After the Third Task Force broke the radio silence and sent out the first telegram, Tan Renhao and Hao Dongjue walked back and forth in the command cabin of the "Yangtze River" aircraft carrier as if they had not been burned on fire, and only stopped when they received a new telegram.

"Damn, Yan Shiqi is such a megalomaniac, he is letting Lao Chang go to death!"

This is a roar that Hao Dongjue broke out after the two received the news that the third task force was heading south, and the second task force was also going south.

"Yes, Lao Chang played the edge ball too well, and the time of retreat was very accurate!"

This was Hao Dongjue's scream after receiving that the Second Task Force had taken out the "Washington Express" (which he later learned).

"What are you doing? This is the task of the third task force, it is Yan Shiqi's own dereliction of duty, why should he always plug the muzzle? ”

This was Hao Dongjue's question and angry shouting after receiving the news that the Second Task Force was rapidly heading north and preparing to intercept the "Z Fleet".

"Damn, what is Yan Shiqi's son of a bitch doing? Chang must be finished, damn, Chang must be finished! ”

"Have you had enough trouble?"

Tan Renhao finally couldn't help it, he was already annoyed enough, and he listened to Hao Dongjue fooling around in his ear. "It's going to be fine, Task Force 3 must be rushing over!"

"!"

Hao Dongjue spat on the floor fiercely, "Yan Shiqi, that bastard, for his own sake, no one else cares." Originally, it was his task to intercept the 'Z Fleet', but now Lao Chang has helped him for more than 20 minutes, and he has not yet appeared! Damn, is he going to shell Saipan? ”

"This can't be, Yan Shiqi is not the kind of person who will act against orders!"

Tan Renhao walked to the chart table and used the red line to connect the locations they had received about the Third Task Force. "Task Force 3 first headed south, then turned northeast. Judging from their actions, they should have prepared to go around to the enemy's south when Task Force 2 intercepted the 'Z Fleet'. This can flank the 'Z Fleet', and the second can block the retreat of the 'Z Fleet'. A full victory, not a partial victory, is guaranteed! Yan Shiqi did this for a reason, and when the third task force arrived, the 'Z fleet' would be finished! ”

Hao Dongjue gritted his teeth, he was not an authentic naval officer, and even in front of a layman who talked about Renhao's artillery tactics, there was no way to express his high opinions.

"Wait a few more minutes, maybe there's news!"

The wait is not a few minutes, but more than an hour. Until five o'clock, no news was received, and neither task force sent another telegram on the situation of the battle! Tan Renhao couldn't help but want to send a telegram several times, asking about the situation of the Second Task Force (he didn't care about Yan Shiqi's life or death at all, anyway, it was about to dawn, if the Third Task Force didn't solve the "Z Fleet", and the bombers of the First Task Force) But before dawn, the First Task Force must not send a telegram, otherwise the position of the fleet will be exposed, and they are the insurance to ensure the final victory. If anything goes wrong with Task Force 1. Even if the "Z fleet" is completely annihilated, it will not be able to compensate for it!

"Damn, no wait!"

Hao Dongjue still couldn't help it first, and stood up suddenly.

"What are you going to do?"

Tan Renhao immediately stopped his partner. He was afraid that Hao Dongjue would run to the communication room to send a telegram.

"Go organize the pilots and get ready to go!"

Hao Dongjue's answer was very simple, and as he spoke, he rushed out.

Tan Renhao hesitated for a moment and did not stop Hao Dongjue. According to the mission, if the Third Task Force had killed the "Z Fleet," then the First Task Force would not need to send bombers, but would have sent fighters with a longer range to provide air defense cover for the Third Task Force, while the First Task Force would sail at full speed in the northwest direction and try to get out of the range of the US bombers. If Task Force 3 does not complete the task. Then the first task force must dispatch bombers to deal with the "Z fleet" It is already five o'clock, and if the bombers want to arrive at the battlefield at dawn, they must set off at five thirty o'clock, and so far, there is no news about the front!

Tan Renhao also cursed Yan Shiqi's bastard a few times in his heart, whether he is dead or alive, he must always say something! Yan Shiqi, this bastard, must have been so energetic that he forgot to send a telegram. Either they want to swallow the results of the battle alone, or it is possible that the bridge of the flagship commander of the third task force has been knocked out, and the fleet commander has already died! If you really want to let Tan Renhao choose, at this time, Tan Renhao will definitely choose the third possibility. Encountering such a friendly commander is really bad luck for eight lifetimes!

Except for Tan Renhao and Hao Dongjue, there was no one in the fleet who was not in a hurry. When Hao Dongjue rushed to the aviation operations center, the commanders of the aviation units (squad leaders and above, as well as a group of selected pilots with veteran qualifications) had already consciously prepared to set off, just waiting for Hao Dongjue to issue a briefing.

"Brothers, don't say more, I don't know the situation ahead now."

Hao Dongjue's expression was not good-looking at all, and he didn't have the hippie smile he used to have. "The worst-case scenario is that Task Force 3 is completely finished, and Fleet Z has already entered the landing field, or is in the process of killing the landing field, at least for now, there is no news from the Marine Corps. In the best-case scenario, Task Force 3 has already won, or is in pursuit. Therefore, I can't assign you a detailed mission, you all have only one mission, and that is to blow up and sink every American warship you see, and you must not let the tiger go back to the mountain! ”

The pilots all stood up, and they didn't joke with the easy-going chief of staff.

"Brothers, it's up to you now, don't let the Yankees have a good life!"

"Yes, mission guaranteed!"

Hao Dongjue nodded, and then sent the pilots out one by one.

Like the pilots, the aviation crews on the aircraft carriers have long been mobilized. Although no order had been given to send fighter jets or bombers, the service personnel had filled all the fighters with fuel (which was a serious violation of the law) and when Hao Dongjue gave the pilots the briefest pre-war briefing ever, the service personnel also received an order to prepare the bombers for departure. Then, the crew hung torpedoes and bombs for the bombers as fast as they could, and sent them to the flight deck one after another.

"It's all arranged?"

After Hao Dongjue returned to the command cabin, Tan Renhao immediately asked.

Hao Dongjue nodded slightly. "Twenty minutes after the bomber takes off, how many fighters are going to be sent?"

Tan Renhao hesitated for a while, and now he was a little embarrassed.

"Then I won't arrange it yet, anyway, all the fighters are ready to take off!"

Tan Renhao smiled reluctantly. Then he climbed on the chart table and looked at it. The sea area where the Third Task Force is located is within the strike range of US tactical bombers. The "Z Fleet" must have sent the telegram back, and the American bombers will definitely try to arrive before dawn, so it will be necessary to provide air defense cover for Task Force 3. But the problem is that now the 1st Task Force is also within the strike range of US bombers, and if too many fighters are sent to the 3rd Task Force, there will be very few air defense fighters left, and this will have to limit the number of bombers dispatched by the aircraft carrier (in fact, it is mainly limited by the ability of the aircraft carrier to receive fighters to land when returning) "Take off the bombers first." ”

I thought about it for five minutes. Tan Renhao made a decision. He lit a cigarette and then continued, "After the bombers take off, arrange for four squads of fighters to set off immediately and catch up with the bomber group on the road. In addition, all the fighters that completed the bombing mission returned to Aramagan Island to land. The fleet is ready to turn around and evacuate the war zone at full speed before six o'clock! ”

Hao Dongjue was stunned for a moment, and then understood. No one had thought of this plan before, but it was certainly the best thing to do. The fleet sailed at full speed to the northwest for three hours to get out of range of American bombers. If they retreated at full speed at six o'clock, it was impossible for the American bombers to catch up before nine o'clock. Let those warplanes go and land on the island. Although this will lose the opportunity for a second bombing. But there was no need for a second bombardment, that was the task of shore-based bombers of the Navy, not of the first task force!

The first "Kingfisher" piloted by Qiu Gengbo left the flight deck of the "Yangtze River" aircraft carrier at 5:25 a.m. Almost at the same time, the "Kingfisher" bomber, piloted by Yang Qinkai, also left the flight deck of the "Xuanzong" aircraft carrier. After 72 "Kingfishers" took off, the first "Osprey" piloted by Zhang Zhitao left the aircraft carrier at 5:43 a.m. All the bombers took off by six o'clock. The two carriers then turned to the northwest, and the fighters were transported onto the flight deck. Because the Hayabusa weighs much less than both bombers, the aircraft carrier does not need to sail against the wind, and the fighter can take off with maximum take-off weight.

An hour's group of fighters overtook Qiu Gengbo's dive bomber group. Ten minutes later, Ellsler and the others first reached the skies over Task Force 2. When the fighter pilot saw the battleships on the sea dragging their wrecks to the north, and the obvious oil stains on the track, and the battleships that seemed to have been bitten by monsters. They simply can't believe that these are those mighty battleships?

"Major, there's still a battleship to the south!"

"Go over and take a look, the second team will go up, pay attention to the surrounding airspace, don't let the 'pirates' sneak in!"

Ellsloer gritted his teeth, although he didn't see the fierce battle at night, he could almost imagine a few hours ago from the few wrecked warships of Task Force 2. What a terrible battle took place here.

As he flew south, the first thing he saw was the battleship "Furious", whose surface was almost submerged by the sea. The battleship had been abandoned, and the officers and men who had escaped were either on lifeboats or floating on the sea in life jackets. Ellsle was identified by the flag flying on the battleship. An officer is putting away the flag of a battleship. The battleship was riddled with holes, like a pile of broken copper and iron.

"Major, there's an American battleship to the south!"

"Damn, go over and kill the Yankees!"

Ellsloth was already furious. He didn't see the other warships of the Third Task Force, and he thought that the Third Task Force had been killed!

When Ellsle caught up, what they saw was not the retreating "Z Fleet" but the capsized "Nevada" and "Arizona" floating on the sea. Both battleships were belly up, surrounded by American sailors. Ellsler originally wanted to give those American soldiers a few shuttle shells, but he finally held back.

When Ansler pulled up the fighter plane, he saw the fleet approaching at high speed in the south, he was startled at first, thinking that it was the American fleet, but when he saw it clearly, he found that it was the devastated battleship "Guangzhou" in the lead, followed by the more seriously injured "Kunming", "Guizhou" and "Chengdu". Seeing this, Ellsler breathed a sigh of relief, and then became nervous again, because the "Dignity" was not in the formation!

"Major, look, to the south, there's another ship, it's the 'Dignity'!"

The "Dignity" fell at the rear, with a speed of less than 12 knots, and the hull was so heavily flooded that the surface of the ship was almost level with the sea. The battleship is still stubbornly advancing. It can be seen that the officers and men on the battleship are throwing all the excess equipment into the sea, and some officers and men are pulling the pipes for pumping water out of the holes blown out by the shells, pumping out the seawater in the hull. There was also a heavy cruiser on each side of the "Dignity". Two heavy cruisers were sending electricity to the "Dignity" with cables to help the battleship pump water, and apparently, the generator compartment on the battleship was seriously damaged.

"Major, can the Dignity sail back?"

"I don't know, it doesn't seem likely, I hope I can drive back!"

Ansle didn't know much about battleships, "Who discovered the enemy fleet?" ”

"No, Major, why don't you get in touch with Task Force 3?"

Ann Shile was stunned for a moment, and then remembered that he would know if he contacted the air defense command officer on the third task force? He quickly adjusted the radio channel and contacted the air defense commander of the 3rd Task Force. When he learned about the situation, he was really dumbfounded.

"Major, what's the matter?"

"Listen to yourselves, the military song of the fleet!"

When the pilots were on the radio channel, they immediately heard the majestic Imperial Navy military song, which was a march improvised by a fleet staff officer more than 20 years ago, when the "Battle of Hachijojima" was about to end and the Japanese Combined Fleet was annihilated. Since then, this has become the military song of the Imperial Navy. Whenever the Imperial Navy won a victory, this song was played (with the exception of aircraft carrier formations, which was the tradition of battleships) It was a signal of victory, a sign of total victory, a signal of complete victory!