"Mitchell's formation hasn't been disbanded yet?" Hearing such news, all the admirals sitting in the Washington Joint Chiefs of Staff had strange faces and did not know what to say.

"Defend yourself against night attacks," Halsey sighed, helplessly.

Faced with this old friend who was suffering from the night raid, Spruance was speechless, not knowing what to say. Of course, he knew the reason why Mitchell did not dare to disband the formation: the formation was there, the fleet was still a whole, and he could give full play to the advantages of the group, if he really disbanded the formation and fled for his life, any German ** ship or submarine could send these scarred warships to the sea.

However, there is one thing that Spruance's thoughts are consistent with everyone's thoughts: the Atlantic Fleet is fighting fairly well today, taking out at least 910 German aircraft carriers, plus 45 large capital ships and a number of light warships, and he has only lost 1 regular aircraft carrier so far, as long as he can bring the remaining ships safe and sound, it will be a great achievement, and those Essex-class repairs will be done in a few months. As for the loss of pilots, although it is also a big problem, because of the battle report, he believes that the German army has also suffered heavy losses, and he believes that it is worth it to exchange the relatively inferior pilots of his own side for the elite pilots of the opponent.

"To prevent the German fleet from pursuing and using artillery attacks." Nimitz frowned and said worriedly, "Although we sank at least 2 battleships and severely damaged 23, we also sank 1 ourselves, and the remaining 3 were all wounded, so we can't help but guard against this." ”

"Now the gap between the two sides is nearly 200 kilometers, even if the enemy pursues at the highest speed, it will basically take early morning to catch up, Mitchell wants to lure the enemy into pursuit, and prepare to kill the opponent at dawn."

"Shhh Everyone gasped, this strategy was too bold, and it didn't feel like the steady style of Mitchell and Hewitt.

"It was Turner who suggested it, and Mitchell took it."

Nimitz's face is not very good-looking, what is Turner's idea at this critical moment? Isn't this pushing the fleet into a fire pit?

However, Spruance thought it was obviously different from him, he thought that the window for the Germans to catch up was only 34 hours, and it would be easy to survive these 34 hours in the dark, and the planes would take off to attack them at dawn, and the distance from his own fleet would be only 150 kilometers.

"It's a gamble!" Nimitz sighed, "The enemy succeeded, he could take out a batch of our aircraft carriers, and if we succeeded, it was a big deal to take out a few more battleships"

"Now these German battleships pose a mortal threat, don't forget, there is still a German detachment near Bermuda, there are still 2 fleet aircraft carriers and at least 4 escort aircraft carriers, if they converge with this group of remnants, it will still be a force to be reckoned with, and our army will lose the ability to continue fighting in the short term, if you don't fight"

Although Spruance did not go on with the rest of the sentence, the meaning of Nimitz was clear: in the next 34 months, the navy will be incapacitated, and the German army can consolidate its defenses in Central America and the Caribbean, and then the situation will no longer be reversed, and such a situation will be intolerable to the army and the president.

"Sure enough, it's an impossible task to defeat the Germans without any risk," Nimitz muttered to himself, stood up and considered for a long time, and finally made up his mind, "Follow this strategy for the time being, let Mitchell pay attention to the radar, and disband the formation as soon as he finds that the enemy is approaching." ”

"His current retreat speed is 11 knots, and from 12 o'clock, he will let the three most injured aircraft carriers return alone, so that the formation speed can be increased to more than 16 knots."

Looking at the dark sea, Mitchell was also sad and worried.

Of course, it is a situation he is unwilling to face, but sometimes the situation is stronger than people, and some things can only be done this way if they exceed the plan, although the suggestion was put forward by Turner, but if Mitchell himself did not have this consideration, this kind of suggestion should not be ignored at all, just do it yourself.

Hewitt only persuaded him once and then did not persuade him, he understood very well that Mitchell, a general, did not think much about personal gains and losses, he refused to go to war for the sake of the long-term interests of the country, and now he is desperately taking risks for the sake of the country, otherwise he would not have led the aircraft carrier alone to attack Tokyo to launch a counterattack, and the navy would not have handed over such a pivotal fleet to him.

"Let's hope we get a little luckier."

Hueyt nodded: Today's luck is okay, the Germans only sank 2 capital ships as a result of such a fierce air attack, and the losses were much smaller than the enemy's, and he hoped that this good fortune would continue. It doesn't have to be long, just make it through the night!

"Sir, the radar has picked up the aircraft's signal."

"Sure enough!" Mitchell gritted his teeth, "How many?" Anti-aircraft artillery fire preparation. ”

"Not much, more than 10 planes."

"Dozen?" Mitchell looked strange, "Can you sink us with these?" ”

Hewitt shrugged: "Who knows, probably the Germans are lost." ”

"Leave him alone, keep moving and keep an eye on him."

Marcal sneered aboard the Gneisenau: "Who told you I was going to have an air strike? I'll follow you enough! Submarine volley! ”

Although the retreat route of the Atlantic Fleet was very strange, what Mitchell did not know was that the German XXI\XXIII class submarines could run at a high speed of 18 knots underwater, and now, the four submarines that were originally responsible for relay guidance were staying in the sea, adjusting their positions according to the telegrams sent by the aircraft, and the torpedo tubes in the black hole were ready.

In the middle of the night, the main forces of the two fleets were approaching less than 140 kilometers, and the lightning detachment sent by Machar was approaching at a speed of 35 knots, and they had compressed the distance to within 100 kilometers.

"Formation regrouping" Mitchell ordered, "Change the formation!" ”

The three aircraft carriers, led by the Antietam, accompanied by several destroyers, slowly departed from the central lineup and swooped in other directions. This disbandment was not obvious at first, but an hour later it was detected by the German night reconnaissance planes that followed behind.

"Sir, the main fleet of the U.S. Army has increased to 16 knots, and at the same time, 3 small formations are retreating in other directions at a slower pace."

"The Americans are very cunning" Machar pondered for a moment, not knowing how to choose, there are no capital ships in these 3 formations, it is difficult to judge now, if there is, if you don't disperse the pursuit, you will be escaped by the enemy; If not, the scattered pursuit will weaken its own strength, and the Americans still have 3 battleships, and it will be troublesome to fight if the strength is insufficient.

:,,gegegengxin!!