In order to accurately judge the operational intentions of the Russians, through the intelligence of all parties, the movements of the Soviet bombers, coupled with the sudden appearance of the "sickle", Lieutenant General Pratt was keenly aware that the Ivan had obviously chosen this time period for the decisive battle.

In this case, before the battle begins, the Polar Bears' operational staff officers will also conduct a deduction and plan according to the pre-predicted movements of the United States fleet; At this time, if the U.S. Navy side goes against the trend, it will not only be conducive to the take-off and landing of carrier-based aircraft, but the direction of the fleet is also likely to surprise the Russians, and perhaps more "backfire" will be able to put out the air, and then resolve the battlefield initiative obtained by the Russians with long-range bombers.

Of course, even if the voyage to the north could not avoid the "backfire", Vice Admiral Pratt intended to do so: his decision was largely motivated by confidence in the maritime power of the United States.

This kind of self-confidence, perhaps a little arrogant, or even arrogant, is supported by a solid foundation.

Since the outbreak of the world war, in the face of the powerful Eastern bloc, a group of client states under the banner of the United States and the North Star have lost successive battles, almost completely lost Western Europe and the Middle East, and the geopolitical situation has also deteriorated; But in any case, Vice Admiral Pratt, and indeed every member of the United States military in the United States Navy, which has worked hard for decades and bases all over the world, have absolute confidence that it will not be possible to win the war unless the Russians use nuclear weapons.

As now, commanding a huge fleet of three nuclear-powered heavy aircraft carriers to launch an attack close to the coastal waters of the Far East would inevitably lead to a counterattack against the Russian naval and air forces, William Pratt had anticipated. But he still accepted the appointment at the USPACOM operational conference. to carry out the battle plan drawn up by the command.

Pacific Fleet of the USSR. Although the strength of the Americans' main opponent in the Far East is growing, the Americans do have the capital of self-confidence in the aspect of carrier-based aviation, which is crucial for operations in the far seas.

Even if a "scythe" suddenly appears, a mere fighter can change the tide of battle?

Quite jealous of the appearance of the "White Grim Reaper", but at the same time there was a little resentment of self-respect, William Pratt nodded heavily and ordered Major General Cooper next to him:

"Stanley. Now that the Russians have sent a 'scythe', our trump card, do you want to let Lieutenant Colonel Phelps attack? ”

"Sean......? Uh,"

Regarding Lieutenant Colonel Sean Phelps, the number one ace pilot of the U.S. Navy, Stanley Cooper, who has been busy in the command center since last night, did not bother to ask about him, he grabbed the microphone on the control station and called Phelps's VF-31 "Cat Man" squadron, only to learn that the lieutenant colonel had just carried out a routine patrol and was now resting in the pilot's exclusive cabin of the "Roosevelt":

"General, Lieutenant Colonel Phelps is resting. However, we ...... Is this necessary? ”

"Yes. Ha ha!

Stanley, I think the same way as you. ”

In the face of the Russian attack and the control of the huge fleet of the United States, Vice Admiral William Pratt's self-confidence was not crushed by the sudden appearance of the "Grim Reaper", and now, since the traces of the Russian ace have been found again, Colonel Walsh has ordered the F/A-18E/F fighters to go forward to intercept them, and a lone "flanker" cannot come up with any new tricks, and the lieutenant general and the major general of staff look at each other, and the corners of their mouths are quite contemptuous.

Since he has the advantage of forces, even if he encounters the terrible "Caucasus Reaper", as a senior U.S. Navy general, William Pratt will never show weakness, or rather, he simply does not believe that the Russians' long-range bombers can penetrate the air defense circle of the US Navy, even if the "Reaper" is in charge.

No matter how brave the pilot of a fighter is, the number of missiles and shells is limited after all, can one person challenge the entire battle group?

With this obsession, and considering that Lieutenant Colonel Phelps had just carried out a mission, and now his spirit and body had not yet recovered, and in the naval and air confrontation in which the system should be fought, one or two ace pilots might not be able to play much role, and the lieutenant general gave up the idea of throwing out the "trump card" to win, and he stood in front of the battlefield situation map displayed by the projection, his eyes fixed on the clusters of light that slowly drifted on the glass screen.

According to his visual observations, the "Scythe" landline was about 300 nautical miles from the center of the fleet.

At such a distance, a fighter, not a "backfire", is simply nothing, and it is impossible to detect the exact location of the United States aircraft carrier.

Hmph, in this case, maybe it doesn't matter if you adopt Stanley's idea, the Russian madman just hangs aside!

Seeing the point of light representing the "sickle" swimming on the map, Lieutenant General Pratt's situation was quite steady, and compared with the first time he received the report of "discovering a suspected 'sickle'", his mentality was also much calmer, thinking that he had accurately assessed the threat of this annoying fighter.

In any case, as long as the Russians are not allowed to sneak into the air defense circle, the rest is easy to say.

If the lieutenant general's judgment is based on an ordinary fighter, of course, it is no problem, but it is a big mistake for Long Yun, who is determined to make a surprise attack and disrupt the US air defense deployment.

Just a few minutes earlier, with the help of the on-board GLONASS navigation system into the predetermined attack position, Long Yun's White Twentieth quickly flew in the general direction of the American aircraft carrier battle group, and as expected, the Americans quickly made a move after the E-2C "Hawkeye" spotted the intruder.

Hundreds of kilometers away from the aircraft carrier battle group, in the cockpit of the Su-27M2, the RWR was still silent for the time being, but with rich combat experience and homework before the operation, Long Yun did not relax his vigilance, but scanned the large clear sky in front of him vigilantly.

He raised his hand to put down his goggles to block out the light of the rising sun, but he was thinking that the Americans were on the sunny side in this contest, and they had taken advantage of a little advantage: in visual air combat, the Shunguang side was more conducive to the target observation in the initial state, and the opponent's fuselage skin would be brightened in the diffuse sunlight, while the backlit side would affect the observation due to the dazzling sunlight, which was more obvious in the case of low solar altitude angles in the morning and evening.

The two warring sides are on equal footing, but the sunlight will only be biased to one side, and of course the things decided by the battlefield environment cannot be changed, but Long Yun doesn't care, he doesn't need to keep his eyes on the opponent in close combat.

In the face of the huge US fleet, driving a Su-27M2 without helpers to penetrate the defense, although there was no movement in the RWR, but correspondingly, Long Yun's assault action has triggered a fierce reaction from the Americans, and the two E-2C early warning aircraft patrolling the nearby airspace are avoiding the camera, and the F-14 escorting the "Hawkeye" is carrying out the orders of the superiors, temporarily holding the troops, and giving the task of intercepting the "Scythe" to the VF-122 to do.

In the face of the Russian ace's attack, under the command of Lieutenant General Pratt and Rear Admiral Cooper, the rhythm of action on the side of the United States was still clear, the deck operations of the aircraft carrier were not affected, and the number, occupancy, and air time of the fighters in the air were relatively reasonable, which was enough to resist the assault of the "Backfire" bombers on a regimental scale.

With such a scene, I have to say that the U.S. Navy, which has been tempered for many years, is indeed an unprecedentedly powerful maritime force, and its rich practical experience has also helped the Yankees a lot.

However, as the "Hawkeye" radar swept all directions and glimpsed the first shadow of the "Backfire" aircraft group in the sky, the combat alarm suddenly sounded on the CVN-73, and the spirits of all US military personnel were once again highly tense.

The target is suspected of being Tu-22M3, the number is ten for the time being, about three hundred and seventy nautical miles from the center of the battle group, and the high-subsonic penetration is in progress!

On the vast ocean battlefield, after a moment of silence, there was a wave of "backfire", which was expected by William Pratt and others, and as one order after another was issued, according to the target parameters transmitted back by the "Eagle Eye" in front, the battlefield analyst quickly marked a bomber's penetration trajectory on the chart.

While everyone was busy and nervous, the E-2C on the outer air defense ring was not idle, and the number of enemy aircraft screened by AN/APS-145 was close to twenty; Obviously, the second wave of the Russians' attack is already on the line, and if the enemy planes now turn on afterburner and enter the supersonic penetration, then in 12 minutes, these roaring monsters with variable swept wings will reach a distance of 300 kilometers from the battle group and enter the medium and low ballistic launch position of the "Kingfish"!

The AS-6 "Kingfish" has a high ballistic range of nearly 700 kilometers, and the threat range of different attack methods is also different, which is still very clear to the US Navy commanders.

If the same anti-ship missile is launched from a distance of more than 600 kilometers by the "Backfire" like the first wave of air raids encountered today, according to the analysis of the Soviet anti-ship missile guidance system provided by the intelligence agencies, those chubby "kingfish" should be launched in the inertial navigation mode, and the missile will fly over a distance of several hundred kilometers along a high trajectory with a projection surface that is almost straight after it is separated from the carrier aircraft, and this can provide good firing conditions for the F-14 fighters.

However, if we change the mode of engagement, assuming that the "Backfire" penetrates the defense at high speed and flies in front of the interceptor to reach the launch position with a radius of 300 kilometers, the AS-6s will be able to obtain the target indication of the fire control system of the carrier aircraft and fly over the 300-kilometer distance with a more complex and changeable trajectory, so that the difficulty of interception will be much higher.

Therefore, whenever possible, the Americans should naturally try their best to "detect and intercept as soon as possible."

In addition, the so-called "300-kilometer interception line" of the F-14 against the Tu-22M3 does not mean that the "Tomcat" fires after flying 300 kilometers away from the aircraft carrier, but that the "Immortal Bird" missile launched by it will complete the trajectory convergence of the missile at a distance of 300 kilometers, and the entire engagement process requires accurate battlefield command and control and careful operation of front-line pilotsOne anti-ship missile after another thrown by the "Backfire". (To be continued......)