The "Xuanzong" exploded violently, and when the explosion came, Tan Renhao closed his eyes in pain. When the "Taizu" was attacked by torpedo bombers, the "Xuanzong" was again bombed by four "99 shipbursts", and another bomb was hit, this bomb fell on the front deck of the battleship, and after penetrating the deck, the flight deck at the bow of the exploding was blown up!

Lei Shaoqing walked over quickly, and Hao Dongjue also followed behind him. Tan Renhao let out a sigh and wiped his face with his hand, and then glanced at the two of them.

"The Japanese fleet is retreating." Lei Shaoqing didn't say this loudly, "It's all retreating southward, probably because they have appeared in our cruiser formation." ”

Tan Renhao was slightly startled, and then immediately understood. The Japanese fleet must have been afraid of heavy artillery bombardment from cruisers, so at this time it chose to retreat.

"In addition, the Japanese First Air Fleet suffered heavy losses." Lei Shaoqing glanced at Hao Dongjue next to him.

"The 'Wyvern' has already been sunk, and the 'Shohe' has taken at least three bombs, and only the 'Zuihe' has taken refuge under the cumulonimbus clouds, so it has not been attacked." Hao Dongjue seemed more excited than the other two, "In addition, Japan has lost at least a hundred bombers, and they are no longer able to organize bombing. ”

Tan Renhao glanced at Hao Dongjue and nodded: "How big is our loss?" ”

Hao Dongjue hesitated for a moment and said, "I haven't counted my ...... for the time being."

"Then let's go and count the losses, how many bombers we have lost, and how many bombers we can use!" Tan Renhao glared at Hao Dongjue, this kid only knew how to calculate the results, but he didn't care about the losses.

"Renhao doesn't have to be like this." It wasn't until Hao Dongjue went out that Lei Shaoqing pulled Tan Renhao aside, "At least judging from the current situation." We've got the win. ”

"That's a pyrrhic victory!" Tan Renhao glanced at the aircraft carrier "Xuanzong", which was still smoking and blazing, "We have also suffered heavy losses, so let the 'Xuanzong' formation return to Naha Port immediately." ”

"The pursuit of the cruiser formation ......"

Tan Renhao touched his forehead and glanced out of the porthole. "The storm is coming, let the cruiser formation continue the pursuit, and find out as soon as possible how many bombers we have left, and whether we can make an attack before the storm comes."

Half an hour later, Hao Dongjue handed in the damage report. During the bombing of the Japanese 1st Air Fleet. 42 Kingfishers, 11 Ospreys, and more than 20 bombers were lost, which were confirmed to be badly damaged after landing and could no longer carry out bombing missions. And counting the reconnaissance planes that have returned home, there are now only 32 "Kingfishers" in the fleet, and 3o "Ospreys" can also be hung up and attacked.

"These bombers will return within an hour, and it will take an hour and a half at the earliest, even if you count the preparation time, before they can attack." Lei Shaoqing summed up: "Judging from the current situation of the Japanese fleet. More than sixty bombers were enough to bomb it once. ”

Tan Renhao nodded. There was no rush to make a decision. There are too many factors for him to consider, and if the Japanese aircraft carriers still have enough strength to organize the next round of attacks, then he will have to think about defense first. And not offensive. Thinking of this, Ren Hao knew in his heart.

"First replace the air defense fighters and send reconnaissance planes to track the Japanese fleet." Tan Renhao took a few steps back and forth in the cabin, "In addition, the bombers are ready to take off, and when all the reconnaissance planes come back, they will immediately carry out a second round of bombing." ”

Lei Shaoqing didn't say anything more, and immediately went to give the order.

"Also...... Tan Renhao stopped Lei Shaoqing, "send the destroyer seaplane to salvage the pilot who fell into the water." Try to get all the pilots back from the skydive! ”

"Don't worry, I've already arranged it in advance!" Lei Shaoqing smiled and turned around to leave, and it was the command cabin. The pilot, the most valuable asset of the fleet, had already ordered the seaplane to be sent to find the pilot who had fallen overboard, and before the battle was over.

The fleet got busy, and the fighters who began to carry out air defense operations landed in 6 consecutive days. In air combat, fighter jets consume more than three times as much fuel as patrolling, so most fighters need to return to the carrier to refuel. The returning bombers also landed on 6 consecutive days. Because the "Xuanzong" aircraft carrier was heavily damaged, the fighters that were supposed to land on this aircraft carrier were only able to land on the "Taizu" and "Yangtze River" aircraft carriers. The first reconnaissance planes will return to the fleet in half an hour, at 8:30 a.m. Two hours after dawn, three and a half hours after the first reconnaissance planes came out.

Yamaguchi Bunta, who was heading south for the Japanese First Air Fleet, had already arrived on the aircraft carrier "Zuizuru," and the first thing he learned was the fleet's losses and the remaining combat effectiveness.

More than 7oo officers and men were killed in the sinking of the "Flying Dragon", and the officers and men were transferred to two destroyers, and many officers and men who fell into the water were not recovered. The aircraft carrier "Xianghe" received three bombs, but fortunately one of the bombs did not explode. Although the aircraft carrier was heavily damaged, there was no loss and it could go all south, but it could no longer receive and release fighters.

At present, there is only one aircraft carrier left in the First Air Fleet, the "Zuihe", and in addition to the more than 20 bombers that have not taken off from the aircraft carrier, there are also a number of bombers that are returning home. It was fifteen minutes after Yamaguchi Wenta came to the aircraft carrier and raised his command flag on the island that he grasped the specific situation. Counting the returning bomber "Zuihe", it can also send 12 "99 ship explosions" and 21 "97 ship attacks". In addition, there are 42 air defense fighters in the formation. That is, Yamaguchi Odora can actually organize an attack.

At the same time, Yamaguchi Wenta also learned about the results of the battle, according to the pilot's report, an aircraft carrier in the Tang Empire was sunk (the Japanese pilots counted "Xuanzong" in the results), an aircraft carrier was heavily damaged (the "Taizu" actually dodged all the torpedoes, while the Japanese pilots lied about the results), and only the last aircraft carrier remained.

At this time, Yamaguchi did not hesitate, and he immediately let the 8 "97 Ship Attackers" and 6 "99 Ship Explosions" on the "Zuihe" hang up torpedoes and bombs and take off to attack the northern sea again!

At this time, the nine cruisers of the 1st Task Force were heading south at 3o knots, and seven of them had radars. The radars on the four newly added "Li Jing" class large air defense cruisers are all improved models, and the continuous and reliable working time has been increased to eight hours, which is much better than the previous two hours. Therefore, the radars on these seven battleships are all on the ground.

Similarly, in addition to the two heavy cruisers and four destroyers that accompanied the retreat of the "Xuanzong", two of the remaining four heavy cruisers are now equipped with radars. One of the two radars is on, and the other is undergoing maintenance. The fleet no longer needs to hide its whereabouts. Naturally, there is no need to maintain radio silence.

The bombers were also in danger near the two aircraft carriers that returned to the 6th round. Many of the bombers returned home with injuries, and some of them even emitted black smoke, and the pilots were desperate. The aviation crews on the aircraft carrier were also in a hurry, and some of the bombers were directly abandoned because they were seriously damaged and could not be repaired quickly on the aircraft carrier, or important parts were damaged. This is an order given by Tan Renhao, and the fighter plane is lost, and it can be made up when it returns to the port, but the opportunity is missed. Then you will never be able to make up for it. This is also stipulated in the Naval Combat Regulations. The fleet commander can decide whether to abandon the heavily damaged fighters according to the actual situation to ensure the safety of the fleet and seize the opportunity.

Because the bomber must be recovered first. As well as the returning reconnaissance aircraft, so that there were only 12 fighters patrolling over the fleet. When the sirens sounded again, everyone was shocked.

"About a dozen Japanese planes have been spotted twenty nautical miles away!"

Hearing Lei Shaoqing say this, Tan Renhao breathed a sigh of relief, and there were only more than a dozen bombers.

The dozen or so bombers sent by Yamaguchi Wenta were undoubtedly moths to the fire. At present, the vigilance of the first task force of the Tang Empire has not been lifted, and the officers and men are on high alert. These more than a dozen bombers in a neat formation were first mistaken by the forward cruiser formation, and now the ground radar crew on the cruiser can mistake it for the returning bombers and did not attack. And when they come to their senses. The alarm was immediately returned, because there were no bombers of the Tang Empire to the south of the cruiser formation, and it was definitely the enemy bombers that began to pass.

The bombers circling over both carriers automatically dodged to make room for the fighters to take off. And the air crew was even more busy with the explosion, they recovered a batch of damaged bombers, and now they had to immediately eject the anti-aircraft fighters. As a result, the first fighters did not rise into the air until five minutes later.

Fortunately, there were 12 more anti-aircraft fighters patrolling the skies over the fleet at that time. Otherwise, this group of Japanese bombers will reach the aircraft carrier without hindrance and bomb in the air, which will definitely be a disaster. And just as these twelve fighters were entangled in the Japanese bomber group, more fighters were taking to the air in 6 consecutive days. Both aircraft carriers, as well as the gunners on the escort battleships, were also ready.

Only 1 dart Japanese bomber broke through the interception of anti-aircraft fighters with 4 darts. In an almost one-on-one situation, the "Sparrowhawk" was able to swing its volley performance to the limit. Six of the twelve pilots were already aces of the Imperial Naval Aviation, and all of them had more than five downed markings painted on the outside of their cockpits.

Tan Renhao watched the volley battle in the southern sky from the bridge of the commander of the "Taizu", and when the four "99 ship explosions" broke through the fighter interception, the anti-aircraft artillery in the fleet also roared angrily.

In the end, the two "99 ship explosions" that successfully dropped bombs did not escape the fate of annihilation, and the two bombs only exploded two huge splashes next to the "Taizu". When the air raid siren was lifted, Tan Renhao breathed a sigh of relief.

"Let the bombers land immediately, attack as soon as possible, don't give the enemy a second chance!" Tan Renhao didn't mean to blame his subordinates, because all the officers and men in the fleet had done their best.

Within 20 minutes, the returning bombers and reconnaissance planes landed on the flight decks of the two aircraft carriers. It was past nine-ten. The aviation crew checked the status of the planes as quickly as possible, and then attached bombs and torpedoes to the bombers to refuel. The pilots didn't even leave the cabin, and most of the pilots were seated in the cabin, and the attendants brought them water, chocolate biscuits, and other food.

At 9:25 a.m., the first "Kingfisher" left the flight deck of the "Taizu". By 9:40 a.m., 24 Kingfishers and 22 Ospreys6 had left the flight decks of the two aircraft carriers (the other bombers were too badly damaged to take part in the bombing operations), and they were escorted by the same group of anti-aircraft fighters that had taken off 45 minutes earlier. After the bombers took off, the "Sparrowhawk" and "Vulture" also left the flight deck in June, making up for the loopholes in the fleet's air defense network.

It took only one hour and 10 minutes for the First Task Force to complete preparations for the second wave of bombardment, which was 20 minutes earlier than the expected one and a half hours, and this also reflected the excellent quality of the officers and men of the First Task Force and their resoluteness and courage in an emergency.

At this time, the officers and men of the "Zuihe" in the First Air Fleet, which was heading south, were also busy refueling and loading ammunition for the returning bombers. Of the 19 bombers that returned, only 17 were still operating. Yamaguchi did not hesitate at all, he immediately ordered these 17 bombers to go out immediately, and another 12 "Zero Battles" were hung with bombs to be used as bombers, and the other 16 "Zero Battles" escorted them.

Smell of Yamaguchi began to fight desperately, he left only 14 air defense fighters in the fleet, and 8 of them had to land and refuel in half an hour. Thus, after half an hour, only 6 air defense fighters remained in the sky over the fleet. Yamaguchi Wenta's first thought was not to defend but to attack, and to attack with the last bit of strength!

It was already 9:45 a.m. when the first bomb-laden "Zero" took off. According to the distance between the two fleets at that time, the bomber group sent by Tan Renhao would reach the sky over the Japanese fleet in 25 minutes.

At this time, the distance between the 1st Air Fleet and the 1st Task Force (cruiser formation) was gradually widening, that is, the two sides no longer had the opportunity to shell each other, and could only rely on aviation to decide the victory.