"What time is it?" Lin Luo, who still had bloodshot eyes in his eyes, shouted loudly to the officer on duty: "Commander, enter the bridge to take over the command." Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info" shouted and went to the bridge and asked for the time of the moment.

"Sir, it's 4:35 a.m. on November 4th." His chief of staff spoke up.

"How's that American submarine going?" After taking a sip of the coffee cup handed by the adjutant, Lin Luo felt that his spirits were much better, and asked out loud about the situation of the American submarine that led to the revelation of their whereabouts last night.

Last night, after arranging the night duty, Lin Luo went back to the senior commander's special cabin to rest. He needs to have plenty of energy to command the large-scale naval battle that will come the next day.

"The Fifth Destroyer Detachment has completely cleared that area, and even if it hadn't been sunk, the submarine would definitely not be able to keep up with the fleet." The chief of staff's report made Lin Luo breathe a sigh of relief. Knowing the approximate location in a naval battle can be a very fatal thing.

"Are you ready for the sortie?" After carefully looking at the chart, Lin Luo asked again.

"The ground crew has all the fighters ready. In another ten minutes, the pilots should be up to get up. After listening to the chief of staff's account, Lin Luo frowned and said softly, "Don't wait any longer." Now get the pilots up and ready to eat. In particular, the pilots of the reconnaissance aircraft units, ordered them to prepare for takeoff. ”

"Now?" The chief of staff turned his head to look at the dark sky outside the porthole. It was the darkest hour before dawn, and it would be very dangerous to let the reconnaissance plane unit take off at such a time. Because the line of sight is too poor, it is not impossible for the plane to be destroyed and people killed. However, there are strict rules in the Navy regulations that do not allow fighter jets to take off during such weather hours.

"Now!" Lin Luo said categorically: "Let the reconnaissance aircraft units of each ship immediately start preparations before takeoff, and I will see all the reconnaissance planes leave the ship in thirty minutes at the latest!" ”

On the battlefield, the commander's orders are always maximum. It is very important for a well-trained army to be able to carry out the will of its commanders. This is especially important in an era when technology is becoming more and more advanced. This is also the biggest difference between the regular army and armed bandits.

The Ming army was undoubtedly well-trained. The pilots, who were woken up in a hurry, quickly sorted out their personal hygiene, went to the special pilot canteen and had a hearty breakfast before heading straight to the hangar. During the time the pilots were eating, the ground crew had already done the final inspection of the aircraft ready to make a sortie and filled up the fuel to prepare for the sortie.

"Good luck!" The ground crews on the decks of the various aircraft carriers waved their hats and signaled to the pilots of the reconnaissance planes.

Because it was too dark, all the battleships had their night lights on. From a distance, this sea looks like a colorful night amusement park. It's just that there are no toys to play in this amusement park, and it is full of the most advanced and powerful killing tools.

Not only the carrier-based aircraft units on the aircraft carriers, but also many large warships with seaplane launchers have also ejected their own seaplanes. A force of more than 100 reconnaissance planes was enough to cover a very large area of the sea and find out the exact traces of the US Task Force 59.

"Sir." The communications staff officer came to the bridge of the Beihai and shouted: "The Muying sent a report that their No. 2 seaplane was damaged and the pilot was killed because the catapult hook failed to fall off. ”

It was too dark, and although there were lights, it was still not as good as the work after the sky was bright. I don't know what caused the seaplane to have an accident when it took off, and the hook did not fall off, which directly led to the crash of the plane and the death of people.

"Where is their reconnaissance area?" Lin Luo, whose face was ugly, shouted loudly: "Order the reserve reconnaissance plane to take off immediately!" I will never allow blind spots! ”

If such an accident had occurred in peacetime, it would have been a great event. But in times of war, and now, when a fierce naval decisive battle is about to break out. Lin Luo couldn't care about the pilot's casualties and the damage of the plane, and the only thing he cared about now was that the scheduled reconnaissance area of the plane must be filled as soon as possible!

"C017 sea area, southwest direction!" The chief of staff immediately indicated the location on the chart, and at the same time ordered the fleet to send a replacement reconnaissance aircraft.

On the back deck of the aircraft carrier Beihai, the pilots who hurriedly sat in the cabin and the staff officers standing on the wings with document charts were communicating rapidly.

"C017 Sea, do you understand?" The nervous-looking staff officer shouted. The propellers of the reconnaissance aircraft have already been activated, and it is impossible to hear them clearly without shouting.

"Got it!" The pilot nodded vigorously, reached out to take the mission chart, and then raised his hand to close the cabin. After the staff officer jumped off the plane and ran away, the ground crew quickly removed the baffle. With the frantic roar of the engine, the reserve reconnaissance plane taxied some distance on the armored runway before pulling up the nose and flying into the vast night sky. At this time, fifteen minutes had passed since the first reconnaissance aircraft unit took off.

The departure of the reconnaissance plane before dawn was an important combat experience summed up by the Ming Navy when it was fighting the Japanese Navy. Adopted by bold and careful front-line commanders.

At this time, the difference in the approximate distance between the fleets of the two sides was about three hundred nautical miles. More than an hour after the departure of the Ming reconnaissance planes, the sky was just bright, and the reconnaissance planes were almost at their predetermined positions. In this way, they can get the information of the American fleet as quickly as possible and transmit it back to the naval fleet.

This method is very risky, and if it succeeds, it will immediately seize the initiative on the battlefield. As soon as the fleet obtains accurate information, it can release the attack wave that has already been prepared, so as to strike the enemy's fleet before the opponent can hit it. But this approach also has its own drawbacks.

In addition to the great danger of taking off at night, the most important point is that once the commander of the enemy fleet has enough courage, he did not stay away from the battlefield but chose the opposite direction towards the Ming fleet. It is very likely that the reconnaissance aircraft unit will miss the warships on the sea surface that are carrying out the light control because it is dark, and thus expose themselves to extreme danger. This time, though, Fletcher clearly didn't have the courage and determination.

After receiving Nimitz's telegram, Fletcher forced himself to calm down. After some consideration, he decided to take the fleet to the southwest, and at the same time ordered the fleet to prepare for battle. Fletcher also knew that he couldn't escape at all, so he had to fight with all his might.

Originally, Task Force 59 had three aircraft carrier squadrons, each of which had three aircraft carriers. However, it was previously attacked by a Daming submarine off the west coast, resulting in the sinking of the aircraft carrier Princeton. Fletcher had only eight aircraft carriers in his hands at the moment.

After the mass service of the new Essex-class aircraft carriers, several large aircraft carriers built and rebuilt before the war gradually took a back seat. However, their combat effectiveness is still the same, and the U.S. Navy has brought them all over this time.

Two Lexington-class, three Yorktown-class, and one Wasp-class were split into three parts. Each task force was assigned a class of older aircraft carriers. Fletcher's Task Force 59 was assigned to the USS Wasp.

Whether it is from the strength or size of the fleet, or even from the number of the fleet, it can be seen that there are still discerning people in the US Navy. Fletcher was the weakest of the three task forces, and he was the easiest to handle. It's just that no one thought that the Ming Navy would be so cunning and put the first target on Fletcher.

Nimitz, who was far away in San Diego, was anxiously awaiting news from Fletcher. He already had a premonition in his heart that Fletcher's fleet would inevitably suffer heavy damage this time. The intelligence lapses are no longer to be pursued, and what Nimitz wants to know most now is what level of counterattack Fletcher can launch when he is hit?

Nimitz had no unrealistic illusions, praying in his heart that he would be thankful that if Fletcher could destroy the Ming naval force of similar strength in his hands in the counterattack. If the commander of the fleet were Halsey or Spruance, Nimitz would never think so.

There is no way, the US Navy is not as good as the Ming Navy, which has a long tradition of training and fighting all year round around the world. They were actually more like a local fleet in the Americas, and had barely left the seas around the Americas before the outbreak of the war. It is impossible for them to compete with the profound Daming in any case. The senior commander is one of them.

In the previous fierce battles with the Ming Navy around the Hawaiian Islands, only Halsey and Spruance really fought. They have all achieved great results on the battlefield and have proven their talents. And nothing else. Fletcher was one of the taller ones among the shorties, and there was really no other choice.

On the contrary, after the baptism of fierce battles with the Japanese navy, a large number of officers and advanced tactics emerged. Their warships and warplanes are also very advanced, not to mention those well-trained naval officers and men.

Thinking of this, Nimitz's heart was filled with envy. The strength and heritage of the Ming Navy are too strong. After the outbreak of war, they were enough to meet the needs of all warships simply by calling up reservists. Those reserve officers and soldiers are all veterans who have served in the army, and with a little training, they can immediately form combat effectiveness.

On the contrary, the Americans, who had no background at all, could only recruit officers and men from merchant ships. The two contrasted each other, and they were immediately at a disadvantage.

If it weren't for the fact that the Japanese bought the Americans more than two years of training and integration time, the U.S. Navy might have already suffered a major blow. (To be continued.) )