At 14:40, the bridge of the "Thunderbolt".

"The Barham releases a smoke screen and withdraws from the battle"

Lieutenant General Yuan Feng, who was wearing a crooked military hat and revealing the back of his half-shaved head, listened to the report of the observation post, and crooked the Tang-style saber in his hand without care: "Leave it alone, pursue the enemy brigade with all your might." ”

Within a few minutes, regardless of the injuries in the bow, the "Thunderbolt", which was resolutely sailing at full speed, passed through the black-gray smoke ribbon released by the Betty fleet in front of the right side, and the sudden protrusion in front of him made Yuan Feng subconsciously gasp: What is the steel wall that stretches for more than ten kilometers in front of him......

The report of the observation post in the electric horn trembled with an unconcealable tremor: "0 o'clock! Confirm the enemy's main force ship shadow! 17 battleships, 8 large cruisers! The course is 155, the speed is 20 knots, and the distance is 17,000 yards! ”

So accurate? It's so close! ”

Yuan Feng was so annoyed that he poked the tip of the knife on the floor, gritted his teeth, and waved his hand to order: "The whole ship follows the flagship, turn left 9 compass points." ”

A staff officer of the major, who had always been steady, immediately reminded: "Commander, in this way we will have to enter into battle with an enemy with absolute superiority. ”

Yuan Feng straightened his face, and said proudly: "So what? Our mission is to hold back the enemy and cover the deployment of our main forces, and now that the enemy's main forces have finally appeared, it is a godsend! Grab them, bite them, stalk them, that's what you want! "But it's too close......"

"It's good to get closer, let these frogs at the bottom of the well see clearly, how far have the strong ships and cannons of my Celestial Empire reached!"

Before the words fell, the loudspeaker shouted again: "The enemy battleship column is firing on all fronts, pay attention to the impact prevention!" ”

Yuan Feng raised his eyes at first glance. The dense line ahead, the orange-red cannon flame blooming in the ground, was so dazzling. 17,000 yards away, the longship that covered the sea was obscured by clusters of thick gray smoke like marshmallows.

Don't wait too long. With a terrible whistling sound. The radius around the "Thunderbolt" is 1,000 meters above the sea. Within seconds, dozens of terrifyingly tall columns of water jumped one after another. It's just that the near-miss bomb has lifted tons of seawater. The nearly 220-meter-long hull of the "Thunderbolt" has been washed from beginning to end.

The major took advantage of the situation and said, "Commander. It's too dangerous to go on like this. Please order the release of the smoke screen. Let's make a U-turn! ”

Yuan Feng wiped his eyes. Take a long breath. He said fiercely: "Convey the order I just made." Not a word is allowed to be changed! ”

The flagship of the mobile unit "Golden Falcon".

“…… Confirmed recovery of Ship Attack 17 and Ship Fight 9. Among them, the number of ground planes that can continue to operate includes 2 command planes, 14 aircraft for naval attack and 8 aircraft for naval combat in the mainland. In addition, 2 Naval Attack Aircraft and 1 Naval Combat Aircraft landed in the water near the fleet. The crew was all rescued. Above"

Swallowing the last small piece of toast in his hand, he lifted his military hat and fanned his face, revealing a naturally curly brown hair, Lieutenant General Bi Lingbo, acting commander of the mobile force, nodded slightly to Lieutenant Colonel Jiang Ye, an intelligence staff officer who had just finished reporting and had a restless face: "I know the way." ”

"Do you want to launch a third wave?" Chief Staff Colonel Wang Zilong asked worriedly.

Bi Lingbo sank his face, put on his military hat, and straightened it. Shaking his head slightly: "The current task is to cover the main force with all its might, except for the necessary self-defense aircraft, the available aircraft are sent to patrol the sky over the main force in turn." That's all there is to it. ”

During the conversation, Major Wu Xianyun, a communications staff officer, appeared at the main hatch of the bridge with a coffee cup in his hand, and reported with a wilted face: "The Saker reported that the hole opened by the torpedo yesterday began to leak again, and I request to temporarily leave the formation for emergency repairs." ”

Bi Lingbo frowned, swallowed a large mouthful of bitter coffee, and squinted his eyes without speaking.

The cold man's silence lasted for half a cigarette, and Wang Zilong twisted the stubble on his chin and spoke first: "Now the remaining planes are not enough to fill this ship, so it is better to let the Saker sail to Port Blair first." While rushing to repair, he went to receive the reserve fleet in preparation for the resumption of the war. ”

"That's it." Bi Lingbo agreed without thinking, and at the moment when it put down the coffee cup in his hand, a communications soldier poked his head out of the main hatch of the bridge: "Report, Pinghai is coming"

"It's still coming...... Bi Lingbo seemed to have a premonition, and he bowed his head helplessly and muttered.

Jiang Ye saw that Bi Lingbo was wrong, so he urged the communication soldier to himself: "Don't read it yet." ”

"I ordered your department to draw out the 3rd and 5th teams of the armed patrol and combine them into a mobile armed patrol detachment. Pursue the main force at full speed and prepare for deployment. ”

"How so!" Wang Zilong angrily snatched the telegram in the hand of the signal soldier, confirmed the content of the telegram with his own eyes, sighed, shook his head like a rattle, and raised his hand to hand it to Bi Lingbo.

"It seems that Commander Sa has concluded that we have lost our use value, the birds are all hidden, and the rabbits are dead and the dogs are cooking." Wu Xianyun put his hands on the back of his head, and sneered in his nose.

Jiang Ye shrugged. Counting his fingers and analyzing: "Yesterday we lost the destroyer Qingyang. At noon, the Hengyang was damaged when it hit the enemy submarine, and the Lianyang towed it back first. Earlier, when the Dapeng returned first, it took away the destroyers Guiyang, Qinyang, and the light patrol clouded leopard and rain leopard, and now it is going to let the Saker sail to Port Blair, and the escort force also needs to be lightly patrolled 1 and expelled 2 at a minimum, and then 6 Shanzi patrols with strong anti-aircraft firepower will be transferred, and the covering force of this ship will only be left with 3 leopard light cruisers and 9 Yangzi destroyers with limited anti-aircraft firepower, and if it is attacked by the enemy's shore-based aviation forces again, I am afraid it will ......."

Bi Lingbo smiled bitterly with his back hand, closed his eyes and said, "Don't say useless words, carry out the order." ”

"Can't you fight for it?" Jiang Ye was very unwilling.

"What is an order?" Bi Lingbo raised his head and asked rhetorically.

Jiang Ye was silent. Wang Zilong smashed his fist into his thigh, and said bitterly: "Understood, execute it immediately." ”

Jiang Ye stomped his feet with hatred, turned around and pushed away the innocent communication soldier who happened to be blocking the hatch, and climbed the gangway to the observation terrace outside the aviation bridge, and saw a certain depressed figure looking up at something on his knees and his arms hanging out of the railing.

Jiang Ye blinked, and immediately recognized him as Captain Qi Peng, the squadron leader of the Dapeng Ship Attack Squadron, whose clothes and hair were still dry, and his face was covered with fresh black oil smoke except for his eye sockets, and it seemed that he was one of the 14 lucky "Golden Eagle" crews of the Second Attack Wave.

"Isn't this Captain Qi, what are you looking at?"

Qi Peng didn't seem to hear it. Without looking back, he muttered to himself: "Bing'er, good sister, come back quickly, I know that you are still alive, you must still be alive...... It's all my brother's fault, why didn't I knock you unconscious before attacking...... No. You shouldn't have joined the army at all, any generals and marshals, it's all shit, worthless, nothing compares to living freely, flying freely, as before, whether it's a circus, or a ring match. As long as you still ......"

Jiang Ye's chest trembled, and he tightened the military hat on his head and said to himself, "Lieutenant Qi Bing hasn't come back yet, yes." Why did you let her attack...... Captain Cai Guolan has no news yet, if the flower of the first team withers like this......"

Something broke through the wind, Jiang Ye didn't have time to react, he had already received a heavy blow on his face, staggered back two steps, and was about to raise his hand to stop it, but he thought that he would be followed by another kick in his stomach, and the force was so fierce that it almost made him fly. In an instant, his back had hit the steel wall behind him, his mouth was salty, and his lips ached faintly, presumably by his teeth.

"Wither your sister, thank you sister, do you have a sister? What right does a bastard sitting on the bridge have to lament our life and death! Isn't it all because of you? We did our best, we sacrificed, what about you! Get lost. Go accuse me, lock me up, I won't attack again until Qi Bing comes back! ”

After a roar that split his head and covered his face, Qi Peng, who was in hysteria, kicked Jiang Ye's thigh again, but the strength had weakened a lot, and it was not even enough to cause obvious pain.

Jiang Ye bared his teeth and inhaled, but he didn't plan to fight back, he covered the swollen half of his face and said lightly: "If this can make Qi Bing, Cai Guolan ...... The Flower of Our First Team...... There are other familiar and unknown comrades-in-arms...... Words of return. You can hit as many as you want. ”

The corners of Qi Peng's mouth twitched. The distorted face could not be seen to be crying or laughing, and its fist was raised in mid-air and landed heavily on the steel wall beside it. Between the flesh and the iron, a line of blood seeped down.

"Your Majesty will definitely be able to see and feel this blood, this sorrow and pain, and you will definitely believe that our sacrifice will not be in vain...... Now, please get back to your posts, we need you, the Empire needs you. ”

Qi Peng whimpered and lowered his head, put his feet together, gritted his teeth and said: "I'm sorry, I owe you, if I am still alive after the battle, I will pay you back tenfold, and now I still have something to do, so I will leave." ”

The reverberation of leather boots stomping on the gangway gradually faded away and dissipated, Jiang Ye stood up with his support on the wall and handrails, looked up at the clear sky as clear as blue glass, and silently raised his hand in salute.

After a while, he heard a commotion on the flight deck, and someone exclaimed: "Hey, how did the plane in front of it get on the ground, it took off without signaling!" Go report ......"

Bhubaneswar, Royal Indian Flying Corps Air Station.

Major General Westland, who was reclining on a bench and taking a nap, gently shook the staff member awake.

"General, the time for the second wave of air raids is almost up."

Westland rubbed his eyes with his left hand, and wiped the gray beard from the corner of his mouth with his right hand: "Well, how many are ready?" ”

"12 Camel fighters, 24 Cuckoo attack aircraft, 2 of which are command aircraft, 34 Handlipeti bombers, 2 of which are command aircraft, 12 mounted torpedoes, so that there are a total of 4 command aircraft, 34 torpedo aircraft and 20 horizontal bombers."

Westland was a little relieved: "Yes, it seems that everything that can be arrived has arrived...... What about the crew? ”

"Our best squadron has lost most of its crew in previous battles, and now only the 17th Bomber Squadron, which is a torpedo unit, has a few first-class crews, and most of the other squadrons that have been improvised are third-rate crews that are poorly trained." The young staff officer looked helpless.

Westland got up with a wry smile, crossed his waist and looked down from the tower on both sides of the runway, and sure enough, dozens of large and small planes with light gray paint were neatly arranged.

"It's better than nothing, pass my orders, the whole team sets off on time, the goal"

……