Volume 23 Springboard for Progress Section 50 Strong Confrontation

By the time Spruance made his decision, the distance between the new Task Force 21 and the new Task Force 3, which he personally commanded, was less than 180 miles away, and the 3rd Task Force had accelerated to 24 knots and was still accelerating. Task Force 21 would leave the strait in half an hour and then speed up, so that the two task forces would meet directly in three hours.

Perhaps for both commanders, neither of them was afraid of their opponents. Spruance firmly believed that the "Montana" class battleships were the most powerful, although he only had four battleships, but the four "Montana" class battleships had a total of 48 main guns, and the six "new provincial capitals" also had 54 main guns, plus the "Montana" class had better armor protection, its strength was not much worse than the six "new provincial capitals" class.

In the same way, Chang Zhixin will not be afraid of any opponent. Since the entry into service of the "New Provincial Capital" class, it has never lost to any opponent in a naval battle, and its combat performance has been fully proven. At this time, the third task force had the strongest strength, the state of the six battleships had reached its peak, coupled with the war-seeking psychology of the officers and men, and Chang Zhixin did not know much about the newly commissioned "Montana" class battleships in the United States, so he would not be afraid of an opponent with only four battleships. Of course, the most important thing is that Chang Zhixin did not know that Spruance was personally commanding Task Force 21 to meet him.

In the first task force, Tan Renhao had several of the main air defense cruisers activate the radar before one o'clock. The long-range US military reconnaissance plane trailing behind the fleet was soon found. At that time, there were no night fighters equipped with radar in the fleet, so Tan Renhao could only order four "reconnaissance eagles" to take off to intercept the US reconnaissance plane. The radar on the "Reconnaissance Eagle" can detect air targets, and it is equipped with two 20-mm aerial guns (which has enough firepower less than the "Falcon", of course, the "Reconnaissance Eagle" is certainly much better than the heavy bombers of the American army.

Fifteen minutes later, the US military ground reconnaissance plane was driven away. Tan Renhao did not feel relaxed, and the sudden appearance of a US long-range reconnaissance plane had already exposed the position of the First Fleet. At this time, the fleet was still within the strike range of the US shore-based heavy bombers, and even if the US heavy bombers could not bomb the fleet at night, as the sky turned brighter, even if Spruance's Atlantic Fleet took the initiative to withdraw from the battlefield, the thousands of US heavy bombers deployed on the ground nearby could still make the First Fleet pay a heavy price. That is, if the First Fleet cannot leave the strike range of American heavy bombers before dawn. Then it will be hit by American bombers.

Tan Renhao hesitated, if he retreated, before dawn, the first task force and the second task force could sail at least 200 miles to the east, which was enough for the fleet to leave the strike range of the US heavy bombers. However, the problem is that at this time the Third Task Force is sailing in a northwesterly direction, and if it does not turn in time, it will be impossible for the Third Task Force to leave the dangerous sea area before dawn, and at that time, it will definitely be attacked by US heavy bombers. What's more. By this time, the reconnaissance aircraft still did not send back a message. That is, the reconnaissance aircraft has not yet found the target!

Until 1:20 a.m. The reconnaissance plane has already flown 300 miles in the northwest direction, and has basically reached the maximum strike radius of the carrier-based bombers of the Atlantic Fleet. If the Atlantic Fleet were far away, it would not be possible to threaten the First Fleet, and there would be no point in the Third Task Force operating on the ground. Then, in order to avoid being attacked by US shore-based heavy bombers, the Third Fleet should be withdrawn as soon as possible.

Just as Tan Renhao was hesitating whether he should let the Third Task Force follow suit, a reconnaissance plane sent a telegram back. The telegram was not sent back by the last group of reconnaissance planes he sent, but one of the second group of reconnaissance planes that took off at half past eleven o'clock on the evening of 15 July. The reconnaissance planes were to return to the fleet at about four o'clock in the morning. Its main task is to monitor several major straits.

"Reconnaissance Plane No. 17 was sent back to the place, and the location they reported is here." Zhu Rongzhe marked a location on the chart. "The original patrol route has been deviated, presumably because the pilots have adopted an alternate search plan."

"The waters south of Laam Island?" Tan Renhao furrowed his eyebrows, which was not much different from the direction from the radio signal intercepted before.

"Yes, there are at least four battleships, and they are turning to accelerate, apparently heading towards Task Force 3." Zhu Rongzhe marked the course of the US fleet on the chart. "This is most likely the battleship fleet in the Atlantic Fleet, the signal we intercepted before was sent from the battleship, maybe this time Spruance switched to the battleship as the flagship. They were no more than 180 miles away from Task Force 3, and if both sides approached at maximum speed, they would have met within three and a half hours. ”

"Didn't find the U.S. aircraft carrier?"

"No reports of the discovery of aircraft carriers have been received for the time being. Reconnaissance Plane No. 17 will continue to track and monitor the activities of the US fleet, and their fuel will last for about two hours. In addition, several reconnaissance planes in the vicinity have already received information and are rushing over, and perhaps the aircraft carrier of the US military is somewhere nearby. ”

Tan Renhao nodded slightly, and now, he was even more hesitant. Whether Spruance uses battleships as flagships or not, this is not a matter of Tan Renhao's concern, now what he is concerned about is whether Spruance has discovered the Third Task Force and wants to fight the Third Task Force at night.

Soon, Tan Renhao's suspicions were formalized, and the one numbered "17" sent back a new report, and the U.S. fleet completed its turn at about half past one, and its new course was exactly in the direction of the Third Task Force, and there was no doubt that Spruance had discovered the whereabouts of the Third Task Force and dispatched a fleet of battleships to intercept the Third Task Force at night.

At this time, Tan Renhao was even more hesitant. First of all, why did Spruance rush to send a fleet of battleships to intercept Task Force 3? It stands to reason that Spruance can wait and see what happens, and wait until the whereabouts of the third task force are determined before making a decision, and when the time comes, without even his intervention, the US shore-based bombers can destroy the third task force, and it is necessary to take the risk with the third

Team Showdown? Perhaps, Spruance just wanted to entangle the third task force and the third task force turned before dawn to leave the strike range of shore-based heavy bombers. But this explanation is not entirely reasonable, Spruance at this time let his battleship fleet catch up, the most likely is that its aircraft carrier fleet is nearby, so he must let the battleship fleet block the third task force, so that the aircraft carrier fleet can take the opportunity to distance itself and avoid being shelled by the third task force. But the question is, where exactly are the aircraft carriers of the Atlantic Fleet? The reconnaissance planes sent out have not found its aircraft carrier until now, could it be that Spruance has long left the aircraft carrier behind, and this time it is taking the initiative to find the First Fleet for a decisive battle, so his battleship fleet rushed to the Third Task Force, wanting to use this to leave the other two task forces behind?

Just when Tan Renhao was thinking twice, Hao Dongjue took the initiative to send a telegram. The Third Task Force had already been discovered by a US night reconnaissance plane, and the Second Task Force sent two "Reconnaissance Eagles" to expel the US night reconnaissance plane. At this time, one of Tan Renhao's doubts was formalized, and the Third Task Force had indeed been exposed. But the question is, why did Spruance rush to commit his fleet? There is no reason for this, he can wait until dawn and let the shore-based bombers solve the problem, and he can avoid the loss of the fleet.

When Tan Renhao was puzzled and hesitant at the same time, Spruance felt the same way. Shortly after he had split the fleet, he first received a message from Santiago. The night reconnaissance plane, which had spotted the aircraft carrier formation of the First Fleet, was intercepted by several night fighters and was forced to disengage from the First Fleet. Although the Army Air Station in San Diego had contacted several other reconnaissance planes operating in the vicinity to track the First Fleet, it was unlikely that these reconnaissance planes would arrive immediately. Soon after, Spruance received a message from the Miami Air Station that the night patrol plane tracking Task Force 3 had also been intercepted by night fighters and had been forced to leave the vicinity of Task Force 3 and was returning to the Miami Air Station.

These two pieces of news are definitely not good for Spruance because he knows it very well. In the past, the Navy of the Tang Empire did not have carrier-based night fighters. He knows better that if the Tang Imperial Navy has carrier-based night fighters, then there will definitely be night reconnaissance aircraft, and even night bombers!

The biggest difference between a night fighter and a daytime fighter is that it must be equipped with a radar that can detect air targets. So, during the war. The air forces of various countries, as well as the air forces of the army and navy, generally use twin-engine heavy fighters or twin-engine medium bombers to convert them into night fighters to intercept enemy bomber groups at night. Because the initial size of the radar was quite large, it was difficult to equip it with a single-engine tactical aircraft, and the width of the aircraft carrier's flight deck was limited, and it could not carry heavy fighters and medium bombers, so the carrier-based aircraft units of the naval aviation have not been able to fight at night.

At this time, the Tang Imperial Navy did not have an aviation base nearby, and the nearest airfield controlled by the Tang Imperial Navy was still more than 1,000 kilometers away. It could not have been summoned by the fleet from rear airfields on an ad hoc basis, and these fighters could only be fighters carried by the fleet's aircraft carriers. And night fighters must carry radar. There is no difficulty in changing the anti-aircraft detection radar to the sea detection radar, and the Tang Empire's ground radar technology has always been ahead of the United States, and perhaps its radar can search for sea and air targets at the same time. That is, it is quite possible that the Navy of the Tang Empire already had carrier-based night reconnaissance aircraft.

With that in mind, Spruance was a little flustered. If the Tang Imperial Navy had a night reconnaissance aircraft, then his whereabouts might have been exposed long ago. At this point, Spruance thought of the ground noise he had heard from those planes earlier. When realizing that the fleet's whereabouts had been exposed, Spruance's first thought was to retreat. If the opponent had known his whereabouts long ago. Then the relevant deployment will definitely be done. What's more, by this time. Spruance found only the First Fleet, and the Third Fleet, with its more capable air strikes, did not appear. In other words, it is very likely that the Third Fleet will be hidden in the rear, and the First Fleet will take the initiative to retreat eastward, obviously to sail eastward with the Atlantic Fleet, so that the Atlantic Fleet can enter the strike range of the Third Fleet bombers, and as soon as the morning dawns, the Third Fleet ground bombers will appear in the skies above the Atlantic Fleet. If the opponent still has night bombers, perhaps the bombers of the Third Fleet are already on their way to the Atlantic Fleet.

At this point, Spruance didn't dare to be careless. There is no doubt that the Tang Imperial Navy can bear the losses, even if the First Fleet is defeated, as long as the Atlantic Fleet is killed, the Third Fleet will still be able to control the sea power, and the Tang Imperial Navy will attack the Greater Andrés Islands without any resistance. The US Navy cannot afford to lose, and as long as the Atlantic Fleet is finished, then the US defense line in the North Atlantic will completely collapse, and the homeland will be greatly threatened. In this case, then the opponent is very likely to choose the tactic of attrition, taking a main fleet and eliminating the Atlantic Fleet, so as to seize sea supremacy.

At 1:40 a.m., less than five minutes after the telegram from the Miami Air Station, Spruance gave a new order for Task Force 21 to turn at full speed, re-enter the strait with Long Island, and speed up to catch up with Task Force 22 and Task Force 23, which were retreating toward the Exuma Strait. That is, Spruance had already decided at this time not to fight a decisive battle with the First Fleet, first to get out of the battlefield, and then to look for opportunities.

Suffice it to say, Spruance's fears at the time were certain. By the time he made the decision to retreat, there were already two "Reconnaissance Eagles" hovering near Task Force 21 and the No. 17 reconnaissance plane, and the other was the No. 19 reconnaissance plane that had just arrived. At that time, at least 20 reconnaissance planes were rushing over to participate in the search for the US aircraft carrier fleet, and if Spruance had not decided to retreat at that time, perhaps the result would have been completely different. Sea Soul Volume 23 Springboard for Progress Section 50 Strong Confrontation