in just 20 minutes, Task Force 51 was disarmed and could no longer continue operations.

As the first group of bombers flew away, Turner sent a message asking to stay behind to cover Task Force 51. Spruance immediately ordered Task Force 52 to sail east at full speed to get out of the battlefield, and asked all staff officers to call the scattered air defense fighters and ask all fighters capable of fighting to concentrate over Task Force 52 to cover Task Force 52.

While Task Force 51 resisted the bombing, Task Force 52 kept sailing eastward at maximum speed, or Task Force 51 was left behind by Task Force 52 in order to avoid the bombing. Therefore, when Hao Lingheng led the group to return home, the distance between the 52nd Task Force and the 51st Task Force had expanded to nearly 50 nautical miles, and when Zhang Zhiyun led the second batch of bombers to fly, the distance between the two fleets would be greatly expanded.

Spruance knew very well that now his only hope was to save the 52nd Task Force, and he knew better that the 52nd Task Force was also discovered by the reconnaissance planes of the Tang Empire, and the Fourth Task Force would be attacked by the bombers of the Fifth Fleet, and if the commander of the Fourth Task Force still wanted to win, he would have to completely disintegrate the Fifth Fleet's aviation combat capability in the first round of bombing, so that neither the 51st Task Force nor the 52nd Task Force could send bombers to continue attacking the Fourth Task Force. As a result, Task Force 4's bombers would be divided into two groups, one attacking Task Force 51 and the other attacking Task Force 52. Judging from the number of bombers that had previously attacked Task Force 51, there was another group of bombers of comparable size, if not larger, approaching, and would certainly arrive soon. As long as this group takes out Task Force 52. Then Task Force 4 has a chance to win the final victory. The premise, of course, is that the Fourth Task Force has to withstand the bombers of the Fifth Fleet.

It can be said that Spruance's judgment, or rather speculation, is quite accurate. At that time, Huang Xiaotian really hoped to completely dismantle the Fifth Fleet's aviation combat capability in the first round of bombing, and the two groups of bombers he sent had their own targets. Moreover, Huang Xiaotian also gave each of the leading pilots a detailed explanation of the tactical arrangements, first ensuring that the aircraft carriers of the Fifth Fleet would lose their aviation combat capability. Then, if you have extra strength, sink it again.

Because of the tactical arrangement of Task Force 4, Spruance did not let Turner stay with him for the funeral. Moreover, it also gave him a glimmer of hope. If the next arriving bomber group continues to attack Task Force 51, then Task Force 52 is likely to escape the engaged waters and return to Pearl Harbor, preserving at least half of the Fifth Fleet's strength. If the next batch of bombers attack the 52nd Task Force, maybe the 52nd Task Force can still create a miracle, at least from the beginning of the battle, it will be difficult for the bombers of the Fourth Task Force to deal with three aircraft carriers at once. Render up to three aircraft carriers incapacitated.

When the group led by Zhang Zhiyun flew near the 51st Task Force. Spruance knew his guess was correct, and now he could only hope that Turner, and Task Force 52, had a little better luck. Withstand these bombers, or at least don't get all killed. In addition, he had to count on the bombers that were flying to the Fourth Task Force to destroy the Fourth Task Force, or at least make the Fourth Task Force incapacitated, otherwise this round, the Fifth Fleet would be a complete defeat!

Spruance became irritable by the anxious waiting, and Turner did not report the situation to him in real time, and it was not until half an hour later that the 52nd Task Force received the message, and the message was from a cruiser. And not from the aircraft carrier USS Good Guy Richard, the flagship of the 52nd Task Force. All three aircraft carriers of the 52nd Task Force were attacked, all of them lost their combat capability, and the fleet suffered extremely heavy losses! At this point, Spruance also knew that the hope was extremely slim, and he had not heard from the bomber group so far.

The aircraft carrier "Good Guy Richard" was the first aircraft carrier to be attacked, and before Turner could move to the "shelter", the aircraft carrier was hit by a bomb. This bomb was dropped by Zhang Zhiyun, and it happened to hit the vicinity of the aircraft carrier island, and the impact caused was quite huge. Although Turner was not killed outright. But he was also wounded and could not continue to command the fleet in battle. The aircraft carrier ended up with three bombs and a torpedo, and after losing its ability to fight aviation, its speed dropped to about 16 knots.

Next up was the Shangri-La. The carrier was hit by one bomb when the first dive bombers dropped it, followed by another bomb and two torpedoes. But the losses suffered by this aircraft carrier are not serious, and if it were not for the catapult being blown up, the aircraft carrier would not necessarily have completely lost its aviation combat capability. The two torpedoes also hit the secondary parts, and the anti-torpedo isolation belt of the aircraft carrier played a significant role, except for the No. 3 boiler was damaged and could not work, there were no other important equipment problems. The most important thing is that the water ingress of the aircraft carrier was not serious, and after the bombardment, the aircraft carrier's ground pumping machine began to work, and the speed was restored to about 24 knots.

"Antietam" was the last to be bombed. In fact, this aircraft carrier was attacked before the "Shangri-La", only it was not dive bombers that entered first, but torpedo bombers. The penetration of the two groups of torpedo bombers was not smooth without the cooperation of the dive bombers, two-thirds of the torpedo bombers were shot down before they could enter the attack range, and in the end only 8 torpedo bombers dropped torpedoes, and the losses were quite heavy. It was also when the "Antietam" evaded the torpedo attack that the arrival of dive bombers made it impossible for the aircraft carrier to avoid it. As a result, out of 7 successfully dropped bombs, 3 bombs exploded on the carrier.

Task Force 52 put up a stubborn resistance, but with little cover from anti-aircraft fighters and besieged by dozens of bombers, any resistance was pointless. All three aircraft carriers have lost their aviation combat capability and have lost the possibility of continuing to fight. Perhaps, Spruance can only be glad that none of the aircraft carriers sank immediately, and the escort ships were not attacked, and the loss of personnel was not as large as expected.

The tide of the war "turned around" at this time. Soon after the news of Task Force 52 was sent, Spruance received a report from the bomber group, although the bomber group was intercepted halfway, the losses were very heavy, and the operation of attacking the fourth task force was very difficult, but in the end, none of the three aircraft carriers of the fourth task force escaped the attack, and the scattered bombers made it more difficult for the fourth task force to organize air defense operations.

At this point, the battle was basically over. Throughout the combat operation, the Fifth Fleet sailed nearly 30 nautical miles to the east, and Spruance also sent seaplanes to find pilots who fell overboard, mainly those bomber pilots who were shot down halfway, as well as pilots who were shot down during the fleet's air defense operations, and this batch of seaplanes also brought back more than twenty pilots of the Tang Empire, which was a windfall.

It stands to reason that Spruance should be at ease at this time, or that there is nothing to worry about, but Spruance is not at all at ease, because he realizes that Task Force 4 has not been completely defeated, and the commander of Task Force 4 is likely to continue fighting at this time, and will not give up easily.

The Fifth Fleet was still nearly 1,000 nautical miles from Pearl Harbor, and no support aircraft could fly. At the current rate of the fleet, it would be four days before it could return to Pearl Harbor. And a lot will definitely happen in these four days, the Tang Imperial Navy will not easily let go of the half-crippled Fifth Fleet, and more efforts will be needed to return to Pearl Harbor. ”

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