After receiving the message from the fleet, Deng Zichao immediately ordered the aircraft group to turn around and fly in the direction where the US Navy fleet was located. Then, Deng Zichao asked the pilots to prepare for bombing and bombing, but the problem is that before that, they have to find the US fleet!

Zheng Guanhua sent Deng Zichao only a range of the US fleet, not an exact coordinate. Although Zheng Guanhua had already asked those reconnaisance planes that were returning to concentrate in the sea areas exposed by the US fleet to help the bomber group find traces of the US fleet, Deng Zichao did not pin his hopes on these reconnaissance planes. He had also done reconnaissance missions before (the Tang Imperial Navy originally used torpedo bombers to carry out reconnaissance missions), and it was clear that the blind search of those reconnaissance planes would not yield many results. Moreover, even if these reconnaissance planes discovered the enemy fleet, they could not directly contact the bomber group, and in the end they had to rely on the bomber group to find targets on their own. Perhaps, the only thing Deng Zichao feels relieved about now is that he doesn't need to worry about fuel, there is enough fuel for him to complete the search, attack mission, and then return to the fleet.

According to the information provided by Zheng Guanhua, the sea area where the US fleet may appear is a circle with a radius of 70 nautical miles, and for the sake of insurance, Deng Zichao set the search area to a circular sea area with a radius of 80 nautical miles. He had the faster dive bomber formations fly due north first, and from the northeast to the southwest of the area. The group of torpedo bombers he personally led flew from the southwest to the northeast of the area, and the fastest escort fighters flew directly towards the center of the area, repeatedly searching the area.

There is no way to do this, and the area of the circular sea with a radius of 80 nautical miles is 20,000 square nautical miles. And when the bombers have flown this 80 nautical mile distance, and the fleet will be able to run more than a dozen nautical miles, then it will have to increase the search range by nearly 50%. Therefore, they have to find the US fleet as soon as possible, and as for whether there are escort fighters at that time. And whether or not they can coordinate the attack, this is a question after finding the American fleet, and if even the enemy cannot be found, there is no point in considering these issues.

The group of planes flew rapidly at an altitude of 1,500 meters above the sea surface, and the "Sea Eagle" flew at its maximum cruising speed. In order to shorten the search time, Deng Zichao no longer cares about saving fuel.

The bombers of the two squadrons were divided into two groups, separated by 15 nautical miles, and each of them had a 5 nautical mile width, so that they could monitor the sea within 50 nautical miles and have a more than 70 percent chance of spotting the enemy fleet.

In the formation channel, after more than 20 minutes of silence, it became lively.

"I heard that last time Captain Yang came back, I talked to the colonel once, do you know what we talked about?"

"Won't you let the captain be the secretary for him?"

"That's not exactly. I heard that Captain Yang brought a lot of souvenirs, and the one that was distributed to the colonel was the most. Don't you think there's a problem with the so-called nothing but dedication? ”

"Maybe. But who knows? ”

Hearing the pilot's chatter, Deng Zichao sighed. In June, the Second Air Wing will have a full-fledged Wing Commander and can be promoted to Brigadier General. The first choice at that time was Jiang Wenhan. But Jiang Wenhan refused, and took the initiative to demote to captain. Then there was Deng Zichao, of course Deng Zichao didn't do it, and then there was Zhang Naiding, and Zhang Naiding couldn't avoid it. In the end, Yang Shihong could only be sent back. At that time, Yang Shihong was also very reluctant, after all, as a wing captain, he could only stay in the rear, deal with official documents every day, and it was not much fun to be a brigadier general. As a result, when the second task force left Qingdao, Yang Shihong ran back and made a fuss about changing positions with Deng Zichao, after all, both of them were captains of torpedo bombers, and if they wanted to change, they could only change Deng Zichao to go back. Of course, Deng Zichao would not agree, but before Yang Shihong had time to make a name for himself, the fleet set off.

Thinking of these troublesome things, Deng Zichao sighed. Maybe after going back this time, he will really have to be transferred to the office. Yang Shihong's resentment is also understandable, he has been working in the aviation unit for a long time, and few people are willing to leave. It must be uncomfortable to sit in the office, how can it be so refreshing to fly an airplane in the blue sky? But the problem is, there has to be someone to be the official co-captain.

"Colonel, will you go back?"

"Who said I was going back?" Deng Zichao couldn't help it, "Keep my eyes open for me, stare at the sea, don't let the enemy slip away, damn, who dares to mess around again, after I go back, I will recommend it to General Luo Jinming!" ”

The pilots all kept their mouths shut, Deng Zichao's meaning was obvious, and those who were disobedient would be arranged to Luo Jinming's training unit, that is, to leave the front-line troops.

However, it didn't take long for the formation channel to be lively again. As the so-called what kind of general leads what kind of soldiers, there is a captain like Deng Zichao, and those pilots trained by him are not serious. In the entire naval fleet aviation, Deng Zichao is the youngest captain, and he is also the most headache captain. Now, it's time for him to have a headache for his subordinates.

"Colonel, there's news, it's from the 2nd Squadron."

Hearing Liu Jinsong's shout in the back seat, Deng Zichao immediately came back to his senses. "Found a target?"

"Wait a ......minute," Liu Jinsong quickly adjusted the communication channel, "25 degrees of course, 55 nautical miles away, three aircraft carriers, dozens of escort warships, and the second squadron has already gone up." ”

"Call the other squadrons immediately." Deng Zichao immediately gave an order, "Everyone follow, find the fleet raised by the son of a bitch, let's go first!" ”

When Liu Jinsong contacted the escort formation and the dive bomber formation, the 36 "Sea Eagles" immediately began to concentrate and were divided into three goose-shaped formations in the front and rear according to the method of the squad. The flight altitude of the fleet also began to decrease. Deng Zichao's plane flew at the front of the entire formation, with five bombers on his left and six on his right. Having reduced the altitude to 800 meters, he stabilized the bomber.

At that time, Spruance's Task Force 51 was spotted when the "waterfowl"

In the southeast direction of the fleet, Spruance then ordered the team to go north at full speed. Try to avoid the opponent's blows. When Deng Zichao arranged the formation, he arranged the Second Torpedo Bomber Squadron (the "Bell Lake" Aircraft Carrier Upper Ground Squadron) to the north, while the First Torpedo Bomber Squadron (the "Hulun Lake" Aircraft Carrier Upper Ground Squadron) under his command was in the south. Therefore, the torpedo bombers of the 2nd squadron first rammed the American fleet. At this time, the dive bombers that went around to the northeast were still nearly 100 nautical miles away from the US fleet! The escort fighters were about 50 nautical miles southeast of the US fleet.

When Deng Zichao arrived with his squadron. The 2nd Squadron of torpedo bombers had already begun to attack, and these torpedo bombers rushed in without waiting for the arrival of the escort fighters. They also could not wait, the air defense fighters of the US military were nearby. Escort fighters have already rushed over and are expelling the American air defense fighters.

"Keep up and attack one carrier each. No need to wait for dive bombers! Deng Zichao gave the order very decisively, and then he lowered the flight altitude again.

The "Sea Eagles" of the squad led by Deng Zichao rushed towards the nearest aircraft carrier, the CV-14. This was the sixth Ticonderoga of the Essex-class aircraft carrier, and it was located southwest of Task Force 51, just above where the torpedo bombers had flew. To its east is the CV-15 "Randolph", and at the front of the fleet is the CV-13 "Franklin". The three aircraft carriers are in a "pin" formation, and most of their main air defense warships are on the outside of the fleet, while in the middle of the three aircraft carrier formations are a few destroyers. In this way, most of the anti-aircraft fire of the fleet was concentrated externally, and unless the bombers of the Tang Empire could break through from the center, they would have to face the anti-aircraft guns on those three large cruisers.

At the time of a surprise attack on an enemy aircraft carrier. The 12 "sea eagles" have advanced in an oblique echelon in the shape of an eight. Deng Zichao's landline is located at the front of the left side of the "eight" shaped formation, while the six "sea eagles" on the right are about 500 meters behind. Between formations, the distance between the bombers was about 200 meters. After breaking through the interception of American air defense fighters. This distance will be reduced.

"Keep up, don't fall behind, don't bother with those fighters, damn it. If they have the guts, they will go in with them! Deng Zi roared loudly.

The "Sea Eagle" was flying at a speed of nearly 200 knots at an altitude of 50 meters above the sea surface, and the shells continued to explode in the nearby sky, Deng Zichao did not pay attention to this, but the other pilots noticed that it was a VT shell of the US military, otherwise the shell would not have exploded at such a close distance.

But VT shells are not completely effective against ultra-low-flying torpedo bombers. When the formation rushed past the cruiser on the outskirts of the American formation, all the American fighters were withdrawn. Then, Deng Zichao saw the huge battleship in front of him.

", is that a battleship?" Immediately a pilot shouted.

"No, bypass it and take out the aircraft carrier!" Deng Zichao immediately remembered that it was a large cruiser of the US military.

This battleship is really big enough, 250 meters long than many battleships, not much shorter than aircraft carriers.

Six torpedo bombers of two formations went around the front and rear of the cruiser, Deng Zichao's bomber flew above the front deck of the cruiser, and shells from small-caliber anti-aircraft guns flew near his plane. Because the speed of the bombers was too fast, and the speed of rotation of the anti-aircraft guns on the battleship simply could not keep up, most of the shells did not hit the bombers at all.

"Lao Liu, let's see how many have followed."

Liu Jinsong quickly glanced at the group of bombers that followed around: "Seven, no, eight." ”

"Damn, all concentrate!" Deng Zichao gritted his teeth, the aircraft carrier was in front, and there were no battleships in front of the aircraft carrier, "All lean over, untie the torpedo insurance, and prepare to drop the bomb!" ”

The bomber was already flying below 50 meters, and shells were constantly falling on the surrounding sea, blowing up columns of water. Deng Zichao struggled to control the violently vibrating bomber. And three nautical miles, the last three nautical miles.

"Throw thunder angles three times, follow me to throw thunder!" Deng Zichao didn't forget to guide the bombers who followed, "Get closer, get closer, the son of a bitch, I can't run away this time!" ”

After Deng Zichao dropped the torpedo, he immediately turned sharply to the left, he did not pull up the bomber, but when he was less than 800 meters away from the aircraft carrier, he pulled the bomber up, which was to provide a target for the antiaircraft guns on the aircraft carrier. Only six of the bombers that followed dropped torpedoes, and the other three were shot down before they could be dropped. Three followed Deng Zichao to the left and the other two made a sharp turn to the right.

Now, Deng Zichao and the others have to brave the anti-aircraft fire of the enemy's air defense battleship to kill them again.

The number of anti-aircraft guns on the left and right sides of any battleship is the same, so it is not much easier than when breaking through. Shells rained down, and the "sea eagles" were like nimble swifts, moving through the enemy's rain of bullets.

Suddenly, the bomber shook.

"Lao Liu, where was you shot?"

Liu Jinsong also felt it, he first quickly checked the instruments in front of him, and then poked his head out and quickly glanced at the fuselage and wings of the plane. "I got a shell on my buttocks, and it looked like the landing hook had been knocked off."

"Damn, looks like we're going to have to take a sea bath again!"

Both of them laughed, and Deng Zichao successfully broke through the anti-aircraft fire of the enemy battleship, and only then did he pull the bomber up. In the end, only three other "sea eagles" followed Deng Zichao to kill, and two of them were wounded.

Deng Zichao wiped away his sweat and looked at the aircraft carrier that began to attack. Billowing black smoke billowed from the port side of the aircraft carrier near the waterline.

"At least two torpedoes were hit." Liu Jinsong reached out and patted Deng Zichao's shoulder, "Good job." ”

Deng Zichao smirked, and the other two squads of "sea eagles" were also retreating, and on the sea, the two US aircraft carriers were evading torpedo attacks like monsters being rounded up.

"Old Deng, look at it!" Liu Jinsong shouted, "Damn, the 'Shooting Water Birds' is finally here, and all the US fighters have gone up." ”

In the northeast direction of the fleet, a group of bombers was approaching at high speed, and all the US fighters that had been chasing and killing the retreating "Sea Eagles" had left the battle and flew towards the northeast of the fleet. At the same time, fighters escorting bombers are also concentrating on that side.

"It's time for them to perform. How much fuel do we have? ”

"That's enough for us to watch the show."

The two laughed again, wondering how many carriers would be killed.