When the "Imperial Capital" was bombed, a fire broke out on the "Paijing" plane.

Initially, it was indeed a "fire".

In order to attract the attention of enemy planes and reduce the pressure on the "Imperial Capital", the captain of the "Accompanying Beijing" adopted the advice of the fleet's staff Wang Jun. After the escort warship was in place, he lit the scrap tires on the flight deck, released thick black smoke, and pretended to be severely damaged.

Because the burning of scrap tires produces black smoke, dressed up as they have been severely damaged, and the method of deceiving enemy aircraft has been tried and tested, so there are some scrapped old tires on the Imperial Navy warships, mostly from carrier-based aircraft, and the damage management department will also prepare some equipment to cause fire.

In fact, there is no need for this at all.

At that time, the SBD of a squadron and the TBD of a squadron did not participate in the battle to attack the "Imperial Capital" and were searching for the "Paijing".

The result was that the sudden rise of black smoke attracted these enemy planes.

But the enemy plane was not fooled!

The "Paijing" was not attacked before, so how could it be damaged?

Judging from the situation at that time, the intentional release of black smoke by the "Paijing" did indeed help the "Imperial Capital", otherwise the enemy planes of the two squadrons would most likely vent their anger on the "Imperial Capital" that had been severely damaged after 12:15, that is, when the fuel was almost exhausted.

If you get hit a few more times, whether it is a bomb or a torpedo, the "Imperial Capital" may be over.

Relatively speaking, the situation of the "Paijing" is much better than that of the "Imperial Capital".

In the past ten minutes when the "Imperial Capital" was used as a shield, the ocean-going cruiser "Gangcheng" that was accompanied and covered the "Paijing" had already been maneuvered, and a destroyer rushed over, and the anti-aircraft gun crew on the "Paijing" was ready for combat.

When the Newland aircraft group arrived, the three warships were ready.

From 12:10 to 15, the three warships, especially the "Hangcheng", conducted a textbook-level air defense combat performance.

This battle fully proves the value of medium-caliber anti-aircraft guns.

The enemy planes were still 10 kilometers away, and the 130mm anti-aircraft guns on the three warships were the first to fire, forcing the dense formation of enemy planes to disperse.

As the enemy plane approached, the 130mm anti-aircraft gun focused on intercepting dive bombers at high altitudes.

Under the key care, eight SBDs had to be dispersed again, and as they approached, three were shot down by anti-aircraft artillery, and the remaining five were not organized.

At the same time, the four double-mounted 80mm anti-aircraft guns on the port side of the Port City "Hangcheng" were divided into two gun groups and began to intercept the low-altitude TBD aircraft group.

With a firing rate of 120 rounds per minute and a very good power, the 80mm anti-aircraft gun almost blocks all TBD's flight routes.

In just 2 minutes, five TBDs were shot down.

When the combat distance was shortened to 4 kilometers, the 40mm machine guns on the three warships were put into battle.

The distance was further shortened to 2 kilometers, and the 20mm machine gun was fired.

As a result, none of the eight TBDs approached the "Paijing" and were all shot down before they were thrown into the thunder.

According to the report submitted later, at least two TBDs fell into the sea after being intercepted by 80mm anti-aircraft guns because of improper operation by the pilot.

Of the remaining five SBDs, 3 were shot down before the bomb was dropped, and only 2 dropped bombs, but all deviated from the target.

All three SBDs shot down entered the dive channel, but they were unable to drop bombs.

This is why Major Clark, who was commanding the battle, misreported the results.

At that time, Major Clark had completed the attack. The SBD he was driven by was more than ten kilometers away. He witnessed the decisive attack launched by two squadrons. He saw five SBDs entering the bombing channel, but only two water columns appeared near the aircraft carrier "Paijing".

If 5 bombs fail, they should be 5 water columns!

It is not ruled out that the fuse of the aviation bomb fails and there is no possibility of explosion when it falls into the sea, but the probability of the fuse of the three bombs failing at the same time is almost zero.

The "Paijing" has been "burning fire", and the thick smoke from the sky covers the sun.

That's true, Clark firmly believed that a bomb dropped by SBD must have hit the "Paijing" and must have severely damaged the aircraft carrier.

Because it is impossible to guarantee that the aircraft carrier can be sunk, Clark did not mention "sinking" in the telegram.

In fact, the fires on the "Imperial Capital" and "Paijing" at that time did look like they were about to end.

The battle was not over until 12:35.

A total of nearly 70 Newland carrier-based aircraft were approaching, and less than 20 returned. All 16 "wildcats" carrying out escort missions were shot down by "Xiaotian".

In addition, there are more than a dozen SBDs and TBDs that were killed and shot down after completing the attack.

To be said, the losses of personnel are heavier than the losses of fighter jets.

All of the Newland pilots who were shot down were captured.

At 12:40, the "fire" on the "Paijing" was extinguished.

However, Bai Zhizhan did not transfer immediately.

He just asked Zhou Yongtao to take a group of staff to rush over and organize the recycling of the Shenpu aircraft group that was about to return to prepare for the next attack.

Bai Zhizhan did not leave, he just wanted to stay and set an example.

The emergency repair of the damage management of the "Imperial Capital" is underway, with hundreds of damage management personnel working hard, and the fleet commander staying is the greatest encouragement to them.

In fact, Bai Zhizhan is also clear, and whether there is a next attack is a problem.

It’s not that there are no carrier-based aircraft, nor that it’s because there are too many casualties.

There is only one key point, the distance is too far!

At the beginning of the battle, the distance from the 17th National Fleet of Newland was about 400 kilometers. The 17th National Fleet of Newland was sailing eastward, while the 41.1 team had already turned northward before being attacked. After this fierce battle, the distance from the 17th National Fleet of Newland had expanded to more than 500 kilometers.

Because the "Imperial Capital" was severely damaged and its speed was reduced to about 10 knots, the speed of the 41.1 team could not be faster at all.

Even if you turn now and sail eastward, the distance will be expanded to more than 550 kilometers in 2 hours.

In addition, Spur may not stay and continue to fight.

According to the report sent back by Zhu Huasheng, the "Hornet" will most likely sink.

Even if it has not sunk, Spear will not board another for a warship destined to sink.

The 16th Special Mixed Fleet of Newland commanded by Hal has been completely destroyed, so in the next one or two years, the Endeavour will be the only fleet aircraft carrier of the Newland Navy.

So what if you fight the 41st Special Mixed Fleet?

A few months later, the Imperial Navy will acquire four large aircraft carriers, and the Newland Navy's large aircraft carrier is still on the platform.

Even if there is only one aircraft carrier, it can be used for making a fuss.

If there were no aircraft carriers, let alone Sp, even God would not be able to play with it.

It can be seen that Spur will most likely choose to preserve his strength.

Even if he wanted to fight desperately, Niz would not agree.

After leaving the Hornet, the Endeavor could sail east at full speed, organize forces in Baizhi Zhan and expand the distance to about 600 kilometers before launching a new attack.

Considering that the Newland fleet may be turning halfway, even if the aircraft crew launches a one-way attack, it is not very sure to catch up with the Endeavour.

Is it still necessary to let the pilot take risks?

In addition, thousands of fleet officers and soldiers from the six cruisers, as well as hundreds of pilots of the carrier-based aviation in the Zhu Huasheng attack aircraft group, are still waiting to be rescued!
Chapter completed!