The battle continued into the evening.

In the afternoon, the guards sent a carrier-based plane over and told Bai Zhizhan that he had arranged for the reconnaissance plane to expand the search area in the east and west, but still did not find the Nuland fleet, so he decided that the Nuland fleet was not in this vicinity, and there was no need to worry about a surprise attack for the time being.

To this end, after 3 p.m., Bai Zhizhan ordered a fourth wave of attacks on the transit island.

In four concentrated bombardments, Task Force 21 completely destroyed the airfields and docks on the transit island at a small cost of losing only 22 carrier-based aircraft.

According to Zhou Yongtao, the next step is to block the transit island and wait for the fire support fleet to arrive.

As for the operation to land on the transit island, it had little to do with Task Force 21.

Of course, the blockade of the transit island is not an easy task.

The point is that there is already intelligence mentioning that the Nuland Navy has deployed aviation and speedboats on several small islands east of the transit island in the past few days.

With only one task force, it is impossible to attack several islands at the same time.

In this way, the Nuland Navy will be able to use the speedboats and planes deployed on the small islands to the east to transport troops and supplies to the transit islands at night.

Carrier-based aviation is not capable of fighting at night, cannot deal with speedboats speeding over the sea, and cannot intercept patrol aircraft flying at ultra-low altitudes.

As for sending warships to blockade the transit island, it is not within the scope of consideration for the time being.

The reason is also simple, this is not in the plan!

If I want to say, I didn't encounter the Nuland fleet, and I didn't even find any signs of the existence of the Nuland fleet, which surprised Bai Zhizhan very much.

During dinner, Bai Zhizhan emphasized the matter.

Although it was very worried, even the White Stop War had to admit that no matter where the Nuland fleet was, it had to continue to act according to plan.

The battle went so smoothly that there was simply no reason to adjust the battle plan.

Even if Bai Zhizhan was worried, he could only increase his vigilance, strengthen search and patrol, and let the 22nd Task Force continue to remain hidden.

In fact, Task Force 22 is the key.

In Zhou Yongtao's words, after the day's fighting, the Nuland Navy must be able to judge that it was a task force and carrier-based aircraft carried by two aircraft carriers that attacked the transit island, and this is likely to become the key reason why the Nuland Navy did not send a fleet to participate in the war.

In that case, let's attack the transit island according to the plan.

In any case, all it takes is a task force to complete the pre-landing preparations.

In this regard, the White Stop War did not object.

It's just that the combat operation did not go as smoothly as imagined.

That night, a PBY appeared near Task Force 21, but no warships were spotted with strict light control.

By the next morning, at about 9 a.m., a B-17 approached Task Force 21, but was intercepted by fighter jets more than 100 kilometers away.

About four hours later, the Newland Army Air Force bomber group was killed.

All were four-engine heavy bombers, divided into 3 groups, with a total of more than 100 aircraft.

Judging by the time of arrival, these bombers came from the islands east of the archipelago, and the heavy bombers did not have the problem of insufficient combat radius.

There are some long-range fighter escorts, but there are not many of them.

The ocean-going cruisers that came out in time spotted the bomber group and also called in time for the air defense fighters.

The battle began around 1:30 p.m. and ended just after 2 p.m.

Task Force 21 dispatched more than 40 anti-aircraft fighters, successfully intercepted enemy aircraft, and shot down 27 bombers and more than 10 escort fighters.

The point is, even in the end, not a single Nuland bomber flew over Task Force 21.

In addition to the large number of air defense fighters, the pilots were brave in combat, and the ocean-going cruisers were also able to successfully intercept incoming enemy planes.

The entire battle was commanded by an ocean-going cruiser.

Under the dispatch and command of two ocean-going cruisers, the combat effectiveness of the air defense fighters was brought into full play, and not a single enemy aircraft was allowed to break through the outer air defense circle.

This battle fully proved the importance of command and allowed the Imperial Navy to feel the doorway of air defense operations.

It was after this battle that the "air defense alert ship" became the standard configuration of the task force.

It's just that light cruisers equipped with anti-aircraft search radars are mainly equipped with anti-aircraft search radars to undertake air defense alert tasks, and ocean-going cruisers are not favored.

The reason is the same: the Imperial Navy built more than a hundred light cruisers, and it must be put to good use.

To say, that is, the losses were a little greater, 11 "Roaring" were shot down, in addition to 7 were scrapped due to serious damage.

It must be said that the self-defense firepower of heavy bombers is by no means blown out!

The Imperial Navy also knew about this for a long time.

On the continental battlefield, the heavy bombers of the Strategic Air Corps of the Imperial Army often carried out bombing missions without fighter cover.

As a rule, it only takes a dense formation for the bombers to be able to cover each other with self-defense fire.

There is no good tactic to deal with a dense group of heavy bombers, all that is needed is more fighters, more speed and more firepower.

It was during this battle that the Imperial Navy's carrier-based fighters shot down a heavy bomber with rockets for the first time.

As for the losses suffered, Task Force 21 was prepared.

Both large aircraft carriers had enough spare aircraft, most of them fighters, and they were hung in hangars in a disassembled state.

It only takes a few hours to assemble it.

The biggest impact of this battle was actually to disrupt the rhythm of the 21st Task Force, or to disrupt the afternoon bombing operation.

According to the original arrangement, in the afternoon the focus was on bombing the seaplane pier on the transit island.

The reason is also very simple, the PBY that approached Task Force 21 last night came from the transit island, at least when it returned to the transit island.

In addition, during the morning bombardment, the reconnaissance aircraft on the screening mission also discovered that the Nuland forces had managed to repair a section of the runway and were working to repair the docks, and seemed to be preparing to use the transit island as a springboard to launch an attack on Task Force 21 by sending torpedo boats at night.

If anything, the torpedo boats of the Nuland Navy had to rely on the Transit Island in order to attack the 21st Task Force, which was located northwest of the Transit Island.

Not only because of the limited range of the torpedo boat, but also related to the distance and time of the sortie.

To put it more bluntly, these torpedo boats, which had a speed of more than 40 knots, had to reduce the attack distance to less than 650 kilometers in order to launch a surprise attack at night.

As long as you exceed this distance, you will definitely not be able to kill at night.

It is best to shorten it to less than 500 kilometers and leave two hours to fight.

As for the return home, it is clearly not in the table.

In the Nuland Navy, torpedo boats were expendable weapons, and no one expected these speedboats, which were only a few tens of tons, to survive the fierce battles.

Being able to attack before being sunk, or to launch a torpedo on board, is already a victory!

The point is that in night battles, torpedo boats with high speed and small tonnage have a strong concealment and are often able to launch attacks by surprise.

To speak, torpedo boats are a threat comparable to submarines.