There was no explosion or any other terrible sound heard on board the Theodore Roosevelt, and the lieutenant colonel thought that the battle had not yet broken out, but when he called, Major Jonathan White was not there, and only a hoarse voice was shouting in the earpiece:

"Yes, Lieutenant Colonel! -- We were attacked, but the order from above told not to disturb you, so—"

"Attack......? What's going on—"

The light-hearted love disappeared without a trace, Sean Phelps suspiciously prepared and went out to find his partner Pearson, and the two hurried to the VF-31 squadron's combat preparation room, where they met several squadron colleagues who had known each other for a short time, and got a hastily printed scribbled bulletin, only to know how strict the situation was.

No wonder, I didn't feel a little shock of war on the "Roosevelt", the CVN-71 was the lucky one in the air raid, but the U.S. Navy had already suffered heavy losses under the saturation attack of the Russians, and this is not counting, the most outrageous intelligence is-

"-'Scythe, sickle'?!"

Familiar and unfamiliar with the codename, thinking that he should not have seen him at this moment, Lieutenant Colonel Sean Phelps and Pearson next to him both had their eyes wide open.

Viktor Rezenov, the number one ace pilot in the world war, Phelps once had an encounter with the terrifying "Caucasian Reaper" in the VF-1 "Red Boar" squadron, but instead of pursuing him, he lost his wingman.

Isn't this guy "Grim Reaper" an Air Force pilot. How can you still make a temporary cameo in the naval aviation of the Russians?

Got up from a good night's sleep. Lieutenant Colonel who stayed on the USS Theodore Roosevelt felt that the whole world had changed. He realized that the battle situation was extraordinary, and it was conceivable that the U.S. Navy's aircraft carrier battle group was full of wolves, and he didn't know what kind of tragic scene it was on the sea, so he hurriedly greeted him and rushed out of the door with radar officer Pearson.

Damn, since the battle has already begun, and there is still a "sickle" in the sky-is this news reliable, could it be that the mentally stressed pilots are hallucinating-why no one woke him up?

Nominally a pilot serving in the VF-31 "Cat Man" squadron, Sean Phelps had a much higher status on the "Theodore Roosevelt" than the average pilot. The number one ace of the US Navy is of course treated extraordinarily, including some freedom of combat operations, but even so, the lieutenant colonel's assignment is carried out together with the "Cat Man" squadron, without the convenience of the "Caucasian Reaper" across the ocean.

Because of this, because of an unremarkable night patrol and sleeping with his head covered in the cabin after returning, Sean Phelps and his partner missed a fierce battle.

After a brief moment of consternation at the discovery of such a terrible battle, Sean Phelps soon met a herald who followed the sergeant to the operations command room of the USS Theodore Roosevelt. There was met with the tired U.S. Navy fleet commander William Pratt, the elderly general apparently a little exhausted. He said a few words to the lieutenant colonel in an indifferent tone, and then waved his hand to call Major General Stanley Cooper next to him to state the matter.

"Lieutenant Colonel, as you know, the crisis we are facing now is roughly like this.

The Russians are pursuing the west at full speed, while our forces are shrinking, but there is still a tough battle to be fought next! The enemy sharpens his knives, and that's when the United States needs you, Sean Phelps. ”

Like Lieutenant General William Pratt, Stanley Cooper, who had gone through a terrifying and long combat journey and remained calm-headed, got straight to the point, and he briefly explained why he didn't wake up Lieutenant Colonel Phelps when the Russian bombers were flying all over the sky and missiles were coming, and the commanders thought that it would be useless for an ace pilot to take to the skies, and that the lieutenant colonel had just rested and was unlikely to be in good shape for a short time.

But now, the offensive and defensive sides have undergone a reversal, Russian bombers may appear at any time, the polar bear's ship formation should be pursued from the west at high speed, and the U.S. Navy, which has lost most of the ships, cannot quickly evacuate, the blazing CV-67 has no hope of salvage, several cruisers and destroyers are also unable to sail at full speed due to damage, William Pratt and his staff racked their brains and did not come up with a foolproof plan, and some people even began to plan, the whole fleet immediately turned to the Northeast Pacific, Retreat in the direction of Alaska.

According to this plan, the U.S. Navy's three-carrier battle group, which has now become a two-carrier battle group, should be able to enter the combat range of the Alaska Air Wing if all its crew flees to the northeast at a maximum speed of more than ten knots.

It seems that the plan is feasible, but not only does the USPACOM in Hawaii not approve such an arrangement, but Washington also does not know whether it will be possible.

At present, the situation of the decisive battle in the ocean is a state secret, and a group of politicians on Capitol Hill have not yet received the news, but the high-ranking government officials are already boiling over in the conference room of the White House, and a group of people are bitterly criticizing the US Navy's incompetence and completely ignoring the specific course of the battle.

All this mess, USPACOM was directly taken abys, and the orders forwarded to the front-line command ship "Theodore Roosevelt" were also somewhat contradictory.

In the face of the crisis, the generals of the U.S. Navy refused to accept the reality of defeat on the one hand, and on the other hand, they were shocked by the strong combat power of the Russian Navy.

It was precisely because of all this that Vice Admiral William Pratt, who had listened to the report with a calm face in the operational command room, was furious and ordered the entire fleet to shrink to the east, and while rebuilding the carrier-based aviation, he commanded three "Los Angeles"-class attack nuclear submarines slightly ahead of the formation to make a roundabout raid.

For the sake of today's plan, the battle in the sky has been temporarily lost, and even if the three "Los Angeles" cannot find the main Russian fleet on the ocean, they must not let Ivan's submarines fall into a no-man's land under the sea!

Faced with an unfavorable situation, but refusing to retreat all the way to end the battle, the lieutenant general's actions seemed reckless, but there were also some special considerations.

In a large-scale naval battle, if it had been placed in the period of World War II, when the technological level was quite primitive, it would not be difficult for the fleets of both sides to break away from the battle; as long as they used the darkness of night or even a sea area with bad weather as a cover, at most they could leave the combat range of the fan planes on the aircraft carrier -- mainly the combat radius of the reconnaissance planes, not the attack planes, and the sailors who had no intention of fighting again would be able to go back to their respective homes and fight again with great force.

This was the case in the old days, and today, the technical level of the surface ships, carrier-based aviation, and even underwater combat forces of the two superpowers has been greatly improved, and since a large-scale conflict has broken out, the battle will not end lightly unless one side is completely destroyed.

Long-range bombers were dispatched to inflict heavy damage on the enemy, and the morale-boosting side of the Red Navy naturally soared, but the U.S. Navy, dragged down by the speed of the battleship, could not calmly escape.

The distance of several hundred nautical miles is not out of reach for the Red Navy's long-range anti-ship missiles or the US Navy's carrier-based attack aircraft, and William Pratt, who is well aware of the thoughts of the Pacific Command and even the US military's top brass, will naturally not give up lightly, and he always has a trace of thought, believing that even if the powerful aircraft carrier battle group suffers heavy losses, it is fully capable of launching a round of rapid air raids.

Having said that, when I think of the battle I just experienced, that elusive Russian "Grim Reaper" ......

“…… Yes, Lieutenant Colonel, this is the blow to the head that has befallen us. ”

Confirming this news from Major General Stanley Cooper, Sean Phelps was pale, he had been hoping that "it was just an illusion", but the reality was often more cruel than imagined, having personally experienced the tragic air battle in the Black Sea, and deeply understood how terrifying this guy nicknamed "Scythe" was, the young lieutenant colonel unconsciously clenched his hands, and he almost immediately understood the meaning of the commanders' words.

The enemy's trump card, it's better to deal with another trump card, right?

Speaking of which, the leader of the United States aircraft carrier battle group fell into chaos and then suffered heavy losses, it was actually this devil who came and went without a trace, inexplicably appeared over the ocean, piloted a fighter plane believed to be the "White Twentie", and the lieutenant colonel, like everyone in the command center, did not understand what kind of magic the Russian "Grim Reaper" had used, but when he thought that the battle was still going on, next, he estimated that he would have to meet Viktor Rezenov head-on in the long sky. An ominous premonition rose in his heart, and Phelps pursed his lips, only nodding to Major General Cooper, who raised his eyebrows in inquiry:

"Okay, I see."

After receiving a stack of materials handed to him, all about the operational intelligence of the "Scythe", Sean Phelps quickly left the gloomy generals and staff officers and left the operational command room.

The lieutenant colonel with heavy steps has a bad premonition about the upcoming battle, but the brisk Pearson behind him is in a very different mood from his partner, this radar operator who was born with a lack of strings in his head and is very happy when he has a big meal every day is still recalling the thrilling scene over the Black Sea, how the Russian destroyers are constantly firing missiles, and the "super cats" who have no power to fight back are rolling and running between the deadly arrows, and useless hot flare bombs are thrown everywhere, Because F-203 has run out of jamming chaff...... (To be continued......)