"Report, Commander-in-Chief calls."

Betty, who was still arrogant just now, suddenly lowered her face and raised her hand gloomily: "Give it to me." ”

After quickly reading the message without expectation, Betty waved her hand weakly: "Revoke the order just now, notify all ships, and the whole team will continue to march towards the return point of the air raid team, and return to the original route after recovering the aircraft." ”

The staff officers looked at each other, and then stopped, allowing Betty's vengeful and malicious gaze to pass over their faces.

"Did you hear it? No more night fights! What to do, what to do! By the way, can anyone tell me what happened to those two half-dead flat-topped boats? ”

In the face of Betty's stinging and poisonous roar, one of the young staff officers mustered up the courage to respond: "According to the report ten minutes ago, in the second wave of enemy attacks, the Eagle has hit 3 mines, the Hundred-Eyed Giant has hit 2 mines, and the cruiser Bo Adesia has 1 mine...... It was also reported that the Eagle still had 6 fighters and 7 attack and reconnaissance planes on board when it was in the middle of a mine, and 6 fighters and 5 attack and reconnaissance planes on board the Hundred-Eyed Giant when it was in a minefield......"

"Kill the target? They're smart - has the battle report from Hood's side come in? ”

"Yes, according to the report of the aircraft carrier air strike team, it is confirmed that 2 enemy aircraft carriers were hit, and 1 or 2 cruisers or destroyers."

Betty's iron-like face finally stretched a little, and the two hands in front of her abdomen subconsciously rubbed each other: "Very good, if both ships are sunk, it will be 2 to 2." Even if only one ship is sunk, we still have the support of shore-based aviation, in fact we have two aircraft carrier squadrons, and the Westlands one is safer. Their planes are all on unsinkable aircraft carriers......"

"But the enemy also has shore-based air forces, and according to the Army, their long-range bombers can fly non-stop to Calcutta. ^^^^," a bold senior staff officer interjected and reminded.

Betty sneered, "If their fighter jets can also fly non-stop to Calcutta." We can now turn around and go back to Mumbai – no, back to the Atlantic. ”

Report. [Read the text version, please go to] Guanghui call to report -- our carrier-based aircraft are returning one after another, and the landing operation is underway, and the air defense positions of each ship should be carefully identified to prevent accidental injury. ”

After listening to the report, Betty patted the arm of her chair as if she didn't care much: "Finally back... Ask, how many have come back? ”

A quarter of an hour later, the young staff officer, who had been ordered to make contact, returned with a telegram in his hand.

Betty lazily raised her head with a coffee cup in her hand and glanced at him casually: "How is it?" What's the news? ”

"Of the 166 aircraft at the time of the sortie, only 69 confirmed their return. Thereinto...... Of the 44 planes that had fallen behind in the middle of the attack, only 10 fighters and 15 attack planes had persisted in reaching the return point ......"

Betty blinked in surprise, squinted indifferently, took a sip of the steaming coffee, and muttered to herself, "That way, we don't have to worry about losing those two aircraft carriers, and the returning planes will have nowhere to stay, right?" ”

"This ...... Do you want to report to the commander-in-chief immediately? ”

Betty looked down and thought about it, then raised a finger and circled the air: "No, it's a little later." We need more accurate and trustworthy figures, and it is a crime to disturb the Commander-in-Chief's mind with figures that have not yet been confirmed, understand? ”

Less than 100 nautical miles east of the "Lion," Rear Admiral Bi Lingbo, the new flagship of the East Asian Combined Fleet's mobile unit, the Yunpeng, who had just taken over command from Liang Shuming, was standing on an observation platform protruding from the flight deck outside the air bridge, holding the railing with both hands, silently greeting the first air attack wave returning home

One, two. Three ...... Pretty! This one is a bit of a hanging...... OK...... Wait a minute. Dangerous!

The crew who had the opportunity to come above deck were like Bi Lingbo, watching with trepidation as one after another, with bullet holes, oil-stained, blood-stained planes staggering in from the rear of the deck. Bump across deck, hook on a barrage cable, or go back to full speed the moment you miss the last cable......

Lieutenant Colonel Jiang Ye, an intelligence staff officer holding a telescope beside Bi Lingbo, suddenly discovered a new continent, and kept muttering: "Rising Sun Crane? That one is Squadron Leader Cai Guolan's, why is it shaking so much, it looks a little troublesome - hold on...... Oops! It's too low, it's too low! Pull up, pull up, pull up...... This, I'm X! Fell into the water, what is this...... Hey, over there, quickly notify the rescue ship, that one just now is the flower of our first team, and it must be rescued - alive! ”

Bi Lingbo heard it harshly, snatched the binoculars, and threw them into the bridge.

Jiang Yeleng blinked: "Commander...... I ......"

"It's noisy...... Make your records, everyone is working hard at their posts, and if you want to be leisurely, go to the kitchen to wash the vegetables. Bi Lingbo was obviously not in a good mood, Jiang Ye hurriedly shut his mouth, squatted aside honestly, counted the planes, and wrote records.

The sound of hurried footsteps came from the bridge of the airship, and a herald with a telegram was suddenly blocked in the narrow hatch connecting the bridge to the platform.

"Report, the destroyer Guiyang called: The crew of the Dapeng has been transferred, and the second ship of Hengyang Qinyang is being dealt with by lightning, and I hope to meet with your commander as soon as possible. Above – Wang Zilong, 17:35. ”

Bi Lingbo sneered, and raised his hand expressionlessly: "Zhilu said, reply: Received, quickly move closer to the team." ”

When the herald soldiers were far away, Jiang Ye, who was huddled in the corner, couldn't help but sneer: "Do you really want to receive them? These guys have gotten to this point, and they might as well be martyred—"

Bi Lingbo frowned, and categorically stopped: "Stop!" Although I don't agree with Commander Liang's approach, I still hope that he is safe and sound, without him, our aircraft carrier mobile force would not have the status it has today, and we, the Empire, still need his paranoia...... Maybe history is driven by paranoia like him......"

Jiang Ye shook his head with a wry smile, raised his arm and pointed to a "Golden Eagle" attack plane not far away that gently shook its wings to indicate "ready to land": "Commander, let's face it - this should be the last one of the first attack wave." Under the leadership of the "Yunpeng," the 58 warships of the mobile unit and the reconnaissance unit turned around 180 degrees in the blackened sea and galloped away in the direction of due north.

After the first attack wave was recovered at 17:40, the second attack wave that began to land at 18:30 was also recovered by this time, and in the officers' conference room at the lower part of the "Yunpeng" island, including Liang Shuming, who had been deprived of command, more than 10 senior officers were sitting with different expressions and listening to Lieutenant Colonel Jiang Ye's summary report on losses.

"In the first attack wave of 24 ships, 17 successfully landed, 2 landed near the fleet, all the pilots were rescued, and the loss of 7 was confirmed; Of the 90 ships attacked, 46 successfully landed, 3 landed near the fleet, 5 crew members were rescued, and 44 were confirmed to be lost. ”

"In the battle of 12 ships in the second attack wave, 6 ships were successfully landed, 1 plane landed in the water near the fleet, the pilot was not rescued, and 6 aircraft were confirmed to be lost; Of the 72 ships attacked, 49 successfully landed, 1 landed near the fleet, 2 crew members were rescued, and 23 were confirmed to be lost. ”

"Of the 24 ships of the aircraft carrier escort team, 8 crashed or landed in the water, and 4 pilots were rescued."

"Among the various waves of reconnaissance planes dispatched, three naval reconnaissance and two naval reconnaissance planes have not returned to the country at the time of statistics, and they have been recorded as losses. Three other ships sank with the Roc. ”

"The above total losses were 21 ship battles, 67 ship attack planes, 6 ship reconnaissance planes, 2 water reconnaissance planes, and rescued 6 naval ship battle pilots and 7 ship attack crews. In addition, the injuries of the landing planes are still being examined, and it is estimated that 15 to 20 percent of the returning planes will not be able to strike again in the short term. ”

Bi Lingbo, who was propped up on the table with his crossed hands, shook his shoulders slightly, and then Jiang Ye's words continued: "That's all for the loss of the aircraft, and we already know the loss of the warship, the Dapeng aircraft carrier abandoned the ship, and our destroyer disposed of it by itself, and the Qingyang destroyer blocked a thunder for this Yunpeng, and disappeared in less than half an hour, and half of the crew below the captain was silent." ”

"Of course, it is very frustrating to mention the loss, and I personally think that instead of pursuing the loss, it is better to count how many cards we still have in our hands, because after this night, we still have a big battle, more decisive than today...... A battle of fate. ”

It seemed that he also felt that it was a bit pretentious to speak like this, Bi Lingbo pretended to cough, cleared his throat, and immediately ordered Jiang Ye: "How many planes are available tomorrow - at least." ”

"In addition to the 7 spare planes and 3 ship reconnaissance planes that sank with the Dapeng, the Yunpeng also has 3 spare ships and 3 battleships and 1 ship reconnaissance...... With the rescued crew, all in all—"

——