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As night fell, the sky of Bermuda was overcast, and the smoke of gunpowder blocked the full moon in the sky. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

The sea breeze howled, and the Atlantic Ocean rolled up a thousand waves, wave after wave.

The US attack on the Bermuda base continued until 8 p.m., and due to the dark weather, the US anti-submarine destroyers were no longer able to lock on to the submarines of the Chinese Empire, so the US military had to abandon the operation in consideration of the fleet's safety at night.

Taking advantage of the darkness, the Chinese Emperor rearranged anti-landing obstacles and mines, and at the same time strengthened the coastal positions. On the other side, a naval reinforcement group based at the San Juan base in Puerto Rico has departed and is expected to arrive at the Bermuda base early tomorrow, but it will definitely be intercepted by the US military.

320 Cat Demon fighters, 70 Thunderbolt fighters, and 30 bombers took off from the San Juan base and transferred to St. David's Island Air Force Base in Bermuda at night.

In this way, the number of fighters and bombers of the Chinese emperor in Bermuda increased to 617 and 30.

In the Pacific direction, the Chinese Emperor is making all-out efforts to expand the air base of the US military base group in Hawaii, mainly by increasing the length and width of the runway at the airport, increasing the number of parking sheds and hangars, and rushing to repair the damaged military facilities of the US military base.

Since the number of airfields and hangars in Hawaii cannot meet the needs of all the combat aircraft of the Chinese Imperial Air Force in a short period of time, the Chinese Imperial Air Force will temporarily transfer 1,000 fighters and 400 bombers from Wake Island to the San Juan base. 400 of those bombers arrived at San Juan Air Base at 4 a.m. the next day, ready to reinforce the Bermuda battlefield after dawn. Another 1,000 fighter jets will be shipped to the Caribbean Sea on 30 escort aircraft carriers and are expected to be stationed at San Juan Air Base in three days.

At four o'clock in the afternoon of 2 May, Li Hanqiao, commander of the Caribbean Theater of Operations, received a telegram from the Bermuda base asking for help, and immediately sent reinforcements from the San Juan base with the consent of the General Staff.

The reinforcement fleet was led by Rear Admiral Cai Wei, with the aircraft carriers Helanshan [V-12] and Lianhuashan [V-19] as the core of the aircraft carrier battle group, carrying 70 Thunderbolt carrier-based fighters, 5 bombers, four China Aegis air defense cruisers, nine Fengxian-class light cruisers, 22 rainstorm-class hunting ships, as well as 29 submarines, and six Taihu-class transport ships to the Bermuda area.

Although Rear Admiral Cai Wei was very careful, his aircraft carrier battle group had just left the San Juan base when it was discovered by US spies who had been lurking nearby.

The U.S. Atlantic Fleet Command immediately convened an emergency meeting to discuss how to eliminate this Chinese imperial reinforcement fleet.

In fact, it is obvious that the U.S. military has tactical considerations for attacking the Bermuda base of the Chinese Empire, and the typical encirclement tactics are aimed at using Bermuda as a bait to lure the Chinese Empire into continuous reinforcements. In this way, the U.S. Navy could intercept the reinforcement fleet of the Imperial Chinese Navy halfway, weaken the combat strength of the Imperial Chinese Navy in the Caribbean, and prepare for the offensive of the Caribbean Sea after the U.S. military seized Bermuda.

Of course, the Chinese Empire was also well aware of the urgency of the situation, and knew that the US military would adopt the tactics of encircling the point to send reinforcements, but in order to delay time, it would give the main force of the Chinese Imperial Navy time to enter the Atlantic Ocean and win a decisive battle with the main force of the US Navy.

It can be said that both sides have the bitterness of having to fight, so it is destined to be a fierce battle.

Cai Wei knew that he did not have a powerful capital ship in his hands, and could only rely on the carrier-based aircraft of two aircraft carriers to fight. For this reason, before departure, Cai Wei replaced the Cat Demon ship units of the two aircraft carriers with Thunderbolt carrier-based aircraft, in order to win the air battle with a few fighters.

In terms of tactics, Cai Wei knew that the main fleet of the US Navy was basically concentrated in the waters near Bermuda, so his tactic was to attack and harass from the periphery, and would not engage the main fleet of the US Navy head-on, so as to avoid touching the opponent's large capital ships.

In order to provide supplies to the Bermuda base and to ensure that the Bermuda defenders could hold out for a longer period of time, Cai Wei used his first squadron to ensure the safety of the six Taihu-class transport ships, and used the main force of the aircraft carrier battle group to lure out the US aircraft carrier formation to destroy them.

In order to realize this attempt, Cai Wei divided his aircraft carrier battle group into five parts and put them into operation: The first part was the advance battle group, which was composed of 6 light cruisers, hunting ships, and submarines, carrying 6 sailors, which was responsible for reconnoitering the movements of the enemy fleet and guiding it in the direction of the aircraft carrier battle group, and actively providing support and cover when the main force engaged the enemy. The second part is the containment group, which consists of one light aircraft carrier, the Helan Mountain, carrying 30 Thunderbolt fighters, two Aegis air defense cruisers, and four hunting destroyers, which are responsible for trying to attract carrier-based aircraft from US aircraft carriers and creating conditions for the main force to attack. The third part is the main force group, which is personally commanded by Cai Wei, and has one aircraft carrier, the Lianhuashan, carrying 40 Thunderbolt fighters, 5 bombers, 2 Aegis air defense cruisers, 4 light cruisers, 12 hunting ships, and 6 submarines, which are responsible for the main attack mission. The fourth part is the shore cover group, which consists of four light cruisers, and bombards the approaching US cruisers, destroyers, and submarines with naval gun fire, so as to provide fire preparation and support for the action of the reinforcement group. The fifth part was a reinforcement group, with 2 light cruisers and 4 destroyers covering the entry of six transport ships into Glitter Bay, to deliver supplies and supplies to the defenders of the Bermuda base.

Other submarines are distributed around the aircraft carrier battle group, mainly Tang-class submarines, to attack and block the large capital ships of the US military from approaching the aircraft carrier battle group or transport ships.

The U.S. military had long regarded Cai Wei's fleet as a bag, and the 61st Task Force under Fletcher's command was responsible for intercepting and destroying Cai Wei's fleet. The formation has three groups: the 11th Group, under the personal command of Fletcher, with one aircraft carrier, the USS Hornet, carrying 46 fighters, 37 bombers, two battleships, two cruisers, and five destroyers. The first squadron, commanded by Rear Admiral Kincaid, consisted of 1 aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise V-6, USS Essex V-9, carrying 106 fighters, 37 bombers, 2 battleships, 2 cruisers, and 6 destroyers. The 1st Task Force, commanded by Rear Admiral Noyce, consisted of one aircraft carrier, USS Wasp V-7 and USS Yorktown V-10, carrying 99 fighters, 36 bombers, two battleships, 3 cruisers, and 7 destroyers.

The other six aircraft carriers continued to maintain their air raid missions against Bermuda, and the Navy's capital ships continued to shell Bermuda's coastal forts, giving the Chinese Emperor the false impression that the US military was still storming the Bermuda base.

Although the number of warships and aircraft of Fletcher's aircraft carrier battle group far exceeded that of Cai Wei's aircraft carrier battle group, Fletcher underestimated the combat effectiveness of the aircraft carrier battle group of the Chinese Imperial Navy too much, especially he did not know that Cai Wei's fleet had all been replaced by new Thunderbolt fighters whose combat effectiveness far exceeded that of the Cat Demon fighter, and he did not know the superiority of the Chinese Imperial Navy in fleet air defense, and at the same time, Fletcher considered that the US submarines were too slow, so they did not carry submarines into battle, so that the strength of submarines was zero.

At 2 a.m. on May 3, Fletcher's fleet reached a distance of 120 nautical miles south of Bermuda, where it was spotted by a submarine of the Chinese Emperor and immediately reported to Cai Wei. When Cai Wei learned of this news, he immediately ordered the main force group to change from the sailing sequence to the combat sequence, accelerate north, and prepare to attack the US army.

At dawn, when the sun was rising above sea level, a reconnaissance aircraft of Fletcher's fleet spotted the reinforcement group of the Chinese Emperor. Knowing how many troops there were nearby, Fletcher sent 31 bombers and 26 fighters to a tentative attack at 6:45.

After Cai Wei received the news of the submarine report, he also understood that the US military was making a tentative attack, but he did not have too many cards to play, so he had to order all the carrier-based aircraft of the Helanshan aircraft carrier to take to the air to intercept them, and at the same time order the fleet to prepare for air defense operations. In addition, reconnaissance planes and submarines were sent to search for the position of US aircraft carriers.

At 7:17 a.m., an air battle broke out between the naval forces of China and the United States in the airspace 123 nautical miles southeast of Bermuda, and the naval battle of the Bermuda Islands officially broke out.

The 30 Thunderbolt fighters that took off from the Helan Mountain aircraft carrier belonged to the 73rd Squadron of the Naval Air Force, and the squadron leader, Major Lei Zhennan, led his subordinates to fly at high altitudes all the time, using the maximum ceiling of the Thunderbolt fighters to occupy the commanding heights. When the US attack aircraft group was discovered, Lei Zhennan gave an order, and the 30 Thunderbolt fighters of the 73 Squadron suddenly swooped down from the clouds.

"Squads 1 and 2 pinch pinn down enemy escort fighters, and squad 3 attack enemy bomber groups."

"A small team understands!"

"Team 2 understands!"

"Team 3 understands!"

Amid the buzzing sound, the 10 Thunderbolt fighters of the three squadrons were like lightning, quickly rushing towards the US bomber group, quickly locking on to the target, and immediately pulling the trigger.

"Dada-da-da!"

The meter-heavy machine gun spewed out tongues of fire, alternating long and short bursts of fire that quickly locked onto enemy aircraft.

The American pilots were taken aback, and before they could see each other clearly, they were violently attacked, and in the blink of an eye, three 00 bombers were hit, one of the bombers exploded in volley, and the other two bombers were hit in the nose, the pilot was killed, the plane lost control, and was falling into the sea in a whirlwind.

"What the hell is this?"

The U.S. commander Captain Kyle was confused in his mind, he had participated in yesterday's air battle in Bermuda and had not encountered a Thunderbolt fighter, so he had this doubt. The speed of the new fighter of the Chinese Empire in front of him has exceeded his imagination.

The group of American bombers continued to maintain course, and without receiving orders, they could only bite the bullet and continue to fly. The heavy machine guns on the fuselage opened heavy fire and attacked the invading Chinese Emperor fighters.

Kyle was stunned for a few seconds, and then immediately ordered the 16 fighters escorting the escort to intercept it. However, they were soon intercepted by the first and second squads of the 73rd Squadron, and the fighters of the two sides immediately became entangled together.

Lei Zhennan quickly locked onto a US fighter plane, bit the enemy plane, and after firing three short points in a row, he quickly locked onto the enemy plane. The enemy pilots seemed to sense locked in and tried to flip to the right to evade, but it was too late. Lei Zhennan also flipped to the right, and at the same time pulled the trigger and fired a long point to attack the enemy plane.

"Dada-da!"

The enemy plane was hit by more than a dozen 50-heavy machine gun shells in the fuel tank, which exploded and disintegrated in an instant, and the pilot of the enemy plane burst into flames and fell freely from an altitude of 3,000 meters with a howl.

At this moment, Lei Zhennan suddenly heard the sound of a string of bullets breaking through the air behind him, and when he looked back, he didn't know when an enemy plane appeared behind him, and the other party was pulling the trigger and firing at him fiercely.

Fortunately, the Thunderbolt combat metal structure is relatively resistant to fighting, the cockpit has a bulletproof baffle, and the vital parts are also reinforced. The fuselage was hit with a few holes, but it did not hurt the vital point.

Lei Zhennan breathed a sigh of relief, pulled the joystick violently, and continuously flipped in the air to avoid.

Enemy planes kept firing, and it seems, did not know how to save bullets.

Lei Zhennan snorted coldly, saw the opportunity, raised the nose of the plane sharply and released the accelerator at the same time, the fighter stood up in the air, and then flipped two times in a row to avoid touching the enemy plane behind.

The enemy plane behind was still stepping on the accelerator, and flew in front of Lei Zhennan in the next second. The pilot in the cockpit of the enemy plane was obviously stunned and looked back at Lei Zhennan.

The corners of Lei Zhennan's mouth raised a slight arc, and he shot three short shots left and right, quickly corrected the shooting Zhu Yuan, and locked on the enemy plane.

Lei Zhennan looked at the pilot of the enemy plane in front of him, who was looking back and worried about him, as if he deliberately saw the fear in the other party's eyes.

"Say goodbye!"

Lei Zhennan smiled coldly and immediately pulled the trigger.

"Dada"

More than a dozen heavy machine gun shells hit the nose of the enemy plane, instantly damaging the engine. Black smoke and flames suddenly rose from the nose of the enemy plane, and soon the engine failed, and one fell to the head.

Lei Zhennan single-handedly took over two enemy fighters, and the other 14 US fighters were divided among the other team members. In the face of advanced Thunderbolt fighters, the outdated Camel fighters or Newport fighters of the US military were no match at all, and they were completely slaughtered by the Chinese Imperial Air Force.

"Babbling"

With a rapid roar, all 16 US escort fighters were shot down, drawing a long arc in the air with black smoke, and finally crashed into the sea.

At 7:28, 30 Thunderbolt fighters of the 73rd Air Squadron began to beat up the remaining bombers of the US army. Prior to this, the third squad had shot down thirteen bombers, and the remaining eighteen bombers were quickly swarmed and divided between the first and second squads.

At 7:36 a.m., the first round of aircraft carrier aviation battles between the Chinese and American armies ended, ending with a complete victory for the naval aviation of the Chinese Imperial Navy.

At 8:11, Lei Zhennan led the 73rd Aviation Squadron back to the Helanshan aircraft carrier. Only one pilot was slightly injured, and two fighters were slightly painted.

After the victory in the first wave of air battles, Cai Wei immediately ordered the aircraft carrier Helanshan to withdraw 30 nautical miles to the open sea. The main reason for making such an arrangement is that Cai Wei is not in a hurry to fight a decisive battle with the US military, and maintaining deterrence is the only policy, and it must be the US military that is in a hurry. Cai Wei's mission is to contain the US aircraft carrier battle group.

When Fletcher learned that the first wave of exploratory attack planes he sent out had been wiped out, he was immediately shocked and immediately adjusted his combat deployment, not daring to send a small group of planes into battle.

At nine o'clock in the afternoon, Fletcher sent 50 bombers and 150 fighters to escort the fleet to Cai Wei's fleet. The U.S. bomber group flew towards the target sea area, but did not find the reinforcement group of the Chinese Emperor, so they had to throw away the bombs and torpedoes and return home.

Cai Wei was experienced, and after recovering all the fighters of the 73 Aviation Squadron, he had long since changed course. It sailed out of the combat radius of the US military aircraft and evaded the attack of the US military.

At the same time, Cai Wei ordered 40 fighters and 5 bombers of the USS Lianhuashan to take off and pounce on the Fletcher fleet.

40 Thunderbolt fighters carried small torpedoes, and 5 avian flu bombers carried 10 500-kilogram aerial bombs, and their goal was very clear, to attack the US aircraft carriers without fighter escort, and Cai Wei's goal was to destroy the US aircraft carriers.

Fletcher received reports of submarines and destroyers on the periphery of the carrier battle group, and discovered the fleet of the Imperial Chinese Air Force. Fletcher judged the purpose of this group of attack planes, and immediately took off the only dozens of fighters in his hands to intercept them, and at the same time ordered the fleet to open full anti-aircraft fire to protect the aircraft carriers.

At 10:11 a.m., 40 Thunderbolt fighters of the Imperial Chinese Air Force quickly shook off the interception of the US fighters with their ultra-high speed, and threw 40 torpedoes into the array of the US aircraft carrier battle group, but the effect was not obvious, and only disrupted the formation of the US aircraft carrier battle group, causing a certain amount of confusion, sinking a US cruiser and severely damaging a battleship.

Then, 40 Thunderbolt fighters quickly engaged in aerial dogfights with US fighters, covering the five bombers flying behind to carry out a focused bombing of the US aircraft carrier.

At 11:13, five bombers of the Chinese Emperor broke through the anti-aircraft fire network of the US fleet and began to drop bombs.

At 11:14, the USS Yorktown was hit on the deck by a 500-kilogram bomb. The bomb penetrated the Yorktown's flight deck, which was only 30 mm protected, and exploded with a four-second delay inside the hull.

There was a loud "boom", like an active volcano erupting. I saw a column of black smoke hundreds of meters high rising from the flight deck of the Yorktown aircraft carrier, and a huge explosion exploded a hole more than a meter wide in an instant. The violent blast wave of the explosion pierced directly through the bottom of the Yorktown, and the sea water from the bottom of the ship was like a huge fountain, and soon filled the six watertight compartments.

The USS Yorktown tilted and sank rapidly, and the captain immediately ordered the ship to be abandoned and all personnel evacuated.

At 11:15 a.m., a 500-kilogram bomb fell on the water near the starboard side of the US aircraft carrier Hornet. More than a dozen cracks were broken on the starboard side, and the American sailors only damaged the pipe before they could be saved.

The air raid ended at 11:17 a.m., sinking only one US aircraft carrier and one cruiser, and although the results were not satisfactory, the blow to the morale of the US troops was huge.

Fletche gritted his teeth and hurriedly recalled all the fighters who did not dare to attack easily, and only sent reconnaissance planes to find the traces of Cai Wei's fleet.

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