In the evacuation time that the air force paid for at a huge cost, almost all the civilian ships of the Istanbul Empire joined the ranks of the great retreat, and in the strait tens of kilometers wide, countless civilian ships shuttled back and forth, transporting their own troops in the direction of Istanbul.

The Axis group soon saw that something was wrong, and the Axis forces launched a fierce attack, pushing the Iranian army back step by step from the city, and soon occupied most of the city, but they could no longer attack it when they attacked further, especially the dock area to the east of the city. In these neighborhoods near the docks, the remnants of the Iranian army fought with great courage in defensive battles, launching counter-charges regardless of casualties, retaking those positions seized by the Axis powers, and the two sides fought desperately in several narrow blocks, and the small positions changed hands almost several times a day. After the breakdown of the Iranian army, the troops resolutely resisted the onslaught of the Axis forces with heavy casualties, buying time for the withdrawal of the main forces.

Although quite a few bombers rushed over the strait to bomb during the melee of fighters, this did not prevent the rescue operation in the strait. Many Iraqi troops even loaded anti-aircraft guns onto civilian ships to resist the threat from the sky, so the results of the Axis bombers were not great, especially at night when they stepped up their transportation, and they had no ability to fight at night, so they could only watch the other side's civilian ships shuttle back and forth, transporting a large number of Iraqi soldiers across the strait.

The Axis top brass could no longer sit still, and despite the great fear of the Chinese Empire's anti-ship missiles, Halsey's Storm Ocean Fleet gritted its head and approached an area two hundred kilometers south of the strait, using carrier-based aircraft to harass and attack.

The carrier-based aircraft of the Axis powers were all propeller aircraft, and their performance was not comparable to that of land-based aircraft at all, and after seeing the approaching aircraft carriers, the Imperial Air Force of China set a trap.

For two days in a row, the NATO Air Force continued to fight with the Air Force, sending only a small force to counterattack the attack aircraft group of the aircraft carrier fleet, and they did not chase after it far away, and only carried out protection missions over the strait.

For two days, the Axis fleets were engaged in a tentative offensive, sending only a small number of aircraft to fight over the Strait, and under the drive of the NATO air forces, they suffered some losses but did not achieve anything.

Although he suffered a small loss, Halsey thought that he had clearly seen the strength of the NATO air force, and he believed that the other side was already very difficult to deal with the land-based air forces of the Axis powers, and that the naval air force in his hands could mobilize very few troops, so he negotiated with the air force, hoping that the two sides would launch a large-scale attack together, so that when the air force could attract the opponent's forces, it would rely on the naval air force to destroy most of the transport ships in the strait.

The air force was worried that it would not be able to cut off the strait transportation, and after Halsey's proposal, the two sides hit it off and quickly set a time for the move.

A few days later, one morning, the premeditated Axis Air Force suddenly dispatched a large group of aircraft to rush towards the interior of the Empire, and in order to avoid losses, the Estan Air Force and the Imperial Chinese Air Force both sent a large number of fighters to take off one after another to intercept the Axis formation.

After the two fleets began to fight, the Axis air forces again sent new fleets, and the NATO air forces also took off new fighter groups in response. The two sides are constantly mobilizing their reserve forces to take to the skies, and in various airspaces over the Istanbul Peninsula, multiple air battles are being fought at the same time, and there is an exchange of fire everywhere in the sky.

Counting the number of NATO air forces, Halsey felt that the reserves of the NATO air force had all taken off to meet the enemy, and they should have no reserve air force units. The plan of the air force had already begun, and the navy could not be left behind, and the Axis powers in the Mediterranean soon took off a mixed group of aircraft to rush towards the strait area in a low-altitude manner, and they wanted to take advantage of the entangled air force of the opposing air force to attack the civilian ships that were shuttling back and forth in the strait, and severely damage the retreating Iraqi army.

Even in the fierce air battle, the NATO Air Force did not give up monitoring the direction of the strait, and when the major air battle was underway, the NATO Air Force dispatched 30 early warning planes to carry out the task of supervising production and dispatching in the air; with the existence of this kind of combat force multiplier, the NATO Air Force can not only clearly understand the situation on this battlefield, but also transfer the air force units to the places where they are most needed, so that the NATO Air Force will not be left behind at all when confronting the Axis Air Force, which is twice as numerous as them.

There was an early warning function of AWACS aircraft, and despite the use of low-altitude flight, the carrier-based aircraft group of the Axis Mediterranean Fleet was detected more than a hundred kilometers from the coastline. After discovering the large group of aircraft of the opposing side, the AWACS aircraft immediately reported the situation to the air force command, but at this time on the Istanbul Peninsula, the NATO air force really had no reserves.

There were no air forces to intercept it, so the air command in turn reported this to the command of the Mediterranean Military District. When Gao Hong learned of this, he immediately ordered all the air defense units near the strait to enter a combat state, and he also informed the civilian ships sailing on the strait and asked them to prepare for air defense.

In order to protect the security of the strait, NATO allies have always attached great importance to the air defense of this place, so the Chinese Empire has deployed the best air defense forces here. Axis aircraft have rarely appeared over the strait, and even if they do, they are quickly intercepted by NATO fighters, so the air defense forces here have not yet revealed much strength, and the direction of the Axis is not clear.

When the dense Axis carrier-based aircraft took to the air, the civilian ships in the strait were a little panicked, and they set up improvised anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns one after another, desperately firing at targets in the air, and soon the antiaircraft artillery units on the shore also began to shoot.

There are quite a few anti-aircraft artillery units along the coast, and their shells form a dense barrage, which seriously threatens the safety of the Axis carrier-based aircraft, but the range of anti-aircraft artillery is limited after all, and when the Axis carrier-based aircraft group points the target at the opposite shore, they are completely unable to reach each other.

At this time, the air defense capability of the opposite shore was weak, and it was simply unable to resist large-scale bombing, and at this time, a large number of soldiers were waiting for ships on the beach, and once they were targeted by the enemy's bomber group, the consequences would be unimaginable. Seeing the dense crowd below, the Boston pilots were so excited that their faces were flushed.

The attack group rushed towards the troops on the beach, but at that moment, a dozen slender anti-aircraft missiles took to the air and rushed towards the Axis attack group that was preparing to launch an attack at a reduced altitude with an orange tail flame.

Dense explosions rang out one after another, and a large number of Axis attack aircraft units that were caught off guard were shot down. Seeing that a large number of their companions had been shot down, the other attack planes were startled, and they immediately realized that this was a missile attack, and the pilots of the carrier-based aircraft of the Axis Navy, who had already changed color when they heard the missiles, immediately raised their altitude in an attempt to evade the attack of the missiles at their heights.

What these Axis pilots did not expect was that the Hongqi-2 anti-aircraft missiles on the ground could reach a height of more than 10 kilometers, and it was impossible to escape by relying on the method of opening up the distance. Flying all the way to the extreme altitude, dozens of Axis attack planes wanted to continue to attack the sea surface, but a batch of fast-hitting missiles approached again, and before the Axis pilots could make any evasive moves, the continuous explosions sounded again, and the Axis carrier-based aircraft units lost dozens more.

Seeing that the missile capability was so strong, the pilots of the carrier-based aircraft changed color one after another, and they no longer paid attention to the civilian ships attacking the air over the strait, and immediately flew towards the aircraft carrier at full speed. However, all this is not over, the early warning planes that have been remotely monitoring the Boston carrier-based aircraft force with radar continued to track, and soon found the location of the opponent's aircraft carrier fleet, and this precise coordinate point was quickly sent to Cai Tingyuan on the southern subcontinent.

The NATO Air Force fighter units on the Istanbul Peninsula have all been dispatched, and there is no team to escort the bomber group, and if the bombers attack the aircraft carrier without escort, the losses will be immeasurable, so Gao Hong immediately passed the news to Cai Tingyuan, hoping that he could help.

After receiving this information, Cai Tingyuan immediately made a decision, and the four air wings in the Sinai Canal Zone took off urgently and rushed towards this coordinate point. The carrier-based aircraft unit of the Boston Empire was still hundreds of kilometers away from the aircraft carrier, and the early warning aircraft found the target and transmitted it to the rear, and this information was transmitted to Cai Tingyuan, and only three minutes passed, which shows that the communication system of the Chinese Empire is fast and efficient.

After receiving the information, it was only another eight minutes for the air force to take off in the Sinai Canal area, and in 11 minutes, it had already taken off from the time it discovered the enemy to the formation of planes, and the enemy's carrier-based aircraft force was still more than 40 kilometers away from its own aircraft carriers, and the slowest Avenger torpedo planes were even nearly 70 kilometers away, and they still needed nearly half an hour of sailing to arrive.

The Chinese Air Force took off not a very slow propeller plane, and with the speed they could increase, both groups reached the aircraft carrier almost simultaneously. Due to the constant electronic jamming of the NATO Air Force, the radars of the Boston Empire were largely useless, and they had become accustomed to this.

Without radar surveillance, the Bostonians learned that something was bad when the NATO Air Force arrived over the aircraft carrier. One wing of Kunpeng 3 bombers flew over the Axis fleet and dropped a dense barrage of bombs, enveloping the entire fleet in a cloud of explosions, while three wings of fighters rushed towards the Boston carrier-based air group on the way back.

The defense aircraft group and the returning aircraft group over the aircraft carrier fleet were fiercely attacked by the NATO air force, and a large number of Golden Eagle 4B fighters killed one after another, shooting down one Axis aircraft after another. The aircraft carriers are struggling in the smoke of gunpowder, they can no longer be used for normal take-off and landing aircraft, and those carrier-based aircraft that have returned are unlucky.

Ten minutes after the start of the war, they began to make a forced landing on the sea one after another, and the fighters of the remaining convoy were all sunk.