Tan Renhao only hesitated for two minutes, and when his gaze swept over the many staff officers again, everyone's eyes fell on Tan Renhao.

"The bomber group immediately dispatched and moved along the course of the No. 21 reconnaissance plane, paying attention to the sea situation, and after discovering the enemy fleet, immediately attacked, without the slightest hesitation!" Tan Renhao sighed, "The fleet has switched to an air defense formation and is preparing for air defense operations. Chief of Staff, after the departure of the bomber group, immediately send out all the fighters, how long can the air defense fighters patrol? ”

"Half an hour." Lei Shaoqing immediately replied.

"Then let the air defense fighters land first, and then take off the next batch of air defense fighters, try to ensure that there are no air defense loopholes over the fleet, and expand the air defense patrol radius to twenty nautical miles!" Tan Renhao nodded at Lei Shaoqing, this was no way, because the time to find the Japanese fleet was nearly an hour later than expected.

As Tan Renhao gave the battle order, the fleet immediately became "lively". The three aircraft carriers left their positions, turned to sail into the wind, and at the same time began to accelerate. The other escort warships in the fleet also began to speed up, and they all followed the speeding carriers. The fleet has also changed its previous tactics of concentrating air defense to a decentralized tactic with a single aircraft carrier as the core. In this way, it can be ensured that when the fleet is attacked, the aircraft carrier formations can be dispersed and will not be bombed intensively, and all aircraft carriers will not be threatened. The premise is that there must be enough escort warships, which was not possible before.

The first place to take off was 72 Kingfisher dive bombers. This was the main bomber of the fleet at that time, because 36 "Ospreys" were sent to bomb the Japanese Imperial Palace, and a large part of the remaining "Ospreys" were sent on reconnaissance missions, and there were not many "Ospreys" left. The next 22 Osprey torpedo bombers took off, and two of them broke down before takeoff and did not take part in the attack. The last to take off were 36 Sparrowhawks, escort fighters for the bomber group. Tan Renhao left all the new-style "vulture" fighters to carry out fleet air defense tasks, and first, the performance of the "vulture" is more suitable for carrying out fleet air defense tasks. Second, the pilots of the "Sparrowhawk" are all veterans and know very well how to cover the bombers to break through the enemy's air defense interception.

The three groups did not assemble over the fleet, but split up and recurred, and even the "Kingfisher" group was divided into three groups. The time was too short, and these bombers and escort fighters simply could not complete the assembly. The Sparrowhawk was put last to take off because it was faster, so it was. The escort group could catch up with the bomber group in front of it at a distance of about a hundred nautical miles from the fleet, and the Japanese fleet should have been a hundred nautical miles away, judging by the judgment at the time.

Almost simultaneously, the commander of the 1st Air Fleet of Japan, Vice Admiral Bunta Yamaguchi, was also caught in a dilemma. The fleet's radio detection device has been determined, and the downed Tang Empire reconnaissance plane has sent a radio signal, that is, now that the location of the First Air Fleet has been exposed, it can make Yamaguchi smell a lot of headaches. He didn't know the location of the Tang Empire's First Task Force at all!

Most of the staff officers of the fleet believed that the first task force of the Tang Empire was in the southwest according to the course of the Tang Empire's reconnaissance planes, and therefore advocated sending a bomber group directly to the southwest. But not all staff officers thought so, and even Yamaguchi Wenta thought that this judgment was seriously wrong.

Yamaguchi's judgment was very simple, the Tang Empire's First Task Force sent a bomber group at a distance of about 300 to 400 nautical miles from the Japanese mainland, even if the fleet went south at full speed. At this time, it is unlikely to be south of the First Air Fleet. More importantly, why did the Tang Empire's First Task Force go south? If Task Force 1 were to return to the port of Naha, it should sail southwest, or even west. If you want to go south to find a decisive battle with the Combined Fleet, you should also operate in the sea area as close to the port of Naha as possible, and there is no reason to go south!

While the staff officers were arguing, Yamaguchi had been thinking about the problem, and when he looked to the northeast, something suddenly occurred to him, and he walked quickly to the chart table. When Yamaguchi Wenta saw the route of the four reconnaissance planes flying north. Immediately came to his senses.

The sirens in the First Air Fleet sounded. Three aircraft carriers turned quickly. Fighters and bombers, parked on the flight deck, ready for departure, took off one after another. It is not the same as the way of the first task force of the Tang Empire. There were no catapults on Japanese aircraft carriers, so the first in line was always the lightest "Zero Battle", followed by the "250 Ship Explosion" with 99 kg of bombs, followed by the "97 Ship Attack" with aviation torpedoes. This order will never change, as these planes will have to taxi on the flight deck for takeoff, and the heavier the aircraft, the more backward they will be to ensure that there is enough distance to take off and taxi.

Yamaguchi Wenduo gave the order fifteen minutes later than Tan Renhao's order, and it was a fatal fifteen minutes. Because, at that time, the distance between the two fleets was not more than 100 nautical miles at all, but less than 80 nautical miles, and in terms of the engagement distance of the aircraft carrier fleet, it was almost a passing pass. Moreover, the two fleets are facing each other head-on at an angle of 25 degrees, and this distance is still decreasing at a rate of 25 knots per hour!

The reason why the first batch of reconnaissance planes excluded by Tan Renhao did not discover the Japanese fleet at such a close range was that it was not yet dawn at that time, and the reconnaissance planes would not have noticed that the Japanese fleet was only more than 100 nautical miles away from them. At that time, there were very thick clouds on the sea. As a result, the reconnaissance plane of the First Task Force of the Tang Empire missed the opportunity to discover the Japanese fleet before dawn, and the reconnaissance plane that returned home ahead of schedule inadvertently "collided" with the Japanese fleet. Otherwise, I'm afraid that after the air defense fighters of the two fleets collide, they will know that the other side is right under their noses!

Of the four reconnaissance planes sent north by Yamaguchi Odora, the one along the westernmost side also passed almost past the 1st Task Force, if it was daylight. Or if the First Task Force hadn't taken strict lighting control, I'm afraid that the First Task Force would have been discovered.

When the radio suddenly sounded, Tan Renhao was startled, and everyone in the command cabin was shocked. The bomber group turned on the radio station only when it began to attack the enemy fleet, and now the group has only been on for half an hour......

As soon as the first batch of "Zero Battles" took off, the air defense sirens sounded. And it was in a hurry, indicating that the enemy's bomber group was already very close to the fleet. Yamaguchi was also shocked when he heard a lot. He quickly rushed to the side of the staff officer in charge of air defense operations, and there was no need for the staff officer to explain more, the first group of bombers had already been killed in the northeast sky, and the eight "Zero Battles" patrolling in this direction were immediately killed, and the other sixteen "Zero Battles" were also quickly surrounded.

"Commander, what now? Continue to release the fleet. Or ......"

"Let the bombers continue to take off, the escort battleships will all follow, and the fighters who will take off first will participate in the air defense operation!" Yamaguchi Wenta did not hesitate at all, he knew very well that even if it was too late to organize air defense now, if it was doomed, he would have to drag a few aircraft carriers of the Tang Empire into the water, and the bomber group released was his only hope.

The first to arrive were 24 Kingfisher dive bombers without any fighter escort. Leading this group of bombers was the "Xuanzong" aircraft carrier aircraft group of Qiu Gengbo. Squadron Leader of the Dive Bomber Squadron, Major Qiu Gengbo. He was promoted with Deng Zichao and them, from captain to major. When he saw the dense Japanese warships on the sea through the clouds, he was also shocked. Then the Japanese air defense fighters rushed over.

"Freedom to attack, freedom to attack!"

At the same time as the order was given, Qiu Gengbo was already the first to start diving. There is no need for any command at all. Because they had already reached the ground of the Japanese First Air Fleet, and the aircraft carrier was on the sea in the southwest direction, the characteristics of the three flat-topped ships were too obvious to be discerned at all.

When "Kingfisher" began to dive, "Zero Battle" also came up. In the first round of attacks, six "Kingfishers" were hit by the artillery fire of the "Zero Battle", four of them fell headlong with black smoke from the ground, and the other two were hit and exploded in the air. The anti-aircraft guns on the battleship also roared, and the shells chased the channel of the "Kingfisher" through it. Without fighter cover, the "Kingfisher" was vulnerable in the face of the murderous "Zero Battle", and it could even be said that it was like a lamb to the slaughter.

Qiu Gengbo was no longer able to command other bombers. He had to drop the bomb on his landline first. Three "Kingfishers" followed him. Directly towards the nearest aircraft carrier, the "Wyvern", which escaped in the naval battle of Ryukyu Island, pounced. This is also the Yamaguchi Bunta Jizaza, the flagship of the First Air Fleet!

The blazing anti-aircraft fire immediately tore the two "Kingfishers" following him to pieces, and the shrenchel of the two shells also hit the outer end of the left wing of the Qiu Gengbo landline, if it were not for the strong body of the "Kingfisher" (a common feature of the Tang Imperial Navy fighters), and there was no fuel tank in the outer wing of the "Kingfisher" (the outer wing of the "Kingfisher" was folded to reduce the space occupied when parked on the aircraft carrier, Therefore, if you don't set up a fuel tank), I'm afraid that Qiu Gengbo will also be finished.

It was only when he dived to a distance of less than 500 meters from the sea, and the huge hull of the aircraft carrier almost filled the field of vision of the entire sight, that Qiu Gengbo pressed the bomb drop button, and then he felt the fuselage being pushed upwards by a force, and he immediately pulled back the operating stick, and the roaring fighter almost brushed the sea surface on the port side of the aircraft carrier. The "Kingfisher" that followed him dropped its bomb and was hit by anti-aircraft fire, tilting its nose and crashing into the aircraft carrier on the sea, but in the end it deviated a lot.

While frantically avoiding the flying shells, Qiu Gengbo looked back at the aircraft carrier behind him. The bomb he dropped fell on the sea 20 meters away from the starboard side of the aircraft carrier, causing a huge column of water.

“**！” Qiu Gengbo gritted his teeth and scolded, "Is there anyone else?" Attack the Wyvern, all of them focus on attacking the Wyvern! ”

"Brother Qiu, it seems that we are the only ones left!"

Hearing the voice of the navigator behind him, Qiu Gengbo was startled and immediately swept around. Sure enough, he was the only one of the first batch of "Kingfishers" to escape, and the other 23 "Kingfishers" were all shot down.

"Brother Qiu, the brother in the back is here!" The navigator in the back seat screamed, "Look, look, up-"

Qiu Gengbo immediately raised his head, a group of "Kingfishers" broke out of the clouds and were diving towards the aircraft carrier on the sea, and the anti-aircraft guns on those Japanese battleships also gave up on his "Kingfisher", which had no bombs, and all the artillery fire was concentrated directly above the fleet.

Following Major Qiu Gengbo into the skies over the Japanese fleet was the second batch of 24 "Kingfisher" dive bombers led by Colonel Zhang Naiding himself. At present, Zhang Naiding is the captain of the "Xuanzong" aircraft carrier carrier-based aircraft brigade. As he approached the Japanese fleet, he had already heard the screams of the pilots in front of him over the radio. Instead of killing it immediately, he ordered the group to climb up immediately and enter from above the clouds. It was only when it was determined that the Japanese fleet was at their feet that Zhang Naiding gave the order to bomb separately, and he personally led seven other "Kingfishers" to pounce on the "Flying Dragon" aircraft carrier.

The "Zero Battles" that began to intercept the Qiu Gengbo group were all below Zhang Naiding's group at this time, and when the "Kingfishers" swooped down from the clouds, these "Zero Battles" Japanese pilots discovered that a catastrophe was coming. Dozens of "Zeros" circling in the sky immediately began to climb, preparing to intercept the "Kingfishers". The poor vertical maneuverability of the "Zero Battle" was once again exposed. In desperation, some crazy "Zero" pilots began to climb against the dive channel of the "Kingfishers", preparing to intercept these "Kingfishers" by ramming.

Seeing the "Kingfisher" swooping down one after another in the sky, Qiu Gengbo regretted that if he had dropped the bomb more accurately, then he would have obtained the first result, and now, this opportunity was left to others, and he could only do it in a hurry.

"Brother Qiu, let's go back, we still have a chance!"

Qiu Gengbo reacted. "yes, we'll go back immediately, damn it, and bring another bomb later!"

The Kingfisher piloted by Qiu Gengbo immediately returned in the direction of the First Task Force, and unbeknownst to him, danger was attempting him to go towards the First Task Force, and what he brought back was not victory, but a disaster.