The real test is the 3rd and 6th task forces, which are sailing in the strait. When the sky is gradually getting brighter. These two task forces could be bombed by the RAF at any time. At about half past six. That is, after Chang Jianxin received the telegram from the Sixth Task Force, he also received a telegram from Tan Renhao. This is Tan Renhao's telegram of the order for Chang Zhixin to withdraw from the battle site at full speed, and before that, the third task force was already retreating at full speed. Ten minutes later, at about 6:40 a.m., the first fighter squadron sent by Task Force 2 reached the skies over Task Force 3. According to the previous plan, Task Force 2 will arrange at least two fighter squadrons to provide air defense cover for Task Force 3, but this is a plan for Task Force 3 to operate together with Task Force 6, and Task Force 6 has not yet joined Task Force 3, so it is necessary to assign a squadron of fighters to cover Task Force 6.

The euphoria after the victory did not last long, and was quickly replaced by a tense atmosphere, especially as the sky gradually brightened, not only Chang Zhixin felt a little nervous, but even the ordinary officers and men on the battleship felt nervous. They were most worried about RAF ground bombers.

Comparatively speaking, the RAF is not very large. At the time of the defeat of France, the British Royal Air Force had only about 5,000 aircraft, including 5,000, including 950 fighters, 1,700 bombers, and hundreds of other reconnaissance aircraft. However, an air force that can hold out under the indiscriminate bombardment of the Luftwaffe and the expeditionary aviation of the Tang Empire for several years, and has always defended its own airspace, is by no means a weak air force. In addition, in the past few years of fighting, the British Royal Air Force has also achieved a lot of brilliant results. For example, in 24 years, three large-scale bombings of Hamburg, Germany, were carried out, which was the first large-scale use of incendiary bombs in a European theater of strategic bombing. The fire continued to burn in Hamburg for three days and three nights, eventually killing nearly 200,000 civilians. Millions of people were left homeless, almost 60% of Hamburg's industrial facilities were destroyed, and more than half of homes were burned. In addition, in the Mediterranean theater, the British Royal Air Force also blocked the Persian Empire's naval forces many times, and successfully compressed the Persian Empire's Mediterranean fleet in the eastern Mediterranean, and did not dare to rush westward. The RAF also performed well in the battle against the German Navy in the North Sea, especially in the battle to encircle and destroy three small battleships of the "Deutschland" class. The RAF ground reconnaissance aircraft played a crucial role in eventually pointing the way for the British Home Fleet and successfully intercepting the German fleet.

In terms of equipment. The RAF is not bad either. In the early days of the war. The RAF is mainly equipped with its own combat aircraft, such as "Hurricane" and "Spitfire" fighters, "Lancaster" and "Mosquito" bombers. Available by the end of 24. With the beginning of the large-scale strategic bombing of the British mainland by the Luftwaffe and the expeditionary aviation of the Tang Empire, the British aircraft industry in the local area was dealt a heavy blow. It is no longer possible to provide the RAF with enough good combat aircraft. Since the second half of the 25th year, American fighters have become the main equipment of the British Royal Air Force, and most of them are provided by the United States to Britain free of charge. Some of the aircraft were even adapted to the British national context. Like what. At that time, the P-51 series fighters provided by the United States to Britain were used in the "Grayback Falcon" engine developed and produced by the United Kingdom, and it was proved that the P-51 had better performance when this engine was used. This is the production of the P-51C type fighter for the British alone.

By this time, in addition to the 200 Spitfires, the main force of the RAF's fighter force was 700 P-51 series fighters. In addition, the RAF is armed with about 1,200 B-17 and B-24 column-to-ground heavy bombers. Comparatively speaking, these fighters and heavy bombers were not a great threat to Task Force 3, after all, the most powerful weapon against warships was tactical bombers. The most worrying thing is that the British Royal Air Force is equipped with 400 "Mosquito" bombers.

Throughout the history of the bomber ground. The "Mosquito" bomber developed by the British can definitely occupy a place, the reason is very simple, this is the second global war, the main structure made of wood, the most excellent performance, the largest output, the most active bomber in the war.

In anticipation of the outbreak of war, the British decided to try to solve the problem before the outbreak of war. At that time, the main material used to make fighter planes was aluminum. In order to produce aluminum, it is necessary to have a sufficient supply of electricity. Throughout the war . Only the Tang Empire and the United States had sufficient power resources, and other countries lacked electricity. Therefore, at that time the British thought . Replace aluminum with wood. Creates an airplane that is as light as a swallow and extremely fast. And this is where the "Mosquito" bomber comes from.

The RAF was very satisfied with its performance in 22, the year after the outbreak of the war, and although the use of wood as the main structure makes people feel that it is an extremely backward fighter, because only during the First World War did the fighter use wood as the main structure, but it was precisely because of the use of wood as the main structure." The "mosquito" bomber was extremely inexpensive, and at the same time, its weight was effectively controlled, and its speed became the most effective weapon. Since the end of the war, the Mosquito bomber was still the fastest flying medium bomber during the war!

It is precisely because of its speed and performance advantage that the British Royal Air Force initially used the "Mosquito" bomber as a reconnaissance aircraft, which was used to go deep behind enemy lines and carry out high-risk reconnaissance missions. Absolutely." The "mosquito" bomber is not just fast. At the time of its design, it had a standard bomb load of 1,000 pounds, and later in test flights, it was able to take off safely even with 4,000 ground bombs. Even during a test flight, because of the negligence of the crew, as a result, the plane was loaded with 10,000 pounds of ballast, and the bomber still took off safely!

The RAF quickly recognized that the Mosquito bomber's advanced capabilities allowed it to be used not only for reconnaissance missions, but also for more combat missions. Throughout the war, more than 20 improved versions of the Mosquito bomber were put into combat. In addition to performing reconnaissance. In addition to the two basic tasks of bombing, the RAF also installed radar and enhanced cannon firepower for use as a night fighter.

Since the beginning of service, the "Mosquito" bomber has been extremely active on the battlefield. After 23 years of formal service, the "Mosquito" reconnaissance aircraft appeared in the rear of the German land many times, and easily got rid of the pursuing fighters with its speed advantage, and since then, the name of this "wooden aircraft" has spread. In 24 years, the "mosquito" bomber not only participated in the Royal Air Force's "1,000-plane bombing" operation against the German big cities, but also broke into the sky over Berlin many times, disrupting the German army's awareness of military parades. The German Prime Minister was extremely angry, and the Luftwaffe had to adjust the rear air defense deployment, deploying more air defense forces in the rear instead of being able to engage in the front battle. Other than that. During the war, the "Mosquito" bombers mostly broke through the ground with a single plane, relying on their speed advantage to go deep behind enemy lines and carry out harassing bombing, so as to disrupt the deployment of German ground air defense. Reduced the pressure on the ground on the frontal battlefield. It can be said that . From the beginning of its service, the performance of the "Mosquito" bomber has been extremely eye-catching. By the beginning of the 27th century, the "Mosquito" bombers had carried out 40,000 sorties, dropped more than 100,000 bombs, and only 250 were shot down, and their battle loss rate was only about 6.3 per 1,000, which was only one-third of the average battle loss rate of bombers during the war!

It is this bomber that worries Chang Jianxin. Because of its separation from the English Channel, the RAF is not equipped with many tactical bombers, and its surface-to-sea bombing capabilities are quite limited. The real threat to the fleet is the "Mosquito" bomber. Equipped with two engines and capable of reaching a maximum speed of 650 kilometers per hour, the bomber was not much slower than the Peregrine Falcon fighter of the Imperial Navy at that time. With 1000 bombs on the ground, its range reaches an astonishing 2400 kilometers, and the firepower for self-defense is so strong that it does not even need fighter escort. More critically, the "Mosquito" bomber has a sea-to-sea bomber ground version, which can carry aviation torpedoes. In other words, the RAF could have formed a whole bomber group with the Mosquito bombers. There are "torpedo bombers", there are "dive bombers", and there are even temporary cameo "escort fighters".

In order to ensure the safety of the fleet, Chang Jiexin had to make a decision that was a bit like a strong man with a broken arm. He left two destroyers about 20 nautical miles behind the fleet, and arranged for two destroyers to carry out a guard mission to the north of the fleet, and these four destroyers jointly monitored the direction of the British mainland and provided air defense alert for the fleet. In addition, after receiving the telegram from the First Task Force, he called the Sixth Task Force and asked Gu Zhenyun to catch up as soon as possible. When the two task forces are combined, the density of anti-aircraft fire will increase considerably. Nine battleships. A dozen cruisers, as well as more than thirty ground destroyers, were able to weave several layers of dense anti-aircraft artillery fire. It would be difficult for any enemy aircraft to break through such dense anti-aircraft fire. Subsequently. He sent another telegram to Task Force 2, asking Hao Dongjue if he could send more fighters over. But the weather that really protects Task Force 3 is the weather, as long as the weather is bad, then the fleet can avoid being bombed, if the weather starts to improve. No matter how hard Task Force 3 tried, it would be impossible to block the concentrated attack of hundreds of bombers!

"That's when the weather forecast was made." The nautical staff officer sent the third weather forecast in the morning, and according to the requirements of the new land, the weather forecast officer of the fleet should analyze the weather changes every hour and guide the direction of the fleet's navigation." A depression will form over the west of the Strait and will be around 9am. Thunderstorms over the southwest of the UK mainland. But ......"

The nautical staff officer didn't continue, and Chang Zhixin also knew what it meant. The low-pressure air mass will come from the north and the thunderstorm area will first appear in the sea near the UK mainland and then gradually move south. Because it is impossible to determine the velocity of the low-pressure air mass, it is impossible to judge when the rainstorm area will appear in the central and southern seas of the strait. If the air mass was moving fast, then before the British bomber group arrived, the fleet could have entered the rainstorm area, and the British bombers would have to return in vain. But if the other way around. Then it will be impossible for the fleet to enter the rainstorm zone, and it will not be able to escape the bombardment!

What to do? Do you take the risk of approaching the British mainland and actively burrow into the rainstorm zone, or do you continue to sail southwest at full speed and leave the Channel as soon as possible? Chang Zhixin hesitated for a few seconds. Then he asked the nautical staff: "How big is the area of the rainstorm area?" ”

"Large, the low-pressure zone is expanding. And now is the time of bad weather in the North Atlantic, and the low pressure air mass will definitely last for a while, if we have enough range. And if we can talk until the afternoon, then we can leave the strait in the rainstorm area! "The meaning of the nautical staff is also very clear. Instead of sailing under clear skies to the south, it's better to venture north.

Chang Jianxin has a bit of a headache, after all, this decision is related to the third task force and the life and death of tens of thousands of officers and soldiers. If the weather changes again, and he ventures north, then Task Force 3 will take the initiative to send the enemy's guns on the ground. But the problem is that if you continue to retreat southwest at the current course and speed. Then sooner or later it will be attacked by British bombers, and the losses of the fleet will not be small!

"Call Task Force 2 Ground Fighter Group." Chang Jiexin had to make a decision, "Let them escort us into the Rainstorm Zone, and then go cover Task Force 6. This time, we're either going to be out of the way, or we're going to be completely killed by the enemy, and I don't want to be crippled and return to the Empire. Get your fleet ready to turn to the ground, and in five minutes turn to a new course! ”

The order was given quickly, and no one objected to the commander's decision, perhaps too nervous. Previously, Task Force 3 had been trying to stay as far away from the British mainland as possible, but now it was going to take the initiative to move closer to the British mainland. Maybe many people think that the third task force is taking the initiative to send him to death, but Chang Zhixin knows very well that this is his only choice. If Task Force 3 wants to get out of the way, he'll have to take the risk. On the contrary, if the fleet continues to sail southwest, maybe the losses will not be very large, but now the fleet is fighting thousands of miles away from the mainland of the Empire, not to mention heavy losses, even if there is a slight problem with the battleship, it will have to return to the mainland of the empire for repairs. It is impossible to go into battle within a few months, or even half a year, so what is the difference between it and a sinking battle? And Chang Jiexin never wanted to leave the battlefield at this time, for him, the battle of the Third Task Force in the Atlantic had just begun!