Stark was not very concerned about the result of the first round of attacks.

In fact, as early as 4 a.m., shortly after the attack operation, the leader of the attack formation sent back a report, claiming that it had hit multiple warships, including one aircraft carrier, and more than 10 concentrated anti-ship missiles, which had caused it to lose its combat capability.

However, it is impossible to explain how much moisture this report has.

Given the situation at that time, even if the escort fighter was deported from the air defense fighter, the attack aircraft group would not continue to take risks to fly forward after completing the attack mission, or to be precise, and would definitely turn back immediately, and the result of the attack would not be known.

Because the attack distance is too far, the attack aircraft is not arranged to perform screening tasks.

Strictly speaking, there is no need for this.

This battle report is mostly a rough speculation made by the captain aircraft based on the combat situation, especially the number of air defense warships in the enemy fleet.

However, the actual results will not be too biased.

Entering the combat stage of intercepting anti-ship missiles, the performance of air defense warships is crucial and will determine the life and death of the aircraft carrier and even the entire fleet.

The air defense warship, which is in the right position and has abundant firepower, is simply the fixed sea magic needle in the fleet.

Take Liang Xia Navy's "Qingzhou" class cruiser for example. The "AsiaShield" phased array radar it carries has an air-to-air detection range of more than 600 kilometers. It can search and process thousands of targets at the same time and track hundreds of targets. Relying on four fire-controlled irradiation radars arranged along the central axis of the warship, it can simultaneously guide 16 DK-9s to intercept 8 high-threat targets. If it is dealing with targets such as anti-ship missiles that fly along fixed routes, it can also use staggered irradiation methods to intercept 16 targets at the same time with 16 air defense missiles.

In theory, one "Qingzhou" class can cope with saturation attacks in one direction.

This is true. When dealing with aircraft carrier battle groups, we often concentrate our strength and first solve the air defense warships blocking the attack line.

This time is no exception.

In front of the fleet, to be precise, the front right, that is, to the east of the fleet, there is indeed an air defense warship, and it is a powerful "Qingzhou" class cruiser.

To this end, the eight A-6Ds of the squadron that arrived first shot all the "harpoons" they carried at the battleship.

The cruiser will definitely be unable to protect itself after being attacked by nearly 30 anti-ship missiles.

Even if he withstands the attack of anti-ship missiles, he has no time to take care of himself and cannot provide cover for the aircraft carrier.

It only relies on its own air defense firepower that even a super aircraft carrier cannot withstand dozens of anti-ship missiles.

In fact, the self-defense firepower of the aircraft carrier itself is not strong, at least Liang Xia's navy's aircraft carrier has always been like this.

Although decades ago, during the Second Global War, Liang Xia Navy equipped the aircraft carrier with a large number of anti-aircraft guns. On the most aircraft carrier, there were more than 300 anti-aircraft guns of different caliber, the cruel battle proved that it was not very valuable to equip the aircraft carrier with large-caliber anti-aircraft guns. Faced with incoming enemy aircraft, the most effective weapon was medium-caliber rapid-air guns. If enemy aircraft were needed to be driven out at long distances, the escorted air defense warships could be done. As a result, in the late stage of the war, Liang Xia Navy no longer equipped the aircraft carrier with large-caliber anti-aircraft guns.

After the war, after entering the missile era, "defunctionalization" became the development trend of aircraft carriers.

The reason is also very simple. In the early days of the missile era more than 30 years ago, missiles were very large in size and needed to occupy a large amount of deck area.

Obviously, there is no place to install missiles on an aircraft carrier that is valuable in every inch of land.

It can also be said that if the aircraft carrier is equipped with too many missiles, it will inevitably squeeze out the space originally belonging to carrier-based aircraft, thereby weakening the aircraft carrier's attack capabilities.

There is no doubt that this is an unacceptable result.

In order to ensure the attack power of the aircraft carrier, we have the ability to perform our own duties, and a large number of escort warships, as well as an aircraft carrier battle group based on this.

That's why Liang Xia Navy's aircraft carrier is only equipped with basic short-range air defense systems and only has self-defense air defense capabilities.

After losing the cover of air defense warships, the aircraft carrier is very fragile and will definitely be powerless in the face of saturated attacks from anti-ship missiles.

As for other escort warships, even if they have certain air defense capabilities, they cannot be compared with air defense cruisers.

After that aircraft carrier is attacked, it must be in danger.

Even if the "harpoon" is not powerful enough and cannot sink an aircraft carrier, it will definitely be able to severely damage the aircraft carrier.

However, that was just an aircraft carrier.

Before this, Smith emphasized that the 61st Special Mixed Fleet has adjusted the configuration of the carrier-based aviation according to the situation and increased the number of heavy fighters. According to Smith's speculation, the number of "War-9B" is likely to double compared to usual.

Otherwise, in the previous few days, the 61st Special Mixed Fleet would not have sent so many fighter jets.

If so, another super aircraft carrier is also equipped with more than 40 fighter jets, and these fighter jets are likely to have all been launched.

Obviously, this is not a joke.

With the support of carrier-based early warning aircraft and warships, these fighters can not only intercept the bomber group that is about to be killed, but also provide cover for Liang Xia Air Force bombers in the subsequent battles, and there is hope to eliminate the 51st Special Mixed Fleet in the counterattack operation.

But, where is that aircraft carrier?

Stark had a headache, but it was useless to be anxious now.

The first round of attacks has ended, and the losses are not small. Only 11 of the 24 F-14Bs involved in the attack have flew back. In contrast, the attack aircraft suffered even more heavy losses, with a total of 72 A-6Ds, and only 22 of them returned, and 6 of them suffered heavy losses.

Although dozens of F/A-18s are available, considering that the combat radius of the F/A-18 after it is mounted with anti-ship missiles is less than 1,000 kilometers, and the distance from the 61st Special Mixed Fleet is close to 1,500 kilometers, the 51st Special Mixed Fleet has actually lost its attack capability.

However, this is not the most serious problem that Stark faces.

The F-14B suffered heavy losses in the escort operation, which resulted in the subsequent battle that the 51st Special Mixed Fleet did not have enough fighter jets available.

Obviously, no one expected to suffer such heavy losses when making plans.

Judging from the deployment, Stark actually wanted to use the F-14Bs that completed the escort mission to fill the fleet's air defense loopholes. That is, after sending out the second batch of fighter jets, the returned F-14Bs will perform the fleet's air defense mission to ensure that they can withstand attacks that may arrive at any time.

Even if it is just a focus on two directions, 16 F-14Bs are needed.

Considering that Liang Xia’s Air Force used 20 bombers to deal with the transport fleet, even if he mistakenly regarded it as a landing fleet, he would definitely use more bombers to deal with the 51st Special Mixed Fleet.

In this way, at least 24 F-14Bs must be retained, each aircraft carrier must be retained 8 aircraft.

In fact, this is also the total number of fighter jets in the first round of attacks.

Although Stark knew that he would suffer losses and made some preparations, such as leaving 4 fighters on each aircraft carrier, his estimates were obviously too optimistic compared to the actual losses suffered. Among the 11 F-14B fighters returning, only 3 could be re-launched. Five of the other 8 were damaged and they would definitely not be able to be dispatched. The remaining three would have to take several hours to replace the engines.

In other words, in addition to the fighter jets used to cover bombers, there are only 15 F-14Bs available.

This amount is obviously far from enough.

what to do?

Although the F/A-18 can also perform air defense missions, its slow flight speed and poor combat radius make it almost unable to perform interception missions.

In the next battle, the 51st Special Mix Fleet will face long-range attacks!

Previously, Liang Xia’s Air Force bombers launched anti-ship missiles 600 kilometers away, so their attack distance will definitely not be less than 600 kilometers.

At this distance, F/A-18 can only watch the fun.

The reason is also very simple. If you are sprinting at full speed, the F/A-18's range is less than 600 kilometers, and you can't fly back after flying out.

That's why these multi-purpose fighters are left on the inner layer when making arrangements.

To be honest, this is also the basic tactical requirement put forward by the Newland Navy during design, that is, to cooperate with the F-14B in air defense operations, be responsible for dealing with a few fish that have escaped the net, and to use the air-to-air missiles they carry to intercept anti-ship missiles fired at the aircraft carrier at critical moments.

To this end, the "bumblebee" who were originally arranged to perform reconnaissance missions were all air-to-air missiles.

Unfortunately, this cannot fundamentally solve the problem.

If the incoming bomber cannot be shot down in time, but the bomber can successfully drop anti-ship missiles, even no matter how many fighter jets are arranged to intercept, it is difficult to be sure. The number one factor that determines the victory or defeat of air defense operations is actually whether the enemy planes can be shot down in time.

Obviously, more heavy fighters are needed.

As for where to get more heavy fighter jets, everyone knows it, but no consultant has raised it. After all, this topic is too sensitive.

That's right, I just go to the 52nd Special Mixed Fleet to borrow troops.

If 20 F-14Bs can be borrowed from the 52nd Special Mixed Fleet, it would be enough even if it was just sent to perform fleet air defense missions.

Stark allowed the 52nd Special Mix Fleet to stay and maintain a distance of 1,000 kilometers, in fact, in the hope of using the cover provided by the 52nd Special Mix Fleet when needed.

But now, the situation is not that simple.

There is enough intelligence to prove that the 61st Special Mixed Fleet is active in the west, and the 41st Special Mixed Fleet, which has a stronger combat power, is not there. If the 41st Special Mixed Fleet has bypassed the Hovay Islands from the east, then the first thing that comes to it is the 52nd Special Mixed Fleet.

The key is here.

Although according to the information provided by the CIA, the 41st Special Mixed Fleet is more than 2,000 kilometers away, and even if it is 2,000 kilometers away from the 52nd Special Mixed Fleet, no one dares to guarantee this information. The CIA is not a military intelligence agency and will definitely not be responsible for the fleet's defeat.

So, who can guarantee that the 52nd Special Mixed Fleet will not be attacked after dawn?

If, when attacked, fighter jets were sent to cover the 51st Special Mixed Fleet, there were no fighter jets available and suffered a crushing defeat, who would be responsible?

The key is that the 52nd Special Mixed Fleet belongs to the Xiluoyang Fleet and does not belong to the Eastern Viagra Fleet.

To put it bluntly, unless Stark issues an order as a commander, the commander of the 52nd Fleet may not be willing to send fighter jets. Even if the orders issued by the Fleet Command must be executed, the details can be made, such as the number of fighter jets and the time of dispatch, so that the support provided by the 52nd Fleet becomes insignificant and can make Stark unable to blame.

In fact, even if Stark gives the order, the commander of the 52nd Special Mixed Fleet may not be able to obey.

Don't forget that before Stark arrived on the Niz, he was just an unknown school official and was promoted twice in succession before he became a major general in the army.

Obviously, he does not have the qualifications corresponding to his authority.

For those old foxes, it would be simple to make things difficult for a young general.

Not to mention anything else, the 52nd Special Mixed Fleet has been supporting the landing troops to attack the transit island. The dispatching intensity of the carrier-based aircraft is very high, and the two "Neland"-class aircraft carriers are not ideal, so relevant reasons can be used to approve the order issued by the fleet commander.

There is really no good way to deal with this.

After all, the combat decision-making power of any fleet is in the hands of the commander, and the commander has the right to decide whether to execute the orders issued by superiors based on actual conditions.

Even if the 52nd Special Fleet did not move, Stark could not do anything.

That's why Stark rarely directly issued orders to the 52nd Special Mixed Fleet during the entire combat operation, and most of the time he asked the Fleet Command to come forward.

In addition, we must strictly follow the combat plan and avoid exotic troubles as much as possible.

But this time, Stark really has no choice.
To be continued...