"How many fighters are there now?" Inside the bridge of the Grudge, Hintz asked in a deep voice.

"Originally, there were a total of 137 aircraft, 29 were lost, another 4 were seriously injured and abandoned, and the remaining 104 aircraft, plus a total of 11 reserve aircraft of each ship, there are 115 left, and they are currently landing for replenishment."

Hintz nodded: "Let the radar room be vigilant, there is no need for reinforcements for the time being, and the defense force there from the chief also needs to be guaranteed." ”

According to Ozawa's deployment, Hintz led the decoy fleet to receive an extraordinary mission: fire magnet and full defense!

In order to accomplish this task, the front fleet did not carry any attack aircraft, all the planes were all fighters, although 33 aircraft were lost just now, but because the escort aircraft carrier was also sunk, it still looked full, so Hintz did not plan to reach out for reinforcements.

For the aircraft carrier formation, the attack is where the greatest power lies, so the order of "all-out defense" seems a little abrupt and strange, but Hintz knows the intention of Ozawa's deployment, now the two fleets are nearly 100 kilometers apart, this side is not only the first line of defense of the main fleet, but also can effectively attract the attention of the US attack aircraft group, coupled with the ample defense level of the fleet, he is confident that he will hold on for a longer time.

The black pressure attack group soon appeared in the air again, this is the first attack wave sent by the US aircraft carrier formation, with a total of more than 170 aircraft, in the face of the report of the radar room, Hintz was not afraid, but eager to try: "Let the fighters go forward to intercept!" ”

"Sir, the land-based fleet is attacking the U.S. fleet, but the information they're sending indicates that it's an extremely large fleet. In total, there are at least 7 Essex-class and 8 escort carriers or light carriers, but there seem to be only 4 battleship-class," the staff report said, "They have launched air strikes on escort carriers according to your orders. ”

"What is the distance between the two sides now?"

"It's about 375 kilometers, and it's still getting closer, about 30 kilometers per hour."

"Let the first attack wave suppress the position, and focus on damage." Ozawa gritted his teeth, "The main fleet turns, takes the northeast, and further shortens the distance!" ”

Machar's eyelids moved, and he suddenly understood Ozawa's intentions: This Japanese commander, moved his brain to artillery battles?

Cranke couldn't believe it: although the distance was very close this time, it was only more than 300 kilometers, and it would take at least 12 hours to collide, why did Ozawa do this? Doesn't he know how much the opponent's plane is bigger than himself?

As if seeing Crank's concerns, Ozawa smiled slightly: "Our army has an oblique aircraft carrier, and the frequency and dispatch efficiency of sorties are faster than those of the opponent, and the closer the distance is, the flight time can be further compressed, but the dispatch time cannot be easily compressed." ”

The staff officers suddenly realized: more than 300 kilometers away, a wave of attack waves takes about 7,075 minutes to attack the opponent, of which the preparation and take-off time is at least 35 minutes, and the rest is flight and search time, but if the distance is compressed to 100 kilometers, the flight is only a matter of more than ten minutes, but the time for preparation, take-off, and landing will take 35 minutes Until then, in the same time period, the German army can send out 2 batches in one breath, and the US army can only send out 1 batch, and no matter how many planes there are, they will not be able to break this shackle.

"Let the submarine forces block the retreat of the enemy fleet." Ozawa suddenly smiled confidently, "We have 8 battleships, as long as we hold them down and get close to the visual range, once we get through the day, I will have a good time with them at night." ”

This optimism infected many people, and the originally tense atmosphere in the bridge was much relieved.

"First Attack Wave, Attack!"

"Attack!"

Almost at the same moment, the commanders of the attack groups on both sides raised their cries of attack, with the US military using carrier-based aircraft to carry out the first attack wave, and the German army using a land-based attack wave. The first thing they collided with was not the blazing anti-aircraft fire, but the densely packed anti-aircraft fighters that were on standby.

But to the great surprise of Hewitt and Mitchell, the opponent's attack group initially aimed at the wheeled anti-aircraft formation, but just as it was about to approach, it suddenly spread out left and right, drew a large arc in the air, and rushed towards the left and right wings, avoiding the heavily defended front.

"Are they going to attack the escort carriers?"

"What kind of tactic is this?"

"Let the fighters keep up."

It is said that it is to keep up, in fact, it is too late, the JU298 attack aircraft is generally a group of 3, and they pounce on the bombs at a rapid speed, and the US warships below desperately cover the anti-aircraft fire, although a few planes were also hit, but more attack planes dropped bombs, and the 400 kg aerial bombs became bigger and bigger in the eyes of the sailors, until the disaster came.

"The Salamoa is sinking!"

"The Kwajalein sinks!"

"The Horn of Lunga is sinking!"

"The Makin Island was badly damaged and unusable."

"Sargent Bay abandons ship."

"The Bougainville was created at a speed of 9 knots, and the aviation deck was completely destroyed."

In the German army attack just now, the US escort formation with 10 Casablanca-class escort aircraft carriers as the main force suffered a devastating blow, 5 ships were sunk in one go, 2 abandoned ships were heavily damaged, and 1 was created, and 8 out of 10 ships lost their combat effectiveness in one round!

In addition to this, 3 destroyers were sunk next to the escort carriers.

"Damn it!" Mitchell's face became very ugly, and now there is a crisis in his huge escort aircraft carrier group, and the bigger crisis lies in the scheduling, 750 aircraft will be crowded on the remaining 7 fleet aircraft carriers and 2 escort carriers, which will be extremely bloated.

After being silent for a while, he spoke: "It's not a big problem for the time being, we don't have so many planes left, so we can still dispatch them." ”

Hewitt was stunned for a moment, and then nodded silently, he also knew that there could not be so many planes left in the end, but these were the only remaining carrier-based aircraft pilots, if the loss was too much, even if a new aircraft carrier was launched, I am afraid it would not be able to fight quickly.

"Now we can only wait for the results of the first attack wave."

When he said this, the first attack wave of the US army had completed all the attacks, but the offensive effect could really only be said to be unsatisfactory:

"Richelieu, a torpedo on the port side, 2,000 tons of water, has been damaged and controlled. 1 1000-pound bomb in the aft deck, 1 group of anti-aircraft guns damaged. ”

"L2 escort aircraft carrier, sunk!"

"Tirpitts, two 1000-pound bombs in the middle, B turret steering difficult."

"There was a torpedo on the starboard side of the Tireless, with more than 1,400 tons of water, the speed dropped by two knots, and the balance was restored after water injection."

Hintz nodded slightly, under the desperate interception of more than 100 fighters just now, the losses of this side were not too great, only one escort aircraft carrier was sunk, and 23 planes were lost, but the opponent's losses were much higher, at least more than 100 were killed, but it was actually 104, because the US military dispatched BTD this time, the German army's proud phalanx played a huge advantage, and shot down a large number of US planes that tried to dive and close to dropping bombs.

"Let half of the fighters land to replenish." Hintz took stock of his losses and decided that he could hold on, so he did not reach for reinforcements.

:,,!!