The "Li Jing" class large air defense cruiser was designed in full compliance with the needs of assisting aircraft carriers in operations. With the exception of the three triple 240 mm guns, almost all of the designs on the ships were designed to improve the ship's capabilities in fleet aviation operations, including air defense operations. For example, the use of a wide hull to improve the stability of the ship during fast sailing (which sacrifices the ship's endurance and requires a more powerful power system to meet the most basic speed requirements), while also allowing for the deployment of more anti-aircraft guns. Two chimneys are grouped together to free up deck space. Canceled torpedoes and everything else that had nothing to do with aviation operations, etc. And one more point in this, that is, the number of seaplanes carried on the battleship.

At the time of the initial design, the Imperial Navy did not switch to carrier-based reconnaissance aircraft, and most of the reconnaissance missions were actually carried by seaplanes carried by battleships such as cruisers. Therefore, at the time of design, the Navy required that the "Li Jing" class must carry five seaplanes (at the same time, the Japanese-designed "Tone"-class heavy cruisers also had this requirement). During the design process, the designers found that if they carried five seaplanes, they would have to place two catapults, and the huge hangar would also affect the arrangement of anti-aircraft artillery, which would have a serious negative impact. As a result, the Navy later lowered the requirements to carry only three seaplanes, and in wartime to be able to expand to four.

When it was in service, the "Li Jing" class carried three seaplanes, and when it went out on the expedition, it could carry four seaplanes to meet the requirements of the fleet's reconnaissance mission. In addition, heavy cruisers of the "Trotto" class could carry two seaplanes on board. At present, the first task force has eight ships of the "Li Jing" class (the three new ones are "Liu Hongji", "Chai Shao" and "Li Xun"), and fourteen ships of the "Trotsky" class, that is, a total of 60 seaplanes are carried. This was the most important group of night reconnaissance aircraft of the fleet at that time.

As soon as it was dark, the cruisers released the reconnaissance planes they were carrying. According to Tan Renhao's request, each reconnaissance plane carried an additional auxiliary fuel tank. This allows it to fly at cruising speed for six hours, to carry out two reconnaissance missions before dawn, and to patrol the sea area demarcated by Tan Renhao at dawn. A total of fifty-six seaplanes took part in the reconnaissance operation, and four others were forced to stay behind because of a malfunction.

At the same time, the pilots of the 2nd Carrier Strike Group were tasked with having a night's rest before launching the first round of bombardment of Iwo Jima at dawn. The list of tasks was assigned in advance, and each bomber pilot was assigned to a major bombing target. and several secondary bombing targets. More than a hundred bombers will take part in the bombing operation, which is enough to drop dozens of tons of bombs on Iwojima.

Tan Renhao did not participate in these work, and the specific arrangements were made by Lei Shaoqing and Hao Dongjue. All he had to do now was wait, waiting for the reconnaissance plane to send the news back. Because of the high risk of carrier-based aircraft landing at night (in the theater of operations, all warships will be subject to light control), carrier-based units do not participate in night reconnaissance operations. The speed of those seaplanes is very slow, and the cruising speed is only about 120 knots, and it takes one and a half to two hours to reach the predetermined sea area for reconnaissance and patrol.

Tan Renhao was a little uneasy. Lei Shaoqing had already gone to sleep after arranging the task. At night, he was responsible for the command of the fleet. Every "tick" sound made by the radio self-test made Tan Renhao feel nervous. He was not afraid of the Japanese First Air Fleet, but he knew that if he could not find out in time for Yamaguchi Wenta's whereabouts. Then he must leave a valuable army, which will have a great impact on the subsequent battles.

The ideal situation is to discover the Japanese First Air Fleet before dawn, and then concentrate all the forces of the First Aircraft Carrier Strike Group to kill the First Air Fleet, and then turn around to deal with the Japanese troops on the islands and the Japanese Combined Fleet, and complete the campaign in one go. But if the Japanese First Air Fleet had not been discovered before dawn, then Tan Renhao would have had to let the bombers of the First Carrier Strike Group stay on the deck and could only fight the other Japanese troops with one fist. That's probably the worst possible outcome.

Time passed minute by minute, and when Tan Renhao dropped the twelfth cigarette butt, he found that the cigarette case was empty. He glanced up at the marine clock. It was only 10:15 a.m., and the reconnaissance plane group should have been patrolling the predetermined sea area for about an hour. These reconnaissance planes will return at about half past eleven, land between one and half past one, and then set off again at about half past two, so that at about five o'clock in the morning, they will return to the reconnaissance area and once again search for places where the Japanese First Air Fleet may be haunted.

"Which of you has a cigarette?"

Several staff officers turned around, they all touched their bodies, and one of them found half a pack of cigarettes. The cigarettes of the officers of the Imperial Navy were uniformly supplied by the logistics department. The difference is not huge.

"Go and help me get a few packs at the commissary!" Tan Renhao took out one first, and then handed a few banknotes to the staff officer, "If you are sleepy, you can also smoke a few, don't care about those bullshit rules." ”

Everyone laughed, and immediately a staff officer lit a cigarette, and several staff officers followed suit. The night shift is the most annoying thing, and when the battle starts tomorrow, they can't rest, and they have to continue to stick to their posts. The commissary on the aircraft carrier was open all night. In fact, in wartime, the time on the aircraft carrier is not calculated by the number of days, but by the "shift". Most of the officers and men work three shifts a day, each of which lasts eight hours. Some special positions are in two shifts, one shift is twelve hours. Therefore, some service organizations on the aircraft carrier are also open all day and have no time to close for rest, which is mainly to meet the needs of the officers and men on the warship.

"By the way, I'll give you a cup of coffee, I'll treat you!" Tan Renhao stopped the staff officer who went to buy cigarettes, "Everyone cheer up, maybe there will be news at some point." ”

Hearing the commander's invitation, everyone immediately became motivated, and the key was not the cup of coffee, but the commander's encouragement.

When the staff officer had bought the cigarettes and coffee, the command cabin was quiet again, except for the dull "ticking" of the radio.

At half past one, Tan Renhao walked to the porthole. The last reconnaissance aircraft landed in the gray sea. It was with the help of the silver-white moonlight that the pilot was able to see the battleship on the sea. As a result, there are still a lot of problems, such as finding the wrong battleship and so on. These problems were not serious, the reconnaissance planes, after being hoisted onto the battleship, were immediately refueled, the service personnel were responsible for checking the state of the aircraft, and the pilots seized the opportunity to rest and have something to eat. Prepare for your next reconnaissance mission.

"Commander, the reconnaissance planes are all back, and nothing has been found."

Tan Renhao nodded and walked to the chart table. The two staff officers were relying on the information fed back by the reconnaissance planes to mark the flight routes of the reconnaissance planes on the charts. Because the night reconnaissance pilots have a closer visual distance, they are less effective. It's like shooting an arrow with your eyes closed, whether you can hit the target or not depends entirely on luck.

Then, the staff officer marked the sea area that had been identified in red pencil. The second round of reconnaissance will expand the area by fifty nautical miles to the east, while the area already searched for the previous one will be searched again. This will be the last chance. Tan Renhao did not interfere in the work of the staff officers. These staff officers are also veterans. Very experienced. They know exactly what they have to do and how they can share the work and pressure with the commander.

"Commander, it's all marked."

Tan Renhao nodded. Then I took a closer look.

There is a strait about 330 nautical miles wide between the Volcanic Islands and the Mariana Islands, and a strait about 45 nautical miles wide between the Volcanic Islands and the Ogasawara Islands (the strait between North Iwo Jima and its sister islands). And it is possible that the Japanese First Air Fleet will pass through these two straits.

Tan Renhao looked at it carefully for a while, and his eyes fell on the sea area east of the Ogasawara Islands. According to Tan Renhao's inference, after leaving Tokyo Bay, the Japanese First Air Fleet must first sail eastward, leaving the area of activity of the Tang Empire's submarine forces, and then heading south, then it will enter the battlefield in the waters east of the Ogasawara Islands. The search area he determined was to the south and southeast of Iwo Jima, and the reconnaissance planes were mainly concentrated in this sea area. If Japan's First Air Fleet had entered the strait between South Iwo Jima and the Maug Islands (a small archipelago in the northernmost part of the Mariana Islands) after dawn, it would have been south of the Ogasawara Islands by now. Or sail southeast.

Thinking of this, Tan Renhao understood. When arranging the reconnaissance mission, the speed of the seaplanes and the maximum patrol time were taken into account, so the search radius was not extended to the waters south of the Ogasawara Islands. And it's the vulnerabilities in the entire search network, the huge loopholes.

"Did the reconnaissance plane take off?"

"Commander, the first reconnaissance planes have already departed!"

"Immediately send a signal to the nearby cruisers that have not yet sent reconnaissance planes, and let the reconnaissance planes expand their range of activities to the east, that is, to the south of the Ogasawara Islands, another fifty to one hundred nautical miles!" Tan Renhao beckoned the staff officer over. At the same time, a new search range was marked on the chart, "Repeatedly searching in this sea area, sending as many reconnaissance planes as you can." Hurry up and deliver the order! ”

Without any hesitation, the staff officer immediately went to convey the order. Because the fleet was silent on the radio and had to enforce strict lighting control, it was only possible to transmit the light signal to nearby warships through a searchlight that was not very bright, and then those warships could transmit the signal to ships farther away. It took a lot of time, and as a result, by the time Tan Renhao's new order was delivered, only twelve seaplanes had not left the battleship, and the reconnaissance missions of these twelve seaplanes had also changed.

Seeing that the last reconnaissance plane left the sky over the fleet and disappeared into the gray night sky, Tan Renhao let out a sigh of relief and quieted down. He felt a little regretful, or a little headache. Actually, the problem is not his. The reconnaissance aircraft on those cruisers had a limited range and were slow. This practically limits the reconnaissance range of the fleet. Tan Renhao considered this issue a few months ago, and wrote a special report for this purpose, asking the navy to equip a faster and longer-range water reconnaissance plane as soon as possible. At the same time, it also put forward a request for the development of a special long-range aircraft carrier reconnaissance aircraft to enhance the reconnaissance capability of the fleet. As a result, this report did not attract much attention, and the production tasks of the major aircraft factories of the empire were already full, and there was simply no excess capacity for the production of such "secondary" combat aircraft.

The command cabin fell silent again, and Tan Renhao returned to the side of the chart table. Now he was almost certain that the Japanese First Air Fleet was sailing somewhere to the east and was certainly preparing for battle. Perhaps, the location of Task Force 1 has been revealed. If there is Japanese submarine activity in this vicinity (Tan Renhao is almost sure of this), then the location of the 1st Task Force has already been exposed. Of course, maybe there is a reconnaissance plane hovering over the fleet, and it is not a reconnaissance plane of the Tang Empire, but a Japanese reconnaissance plane.

Tan Renhao suddenly found that he had no choice at this time. Unless he gave up bombing Iwo Jima and giving up the combat mission of crushing the Japanese Combined Fleet, he could only stubbornly persevere. Thinking that he was in such a passive situation, Tan Renhao was a little distressed, he never liked to be passive.

Time passed quickly, and when Tan Renhao looked at the navigation clock for the second time, it was already five o'clock, and it would be dawn in an hour and a half, and the reconnaissance planes that set off first had probably arrived at the predetermined search area, and the last 12 reconnaissance planes would also arrive at the predetermined search area in half an hour to 45 minutes. The staff officers of the shift will be changed after half an hour.

Tan Renhao let out a sigh, and then leaned back in his chair. He was still only able to wait, and he could do nothing until there was definite news. Suddenly, Tan Renhao's mind flashed and he thought of something. He immediately stood up, and when his eyes fell on the chart table, Lei Shaoqing also pushed open the hatch and walked in......