"Now there is a large rain cloud hanging over the battlefield, so no one knows exactly when the aviation will be able to go into battle. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info But we can throw in the artillery fleet to intercept the Germans. Zhang Qi slammed his fist on the navigation table and said loudly: "I have calculated that if everything goes well, the shelling fleet will advance rapidly at a speed of twenty-four to twenty-eight knots, and it will take about sixteen hours to meet the German fleet." That time will be around two to three o'clock tomorrow morning. ”

After a pause, Zhang Qi continued: "As long as the artillery fleet can drag out the Germans until dawn, then our naval attack aircraft group can completely annihilate the German high seas fleet with fierce bombardment." The rain over there won't last until dawn tomorrow. ”

"There's a lot of uncertainty about this tactic." The chief of staff stood up and said, "The Germans will not necessarily follow this course. Although this is the shortest route to the United States, and you don't know their exact speed. If they had been fast, they might have passed by the time the bombardment fleet had passed. And there is also the weather, no one knows what the weather is like, if it is still raining heavily after dawn, will the shelling fleet be able to win in the confrontation with the German Navy? ”

"If you really have to think about so many things, then don't fight." Zhang Qi casually put the pencil in his hand on the sailing table, "Either give it a try, or go home now, we have no other choice." ”

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In fact, the Allied air attack force that made Zhang Qi unable to launch an attack did not appear in any reports of Ming warships or fighters in the end, as if they had disappeared out of thin air.

But the real situation is that these more than 300 Allied fighters departed from Allied aircraft carriers in different seas. In principle, these fighters fought according to the orders of the Germans, and the commander of the formation was also held by the Germans.

Because the fighter formations of various countries are relatively far away from each other, and the weather conditions today are also very bad, the sky is full of dense clouds, and the fighter formations of various countries quickly lose direct contact with each other not long after they take off.

Originally, it wasn't a big deal, after all, they could still communicate by radio. But the Germans lost word after giving the French and the Russians a course. The French and Russian air fighter formations could not contact the Germans in any way, but they did not dare to turn around and return to their mothership, so they could only continue to fly in this direction.

In fact, this course was the location of the Ming naval fleet reported by the German reconnaissance plane. Originally, if the French and Russian air formations had flown over the Ming fleet and launched an attack, although there was basically no chance of success, at least some of the pilots would have survived.

However, due to the loss of German supervision and communication, their own mothership was also sunk under the attack of the Ming fighter formation. These about 100 French and Russian fighters continued to fly in the clouds without knowing it, and it was nearly two hours later when they arrived at the position where the Ming naval fleet had been.

In nearly two hours, the Daming naval fleet had already run out for a distance of dozens of nautical miles. Moreover, the planes of the French and Russians were flying in the clouds, so they did not find any trace of the Ming fleet dozens of nautical miles away.

By the time they realized that something was wrong and began calling desperately for the Germans and their own mothership or other warships, they received no news. Seeing the rapid drop in fuel, these fighters had no choice but to throw away their torpedoes and bombs and quickly turn around and return home.

But they had flown too far, and for a long time they had been flying among the clouds. This led directly to their parade. Although the general direction is right, they can no longer find the exact location of their fleet.

Although the combined fleets of European navies suffered heavy losses in the navies of other countries, except for the German High Seas Fleet, which had fled early, some light warships still survived. With the German High Seas Fleet present, the Ming Navy did not have the idea of sending a fighter to attack the wave for the sake of these light warships. As a result, the light vessels that salvaged the drowning crew were able to escape. They recovered the overboard, and soon after the crew went north to Greenland.

The French and Russian fighter formations were lost and they passed less than a hundred nautical miles next to the Allied light ships that were salvaging the crews that had fallen overboard, and finally had to land one by one after a few hours later because they ran out of fuel. In the vast sea, these desperate pilots could not be rescued, and in the end, none of them survived, and all disappeared into the sea without a sound.

And the main culprit of all this evil result, the Germans, returned to their mothership halfway not long after the departure of the naval aviation fighters!

The Germans kept the news tightly shut because it was so moral. It was not until after the war that the survivors and Germans kept the telecommunications declassified. This betrayal of his teammates was a great rebellion, and even the Germans themselves did not dare to admit it.

After making up his mind, the Atlantic Fleet of the Ming Navy quickly divided a large combat formation and accelerated away from the fleet and moved quickly towards the west.

The task force, consisting of eight battleships, eight heavy cruisers, four light cruisers, and more than forty large fleet destroyers, soon increased its speed to more than twenty-four knots and swooped down into the depths of the distant sea.

Zhang Qi did not leave any capital ships for himself to escort. Because at this time, the main force of the American fleet in the Atlantic had been wiped out by him, and the fleets of other countries in the European coalition except for the German High Seas Fleet had also been sunk. At this time, there were no hostile forces in the vast Atlantic Ocean except for the British Royal Navy, which was cowering in the British Isles. The aircraft carrier formation with Zhang Qi does not need the escort of any strong bodyguards.

Zhang Qi left only the anti-aircraft ships and anti-submarine ships, and all the other warships were sent out. As for whether the German High Seas Fleet can be intercepted in the end, it depends on the will of God.

More than 10 hours later, Task Force 58 of the Atlantic Fleet of the Ming Navy entered the waters east of Newfoundland Island at about 2 o'clock in the morning of 7 October. This is where the calculation met the German fleet.

"Sir, no trace of the enemy fleet has been found." The words of the reconnaissance staff officer made Vice Admiral Wang Nan, the commander of the 58th Task Force, frown tightly.

He was well aware of his heavy responsibility, this place was very close to the American continent, and if he could not intercept the German High Seas Fleet here, it was very likely that he would let it go to the American continent, which would have a very negative impact on the subsequent operations.

At this time, although it was already dark and late at night, the sky was still overcast, and the light rain continued to beat the hulls of many warships. According to the meteorological department, this vast area of rain clouds is very large, and it is possible that it may even extend directly to the American continent.

In other words, it is very likely that the air power of Daming HNA will not be able to be dispatched after dawn. After all, although the Ming Dynasty has an all-weather combat aircraft, this technology has only just been born, and HNA has not yet been equipped with this new weapon.

In the vastness of the sea, a fast-moving fleet can sail at high speeds for more than 100 nautical miles in a matter of hours. Relative movement is a huge gap. Over time, the distance between the two sides has increased almost geometrically. In this case, the longer the time is held, the farther the distance between the two parties will be, and the more unlikely it will be to find each other.

"Order the 3rd and 4th patrol fleets to be dispatched in the north and south directions, and the distance between the warships is based on the distance of the sea detection radar, and the enemy target must be found no matter what." Even Vice Admiral Wang Nan, who had a great deal to do so, quickly issued a new order, asking the reconnaissance fleet to pull out a long reconnaissance line to search for the enemy fleet.

"But sir." The combat staff officer said with a sad face: "Under such weather conditions, if you turn on the sea detection radar continuously, it is very likely that the equipment will be damaged, and in that case, nothing will be detected." ”

"If you don't investigate, it's even nothing!" Wang Nan clenched his fists and said, "No matter what, we must find traces of the Germans." Is there a submarine force of ours around here? ”

"Yes, sir." The operational staff officer hurriedly responded: "According to the information sent by the headquarters, there are at least four or so of our submarines operating in the vicinity. They were all previously spotted by the submarines of the U.S. Navy's receiving fleet. ”

"Send a telegram to the command and order the submarines to join the search for the sea." Wang Nan shouted loudly: "Don't care about the loss of equipment, as long as you can stop the enemy, then any effort and sacrifice is worth it!" ”

"But, sir." The chief of staff on the side couldn't help but persuade him: "If we start the radio and send out telegrams now, it is very likely that the Germans will find out." ”

"So what?" Wang Nan opened his mouth and said, "Don't say whether they can detect or decipher the message, even if they do, what can they do?" For a few hours at most, if they were not found, the Germans would have managed to escape. What does it make if you send a telegram or not at that time? Now stop thinking about these trivial matters, and try to find out the Germans by all means. ”

"Yes!"

The Ming army moved quickly, and the sixteen destroyers were divided into two groups, one from the north and one from the south. They are about 20 nautical miles apart from each other, and they are conducting a dragnet search operation against the vast sea. (To be continued.) )