In the sea about thirty kilometers east of the combined Anglo-French fleet, the China Sea! The oceanic fleet is in formation, and in addition to the three battleships and one battlecruiser that had previously served as a decoy for the enemy, five more battleships have already arrived. It was precisely because of the waiting for these five battleships that a lot of time was wasted, otherwise when the navy's air force besieged the combined British and French fleet, the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy would have been able to catch up and launch an attack on the combined British and French fleet.

It's just that at that time, the main force of the combined fleet of the British and French Navy still existed, and even if the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy caught up, I am afraid it would not be able to take advantage of anything. The Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy, together with the five battleships that arrived later, was only eight battleships, and most of them were old battleships, which were not at all the opponents of the combined fleet of the British and French navies, which consisted entirely of new battleships. And now, the combined fleet of the British and French navies has suffered heavy losses under the attack of naval aviation, more than half of the capital ships have been destroyed and sunk, and the remaining capital ships have also been heavily damaged, which undoubtedly gives the Indian Ocean Fleet an excellent opportunity.

"Order all ships, speed up to 20 knots, and don't let those capital ships of foreign devils run away!" at

'Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty, on the battleship, Admiral Li Haitao ordered. At this moment, his mood was very excited, the strength of the combined fleet of the British and French navies was definitely more than twice that of the Indian Ocean Fleet, but in just one hour, the balance of strength between the two sides was completely reversed, which made him very shocked at the same time, but more than happy. Fortunately, China was the first to develop the weapon of the aircraft, and at a time when all countries in the world have not yet realized the horror of this weapon, China's fighter units already have powerful combat power.

"Yes, Commander! Commander, we have just received information from naval aviation that there are only 8 of the lead ships of the combined fleet of the British and French Navy. In addition to the three battlecruisers that began to be sunk, five more battleships were sunk, including three 'Queen Elizabeth-class', one 'Orion-class, battleships, and one 'Brittany-class, battleship, of the French Navy. Most of the remaining eight battleships were also heavily damaged, and their speed dropped to about 16 to 18 knots. Vice Admiral Wu Zhiyuan, Chief of Staff of the Fleet, reported.

"What? Three 'Queen Elizabeth class, battleships were sunk? Those guys in the naval aviation are really losers! That's a super battleship with a displacement of 33,000 tons and four twin 381mm guns! If we can capture it, it will make a huge leap in the strength of our Indian Ocean Fleet! Admiral Li Haitao said very distressedly, as if the three 'Queen Elizabeth-class' battleships that were sunk were already battleships belonging to the Indian Ocean Fleet.

"Isn't that guy in the naval aviation also entering real combat for the first time? They also want to make meritorious contributions, and they must have attacked those big guys. Those three 'Queen Elizabeth-class, battleships are the largest battleships, and they must be the first targets of naval aviation! Lieutenant General Wu Zhiyuan said. Although he also felt that it was a pity that the three most powerful 'Queen Elizabeth-class, battleships, were sunk, he could also understand the approach of naval aviation. After all, they were enemy battleships, and victory could only be achieved if these battleships were destroyed. Of course, if you can take prisoners, it will be the best!

"Old Wu, we have to hurry up, if before we arrive, the guys from the naval aviation start a second round of strikes, it is estimated that the remaining eight battleships will be sunk. We arrived first and let the British and French surrender, and if they could do so, it would be the best! Admiral Li Haitao said. If the Indian Ocean Fleet can add eight battleships, then the strength of the fleet will be doubled!

"Okay.

But in that case, we're going to have to speed it up. Otherwise, it would have been almost three hours before we caught up with the battleships of the Combined Fleet. By that time, it was almost out of the combat radius of naval aviation. If the combined fleet of the Anglo-French Navy does not surrender, then we will be in vain! Lieutenant General Wu Zhiyuan reminded. Don't let the battleships of the combined fleet of the British and French Navy escape because you want to capture them, in this case, it will be a bamboo basket for nothing.

Admiral Li Haitao nodded, and then said: "It is still composed of the 'Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty,' the Qin Shi Huang, and the 'Prince Fusu, and the 'Wang Ben, to form a formation to catch up with the combined fleet of the British and French navies at a speed of 23 knots." Five more battleships, sailing west at a speed of 20 knots

Reinforcements for us. In addition, a telegram was sent to the theater command asking them to coordinate with the naval aviation, and the second round of naval aviation strikes would be postponed for a few hours before taking off. At that time, after we had caught up with the capital ships of the combined fleet of the British and French navies, the aviation would arrive at about that time. The mutual cooperation between us and the air force can also give those foreign devils a greater deterrent. If they don't surrender then, we'll sink them all!" ”

"This is a good solution, commander, I will send a telegram to the theater command immediately!" Lieutenant General Wu Zhiyuan said immediately.

After that, the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy was once again divided into two parts, the battleship "Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty", the battleship "Qin Shi Huang", the battleship "Prince Fusu", and the battlecruiser Wang Ben, under the protection of several heavy cruisers and more than a dozen light cruisers and destroyers, pursued the combined fleet of the British and French navies at a speed of 23 knots. And the rest of the 'Huaxia, battleship,

The battleship Shenzhou, the battleship Zhongnan, the battleship Zhongnan, and the battleship Nanyang continued to sail at a speed of 20 knots. At the same time, Lieutenant General Wu Zhiyuan also contacted the theater command and reported their plan to the theater commander, General Zhou Shun.

After reading the plan submitted by the Indian Ocean Fleet, Admiral Zhou Shun immediately agreed without saying a word. Although Admiral Zhou Shun was an army officer, he also had a general understanding of the situation in the navy. The number of capital ships of the Chinese Navy is not large, at least compared with the number of capital ships of the United Kingdom, which is as high as 40, it is still much behind. If the Indian Ocean Fleet can successfully capture the remaining eight battleships of the Combined Fleet, then not only will the strength of the Chinese Navy increase a lot, but it will also further reduce the numerical superiority of the British Navy's capital ships. This strategy of weakening the enemy and strengthening oneself is undoubtedly the best.

At the field airfield in Marsala, the fighters of the 1st Wing of the Naval Air Force were ready for takeoff, and the ground crews had overhauled the fighters, refueled them, and loaded them with ammunition. The pilots also sat back in the cabin, waiting for the order to take off. Although most of the pilots were very tired after the last round of bombing, everyone's mood was very uplifted, and this will allowed them to continue fighting.

However, while the first wing was preparing to take off, an order was given from the theater commander to temporarily stop the takeoff. Take off again in an hour. This made many pilots very puzzled, the current 'Osprey, torpedo attack planes, 'Fish Eagles, and dive bombers' combat radius is only 200 kilometers, if you wait another hour to take off, when they fly over the United Fleet, the position of the Combined Fleet is about 150 kilometers away from Sicily.

At that time, there will not be much time left for the attack, so that the effect of the attack will be affected by the strictness

Major General Chen Guoguo, the wing commander of the 1st Naval Air Wing, was greatly dissatisfied and personally rushed to the commander of the theater to ask General Zhou Shun, commander of the theater, for an explanation. Although, this time the performance of naval aviation is already very impressive, but who doesn't want to make a greater contribution?

"General Chen, the Indian Ocean Fleet hopes to capture the remaining eight battleships of the British and French forces, so I hope that the naval aviation will arrive at the battlefield after they arrive. When the time comes, if the battleships of the combined fleet of the British and French navies do not agree to surrender, the naval aviation will destroy them again. I also think that if the battleships of the British and French navies can be forced to surrender, it will undoubtedly be the best outcome. Therefore, I agreed with the plans of the Indian Ocean Fleet! Admiral Zhou Shun explained.

Rear Admiral Chen Guoguo was stunned, but finally nodded, although he flew in the hope that his fighters would sink all the capital ships of the British and French combined fleet, he also knew that it was undoubtedly better to capture than to sink. Of course, if the battleships of the combined fleet of the British and French navies refused to surrender at that time, then it would be no wonder that the fighters of the naval aviation were enough to sink them all. The previous blow was so smooth, which made Major General Chen Guoguo already have a lot of confidence.

An hour later, the 1st Wing of the Chinese Naval Air Force took off from the field airfield around Marsala and flew westward. The first air wing has also completed its preparations for takeoff, and after the departure of the second wing, they are also close behind.

At this time, the main force of the Indian Ocean Fleet led by Admiral Li Haitao was only 18 kilometers away from the capital ships of the combined fleet of the British and French navies. The lookouts on the battleship had also seen the figures of the capital ships of the combined fleet of the British and French Navy. It's just that this distance is already beyond the strike range of several battleships of the Indian Ocean Fleet, and it is not possible to strike at them for the time being!