After receiving the report of the reconnaissance plane, Hao Dongjue only laughed, and the US military reacted, but what was the point of sending the reconnaissance plane at this time. But then, Hao Dongjue couldn't laugh, because at that time, there was a group of "reconnaissance eagles" on the way back to the fleet, and if the US reconnaissance planes followed the returning reconnaissance planes. But after thinking about it again, Hao Dongjue felt that his worries were ridiculous; it was not yet dawn, and the reconnaissance plane was more than 30 nautical miles away from the US fleet, and it was difficult to see the warships on the sea even when flying, so how could the pilots of the US reconnaissance planes use their naked eyes to look for those much smaller planes in the sky?

"The bomber group is dispatched."

Hao Dongjue came back to his senses, he looked at the navigation clock, it was already five o'clock, and it took only 10 minutes to take off 36 bombers, which can be regarded as a very fast speed. At this time, aviation service personnel are sending fighter jets on escort duty to the flight deck, and each aircraft carrier will dispatch 12 fighters.

The second task force is responsible for the first round of bombing is Colonel Zhang Naiding, and the bomber group of the second task force will be the first to reach the sky over the US fleet, and Zhang Naiding will also be responsible for commanding the bomber groups of the other two task forces to fight, (the fastest update......) This is a little bit of a privilege for Task Force 2.

In order to reduce the work pressure of aviation crews, the "Falcons" of each aircraft carrier carried the same ammunition, that is, either torpedoes or bombs. Thus, two of the three bomber squadrons dispatched by Task Force 2 carried 500 kg of aviation armor-piercing shells, and the other squadron carried aviation torpedoes.

At that time, Zhang Naiding did not choose the more powerful 800-kilogram aviation armor-piercing projectile that had just been equipped with the troops. The new armor-piercing projectile itself was not designed against aircraft carriers, but against battleships of the "Montana" class. At the end of 27, that is, shortly before the entry into service of the battleships of the "Montana" class, Imperial intelligence obtained an important performance data of the battleships of this class, namely the equipping of a two-layer horizontal armor deck with a thickness of more than 250 mm. And the Imperial Navy also organized a special test. As a result, it turned out that a 500-kilogram aviation armor-piercing projectile would generally have a hard time penetrating two layers of horizontal armor deck. Unlike the side armor, the horizontal armor was laid in full force, and there was no problem with focused defense. That is, with a high probability that the "Montana" class battleships could not be threatened with the use of 500 kg of aviation armor-piercing shells. Under these circumstances, the Imperial Navy launched an emergency research and development program, requiring several arsenals to come up with better bombs as soon as possible.

The best thing to do, naturally, is to improve the bomb design. The armor-piercing ability was increased without increasing the weight as much as possible, so that the various bombers equipped by the Navy at that time could be used without the problem of improving the bombers. However, at that time there was simply no time to design new bombs, especially after the "Montana" class battleships were put into service, and the Navy realized that the "New Provincial Capital" class was most likely not the opponent of the "Montana" class, and to take out such perverted battleships, it would still have to rely on bombers. In this case, the Navy adopted the method submitted by the Qingdao Arsenal, that is, to create a larger bomb by magnification. Temporarily meet the need to deal with battleships of the "Montana" class. And this is the 800-kilogram aviation armor-piercing projectile that was delivered to Panama only at the end of July. Proof of test. Such a bomb could penetrate horizontal armor at least 300 mm thick, which was enough to deal with the Montana-class battleships. Of course, it is not a problem to deal with the "Essex" class aircraft carriers, which are much weaker armor, and the "Midway" class aircraft carriers that the United States is building.

The 500-kilogram aviation armor-piercing projectile is enough to deal with the "Essex" class aircraft carrier, and a large number of actual combat has proved that the 500-kilogram armor-piercing projectile has absolute lethality against the aircraft carrier. With 300 kg less ammunition, you can bring 300 kg more fuel, or reduce the weight of the aircraft, improve the maneuverability of the aircraft, and increase the maximum speed by more than a dozen knots, which is a good choice. If Zhang Naiding really wanted to choose, he would rather hang an extra 500-kilogram aviation armor-piercing bomb than use a heavier bomb. At the time of dive bombing, though. It doesn't make much sense to drop two bombs at the same time, if you hit it, one bomb is enough to make the aircraft carrier lose its combat effectiveness, if you miss it, it is a waste to drop two, and if you drop two bombs, you need to change the bombing tactics, the bomber dives for a longer period of time, and the first bomb is thrown at a higher point. All this was not beneficial to bombing, so most bomber pilots at that time only carried multiple bombs when carrying out ground bombing missions, and did not hang more than one bomb when carrying out sea bombing missions, at most they brought some small bombs to disrupt the enemy's line of sight and deal with the anti-aircraft guns on the enemy's warships.

After the group departed, Zhang Naiding did not wait for Jiang Wenhan behind him, the two of them have been partners for several years, and the cruising speed of the "Peregrine Falcon" is much faster than that of the "Falcon", and the combat radius this time is only about 300 nautical miles, Jiang Wenhan can even fly at high speed all the way, and there is no need to be afraid of not having fuel to let him return to the aircraft carrier.

Less than six o'clock, the escort fighter group led by Jiang Wenhan flew to the front, and soon, the escort fighter group of the other two task forces also surpassed Zhang Naiding's bomber group, while the other two bomber groups followed Zhang Naiding to the US fleet not far behind.

Although only a third of the fighters in the fleet were dispatched this time, the number was already quite large. The US military has only one task force, and if the proportion of carrier-based aircraft is not changed, it will have only 108 fighters at most, which is comparable in number to escort fighters. In addition, if the commander of the US military thought of attacking the Third Fleet, it would be impossible to use all the fighters for the air defense of the fleet, and some of them would have to be left behind to carry out escort missions. The bomber group arrived shortly after dawn, and if the U.S. military did not let the fighters take off in advance, then it would not have been able to have maximum air defense capabilities before the bomber group arrived. Combining these circumstances, in fact, the number of escort fighters prevailed.

"Colonel, are we flying a little too fast? At this rate, we will reach the skies over the US fleet at 6:20 a.m. ”

"Then reduce the speed and make sure that you arrive after dawn, so as not to enter the range of the American fleet's artillery fire too early." Zhang Naiding didn't want to be stupid enough to compete with the US fighter jets. "Contact the rest of the fleet, reduce your speed and follow us. Also, contact Jiang Wenhan and give him ten minutes to seize air supremacy, otherwise. His hat as the number one ace of air combat can be handed over to Ellsler. ”

The navigator laughed, and now the competition between Jiang Wenhan and Ann Shile has reached a white-hot stage. During the attack on Cuba, because the First Fleet first went to support the Marine Corps, Ellsler achieved eight results in one day, and became the number one air combat ace of the Imperial Navy on the same day, with one more record than Jiang Wenhan. However, as the Third Fleet arrived on the battlefield, Jiang Wenwei killed six US fighters on his first free hunt patrol mission, and once again overtook Ansle. Ellsler only became the number one trump card for one day. Now, the gap between the two records is less than 5, and Ellsler's First Fleet is still attacking the Bahamas behind, if Jiang Wenhan can seize this opportunity to expand the results, I am afraid that Ellsler will have a chance to surpass Jiang Wenhan again.

It can be said that at that time, the competition between Annsler and Jiang Wenhan for the "number one air combat ace" became the biggest attraction of the imperial HNA, both of them were super pilots who had been active on the battlefield since the outbreak of the war, and both of them refused more than a dozen promotion opportunities for the hat of "number one air combat ace". In addition, with the rapid rise of Wang Zhihua, Zhu Xiaohuo and a number of other fighter pilots who only joined the HNA during the war. The two also felt the pressure behind them, and the competition became even more intense. At that time, there was also a bet between the pilots of the two main fleets, betting on the end of the war. Jiang Wenhan and Ansler who is the number one ace in air combat, and later added Wang Zhihua, who ranked third. Jiang Wenwei's odds are quite close to Ansler's, while Wang Zhihua is still more than 50 results behind, and his odds are much higher.

While the bomber group slowed down, the fighter group in front of it accelerated. Jiang Wenhan is very calm and calm, as long as he is in the sky, he is the most calm pilot, which is also an important factor in the years of fighting, he is rarely shot down, compared to the kind of pilots who fight with talent like Ellsle. Jiang Wenhan relied on his own ability and extraordinary reaction speed, and it was by no means a **. As for the question of who is the "number one ace in air combat", Jiang Wenhan can talk to others during his break, but when he is fighting, he will never think about it.

"Colonel, there's about 50 nautical miles left."

"Understood, ready to disperse, in addition. Control the altitude, and it looks like we'll be there before dawn. Jiang Wenhan said as he adjusted the communication channel, "'Scout Eagle', call 'Scout Eagle' to report the situation of the enemy fleet." ”

"This is No. 31 'Scout Eagle', we are to the east of the enemy fleet and are now trying to get closer."

"I'm Jiang Wenhan, what's the situation?" Jiang Wenhan glanced ahead, and the sky was still very dark.

"It's not bad, the enemy's reconnaissance planes have been off for about an hour, we have several reconnaissance planes tracking, and now we have two reconnaissance planes monitoring the enemy fleet, and the enemy's fighter planes are taking off one after another, colonel, you guys hurry up, I don't dare to get too close."

"No problem, we can arrive in five minutes, we are probably in the southwest of you, and now you will be responsible for guiding the flight, Colonel Zhang Naiding is behind!"

"Understood, the new course is 24 degrees, pay attention to the speed, damn it......" There was a noise in the headphones, "Damn, we were discovered, the colonel is looking at you now, I'm going to run for my life!" ”

Hearing the loud noise coming from, Jiang Wenhan knew that the reconnaissance plane was making a rapid dive to avoid the enemy's fighters. He was not worried about the safety of the reconnaissance plane, the sky was still very dark, and under the cover of night, relying on the excellent dive acceleration ability of the "reconnaissance eagle," he could easily get rid of the attack of the "super pirate." Now, Jiang Wenwei was a little worried about how to engage the enemy's fighter planes in an air battle, after all, it was difficult for the fighter pilots on both sides to find the target before the sky was bright.

"Colonel, two minutes to go."

"Split up according to the squad, it's time for us to play, I hope it lights up early!"

The three fighter squadrons were quickly separated by squads as the basic unit, six of which flew at an altitude of 4,500 meters, and the other three squadrons flew at an altitude of 2,500 meters, forming a two-layer combination of upper and lower layers, so that no matter from which altitude the US fighters approached, they could be detected.

"Colonel, I've made contact with Scout Eagle 35, just behind us."

Jiang Wenhan glanced back, but outside the gray night sky, he couldn't see anything.

, channel 4, now by No. 35 'Scout Eagle' gives us information on the group of enemy aircraft. ”

"Good, pay attention to your surroundings." Jiang Wenhan breathed a sigh of relief, and at the same time received a message on the No. 4 channel, "I'm Jiang Wenwei, No. 35 'Scout Eagle', how is the situation of the enemy aircraft group?" ”

"Colonel, the enemy group is approaching, about 2 minutes away from you, 30 degrees in direction, plus or minus 5 degrees."

"Pay attention to the search, enemy planes are approaching us, and they may encounter them at any time."

Jiang Wenhan frowned slightly, although the "Reconnaissance Eagle" only provided them with two minutes of combat preparation time, but these two minutes were extremely critical, because before Jiang Wenhan and them entered the radar detection area of the US fleet, it was impossible for the US fighters to be guided by the target. The "Reconnaissance Eagle" is responsible for providing target information to fighters and guiding them to intercept enemy aircraft, which is a new and quite effective air combat tactic, and has been used many times in previous battles. The only problem at that time was that the "Reconnaissance Eagle" was only equipped with a two-dimensional radar, which could only provide information about the distance and azimuth of the target, but could not provide information about the height of the target. However, this brings a problem, that is, it is impossible to accurately grasp the altitude of enemy aircraft. If it's during the day and the weather is relatively clear, this problem is not serious, but at night, the problem is a bit more troublesome.

Jiang Wenwei knew that the two sides were approaching rapidly, but the problem was that there were still more than 10 minutes before dawn, and the sky was still very dark, and if the enemy plane flew lower than them, it would be difficult to spot, even if it flew a little higher, it would not be easy to spot. If the enemy fighter is not detected and missed, then the bomber group behind it is very likely to be intercepted.

"Colonel, you've met, it's near you!"

Jiang Wenhan was shocked, because he hadn't seen any trace of the enemy plane at this time!