Republic of China game

Page 560

"understood."

Zhao Zheng was reclining on a high-backed armchair with his eyes closed at the moment. Hearing that the seaplane sent to monitor the British fleet was being expelled, he didn't even lift his eyelids. Such a situation would happen several times every day at dawn. It's just that it's a little earlier today, and the British have two more tube-nose swallows.He was silent for a moment, then asked again: "What is the distance now?"

"There are still 430 nautical miles, and the reduction is 6 nautical miles per hour. Air strikes can start in 24 hours." Meng Hailong replied.In fact, it will take less than 24 hours for the British fleet to enter a reasonable air strike distance, but it will be night at that time, so the carrier can only be dispatched until the early morning of tomorrow.

"Oh, any news?"

"One was transferred from the army. It seems that the Chinese Communist Party's army raided a British-Indian army in Jamshedpur and defeated them in only three hours." Meng Hailong read from a stack of telegrams I found one of them and handed it to Zhao Zheng.

"There is such a thing!" Zhao Zheng sat up straight suddenly, with a little sleepiness on his face.After taking a few glances at the telegram, he mused, "If the news is true, we won't need our assistance in the battle on land in India for the time being, so that our aircraft carrier can go all the way to Africa...Hai Long, you said that Cunningham is now Didn’t you already get this report?”

"Should get it."

"Then tell me, will he fight us off the coast of South Africa?" Zhao Zheng stood up and walked to the chart platform, staring at the coastline of South Africa, "Do we have enough fuel?"

"No problem. Four 2-ton fast tankers have set off from Singapore and will meet us in the middle of the Indian Ocean." Meng Hailong stretched out his finger and pointed to a certain location in the middle of the Indian Ocean on the sea chart.

Zhao Zheng thought for a while and said, "Okay! Then we will go to South Africa. If Cunningham still goes all the way to the Atlantic Ocean, then we will bomb Cape Town and return..."

At this moment, the communications staff stuffed another telegram. "Sir, it's still the report from Rainbow Bird 6. The British fighter jets are keeping a close eye on it today, and four more tube-nose swallows are approaching. They have no way to carry out their mission and request to return."

"What happened?" Zhao Zheng frowned, seeming a little impatient.Meng Hailong took the telegram and read it carefully, and said with a dignified expression: "Sir, this matter seems a bit strange. Now the British fleet is running for their lives. Is it necessary to go to war for a seaplane and delay the trip?"

To take off the carrier-based aircraft, it is necessary to adjust the position of the aircraft carrier and find a favorable wind direction, which will delay the trip for a while. Therefore, the British fleet will not send too many fighter jets to entangle with the Chinese seaplanes during this period of time.Moreover, the actions of the British fleet also have an element of luring the enemy, so there should be no need to hide their tracks.

"You mean the British want to change course, do they... want to go back to Australia?" Zhao Zheng thought for a while.

"It may also be coming for us!" Meng Hailong said in a deep voice: "Sir, do you still remember that the destroyer reported an unidentified submarine near our fleet last night?"

"This..." Zhao Zheng took a deep breath and murmured in his heart.The behavior of the British must be abnormal, and there must be monsters in abnormalities!But what is this "monster"?Feint and continue to escape, change course to go to Australia, or do you really want to find yourself desperately?

"Sir, why don't we join the main force?" Meng Hailong suggested in a low voice.

"No!" Zhao Zheng pondered for a moment, then shook his head, "Let's continue to chase! If they want to fight us, then let's fight! Even if we are sunk, they will lose the chance to escape!"

Chapter 0853 Sunset of the Old Empire (fourteen) Want to hit and run?

1939年4月22日，上午9点30分。

On the aircraft carrier HMS Glorious, the flagship of the British and Indian Grand Fleet, the tense atmosphere before the war has been shrouded.On the deck, a carrier-based aircraft with tube nose, Swordfish and Barracuda has been lined up, and the air crew is making the final preparations before takeoff, and the bombs and torpedoes have been mounted in place.On the ship island, the eyes of the staff officers were tense and anxious, because the "Walrus" seaplane sent a telegram 30 minutes ago, and they discovered the Chinese fleet heading south 220 nautical miles away!Afraid of being shot down by the opponent's Fw-190C, the clumsy "Walrus" seaplane only searched with radar from a distance, and did not dare to approach it for detailed investigation.Therefore, the specific situation of the Chinese fleet has not been clarified.But everyone still understands that the time for carrier-based aircraft to go to war has arrived.

"Admiral, the carrier-based aircraft is ready and ready to attack at any time!"

"220 nautical miles, the flying fish can just reach it, isn't it a bit farther?" Cunningham walked away from the porthole overlooking the aviation deck and walked to the chart.

"It can't get any closer." Phillips pointed to the symbol representing the Chinese fleet just marked by the staff. "The Chinese reconnaissance planes will spot us at any time, and their A-4 Thunderhawk is more than twice as fast as the Swordfish... If the two sides set off at the same time, they will definitely arrive first, and they may be able to return later. We met our swordfish on the way!"

"Broken plane!" Cunningham gritted his teeth and cursed.The British Empire has really fallen, and the torpedo bombers on the aircraft carrier still have two wings!Admiral Cunningham felt like crying when he thought of the Chinese A-4 Thunderhawk and the German Ju-87 Stuka.In fact, Britain's aviation technology is not behind Germany's, whether it is engines or aircraft materials, are not behind, but why are the designed things so garbage?If you have aircraft like Fw-190C and A-4B in your hands, the Chinese Taiwan is simply the meat on the chopping board.

Cunningham smoked another cigar, and all the officers in the command center looked at him.

Everyone knows the fact that the British Empire Navy's carrier-based aircraft are broken, but no matter how broken the aircraft is, the battle must be fought!Otherwise, the British Empire would be gone.Besides, how can we say that four aircraft carriers are fighting one aircraft carrier now? If they dare not even fight a battle with such a clear advantage in military strength, how can this world war be fought?Simply ask the Chinese to ask Hitler to surrender.

After exhaling a cloud of white smoke, Cunningham took a deep breath: "The carrier-based aircraft will attack in 30 minutes! Let's go northwest for another 20 minutes. At that time, the distance between the two sides should be about 200 nautical miles, which is 390 kilometers. After dispatching the carrier-based aircraft, the formation was disbanded immediately, and Phillips calculated the best route and formation method, as well as the position of each aircraft carrier in 4 hours, and then told the navigator of the carrier-based aircraft."

"Admiral, where will the fleet regroup?" Phillips asked after thinking about it.

"Go to Perth Port, we still have to defend Australia!"

"But General, we may not have enough fuel. I'm afraid... there is no way to get all the ships to Perth Port." Phillips made a mental calculation and reminded.

"I know, as long as the aircraft carrier can reach the port of Perth, that's enough. Repulse and Sovereign should go to Madagascar for a while, and the heavy cruiser will also go there, so that the high-speed tanker can follow the aircraft carrier." Cunningham frowned and ordered: "Also, urge Whitehall to send us a batch of F4F fighter jets, SBD dive bombers, and TBD torpedo planes. I can't take it anymore..."

"reconnaissance aircraft……"

Just when Admiral Cunningham complained about the poor performance of the British aircraft, the shout of the radar director made the atmosphere on the island suddenly tense.

"Admiral, it's their Min-25, at a distance of 10000 meters! 9500 meters! They have entered their radar observation range, and they may have spotted us!"

Director Radar's words shocked Cunningham slightly. When he sent a seaplane to search for his opponent, the opponent's seaplane was also looking for him!And now that both sides have exposed their positions, it depends on who will attack more ruthlessly!

"Attack!"

Cunningham knew he couldn't wait any longer!

With an order, the four British aircraft carriers floating on the Indian Ocean began to turn their bows at the same time, looking for a suitable wind direction. After a while, a tube-nosed swallow, a barracuda, and a swordfish took off from the deck. , 40 tube-nose swallow fighter jets, 75 barracuda dive bombers, and 76 swordfish torpedo bombers were divided into several groups and flew northward in a blinding manner.At the same time, the huge British and Indian fleet also began to disperse into six teams, galloping away in different directions.

……

At 9:40, the carrier-based aircraft of the Chinese Navy's advance aircraft carrier battle group were all ready to go.

The USS Taiwan aircraft carrier was soaring against the wind at a speed of 30 knots. It seemed that a typhoon of magnitude 12 suddenly blew up on the deck, making many sailors almost unable to stand. Signal, quickly waved the red flag in his hand heavily.The two Fw-190C carrier-based fighter jets that had already turned their horsepower to the maximum jumped out immediately, rushing out of the deck first.

Then, one after another, one batch after another.The USS Taiwan aircraft carrier released fighter jets at a rate of two per minute, and a huge cluster of 65 A-4B Thunderhawks and 18 Fw-190Cs instantly covered the sky.

Seeing that all of his 83 carrier-based aircraft had lifted off safely, Colonel Gao Zhihang, head of the 6th Carrier-based Aircraft Regiment, let out a sigh of relief.Looking down from the cockpit glass cover of the Fw-190C fighter he was driving, the 27000-ton aircraft carrier is like a leaf floating on the water, and it is turning its direction on the sea surface with several smaller leaves, heading not far away. sailed to the sea under a cloud cover.

Gao Zhihang knew that the fleet was trying to avoid the attack of the British carrier-based aircraft!Just ten minutes before his carrier air group took off, a Min 25 seaplane guarding the fleet detected an unidentified aircraft 90 kilometers away with radar!It is estimated to be the "Walrus" seaplane of the British.After receiving the news, the commander-in-chief of the fleet, General Zhao Zheng, immediately issued an order for the carrier-based aircraft to attack.It doesn't even matter that his reconnaissance plane has not found the opponent's whereabouts...

"Taiying No. 1, Taiying No. 1, I am Taiwan, I am Taiwan, please answer..." At this moment, the call from the flight control tower came from the airborne radio station.

"I'm Taiying No. 1, I received..." Gao Zhihang immediately turned on the radio and answered the other party's call.

"The target has been found, the target has been found, the target position: east longitude XX; south latitude XX. Please repeat if received, please repeat if received."

"Received! The target is at east longitude XX; south latitude XX." Gao Zhihang took a deep breath, tilted his wing slightly, looked at the aircraft carrier formation below, silently prayed for good luck in his heart, and switched the radio frequency It was tuned to the communication frequency of the 6th Carrier Flying Regiment and began to issue orders loudly.

At the same moment, more than 200 nautical miles away, a larger British carrier-based aircraft group had formed a bombing formation and was flying northward in mighty form, searching for the position of the Chinese aircraft carrier battle group along the way.

In the two-person cockpit of the Guanbiyan carrier-based fighter, Colonel Anderson is also directing the huge carrier-based aircraft group to advance slowly in the air through the radio.

Airplanes, a fast means of transportation, are now linked to slowness. Colonel Anderson glanced helplessly at the Swordfish torpedo bomber below him. This kind of biplane that looks like a product of World War I is actually not so " Sir's, they were just a product of the increasingly conservative mindset of the British Empire.This aircraft was finalized in 1934, and Anderson just couldn't figure it out. At that time, Britain clearly had leading aviation technology and engines, and it was clearly ahead of Germany in air racing. Why was the designed torpedo bomber so backward?It is still using the old-fashioned double-wing layout, the top speed is only 222 kilometers per hour, and even the combat radius is only more than 500 kilometers. I really don’t know what use such a thing is to drag the entire carrier fleet. ?

If it weren't for this kind of broken plane, it would only take one hour for my tube-nose swallow to fly to the target 1 nautical miles away, but now, in order to keep up with the swordfish speed, it would take me two hours to fly 200 nautical miles away. nautical mile.And with the speed of the Chinese fleet above 2 knots, it can run more than 200 nautical miles in 30 hours!That is more than 2 kilometers. In this cloudy weather, it is hard to say whether we can find each other!If no opponent can be found in this wave, then half of the naval battle will be lost.

Just when Colonel Anderson was worrying about this naval battle and the future of the British Empire, the sound of the "Walrus" seaplane in charge of reconnaissance suddenly came from the headset.

"Boston 1, Boston 1, I'm Haiyan 5, I'm Haiyan 5, a Chinese seaplane was spotted at 6 o'clock, the distance is 85 kilometers, the speed is 300, and the direction is southeast."

hell!It was discovered just after taking off, these Chinese reconnaissance planes are really annoying!Colonel Anderson gritted his teeth and ordered loudly: "The No. 6 Squadron of the Glory, go and kill the Chinese reconnaissance plane at [-] o'clock! Quick!"

After receiving the order, the twelve Guanbiyan fighter jets left the formation, divided into four three-aircraft formations, and outflanked the Min-25.However, no matter how fast their movements were, they could not be faster than radio waves. A set of electronic signals had notified the reality of the entire British carrier aircraft formation hundreds of kilometers away.

……

"Sir, Yunying 8 reported that the British carrier-based aircraft group was found, number 192, position XX east longitude; south latitude XX. Heading northwest, speed 180 km/h."

On the Taiwan aircraft carrier, Zhao Zheng squinted his eyes and listened to the communication staff's report, hesitated for a while, and asked, "There are only 192 aircraft? Could it be a mistake?"