Not a few minutes after Spruance received the report from the reconnaissance plane, Tan Renhao also received a report from the Qiu Gengbo group that the US reconnaissance plane was approaching the fleet at a distance of about 100 nautical miles. After receiving this news, Tan Renhao immediately ordered the radar on the three "Rui Beast" class cruisers in the fleet to be activated, because he knew that Spruance could not send only one reconnaissance plane, and there must be other reconnaissance planes flying towards the fleet. Then, he released all the escort fighters that had been planned to be assigned to Yang Qinkai's group. Sure enough, the radar soon made a new discovery, and the two US reconnaissance planes approaching the fleet were shot down by the rapidly approaching air defense fighters at lightning speed, and they didn't even have time to send a telegram!

However, there was still a mistake in Baimi, and a US long-range reconnaissance plane flew over from the northeast direction of the fleet, and there were no fighters on this side before, and by the time the air defense fighters moved over, this twin-engine long-range reconnaissance plane had already discovered the first task force and sent a telegram. Then, a tactical reconnaissance plane flying from the direction of Nihua Island also penetrated through the sparse air defense net and successfully sent a telegram. At this point, the first task force was completely exposed, and the only thing Tan Renhao could do was to let Yang Qinkai's fleet leave the fleet as soon as possible, and at that time, Yang Qinkai's fleet was taking off one after another.

"Help me pick up Yang Qinkai's landline." Tan Renhao walked to the side of the communications staff officer.

The communications staff officer hesitated for a moment and immediately connected to the channel of Yang Qinkai's landline. Mobile station ap.. cn

Tan Renhao picked up the phone, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Colonel Yang Qinkai." I'm Fleet Commander Tan Renhao. ”

"General ......" Yang Qinkai's voice came from the microphone.

"This time, I have to leave all the fighters behind, you don't have the cover of the fighters......" Tan Renhao hesitated. It was almost a suicidal attack, and perhaps they couldn't find the Fifth Fleet. Therefore, you must immediately set out south in search of the Fifth Fleet. We will continue to move south to shorten the flight distance of the fleet when it returns home. But I have to keep all the fighters behind......"

"General. I understand, we're going to keep attacking! ”

Tan Renhao didn't know what to say anymore, and Yang Qinkai's voice was still so calm, as if it was just a trivial matter. But any bomber pilot knows that when attacking the enemy's fleet, without the cover of fighter planes, the bomber will almost never return, just like the American bombers who bombed the first task force before.

"General, any other orders?" There was a moment of silence in the microphone, "We're ready to hit the road." General, take care! ”

"So are you!" Tan Renhao put down the microphone, his hands trembling slightly. Yang Qinkai is the calmest in the First Task Force. The most stable pilot, and at this time he was still very calm, which made Tan Renhao very emotional, maybe Yang Qinkai knew that this bombing operation was almost gone. But he did not panic at all, just like a warrior going to death, calm and composed, without looking back, without hesitation.

Tan Renhao's mood was not good at all, he was supposed to arrange at least 12 fighters for Yang Qinkai's fleet, but the problem was that now the fleet has been exposed, and there is no news from Qiu Gengbo's side, that is to say, Spruance is very likely to get enough time to let the bombers of the Fifth Fleet depart. Originally, there were not many fighters left in the First Task Force, and if some of them were arranged to support Yang Qinkai's group, then even fewer ground air defense fighters would be left. In addition, it is difficult for the escort fighters led by Yao Boyan to quickly return to the fleet, and even if they fly back, there will definitely not be much fuel. From the point of view of protecting the fleet, Tan Renhao should leave more fighters.

Hao Dongjue rushed into the command cabin quickly, and he ran directly towards Tan Renhao. "Renhao, did you leave all the fighters behind?"

Tan Renhao nodded a little numbly, he still felt that the decision to let Yang Qinkai and them take the risk was a bit hasty.

"Why?" Hao Dongjue was also puzzled, "Without the cover of fighter jets, Yang Qinkai and they would almost be sent to death, even if they sent 10 planes over, it would be 10,000 times better than nothing!" ”

"Dongjue ......" Tan Renhao looked at his partner, he wanted to explain, but he couldn't say it for a while.

Hao Dongjue's gaze stayed on his partner for a few seconds, and he could also see that Tan Renhao was in pain.

"General, Colonel Qiu Gengbo sent back the report."

Tan Renhao and Hao Dongjue both immediately looked at the communications staff officer.

"They have already encountered the bomber group of the American fleet, and now they are approaching the American fleet, judging that the bomber group of the other side has only taken off, and the American fleet is not far to the south. Colonel Yao Boyan's fighter group was intercepting American bombers. ”

"Let them cover the bombers carefully, and don't care about one or the other!"

Before Tan Renhao's order could be issued, new news arrived.

"Colonel Qiu Gengbo and they found the US fleet, about 280 nautical miles away from us, its course is due east, the speed is 30 knots, we are still getting closer, the number of US fighters is very large, but its bomber group is very likely to have been scattered."

"The fleet is ready to turn." Tan Renhao made a new decision in an instant, "Heading 160 degrees, catch up." In addition, send the exact information of the US fleet to Colonel Yang Qinkai, and ask Qiu Gengbo to come to the new rendezvous point when they return to the fleet, and return to the fleet as much as possible. In addition, the fleet should be prepared for air defense, and the aircraft carrier should also be prepared to receive returning bombers. ”

The battle alarm sounded immediately, and Tan Renhao went on to issue several orders, the most important of which was to ask the staff officer to calculate the approximate arrival time of the US aircraft group, and to let a group of fighters that needed to be refueled return to the aircraft carrier as soon as possible during this period, and take off again after refueling. The air defense deployment of the fleet was arranged by Hao Dongjue, and all the air defense fighters were concentrated within a 120-degree sector to the south of the fleet, and the positions of the escort warships in the two aircraft carrier battle groups were also slightly adjusted. Because there were not enough air defense fighters, even Hao Dongjue did not know whether he could block the attack of the US bombers this time.

"This is the latest estimate, and the US bomber fleet arrived between 1:40 and 1.50. In addition...... "The staff officers who came to report the situation did a lot of work.

"If Colonel Qiu Gengbo's report is true, then it is very likely that the US bombers are coming from multiple directions, and it is impossible to determine the exact direction of their entry."

"Go to the Chief of Staff. Let him arrange the deployment of the air defense of the fleet as soon as possible according to this situation. ”

At this time, a batch of fighters that were running out of fuel were landing.

Tan Renhao also gradually calmed down. He didn't know that the escort fighters led by Yao Boyan had shot down nearly half of the SBDs sent by Spruance, but it was clear that the US bombers were attacking the First Task Force at the extreme combat radius, and the Fifth Fleet should have been bombed at this time, so it was very likely that these bombers would not return to the Fifth Fleet. Instead, he went directly to the Nihua Island to make a forced landing. The efficiency of a concentrated assault of dozens of bombers is definitely better than a scattered attack, at least, in the absence of many air defense fighters on the other side, the power of dozens of bomber assaults cannot be stopped by anyone.

Ten minutes later, Hao Dongjue rushed back, and he adjusted the air defense deployment of the fleet as quickly as possible.

"Now we only have two squadrons of fighters, and I asked Ansloer to be fully responsible for the air defense operations of the fleet, with six aircraft as a group, each responsible for a 30-degree range, and it is enough for them to disperse the American bombers. For the rest, we can only count on ......"

"Needless to say, I know all of this." Tan Renhao smiled bitterly. "Is there any news from Qiu Gengbo?"

Hao Dongjue shook his head, and then took out a cigarette, his hands were trembling slightly, not because he was afraid. It's excitement. If Qiu Gengbo can destroy four aircraft carriers in one fell swoop, then Spruance will not be able to send a second batch of bombers, which means that as long as they can withstand this batch of bombers, then the fleet is likely to survive the difficulties.

"You know why I'm leaving all the fighters behind, right?"

Hao Dongjue smiled bitterly, how could he not know, but he felt that at this time, it was necessary to attack with all his might.

"I also thought about sending out all the fighters to cover Yang Qinkai and them to complete the attack operation."

Tan Renhao lay on the guardrail, "But now, we have two aircraft groups set off, and the bombing will definitely have an effect, at least, those four aircraft carriers will be completely finished, and if they are done well, the three cruisers of the US army will also be finished." Since we can guarantee the annihilation of the Fifth Fleet, the most important thing we should do now is to ensure that the fleet still has enough strength to deal with the next battle. ”

"I know, but ......"

Before Hao Dongjue's words were finished, the communications officer walked out. "General, Colonel Qiu Gengbo, they have a result."

Tan Renhao and Hao Dongjue immediately returned to the command cabin, and a reconnaissance plane in the Qiu Gengbo group that was temporarily carrying out a bombing mission sent back the first results of the battle, the small aircraft carrier "Independence" was sinking, and the aircraft carrier of the "Franklin" fleet was also bombed twice, and the first to hit this aircraft carrier was Colonel Qiu Gengbo. Now the fleet is assaulting two more aircraft carriers.

"About sixty percent of the bombers broke through the interception of US fighter jets, and the bombing could be ended within 10 minutes."

Tan Renhao and Hao Dongjue did not bother the work of the staff officers, but waited for more news. At this time, both of them breathed a sigh of relief, at least the aircraft carrier "Franklin", which posed the greatest threat to them, had already been bombed, and it had definitely lost its combat effectiveness. But the problem is that there are still two small aircraft carriers, and there should be more than 20 bombers on these two small aircraft carriers, and as long as Spruance has one aircraft carrier, it will be a huge threat.

Then, the second telegram was sent back, and the small aircraft carrier "Princeton" was also bombed, although the aircraft carrier did not sink, but the flight deck was almost completely blown up, and it had lost its aviation combat capability.

"General, Colonel Qiu Gengbo is assaulting the last aircraft carrier."

"Qiu Gengbo?" Hao Dongjue was taken aback, "Didn't he drop the bomb before?" ”

The staff officer shook his head, he didn't know what was going on at the front.

"Damn, Qiu Gengbo must be starting to go crazy again, let En stop him, don't let him take risks!"

Hao Dongjue's order could not be transmitted to the front line immediately, and five minutes later, the last battle report was returned. "Bellaulwood" was hit by a bomb in the middle of the flight deck and has lost its aviation combat capability, but only the aircraft carrier "Independence" of the Fifth Fleet has been blown up and is sinking, the other three aircraft carriers are not sinking and are still fleeing.

"There is also a part, which was sent back by Colonel Yao Boyan."

Hao Dongjue took the second half of the telegram, he glanced at it, and then gave it to Tan Renhao.

"Qiu Gengbo's plane was hit and made a forced landing about 50 nautical miles north of the US fleet, as if someone was injured, but I don't know if it was Qiu Gengbo or the navigator."

"Arrange for a seaplane to come over immediately." Tan Renhao only spoke at this time, "Do we have a seaplane over there?" ”

"No, all the seaplanes are returning."

"Then immediately arrange for the seaplane to return first, and according to the coordinates provided by Yao Boyan, Qiu Gengbo must be found!"

The fastest seaplane would not return until half an hour later, and the next flight would have been two and a half hours later. The time for the end of the bombing of the Qiu Gengbo group was 12:58, because these bombers were attacking the Fifth Fleet outside the maximum strike radius, so most of the bombers did not have much fuel left after the attack, and these bombers returned one after another, instead of returning in a large group.

At 10 o'clock, the battle damage report came out, and only 22 "water birds", 18 "sea eagles", and 21 "falcons" flew back, and 12 of them were damaged, so they would definitely not be able to return to the fleet, so they could only fly north as much as possible, as close as possible to the fleet, so that they could be rescued as soon as possible.

At 1:30 a.m., the first batch of five seaplanes returned to the fleet, which were immediately refueled and hit the road again, this time with the task of rescuing the overboard pilots. By 1:45 a.m., 18 seaplanes had left the fleet one after another and embarked on the road of searching for and rescuing the overboard pilot.

It was at this time that the air defense sirens in the fleet sounded, and after flying for an hour and twenty minutes, the bombers sent by Spruance reached about a mile southwest of the 1st Task Force, and the radar on the cruiser detected the first approaching bombers, and the 1st Task Force air defense battle began.