At night, there is no wind or waves on the sea, and the stars are brilliant. The mysterious and wonderful scenery did not have the slightest desire to appreciate Li Guang and all the officers and men of the Maritime Resistance Army. Although we don't know exactly where the Japanese fleet is, the distance between the two armies is undoubtedly in the process of approaching. The Maritime Resistance Fleet has a fatal shortcoming, there are no battleships, there is no cruiser escort, and if it fights at night, as long as the two aircraft carriers of the Maritime Resistance Army are the main force and the Japanese fleet are discovered, they will have no chance of winning. In the midst of unknowable dangers, the scenery is only worthy of the backdrop of the warship's voyage.

At 22:23, the second wave of reconnaissance planes on the aircraft carrier Liberty Dragon, a total of four maritime reconnaissance planes, took off again in the night.

At 22:35, the first wave of reconnaissance aircraft returned. The aircraft carrier Liberty Dragon ventured to turn on the deck lights, and in just five minutes, four reconnaissance planes landed smoothly. Then the fleet turned off its lights again and continued to soar north on the dark sea.

At 10:00 a.m., a reconnaissance plane of the Naval Resistance Force made a spot on the left side of the fleet's route, that is, due west. On the dark sea, pilots can only fly with instruments, and it is easy to confuse the fire on the sea and the starlight in the sky. Huang Feihu, the pilot of the No. 7 reconnaissance plane, was slightly puzzled by the "starlight" flickering in the distance, so he flew several dozen kilometers westward curiously.

It is precisely Huang Feihu's curiosity that created an excellent fighter for the Maritime Resistance Army. Originally, the warning radius of the reconnaissance planes of the Maritime Resistance Army at night was only 80 kilometers, and the search by radar could not detect the Japanese warships at a distance of 130 or 40 kilometers.

At 0:30, the two aircraft carriers abandoned by the Japanese were discovered by the No. 7 reconnaissance plane. The two converted aircraft carriers have long been crumbling, but they have been on fire for several hours, and huge amounts of fuel are still burning wantonly, so that they can be seen dozens of kilometers away.

After receiving the pilot's report, Li Guang immediately ordered the fleet to turn eastward. It is definitely not a wise move to take the aircraft carrier and the Japanese fleet to the death. Distance is the right thing. Although Li Guang did not know the course of the Japanese fleet, no matter whether the Japanese fleet returned to the Philippines in the west, attacked Saipan in the north, and sailed back to the Palau Islands in the south, the Naval Resistance Army could open up the distance to the east. As for the possibility of the Japanese fleet going east, one only has to look at the small islands marked on the surrounding charts to know that it is impossible, and those islands are too small to afford to accommodate a fleet.

3:15 a.m.

All 12 anti-sea reconnaissance planes of the aircraft carrier Liberty Dragon took off and searched in a fan-shaped area at an angle of 180 degrees to the northwest of the fleet.

3:50 a.m. The reconnaissance planes of the Maritime Resistance Army once again discovered the two aircraft carriers abandoned by the Japanese army, but at the moment the two aircraft carriers were just a pile of debris floating on the sea. At the same time, six anti-aircraft reconnaissance planes of the aircraft carrier Liberty Dragon took off one after another.

At 4:30 a.m., 12 maritime reconnaissance planes had completed a one-way search of a 180-degree sector with a radius of 400 kilometers, but the airborne radar did not find anything. This. Li Guang had already predicted that the little devil would evacuate at twelve o'clock last night. In more than five hours, no matter how slow you are, you can run one or two hundred kilometers. In addition, the Shanghai Anti-Japanese Fleet sailed westward for five hours and had a range of more than 250 kilometers, and in addition to the fact that it was already more than 100 kilometers away from the two abandoned aircraft carriers of the Japanese army, the total should be around 450 kilometers. Therefore, there is nothing to discover, and it is not unusual at all. However, Li Guang gave the order. It is definitely not for the pilots to waste energy and physical strength in vain, for the naval resistance fleet, this is a guarantee of safety.

Although the US military did not announce the attack on the Japanese fleet yesterday evening, it did see two aircraft carriers on fire. The staff officers of the Naval Resistance Army could no longer imagine the battles that had taken place, and it was simply impossible. If there is a chance to strike at the Japanese army, Li Guang will not let it go, but if it is at the cost of the survival of the fleet, after completing the decoy task, Li Guang is grateful and insensitive.

Under normal circumstances, reconnaissance planes searched within a radius of 400 kilometers and did not find the Japanese fleet, which means that there is no chance of a battle. However, after just 9 minutes, the pilot reported that a long trace of oil was found in the western direction of the two aircraft carriers abandoned by the Japanese.

Huang Feihu is Huang Feihu again. Huang Feihu piloted the No. 7 reconnaissance plane and made great achievements again. After the reconnaissance plane took off in the early morning, the course of the reconnaissance plane he piloted was heading west, and in addition it was nighttime, it was impossible to find oil pollution on the sea surface. And after the morning sun rose, the reconnaissance plane returned home, just in front of the rising sun. Originally, flying against the light was not easy to detect, but the sun shone from the east, and the unusual reflection on the sea surface once again attracted Huang Feihu's attention.

Opportunities are reserved for those who have a heart. The Huang Feihu crew itself is intentional enough, plus last night it also found an abnormal light and discovered the aircraft carrier abandoned by the Japanese army. After tasting the sweetness, he found that the light was abnormal again, and he subconsciously had the idea of finding out, so Huang Feihu did not hesitate to fly to the abnormal reflective area to reconnoiter - a wide oil stain trace went straight to the east.

Radar is important, but the quality of the pilot is even more important, and the amazing performance of the Huang Feihu crew fully illustrates this. After this battle, the Yellow Tiger crew naturally became the biggest contributor to this battle.

Start with the first hand.

Li Guang was very keenly aware that the Naval Resistance Army had taken the lead on the battlefield. There is no doubt that the direction of the oil stain is the direction of the withdrawal of the Japanese army.

Again, there is a chance to strike at the Japanese army, and Li Guang will definitely not give up. At this moment, Li Guang did not hesitate at all, and quickly issued a series of orders.

At 4:51 a.m., all six anti-aircraft reconnaissance planes on board the aircraft carrier Liberty Dragon were released. This was the last reconnaissance force of the Naval Resistance Force, and the 12 anti-sea reconnaissance planes were still on their way home, and the six anti-air reconnaissance planes were still on alert in the air. Although these six reconnaissance planes are only equipped with anti-aircraft detection radars, in a clear climate, relying on the naked eye of the crew to reconnoiter sea surface targets is actually not inferior to the current radar performance of the naval defense forces.

At five o'clock, the naval resistance fleet drew a huge arc on the surface of the sea, turned one hundred and eighty degrees, and pursued it to the west. The sky is already dark, the threat of night battle is no longer there, and it is the best battlefield environment for aircraft carriers to show their skills. At this moment, what the Naval Resistance Army had to do was no longer to avoid the Japanese fleet, but to pursue it quickly.

In fact, Li Guang was not sure whether he would be able to catch up with the Japanese fleet, after all, the Japanese fleet had been withdrawn for at least five or six hours, and the distance was more than 400 kilometers, and it might even reach 600 to 800 kilometers. But intuition told Li Guang that there was great hope of catching up.

If there is hope, we must strive for it. The first hand is in hand, and it is already undefeated. The Naval Resistance Fleet immediately entered preparations for battle, only waiting for further reports from the reconnaissance planes.

At 6:35 a.m., the six reconnaissance planes that were searching for the traces of oil had barely taken the slightest detour before discovering the Japanese fleet on the sea. These were exactly the five battleships that Ozawa's fleet fell behind, one wounded aircraft carrier Shozuru, a lightly wounded battleship Nagato, a heavy cruiser, two light cruisers on towing and covering duty.

The staff officers quickly determined on the charts the distance between the two armies - four hundred and eighty-five kilometers. This distance exceeded the combat radius of the fighters of the Maritime Resistance Army, but Li Guang did not hesitate at all and immediately gave the order for the fighters to take off.

A day ago. When the Naval Resistance Fleet bombed the Palau Islands, one of the tricks played was that the fighters took off outside the combat radius and then advanced into the combat radius with aircraft carriers to pick up the planes. With one experience, this method was used again, and the whole army appeared to be in an orderly manner.

6:40 minutes. A total of fifty fighters took off from the first wave of strike forces on the aircraft carrier INS.

At 6:50 a.m., 12 reconnaissance planes aboard the aircraft carrier Liberty Dragon returned home.

Ten past seven. Forty-nine fighters took off from the second strike force of the USS Indian Ocean aircraft carrier (the USS Indian Ocean was supposed to carry one hundred and eight fighters. Nine aircraft were lost in combat damage and wounded in the early stage, and after the second wave of strike forces took off, there was not a single fighter).

At this point, the Naval Resistance Army fleet was left with only twenty-four Night Cat fighters on the aircraft carrier Liberty Dragon as the last air force. The armor of a battleship is its heavy and strong armor plates, while the armor of an aircraft carrier is the carrier-based aircraft it carries. With only twenty-four fighters protecting the naval resistance fleet, the armor was already very dangerously weak.

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At the same time that the fighters of the Naval Resistance Army discovered the Japanese fleet. The observation posts on the Japanese warships had also spotted the reconnaissance planes of the Naval Resistance Army. Now that they have been discovered, it is natural for them to be hit next, and no devil has the luxury of expecting that the American ghost animals will let them go. (The Japanese did not know that the naval resistance fleet had already entered the Pacific theater.) ）

The war could not go as planned, and the six reconnaissance planes used by the Naval Resistance Force in desperation were all reconnaissance planes equipped with anti-aircraft radars. The lack of means of maritime reconnaissance can only rely on the pilot's eyesight. Therefore, he had to get close to the Japanese battleship, so that he was discovered by the Japanese observation post.

When the catastrophe came, they flew separately, and the little devil's performance at the moment did not have the slightest hint of sharing the joys and sorrows.

The battleship Nagato was the least injured and was able to sail under its own power. The captain of the ship, Mikio Hayakawa, sent a light signal to greet the rest of the ships: Ask for more blessings, buddy go first. In this way, the Nagato was at full power, and although it could not drive at full speed, it was able to escape westward at a speed of nearly twenty knots. The battleship Nagato had a very high status in the Japanese Navy, and the Nagato was once known to the people as the flagship of the Japanese Navy, and due to the secrecy of the existence of the Yamato, Nagato's popularity was far greater than that of the Yamato, and until after the war, many civilian Japanese still believed that Nagato was still the flagship of the Combined Fleet. To put it bluntly, the propaganda of the Nagato in Japan at the beginning was as good as that of our Liaoning, which shows the status of the Nagato in the hearts of the Japanese. Therefore, Hayakawa Mikio Daisa's primary purpose was to keep the battleship, and no one dared to stop him. The captains of other warships can only slander their stomachs in addition to slander.

The aircraft carrier Xianghe can also sail under its own power, but his power system is seriously damaged, and he can only sail at a speed of eleven or twelve knots, and there is no way to do it in a hurry now. Although Jizaburo Ozawa equipped the Shozuru with a towing cruiser, it was in case of a loss of power, and no cables had been erected. If you want to erect a cable, you can't do it without three or two hours of tossing, and if you want to erect a cable at this time, you must not be in a hurry, and the officers and men on the Xianghe aircraft carrier have no choice no matter how anxious they are, so the Xianghe can only continue to move forward slowly.

The captain of the cruiser on the towing mission jumped to his feet and cursed, but he did not dare to flee without authorization. He sent reports to Jizaburo Ozawa again and again, but he never received a reply. The captain was also cunning, and quietly ordered the battleship to stay away from the catastrophe star of the aircraft carrier Xianghe. He is also smart and knows that as long as the US fighter planes attack, the primary goal is to strike at the aircraft carrier. In recent years, although the aircraft carrier has not yet reached the level of a magnet for firepower in later generations, it has become a veritable primary target, especially in the battle between the United States and Japan, US pilots will not hesitate to rush to the aircraft carrier when they see it, even if it is a modified aircraft carrier.

Staying away from the scourge adds a sense of safety. The cruiser captain is very smart. As for the cruiser's style, the mood of the devil officers and men on the Xianghe aircraft carrier can be imagined.

But the most bitter were the other two Japanese warships, an intact light cruiser towing a heavy cruiser with no power - the Kaohsiung. The captain of the cruiser simply accepted his fate, he did not dare to leave the heavy cruiser Kaohsiung and flee for his life alone, and he did not even dare to send a telegram to Jizaburo Ozawa to request. In that case, even if you escape with your life and fall into the reputation of a coward, I am afraid that you will have to go to a military court, and it is estimated that suicide by caesarean section is the final result. The old cow pulls the broken car, which is the best portrayal of the Kaohsiung heavy cruiser. (To be continued......)