For the Tang Empire's soldiers on the battlefield to show the kind of death-defying spirit and moving forward bravely, this makes many Westerners do not understand, such as Germany, Persia, the soldiers of countries allied with the Tang Empire and deeply influenced by the Tang Empire's culture do not understand why the soldiers of the Tang Empire will die on the battlefield as the highest honor for soldiers?

Spruance, who was on the battlefield, had a very direct understanding of this, and on the battlefield, he had never seen the Tang Empire soldiers who fled for fear of sacrifice, especially those pilots, who often did things on the battlefield that others could not think of. For example, in this bombing, none of the 25 torpedo bombers flew back, and none of the pilots voluntarily gave up the attack, and before they were shot down, they all rushed forward towards the target. In the proverb of the Tang Empire, this is like a moth to a fire, and the result must be tragic, as if these pilots regarded the death of their country as their final destination, burning their own lives, as the last symbol of their existence, and the struggle they had.

In the fierce battle, the fearless spirit of the soldiers of the Tang Empire not only shocked Spruance, but also every American soldier on the battleship. Perhaps in the fierce battle, the US officers and soldiers would not have thought of the brave fighting spirit of the pilots of the Tang Empire, but when they calmed down on the sea and in the sky, when they recalled the scene of the previous battle, they felt a tremendous shock. If all the soldiers of the Tang Empire were so death-defying and courageous, then the final winner of this war would certainly not be the United States.

"General......

Spruance was still thinking about the previous battle. Smoke billowed from the starboard side of the aircraft carrier, the officers and men on the deck were busy rushing, and groups of ground damage management team members rushed to the area where the aircraft carrier was on fire. Two destroyers also approached and were spraying seawater at the starboard side of the aircraft carrier.

to help extinguish the fire.

"General—"

Spruance reacted when the staff officer shouted a second time.

"The third batch of bombers has already arrived, will it land now? Also, do you want to continue to let the bombers go? ”

"Let the bomber land first." Spruance quickly regained his composure, "Put out the fire first."

Can the aircraft carrier continue to receive bombers? ”

The staff officer nodded, and immediately went to give the order to land those SBDs that had already reached the skies over the fleet to the aircraft carriers. Spruance also quickly got the answer, the aircraft carrier can continue to recover the bombers, but in order for the bombers to take off, the fire must be extinguished first, because the aviation gasoline pipeline connected to it has been closed at this time, and these pipes will not be opened until the fire is extinguished.

"First of all, extinguish the fire and try to keep the balance of the aircraft carrier." Spruance got the injury report. A second order was issued, "Within twenty minutes, the fire must be extinguished." If there is not enough manpower, let all the officers and soldiers go to extinguish the fire, using two or three times.

Four times as many people to extinguish the fire, and let the surrounding warships come and help put out the fire. The fire had to be extinguished in less than twenty minutes, and we had no more time. ”

Firefighting is a battle, and there are many flammable items on the battleship, including watertight rubber rings on the hatches, personal belongings of officers and men, and so on. In addition, there are thousands of tons of ground fuel and thousands of tons of various ammunition on board this aircraft carrier, and these explosives are all crowded into a small space that is no more than 200 meters long, no more than 20 meters wide, and no more than 10 meters above and below. As long as the fire spreads, then the aircraft carrier will be completely finished. Controlling the fire is the first step in rescuing the battleship, and it is also the most difficult step.

More and more officers and men threw themselves into the firefighting work, and many of them rushed in without even being given asbestos fireproof suits. Spruance glanced in the southwest direction, the two groups of bombers he sent should be almost there, and it is not yet known whether the aircraft carrier in the Tang Empire will be damaged, so he has to continue to let the bombers on the road. At this time, the fourth batch of SBDs arrived over the aircraft carrier and was waiting for the landing guide on the aircraft carrier to provide them with landing information.

"General, the fire has been initially controlled, the water inlet compartment has been isolated, we must fill the corresponding compartment on the port side with water, otherwise the aircraft carrier will have about two degrees of roll......"

"Then immediately fill the water and transfer all the ballast to the ship's cabins. Also, if it really doesn't work, you can let go of some heavy oil from the bow oil depot. Spruance glanced at the circling SBDs, "Immediately guide these bombers to land, can you get them to take off now?" ”

"It will take about 15 minutes to inspect the fire zone and make sure there are no hidden dangers."

Spruance nodded, hesitated for two seconds, and said: "Immediately prepare to refuel these bombers, first make sure that there are no hidden dangers near the oil pipeline, and then immediately prepare for the bombers to take off." ”

The staff officer was stunned for a moment, and finally went to carry out the order.

The 12 SBDs, which had been hovering over the aircraft carrier for several minutes and were about to run out of fuel, immediately entered the rear of the aircraft carrier after receiving the signal from the landing director on the aircraft carrier, descended in echelons, and then landed on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier one after another. Aviation crews are still busy, they are not participating in firefighting, but are checking two batches of bombers that have arrived in succession, and now it is not possible to refuel these bombers for the time being, they have time to check the status of the bombers.

The smoke has cleared a lot, and the aircraft carrier is still maintaining a speed of about 30 knots. According to Spruance's orders, the captain had ordered the corresponding compartment on the port side to be filled with seawater, and more than half of the heavy oil in the heavy oil tank in the bow was also discharged to offset some of the weight of the seawater pouring into the ship's hull. The ballast in the middle of the aircraft carrier was also transferred to the ship to ensure the longitudinal balance of the aircraft carrier.

On the aircraft carrier, more than 2,000 US Navy officers and men are working hard. Ten minutes later, the aviation gasoline pipeline was inspected, and no dark fire or leakage was found, and then, Spruance ordered to refuel the bombers parked on the flight deck, and at the same time let these bombers set off as fast as possible, and must not let go of the Tang Empire's aircraft carrier!

Each batch of four SBDs completed the refueling work together. Then it was immediately ejected, and fortunately, the catapult on the aircraft carrier was not damaged. So the bomber can also take off normally.

And the time it takes to refuel each four bombers is not very different from the time it takes to eject four bombers (the US military uses gravity refueling trucks, and it takes about four minutes to refuel a bomber). And the time of ejection once is about a minute and a half), the flight deck of the entire aircraft carrier is piled with personnel, bombers.

Spruance glanced at his watch, it was already past 12:10, and the bombers he sent arrived over Task Force 2 around 12:20. That is, those bombers have already approached Task Force 2! Will these 22 SBDs be able to take out the Tang Empire's ground aircraft carriers, at least make them unusable on the flight deck? Also, have the bombers of the Don Empire already set off? Thinking of this, Spruance couldn't help but be a little anxious, the bombers sent at this time could only reach the second task force at about half past one at the earliest, and at that time, maybe the "Franklin" would be finished!

"General, the report sent back by the bombers that they have discovered the fleet of the Tang Empire!" The time when the staff officer came to report was 12:16.

Spruance was taken aback. Immediately took the message, which was recorded by the communications officer on the basis of the report of the leader of the bomber group, when he saw the middle paragraph. Immediately laughed, the Tang Empire aircraft carrier ground bombers had not yet taken off, and two batches of SBDs arrived almost simultaneously, and 22 SBDs attacked at the same time. Then. He saw the following passage, Task Force 2 was only 180 nautical miles away from them, not 210 nautical miles!

"How many bombers do we have to go now?"

"Even if it's the batch of bombers that didn't take off before, there are about 33 that can go."

"Let all the bombers take off immediately, form a formation, and bomb the fleet of the Tang Empire according to this position!" Spruance returned the message to the staff officer, "Act quickly, the enemy's bombers have not yet departed, and blow up their aircraft carriers before the enemy's bombers depart!" ”

Of course, it is too late for this batch of bombers to rush over, and whether they can blow up the aircraft carrier of the Tang Empire depends on whether the batch of 22 SBDs that departed before can break through the anti-aircraft fire network of the Tang Empire's fleet.

Previously, on the aircraft carrier "Lake Bell," Zheng Guanhua had been waiting for news from Deng Zichao's aircraft group, but since Deng Zichao sent back the news that the US fleet had been discovered and was attacking the US fleet, there was no more news.

"General, they've run out of fuel by now, I'm afraid it's ......"

Zheng Guanhua glanced at the navigation clock, it was already past twelve o'clock, and the fuel of Deng Zichao's fleet lasted until twelve o'clock at most, or even less than twelve o'clock, even if the attack was successful, they had no way to return to the fleet, but the problem was that whether it was a success or a failure, Deng Zichao should also send back a message, so that the fleet commander could know the latest situation of the US fleet.

"When will those bombers be repaired?"

"At least twenty minutes, that's already the fastest speed."

Zheng Guanhua hesitated for a moment, and then asked the aviation combat staff officer to go to work first. He felt a little pain in his head, or rather his mind was confused, and he hadn't taken any advantage of the battle so far. But he believed that as long as Zhang Naiding's group set off, then the US aircraft carrier would be finished, and he could still retreat before 3 p.m. without giving the US small aircraft carriers any chance!

On the aircraft carrier, the aviation service personnel were desperately repairing the bombers, and the pilots of these bombers were also helping in the hangar, and Zhang Naiding was no exception. Pilots know their own planes well and are half aviation technicians, but now that there are not enough attendants, pilots can help them repair bombers faster.

At 12:10 a.m., the air defense sirens in the fleet sounded, and Zhang Naiding first thought that someone had pulled the wrong alarm, and then found that the sirens were not wrong, and it must be the enemy's bomber group approaching.

He immediately left the hangar and rushed towards the command compartment above. When he rushed over, Zheng Guanhua was busy arranging the air defense task of the fleet.

"General, the enemy aircraft group is still about 40 nautical miles, and it is rapidly approaching, and there are probably more than 20 bombers."

"The fleet immediately prepares for air defense operations." Zheng Guanhua was already anxious.

Zhang Naiding was startled at first, and immediately called a captain officer. "Enemy bombers?"

"Yes, it should be a dive bomber of the US military."

"Won't it be Deng Zichao?" Zhang Naiding simply couldn't believe that the carrier aircraft on the US aircraft carrier had long run out.

"No, Deng Zichao didn't send a message to return home, and they didn't have fuel to fly back."

Zhang Naiding let go of the captain and walked towards Zheng Guanhua.

"Colonel, your bomber group should be ready for takeoff immediately, go and arrange your pilots first." Zheng Guanhua also saw Zhang Naiding, "Now we don't have fighter planes to cover you, you also know the location of the US fleet, let the bomber group set off as soon as possible!" ”

Zhang Naiding didn't say anything, and immediately turned around and rushed out of the command cabin.

The aircraft carrier was in an unusually chaotic situation, and the 25 bombers parked on the flight deck were preparing for takeoff, but the problem was that none of the bombers had time to refuel, and the aviation crew had to refuel the bombers first. When Zhang Naiding came to the aviation operations center, the pilots were also concentrating on this side.

The aircraft carrier did not immediately turn, and the escorting cruisers did not leave, and as a last resort, they could only reduce the amount of fuel carried, reduce the take-off weight of the bombers, and then force the take-off without the aircraft carrier turning to sail against the wind.

"Brothers, this time we have to act separately." Zhang Naiding didn't talk nonsense, "25 bombers that can set off immediately will attack first, and I will bring the other eight bombers to follow." This time, we did not have escort fighters, nor torpedo bombers, and Colonel Deng Zichao had already lost contact with the fleet, perhaps he had ...... Whether we can defeat the enemy or win depends on our performance! ”

The pilots have long known the approximate location of the US fleet, and after Zhang Naiding gave the order to set off, all 50 pilots of the 25 bombers left the aviation operations center and rushed to their own landlines.