Qiu Gengbo and Yang Qinkai's group sent out news at 8:10 a.m. and 8:55 a.m. respectively that the surprise bombing had been successful, but it was discovered by the U.S. military only when the group arrived near the US airfield, and the bombing operation was carried out relatively smoothly; although the U.S. resistance was very stubborn, it was too hasty, and there was no effective organization, so it was not able to pose much of a threat to the bomber group.

Comparatively speaking, the bombing campaign of Yang Qinkai's group won a greater victory. The group of Qiu Gengbo planes focused on bombing the regular US airfield in Skun, completely destroying the runway, and destroying most of the hangars, but it was not able to completely destroy the regular airport. The bombing of Denman Airport barely destroyed the airfield's runway, and both targets required supplementary bombing. Yang Qinkai's group completely destroyed the field airfield in Armidale, and the runway of the Tamworth field airfield was also completely destroyed.

According to the situation reported by the two, Tan Renhao asked Zheng Guanhua to arrange the task of supplementing the bombing, and this time the Qiu Gengbo group still went to deal with the US airfields in Sikun and Dengman, while the Yang Qinkai group carried out other tasks after returning home.

After nine o'clock, Tan Renhao received a telegram from Hao Dongjue. In the first round of bombing, the Second Task Force completely destroyed three US field airfields near Tari and blew up dozens of US planes parked on the ground; the bomber group was not intercepted by US fighters, only three bombers were shot down by ground antiaircraft guns during combat operations, and five others returned home wounded. Other words. The First Task Force does not need to worry about the US military using front-line field airfields to launch attacks, and can confidently and boldly carry out the next combat action.

Less than half past nine, two squadrons of ground escort fighters returned to the skies over the fleet. The group of Qiu Gengbo planes would return to the fleet before ten o'clock, and after confirming that no American bomber group was approaching, Tan Renhao had a squadron of fighters land on the three aircraft carriers in batches. These fighters did not consume much ammunition during combat operations and only needed to replenish fuel. Then he immediately took off and left the aircraft carrier before the return of the Qiu Gengbo group.

At 9:55 a.m., the group returned to the carrier, five bombers did not return, and seven more were heavily damaged. Two of them made a forced landing directly on the sea. Five more landed crookedly on the carrier. By about 10:20, all the bombers of the Qiu Gengbo group had landed on the aircraft carrier. At this time, Yang Qinkai's group had reached about 70 nautical miles east of the fleet, and it would reach the sky over the fleet in about 20 minutes.

After Tan Renhao confirmed again that the air defense alert ship did not detect any enemy aircraft approaching, he let the escort fighters of the second squadron land on the aircraft carrier. The fighters did not take off immediately, but were sent into the hangar. Then. Yang Qinkai's group returned. Three bombers did not return, and two were seriously wounded, both of which managed to land on the carrier, and the wounded pilots were immediately sent to the infirmary. By about eleven o'clock, all the bombers in Yang Qinkai's group had successfully landed on the aircraft carrier.

It was only at this time that Tan Renhao let the Qiu Gengbo group set off again, and Yang Qinkai's group would not be able to carry out the second round of bombing operations until at least about 1:30 p.m., and in order to maximize the efficiency of the sortie of carrier-based air forces, Tan Renhao also asked Zheng Guanhua to organize a group of officers and men of the ground fleet who had previously assisted the aviation service unit to make preparations for the bombers. This can be regarded as a great resource in the first task force, at that time all three aircraft carriers had a group of officers and men who could assist aviation service personnel in carrying out aviation operations, but in other fleets. It is almost impossible to have such a fleet officer and soldier.

At half past eleven, the Qiu Gengbo group was on the road again, because this time it was very likely to be intercepted by US fighters, so Tan Renhao arranged a squadron of escort fighters for the Qiu Gengbo group. Then, before the departure of Yang Qinkai's group, the fighter squadron that took off first to carry out air defense patrol missions returned to the aircraft carrier, and according to Tan Renhao's arrangement, if it was before Yang Qinkai's group departed. If the fleet is still not threatened by US bombers, then this fighter squadron commanded by Ellsler will escort Yang Qinkai's air group. The targets bombed by Yang Qinkai's group were command centers, artillery positions, barracks, and other high-risk military targets behind the US defensive positions, and were also high-value military targets.

Until half past one o'clock in the afternoon, the three destroyers on air defense alert still did not find anything, and in order to be safe, at 11 o'clock, Tan Renhao deployed a destroyer with radar to the north and south of the fleet, increasing the air defense detection range of the fleet to 270 degrees. And these two destroyers also found nothing. After confirming that the U.S. bombers still did not appear, Tan Renhao let Yang Qinkai's group set off.

After two o'clock, Yang Qinkai's group and the fighter squadron led by Ellsler all left the aircraft carrier and flew straight to the west. The fleet then turned due east and avoided it at a speed of 24 knots. At this time, Tan Renhao was also very puzzled, the activities of the First Task Force had been exposed, why didn't the US military organize forces to attack the First Task Force? Although the US tactical bombers could not fly at all, there were at least hundreds of heavy bombers on the Australian mainland, and there was no reason why the US military should not organize a group of heavy bombers to attack the First Task Force. In addition, US tactical bombers take off from rear airfields, and after completing the attack operation, they can land on front-line airfields, and even if the runways of front-line airfields have been destroyed, these tactical bombers can find a flat place near the airfield to make a forced landing. At least, there is no shortage of flat land near Sydney, and there are no shortage of places for forced landings.

Just when Tan Renhao was puzzled, a telegram from the theater command explained his doubts, and just when he was worried about the First Task Force, the Fifth Task Force was hit by a concentrated attack by US bombers, and the "Dianchi" aircraft carrier was hit by at least three bombs, and although there was no danger of sinking, it certainly lost its combat effectiveness. And it can't be repaired on the front line, so it can only be repaired by returning to the empire itself.

"Why did the U.S. bomb Task Force 5?" Zheng Guanhua was also surprised.

"Let the staff officers get on with their work first." Tan Renhao glanced at the staff officer in the command cabin, "The battle on our side is not over yet, after the arrangements are made, come outside." ”

Zheng Guanhua didn't say anything more, and immediately went to let the staff officers return to their positions. Then he followed Tan Renhao out of the command cabin.

"The U.S. bombing of Task Force 5 must have been tightly organized, not an ordinary bombing operation." Tan Renhao leaned on the railing, he called Zheng Guanhua out, because he didn't want to affect the mood of the fleet's staff officers because of the attack on the Fifth Task Force. "Task Force 2 has been attacked by the U.S. military many times before. But every time the danger was saved. In addition, Hao Dongjue made the fleet constantly change its position, and the bombing arrangements were different every day, so the US military has never been able to grasp the activities of the Second Task Force, and therefore it has not been able to grasp the whereabouts of the Second Task Force and organize large-scale bombing. ”

Zheng Guanhua sighed, he had also read the battle report of the Second Task Force. Before the arrival of Task Force 5. In order to confuse the US military, Hao Dongjue's bombing arrangements were different almost every day, and the Second Task Force maneuvered back and forth in the five operational sea areas, so the US military was not given any chance at all. The most important thing is that the Second Task Force has always been operating in the waters between 250 nautical miles and 300 nautical miles outside the coastline, and it will never easily approach Brisbane, and the maximum attack radius of the US shore-based tactical bombers is only about 250 nautical miles, which cannot threaten the Second Task Force at all.

"The Fifth Task Force has been operating in the waters outside Brisbane for several days, and Jiang Zhongmin has been evading the US military's strikes, and the US military has been bombing the Fifth Task Force for several days. But nothing worked. Tan Renhao shook his head, "But the target of the Fifth Task Force this time is southwest of Brisbane, and the fleet must be close to Brisbane and enter the strike range of US bombers." The US night reconnaissance planes certainly discovered the Fifth Task Force, but the Fifth Task Force was not able to spot the US reconnaissance planes at night. Perhaps, there are also US submarines operating near Brisbane. The whereabouts of the Fifth Task Force were already in the hands of the US military, but Jiang Zhongmin had no idea that the fleet had been threatened, and as a result, it was bombed in the morning! ”

"Now Task Force 5 is damaged. Then the pressure on us is even greater. ”

"That's not enough, at least now only one aircraft carrier has been hit. The other two aircraft carriers of Task Force 5 were intact. Tan Renhao turned around, "This at least explains why we haven't been bombed by the U.S. military until now." And, it should be good news for us. ”

"Good news?" Zheng Guanhua immediately looked at Tan Renhao, in his opinion, even if the Fifth Task Force was a bit like "Cheng Biting Jin" who killed halfway and robbed the First Task Force and the Second Task Force from their jobs, no matter what, the Fifth Task Force was attacked by the enemy and lost one-third of its combat effectiveness, which is not a good thing.

"Yes, judging by the bombing of Task Force 5, MacArthur is still convinced that we will land in Brisbane, not near Sydney!" Tan Renhao sneered, "If MacArthur is aware of it, then he should organize bombers to deal with us, you have also read the battle report, although the US military blew up the 'Dianchi' aircraft carrier, but paid a heavy price of at least 150 bombers, those fighters of the Fifth Task Force are not easy to mess with, and now there will be no more than 1,200 remaining US tactical fighters on the Australian mainland, if you get rid of some of the unrepairable ones, there are fighters, etc., then the number of tactical bombers will not exceed 700." The Fifth Task Force replaced one-fifth of the US tactical bombers with one aircraft carrier, so how many bombers could the US military use in the next battle? ”

"This ......"

"It can be said that the sacrifice of Task Force 5 is worthwhile, as it proves that MacArthur still did not accurately judge the direction of our attack. Second, it has weakened the US military's aviation combat capability. And now that Australia has been completely blocked, the number of combat aircraft of the US military will only decrease when it cannot receive assistance. And as long as the US military has no bombers to use, then we can drive the fleet to the near sea, and after seizing air supremacy, the US military will not want to block the marines at all with ground forces alone! ”

Zheng Guanhua pondered, and then laughed too. "It seems that the U.S. military on the Australian continent is also a grasshopper after the autumn."

"I hope so, the smoother this battle goes, the better it will be for us, in fact, what we should care about is probably whether Huang Xiaotian can stop Spruance in the Central Pacific!" Tan Renhao sighed secretly, "Go contact Jiang Zhongmin and ask him to persevere, as long as we complete the bombing operation in these two days, then even if the Fifth Task Force is exhausted, we will win!" ”

"I'm afraid this is not good, now that Task Force 5 has been hit, we will send such a telegram to ......"

Tan Renhao was stunned for a moment, and immediately laughed. "That's right, then you don't need to send this telegram. Remember to contact Task Force 3 later, they should be killed in the afternoon. ”

"I've told the communications staff officer that he'll be in touch with Task Force 3 at three o'clock."

"Also, don't forget to remind Hao Dongjue, let him remember to provide air defense fighters for the third task force, this kid is hiding behind and there is no threat, let him do a little more, we don't have enough fighters to serve the third task force now."

Zheng Guanhua smiled and nodded, in fact, the first task force was not threatened. If the U.S. military continues to concentrate its main defensive forces near Brisbane, the number of U.S. bombers that can threaten Task Force 1 on this side is very limited. This point was also officially obtained from Qiu Gengbo's war report, and there were not many bombers parked on the regular airfield of the US military in Sikun.

Tan Renhao stood outside for a while, and then returned to the command cabin. Qiu Gengbo and Yang Qinkai's group will also carry out another round of bombing missions before dark, and if the pilots' physical strength can keep up, there will be another bombing mission at night. Relatively speaking, the pressure on the pilots of the fleet aviation at this time is the greatest!