The staff officer's report interrupted Ling Yi's thoughts.

"A call from the South China Sea Fleet Command!"

"Read."

"The vigilance force spotted the enemy fleet at 05:15 50 nautical miles west of San Antonio, headed due north at a speed of 14 knots, and was estimated to break into Lingayen Bay by 12:00, and your assault team flew over Lingayen Bay by 12:30 to find and attack the enemy fleet."

Ling Yi took out his pocket watch and saw that it was already a quarter past six, and the cruising speed of the loaded "Haiyan Thunder" was less than 140 kilometers per hour, and it would take six hours to fly to Lingjiayan Bay, and the attacking troops had to take off immediately!

"Order, target Lingayan Bay, the original mission remains unchanged, and the whole team will be dispatched immediately!"

In a short time, three red signal flares rose into the sky, the "sortie" signal flag was raised on the tower, the 216 Taiyang Heavy Industries HK-10B engines on the 54 "Haiyan Lei" made a noisy roar, and the wooden three-bladed propellers drove the slender fuselage and huge two-wing structure, one after another, in a circle, towards the take-off line at one end of the runway.

Braking, driving full horsepower, sliding, the strong wind created by the four propellers slowly lifted the clumsy body of "Haiyanfeng" off the ground, one has not yet lifted into the air, the other has begun to slide, half an hour later, the huge tarmac has been empty.

Ling Yi stood up, took off his military hat and waved it in the air.

At this time, another staff officer came to report: Pingtung Air Station called, and all 54 planes of the 102nd Wing had been lifted into the air - the two fists of the Third Air Fleet attacked at the same time!

God forbid, this army that has been built with great difficulty will use this battle to prove the meaning of their existence!

At 11:30 a.m., northwest of Lingayen Bay, a North Korean Navy "Seagull" seaplane with Taiji markings painted on its wings was flying slowly along the coast of Kabaruyan Island.

Suddenly, the plane plummeted and swooped down towards the west of Kabaruyan Island—

Right there! In the vast sea area west of the island, about sixty or seventy ships are in a strict formation, densely drawing a string of white arcs of different thicknesses on the blue sea, at this moment, seeing such a huge fleet appear in this sea area, the captain of the "Seagull" did not think about it, and immediately ordered the radio officer in the back seat to send a report to the fleet headquarters: "Coordinates XXYY, I found that the large fleet, with a total of more than seventy, is rushing into the bay!" ”

At the same time, the "Malaya", the general flagship of the British, French, Dutch, and American combined fleets, sent a report from the air lookout: "An enemy plane has been spotted in front of the starboard side, heading 200, approaching our ship!" ”

"Starboard anti-aircraft gun emplacements open fire and dispel enemy aircraft!" The ship's commander, Colonel Hudson, calmly ordered.

Before the anti-aircraft guns of the "Malaya" could fire, the ships of the avant-garde forces were already sending out clouds of black smoke in the air.

The poor little fly hesitated, spun around in a panic, and fled eastward......"

Lieutenant General Bernie had no interest in the little fly.

Under the careful deployment of him and his staff officers, the four-nation combined fleet had completed the formation of the battle formation two hours earlier, and the 68 ships were divided into three parts: the avant-garde, the main force, and the rearguard, which were deployed in a staggered and overlapping manner.

The avant-garde column was commanded by Rear Admiral Hancock, who was in charge of the "Australia", and was divided into two temporary squadrons: the first squadron was "Australia", "Drake", "Cape of Good Hope", "Argyll", "Rosenberg" and "Gambitt", a total of six battle cruisers or large loading patrols of more than 10,000 tons, led by Rear Admiral Hancock; The second squadron consisted of four armored cruisers of less than 10,000 tons, "Monmouth", "Bedford", "Kent" and "Essex", led by Rear Admiral Drake on the "Monmouth". To the left of the avant-garde column were 10 destroyers of the French and Dutch armies. 5 to 10 nautical miles ahead of the column, the four fast cruisers "Liverpool", "Yarmouth", "Dartmouth" and "Newcastle" were deployed at an average distance of 10 nautical miles, and as the "tentacles" of the entire fleet, they broke through to Lingayen Bay first.

The main column located in the left rear of the avant-garde column was headed by "Malaya", followed by "Giant", "Hercules", "Danton", "Java", "Nelson", "African" and "Britannia", a total of 8 battleships, of which the first 5 dreadnought battleships were temporarily organized into the 1st Battleship Squadron, led by Vice Admiral Bernie, and the last 3 old battleships were organized into the 2nd Squadron, commanded by Rear Admiral Binson. To the left of the main column were Colonel Anderson's 9th and Colonel Barak's 10th destroyer, a total of 19 destroyers.

The rearguard column consisted of the weakest ships in the fleet, under the unified command of the French Rear Admiral Vera on the "Lone Pull," and included eight so-called "colonial" cruisers, the "Forberry," the "Friesset," the "Batavia," the "Lone Pull," the "Annan," the "Detroit," and the "Marblehead," and at the end of the column were the two small US gunboats "Manila" and "Davao," which were less than 1,000 tons. To the left of the column were 3 destroyers and 5 torpedo boats of the American army.

Bernie's plan was to use carrier-based aircraft and the reconnaissance line of cruisers deployed in front of the avant-garde forces to find out the situation in the bay, and then the main column would go into battle under the cover of the avant-garde column to destroy the enemy's escort fleet in one fell swoop, and finally the rearguard column would clear the battlefield and destroy the landing fleet.

Only three ships of the entire fleet carried aircraft: two "Malaya", two "Australia" and one "African".

Of these, only the "Malaya" is equipped with aircraft ejection and rapid recovery devices, and the other two ships lay planks directly between the two gun barrels of the twin main turrets, forming a temporary runway for small aircraft to take off, as for the recovery - since this small aircraft is not equipped with pontoons, it is intended to be used as a disposable consumable in case of emergency, so there is no need to consider the problem of recovering the airframe.

The big war is imminent, and there is nothing to hesitate about. Just last night, the two fastest cruisers in the fleet had not heard from each other after sending out the two-word telegram, and it seemed that there were indeed "big fish" in this bay, as the telegram said!

To deal with big fish, of course, you have to use the best fishing gear.

Thinking of this, Vice Admiral Bernie resolutely ordered: "Order, the carrier-based aircraft unit will be dispatched immediately to reconnoiter Lingayen Bay according to the plan A." ”

That turquoise bay nestled in the foothills of the lush mountains is about to have its most magnificent day......