In the face of a large number of Soviet long-range bombers, whose location is still unclear, the U.S. Navy's operational command system coped with it quite decently.

Gradually recovering from the chaos of losing the "Eagle Eye" at the beginning, the number of F-14 and F/A-18 fighters in the outer air defense circle of the fleet is quite large, and the missiles and fuel in the plane are enough to support an interception operation, and the shape does not seem to be as bad as the lieutenant general and others imagined.

According to Colonel Walsh, the number of United States fighters reported by his subordinates, after a chaotic battle, there were about 30 planes distributed in the west and north directions of the aircraft carrier battle group, that is, the size of three squadrons; Due to the influence of frequent take-offs, recalls, and other scheduling, as well as the wanton chaos caused by the "sickle," these 30-odd fighters in the air belonged to eight different combat squadrons.

There are quite a few fighters, and the CVN-71 and CVN-73 continue to catapult the F-14, and it seems that the shape of the US military is not bad.

However, unlike the beautiful imagination of ordinary people, on the vast ocean battlefield, it is not possible to compare the number of fighters on both sides to determine the victory or defeat.

In the face of the Americans' fighter interception line, the Tu-22M3 of the 68th Bomber Aviation Regiment of the Red Navy flew all the way to the afterburner, the airborne radar warning system did not send out a warning signal for the time being, and there were no escort planes to provide the necessary air information.

Dispersed attacking bombers. Even in the absence of E-2C surveillance. It is also not easy to break through the interception of the F-14 with the AIM-54.

But. Different from the theoretical deduction, in the face of an unprecedented number of "backfire", the Americans' current options are actually very limited, the number of "Tomcat" fighters in the northwest direction is not much, and a few F-14D are simply unable to intercept Ivan's torch in a one-on-one long-range sniper way, and if you want to use TWS mode to attack, now the distance between the enemy and us is a little far, and the U.S. Navy fighters who see the "backfire" attacking are in a dilemma for a while.

Seeing that the Russians were approaching step by step. The US pilots who piloted the "Tomcat" had the heart to rush up and start the film directly, but the command center never sent an order.

Obviously, unlike the enthusiastic front-line soldiers, Lieutenant General Pratt and others are more worried that there are not many "Tomcats" in the sky now, and if these F-14s that are ordered to go out to intercept them, there will be a new gap in the US Navy's air defense circle. The scene will become extremely chaotic.

Such a decisive assault is a piece of cake in terms of Maozi's character. Even if most of the final outcome of the Swept Wing Monster is that it is shot down by US carrier-based planes, the Americans will of course be terrified and absolutely intolerable to the exchange of "several broken bombers and one aircraft carrier."

What are you kidding, the Tu-22M3, the NATO code name "Backfire", the shoddy supersonic arrows made by the Kazan factory, this kind of thing can be used to spell out the heavy aircraft carriers of the United States, and the Russians are too good at it!

Thinking of this possibility, the US commanders can't help but be worried, in the face of the Russian bombers attacking from multiple directions and the number of Russian bombers that cannot be accurately counted, the F-14D in the air can only wait on the interception line, some of the "super cats" switch the radar to RWS mode and are responsible for monitoring a large area of airspace in front of them, and the rest of the big cats are ready to sweep the missiles in TWS mode, and six stout gray-white "immortal birds" are ready to attack on the pylons, just waiting for the Russians to enter the range and swarm out.

With roaring engines and a large number of Tu-22M3s, and the "Tomcats" waiting for them two hundred kilometers away, their spears and shields have been polished, and the battle of life and death is just around the corner, but Lieutenant General Pratt, who is in charge of "Theodore Roosevelt", is still a little uneasy.

With a hint of foreboding in his heart, the general sneezed, his fingers tapping on the metal panel of the platform.

Yes, what else is there to worry about now, the Russians' "Backfire" has certainly launched a charge, but a vote of the United States' "Tomcat" has also entered the interception position, roughly counting the number of AIM-54 missiles mounted by the boys, the lieutenant general feels that his worries are a little redundant, even if Ivan's bombers are a regiment and about twenty planes, and thirty-six "immortal birds" on six F-14s can be completely handled, isn't it?

That's the case on paper, but what about the actual battle situation......

Thinking of this, the general suddenly turned his head to look at Major General Cooper, who was standing in front of the situation map.

Presumably with the same concerns as William Pratt, Stanley Cooper, the level-headed chief of staff, had just issued an order for the VFA-154 squadron on the CV-67 "John F. Kennedy" to be ready for sortie and to immediately take to the air to fill the air defense circle in the event of an emergency.

"Prepare for sorties" is not difficult for VFA-154, a squadron of U.S. Navy carrier-based aircraft equipped with F/A-18C/D fighters, which was not intended to carry AGM-84 "Harpoons" to participate in air strikes, but to exist as an escort for the fleet's offensive forces; Now, Rear Admiral Cooper's order, passed on to the "Kennedy", means one thing, the current situation of the war is very unfavorable to the United States, and if the shape continues to deteriorate, then even this escort fleet prepared for the attack must be replaced immediately.

The order to prepare for combat was given, and the next thing, as a staff officer, Stanley Cooper, could not overstep his bounds, he knew very well that once the order VFA-154 was launched to meet the enemy, the aircraft carrier battle group would be tantamount to giving up the ability to launch air strikes, and the next battle would fall to the side of the Russians, which was definitely a choice of last resort.

Feeling the pressure of the "backfire", the staff of the major general was relatively safe in dealing with it, but Lieutenant General William Pratt, who was deeply stimulated, did not approve of this deployment.

In other words, as the commander of the fleet directly responsible to USPACOM, the vice admiral is now full of thoughts on "how to win against the odds", rather than surviving in the baptism of heavy anti-ship missiles of the Russians; In the face of the hateful Siberian barbarians, unless the Russian bombers have flown overhead, he will never rashly dispatch VFA-154, which was originally intended to be used for attack, and now, he pins his hopes on the "Tomcat" fleet of CVN-71 and CVN-73, but his subordinates quickly reported bad news, and the lieutenant general's temper was on the verge of getting out of control.

"What!

- Major, you have to explain why it is malfunctioning at this time. ”

"Report, report to the general, the crew crew has just inspected the No. 2 steam storage tank, and there is no problem with the catapult steam transmission line, but they have found several tiny cracks in the circuit using an X-ray flaw detector; The pressure value of the main pipe has not been raised, but once the pressure starts to increase, it will be- "

"Do you want to give an engineering lecture here, Major?

- Speak human words! ”

"Uh-ah-the end is ......"

He had just scolded his subordinates on the communication line, and now he was sweating on his forehead when facing the lieutenant general, and he quickly organized his words, and then told William Pratt that the ejection work of the carrier-based aircraft of the CVN-71 "Theodore Roosevelt" is unsustainable, and even if immediate repair is not considered, it can only barely drive one catapult to work normally.

The major's report, or rather a piece of bad news, made the feelings of Lieutenant General Pratt and others even more impatient.

The Russian bombers were getting closer and closer, and the commanders of the U.S. Navy were already anxious, and the lieutenant general thought at first that his restlessness was because of this bad thing, and now he finally found a breakthrough to vent, and he shouted and cursed a few words, but he knew that it would not help; While the Vice Admiral was chattering and cursing the Russians, Rear Admiral Cooper, who was busy deploying troops next to him, was quite sensible, and he ordered the battlefield dispatcher to immediately change the plan and send a batch of F-14Ds from the CVN-73 to the direction where reinforcements were most needed.

The Russians are attacking in a big way, and although there are a large number of fighters in the air, it is impossible to completely shield the air defense circle with a radius of several hundred kilometers, and as for which direction is the most important to watch out for now, Stanley Cooper's professionalism is quite reliable, and he ordered this batch of F-14s, which had just taken off, to turn to the west, and prepare to lay a sparse fighter interception line in the western sky where the "Scythe" was raging.

Cooper's order is very consistent with the battlefield situation, and it is also the inevitable choice of a commander in this situation.

After a short and chaotic confrontation in the sky, the US Navy aircraft carrier battle group that was broken in and set fire everywhere by a "flanker" finally had to face the "backfire", and the number of Tu-22M3s that had appeared in the sight of the "Tomcat" was really quite quite large, and in addition, a large group of bombers painted with red stars were approaching in the western airspace.

In this case, although the pressure of air defense in the northwest direction of the fleet has been increasing, Rear Admiral Cooper still set his eyes on the west side of the battlefield situation map, in the invisible fog of war, the dark blue of a large area of Russian battleships cruising back and forth.

As for the trouble in the west, for the time being, it's a rampaging Su-27 fighter with the "Grim Reaper" sitting in it, right? (To be continued......)