The combined Anglo-French fleet escorted 300,000 troops eastward, and the huge fleet became more cautious the further east.

After a half-day resupply break at the port of Colombo in Sri Lanka, the fleet was quickly on the road again, after all, the Chinese army was rapidly advancing towards India from Assam and the Bay of Bengal, and time was waiting for no one. Telegrams for help from the front are one after another, and they are in danger.

The news of the build-up of the main forces of the Chinese Navy in Singapore cannot be concealed from them, after all, the movement is too big. Although the purpose of the main force of the Chinese Navy is not known, there is no doubt that such a large-scale build-up is a major military operation, which makes them have to guard against it.

Entering the Bay of Bengal, the Hundred-Eyed Giant, the only British aircraft carrier of the Combined Fleet, took off non-stop to search the nearby waters to avoid being attacked. At the same time, the submarines sent earlier in the Bay of Bengal have long been sent out to cruise to ensure the safety of the fleet.

A British reconnaissance plane shuttled through the clouds, the sea of clouds galloped, the sea and the sky were colorful, and the scenery in the sky was charming.

"It's so bad!" The pilot was amazed and turned around and exclaimed, "Peter, how about I go further east?" ”

Peter, who was the transmitter of the reconnaissance plane, immediately shouted, "No, Tom, further east it is beyond the cruising range." Oh, you damn it. ”

Tom, the pilot, had already flown quickly to the east, and did not listen to Peter's persuasion, and said: "This cloud is too thick, and it is impossible to see clearly, let's go over and check at a low altitude, God!" As he spoke, the plane emerged from the clouds, and he saw a huge fleet on the vast blue waves cleaving the waves to the west.

"Warships, Chinese. Better! Tom instantly stuttered and yelled incoherently.

Peter looked at the huge fleet on the sea in disbelief, there were sixty or seventy warships, but didn't the Admiralty say that there were very few Chinese warships? Just some broken ships? But what did he see? Giant ships, at least two giant ships, and several more 10,000-ton warships. What are such a huge number of Chinese warships doing here? There is no doubt that they are here to deal with their combined fleet, will it still be for tourism?

"Be careful, Chinese seaplanes!" Peter suddenly saw two seaplanes with air cushions flying towards them and immediately shouted.

Cold sweat broke out on Tom's head, and one circled. The plane burrowed into the clouds. While yelling: "Take care of yourself, hurry up and send the report!" "Clouds are the best cover, and now who in the whole world does not know that the planes of the Chinese are the best? Tom didn't think his battered reconnaissance plane could deal with Chinese seaplanes.

Soon an airwave was emitted

More than a hundred kilometers away, the battleship "Warweary", the flagship of the Anglo-French Combined Fleet.

The Commander of the Combined Fleet, Matt, and the Chief of Staff, Miller, were looking at the map, and a major staff officer quickly arrived: "Report to the Commander." The main force of the Chinese Navy was spotted at two o'clock in the east. The distance is about one hundred and twenty kilometers. The number of warships is about seventy. ”

"Seventy!?" Admiral Matt and Miller were taken aback, how many families in the Chinese Navy could not be concealed from them, and this number could already be said to be all the combat ships of the Chinese Navy. What do they want to do?

Admiral Matt said suspiciously: "Could it be that the Chinese want to fight a decisive battle with our navy?" Their planes could not help in a decisive battle with our navy? As soon as he spoke, he felt that this was ridiculous, and the strength of the two sides was not on the same level. The combined fleet has nine capital ships, and the Chinese have only two captured the Japanese "Kirishima" and "Hiei", even if you count the three Jiangsu-class pocket battleships of the Chinese, it is only five.

Such a balance of strength will be fought unless the Chinese Navy wants to annihilate the main force.

Miller immediately said: "There must be a conspiracy in this, even if the Chinese Navy is stupid enough, Li Bufan will never do this." But for a while, he couldn't understand why the Chinese would do this, what was the benefit of doing this, and he was so anxious that sweat broke out, and suddenly a flash of inspiration flashed in his mind: "I understand." ”

Admiral Matt was surprised, "Miller, what do you have in mind?" ”

Miller said with a solemn face: "They must be trying to fight for some losses and destroy our troop carriers. ”

"Troop carriers?"

Miller said seriously, "Yes, Commander. As long as our army is stopped or destroyed, then the Chinese army can quickly sweep through the entire eastern part of India, and the Chinese can gain huge benefits. The Chinese can achieve this strategic goal, the navy is worth suffering certain losses, as long as there is money, they can build more ships, and the Chinese's coastal defense is completely dependent on the air force. ”

Admiral Matt said in a deep voice, "I see, I see. "Order the 2nd Cruiser Formation and the 3rd Destroyer Formation to protect the troop carriers." The main fleet catches up and kills them! ”

"Woo" The mournful battle alarm sounded, and with the command of the flag, the main force of the combined fleet gradually separated and headed east.

"Discovered?"

In the command hall of the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, Li Bufan, who was standing on the edge of the sand table, had a solemn face.

Li Huashan said lightly: "Commander-in-chief, rest assured, it is normal to be discovered, and he was not prepared to hide it from the other party." And the distance between the two sides is more than a hundred kilometers, and this is three hours from the voyage of the combined Anglo-French fleet. ”

Li Bufan nodded and said, "Is the Air Force ready?" ”

Li Huashan responded: "It's ready, it's just that we lack bombs"

Li Bufan said sharply: "What's wrong with the lack of bombs? Even throwing stones can kill people. He seemed to feel that he was too impulsive, and then his tone softened and said, "Besides, the purpose of our air force is not to expect bombers to blow up and sink enemy ships, but to distract the enemy. ”

In the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in history, in many battles, the Japanese planes were actually just Type 92 fighters, which could only carry a few small bombs, and the planes swooped and strafed, but the ammunition carried by the fighters was only a few hundred bullets, but why were people panicked and the combat effectiveness of the national army was greatly reduced? It's just a distraction. The presence of planes in the sky is a huge psychological deterrent, not to mention the fact that China's current planes are rumored to be miraculous, and battleships do not know how much to be killed.

In this case, as long as the Chinese plane is in the sky, the officers and men of the Anglo-French combined fleet will be afraid first, not to mention that the plane drops a bomb in the sky, or a piece of, which can also make their hearts tremble. After all, who can guarantee that the next drop will not be a bomb?

The navy is a technical branch, and if the gunners are restless, they will not be able to fight. Originally, the hit rate of naval artillery bombardment was pitifully low due to the influence of the waves, and if you want to be distracted a little more, it is strange that you can hit accurately.

Although the "Empty City Plan" was made up in the novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", it is even more impossible to achieve its purpose in reality "in the case of disparity in strength" (it is still possible to succeed in the case of a small difference in strength, but it is possible). It can also be reflected from the side that the huge role of psychological tactics in warfare has existed since ancient times.

"Yes! Immediately get the Strategic Air Division up! Li Huashan responded loudly and quickly went to give instructions.

Duan Qirui and Xu Shuzheng looked at each other, and Duan Qirui asked, "Is it useful?" If it really doesn't work, don't waste oil. ”

Li Bufan said lightly: "Even if it is an ant, it can affect the balance, let alone more than a hundred bombers." ”

In fact, Li Bufan is also extremely angry in his heart, if China's manufacturing capacity is strong enough, as for it? Directly dispatch bomber groups to drop bombs, isn't it just one or two hundred tons of bombs? What is this compared to ensuring victory in a naval battle? But China's manufacturing industry is limited, and you just want to waste it and have no goods. Not to mention the oil fields developed by the Anglo-Dutch Shell in Southeast Asia, the French spy he sent at the beginning developed a series of oil fields in the Malay Peninsula in order to make money, and the annual oil output of these oil fields is more than 1.5 million tons, which is enough for China's front-line mechanized troops, aircraft, and ships. This is not the time in history when China was short of oil in World War II.

Under the direct telegram order of the Ministry of National Defense, several airports in the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra became busy in an instant, and the most absurd scene in the history of the world's air force appeared.

The rows of H-1 Thunderbird bombers at the airfield were surrounded by a large number of logistics personnel, not to mention the refueling of the planes, the loading of bombs was ridiculous, bags of stones were loaded on the bombers, and there were some wood. There are also officers who are cursing loudly: "Hurry up, you all hurry up for Lao Tzu, are you girls?" ”

On the edge of the airport runway, there are many people sawing wood, sawing down pieces of wood, and there are people on the side processing these sawn wood, and after processing, they will immediately send them to the plane. A lieutenant stopped a wooden cart sent to the plane, the wood had already been dusted, but the wood was as if it had not been processed, and the whole wood was a piece of wood used by ancient cold weapons to defend the city, and immediately shouted: "Ladies and gentlemen, can you make this bomb a little more like?" ”

"Sir, can you give us a little more time?" The person who handled the wood replied on the spot.

The lieutenant was stunned for a moment, shook his hand helplessly, and said, "Forget it, when Lao Tzu didn't say it." ”

In the conning tower, Li Air Force looked at this scene, shook his head and said to the staff officers around him: "Remember, load a real thing for Lao Tzu for every plane, if the foreign devils really think we are playing and relax our vigilance, then let the plane dive and give it a real 500 kilograms!" ”

"Yes! Commander! ”

Li Air Force sighed when he looked at this scene, the development of heavy industry has to be done step by step, what is the use of just having money and technology, then the equipment needs to keep up, and the level of skilled workers is also needed. The work of the eighth-level fitter, you go and ask the fifth-level fitter to do it, how many finished products can there be? Although you don't need such high-level talents to make bombs, it's a truth.

Finally, with the command from the conning tower, H-1 bombers soared into the sky (to be continued......