In order to cover up the whereabouts, the Allied aircraft carrier formation continued to maintain radio silence even though it was put into battle. Therefore, hundreds of kilometers away, the Allied support fleet, which had the flagship of the "Hesse", failed to get the best news that its carrier-based aircraft severely damaged the US and British aircraft carriers at the first time. After two waves of air strikes by the enemy, most members of the fleet suffered injuries, especially the German heavy cruiser "Scher Marshal" was the most serious. If it weren't for the first-class damage and pipe ability, it would have to remain floating and would not want to follow the fleet and turn around to the east.

No matter how fast the warships at sea are, they cannot be faster than the planes in the sky. Not long after, the carrier-based radar of the Allied Fleet detected the third wave of enemy aircraft flying from the northwest. The scale seemed to be a little smaller than the previous two waves, but the specific number must be known before they get close.

Before the enemy plane approached, the commanders on the Hessen moved from the closed combat bridge to the observation deck outside the bridge, breathing the fresh air on the sea while discussing the next strategy of response. Colonel Kemp, the special liaison officer of the Irish Navy, said in a tone of advice: "Your Majesty, do you need to send fighter jets to attack?"

Natsuki thought a little: "If nothing unexpected happens, the enemy's air strike will only send a small number of fighter jets to escort this wave of air strikes. Our dispatch of fighter jets can not only weaken the opponent, but also affect the enemy's next wave of troops. Okay, send a report to the "Langford" and ask them to send all the remaining fighters in the police station, and remind the pilots that if they cannot intercept before the enemy aircraft launches an attack, they will enter the battle after the enemy aircraft finishes the bombing."

When Colonel Kemp sent an order, the captain of the Hessen Captain Messel curled his lips and said, "Your Majesty thinks the enemy will have another air strike? According to normal time, our aviation force should have flew over the enemy aircraft carrier now, and the enemy launched two air strikes on us one after another. In addition, more than 100 fighter jets have been dispatched one after another. It can be said that the fleet's air defense alert will inevitably be greatly affected. This is an excellent opportunity for us to win. Will our aviation force miss such a precious opportunity in vain?"

Natsuki answered him in a philosophical tone: "Any situation can happen on the battlefield, and we should make the worst plans."

Colonel Messel wanted to say something, and at this moment, a communications officer hurried to report that he had intercepted the radio communication of the carrier-based aircraft of the party. From the communication content, his air force launched an attack on the enemy aircraft carrier formation, and at present, he had achieved the best results of sinking at least two ships, hitting two ships severely.

The officers present were overjoyed when they heard this, and Mosel waved his fists with relief.

The communications officer took the opportunity to ask Xia Shu for instructions: "Your Majesty, do you need to inform the entire fleet of this battle report?"

Xia Shu replied without hesitation: "First, this battle report is based on the pilot's report, and the accuracy needs to be considered; Second, the war is urgent and all officers and soldiers need to do their best. Although the report on the victory at this time can boost morale, it is inevitably distracting, so I think it is not too late to announce it later."

Although Messel was happy, he did not forget himself. He nodded immediately to agree, and then analyzed: "I believe that the pilots of this wave of enemy aircraft did not know that their aircraft carrier formation had been severely damaged. They would attack according to the original plan. If I were the commander of their aircraft carrier formation, I would ask them to turn around and attack the enemy aircraft carrier halfway, rather than letting them attack a limited value reinforcement fleet and the transport fleet it covers in vain. In this way, our opponent should be someone who doesn't know how to adapt?"

"Does Claude Brock? How much do you know about him?" Natsuki asked casually.

Messel was a little embarrassed, and he shrugged: "I met three years ago. After a few simple conversations, I thought he was a very casual person, gentle, elegant, knowledgeable, and didn't look like an old-fashioned old man."

The senior commanders of the US and British fleets can basically be divided into three categories here. The first category is that Xia Shu was very familiar with before the war, such as Harrison Standley, the "warist" of the US Navy, Ernley Chatfield, the "cannon general" of the British Royal Navy, and Dudley Pound, who was "famous but not fierce". They are activists in the US and British military circles, and they hold important positions. Xia Shu has both contact and attention. To put it more exaggeratedly, their personality traits, thinking styles, personal preferences and even some bad tastes are in control. Xia Shu dare not say that their decision on their battlefield is almost certain, but he can basically guess the right direction.

The second category is famous figures in history, such as Ernest King, the "national hero" Nimitz, the unlucky Kimmel, the "man bull" Halsey, the "madman" Smith, the "monster" Turner, etc. Their development trajectory may be like the original version of history, or some deviations may occur, but overall, their abilities and performances are roughly equivalent to the description of history, and in this era, they mostly play relatively secondary roles.

The third category, such as General Claude Brock, the commander of the US and British aircraft carrier formation, Xia Shu had no friendship with him and had never even met him. He had no understanding of their fighter jets in history. His understanding mainly came from the information collected and sorted by the intelligence department. The famine in the mid-19th century forced millions of Irish people to flee their homes, and even the Irish expatriates were spread all over the world. Ireland used this unique resource to develop a huge and unique intelligence network. Thousands of professional spies and hundreds of thousands of non-professional ears to spy on peacetime, collect intelligence in science and technology and business, and follow the organization's arrangements in wartime. Before returning, Xia Shu spent several weeks studying relevant information and carefully formulated the combat strategy for this first battle based on this.

Looking up at the direction of the enemy planes, there was nothing unusual in the sky. If it weren't for the radar that detects the original beyond the normal sight range, Xia Shu and his fleet would probably not know that the danger was approaching. Early warning, close-burning fuses, and effective air defense formations, the Allied support fleet could survive the first two waves of attacks of the US-British carrier-based aircraft group. According to statistics from each ship, the consumption of anti-aircraft ammunition has exceeded half, and half of the guide power has been reduced due to the leakage of the hull. The casualties of officers and soldiers have reached a thousand casualties. In this case, it seems that it is not a problem to grit your teeth and resist the next wave, but as Xia Shu often said, "Any situation on the battlefield can happen." A bomb, a torpedo, or an inadvertent negligence may cause disastrous consequences.

Seeing that Xia Shu didn't say anything, Messel speculated later on the topic just now: "Suppose the command of the enemy aircraft carrier formation is still in the hands of Block, and Block is not a reckless and stupid commander. The biggest possibility for him to launch the third wave of air strikes is that he retains enough counterattack forces, so there is no need to transfer back to the fleet that has been halfway through."

Xia Shu asked quickly: "But in that case, how can our planes quickly achieve outstanding results?"

This made Messel ask, and the difference between an excellent commander and a genius commander is reflected in this.

From the perspective of initiative, tactical strategies can be divided into two types. One is to act in response to the enemy and make corresponding arrangements for the enemy's movements, and the other is to act in advance and use its own movements to lure the enemy to follow up. This time, the tactical strategies adopted by Xia Shu use the "Frederick Caesar" fleet and the support fleet as bait to take risks to lure the enemy. The tactical strategies adopted belong to the latter. Of course, the enemy is not a tamed cow, and is easily led by someone. Before the battle is settled, they have

Many opportunities were to get out of difficulties and even escape unscathed. At the beginning of the fire with the U.S. and British advance fleet, Xia Shu was worried that the opponent would retreat voluntarily when he saw that the plane was not good, but the enemy chose to face it head-on. After the US and British carrier-based aircraft air strikes began, the support fleet responded calmly and moved forward firmly, but the enemy commanders did not notice anything unusual. Even now, after being attacked by the first wave of fierce attacks from the Allied carrier-based aircraft groups, the U.S. and British fleets still have the opportunity to preserve their strength, but they are still attacking targets that lack real value.

A sneer appeared on the corner of Xia Shu's mouth.

Claude Brock, you are a military expert in the theoretical field after all. You are very good at analyzing war cases and tactics. You are not ruthless in fighting for power and profit, but you have no aura when fighting. Your ability to command aircraft carriers is far less than that of those younger generations who are truly proficient in this art. Otherwise, how could it be my turn to save the battle situation in Azore?

The dramatic scene that Meser secretly expected did not appear after all. Groups of American and British fighter jets appeared in sight, and then launched a fierce air strike to the Allied support fleet that turned east. Among the 55 fighter jets, there were indeed very few fighter jets. Since the seven ir-29ts that took off from the Irish auxiliary aircraft carrier "Langford" failed to arrive before the enemy aircraft attack, the support fleet commanded by Natsuki had to

Faced with an unprecedented attack. Although the "lame" Marshal Scher was only attacked by a small team of torpedo planes, the large warship that sailed slowly and had inconvenient steering was a very easy target. Under the exclamation of the crew, the German heavy patrol was hit by two aviation torpedoes one after another, and no matter how powerful the damage was, it was useless. Taking advantage of the fact that the warship had not completely disintegrated, the captain decisively issued an order to abandon the ship, and 40% of the officers and soldiers survived.

As the most eye-catching target on the overlook, the "Hesse" naturally became the target of the enemy aircraft's siege again. This time its good luck almost came to an end. Four heavy armor-piercing bombs and seven light bombs not only exploded it beyond recognition, but also caused quite serious damage to the power and communication systems. In the words of Colonel Messel, "we cannot survive the fourth wave of air strikes again."
Chapter completed!