.On the air battlefield, the Chinese Air Force fought very actively with HNA, but the unique tactics quickly made the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force discover a problem.

After the battle started, the Chinese fighter jets, which had the advantage of numericality and were supported by early warning aircraft and strategic electronic reconnaissance aircraft, did not seize all the opportunity to shoot down the F-22a as always, and did not even get too entangled with the Japanese fighter jets coming to fight, but unswervingly launched an assault on the joint fleet.

Although Chinese fighter jets made full use of the favorable conditions provided by electromagnetic weapons during high-speed assaults, it was definitely not to paralyze the joint fleet, because even after two hours, the joint fleet would not set sail, so there was no need for Chinese fighter jets to add to their strength.

It is not the Joint Fleet that is threatened, but the anti-submarine patrol aircraft that are hovering near the Joint Fleet.

Whether it is the p-1 made by Japan or the p-3c introduced from the United States, it does not have electromagnetic confrontation capabilities and cannot operate on the battlefield.

As Chinese fighter jets approached, these anti-submarine patrol aircraft were withdrawn one after another.

It was not until this time that Chinese fighter jets began to confront the F-22a. However, when competing for air supremacy, some fighter jets took turns to launch attacks on the joint fleet, using electromagnetic weapons to drive out anti-submarine patrol aircraft near the joint fleet, and preventing anti-submarine patrol aircraft from returning to the battlefield.

It can be said that the tactical purpose of Chinese fighter jets is very clear: to expel anti-submarine patrol aircraft that cover the joint fleet.

Why do this?

The answer is obvious. The Chinese submarine has arrived and must be near the joint fleet, otherwise there is no reason to send fighter jets to expel anti-submarine patrol aircraft.

Of course, this tactic is also problematic.

In the view of Imai Tsumamura, the Chinese Air Force and Navy arranged submarines to attack the Combined Fleet in a total of extravagant ways. Since it can invest so many fighter jets, why not directly bomb the Combined Fleet? Even if tactical fighter jets cannot carry too many anti-ship missiles, as long as they can reach over the Combined Fleet, aviation bombs can kill the Combined Fleet. Obviously, any type of fighter jet can carry aviation bombs.

Strictly speaking, this tactic is indeed problematic.

However, tactics cannot be measured by the situation during combat, because what tactics are used must be determined when formulating a combat plan.

Eight hours ago, when Teng Yaohui decided to kill the joint fleet, no one expected that the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force would be so vulnerable, and no one could have thought that the Air Force and HNA could paralyze the joint fleet at the lowest cost and further seize air supremacy.

If it had been expected, Yang Yufang would definitely not have let Zhou Yusheng intervene.

In fact, until the time when he sent fighter jets to seize air supremacy, Yang Yufang did not expect that he could break through the defense line of the Air Self-Defense Force so easily.

This cannot be blamed on Yang Yufang, because when providing air defense cover for the joint fleet, Imai Tatsu Village was reserved.

For example, he did not send out the last twelve F-22a, nor did he use the F-16cd imported from the United States and has electromagnetic confrontation capabilities. If the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force dispatched all fighters, it would be difficult for the fighters used by the Chinese Air Force and HNA to quickly seize air supremacy.

In this case, it is obvious that there is no practical value to have fighter jets mounted on aviation bombs to bomb the joint fleet.

The result was that after successfully seizing air supremacy, fighter jets carrying only air ammunition could not attack the Japanese warships on the sea and could only wait for the submarine to take action.

This situation will definitely drive the pilot crazy.

According to the combat records between the Air Force and HNA, the fighter jets returning were all supplemented with air artillery ammunition, and most of them used air artillery without exhausting air missiles.

Obviously, after these fighters arrived over the joint fleet, they must have used their aviation guns to strafuse Japanese warships.

This was also confirmed by the Japanese authorities, because after the battle, the Japanese authorities accused Chinese fighter jets of deliberately shooting the officers and soldiers of the Maritime Self-Defense Forces of falling into the water, which violated the law of war. Although the Japanese authorities' statements were untenable, because when Chinese fighter jets arrived, the joint fleet had not been attacked by submarines and the warships were floating on the sea, so the officers and soldiers on the warships had no reason to fall into the water. But at least it means that without other means of strike, Chinese fighter jets used the most basic weapons.

Unfortunately, the naval cannons are basically no threat to warships with displacements of thousands of tons or even tens of thousands of tons.

Seizing air supremacy does not mean that you can defend air supremacy.

The combat area is about 800 kilometers away from China's mainland and more than 850 kilometers away from the nearest air base. It is basically the largest combat radius of medium-sized fighter jets.

At 2:30, the first batch of j-10s withdrew from the battle.

Because a large amount of fuel was consumed in the fierce aerial fighting, these fighters must join the refueling opportunity when returning, otherwise they will not be able to return to the airport.

Now, the problem is here.

The Air Force and HNA have only prepared eight tankers, four of which are modified with H-6, and only four are made of new domestic transport aircraft as platforms.

In other words, these eight tankers provide support for up to thirty-two j-10s or twenty-four j-11s.

There were twenty-one j-10s that returned to the first batch, so at most eleven j-10s or eight j-11s could only be refueled.

If more fighters consume too much fuel in air combat, they have to make a forced landing at sea.

Letting fighter jets land in a sea means adding war damage without reason.

Yang Yufang had to make adjustments to air combat, so as to return fighter jets that had completed the assault mission as possible, and give priority to the return of J-10 with limited fuel capacity.

By 2:40, all the remaining seventeen J-10s left the battle, eight of which needed fuel.

At this time, there were only thirty-three J-11s left on the battlefield, and eighteen of the oil lamps were already on, which meant that the remaining fuel was only enough to return to the airport.

Fortunately, by this time, there were only a few Japanese fighter jets left.

According to the war report compiled later, before 2:40, the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force lost at least seventeen F-22a, and only six fighter jets remained on the battlefield.

More importantly, these F-22a almost exhausted ammunition in air combat.

If the Joint Fleet was not below and the Chinese fighter planes refused to evacuate, the Air Self-Defense Force would have recruited all the F-22a with full ammunition before this.

At 2:45, Yang Yufang asked the j-11 fleet to return one after another.

In order to ensure air supremacy, Yang Yu's side drew eight of the j-20s covering three early warning aircraft to protect air supremacy and allowed two HNA kj-200s to return early, so that the remaining four j-20s only needed to cover the kj-2000 without dispersing their forces to cover other support aircraft.

However, anti-submarine patrol aircraft have no speed advantage, so you have to hurry up if you want to run.

Just as the first time a Chinese pilot encountered an F-22a on the battlefield, when the Japanese pilot had to face the J-20, he was also full of fear of this fighter.

Of course, Imai Tatsumura didn't know that there were only eight J-20s in this batch and they had to return before four o'clock.

Also unknown are Kojiro Kimura and the pilots of the anti-submarine patrol aircraft.

As a result, until 4:30, the anti-submarine patrol aircraft of the Maritime Self-Defense Force did not return to the battlefield, and the e-3g of the Air Self-Defense Force turned halfway and flew to the local area. The e-3g left at Kadena Air Base did not take off until 4:15 and arrived over the joint fleet at 4:30.
Chapter completed!