The result was not much different from Tan Renhao's expectations, and the third group of reconnaissance planes reached the maximum patrol radius at about 11 o'clock. This time, in addition to arranging a squadron of ground reconnaissance planes originally planned, the main commander also mobilized a squadron of ground bombers to carry out reconnaissance missions, so that the number of ground reconnaissance planes in the third batch reached 72, which is the sum of the number of reconnaissance planes in the first two batches. These reconnaissance planes repeatedly searched Blistol Bay. In the Celtic Sea, Kattingen Bay, the Irish Sea, and even several reconnaissance planes flew over nearby British ports and encountered British ground air defense fighters. In the end, the "Falcon" got rid of the enemy fighter ground attack with its excellent acceleration performance and low-altitude flight ability. But in the end, there was still no change, not a single reconnaissance plane discovered the British ground aircraft carrier, and it was not able to send back a reconnaissance report!

At half past eleven, after making sure that all the ground reconnaissance planes had reached the maximum reconnaissance radius and had flown for at least fifteen minutes in the demarcated search area, Tan Renhao ordered the squadron of fighters on standby on the flight deck to take off. Then, another squadron of fighters left the carrier. The two fighter squadrons were to go to find Task Force 3 and cover the withdrawal of Task Force 3 from the English Channel. But the problem is that until this time, Tan Renhao did not know the specific location of the Third Task Force, only that the Third Task Force was active in the rainstorm area, so both fighter squadrons would patrol in the southwest of the British mainland, that is, near Lyme Bay in the northwest of the Normandy Peninsula, which is the edge of the rainstorm area. If Task Force 3 is leaving the strait, it will appear in this area sooner or later!

At this time, Tan Renhao had already received the third telegram from the Sixth Task Force. The second round of British bomber attacks did not cause much damage to the 6th Task Force. The two squadrons of the 5th Task Force "Peregrine Falcon" successfully intercepted most of the British bombers, and in the end only the "Matsue" took two bombs, but there was no loss of speed, and the 6th Task Force was still rapidly retreating. By half-past eleven, the Sixth Task Force had already bypassed Cape Ag, with the exception of the "Fuzhou" and a few other battleships that had fallen behind. Sailing at full speed in the direction of the Bay of Biscay. The "Fuzhou" formation will also bypass Cape Ag at about 1 p.m. and enter a relatively safe sea area.

Probably the bad luck is finally over, and the good news keeps coming. At around 11:40 a.m., Tan Renhao received a telegram from the Imperial European Legion. The Germans had agreed to send fighter sorties to cover the 3rd and 6th task forces where they were retreating. In addition, the Luftwaffe had already bombed airfields in the southern part of Britain in the morning and would continue to carry out suppressive bombing of airfields in the southern part of the United Kingdom. Assist the Imperial fleet in its safe retreat. Other words. The Germans, who had been ambiguous until now, finally did what the Allies were supposed to do at this time. For Tan Renhao and the officers and men of the Imperial Navy, this must be good news, if the Luftwaffe is fully dispatched, then the British Royal Air Force will definitely have to consider its own safety first, and then how to deal with the retreating Tang Imperial fleet.

The attitude of the Germans changed 180 degrees at this time. It is also under strong pressure from the imperial government. It can be said that it was precisely because the Germans did not quickly inform the Tang Empire of the activities of the British fleet that the result was before the outbreak of the battle. Tan Renhao lacks sufficient intelligence support. In addition, the Germans had enough strength to blockade the Strait of Dover. At least it would have ensured that the British fleet would be able to detect its whereabouts as it passed through the Strait of Dover, but the Germans did not. Let the British fleet pass safely through the Strait of Dover. In the end, the Luftwaffe was supposed to bomb Britain at night, but on the night of the 22nd, the Luftwaffe canceled all the bombardments, which proved that the Germans had long known that the British fleet would pass through the strait and fight a decisive battle with the Tang Imperial fleet, and in order to retaliate against the Tang Imperial fleet for not going north with its "Far Eastern Fleet", Germany turned a blind eye on this matter. Closed his eyes and put the British a yard . also put the Tang Empire together!

The battle was in full swing in front of them, and the commanders of both fleets were desperately trying to win at the same time. Renfeng talked to Prime Minister Xue Xiyue on the phone for half an hour, and then Xue Xiyue called the German ambassador to the Prime Minister's Office in the early morning. I talked with the German ambassador for almost an hour. By 12 o'clock in the afternoon of imperial time, that is, in the early morning of the 23rd British time, Xue Xiyue also called the German Prime Minister directly. What the two prime ministers said on the phone, it is not known. But it was only after Prime Minister Xue Xiyue made a phone call that the Luftwaffe took action. By then, however, the British fleet had already passed through the Channel and encountered the 3rd Task Force. It was also impossible for the Luftwaffe to send bombers to bomb the British mainland before dawn, after all, the bomber units needed time to be ready for battle. As a result, the Luftwaffe reached the skies over mainland Britain after about half past nine a.m. London time. At this time, the British bombers were on their way to attack Task Force 6 for the second time!

Luftwaffe ground operations largely saved Task Force 3 and Task Force 6. Because the airfield was bombed. The RAF had to arrange for more fighters to carry out air defense missions, and at the same time dispatch bombers to attack the Luftwaffe airfields in the western part of Europe, and there was no way to organize a large bomber fleet again to deal with the retreating Tang fleet. In the afternoon of the same day, the Luftwaffe dispatched more than 1,000 bombers to bomb important military targets such as airfields in the southern part of the British mainland. In addition to the emergency dispatch of more than 100 bombers to the German airfield for the acute retaliatory bombing, the British Royal Air Force also deployed at least 500 fighters for the defense of the homeland. The ground fighting between the two air forces continued until the evening of the same day!

By this time, Task Force 6 was largely out of the dangerous seas, and as night fell, it was impossible for the RAF to pose a threat to Task Force 6. Tan Renhao also received a report on the battle damage from Gu Zhenyun at about six o'clock in the afternoon.

In the 6th Task Force, except for the battleship "Nanjing", it was unscathed. The other three battleships were damaged to varying degrees. Among them, the "Fuzhou" was the most seriously damaged, and although the officers and men on the battleship made the best efforts, the battleship must go to the nearest port to first plug the loopholes in the hull and then return to the imperial mainland for overhaul. The damage to the "Matsue" was not small, two of the battleship's three main gun turrets were in trouble, and in the second attack, an aviation armor-piercing projectile penetrated the horizontal armor at the bow of the battleship and blew off the battleship's nose, and these damages could only be repaired in the shipyards of the empire's own land." The situation of the Hefei was probably the best, only one bomb was hit, and only the hydraulic rotation mechanism of the turret was damaged. The problem was that in order to repair the turret, the turret had to be removed first, and this required a heavy crane. At that time, whether it was the German-controlled port, or the port of Spain, Portugal, or the fortress of Gibraltar, and the port of the Persian Empire in the Mediterranean, there were no large cranes with a lifting capacity of more than 600, so they could not undertake maintenance work, and the nearest port that could undertake this maintenance task was Colombo in the Indian Ocean! Other words. All three battleships had to be returned to the Empire for repairs, and they simply couldn't be repaired on this side of the Atlantic!

In addition to three battleships, the 6th Task Force lost one cruiser, as well as two destroyers. All three battleships were bombed while covering the retreat of the "Fuzhou". Although these escort warships successfully covered the "Fuzhou", they also paid a heavy price for it in the end. All three ships were sunk, and 200 officers and men lost their lives as a result. Fortunately, the other officers and soldiers who fell into the water were rescued.

At the time of receiving this telegram, Task Force 6 had entered the Bay of Biscay and was on its way to the southern part of the Bay of Biscay. The port of Santander in northern Spain, where it was to be anchored and the "Fuzhou" was to be briefly repaired before returning to the imperial mainland. The Sixth Task Force had already escaped, but Tan Renhao was not at ease at this time, because the Third Task Force had not yet appeared at this time. The second batch of fighters he sent out in the afternoon was about to return home, and the 3rd Task Force still did not take the initiative to contact the 1st Task Force. How can this make Tan Renhao relaxed?

Not only Tan Renhao couldn't take it easy, but all the officers in the fleet headquarters couldn't take it easy at this time. It stands to reason that Task Force 3 should have left the rainstorm area at about 1 p.m. at the latest, and rendezvous with the fighters heading to the receiving ground, but it was already past six o'clock, and Task Force 3 had not yet appeared. What exactly is Chang Jie Xin doing?

". Send a telegram again! Tan Renhao was a little impulsive when he waited, "Let Chang Jianxin call back immediately and report the location of the Third Task Force and the current situation......

"General, telegram!" I haven't finished talking about Renhao. The communications staff officer shouted.

Soon, the message was translated, and this was exactly where Task Force 3 had arrived. It was also the first telegram sent by Task Force 3 since the battle began. When Tan Renhao finished reading the contents of the telegram. He was stunned, too, and then he laughed. than he is impatient. Chang Jianxin is much calmer than him!

By half past nine in the morning, Task Force 3 was free from British bomber pursuit. Only two of the destroyers left behind did not have time to escape the rainstorm and were sunk by British bombers. After entering the rainstorm zone. Chang Jiexin did not let the fleet continue to retreat, but lingered in the rainstorm area for nearly an hour, until the rainstorm clouds moved southward for about 15 nautical miles, that is, after reaching the sky above the sea where the destroyer was sunk, he sent two destroyers and a cruiser to find and rescue the officers and men who had fallen overboard. And managed to save 500 people. This decision reflects the calmness of the new land. At the same time, he also showed his love for the officers and men of the fleet, although this prevented the 3rd Task Force from leaving the battlefield quickly. But it was supported by almost everyone.

The search and rescue work continued until about eleven o'clock, by which time the storm clouds had left the British mainland and were heading towards the southern part of the Channel. That is, the movement in the direction of France. If the previous route had been continued, the fleet would have left the storm area at about two o'clock in the afternoon, and Chang Zhixin did not know that the Luftwaffe had bombed the British airfield before that, so he did not dare to risk it again. In the end, Chang Jianxin made an extremely bold decision. Continue to stay in the storm zone. Wait until it gets dark before you pull out of the English Channel at full speed.

The decision must have been risky, if the storm clouds entered the skies over France, it would leave the English Channel and Task Force 3 would be unprotected. Can be judged by the meteorological officer. The high temperature airflow over the land will prevent the southward movement of the storm clouds, or at least reduce the speed of the clouds, so the storm in the interior of the strait will continue until after dark. It will only leave the sky above the strait at night. It was based on the judgment of the meteorological officer that he made such a bold decision. Again, in order to ensure the concealment of Task Force 3, he did not send a telegram and therefore did not contact Task Force 1.

The meteorological officer's judgment was quite accurate, because the temperature over the continent was higher than over the ocean, so in the afternoon the rainstorm clouds moved much slower, and they never left the strait, tossing for several hours in the southern part of the strait, that is, near the coastline of France. The 3rd Task Force has been hiding under the storm clouds, although the sea is very windy and rough. The battleship was very bumpy, which made the officers and men very uncomfortable, but it was nothing compared to the safety of the fleet.

It was precisely because of this that the Third Task Force spent several hours of the afternoon without danger, until after ten o'clock, when Chang Jiexin ordered the fleet to turn southwest and prepare to leave the English Channel, that he sent a telegram informing Tan Renhao of his whereabouts.

It can be said that when retreating, Chang Zhixindi behaved quite calmly, never panicked, and made a very correct decision, so that the 3rd Task Force escaped the disaster. By late at night on the 23rd, the 3rd Task Force had left the English Channel and entered the bay, completing the ground operation.

By this time, in the third task force, except for the "Nanchang" and "Guiyang", there was some damage. and two destroyers were sunk, and the rest of the ships were only slightly damaged. Relatively. The Third Task Force can be regarded as a complete retreat, and the Third Task Force is much luckier than the Sixth Task Force that has been hit hard!