In Li Guang's view, the route taken by the aircraft carrier Liberty Dragon was very safe. It should be said that the route taken by the Maritime Resistance Army is relatively remote. And in just a few months, the Liberty Dragon is already the second return trip.

This route can be said to be the periphery of the island chain in Southeast Asia, and it is originally an inaccessible route. Had it not been for the war years, the Liberty Dragon's voyage would have passed through the Philippines, into the South China Sea, then across the Strait of Malacca, into the Indian Ocean, and then to Ceylon.

But now, the route chosen by the Naval Resistance Army is to go south for 1,500 or 600 nautical miles from Hawaii, avoiding the Marshall Islands, where the Japanese are entrenched, and Nauru, which is the Haitang Kingdom. It can be said that the Japanese army was entrenched on the periphery of the stronghold before turning around and sailing westward.

Cross from the southern tip of the Solomon Islands and enter the Coral Sea. It then crosses the Baemmad Strait between New Guinea and Cape Batkapo, Australia, and then follows the southern side of Java and Sumatra into the Indian Ocean before returning to the Tang Port of Ceylon.

It should be said that although this route is almost twice as farther, based on the previous three voyages, there are few or no ships on this route. It should be said that it is safe.

According to Li Guang's poor knowledge of history, he knew very well that Australia had not been captured by the Japanese army. Therefore, he thought that the pace of the Japanese army was that of Southeast Asia and some islands in the Pacific Ocean. On nautical charts, the most dangerous stretch of the Liberty Dragon is only in the Coral Sea between Australia and New Guinea. Since Australia was not occupied by the Japanese, and the Japanese in New Guinea only occupied the northwest. Therefore, both sides of the Coral Sea are still Allied territory, and this is not a war zone, so it is very safe.

Li Guang could not have imagined how crazy the Japanese army was, and it was difficult to satisfy the appetite of the Japanese army on 10 million square kilometers of land and islands, just when the Liberty Dragon set off. The Japanese army began a new round of offensive.

This was the southward strategy, one of the three strategic directions of the Japanese Navy, and it was also a warm-up exercise after the complete victory of the Japanese army in the first stage.

The goal of this Japanese offensive was to seize Port Moresby in the southeast of the island of New Guinea and Tulagi Island in the Solomon Islands, in order to gain sea and air supremacy in the region and cut off the US sea lines of communication to Australia. Thus gaining an advance base for attacking Australia.

Since there are only 36 fighters on board, there are now only 36 fighters on board, and there is more space to stock up on some fuel. When he departed from Pearl Harbor, Li Guang had a whole thousand barrels of crude oil in the engine room, about 200 tons.

It is not that Li Guang does not understand the danger of doing this, nor is it to take advantage of the United States a little bit. Rather, the Liberty Dragon still has a combat mission on the return journey.

If it is a normal oil reserve, it is enough for the Liberty Dragon to rush back to Tang Port at cruising speed, but if there is a combat mission. The Endurance of the Liberty Dragon was insufficient.

From this point of view, the gap between the Liberty Dragon and the official aircraft carriers of the United States and Japan is not half a point. For example, the Lexington-class large aircraft carriers of the United States can not only store the crude oil they need, but also supply fuel for the auxiliary fleet.

There is no way to do this, the poor can only be the poor man's way of living. Li Guang could only hope that the Indian Ocean aircraft carrier, which had already been launched, would make up for the shortcomings of the lack of range.

Under the caution of the aircraft carrier formation of the Liberty Dragon, there were no accidents in the first few days of the voyage. Wait for a thousand barrels of crude oil to be poured into the oil depot. Li Guangcai breathed a sigh of relief.

Crude oil is stored on the hangar deck. For aircraft carriers or other warships, it is almost the same as looking for death, Li Guang swears, just this once, and he will never do this again.

The target of the Naval Resistance Force's operation this time is not the old base of the Japanese devils in the Pacific, but the two newly established bases.

One is from the last gift-giving operation. The Gilbert Islands, the main island of the archipelago, South Tarawa, where the naval resistance fleet lurked, had become a base for Japanese troops at this time.

Another target was Nauru. According to the intelligence sent back by the submarine force, the little devils did not just occupy the island of Nauru. In just a few months, the pier was built, and the dredging of guano began.

Nima, Nauru Island is the territory of Haitang Kingdom, and guano is the assets of Haitang Kingdom.

Therefore, Li Guang decided to attack Nauru.

To attack Nauru Island, you must first deal with the Japanese planes on Tarawa Island. The distance between the two islands is really not too far, only more than 500 kilometers, and the Japanese land-based fighters can easily support each other.

Since Nauru Island was located in the interior of the Japanese stronghold in the South Seas, although it was not central, it was dangerous enough, and the staff officers of the Navy Resistance Army also added a small trick to the attack plan.

To say that this battle did not have much military significance, except for striking at the Japanese army, Li Guang's main purpose was to train troops.

You must know that the pilots on the Liberty Dragon have been adjusted last time, and there are only twenty elite pilots in the real first echelon. And because of this military operation, there were fewer fighters on board, and twenty pilots remained in Tang Port. Therefore, now the pilots on the Liberty Dragon are only twelve people in the real first echelon.

It doesn't seem entirely correct to say this, in fact, there are eight pilots in Liu Guobang's bomber squadron, all of whom are elite pilots who have been on the battlefield.

However, in any case, almost 30 pilots are the original second- and third-echelon pilots, and very few have carried out combat missions, and the training time on the Liberty Dragon aircraft carrier is also short, and the combat effectiveness can hardly be compared with the overall quality of the pilots in the last gift-giving operation.

Li Guang has always had an idea. That is, try to find some soft persimmon opponents to train. For example, the Army fought in Somalia, and the intensity of the battle was not high, but the officers and men of the Army learned a lot in this battle. In particular, the improvement of psychological quality has greatly enhanced the overall combat effectiveness.

For the Liberty Dragon, Li Guang also had the same idea, trying to let the pilots first mentally adapt to the battlefield. No matter how much training you have, you can't make up for the kind of spiritual experience on the verge of life and death.

On 3 May, the USS Liberty Dragon spearheaded the attack on South Tarawa Island.

With the rich experience of warfare, the staff officers of the Naval Resistance Force have gradually matured.

For example, the position chosen by the staff officers for the combat position of the aircraft carrier this time is quite reasonable.

This position is 400 kilometers east of South Tarawa Island, and although it is within the combat radius of Japanese fighters on South Tarawa Island, it is difficult for Japanese fighters on Nauru Island to deter. And the Japanese planes on Kwajalein Atoll were not at all able to deter the naval resistance forces.

In addition, at this distance, it is exactly within the combat radius of the P40, and the difficulty of searching for the Japanese reconnaissance aircraft is also quite high.

Another example is the timing of fighter sorties. The fighters on the Liberty Dragon took off at three o'clock in the morning against the faint moonlight. Although the Japanese army did not do what the Japanese army did to sneak attack in the Battle of Ceylon, Somerville guessed, it was learned by the staff of the naval resistance army.

Take off in the middle of the night and return home in the early morning.

With the early morning sunshine, Liu Gensheng led the team home. Seeing Liu Gensheng's smile written all over his face, Li Guang knew that this attack must have been quite successful.

The whole process of the battle was almost perfect, and this was not the maturity of a division, but a sign of the gradual maturity of the Liberty Dragon aircraft carrier formation.

Not to mention how angry or depressed the commander of the Japanese Fourth Fleet, Inoue Narumi. Regardless of how the Japanese army deployed troops, the Naval Resistance Force did not carry out another air raid on the South Tarawa Atoll. (To be continued......)