Before Yang Qinkai's fleet reached the skies above the Fifth Fleet, the First Task Force suffered an extremely unexpected blow, and the more than 10 SBDs killed by the fourth batch caught everyone in the First Task Force off guard.

At that time, the fighters led by Ellsler were making all their efforts to intercept the third group of American bombers that arrived, and the fourth group of American bombers who arrived was entering from the southeast direction of the fleet. Moreover, the leader of the group of SBDs had already received the news, so the altitude of the group was reduced to about 55 meters from the fleet at a distance of about 200 nautical miles, and the radar on the cruiser was not able to detect this group of bombers in time at all. When these bombers approached, the radar operators on the cruiser were doing their best to guide the fighters to intercept the approaching third group of US bombers, and by the time the radar operators discovered the US bombers on the radar screen, these bombers were only 20 nautical miles away from the "Xingkaihu" aircraft carrier, and the nearest fighters were still 15 nautical miles away, and there were only three left.

These were three of the five "Falcons" that Ellsler had left behind to entangle the U.S. fighters, and they had to deal with a full 14 SBDs. These 14 SBDs took off from the small aircraft carrier "Bellauwood", and when they set off, there were originally 18 of them, but they were scattered during evasion, and the lead plane only concentrated these 14 SBDs in the middle of the way, and flew all the way north according to Spruance's orders.

When the three "Falcons" caught up, these SBDs had already rushed into the fleet's inner anti-aircraft fire network and were attacking the "Xingkaihu" aircraft carrier. At this time, the US bombers that had just withdrawn and were preparing to pursue and flee also received the news. He immediately turned back to the battlefield and went directly from the fleet's inner air defense network to intercept the US bombers that had suddenly arrived.

Although all forces were working hard to deal with the last batch of SBDs, only 5 were shot down before entering the attack channel. And all of them were shot down by anti-aircraft guns on cruisers and aircraft carriers.

"General, get out of here!"

Tan Renhao glanced at the Marine officers who rushed in. He didn't want to run away at this time.

The three SBDs flying in the front had already begun to dive, and the anti-aircraft guns on the aircraft carrier were all aimed at the three SBDs.

"Look, that's our fighter, damn it, don't attack our fighter!"

The three "Falcons" that arrived first were intercepted. The one flying in the front was hit by the anti-aircraft shells on the aircraft carrier, and the gunners had no way to carefully distinguish between friend and foe at this time, as long as the planes approaching the aircraft carrier were hit by the anti-aircraft guns. The pilot of the "Falcon" fighter on the ground was not able to escape, and the fighter dragged the burning fuselage and crashed into the sea.

Almost at the same time, the SBD, which was flying in front, was also hit by an anti-aircraft shell, and immediately exploded and disintegrated in the air, presumably because the bomb on the bomber was hit by the shell. But the last two SBDs still dropped bombs.

The aircraft carrier began to turn quickly, and Tan Renhao grabbed the handrail next to him, and at this time the aircraft carrier had been handed over to the captain for control. The bomb will fall in more than ten seconds, and the aircraft carrier will not be able to avoid the bomb, will it be able to avoid being bombed. It depends on whether the captain can accurately judge the landing point of the bomb, and control the aircraft carrier so that the aircraft carrier can avoid the bomb! Li Wenlong, the captain of the "Xingkaihu," is the most qualified aircraft carrier captain in the First Task Force, and he has been promoted many times. But in the end, they all chose to stay in the First Task Force and served as the captain of the flagship, and now he is a commodore and the commander of the "Xingkaihu" aircraft carrier battle group.

The first bomb fell on the port side of the aircraft carrier, and the second on the back of the carrier's ass. Li Wenlong accurately judged the impact point of the bomb, and controlled the aircraft carrier to avoid the two 160-pound aviation armor-piercing bombs. But at this time, the second batch of three SBDs also dived down, and the aircraft carrier and the anti-aircraft guns of the nearby cruisers did not have time to transfer the target at all, and the three bombs fell again. And the last three SBDs have already rushed over.

The speed of the aircraft carrier did not slow down at all, and after a large left turn at the beginning, the aircraft carrier quickly straightened out, followed by a right turn at full speed. Li Wenlong's judgment was very accurate, the three SBDs of the second batch of bombs were all aimed at the port side of the aircraft carrier, thinking that the aircraft carrier would continue to turn left, and the aircraft carrier took advantage of the gap in the middle for dozens of seconds to quickly turn right (in fact, the aircraft carrier was not so flexible, it just did not continue to turn left), and once again avoided the attack, and all three bombs fell on the port side of the aircraft carrier! But the problem is that at this time the third batch of SBDs has arrived, and it is difficult for the aircraft carrier to immediately make a large-angle turn, and these three SBDs will definitely spread the impact point a little!

Sure enough, the three SBDs put the impact point more open this time, the first two quickly dropped the bomb, just when the third SBD was about to drop the bomb, a "Falcon" rushed over, and immediately turned it into a fireball, and it was Ellsloth who shot down the SBD, although it was late, but Ellsler's timely, rapid and accurate attack finally prevented the SBD from dropping the bomb.

On the sea, the "Xingkaihu" aircraft carrier turned left again, and Li Wenlong could only take a gamble, the other side dropped two bombs, and he could choose to go straight, turning left and right, that is, he had a one-third chance to avoid the other side's bombs. But the problem is, there are so few opportunities!

Tan Renhao almost saw that the bomb had landed at the tail end of the aircraft carrier's flight deck, about 15 meters away from the rear elevator.

The bomb did not explode on the flight deck, but directly penetrated the flight deck and entered the compartment below, and only then did a powerful explosion occur. The bomb hit the ammunition compartment of the anti-aircraft gun in the tail of the aircraft carrier, and thousands of anti-aircraft gun shells of various calibers were detonated in an instant. Although this bomb was not enough to take the life of the aircraft carrier, this powerful explosion must have seriously injured the "Xingkaihu".

The violent explosion shook Tan Renhao and Hao Dongjue into the air, and when they got up from the ground, they both found that they had only suffered minor injuries, and then the officers of the Marine Corps and the medical officer on the aircraft carrier rushed in.

"It's fine. We're all right, let's go rescue the wounded. "Tan Renhao wiped off the blood on his hands, he just scratched a little skin." Report the damage to me as soon as possible, as well as the damage to the aircraft carrier 'Hongzehu'. Report back as soon as possible! ”

When the smoke clouds that filled the aircraft carrier cleared, Tan Renhao and Hao Dongjue immediately discovered that the tail end of the aircraft carrier's flight deck had been completely blown up, and the anti-aircraft guns located here were gone. More than half of the blocking cables were blown off, and the tail of the aircraft carrier was like a large piece had been bitten off by some monster.

"Are you alright?" Tan Rehao looked at Hao Dongjue's head. "You're bleeding from your head, go check it out."

Hao Dongjue touched his forehead. "No, I'm fine, it's not my blood."

"Medic, call the Medic soon, the Chief of Staff is injured."

"No, I'm fine, it's not my blood." Hao Dongjue explained again.

Tan Renhao managed so much, and the medical officer quickly rushed over. After examination, it was determined that this was indeed not Hao Dongjue's blood, and the chief of staff was not injured in his head, but only suffered a few injuries on his body.

Soon. A report of the damage was sent. The power system of the "Xingkaihu" aircraft carrier was not affected, the damage was all above the waterline, and all the more than 10 antiaircraft guns set up in the tail were blown up, and dozens of gunners were killed. Other than that. The landing area on the flight deck was damaged, but it was still possible to recover the aircraft using several undamaged barrage cables at the front end, as well as a recovery net. More comprehensive inspections are ongoing, the damage has been brought under control, and the aircraft carrier can still remain at full speed.

Ten minutes later, a report on the damage to the "Hongzehu" aircraft carrier was also delivered. The engine room of the aircraft carrier was blown up, and the boiler room of the aircraft carrier was also affected, but fortunately, all access to the two compartments and the outside area was closed at that time, so there was no water in the surrounding compartments. The captain has ordered the two crew compartments on the starboard side to be filled with water to maintain the lateral balance of the aircraft carrier. The water intake of the aircraft carrier was about 1,500 tons, the speed could only be maintained below 24 knots, and the damage had been controlled, and about 200 officers and men were killed.

"How many fighters do we have, how much ammunition is left, and in addition, is there enough fuel?" When the medical officer helped Tan Renhao bandage the wounds on his hands, he had already begun to give orders.

"There are still 8 fighters, but Colonel Yao Boyan's fleet can return in half an hour, and they still have about 20 fighters, but there is not much fuel and ammunition left."

"Immediately vacate the landing zone and prepare to receive the returning fleet." Tan Renhao stood up, "The bombers all go to the 'Hongze Lake' to land, and the fighters come to us to land, first let the fighters fill up with fuel and ammunition to carry out the fleet's air defense mission, and then accept other bombers." ”

Hao Dongjue also returned to his post after being examined by the medical officer, and he first found a few officers to inquire about it, and then came over. "Yang Qinkai's fleet has arrived and is now attacking. The radar on the cruiser did not detect any other American aircraft. ”

"Continue to maintain vigilance, in addition, arrange for the destroyer to salvage the people who fell into the water, and remember to fish up the US pilots as well." Tan Renhao glanced at the rear of the aircraft carrier, "When will our seaplane come back?" ”

"It will take at least three hours."

"Perhaps, we'll have to think about running away." Tan Renhao hesitated slightly, "The fleet turned to the southwest, advanced at a speed of 22 knots, and contacted Gengbo in the next autumn to find out how many bombers they had left, and how many bombers could continue to carry out the mission." After Yang Qinkai sent back the report, it was decided whether to carry out a third round of bombing! ”

Soon, the situation of the Qiu Gengbo group was clarified, there were about 40 bombers returning home, but most of them were damaged, and the wings of more than a dozen bombers were hit, fortunately, the fuel in the wing fuel tanks on the bombers at that time had been used up, otherwise these bombers would have been doomed. But to make matters worse, these bombers may not be able to return to the fleet, and many of them consume too much fuel when attacking, and there is not enough fuel for them to fly back. Tan Renhao had to give up the idea of continuing to bomb the Fifth Fleet with the Qiu Gengbo group, maybe Yang Qinkai's group could all come back, but looking at the current situation, both aircraft carriers were injured, and they may not be able to organize a third bombing.

As the minutes passed, the fleet remained in combat condition because it was not known if there were still American bombers coming. Half an hour later, the fighters led by Yao Boyan first returned to the fleet. The fuel for these fighters was about to run out, and Tan Renhao had no choice but to ask the "Hongzehu" aircraft carrier to participate in the work of recovering the fighters. Then, the bombers returned one after another, and the first bombers who landed on the aircraft carrier had barely a drop of fuel left, and many of the bombers that arrived later ran out of fuel before landing, and the pilots had to make a forced landing, or parachute.

"There's news." Just when the destroyer went to rescue the parachuted pilot, Hao Dongjue ran in, "The seaplane found Qiu Gengbo and his navigator, Qiu Gengbo only broke his scalp, his navigator was injured, and now the two are returning." ”

Tan Renhao was stunned for a moment, and then laughed, this is a very important piece of good news, Qiu Gengbo, a madman, is not finished!

"General, Colonel Yang Qinkai's report!"

Hao Dongjue took the telegram first. "Damn, I finally killed four aircraft carriers, but there are still a number of warships that have not been hit, and Yang Qinkai asked for a third round of bombing."

"But we don't have bombers now, so let's go back first." Tan Renhao finally breathed a sigh of relief, "The fleet continues to move south, preparing to receive the bombers of Yang Qinkai's group. Also, get the fighter into the air as soon as possible. The attack of the Fifth Fleet should have passed, but the fleet is still in dangerous waters, and our task now is to flee for our lives and save the fruits of victory! ”

Hao Dongjue did not hesitate, and immediately went to find the navigation staff and asked the navigation staff to be responsible for the retreat of the fleet. They have already fulfilled the most important tasks, there is no need to remain within the strike range of the long-range bombers of the US army, as long as the fleet returns safely, then they are the winners!

Tan Renhao sat down, and as soon as he wanted to relax, he immediately thought of a problem, and immediately sent someone to call the staff officer in charge of the fleet's anti-submarine operations over and asked him to arrange the fleet's anti-submarine work. This is a sea area controlled by the US military, and there must be US submarines in the vicinity, and if they are attacked by US submarines after winning the victory, it will be a big loss.

Then, Tan Renhao arranged a few other important things, and after he felt that they were basically all in place, he breathed a sigh of relief, and at the same time felt a strong sense of exhaustion hit him, he had been holding on for four days!