The formation of the three forces when passing through the Strait of Gibraltar was changed to a circular multi-level defense formation with capital ships as the center, heavy cruisers and light cruisers as escorts, and destroyers as alert sequences. Jericho's order to change the fleet queue really kept the captains of the battleships busy.

If people can see the radio waves with the naked eye, then they can see the radio wave web of more than 200 ships of the entire fleet densely intertwined with each other in an instant, which is much denser than a spider web.

At the same time, the flag soldiers between the warships were also super busy, passing messages to each other. Jericho watched all this quietly, and he didn't know how long it would take for the three navies to complete their orders.

One plane after another was out of sight, and the whole fleet looked so mixed because of the busy order. But all the top echelons of the fleet know that this is the run-in. For example, a machine that has just been turned on cannot reach the most perfect state without creaking running-in.

At the same time, in the Arabian Sea, several thousand miles away from the Strait of Gibraltar, an aircraft carrier battle formation composed of more than 50 warships [not counting speedboats] is about to successfully complete its circular defensive circle. A smile appeared on Huang Haining's face, and this was the official name of his well-trained Seventh Task Force -- the Chinese Aircraft Carrier Combat Formation, and it took only an hour for the task force composed of more than 50 large and small warships to complete the formation change during the voyage. And at this time, the anti-submarine aircraft were more than 60 kilometers away at two o'clock in the direction of the unknown submarine, and they would definitely not be able to reach them.

The underwater speed of the submarine is very slow, compared to the root warship. The underwater speed of the submarine is not as fast as the current tank cars in Europe.

A distance of more than sixty kilometers, if there is only such a submarine if there is no known submarine. Even if Huang Haining ordered the combat cluster to change its position, the time was completely sufficient. But the commander of any aircraft carrier battle group would not dare to give such an order, and who would dare to guarantee that the enemy's submarines would be discovered by anti-submarine aircraft?

If you are not afraid of 10,000, you are afraid of what happens. As the commander of an aircraft carrier group. Caution comes first. In order to ensure safety, the results at hand can be given up, as long as it is safe.

"Alert! A submarine of unknown origin was spotted in the direction of 9 o'clock, in the direction xx, xx, xx. "Less than twenty minutes after the completion of the task force's circular defensive circle, the flagship telegraph room suddenly received an urgent report from a reconnaissance plane from the south, which was only twenty miles away from the fleet, and the battle siren quickly sounded on the warships of the task force.

Huang Haining was not surprised. The Europeans were absolutely unwilling to reach the Persian coast safely on their own. Four aircraft carrier battle clusters from the west. With more than 800 warplanes on board, it would definitely cause great trouble for the Europeans if it could join up with the Kuwaiti air force. The most likely thing is for them to cling to the Gulf of Aden, cutting off the sea route deep into the Persian Gulf and isolating the two sides. Launching incessant harassment of the Chinese Navy with submarines, disrupting the rear transport lines of the Chinese Navy with high-speed warships, praying for God's blessing to shelter them in the dark night and heavy rain to shelter them. Give the main warships of the three countries the opportunity to get close to the Chinese fleet.

Only then can they have hope of victory.

"It's really guts. Since you're here, don't think about going back this time. Huang Haining spoke with confidence. The ring of defense had been arranged, and he didn't believe that a few submarines could pose a threat to his house.

Huang Haining is not worried about this matter at all, he still wants to catch these 'thieves' who have shrunk their heads and hidden their tails. It doesn't matter how many enemies there are. Huang Haining didn't believe that they could escape their own net!

This is a large network of hundreds of planes and dozens of speedboats, although it is impossible for all planes to be equipped with sonar, but all speedboats are equipped with sonar detectors. Keeping cruisers and destroyers in their homes, the new combination of speedboats and reconnaissance aircraft has become a page in the Chinese Navy's aircraft carrier tactical manual.

Huang Haining did not estimate. This time it was not an ordinary submarine that attacked them, but Karl, who left the most significant mark in the history of German naval warfare in the original time and space. Lieutenant Colonel Dönitz. The 'wolf pack' led by himself. This is a "wolf pack" of 13 newest U-boats. When the Chinese fleet left the west coast of India, they rushed all the way from the Mediterranean to the Arabian Sea.

Among the European countries, submarines are a type of ship that no maritime country can ignore. Although they are not even as good as a most ordinary gunboat after they surface. However, many second- and third-rate European countries such as the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, and Sweden have spent a lot of money on submarine manufacturing in recent years. What is sought is a strategic deterrent. These small countries have little say in Europe, and protecting their own interests is the best hope. The submarine gave them 'light'!

Britain, France, Italy and other traditional maritime powers also make submarines, but they do not have the same high passion as those small countries, only the Germans, like the Netherlands, Denmark and other second- and third-rate countries to build submarines. Their U-boats are valued by the Chinese Navy, but the Germans have done a good job of secrecy and have always covered the U-boats with a veil of mystery.

"Order the first squadron of destroyers to approach the enemy submarine at full speed, drop depth charges, and force the enemy to the surface." Huang Haining rubbed his hands together and gave an order.

"Anti-submarine aircraft squadrons and reconnaissance aircraft squadrons take turns to take off and take to the air to take up anti-submarine alert and attack missions."

With the number '13', which is very inauspicious in Western civilization, Karl . Dönitz watched as the large group of warships continued to sail westward. Only two of his wolves penetrated within 20 kilometers of the aircraft carrier group, and then under the threat of China's anti-submarine network, they had to dive to the deepest depth, and two were discovered by the Chinese, one sank, and one was very lucky to escape to heaven.

It is true that Dönitz is a genius, but no matter how talented an officer is, he is helpless in the face of an enemy who is superior in all aspects. At this time and space, China is the ancestor of submarine warfare, and the Chinese Navy attaches more importance to submarine warfare and anti-submarine warfare than ordinary countries can imagine. This represents a huge amount of capital investment and the payment of manpower, material resources, and energy in the Chinese army.

What the Chinese military dislikes the most is lip service, and doing what they are afraid of is what they fear.

Like Britain and Germany, as well as France, these countries also spend huge sums of money on submarines. But what they spent was only to build submarines, and only to recruit submariners. A certain combat effectiveness has been formed. For example, China's navy conducts three or four large-scale submarine combat exercises and corresponding fleet anti-submarine training in a year. Every year, the summary report of the exercise can be half a person high, and the study of various issues and all kinds of materials can fill a room. In such an environment, the elite of today's navy can be cultivated.

"Continue to ring dense defensive queues and continue to maintain anti-submarine combat alert." Huang Haining was so comfortable with the results of a submarine that he sat in the bridge command room of the flagship, his fingers lightly tapping on the command table, and his eyes stared at the map of the Middle East sea area hanging on the bulkhead of the command room.

At this time, the operations staff of the task force was already under the leadership of the chief of staff, nervously discussing and analyzing the possible battle and how to deal with it, and the mapping staff began to do their duty to mark on the chart the marks representing the encounters of their own fleet and enemy submarines.

The battle between submarines and surface warships is the most complex and the last thing the fleet commander wants. Because it is sudden and accidental. Commanders are not easy to analyze and judge, and small mistakes can lead to heavy losses. No matter how advanced the surface combat fleet is, when facing the threat of submarine forces, it also needs to be cautious and cautious.

……

The night was very quiet, the sea was pitch black, and the dim moon in the sky made it impossible to feel the presence of moonlight. The sea was pitch black, and visibility was even lower. If it weren't for the rolling waves crashing against the fleet under sail. The ships occasionally reflect the stars in the sky, and it is really difficult to spot the task force with strict light control in the distance.

The reconnaissance plane, which had attached an auxiliary fuel tank, took off and set off long before nightfall to join the vigilant destroyers and speedboats to monitor the sea surface near the fleet's sailing route. On the flight deck of an aircraft carrier in the task force, fish planes are neatly arranged. Keep your head high. The pilots have been on duty in two shifts during wartime, and the pilots on duty are fully dressed and ready to take orders to set off at any time.

"Haven't you heard anything about German submarines yet?" Waiting for the most frustrating and anxious. This is the third time that Huang Haining has asked the operational staff officer about the relevant situation, and he is not worried. Rather, there is some eagerness to fight.

This afternoon the fleet deviated from the course at the speed of the fleet. If the Europeans' submarine forces can still attack the fleet tonight, then the number of enemy combat submarines in the Arabian Sea must be raised to a new level.

"Report to the Commander, there is no news yet." The operational staff officer replied to Huang Haining, who was sitting in a chair.

Compared with Huang Haining, the nervousness of the operational staff is the real worry and worry. He was only 30 years old, had never experienced actual combat before, had not caught up with the Australian campaign, and their fleet had only been in the Andaman Sea for a period of time with the British, and had very little actual combat experience. If something goes wrong in this night operation, not only himself, but also the commander, chief of staff of the fleet, and the entire staff system will end his military career in dishonor, and it will have an extremely bad negative impact on the entire navy.

Besides, there is a reason for his nervousness. The dark night is the best cover for a ghostly submarine, and in the era when there is no radar, it is basically impossible to detect the submarine with the eyes. In the case of the last war, Chinese submarines often broke into escort convoys and fired fish in the convoy before they were detected.

"Everything that should be deployed is deployed, and at this time, we must trust the soldiers who have undergone rigorous training, they are the protagonists of tonight." Bagabandi naturally understood the feelings of his subordinate very well, and comforted the combat staff officer on the side.

The chief of staff of Task Force 7 was a Mongol.

Although the Mongols are almost associated with horses and wool whenever they are mentioned, there is always something special among them. Bagabandi was one of them, who joined the Navy in his early years and later became one of the commanders of the country's first aircraft carriers, and with the formation of the Navy's task forces, he had served as a staff officer under the three commanders for a long time.

If the next war goes well, as long as he returns to the military academy to study for a year and a half, he will have a second star on his epaulettes. Even if there is a vacancy in the commander of the task force, he is likely to be directly promoted. This is a senior major general, and he is only a piece of paper away from the lieutenant general.

"Enemy Attack Alert! Enemy Attack Alert! Found submarine of unknown origin, azimuth xx, xx, xx. Just as Huang Haining was talking to Bagabandi, the voice of the head of the telecommunications room suddenly came from the communicator. Reconnaissance pilots in the air spotted enemy submarines!

Such reports were sent back one after another from a number of reconnaissance planes, airborne direction finders and sonars, to detect the German U-boats besieging from all sides close to the sea surface one step earlier. The rapid sound of battle sirens sounded incessantly on the warships, and the officers and men of the ships had long been waiting for them at their combat posts.

"Order the vigilant destroyer formation to immediately fire depth charges into the sea to prevent enemy submarines from breaking in." Huang Haining decisively gave the first battle order. The 12 destroyers on the periphery of the fleet's circumferential ring were ordered to drop depth charges on the sea, regardless of whether or not there were submarines of unknown origin in the vicinity of their area. After the destroyers dropped depth charges on the silent Arabian Sea, the seawater at the bottom of the entire sea that surrounded the task force rolled like boiling water. Huang Haining's intention was very clear, that is, at the expense of wasting ammunition, he also wanted to build a defensive water wall on the periphery of the fleet in the early stage of the battle to prevent the European submarines from breaking through quickly and entering the interior of the fleet.

"Turn on the lights, and the aircraft carriers immediately take off the first wave of fish bombers, and the reconnaissance planes closely cooperate in the operation." In night antisubmarine warfare, Huang Haining did not expect the destroyer's indiscriminate depth charges to inflict a blow on the enemy's submarines, and the real killer weapon was the carrier-based aviation of the aircraft carrier.

As long as the shadow of the submarine can be spotted, it will swoop down and drop deadly depth charges one after another.

The pilots of the aircraft carriers who received the order to take off immediately boarded the torpedo planes, which had already been filled with fuel and ammunition and lined up neatly on the flight deck, and rushed into the air one after another. Although the total number is not large, and the four aircraft carriers are only 32 torpedo bombers, they are so fast that they fly from east to west and from west to south in a whoosh.

At night, the defensive circle of the Seventh Task Force was even smaller, but on the whole it was still rigorous and mysterious.

-- Any warship has enough space to dodge torpedoes from any angle, but so many warships are crowded together and seem so close.

The lights on the battleships turned on, and the sea surface for more than ten miles was a snow-white dazzling. Countless soldiers on each warship searched the surface of the sea with altitude binoculars, and they would not miss a single suspicious find...... (To be continued.) )