At 6 a.m. on January 14, 4638, the first F4F Wildcat fighter took off from the USS Wasp. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoAt the same time, carrier-based aircraft began to take off from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet.

Rear Admiral Halsey was very excited to watch his carrier-based planes take off and fly away from the aircraft carrier, hovering over the fleet and waiting for formation. The two fists were clenched even tighter, and even the knuckles were a little white because they were too hard.

"God will surely bless the United States of America. In this battle, we will definitely defeat the Chinese. Major General Halsey prayed to God in his heart. At the same time, he also hopes that these pilots can return as safely as possible.

Although, the total number of pilots in the United States is quite large, the number of pilots in carrier-based aircraft is not many. More carrier-based aircraft pilots are rookies with little experience, and there are very few who can skillfully take off on aircraft carriers and fight. It can be said that these pilots are the wealth of the US Navy.

Although, pilots and carrier-based aircraft come much easier to replenish than air carriers. However, it is not so easy for experienced pilots to replenish once they have suffered heavy losses. At the same time, it will also affect the combat effectiveness of the fleet.

Rear Admiral Halsey knew that the pilots were essentially dead after launching the attack. The Chinese Navy has an advanced anti-aircraft search radar, which can detect these US carrier-based aircraft at the first time, so as to take off fighters to intercept them. In addition, the performance of the Chinese Navy's carrier-based aircraft is better than that of the US military's, and the quality of the pilots is also higher. It can be said that if a third of these carrier-based pilots who took off can come back, it will be God forbid. If one is not good, there is a possibility that none of these carrier-based aircraft pilots will be able to come back.

Twenty minutes later, the first wave of carrier-based aircraft had completed their formation and began to fly towards the target sea area. At this moment, the American fleet is only three hundred kilometers away from the position of the imperial fleet. These carrier-based aircraft only need to fly for forty minutes before they can launch an attack.

After the departure of the first wave of carrier-based aircraft, the elevators of the USS Wasp were still working to lift the remaining dozens of carrier-based aircraft from the hangar to the flight deck. At the moment, the USS Wasp has 46 carrier-based aircraft left. They are 18 F4F 'Wildcat' fighters, 18 SBD2 'Dreadnought' dive bombers and 10 TBD 'Devastator' torpedo attack aircraft.

These carrier-based aircraft will form a second wave of attack aircraft groups. If the first wave of attack aircraft will be intercepted by the carrier-based aircraft of the Chinese Navy, there is not even the possibility of approaching the Chinese fleet. Then, the second wave of attack aircraft may be able to take advantage of the chaos to launch a surprise attack on the Chinese fleet and obtain some results.

Of course, none of this is really a killer move. The real killer move of the American fleet is the two battleship detachments that are rushing forward. The five 'Montana-class' battleships had begun to ventilate their boilers under strong pressure, increasing the speed of the ships to a maximum speed of thirty knots. The three 'Iowa-class' battleships were able to run at a speed of 30 knots with ease. When the carrier-based aircraft of the US Navy launched an attack and caused chaos in the Chinese fleet, it was time for them to take advantage of the chaos to attack. The Americans were ambitious to use battleships to attack the aircraft carriers of the Imperial Navy, in an attempt to sink all these aircraft carriers of the Imperial Navy in one fell swoop.

When the American fleet took off carrier-based aircraft, the distance between the two battleship detachments of the US Navy was actually only 80 kilometers from the Imperial fleet. It only takes an hour to launch an attack. Of course, forty minutes later, they will also be detected by the Imperial Navy's sea search radar.

"Victory or defeat is all about it. Hopefully, God bless America! "Rear Admiral Halsey spat these words out of his mouth as he watched the last carrier-based aircraft leave the aircraft carrier and fly quickly to the north.

"God bless America!" Other US military officers on the island also shouted. Their eyes were full of confidence. In their opinion, although the Chinese Navy is now much stronger than the American Navy. However, they always firmly believe that the final victory must be theirs. Although, to achieve the final victory, they may have to pay a big price. But no one will back down.

Subsequently, the American fleet began to turn around and began to sail south. For the two aircraft carrier battle groups of the American fleet, their task has been accomplished. The next step was to guard against retaliation from the Chinese navy and flee from the Chinese navy's attack. If they manage to escape, then they can be considered to have successfully completed the attack.

On the USS Montana, Rear Admiral Robert was standing in the thick armored conning tower of the USS Montana. The 570 mm thick conning tower armor keeps the entire conning tower in absolute security. There is no other type of naval artillery shell in the world that can penetrate such thick armor. Even the 460 mm naval guns of the 'East China Sea-class' battleships, which are upgraded from the 'Yamato-class' battleships, are probably powerless to do anything about it. Of course, if the distance of the battle is shortened to less than five thousand meters, it may still be able to penetrate it. It's just that in the naval battle at this time, is it possible for the distance between the two sides to be shortened to 5,000 meters? That's almost impossible. Besides. The four triple 406mm guns on the Montana-class battleships were also not vegetarians.

The boiler of the battleship is being ventilated under strong pressure, and the steam turbine is running wildly, driving the propeller to rotate rapidly, so that the speed of the battleship has been increased to the extreme. The bow of the battleship was smashed by the oncoming waves, and white water foam was sprinkled on the sea.

Eight huge battleships, like eight knights in heavy armor, rushed at the enemy with a fearless spirit. Next to them, cruisers and destroyers. These light ships, more importantly, provide them with protection in terms of air defense. The 406 mm guns of these battleships were enough to launch an attack on targets on the sea, and they were able to destroy everything.

On the six main aircraft carriers and 12 escort aircraft carriers of the Imperial Fleet, rows of carrier-based aircraft have completed their preparations. They were waiting for the order to take off. As soon as the anti-aircraft search radar finds a target, they immediately take off to meet the enemy. In addition, in the skies above the fleet, 48 fighters that had previously taken off were hovering in the air, ready to attack the enemy planes that came on at any time and at any time.

"Commander, the air defense fighters report that they are running out of fuel left." An operational staff officer reported.

"First order the second batch of air defense fighters to take off, and then they land. After landing, fill up the tank directly on deck and be ready to go. Admiral Chen Houfu ordered.

"Yes, Commander." The operational staff immediately went to make arrangements.

On the escort carriers, the second batch of air defense fighters began to take off. After that, the first batch of air defense fighters, which had already bottomed out of fuel, landed.

Destroyers and cruisers on the periphery of the fleet were guarding the airspace around them. The anti-aircraft search radar has been turned on and is alerting suspicious targets. As soon as an enemy group is detected, they will direct the air defense fighters to intercept it.

To the southeast of the fleet, the 11th Carrier Strike Group and the 12th Carrier Strike Group of the Imperial Navy were also combat-ready. On the deck, carrier-based aircraft are already parked ready to take off. They were waiting for orders from the main fleet and the location of the enemy fleet. As soon as they find a target, they will immediately take off and attack.

As the minutes passed, the U.S. carrier-based aircraft were rapidly approaching the fleet of the Imperial Navy. These US carrier-based planes were all hung with heavy aerial bombs and heavy torpedoes. The SBD2 dive bomber carried a thousand-pound heavy aerial bomb. And on the TBD torpedo attack aircraft, it carried 533-mm heavy torpedoes. These heavy aerial bombs and heavy torpedoes are both sharp weapons against surface targets. If it hits the target, it will deal heavy damage.

"Dididi!" Suddenly, the cruiser's anti-air search radar spotted the appearance of a large group of aircraft to the south.

"Enemy aircraft groups were detected, and more than a hundred carrier-based aircraft were approaching us." The radar soldier reported.

Subsequently, the anti-aircraft search radars of other warships also discovered the US aircraft group.

"Whew!" A terrible siren sounded over the fleet.

"Commander, we have discovered a group of American planes, and more than a hundred US planes are approaching us!" An operational staff officer reported to General Chen Houfu.

"Command the air defense fighters, immediately intercept them. Escort aircraft carriers, each with a squadron of fighters taking off, be sure to shoot down the carrier-based aircraft of the Americans. The main aircraft carrier, each with a small squadron of carrier-based aircraft, will search the southern seas and find out the US fleet. Admiral Chen Houfu immediately gave the order.

In the face of the attack of the US carrier-based aircraft, the first task is to intercept the US aircraft group, and then to find the traces of the US fleet, so that it can launch a retaliatory attack on the US fleet.

After receiving the order, the air defense fighters hovering in the air immediately attacked the US aircraft group under the guidance of the radar. At the same time, the 12 escort aircraft carriers of the Imperial Navy also began to take off fighters at full strength. They will be the main force in intercepting the US military fleet. Only by intercepting the US military aircraft group outside the air defense network can the security of the fleet be guaranteed. Otherwise, it could pose a huge threat to the fleet. (To be continued.) )