About 100 nautical miles away from the east coast of India, on the sea surface of the Bay of Bengal, four flat-topped ships with their mastheads flying the British Royal Navy's white ground red cross with blue ground red line and white seam rice flag in the upper left corner are speeding to the northeast in a neat diamond () array, and at the top of the diamond in the direction of the course is the flagship of the 1st Aircraft Carrier Squadron of the Combined Entente Fleet, the Royal Navy's largest and newest all-deck fleet aircraft carrier "Brilliant". Hunting in the warm and humid sea breeze close to 16 degrees north latitude.

In the middle of the starboard island of the "Guanghui", in the narrow navigation bridge, Vice Admiral Hood, commander of the 1st Aircraft Carrier Squadron, was looking at the blue sky through the not-so-wide porthole—occasionally bowing his head slightly and glancing at the sea a few times.

On the starboard side, Vice Admiral Betty's 5 battle cruisers and Rear Admiral Thomas's 5 fast battleships each formed a column and marched in unison; To the east of these two giant ships, the destroyer "Swift" of Colonel Ferrey's 3rd Destroyer Fleet and 16 destroyers escorted them in two evacuation columns; Directly in front of the above four columns, five light cruisers were deployed in two lines as the lead, the first line was the "Dublin" and "Southhampton" directly under the reconnaissance unit, and the second line was the "Bristol", "Glasgow" and "Liverpool" of the 4th Light Patrol Squadron of Commodore Adland.

On both sides of the front of the "Brilliant", the two three-chimney fast light cruisers "Caroline" and "Cordelia" of Commodore Goodnov's 2nd Light Patrol Squadron were moving side by side, faithfully carrying out the tasks of the lead ship, and in the forward position between the two ships was a simple Tier I destroyer "Iron Man", and there was no need to look in other directions, Vice Admiral Hood knew in his mind: the other two light cruisers of the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron, "Komas" and "Conquest", were guarding the rear of the aircraft carrier squadron, The other three diagonal extensions of the diamond-shaped array of the aircraft carrier squadron also have a destroyer as an escort.

A little further on the port side, the destroyer "Fierce" and 8 destroyers of Colonel Winter's 14th destroyer flotilla were escorted in parallel. Sail in a column.

Of course, there is no need to look back, Hood also knew that a little farther rear, the four small cruisers of Commodore Napier's 5th Light Patrol Squadron should still maintain a horizontal formation, faithfully acting as the rear guard of the entire reconnaissance force.

A few dozen nautical miles further to the rear, 31 old and new battleships and 67 other combat ships of the main force and support forces should still be following the track of the reconnaissance unit, along the east coast of India, which extends from southwest to northeast. Into the depths of the Bay of Bengal, graceful and oppressive......

With a "bang", the hatch behind him was pushed open by force, and a light breeze followed, slightly cooling Lieutenant General Hood's sweaty neck.

"Found the enemy!" Intelligence Staff Lieutenant Colonel Revere reported in a hurry, emotionally.

Hood waved his hand expressionlessly: "Mark it on the chart." ”

"Yes—"

Revere put down the telegram paper on the chart, picked up the ruler and pencil, and marked the location of the enemy fleet where the reconnaissance plane reported it with a few clicks.

"Right in front of our route, less than 150 nautical miles! 2 aircraft carriers, 6 battleships or large cruisers, and several small ships were found. Heading 230, speed 25 knots - this was reported at 13:55. ”

Hood pulled down the white military hat covered with gold leaves on the black brim, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"When was the first report of shooting down an enemy aircraft?"

"13:20...... Before that, however, the radio room had intercepted the radio firing from that direction - for several minutes on end, and we should assume that the other party had been informed of our position before 13:20. ”

Hood let out a slight "en", stretched out his hand and lightly touched the position where Revere had just drawn the cross on the chart, and ordered without thinking: "Prepare the first wave of air raids, and inform Lieutenant General Betty, the commander-in-chief, and the shore-based air force command of the situation." ”

The white arcs formed by the high-speed rotation of the propellers bloomed on the flight deck of the "Dapeng". From the take-off line 50 meters from the bow of the flight deck to the tail end of the 33 planes -- 6 "Haiyundian" fighter planes and 27 "Golden Eagle" attack planes -- all of them were fully loaded with fuel bombs, and the crews of each plane were doing the most debugging before and after take-off with the assistance of the deck crews.

The whistle screamed, the signal flag was raised, the anti-style grille erected like a fence at the front of the take-off line was slowly flattened with the drive of the hydraulic rod, and the wind whistled across the deck at a speed of more than 60 kilometers per hour, blowing the "Haiyun Electric" fighter plane, which was empty under the first two rows of wings and weighed no more than 800 kilograms.

On the starboard side of the foredeck, the take-off commander in the yellow vest waved the signal flag in his hand, and the last three rapid whistles sounded throughout the ship, and the colored triangular signal flag of "immediate take-off" slipped up to the top of the mast, and the "Haiyundian" with the aircraft number "504-01" began to glide against the wind. In just a few seconds, the wheels grazed the wooden deck of more than 40 meters. At the moment of approaching the bow of the deck, the flaps were decisively depressed, and the fuselage rose into the air seemingly with great difficulty and sluggishness, and then briskly deviated from the axis of the deck to the left, and began to circle around the mothership—

The nose followed the stern, the wheels of the first one had just left the deck, and the latter had already begun to taxi. A quarter of an hour's effort. The huge flight deck of the "Dapeng" was already empty, and the wingman of the same combat team "Yunpeng" in the left rear of the "Dapeng" was in the rear. As well as the smaller "Golden Falcon" and "Saker" of the Second Air Force in the rear, they also completed their release on time, and the flying ground aircraft groups of various ships assembled in formation over the "Dapeng" and formed a large group of 114 planes (66 planes of the First Air Force, 48 planes of the Second Air Force, 24 planes of the Ship Battle, 90 planes of the Naval Attack, and 88 450-mm torpedoes......

Commander bridge of the "Dapeng". "We have just received a signal from the convoy to shoot down an enemy two-seater, and according to the results of radio listening, it is likely that the enemy plane has already photographed our position......"

Wang Zilong, the combat staff officer, reported to Liang Shuming cautiously as if he was afraid of touching the tiger's tail.

"Very good," Liang Shuming turned half of his face with his hands behind his back - he raised his chin and smiled in horror, "Who does the crown belong to?" Victor at Pearl Harbor, or victor at Port Kiel? Soon the conclusion will be reached......"

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