After the violent explosion, four large black holes appeared on the side of the Chicheng. One of the bullet holes was close to the waterline, and the sea water rattled into the ship's interior. More dangerously, one of the ricocheting bombs was supposed to hit the oil pipeline that the Chisei was using to refuel the aircraft, causing a fire inside the ship.

At this moment, from the black hole that was blown open, long scarlet flames and billowing smoke were rising.

Since the five warships, including Haruna, Hinata, Nachi, Haguro, and Hakaze, had already adopted a serpentine movement to dodge the ricocheting attack, this round of attacks on them did not achieve much success, and only the battleship Hyuga and the two heavy cruisers Nachi and Haguro were each hit by a ricocheting bomb.

Although the battleship Hyuga was hit twice in succession, its huge hull with a displacement of 35,350 tons was very strong, and after the ricocheting attack, the Hyuga quickly turned around and continued to sail south at high speed.

Unlike the Hyuga, the Nachi and Haguro, both Myo-class heavy cruisers, had a full load displacement of only 10,940 tons, and after being attacked by two high-explosive bombs, the cabin had already begun to flood.

And with the increase in water intake, the speed will slow down significantly, which will inevitably drag down the fleet's southward speed. For the sake of the safety of the aircraft carrier, Nachi and Haguro invariably chose to withdraw from the queue.

Seeing that his fleet was constantly being attacked by the Chinese, the captain of the Chicheng and the acting commander of the fleet, Shibayama Masashi, knew that if the fleet continued to flee like this, even if the aircraft carrier finally escaped the fate of destruction, the escort fleet would be completely lost. To keep the fleet and suffer as few losses as possible, he had to change tactics.

Therefore. Shibayama Masao immediately ordered the fleet to stop moving south, with four aircraft carriers as the center. The ships of the escort fleet formed a circle with their bows facing the periphery to reduce the area under attack and avoid the ricocheting attacks of the Chinese. Such a formation can not only reduce the area of the escort ship that is attacked by ricochets, but also make it impossible for the Chinese aircraft to attack the aircraft carrier.

Soon, except for the four warships Furutaka, Nachi, Haguro, and Akikaze, who were left behind, the rest of the Japanese ships quickly followed the orders of Shibayama Masashi. Around the periphery of the four aircraft carriers, Chisei, Kaga, Hosho, and Wakamiya Maru, all the naval guns fired frantically from the outside, and hundreds of huge water columns were blown up on the sea surface about one kilometer outside the fleet. The smoke from the gunpowder fired at full speed even hid the Japanese fleet.

This tactic of the Japanese army is very simple and practical, and the entire fleet is like a hedgehog in a ball, making people have nowhere to start.

However, this is not difficult for Gao Zhihang. To combat the Japanese fleet. Gao Zhihang has fully studied all possible situations.

Gao Zhihang ordered the observer: "Order the No. 1 Flying Leopard Squadron to cover the No. 4 Squadron and attack the four ships of Guying, Nazhi, Yuhei, and Qiufeng. Be sure to sink them all. The 2nd and 3rd squadrons of the Flying Leopard, covering the 5th and 6th squadrons, actively looked for fighters and attacked the Japanese formation; Command the Flying Tigers. Enter the war zone, bomb Japanese aircraft carriers and escort ships, and disperse the Japanese formation. ”

The 36 bombers of the bomber wing had already arrived in the airspace ten kilometers away from the battlefield and were waiting for orders. Having received the order to attack, the bomber wing immediately flew over the battlefield.

Bombers of the Fourth Route Army. All of them are from the former Northeast Army Air Force, and most of them are relatively advanced. The bomb load is large. Half of the aerial bombs carried by these bombers were filled with Octo's special bombs.

Bombers bomb warships moving at full speed, and the hit rate is very low. Now, however, the situation is very different. In order to avoid the ricocheting attack, the Japanese fleet had basically stopped moving, but kept turning in circles in place, and the target was relatively stationary. The bombers of the Fourth Route Army are now equipped with new sights that are unique in the world, and if they bomb stationary targets, even at an altitude of 10,000 meters, they will be very accurate. …,

Now, because the anti-aircraft fire of the Japanese fleet has been completely cleared, there is no need for the bomber group to bomb at an altitude of 10,000 meters. The bomber group flew over the Japanese fleet at a distance of several hundred meters and dropped the first bombs.

According to Gao Zhihang's order, the main targets of the bomber wing were four aircraft carriers, and the second was to continue to bomb the escort ships on the west side of the Japanese fleet. Gao Zhihang's purpose is very clear, that is, he is determined to blow up and sink one or several Japanese aircraft carriers, and he is striving to blow up and sink many Japanese ships. And the Japanese ships on the western side, which had already been hit, were undoubtedly the best targets.

After a round of bombing by the bomber group, four aircraft carriers in the Japanese fleet group were bombed intensively, three battleships Haruna, Hyuga, and Nagato, three cruisers Mikasa, Suzuya, and Kumano, and three destroyers Taitokaze, Sailbu, and Nokaze were hit.

Equipped with high-explosive shells from Octokima, they all blew up the upper decks of the three Japanese aircraft carriers Chisei, Kaga, and Fengsho, and the Wakamiya Maru, which was rebuilt from an old merchant ship, was directly penetrated from the upper floor to the bottom by a high-explosive bomb using hollow charge technology, causing a fire. The thin-hull Taidaofeng destroyer was hit by a bomb in Cambridge, and the entire tower Cambridge was blown open, igniting a raging fire.

In the second round of bombardment, Haruna hit the main gun, causing the shells to explode, and the bow deck was blown open, and the grinning foredeck was raised more than two meters high.

The power of the Fourth Route Army's aerial bombs shocked Shibayama Masashi. It was definitely not possible to wait for a beating like this, so Shibayama had no choice but to order the fleet to continue to retreat south.

As soon as the Japanese fleet dispersed, the opportunity for the strong two came again, and the strong two of the three squadrons scrambled to play the "game" of fighting. The bombers turned to heavy bombardment of damaged and sluggish Japanese ships.

An hour later, the Japanese aircraft carriers Kaga and Hosho and the burning Akasei fled in disarray with the scarred battleships Ise, Nagato, and Mutsu, the three cruisers Mikasa Suzuya and Kumano, and the two destroyers Sail and Nokaze. And the warships Furutaka, Nachi, Haguro, Hakaze, Akikaze, and Taitokaze were blown up and sunk, and Wakanomiya Maru, Haruna, and Hinata, who were already uncontrollable, had to sink themselves.

Gao Zhihang, who was excited in the eagle eyes, kept taking pictures while carefully observing the results of the battle.

After confirming that it was correct, Gao Zhihang ordered: "Order Red Eagle, Black Tiger, and Jaguar to lead the group to return." Tell them, go back and ask the commander-in-chief for merit and reward. ”

Red Eagle is the code name of Chen Honglu, deputy wing commander of fighter aircraft, Black Tiger is the code name of Jiang Xingcheng, commander of the bomber wing, and Jaguar is the code name of Wang Fuheng, commander of the strong fighter wing.

Wang Fuheng's excited voice came from the voice communication device: "Eagle, there is no need to ask for merit and reward, I just want to have the opportunity to beat the little devil so happily again." ”

Chen Honglu smiled and said loudly: "As long as you follow Commander-in-Chief Song, if there is an opportunity, you can wait." ”

"Don't wait, now is your chance!"

Gao Zhihang walked up to the voice intercom and said loudly: "Rush back to Changshu as soon as possible, fill up the fuel bombs, and then fly out for me, the entire fighter wing, plus a large group of bomber wings, and a large group of strong fighter wings to support our ground troops." All the rest of the planes went to bomb the surrounding areas of Shanghai, including the Japanese warships that broke into the Yangtze River and the Huangpu River, and all of them were sunk, so as to be ashamed of the Northeast!"

Jiang Xingcheng, the commander of the bomber wing, was more steady, and he noticed that Gao Zhihang did not say about warships, but about ships. He hesitated for a moment and asked, "Did the Japanese also bomb their merchant ships?" ”

Gao Zhihang waved his hand and said hatefully: "Bomb, as long as it is a ship with a plaster flag, it will be blown up." This time the Japanese army invaded Shanghai, they were all requisitioned for military use, they were all accomplices, and they all sank me. ”…,

Wang Fuheng said excitedly: "Eagle, just look at it." I blew these little devils into the water and fed them to the king. ”

"Call Commander-in-Chief Song." Gao Zhihang said to the operator.

"Commander-in-Chief Song: Operation Thunder was a great success! Our unit sank more than 300 Japanese planes, sank the Japanese seaplane carrier Wakamiya Maru, sank two Japanese battleships Haruna and Hyuga, sank three heavy cruisers such as Furutaka, Nachi, and Haguro, and sank three destroyers such as Hakaze, Akikaze, and Taitokaze. Heavy damage to three Japanese aircraft carriers, including Chisei, Kaga, and Fengxiang, and the rest of the ships ......"

Gao Zhihang glanced at the watch on his wrist and began to dictate the second telegram.

"Telegraphed to General Zhang Zhizhong and Division Commander Shi that at 10:58 a.m. today, our unit inflicted heavy damage on the main force of the Japanese Third Fleet, blew up all its carrier-based aircraft, and sank nine Japanese ships headed by the seaplane carrier Wakanomiya Maru, and the remnants of the Japanese army fled to the open sea. After our unit returns home, it will soon be engaged in ground support operations. ”

Knowing that the fleet had been badly damaged and that the Third Fleet was unable to provide any support for the Shanghai operation, Nomura and Shirakawa could not help but look at each other and were speechless for a while.

Without the support of aircraft and fleet artillery, it is difficult to say whether the 11th Division will be rescued, or whether the remaining two and a half divisions will be saved.

After staying for a long time, Nomura jumped up suddenly, and with red eyes, loudly ordered the Third Fleet to withdraw to the open sea at once for more than 50 large and small ships in the Yangtze River and the Huangpu River, as well as in the vicinity of Shanghai.

It is a fact that the Third Fleet has suffered heavy losses, but Nomura can no longer let the losses expand, and in the waters near Shanghai, the Third Fleet still has many ships, and if the Chinese planes attacking the main force of the fleet fly back and fill up with fuel bombs, then these ships are probably in danger.

Nomura withdrew the ships of the Third Fleet to the open sea to avoid the attack of Chinese planes, and Shirakawa did not object to this, but there was still a Sixth Brigade at the mouth of the Liuhe River, and the 11th Division could not save it, so he could not leave the Sixth Brigade at the mouth of the Liuhe River again.

Shirakawa insisted that Nomura withdraw the Sixth Brigade from the mouth of the Liuhe River before the ships in the Yangtze River could be withdrawn. The two blushed and argued for a long time, and finally Nomura reluctantly accepted Shirakawa's order.