When the 120-mm anti-aircraft guns on the "Kirin" began to roar, Hao Dongjue and others were forcibly taken out of the command cabin. This is a new regulation for the fleet, and when entering the air defense operation of the fleet, the commander of the fleet, the chief of staff, and the important staff officers who have little to do with the air defense operation will be taken to the "shelter" until the end of the battle, or when it is necessary to leave the flagship. Specifically carrying out this task was a new squad of marines stationed on the flagship, which usually obeyed the command of the commander, but when fighting, they only obeyed new orders, and even Hao Dongjue had no right to give them orders.

"Old Hao, it seems that the Yankees' counterattack is stronger than we imagined."

"I don't know, maybe in ten minutes, we'll be able to get out!" Hao Dongjue pretended not to care, he took out a cigarette, and first dispersed it for Wei Dongbei and a few others, and then lit it for himself. "Now the second batch of bombers of the US military has arrived, and according to the size of the first batch of bomber groups, these two groups of bombers should have departed from the two task forces respectively, that is, we are facing at least two US task forces. I'm not worried about how to deal with the U.S. strike. ”

"What's that?" Wei Dongbei immediately asked, and then replied himself, "Could it be another task force?" ”

Hao Dongjue nodded. "The reconnaissance planes only discovered two task forces, and the other reconnaissance planes that rushed there later were not able to successfully get close to the US fleet. Judging from the report we received from Zhang Naiding's aircraft group before, it is true that there are only two task forces, and as far as we know, the US military has three task forces, isn't it? ”

Wei Dongbei nodded. "The other task force won't be hiding too far."

"Who knows for sure until we find it?"

"Maybe ......," Wei Dongbei scratched his head, "Maybe that task force is the one we intercepted the telegram from, and it was used as bait." Then it won't be too close to us now. ”

"Don't you think there's a problem with that?" When Hao Dongjue was idle, his head turned very fast, and some details that he hadn't noticed before, now he also thought of them. "The telegram sent by the Theater Command clearly mentioned that the telegram was sent by the aircraft carrier 'Chishaji', and this aircraft carrier is the flagship of the 53rd Task Force, and Zhang Naiding's aircraft group has officially recognized this, and the aircraft carrier 'Chishaji' is within their strike range. If the U.S. military uses Task Force 53 as a decoy. So why is Task Force 53 with another task force? Could it be that Spruance used two task forces as bait, so this bait is a little too big? ”

Wei Dongbei nodded again, he also felt that this was a problem.

At this moment the door was pushed open, and a staff officer ran in. "General, the telegram sent back by Yang Shihong's group of planes, they are attacking the 51st Task Force, and the aircraft carrier number of the fleet has been identified. In addition, another group of American bombers was discovered. ”

"The third batch of bombers?" Hao Dongjue was startled and immediately took the telegram.

"It's not a bomber swarm. It's not big. And it should have taken off urgently from the aircraft carrier, and it didn't fly towards us, it was towards ......" the staff officer hesitated. "It should be flying in the direction of Task Force 1."

Hao Dongjue was taken aback again, and immediately asked, "Have you contacted the First Task Force?" ”

"A telegram has been sent, and no reply has been received from Task Force 1."

"Then go and keep watch, and let us know as soon as there is news!" Wei Dongbei Tihao Dongjue gave an order.

Hao Dongjue's expression had changed, and it was obvious that the US reconnaissance planes had discovered the First Task Force, otherwise the bombers that had taken off urgently would not have flown in the direction of the First Task Force. He wasn't worried that the bombers would be able to take out the first task force, but he was worried about the third task force, which was the 52nd Task Force that had not yet appeared, if the 52nd Task Force also knew the exact location of the first task force. Then bombers will definitely be sent immediately. At present, the First Task Force has arranged four squadrons of fighters to cover the Second Task Force, and a group of escort fighters must be arranged to cover the bomber group, and there are very few fighters that can be used for the air defense of the fleet.

"We have to contact Huang Xiaotian, the Fourth Task Force hasn't been exposed yet, they should have extra fighters!"

"Old Hao, is it too late?" Wei Dongbei immediately stopped Hao Dongjue, who was excited.

Hao Dongjue was stunned. Immediately smiled wryly. The situation with Task Force 4 was not much better. There are now five fighter squadrons of Task Force 4 on Task Force 2, two groups of bombers from Task Force 4 are on the road, and at least three squadrons of fighters are on escort duty. As a result, Task Force 4 also has no spare fighters to mobilize.

"Let's care about our own situation first, the U.S. military must not have discovered the first task force in time, and when we get over, we will immediately let Ann Sle and them return to the sea, maybe there will be time to rush back."

Hao Dongjue talked helplessly, there was no other choice.

The situation of Task Force 2 was also not optimistic, and more than 100 bombers from Task Force 51, under the cover of nearly 30 fighters, arrived in the vicinity of Task Force 2 almost unhindered. When An Shile and Wang Zhihua adjusted their tactical arrangements and went to intercept the attack, the US bomber group was already less than 10 nautical miles away from the antiaircraft artillery fire network of the Second Task Force. For a bomber traveling at nearly 200 knots, 10 nautical miles is equivalent to a three-minute flight, and in three minutes, the fighter can make a maximum of two interceptions.

The first to be attacked was the "Poyang Lake" aircraft carrier battle group, and while the 80-mm and 40-mm anti-aircraft guns on the escort battleships opened fire, the cruisers on the ground 120-mm anti-aircraft guns in the other two nearby aircraft carrier battle groups also opened fire. Hao Dongjue's new formation in the Second Task Force played a great role.

The three carrier battle groups are arranged in a standard equilateral triangle, with each carrier being 15 nautical miles apart, while the escort cruiser is about 5 to 8 nautical miles away from the carrier during combat, perhaps a little closer. According to Hao Dongjue's new tactical arrangement, during the battle, the "Rui Beast" class cruisers, which have the most powerful air defense capability in the battle group, will concentrate on the enemy's area and will approach the aircraft carrier battle group facing the enemy. In this way, the 120-mm heavy anti-aircraft guns on the cruiser would be able to provide cover for the other carriers, at least to repel dive bombers flying over the carriers. Other words. When Hao Dongjue and the others were dragged into the "shelter," the "Poyang Lake" aircraft carrier had already been attacked and was in danger. The "shelter" is protected by armor steel plates, and there is no danger as long as it is not directly hit by bombs, and no bomb can penetrate several decks. But on the battlefield outside, the situation is already very dangerous.

The fighters commanded by An Shile and Wang Zhihua did not care about the threat of anti-aircraft guns on their warships at all, as long as they bit the bombers of the US army. These fighters will not give up easily, and will either shoot down the enemy, or be shot down by the enemy's fighters, or their own anti-aircraft guns. Under the "stubborn fighting" of air defense fighters, the bombers of the US military were forced to disperse and gather together, which could only attract more fighters. It is precisely because of this that the strike efficiency of US bomber groups has been reduced to a minimum, and it is difficult for bombers entering alone to pose a lethal threat to aircraft carriers sailing at high speed.

In just five minutes, the "Poyang Lake" aircraft carrier avoided a total of five 1,000-pound bombs. Attack of 8 aviation torpedoes. The aircraft carrier, like a mad bison, rampage across the sea and a momentary turn to the left. Turning to the right for a moment, with clumsy actions should have dodged the bomber's blow. When evading at high speed and turning at a large angle, some objects that were too late to be fixed were rolled from the flight deck into the sea, but as long as the aircraft carrier was not hit, this loss was nothing at all.

In the face of this stubborn aircraft carrier, the US pilots were also dumbfounded, and after the strikes of nearly 30 US bombers did not receive any effect, a group of US bombers gathered together and prepared to jointly "encircle and suppress" this ship. The same aircraft carrier that is a little tenacious and a little incomprehensible. The luck of the "Poyang Lake" also ran out at this time, when 6 SB3Cs and 6 TBFs launched the 12th impact on the aircraft carrier, no matter how strong the ability of the aircraft carrier captain was, it was difficult for the clumsy aircraft carrier to avoid the attack of so many bombers at the same time.

After flashing three bombs again, an aviation torpedo hit the starboard side of the "Poyang Lake", and then a 1,000-pound shell bomb landed on the left side of the aircraft carrier's flight deck, about 80 meters away from the tail end, and the bomb exploded on the deck, creating a powerful air wave that threw all the dozens of gunners on the nearby anti-aircraft gun positions into the sea. The second torpedo hit the tail of the aircraft carrier. The steering gear on the right side was blown up, and the second aerial bomb that followed hit the aircraft carrier again, landing near the rear elevator. Although the other bombs and torpedoes did not hit the aircraft carrier, in less than two minutes they were hit by two torpedoes and two bombs in succession, and the speed of the "Poyang Lake" immediately dropped to less than 12 knots, and at the same time a fire broke out.

The officers and men on the battleship quickly activated the smoke device, and the thick smoke enveloped the aircraft carrier, which could not only confuse the enemy and make other bombers think that the aircraft carrier was "hopeless," but also play a certain role of cover, so that the US dive bombers could not accurately drop bombs. Of course, the smoke screen will not be able to deal with torpedo bombers, and smoke generating devices cannot be used without damage to the aircraft carrier, and the effect will not be much better. "The damage can be controlled, but the fire is relatively large, and the fire must be extinguished first."

"Try to rescue the aircraft carrier, the decision-making power is in the hands of the captain, if you ......" Hao Dongjue hesitated, "If you can't save it, you can abandon the ship, and the first purpose is to save the officers and soldiers." ”

The naval officers and men on the "Poyang Lake" did not give up saving their own battleship, and the destructive effect of the torpedo was to cause the aircraft carrier to enter the water and make the aircraft carrier lose power, while the greatest destructive effect of the bomb was to create a fire, which eventually turned the aircraft carrier into a floating bonfire. Fortunately, only one of the three motor nacelles scattered on the aircraft carrier was blown up, and the other two were unharmed. In addition, the aircraft carrier also has a large number of small generators, which can also partially make up for the loss of high-power generator sets, so that the fire extinguishing equipment, water pumps, and smoke extractors on the aircraft carrier can operate normally.

The battle was not over, and when the "Poyang Lake" aircraft carrier was attacked, the "Weishan Lake" aircraft carrier was also attacked sporadically by US bombers, and none of these bombers that entered alone threatened the aircraft carrier. But luck is not always on the side of the Imperial Navy, less than 2 minutes after the "Poyang Lake" was shot, an ultra-low-altitude TBF broke through the defensive circle formed by the escort warships without any obstruction and killed the aircraft carrier. By the time the anti-aircraft gunners on the aircraft carrier noticed, the TBF was already less than 1 nautical mile from the aircraft carrier. It was too late, and the TBF had already dropped a torpedo before it was shot down, and at that time the aircraft carrier was turning to the left to close the distance from the "Poyang Lake" aircraft carrier battle group and avoid getting too close and being attacked by American bombers. The torpedo was fired in the direction in which the aircraft carrier turned, and when the captain gave the order to stop turning left and hit the left full rudder, it was too late to avoid this torpedo.

When the news came that the "Weishan Lake" had been hit by a torpedo, Hao Dongjue gritted his teeth, and both aircraft carriers had been shot, and it was a question of whether the "Poyang Lake" could support it.

"General, Task Force 1 has called back, they have left a squadron of fighters behind, and the fleet air defense circle has been expanded, and we don't need to go to support."

Hao Dongjue turned around. "Has the US bomber group been routed?"

"Not yet, but it won't be long."

"Contact Ansler, and after the battle, they will return to Task Force 1 immediately, hopefully before it's too late."

The staff officer nodded, and he didn't ask more. The attack on Task Force 2 was coming to an end, and Task Force 1 would be the next fleet to be attacked, and if both Task Forces were defeated, the significance of the victory would be greatly diminished.

"Also", Hao Dongjue stopped the staff officer, "Let Wang Zhihua and them go over too, most of us will not be attacked, and when Yang Shihong's report on the results of the battle is sent back, come and tell me immediately." ”

Five minutes later, the battle alarm was lifted, and when Hao Dongjue saw the sunlight outside, An Shile and Wang Zhihua's group were preparing to leave the sky above the Second Task Force, and when Hao Dongjue saw the "Poyang Lake" aircraft carrier burning in the distance, and the "Weishan Lake" aircraft carrier, which seemed to be limping and staggering, he could hardly believe his eyes.