At this time, the telegram sent back by the first wave of air attack planes had been translated, and Dong Yunzhang on the Longshuo and the Daming Naval Base at the Sanya Naval Base were informed of the current situation.

"The coordinates are 5°3' north latitude and 103°2' east longitude, confirming the enemy's main fleet, including one prestige-class and one Queen-class, as well as the USS Eagle and eight destroyers, with a speed of 18 knots and a course of 245 degrees."

"Visibility in the local sea is good, the clouds are thick, and the lower layer is 1,700 metres high. The enemy fleet has detected the position and is speeding up. The headquarters is preparing to attack. Yours sincerely."

At the same time, at the Jiading Air Base, yellow flares signaling take-off flew into the sky at the tower.

The thirty twin-engine torpedo planes of the 7th Torpedo Bomber Detachment, which belonged to the Daming Navy, accelerated one after another, and then took off one after another.

Immediately afterwards, a group of P-35 fighters of the Royal Annan Air Force slowly slid onto the runway, and then took off with a roar, and they would escort the torpedo formation of the Ming army.

Since the production capacity of the local aircraft manufacturing company of the Ming Dynasty generally has to give priority to meeting the needs of the Ming army, North Korea, Annam and other countries can only order weapons and equipment from other countries if they are in a hurry.

The 85 P-35 fighters were shipped from Republic Aircraft Corporation, numbered EP-12, with 1,050 hp engines and empty weapons, and the Annam Air Force installed four 7.36mm machine guns on its own upon arrival.

At present, the main force of the Royal Army of Annam is attacking British Burma in a big way, and the air force is also vying for air supremacy in Burma, so it can be said that the people of Annam are willing to dispatch some of the latest fighters to escort the escort in their busy schedules.

By the time these land-based planes had just seen the sea, the carrier-based aircraft formation had already launched a rapid attack hundreds of kilometers away.

The high-explosive shells fired by the 102mm anti-aircraft guns of the British fleet exploded in clouds of smoke between the clouds, which looked terrifying, but most of them were 100 meters away from the formation and had no effect.

"Attention detachments, attack enemy aircraft carriers, attack enemy aircraft carriers, one, two, three in order!"

"Great!"

"Look at the deck! They seem to want to fly? ”

The Ming pilots could clearly see the battleships of Fleet A heading northwest on the sea, and they kept flashing the conspicuous fire of their guns.

The large-caliber anti-aircraft guns were slow to react and slow to fire, and the Ming army continued to fly almost idly, as if those black-gray smoke balls did not exist.

Before these incoming planes were within range of the MkV Bang Bang guns, the British sailors found that they had nothing to do but stare dryly?

Objectively speaking, in the early days of the Great War, the multi-barreled bangbang cannon was actually not bad - the firepower was fierce and powerful. The disadvantage is that it has a short barrel, short ammunition, and a muzzle velocity of only more than 700 meters per second, which makes it unable to effectively hit enemy aircraft at medium distances.

"They're descending at high speed!"

"Coming! Coming! ”

"Left full rudder."

"Yes! Full rudder left! ”

The captain of the USS Eagle, Colonel Dylan, tried to remain calm and gave the order to maneuver to evade.

At the same time, the thumping guns of the ships finally opened fire.

"Bang bang bang-"

The British have not yet equipped the Bang Bang with tracer shells, which further reduces the defensive efficiency of these four-pack and eight-pack Bang Bang guns.

The three carrier-based dive bombers of the first detachment of the "East Admiral" squadron of the Taiwei Zuoyuan were the first to attack as the vanguard of the whole team, and immediately turned to dive when they were about to fly to the Eagle.

The three bombers were arranged in a zigzag pattern and dived towards the USS Eagle at an angle of about 80 degrees.

This aircraft carrier, converted from a battleship, was one of the Royal Navy's early attempts, and was characterized by a non-square flight deck, a pointed bow like a normal battleship, a tall and large bridge, and a low aircraft capacity.

Now, her rudder had turned to the limit, driving the entire battleship to turn as much as possible, drawing a white arc on the surface of the sea.

Height 1500 meters.

In the face of the dense barrage of bombs, the dive bomber numbered FH-TWZ-1-1 took the lead, and the detachment leader, Captain Guo Youjun, stared straight at the growing British aircraft carrier in front of him, with a grim expression.

He reached out and pulled a switch, and the air brake brakes on both sides of the fuselage turned on.

The drag instantly increased dramatically, and the dive speed of the entire aircraft was reduced, but also more stable.

Height 1000 meters.

Countless 40mm high-explosive shells and 12.7mm machine gun shells passed by the planes, and it can be said that half of the A-Fleet anti-aircraft fire was concentrated on these three aircraft.

is different from the scene of film and television dramas, because there are no tracer shells in the bang cannon for the time being, and there is no proximity fuse, so there is no chaotic appearance of "tracer bullets and explosive black clouds filling the sky".

Now, the Ming pilots could only see the target's anti-aircraft guns flashing with muzzle fire, and the sky around them was quite clean.

Laser-like ballistics, if available, are sparse - from the weak Vickers 12.7mm machine guns.

Height 500 meters.

"500 meters!!" The backseat heavy shouted.

Before he finished speaking, Guo Youjun pulled the bomb throwing lever, and then pulled the lever to the upper right to change out.

The dive bomber dropped a 250kg armor-piercing blaster at a speed of about 460 km/h, then successfully pulled it up and accelerated away.

The bomb grazed the edge and fell into the sea next to it, exploding a column of water that soared into the sky.

Two other planes also dropped bombs, one of which easily pierced through the wooden flight deck and the thin steel frame, and then exploded in the hangar!

"Boom!"

A Swordfish torpedo plane in the hangar was immediately blown to pieces, and the sailors and several Sea Fighter fighters next to it were also affected, staggering from side to side, suffering heavy casualties.

All the pilots of the formation saw this sight - a fleeting flame burst from the deck of the aircraft carrier, followed by a large puff of gray-black smoke.

"Medium-"

"Oh-"

"Hit! Right on the middle deck! ”

In an instant, the radio was filled with cheers and cheers from the pilots.

And that's just the beginning, and the follow-up attacks followed.

In the space of a minute, the pilots of the second and third divisions dropped bombs on the USS Eagle one by one.

Her rear elevator was destroyed by a bomb; Another 250kg bomb crashed into the side of the bridge, shattering almost all the glass and tearing a huge hole, causing more than 30 casualties.

However, in the process of pulling off, the FH-TWZ-2-3 was hit in the tail by a 40mm high-explosive bomb.

The huge explosion blew it in two on the spot, and it fell into the sea with a sudden thud, and shards of aluminum skin rained down.

"Captain! Damage statistics complete! The damage to the middle flight deck has been contained; The tail lift was completely destroyed and could not be repaired; The bridge fire was spreading, but it was able to cope. ”

Before Colonel Dylan could reply, a staff officer shouted: "Torpedo machine!" Nine o'clock! ”

Ten Type 36 carrier-based torpedo planes of the "Left Law Enforcement" squadron had already cut into the attack course and flew towards the front of the Eagle.

"They're throwing torpedoes!"

"Stay calm, Major. Now, the right-hand drive is turned 15 degrees. ”

"Yes, right-hand drive steered 15 degrees."

The torpedo pilots had great courage to steer the plane, and they had to accurately predict the advance so that the torpedo would coincide with the target's course.

The Ming Army's active Type 33 B 448mm aviation torpedo has a maximum speed of 44 knots and a range of 1,600 meters, but because of the head reduction box and tail stabilization box, it has fewer restrictions than other countries.

The head speed reduction box is essentially a large wooden box, which is placed on the head of the torpedo to reduce the speed of the fall and fall apart when the torpedo hits the water, helping to absorb the impact force.

The tail stabilization box is also a wooden box, which can help stabilize the attitude of the torpedo in the air, and it will fall when it falls into the water.

With the blessing of the two, the Ming torpedo machine can drop torpedoes at a speed of up to 400km/h and an altitude of 150m, without causing torpedo failure.

Several torpedoes made a conspicuous splash as they fell into the water, quickly drilling towards the USS Eagle.

"Adjust course to 175." After giving the order, Colonel Dylan said to himself: "How did they release (torpedoes) at such a high level?" ”

A total of three torpedoes in the first round did not hit, and the Eagle avoided them relatively easily.

But then it was different, the remaining six torpedo planes were divided into two groups and cut into the attack course from the direction of 215 and 340.

In this way, no matter how the Eagle turned to evade, it would always be within the attack course of one of the torpedo planes.

However, this cross-attack strategy is a great test of the quality and tacit understanding between pilots.

The engine inside the torpedo is running at full power, and the abundant power drives the propeller to rotate rapidly, and the exhaust gas bubbles form a clear white track on the sea surface.

"Torpedo! Starboard! ”

"We can get through it!"

The aircraft carrier's back and forth turn from left to right shook the officers and men to the ground.

After avoiding four more torpedoes, the Eagle, which was trying its best to steer, finally encountered a situation where it was impossible to escape.

"Torpedoes are approaching! 200 yards! ”

"Prepare for the shock!"

"Knock !!"

A torpedo slammed diagonally into the left rear of the Eagle's hull, and the water column tens of meters high was close to the height of the bridge.

The powerful impact shocked the officers and men of the ship, and many of them fell directly to the ground.

However, those who fell to the ground managed to get up and get up, and before they could stand firmly, another huge explosion suddenly came.

The water column appeared at the stern, and the violent underwater impact directly damaged one of the Eagle's rudders and one of its propellers.

"Not bad! Hit two mines! ”

"Report, the No. 2 aircraft of the first team was seriously injured...... I went, and the left wing was broken by almost a third. ”

"Can you hold on? If it doesn't work, turn around and fly ashore for a while, then parachute. ”

"Grass! I'm dying in the back seat, grass, it's all blood......"

Because of the improvement in torpedo delivery, the Ming torpedo machine did not need to slow down into a slow live target, at most it became a short-lived, fast target, once the torpedo was aimed and discarded, it could immediately turn around and accelerate away.

Compared to the dive bomber formation, which was almost close to the face, the torpedo plane formation, which had only been within the range of the bang cannon for a short time, did not crash.

Even the seriously injured YH-TWZ-1-2 finally swayed back to the Taiwei Zuoyuan.

"The Chinese attack is not bad."

"The Eagle was hit with three bombs and two torpedoes, how are they doing?"

"Oh, see the semaphore, they're not at risk of sinking."

The superb skills of the Ming naval aviation greatly amazed the officers and men of the Royal Navy.

Unlike the ordinary sailors, the officers immediately realized the seriousness of the problem after feeling emotional, and became very nervous and worried - damn it! I underestimated the aircraft attack before!

In underestimating the power of aviation, many Royal Navy officers believed that aerial bombs could not pose a threat to capital ships.

Even if the superstructure was blown to shreds, as long as the inside of the heavy armored fortress hull was not damaged, then the ship would not be able to sink.

As for aviation torpedoes, the underwater defense of capital ships is often designed to withstand the explosion of a five-hundred-pound TNT, even if this cannot cope with ship torpedoes of the 533mm class, but is not afraid of small aviation torpedoes.

Besides, the anti-aircraft fire of the fleet is not dry, how can it be possible for the same battleship to be hit multiple times? The opposing air forces will definitely give up after suffering heavy losses.

The seasoned British sailors reloaded the quadruple and eight-pack bangbang guns as if it were just an exercise.

The departure of the Ming army group made this sea area calm, and a few people even had the leisure to take out lighters and light cigarettes.

However, not a single cigarette burned out, and the attack formation from the Taiwei Youyuan arrived.

Because the Taiwei Ugaki had more time to prepare, the second wave consisted of as many as 18 dive bombers and 13 torpedoes.

The fierce offensive and defensive battle lasted for about ten minutes, and the Ming army aircraft group came and went as fast as it could.

Due to damage to the rudder and propeller, the Eagle was not effective in maneuvering and evading the air attack this time, and she was hit by two more bombs and two torpedoes.

Billowing black smoke rose from several places, the hull tilted 5 degrees to the right, and the speed was only 9 knots, and it was almost on the verge of collapse.

This time, in addition to the Eagle, other warships were also attacked.

The S-class destroyer Victory, which was hit by a torpedo, was slowly sinking, and sailors in life jackets jumped into the sea one after another.

The battleship Warrior was hit by 3 aerial bombs and 1 torpedo, and was temporarily unharmed.

At this time, most people finally understood how serious the situation was, but there were still many people who still had a fluke mentality.

"What about our Air Force?!"

"Why haven't the planes of the Far Eastern Air Force come yet?!"

Unbeknownst to the officers and men of Fleet A, in order to prevent British planes from Singapore and Kuantan from supporting them, the Air Force's 2nd Light Bombardment Detachment, which had been transferred to Kota Bharu Airport, had launched air strikes on both places in the early hours of the morning.

Apparently, the air support promised by the commander-in-chief, Lieutenant General Arthur Ted, could not be reached.

At 8:07 a.m. on February 27, the nightmares who finally broke the luck psychology arrived on the battlefield.

Despite the serious accident of collision between the two planes on the way, the 28 fighters of the Navy's 7th shore-based torpedo detachment still caught their prey on time.

These Type A torpedo bombers quickly switched to a "/" shaped left trapezoidal formation, increased their cruising speed to a top speed of 350 km/h at sea level, and swooped straight towards the British fleet.

On the periphery of the fleet, the air defense observation post of the destroyer HMS Vampire of the Royal Australian Navy was watching the incoming aircraft swarm.

Through the binoculars, he saw two graffiti on the side of the twin-engine plane with blue on the top and white on the bottom:

「Suck my torpedo，limey!」

「Is that all you've got?」

(End of chapter)