In addition to the "Tomcat" fleet, which has released a large number of fighters in response to the "backfire" and is now in urgent need of rotation and is in dire need of rotation in the air, the fleet command system has not yet completely detached itself from the shock of the "sickle."

At this time, Lieutenant General William Pratt and a group of staff members were thinking in the operations command room, Viktor Rezenov, this terrifying butcher who came out of nowhere, what kind of tricks will he use next?

The act of a single plane raiding the outer air defense circle of the fleet is almost exactly in line with the analysis and positioning of the "Caucasus Reaper" by the US military intelligence agencies, and this ruthless and bold Russian ace pilot is best at rushing in at a critical moment in the battle and completely disrupting the battlefield situation that the United States has painstakingly created; This kind of routine is not uncommon in the use of ace pilots in various countries, but the "sickle" is used repeatedly and unscathed, which is a headache.

Just like today, judging from the fact that the "Free Lancers" in front of them lost four "Tomcats" at once, there is no doubt that the terrible gray-white fighter was piloted by the "Grim Reaper", this guy actually ran to the depths of the ocean to participate in the battle, could it be said that he took off from the Russian aircraft carrier?

The "Tbilisi" class aircraft carriers, of course, are very familiar to the Americans, and this kind of Russian "full-deck heavy aircraft-carrying cruisers" without steam catapults can fly "sea flanks", so by analogy, it is not surprising that "flanker" fighters in the state of air combat take off from above.

But - this can't be, how is this possible!

While frowning, Lieutenant General Pratt and the others were well aware. The Russian fleet had been in the open sea for many days to confront the fleet of the United States. But the information came from the side of the command. The "White Reaper" had also shot down a number of JASDF fighters in the Sea of Japan the day before, deep into Japanese airspace -- obviously, this kind of battle was not completed by anyone except "Crazy Ivan", but now, what about the "flankers" that the VF-21 encountered?

"Death" this guy, is he really a devil, what kind of doppelganger magic like black magic!

The more I thought about it, the more suspicious I became, and the entire aircraft carrier battle group, and even the USPACOM commanders in Hawaii, were very concerned about Viktor Rezenov's traces. However, just when everyone was urging the intelligence officer to retrieve the information, an alarm sounded in the operational command room of the "Theodore Roosevelt", and the "Hawkeye" deployed on the west side of the fleet urgently reported that an incoming target had been found at zero azimuth and 330 nautical miles from the center of the fleet, and the IFF did not respond, and the echo signature was suspected to be a "flanker"!

In the short time that the "Grim Reaper" has gone and returned, the Americans' tactical moves have been very frequent, but it seems that they are still ready to meet the next wave of attacks.

In the battle just now, although it was mainly faced with Russian bombers. The squadron of "Free Laners" from CV-67 still suffered heavy losses, and all six F-14A+ of the second echelon ran out of ammunition. The entire squadron lost its combat effectiveness.

At the same time, the same is true of the VFA-122 in the inner air defense circle, the "Super Hornet" fighters mounted on the AIM-120B are still full of fuel, but the missiles are fighting, and in the case of a slight shortage of reserve forces, several fighters of this squadron will remain on the interception line for a period of time until the deck dispatch work on the CV-67 and CVN-73 is completed, and the fighters of the rest of the squadron are replenished.

Fighting in high-threat sea areas is different from the nerd's direct deduction, and it is basically too late to wait for the "Hawkeye" to send out a warning signal before releasing the fighter jets, and the U.S. Navy is now carrying out a typical offensive air defense strategy.

In the three-carrier battle group, the "George Washington" is carrying out the recovery of the first wave of attack aircraft, the VF-103 "Skull" squadron carried by the ship lost two F-14Ds in the attack, and the rest of the "Tomcat" also need to take a temporary break, according to the instructions of General William Pratt, the three VFAs who returned one after another, and a "Super Hornet" with empty wings landed on the deck in turn, and then, when to launch the next wave of attacks, it is up to the commander to decide.

At such a time, the "Grim Reaper" appeared on the horizon, and the high-alert Americans naturally interpreted it as a sign of an imminent air raid.

Since the outbreak of the decisive battle, out of consideration for the safety of early warning aircraft, the E-2C of the US aircraft carrier battle group has been assigned to patrol at a distance of about 300 kilometers, so that the early warning distance for Russian bombers is close to 700 kilometers, which can barely meet the early warning requirements of F-14 fighters for interception.

After the discovery of the "Scythe", the anxious and cautious Americans weighed up for a moment, and Colonel Walsh still ordered a group of F-14D fighters on the west side of the fleet to come out to intercept it.

Of course, if that is really the "Grim Reaper", just two F-14 fighters will definitely not be enough.

The target is still far away, and the "Eagle Eye" cannot distinguish the specific model of the Russians, but judging from the information on the radar display, it is indeed a single fighter that has penetrated the defense, and there is no trace of other Russian fighters around; Lieutenant General Pratt and the staff officers were indeed having a headache now, they knew that something had to be done now, but they were a little hesitant to give the order.

Viktor Rezenov, since the eight or nine achievements of the distant "Flanker" are this guy, a rumored "butcher of fighters" who cannot be defeated, what can the US Navy think about against such people?

Directly dispatch fighters to intercept them, regardless of whether they can be stopped or not, I am afraid that more F-14 fighters will be lost.

According to the VF-21 pilot who had been in contact with the "Scythe" before, in the dogfight, the Russian planes did not know what magic tricks they used, and the flight performance seemed to be better than that of the "Tomcat", which was very different from the performance of the "Flanker" that was trained and simulated in peacetime, coupled with Victor's terrifying strength, although the U.S. Navy had a large number of carrier-based aircraft on three aircraft carriers, the current enemy was by no means the time to fight with this madman.

Interception may suffer losses, and it may not be able to be stopped, so can it be simply ignored?

This response was proposed from the mouth of Stanley Cooper, and the command staff present were immediately rejected after a moment of gossiping.

In the face of the elusive Russian trump card, we must not sit idly by now, this is not only a matter of face and morale of the whole fleet, but also the specific situation of those present, or in other words, many people are now worried that this "flanker" may indicate the target for the follow-up "backfire" bomber.

Although the tactical intent of the "scythe" is still unclear, since the Russians have sent such a killing god, it seems that the value of simply letting this guy participate in the sea and air group fight is too low, and many people, including Lieutenant General Pratt, are suspecting that this "flanker" with strong combat effectiveness is actually doing the work of a reconnaissance plane. Therefore, once the "sickle" breaks into the inner airspace of the fleet and determines the sea area where the aircraft carrier battle group is located, I am afraid that a large number of "kingfish" and even "sandboxes" and "shipwrecks" will roar next.

However, even if the Russians plan to do this, in the face of the "White Reaper" who is trying to break through the defense, it will not be a dilemma to stop or not to block.

It was the first time for the U.S. Navy commanders to see enemy planes approaching and trying to counteract but being helpless, and they had also begun to experience the helplessness of their Air Force colleagues in the face of "death" -- oh, or more than that, and sometimes the feeling was simply despair.

However, in this negative atmosphere, Colonel Walsh, who was in charge of the forward fleet coordination, had a suggestion that the F/A-18E/F fighters of the VFA-122 "Flying Angel" squadron would intercept the "Scythe".

"Yes, Your Excellency, Lieutenant General!

The VFA-122 fleet is in a decent state of refueling, and against highly maneuverable targets such as the Flanker, I think we should still rely on the power of the Slime. The 'Flying Angels' squadron, like other VFAs, has conducted well-developed aerial confrontations, and if only in over-the-horizon range, I think-"

"Makes sense, we need to hurry!

Walsh, you immediately convey the order; - Also, Stanley, how is our Roosevelt, can we start flying fighter jets? ”

"The engine room reported that the steam pressure fluctuated normally, and the recovery speed remained constant.

Uh--that--it can be ejected! ”

"Alright! Now it's -- at 6:33 a.m., immediately release the other six Tomcats, then empty the landing area, and inform the deck dispatch department and the hangar that we may launch a wave of air strikes in thirty minutes, with a squadron of 'Hornets' and a squadron of 'Tomcats'! ”

"Yes, Your Excellency, General!"

"Okay, the whole fleet will keep the current course and number of sections unchanged; In addition, "

William Pratt, who paced and walked to think about countermeasures and issue combat orders, and whose command style was a bit hands-on, did not ignore the overall consideration of the campaign level, rather than focusing all his energy on aerial confrontation.

As for the direction of travel of his carrier battle group, he still insists on sailing against the wind and making it easier to collect and release carrier-based aircraft at any time, but in this way, the fleet is advancing in a northwesterly direction, that is, closer to Kamchatka, and the possibility of a surprise attack by Russian land-based forces will also increase.

For such an obvious risk, Pratt would have tread cautiously and stayed as far away from the coastline as possible before the war began, but now that the two sides are fighting, the situation is different. (To be continued......)