Jiang Wenhan, Zhang Naiding, Deng Zi, Yang Shihong and others can be said to be the loneliest and most sidelined in this large-scale "group fight". After Chang Jianxin told them about the bombing of the US military on the 6th field, these four veterans of the Imperial Navy's carrier-based aviation were almost dumbfounded, even if Chang Jianxin did not explain it, they all knew that the task of bombing the US fleet must have fallen into the hands of the First Air Wing, and they were supporting roles, not protagonists.

It can be said that these four colonels, who think very highly of themselves, are in a bad mood. You must know that Qiu Gengbo, Zhang Zhitao, Yang Qinkai, An Shile, and Yao Baiyan are now the backbone of the First Air Wing, but they are all their subordinates back then, and even their subordinates. Now this group of people has played the main role, and let their former boss play a supporting role, which not only makes Jiang Wenhan and them feel funny, but also makes them feel ashamed.

This also made Jiang Wenhan and them very remorseful, why didn't they take a longer view and stay in the First Air Wing, but they ran to the Second Air Wing, not only did they not get any benefits, but they missed so many opportunities. But who would have thought at that time that Tan Renhao would return to the First Task Force as commander again?

Troubles are troubles, regrets are regrets, and the task still has to be carried out. Moreover, they are not without hope of bombing the US fleet, if the reconnaissance planes can appear on the US fleet in time, then they can change their mission and use the armor-piercing shells and torpedoes they carry to kill the US task force. bsp; Of course, this hope was quickly dashed, and when they reached the skies over the US 6th Fleet, there was not even a single gangway on the sea, let alone bombing the US task force, and they did not even have a chance to bomb the US 6th Fleet and the artillery formation. As a result, these exasperated pilots dropped all their bombs on the beach positions of the American troops. Deng Zi even threw all the torpedoes. Of course, bombarding ground targets with armor-piercing shells and torpedoes will not be much better, except for leaving some huge craters on the ground (armor-piercing shells explode only a few meters below the beach because of the delay-time fuse, which creates much larger craters than high-explosive shells of the same weight). For the US Army Deng-6 unit, the threat is not very great.

This near-hysterical bombing also wasted time, and the bomber group arrived over Deng-6 at about 6:40 a.m., and the entire bombing operation lasted until just after 7 o'clock. The U.S. 6 unit returned fire with machine guns, and only a few bombers that flew too low were damaged, but not a single bomber was shot down.

At this time, Jiang Wenhan also received a telegram from the fleet, and the US reconnaissance plane appeared in the second task force. This time. Jiang Wenhan was in a hurry, which proved that the US fleet was at most 25o nautical miles away from the second task force, and the US bombers must have been out. Without further delay, he immediately called the angry companions and headed back in the direction of the fleet. But the problem is that the fleet has already turned after they have left, and now two hours have passed since they left, and at this time they are no longer 25o nautical miles away from the fleet, but more than 3oo nautical miles, which is considered the flight time when they are returning. They need to fly at least 35o nautical miles to reach the fleet. And this almost leaves them with no extra fuel, must fly at the best cruising level, and cannot rush for time. 35o nautical miles.

For this batch of bombers, it was necessary to fly for at least two hours. That is, their arrival in the fleet will be after nine o'clock.

It can be imagined that Jiang Wenhan's mood and feelings in the two hours of returning home. It can be said that Deng Zi is the most impatient one, if it weren't for the lack of fuel, and he still wanted to return to the fleet and not make a free lunch for the Pacific sharks, he would have added it a long time ago. But they had to control the degree, and they had to control the altitude (the plane has an optimal cruising altitude). 1 They must continue to endure, even when they receive the news that the fleet is being bombed, they must endure it, otherwise, they will not even have a chance to return to the fleet, and what will they use to fight the enemy?

More than 100 bombers and fighters were divided into two large formations and flew slowly in the waters between Wake Island and Task Force 2. The communication channels of the fleet were very lively, and many pilots couldn't help but scold their mothers, but scolding had no effect. This can be regarded as exercising the patience of these short-tempered pilots.

By 10 o'clock after 9:00, they finally saw the aircraft carrier "Bear Lake" in front of them, and by this time they already knew that the other aircraft carrier in the fleet, the flagship "Hulun Lake", had been heavily damaged and was sailing towards Tawonji Atoll to try to run aground there. At the same time, they also knew that the aircraft carrier "Lake Bell" could not receive all the bombers and fighters. What made these pilots even more excited and annoyed was that they had to attack the U.S. fleet to avenge the second task force. Jiang Wenhan made arrangements on the way, asking the pilots to check each other's fighter planes, and if there was any damage, they would go to the sea to make a forced landing, and only those who were in good condition would land on the aircraft carrier, replenish fuel, mount bombs, and bomb the US fleet. Of course, not everyone was willing to give up the offensive operation, and Deng Zi was one of them.

At that time, the fuel tank on the left wing of his landline was already broken, that is, he could only take off with two-thirds of the fuel, which could not allow him to return to the fleet. He didn't want Jiang Wenhan to report the situation, but was the first to land on the "Bear Lake" aircraft carrier, and then found the orderly crew group in his place and asked the orderly to try to find a way to repair the fuel tank. But the result is bad, the fuel tank can be repaired, but it takes time, before the group is out, the service personnel have a lot of things, and there is no way to help him repair the fuel tank. Deng Zi didn't say anything, and immediately asked his service team to help him fill the fuel tank and fuselage fuel tank on the right flank, and then hang up the torpedo, even if he couldn't come back, he would not give up this opportunity for revenge.

At this time, Lei Shaoqing was waiting for the report of the "Bear Lake" aircraft carrier on the "Changsun Wuji".

After receiving Tan Renhao's telegram, Lei Shaoqing was also very surprised, and he even suspected that Tan Renhao wanted him to die. Now I don't know whether the "Hulun Lake" is dead or alive, and let the "Bear Lake" go on an adventure, if this aircraft carrier has three longs and two shorts, then the second task force will be finished.

Of course, Lei Shaoqing did not believe that Tan Renhao would "betray" him, and he also knew that the Second Task Force had already suffered losses, and if the "Bear Lake" aircraft carrier could attract more bombers to protect the First Task Force, this would definitely be a good choice.

Lei Shaoqing had a brief discussion with Chang Jianxin. He immediately gave an order to the "Lake Bell" aircraft carrier battle group, immediately turned around, received the returning bomber group, and then armed these bombers as quickly as possible to carry out supplementary bombing of the US 51st Task Force.

As a matter of fact, the "Essex" in the 51st Task Force was basically paralyzed at that time, and as long as the "Lake Bell" aircraft carrier battle group was still active, the US military had to abandon the aircraft carrier. Even if the bombs and torpedoes of the bombers of the Tang Empire were not used, the US military would use its own shells and torpedoes to sink the aircraft carrier to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Tang Empire. In other words, the supplementary bombing of the 51st Task Force will also kill the aircraft carrier "Yorktown" at most. At this time, the "Valiant" and "Hornet" of the 52nd Task Force were actually not completely lost and were escaping, and if dozens of bombers could be dispatched, then these two aircraft carriers would definitely be finished. But it's not that simple.

When the "Lake Bell" aircraft carrier battle group turned, it was about 34o nautical miles from Wake Island (the aircraft carrier's route in the second half of the course was not directly south, so this distance was not as large as expected). The distance between it and Task Force 51 is in the direction of Task Force 51, and it will take at least 3 hours for the bombers to be ready to go out during this period. And this does not take into account the degree of the escaped American aircraft carrier, and at the same time, after the "Lake Bell" released the bomber group, it must continue to sail in this direction as soon as possible to shorten the distance of the bomber's return. In addition, bomber groups can only be formed in the middle of the way, and not over the fleet. It can be said that this is an operational arrangement under extreme conditions.

And the 51st Task Force is about 5o nautical miles northwest of it, and the two heavily damaged aircraft carriers are about 2o knots, and the "Bear Lake" needs to spend at least the 52nd Task Force. Seven hours later, it was 4 p.m., when the bomber came out and flew close to 6 p.m., not far from getting dark. Of course, this is still an ideal situation, and if the two escaped American aircraft carriers turn to the ground halfway, it will take a lot of time to search for these two aircraft carriers, and whether they can be found before dark is a question.

Obviously, Tan Renhao had already taken this into account when he asked the bombers of the "Lake Bell" to attack the 51st Task Force. He did not specifically calculate these times. Instead, the situation was roughly figured out in a very short period of time, and then a decision was made. Lei Shaoqing and Chang Jianxin had specifically calculated this time, so they also decided to bomb the 52nd Task Force. The more critical issue was that "it was necessary to find the exact location of the Yorktown before the bombers went out, and to shorten the distance of the bombers as much as possible."

"We've been in contact with Wake Island." Chang Jianxin was in charge of this work, he had been slightly injured and his arm was bandaged, but he still insisted on his post. "Previously, Ren Hao had asked the seaplanes over there to search and rescue the pilots who fell into the water, but a group of our aircraft carrier reconnaissance planes landed on the island. Han Shaofeng has promised that he will let these reconnaissance planes take off as soon as possible, and then search for the 'Yorktown' aircraft carrier according to the previous information. ”

"We still have a few hours, enough reconnaissance planes to find the aircraft carrier." Lei Shaoqing glanced at the navigation clock, and he had just made contact with the "Bear Lake". "Deng Zi and they have returned, and now the aircraft carrier is heading north, if everything goes well, by about 12 o'clock, the bombers can be out."

Chang Zhixin nodded, and then sat down. The ground injury on his arm was not serious, but he was cut by shrapnel, but he had shed a lot of blood before that, which made Chang Jianxin feel a little dizzy and overdrawn.

"Go get some rest!" Lei Shaoqing nodded at the two soldiers of the 6th Squad by the door, "Send the chief of staff to rest, and in addition, ask the medical officer to prescribe some painkillers for the chief of staff." ”

"I'm fine......" Chang Jianxin staggered to his feet, his feet were weak, and he immediately grabbed the partner next to him.

"And said it's okay, you can't stand up!" Lei Shaoqing patted his partner on the shoulder, and then let the two soldiers of Team 6 support Chang Jianxin. "Get some sleep, and maybe by the time you wake up, we'll have won."

Chang Zhixin smiled bitterly, and no longer resisted, he couldn't hold on anymore.

As soon as he saw off his partner, the communications staff officer ran over, and what he sent was not good news, but bad news: The First Task Force had been bombed, and both aircraft carriers had been severely damaged, the "Daihai" was seriously injured and was being rescued with all its might, while the "Xingkaihu" was relatively lightly injured and was not in danger of sinking for the time being, and the fleet was now heading back to the south.

Lei Shaoqing's hand holding the telegram was trembling slightly, and Spruance still focused on striking the First Task Force.

"There are more than 1oo US bombers attacking the First Task Force, and General Tan has given us confidence to attack, and it is no longer possible for the US military to pose a threat to the 'Lake Bell' aircraft carrier battle group."

Lei Shaoqing nodded slightly and put down the telegram. "Did he say anything else?"

"General Tan also said......" The communications staff officer hesitated, "Now the key to deciding the final victory or defeat is the decisive action of the Second Task Force, he has handed over the command to you, I hope that the commander can make a decisive attack, do not let go of the opportunity to expand the results of the battle, let alone let the enemy easily slip away, the First Task Force will return to Guam, he will wait for our good news." ”

"Okay, call General Tan back, and we'll strike decisively." Lei Shaoqing also strengthened his determination at this time, "In addition, contact the 'Bear Lake' aircraft carrier battle group and ask them to prepare for the bombers to take off as soon as possible, and they can consider receiving more bombers and expanding the size of the bomber group." ”

At this time, the returning bombers and fighters landed on the "Lake Bell" aircraft carrier in June. Some of the fighters were running out of fuel and were taxiing through the air to stall for time......