At that time, the situation on the battlefield was extremely complicated, and Tan Renhao had already thought that Spruance had called both carrier-based bombers and shore-based bombers at the same time, and asked the shore-based bombers to land on the aircraft carrier after completing the bombing. But the problem is that he has no grasp of his own judgment, especially whether the Fifth Fleet is in the east or southeast.

What made Tan Renhao wonder was the time when the first batch of bombers arrived, and the fact that these bombers did not have fighter cover.

Judging from the time of the arrival of the bombers, the 1st Task Force was exposed before 7:20 a.m., and the bombers on Necker Island took off immediately and arrived at the 1st Task Force after 9 o'clock. In addition, this batch of bombers did not get the cover of fighters, and the carrier-based bombers would definitely have fighter cover. There is also the quality of the US pilot, which makes Tan Renhao judge that it is a shore-based bomber on Necke Island, not a carrier-based bomber of the Fifth Fleet. Computer station.. cn

But the problem is also here: if these bombers want to land in the Fifth Fleet, then the Fifth Fleet should be about 200 nautical miles away from the First Task Force, otherwise the surplus fuel on the US bombers will not be guaranteed to fly to the Fifth Fleet. And Spruance will definitely receive the location information of the First Task Force immediately, and he will definitely get the bombers ready to take off before dawn, then the carrier-based bombers of the Fifth Fleet only need to fly 20 nautical miles, which should arrive nearly an hour earlier than the shore-based bombers. Even if Spruance needed time to get his bombers to hang up their bombs, and the carrier-based bombers were not as fast as the shore-based bombers, they should have arrived 20 minutes to half an hour earlier. Other words. It should be the carrier-based bombers of the Fifth Fleet that reach the skies over Task Force 1 first, and not the shore-based bombers that arrive first!

Obviously, the judgment made by the situation on the battlefield for these two days is completely contradictory. This made Tan Renhao a little confused. And these two contradictory judgments actually mean that the Fifth Fleet is likely to be in two directions. Spruance could not have dispersed the Fifth Fleet, and the Fifth Fleet could not organize a large fleet of 120 bombers. So. Where the hell is the Fifth Fleet?

It is precisely because of this that Tan Renhao asked Hao Dongjue to arrange for several reconnaissance planes to take off urgently and search and fly in the southeast direction, that is, in the direction of Necke Island, regardless of whether the Fifth Fleet is here or not.

The possibilities exist. Of course, Tan Renhao is still more inclined to the former judgment, and it was the US shore-based bombers that began to bomb them, not carrier-based bombers. But the question is, why didn't the carrier-based bombers of the Fifth Fleet arrive immediately?

Tan Renhao thought of three reasons: First, the Fifth Fleet was not within the scope of attacking the First Task Force and was still maneuvering. However, there is obviously a problem with this, if the Fifth Fleet is not within the range of attacking the First Task Force, then the shore-based bombers on Necker Island will not be able to land on the aircraft carriers of the Fifth Fleet, unless the American pilots carry out suicide attacks. Otherwise, they would not have set off, and until the war has been fought, American pilots have never committed suicide attacks. The second reason was that the bombers of the Fifth Fleet were not ready to take off.

But it's also unlikely, Spruance isn't the kind of person who sharpens his guns. The third reason is that the Fifth Fleet has not received information, but this is certainly not possible, since the US shore-based bombers have arrived. Spruance must have received the information.

Even if it was no longer credible, after ruling out two absolutely impossible factors, Tan Renhao had to believe that the bomber group of the Fifth Fleet departed much later, and the reason was that it was not able to prepare for departure in time. It's hard to believe, but it's the only possibility.

If this is the case, then the Fifth Fleet must be to the east of the First Task Force, a little south, about 200 nautical miles!

When Tan Renhao was judging the battle situation, the officers and men in the fleet were busy. At about half past nine, the "Gaoyouhu" aircraft carrier battle group arrived at a position about 1 seames south-east of the "Hongzehu" battle group, about 15 nautical miles, and about 20 nautical miles from the "Xingkaihu" aircraft carrier battle group. At the same time, the fighters of the three squads refilled the aircraft carrier with ammunition and refueled, and returned to the skies over the fleet. According to Tan Renhao's arrangement, the fighters of the nine squads (in fact, there were only 92 fighters, and 16 were lost in the previous battle) were all concentrated within 90 degrees to the east of the fleet, and every three squads formed an interception line, with the aircraft group led by Colonel An Shile at the outermost periphery, and the aircraft group led by Colonel Yao Boyan on the second line of defense.

"Dongjue, get the bomber ready to take off."

"Now?" Hao Dongjue glanced at Tan Renhao in surprise, "Our reconnaissance plane hasn't discovered it yet." ”

"No matter, there's no time for us to wait, if we don't let the bomber take off now, I'm afraid it's ......"

Before Tan Renhao's words were finished, the air defense sirens sounded, and they were very hurried, indicating that the size of the enemy aircraft group was very large, and it was already approaching the fleet.

"General, the enemy aircraft group is to the east of us, 60 nautical miles away, the cruiser 'White Tiger' was the first to discover, and Colonel Ellslo's aircraft group has already caught up!"

Tan Renhao and Hao Dongjue were both surprised, they looked at the navigation clock at the same time, it was only 9:35, and this time it must be the carrier-based bombers of the Fifth Fleet.

"Organize air defense first." Tan Renhao made a decisive decision, "Three groups of fighters take turns, don't let the enemy aircraft group break in, in addition, contact Ansler and Yao Boyan, the US military is very likely to have two batches of bombers, don't have any negligence!" ”

This time it was indeed the carrier-based bombers sent by Spruance, and there were 48 SBDs, 36 TBDs, and 36 escorted F4U in this batch of bombers. The first to encounter the US military aircraft group were 31 "Falcons" of three squads led by Colonel Ellsler. The fighters of the two sides immediately became entangled, and the task of Ansler was to drive away the US escort fighters when the US bomber group attacked the second air defense interception line, so that Colonel Yao Boyan could lead the ground fighters to intercept the US bombers.

Ansloth was the first to discover. The quality of the US pilots who arrived this time was much higher. While they were entangled with the US escort fighters, the US bomber group had already begun to disperse, and the SBD immediately accelerated. The TBD, on the other hand, is rapidly decreasing in height. Apparently, the US bomber pilots were well aware. The time that the escort fighters bought them was quite limited, and they had to seize this opportunity to break through the interception of the air defense fighters and kill them in the skies above the fleet. But these U.S. pilots don't know one thing, and that is that they are ahead of them. There are also at least six squads of anti-aircraft fighters forming a ground interception line, as well as an anti-aircraft fire network consisting of anti-aircraft guns on battleships!

"Ellor's report, this time it must be a carrier-based bomber of the US military!"

Tan Renhao nodded. "Spruance is just east of us, and he's sure to send two groups of bombers out in a row, about half an hour apart, to let the fighters land first to refuel and ammunition."

"Don't arrange for the bomber to take off first?"

Tan Renhao shook his head. "Withstand the enemy's blows first, since Huang Xiaotian can withstand Halsey's two waves of blows, then why can't we do it? Only by saving himself can he have the ability to take out Spruance. Now, Spruance has used all his powers. In the short term, it will be difficult for the Fifth Fleet to restore the air strike force, and we have enough time to clean him up. ”

Hao Dongjue hesitated. The question is, can they withstand three waves of bombardment in a row, and two of them were bombed by the carrier-based aviation of the Fifth Fleet, the most elite of the US Navy?

The qualities of the pilots were very clearly manifested at this time. The Fifth Fleet's aviation is one of the most experienced units of the US Naval Aviation, and the pilots who have survived several battles have been the best. Especially that group of fighter pilots, who knew exactly what to do when attacking the enemy fleet.

Ansler and they also quickly discovered this, the US escort fighters did not entangle with the air defense fighters too much, but tried to protect the bombers, so that the air defense fighters could easily attack the bombers. This is the smartest tactic, after all, it is impossible for the number of escort fighters to exceed the number of air defense fighters, and if they blindly entangle with the air defense fighters, they will only lead to the bombers being slaughtered by the enemy.

Five minutes later, the fighters of the squadron led by Yao Boyan entered the battle, and by this time, the situation had changed, and the frequency of American bombers being shot down was getting faster and faster. At a distance of about 25 nautical miles from the fleet, the third group of fighters went into battle, and the air defense fighters had an overwhelming advantage.

After World War II, the Tang Imperial Navy made a statistic that if the number of air defense fighters and enemy aircraft was more than one to two, then the superiority of the air defense of the fleet would be extremely obvious. This has been summed up through many actual battles, that is to say, if one air defense fighter is against two enemy aircraft, then the penetration efficiency of enemy aircraft will be very low, so low that it is difficult to pose a fatal threat to the fleet. Of course, this is not a certain ratio, after all, there are too many factors that affect the battle, such as the anti-aircraft fire of the fleet, the deployment position of the fighters, and how many are engaged in the battle at the same time, the quality of the pilots, and the performance of the fighters are all key factors.

At this time, there were more than 90 fighters over the first task force, while only 120 US fighters (including escort fighters) attacked. That is, the superiority of the air defense of Task Force 1 is obvious, and it is true. From 9:40 a.m. to 9:55 a.m., when the U.S. bombers approached the fleet's inner anti-aircraft artillery fire net, more than three-quarters of the U.S. bombers had already been shot down. In the end, only 22 US fighters were able to break through the interception of fighter planes and enter the fleet's anti-aircraft artillery fire network.

All 12 SBDs headed for the nearest aircraft carrier, the "Gaoyouhu", and four covering F4Us followed, and machine-gun fire was fired at the anti-aircraft gun positions on the nearby escort warships.

On the sea, 6 TBDs were also quickly bypassing the escort warships and killing directly towards the aircraft carrier.

"The U.S. bombers are approaching the 'Gaoyouhu' aircraft carrier."

Tan Renhao was already standing by the porthole on the right side, looking towards the "Gaoyou Lake" aircraft carrier battle group in the distance. The distance was too far away to see only the smoke from those shells that exploded above the aircraft carrier battle group, and the American fighters hit by anti-aircraft shells dragging their black tails into the sea.

"The problem should not be very big, there are not many bombers that break through the fighter interception.

Hao Dongjue also walked over.

Tan Renhao nodded slightly. "Contact Ansler and Yao Boyan and ask them to immediately count the number of fighters that need to return to replenish fuel and ammunition, and let these fighters land on the other two aircraft carriers as soon as possible. The second group of bombers will definitely arrive soon, we don't have much time to reorganize the air defense network! ”

Hao Dongjue immediately went to arrange the relevant work, as the commander of the aviation, he also knew that if Spruance sent two groups of bombers in a row, then the interval between the arrival of these two groups of bombers would be within half an hour to forty minutes. And counting the time spent on intercepting the first batch of bombers, they have only 20 minutes at most to prepare, so now it is necessary to seize every minute to restore the air defense of the fleet.

The battle was so tense that people couldn't breathe, and just as the "Gaoyouhu" aircraft carrier was still evading the attack of the US bombers, the first batch of fighters, which were about to run out of fuel, flew towards the other two aircraft carriers. Because the distance between the three carrier battle groups had been widened, the fighters were not intercepted by anti-aircraft guns. Then, the fighters were ready to land on the carrier, and neither carrier turned around, and the carrier only had to keep sailing at full speed when it came to receiving the fighters, which were running out of fuel.

"General, the 'Gaoyou Lake' has been shot!"

Tan Renhao's gaze immediately turned from the fighter plane that was landing outside and looked towards the staff officer.

"A bomb hit an anti-aircraft gun position behind the port side of the aircraft carrier, and the results of the damage have not yet come out."

Then, new news came that the aircraft carrier "Gaoyouhu" received a second bomb, which hit the tail end of the aircraft carrier's flight deck and, after penetrating two decks, exploded near the rear aviation gasoline depot, causing a fire.

Tan Renhao also immediately saw the fire on the aircraft carrier, and the attack of the US bombers had ended.

"Put out the fire immediately and put out the fire as soon as possible!" Tan Renhao gritted his teeth, "The fighter must be launched immediately, tell everyone to move quickly......"

More and more news is coming that now they are not only in a race against the enemy, but also against time!