In the sky over the mobile unit, which was less than 30 kilometers away from the main battlefield, the strings of tracer bullets and the smoke of the airburst bombs were staggered and crisscrossed, and the battle against the shore-based air raid team of the Entente army had just begun.

After a flight of 1 hour and 20 minutes, four of the Royal Indian Flying Force's Second Attack Wave 70 planes from Bhubaneswar were left behind or returned ahead of schedule, and finally arrived over the mobile unit at 16:05 with a lineup of 66 planes consisting of 11 "Camel" fighters, two "Dujuan" attack planes, and 33 Handley Pedy V100 four-engine heavy bombers.

In addition to the 1 Cuckoo and 2 V100 as command aircraft, the main striking force of this wave of air raid teams was 21 Cuckoo and 11 V100 carrying torpedoes for low-altitude lightning strikes, and 19 V100s carrying bombs for high-altitude horizontal bombing.

On the other hand, after several days of hard fighting, only 7 "Haiyundian" warships, 14 "Golden Eagle" warships, and 19 "Dongfeng" warplanes were available to the mobile unit at this time, a total of 40 planes, which were divided into two shifts to take turns on guard; according to the order of Commander Sa Zhenbing, most of the planes on duty were assigned to the airspace above the main force for direct cover, and there were only a handful of alert planes over the mobile unit that could meet the enemy at the first time.

However, the rational premise of this arrangement was that the air attacks of the enemy planes were concentrated on the main forces rather than the mobile forces, and when Bi Lingbo on the "Golden Falcon" was alert to discover that the fleet aircraft carrier, the only mobile force still in the battle position, had apparently become the main target of the enemy planes. The enemy's large aircraft group, which had overwhelming superiority, had broken through the thin outer air defense circle and was outflanking and approaching from two directions. However, the shift planes that took off urgently from the "Golden Falcon" could only meet the enemy one after another, and most of them were still clumsy and far less maneuverable than the naval attack and reconnaissance of specialized ship warfare, and it was always too reluctant to intercept the air attack units escorted by a considerable number of fighters.

"For what...... It's our ...... Shouldn't the highest priority target be the main force at such a time? ”

On the bridge of the "Golden Falcon", Lieutenant Colonel Jiang Ye, who had a purple face, muttered to himself amid the sound of anti-aircraft guns, and the two generals who stood in front of him and ignored his existence took over his words intentionally or unintentionally-

"—because the other side is very clear. Only by destroying or expelling all of our carrier-based air forces from the battlefield can we ensure that our main forces can advance and retreat freely, because after all, the advantage of shore-based air forces in the vicinity is on their side. ”

Bi Lingbo said lightly, but it aroused Liang Shuming's more obvious disgust: "Since you know this, why don't you use all your strength to protect the mobile force?" Don't give me any orders, you won't be able to keep them. What else to talk about protecting others! It's so pedantic! ”

Bi Lingbo looked at the fierce battle between the blue sky and blue sea outside the window with his back hand, and his face did not change: "An order is an order, once the main force enters the decisive battle, it will never allow the enemy aircraft to have a chance to interfere, this is the creation battle that can decide the first century in one afternoon - it is already more than four o'clock in the afternoon, I believe that the enemy has no chance to launch the third attack wave." As long as it is guaranteed that any movement of the main forces will not be disturbed before nightfall, the task is successfully completed. Even the greatest sacrifice is worth it. It's not pedantic, it's subordination to the big picture. ”

Liang Shuming gritted his teeth and stomped his feet with hatred: "Go to the overall situation!" You see, you look around, you can't stand it if it goes on like this. If there is any accident on this ship, if it cannot be solved on the day of the main battlefield. As soon as it dawns tomorrow, the main forces will be exposed without cover in front of the enemy's ground-based aviation. Is that what you're hoping for? ”

Bi Lingbo was still unfazed: "Except for believing in Commander Sa." I had no choice. The duty of a soldier is obedience. The virtue of a soldier is self-sacrifice. I don't have your politician-like mindset. I must face this war with a soldier's conscience. So far. It's useless to say anything. I'm in charge here. Please return to your place at once—

The voice did not fall. A murmuring voice came from the loudspeaker shalala: "Alarm. High-altitude enemy aircraft in the air—"

"Again, the horizontal bombardment was used to disrupt the formation and interfere with the shooting. Let's cover the lightning strike team enter...... The commander of the opposing land is by no means idle......"

Bi Lingbo slapped Jiang Ye in the sleepwalking ground. Tugging him by the shoulder, he whispered, "Whatever happens next." You remember them all. Be sure to do your best. Search and rescue of the pilot who fell into the water. They are the core combat power of the mobile force! ”

Jiang Ye Leng nodded. He turned around and took a few steps. Wake up. He muttered to himself, "Of course this kind of thing is important. But it doesn't have to be like a last word

"The starboard enemy catapulted into the water—"

"Port near-miss confirmed-"

"At 3 o'clock, 5 torpedo planes are approaching!"

"Starboard enemy planes drop mines!"

The battleship "Queen Elizabeth" had just completed a 45-degree "turn in unison" at this time, and its course was changed to due south, but its speed gradually slowed down to three or four knots, until the destroyer "Lance" carrying Vice Admiral Betty and his party successfully landed without danger.

Majestically climbed the gangway to the deck of the "Queen", and was greeted by the captain at the sound of a whistle, Vice Admiral Betty led his command members into the ship in a hurry, and climbed high on the bridge around the circular gangway.

"What's going on now?" Betty didn't wait to sit still, and asked the captain beside her straight to the point.

"The destroyer fleet has moved forward to launch a lightning strike, and the capital ships have turned south to open up the distance, regrouped their positions, and prepared to leave the battlefield at night." The captain, Colonel Witson, replied simply and succinctly.

Betty whispered to herself with a dark face, "You can't get out of the battlefield like this......"

Captain Whitson, of course, could not sense Betty's feelings, and held a telegram in both hands: "Allow me to transmit to you the orders of the Commander-in-Chief. ”

Betty thanked her. After taking the message and skimming it briefly, the folds between the eyebrows twisted even more.

"What did the commander-in-chief say?" Lieutenant Colonel Kanter anxiously approached and asked.

Betty angrily threw the message to him: "If it is still difficult to get rid of the enemy army before nightfall." The reconnaissance troops should take the initiative to counterattack and make every effort to cover the detachment of the main forces - this is probably the intention

Lieutenant Colonel Kante narrowed his eyes in embarrassment: "Isn't this just treating us as outcasts?" Sacrificing the minority to save the majority? ”

"This is war." Betty was stunned.

"The Lance has successfully disembarked and the ship is about to accelerate back into the array, please sit down and ——。 Commander"

Battlecruiser "Thunder". At this time, it had just left the battle line to the left, stopped and drifted, waiting for the destroyer "Mianyang" carrying Vice Admiral Yuan Feng, commander of the reconnaissance unit of the East Asian Army, to take over.

The whistle sounded, and Vice Admiral Yuan Feng, who was wrapped in a large blood-oozing bandage on his bald skull, gritted his teeth and took a knife, inhaled step by step, and was immediately helped into the ship by the captain who came to greet him. Then take the elevator all the way up to the bridge.

Leaning back and sitting on the only seat in the bridge given by the captain, Yuan Feng raised his knife and immediately turned to the topic: "I saw the order on the Mianyang, hurry back to the ship, and by the way, give the order to the Thunderbolt, and immediately transfer to Unit B and accept the command of Vice Admiral Yi Mingxuan." ”

Within minutes. The Lieutenant General "Thunder" accelerated to 28 knots in one breath - apparently it had not suffered any blows in the previous battle that would have slowed down the ship, and in a few strokes it caught up with the "Ninghai" and "Pinghai" in front, followed by a beautiful sideways turn, diagonally in front of the "Thunder". Replacing the "Thunderbolt", which was ordered to leave the battle column and join the "B Unit", it became the leading ship of the entire front.

"The ship is in place. Slow down to 2 knots. ”

"Arrive at the intended turning point, the left full rudder—"

"Starboard makes a sharp turn. course

"Rerudder - the course is set to due south, and the steering is complete."

"Confirm that the Thunderbolt is starting to turn ......"

Between two white smoke bands that stretch for tens of kilometers. The melee of hundreds of light ships has entered the white heat, everywhere is the endless shining cannon flames, cobweb-like interlaced lightning tracks, forest-like high and low water columns, and the burning steel hulls, and the combat distance has rapidly shrunk from thousands of yards to hundreds of yards, until there is zero distance naked hand-to-hand combat...... Unformed, incredible, indistinguishable from friend and foe, frenzied and disorderly, as if these elite warships that could explode into flames and shatter steel in the next second have long since become floating madhouses with dead guards.

Colonel Ferrey's 3rd destroyer fleet, which was subordinate to the reconnaissance unit of the Allied Forces, took the destroyer ship "Rapid" as the flagship and had one L-class destroyer under its jurisdiction, except for the "Lance", which was temporarily transferred to Vice Admiral Betty for the purpose of changing ships, the remaining 15 destroyers all went out with the flagship at the first time, and the 14th destroyer fleet of Colonel Winter, which also belonged to the reconnaissance force, took the destroyer ship "Fierce" as the flagship and had 8 J-class destroyers under its jurisdiction, all of which attacked immediately, and the total number of destroyers participating in the battle of the two destroyers was 2 destroyers and 23 destroyers.

"Rapid" and "Fierce" are both "rapid" class, is the Royal Navy to replace the "Lin Xian" class light cruiser designed by the Royal Navy to replace the speed and cost ratio of the "Lin Xian" class light cruise, the standard displacement is about 500 tons more than the usual first-line destroyers (such as L and J class), reaching 1550 tons, the gun has been upgraded from 4 4-inch rapid-fire guns to 1 6-inch main gun and 3 4-inch rapid-fire guns, torpedo armament still retains 2 twin 21-inch (five-three-three mm) launch tubes, The maximum speed is comparable to that of the latest first-line destroyers - both are 33 knots, the endurance is increased by more than 30%, and with the addition of high-power radios and special flagship facilities, it is a very flexible and practical mine strike force pilot command ship.

The two elite ocean-going destroyer fleets led by this new type of leader happened to collide head-on with Colonel Fang Xiaoyun's 1st Thunderbolt Squadron and Colonel Jiang Tao's 7th Destroyer Squadron, which were subordinate to the reconnaissance unit of the East Asian Navy. Therefore, the total strength of the two teams participating in the battle at once was 2 light cruisers and 15 destroyers.

As the flagship of the destroyer team, the Leopard modified light cruiser has extremely powerful firepower, and its slender hull with a standard displacement of nearly 6,000 tons seems to be a little clumsy in the melee of light forces scurrying around in torpedoes

As the backbone of the Imperial ocean-going destroyer force, the Yangzi destroyer has completely overwhelmed the first-line destroyers in service in the same period in terms of tonnage (standard row of 1470 tons), firepower (4 120 mm main guns and 2 triple 550 mm torpedo tubes), endurance and other aspects, and the speed of 33 knots is not outstanding and not lagging behind, and it can be called the world's first fleet destroyer, but whether this good name is worthy of the name remains to be tested by real actual combat.

The fierce battle between the 42 ships of the above five types at the northern end of this chaotic Shura Field has been burning for a full 20 minutes......