"Order the reconnaissance aircraft to expand the detection area. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 Info" Lin Luo then ordered, "Based on the time and the combat radius of the Americans' carrier-based aircraft, they should soon be able to find the location of the Americans' fleet." ”

Lin Luo's idea was not wrong, but many Ming reconnaissance planes searched a large area of the sea but still did not find any trace of the warship. And they've been flying too long to stay any longer. In desperation, Lin Luo had no choice but to send a second wave of reconnaissance aircraft and at the same time order the distant reconnaissance aircraft group to return.

"Sir, their number seems to be a little small." On the Weishan Lake, the first mate put down the telescope in his hand and turned his head to the captain on the side and said, "It seems that there are only more than 300 planes at most, if the main fleet of the US Navy only has these forces, then do you still need us to attack in an all-round way?" ”

The Weishanhu was ready for battle as if it were facing a great enemy, but in fact, the US military aircraft in the sky did not look at them at all. It is still flying fast at an altitude of more than 3,000 meters. It's just that its numbers seriously do not correspond to the main fleet of the US Navy.

"It's kind of weird. If it was the first wave, it would be reluctant, but the Americans were stupid to send only such fighters. The captain also lowered his binoculars, shook his head, and said, "Send a telegram to the flagship to report this." ”

The distance of more than 100 nautical miles is only a little more than half an hour's voyage for naval carrier-based aircraft, which generally reach speeds of more than 240 knots. When this force of no more than 300 was close to the core sea area of the 25th Task Force, there were already hundreds of Fighting Falcon fighters in the sky, waiting for their arrival.

In the Ming Navy, pilots who can board aircraft carriers have already had thousands of hours of flying experience by the time they graduate from flight training schools. After getting on the aircraft carrier, the daily training never stopped.

Daming has no shortage of gasoline or planes. Zhang Chengke is very aware of the importance of the quality of pilots in war. The Japanese Navy in the history of modern time and space gave him a surface early on what it would be like to have insufficient pilot quality. And the only way to train a qualified pilot is to keep flying. Relying solely on the talent of pilots is a slim stroke of luck.

This fierce battle in the air was very fierce. The American pilots have clearly done their best. They were not afraid to break through the Ming army's defense line and rush to those huge aircraft carriers, but they were never able to break through in the face of fierce interception by the Ming army's fighter group, which far outnumbered them.

More than 10 minutes later, most of the more than 300 US fighters were damaged under the guns of the Ming army's fighter group, and the remaining fighters could no longer pose any threat to the core warships of the Ming army. The alarm in the sky has been temporarily lifted.

However, things quickly took a turn for the worse.

"What?!" Lin Luo, who was holding the telegram, had a surprised expression on his face: "The Americans' fleet is more than a hundred and seventy nautical miles away from us?" Are you sure?! ”

"Yes sir!" The communications staff officer shouted: "Reconnaissance aircraft No. 071 sent two telegrams, confirming their intelligence. The third time the message was aborted after only half of the message was sent, and it is quite possible that reconnaissance aircraft No. 071 had already been shot down. ”

"There are only four aircraft carriers, and this is not the main fleet of the Americans." Sun Ming came to Lin Luo and said with a solemn expression, "Although I don't know why the reconnaissance plane that set off before didn't find any trace of this US fleet, what should we do now?" Do you attack this fleet at once or wait for the reconnaissance planes to find the main fleet of the Americans? ”

"Don't wait!" As an aircraft carrier fleet commander, Lin Luo still has the ability to make decisions on the spot. He immediately gave a new order: "Send a group of attack aircraft to destroy this American fleet." Air defense fighters take turns landing to replenish fuel and ammunition. The second wave of reconnaissance planes sped up and went out to reconnoitre! Send a telegram to Li Ru and Han Dongwen! ”

"Yes!"

------

In fact, this U.S. fleet was Task Force 99, which Spruance used as bait. The commander of this task force, Stephen Brown. Vice Admiral Hunt once watched the fierce battle between the Ming Navy and the Japanese Navy up close in Japan as a military attaché. After returning to the United States, he became the captain of an aircraft carrier and participated in the fierce battle with Daming at sea.

General Hunt devoted himself to the study of the combat tactics of the Ming naval aviation, and he was surprised to find that every time a naval and air battle broke out between the allied fleets and the Ming navy, the Ming navy was always able to find the target before the allied navy. This caught his attention. After a long period of analysis, General Hunt finally confirmed that the Ming Navy had long adopted the tactic of sending reconnaissance planes before dawn to gain a time advantage.

After the outbreak of this naval battle, after receiving an order to go forward last night to attract the attention of the Ming army. General Hunt made up his mind to take the plunge. He ordered the fleet to move faster and to keep the lights under the strictest control. In this way, they succeeded in deceiving the reconnaissance planes of the Ming army that flew by in the high altitude at night in the darkest period before dawn. Arrived close to the Ming army and launched a surprise attack.

General Hunter knew very well how risky what he was doing, and once he was discovered by the Ming army, it would be a dead end. also knew that with the only four aircraft carriers in his hands, he would not be able to resist the counterattack of the Ming army at all. Therefore, he only left a very small number of anti-aircraft fighters for defense, and all the other fighters made a desperate attack after the reconnaissance planes discovered the location of the Ming fleet.

His adventure was successful.

This is also the reason why the Ming Army's No. 071 reconnaissance plane encountered the 99th Task Force under the command of General Hunt on the way back, but was able to send three telegrams in succession. The number of anti-aircraft fighters in the 99th task force is very scarce.

This raid by General Hunt was successful. He did catch the Ming army off guard. If it weren't for Lin Luo enlarging the distance of the perimeter cordon, if it weren't for the Ming Army's new radar being too good. If it weren't for the fact that the Ming army had too many elite air defense fighters, perhaps this successful raid would have changed the fate of the entire battlefield.

If this operation happened at the beginning of the war, the Ming Navy would inevitably suffer a big loss.

But even so, General Hunt's attack formation brought a lot of trouble to the Ming army.

Although the attack aircraft group that took off from the U.S. Task Force 99 did not threaten the Daming aircraft carriers in the core protection circle of the huge fleet, they attacked the defensive fleet on the periphery when the attack on the aircraft carrier was hopeless.

Six warships, including the large air defense battleship Baiyunshan, were sunk under the attack of the US forces, in addition to three warships were wounded, and more than 1,000 naval officers and men were killed or wounded. A significant gap was opened in the outer line of the 25th Task Force's defenses.

Not long after the Ming army stopped the air defense alarm and breathed a sigh of relief, a Ming reconnaissance plane numbered 177 that was heading to the southwest sea area for reconnaissance sent back the latest report, and they encountered a large US aerial group on the way to the reconnaissance area.

"The Lord is coming." After receiving this information, Lin Luo immediately understood that this was the real main force of the US fleet.

"What now?" Sun Ming, who began to sweat on his forehead, hurriedly asked.

At present, the anti-aircraft formation of the Ming army has become somewhat chaotic because of the previous attack, and a large number of air defense fighters have consumed a lot of ammunition and fuel due to the long-term fighting and cruising, and they urgently need to land to replenish it. If the fleet of Americans had come again at this time, the situation would not have been as simple as this one.

"How long will it take for them to come." After a moment of silence, Lin Luo turned to look at the combat staff officer who was lying on the navigation table not far away, writing and drawing, and asked.

"It's going to take about forty minutes." According to the time when the telegram was sent back, the distance of the sea area where they met, and the performance of the US fighters in service, the combat staff officer quickly gave an answer.

"Forty minutes?" Lin Luo raised his hand and pinched his chin, nodded slightly and said, "It's still too late." ”

"Order the 2nd and 3rd Aircraft Carrier Squadrons to continue to release attack formations to attack the US fleet." Lin Luo ordered loudly: "The other aircraft carriers will release all the air defense fighters as soon as possible." Air defense fighters in the sky landed in batches, refueled, replenished ammunition, and prepared to take off again. Other reconnaissance planes in the vicinity of reconnaissance aircraft No. 177 were ordered to conduct reconnaissance in the vicinity of their intended sea area. Flying along the route of the previous US fighter planes, it is necessary to find the location of the main US fleet. ”

After a pause, Lin Luo gave another order: "Send a telegram to Li Ru and Han Dongwen, tell them to get ready, and let them attack immediately as soon as I have news of the Americans here." After finishing speaking, Lin Luo turned to look at the sky in the distance, and a US fighter plane was plummeting from the sky into the sea with thick smoke. Sighing softly, "Let's sound the air defense siren again." ”

Just as Spruance used the 99th Task Force as a decoy to attack the Ming Naval Fleet, Lin Luo's approach in this unfavorable situation at this moment was the same as Spruance's. Use your own fleet as bait to entangle Spruance, and then let Han Dongwen and Li Ru's fleet take out the American fleet.

As long as they can annihilate or severely damage Spruance's fleet, even if Lin Luo's 25th Task Force is completely wiped out, it will be a brilliant victory for the Ming Navy, because they have an absolute advantage in strength and can engage in a war of attrition with the Americans. And with the progress of the war on the US mainland, it will not be long before Daming will be able to carry out fierce air strikes on US warships in various shipyards near the coast.

That is, if the Americans lose their main fleet here, then they will never have a chance to turn over again. This is also the main reason why, when such a huge fleet of enemy planes is about to be killed, Lin Luo still ordered the four aircraft carriers of the Second and Third Aircraft Carrier Squadrons to send attack aircraft groups to deal with the 99th Task Force of the US Army. For the current US Navy, if their warships are really hit, there will be one less! (To be continued.) )