. Whether India fires the first shot is not only a matter that Mu Haoyang needs to be concerned about, but also a matter that Fu Xiubo must be concerned about.

In war decision-making, Fu Xiubo can stand up to the public, but cannot do whatever he wants, and at least must abide by the basic rules. At the decision-making meeting on the morning of the 24th, Yi Yuanchao clearly stated that only by strictly abide by the military alliance treaty with Pakistan can he support Fu Xiubo's war resolution.

This is the most basic rule.

Regardless of whether Fu Xiubo was willing or not, without Yi Yuanchao's vote, his war resolution would not be passed at the Supreme Decision-making Conference.

By then, even if the military deployment is in place, we cannot take the initiative to launch an attack.

For the Army, the problem is not big. For the Navy, whether to take the initiative to attack is crucial. In naval battles, having no initiative is equivalent to losing half of it.

Fortunately, the US attitude has brought things to a turnaround.

In a sense, it was the United States' concession that allowed Yi Yuandao to compromise.

Now, only the last problem needs to be solved.

On the night of the 24th, after the Indian Army began to prepare for the attack, Fu Xiubo immediately asked Huang Zhibo to call the Chief of Staff of the Pakistani Army.

It was this call that led Pakistan to adopt a tit-for-tat military deployment.

However, there is only so much that Fu Xiubo can do.

The trigger is in India's hands, and whether to launch a war is determined by India. Pakistan's actions can only stimulate India, make India feel threatened, and make India feel that war is the only choice. However, whether to launch a war still depends on India, and China cannot directly affect India.

The next thing to do is to wait patiently.

Fu Xiubo can wait, but Mu Haoyang can't.

In more than ten hours, the fleet will arrive near the Anambas Islands. If the war has not yet broken out, the fleet will have to go to the Strait of Malacca or the Java Sea.

For this reason, Mu Haoyang had to make second-hand preparations.

If the war still did not break out after the Joint Fleet entered Port Blair, he would have to give up the idea of ​​attacking the Joint Fleet first.

Now, we have to figure out the situation of the Indian fleet.

Fortunately, the whereabouts of the Indian fleet are not secret.

On July 21, the battle groups of the "Vicramadia" and the "Vicramadya" aircraft carriers gathered in the southern waters of the Arabian Sea and entered the Bay of Bengal on July 23. Because the two aircraft carriers only carried 60 fighter jets in total and their aviation combat capabilities were not strong, they kept moving together.

According to the news released by the Indian military, the two aircraft carriers will participate in the joint exercise.

On the night of the 24th, the Indian fleet moved eastward to the west of the Andaman-Nicobar Islands.

A few hours later, the newly in service, the Virat left Visakhapatnam and was immediately discovered by a Type 095 submarine lurking outside the port.

"The 'Verat' is also sailing towards the Andaman-Nicobar Islands and is expected to meet with the fleet."

"How many escort warships are there?"

"There are only two anti-submarine frigates, no air defense warships."

Mu Haoyang nodded and continued to stare at the battlefield situation map on the big screen.

"However, we cannot kill this aircraft carrier." Zhou Yusheng sighed and said, "Before the Joint Fleet arrives at Port Blair, the 'Verat' will meet with the fleet. According to my judgment, the Joint Fleet will also meet with the Indian fleet after completing the supply."

"Form a five-aircraft carrier battle group?" Yang Yufang glanced at Zhou Yusheng.

"Although there are five aircraft carriers, except for the Virat, the other four aircraft carriers are not very good, and the dispersed operations are easily defeated by each one."

"Have you considered how to command so many warships together?"

"There are also electromagnetic compatibility issues." Zhang Yuting added.

Zhou Yusheng smiled and did not argue with the two.

The problem is very clear. The Indian fleet and the joint fleet have a total of 42 warships. Including the "Verat" and two frigates, there are a total of 45 ships. If the forty-five warships are organized into a fleet, command will be the biggest trouble. In addition, the warships have radars, communication radios, data links, aviation guidance systems and other electronic equipment, which are easy to interfere with each other and cannot be fully compatible.

Forming a large fleet will only affect the combat effectiveness of each warship.

This problem can only be solved by dividing into two fleets.

"In addition to command and electromagnetic compatibility, tactical issues must be considered." Mu Haoyang turned around and said to several main commanders. "Although Imai Rimura already knows that we are heading south at high speed, he probably didn't expect that we would take the initiative to launch an attack. Judging from the current situation, it is not guaranteed to launch an attack when the joint fleet enters Port Blair, so we must consider a backup plan."

“What alternative?”

"That is the previous combat plan."

Zhou Yusheng smiled and took out a cigarette.

"By the same way, Imai Torimura, or the commander of the Indian fleet, will consider this issue and use it as a key factor in winning."

"What does it mean?" Yang Yufang asked.

"Set an ambush on our must-pass road and launch an attack while we cannot evade maneuvers and can't deploy carrier-based fighters in time."

"Strait?"

Mu Haoyang nodded and said, "There are three main channels entering the Indian Ocean, one is the Strait of Malacca, the second is the Sunda Strait, and the third is the Longmu Strait. Because it is too far away and we have to bypass Java Island, we will only delay the combat operations when we go to the Longmu Strait. To put it bluntly, if we go to the Lombok Strait, the Indian-Japanese Combined Fleet that is scattered will have enough time to regroup."

"In this way, the chances of winning are half to half." Zhang Yuting interrupted.

"We cannot accept this result, and Imai Rimura cannot accept it either, because before the Akagi settled down, he definitely hopes to win a great victory." Mu Haoyang smiled and said, "Then we can only choose one of the two in the Strait of Malacca and Sunda Straits, and the Indian-Japanese Combined Fleet will definitely deploy submarines in these two places. As long as we enter the Strait, the Indian-Japanese Combined Fleet will launch an attack."

"This is definitely a disaster." Yang Yufang sighed.

"It's a little better in the Strait of Malacca. After all, the Strait is wide in the west and narrow in the east. As long as our speed is fast enough, we can deploy carrier-based fighters in time. The problem is that if we go to the Strait of Malacca, we will face not only the fleet, but also the shore-based aviation troops deployed on the Andaman-Nicobar Islands, and even the shore-based long-range anti-ship missiles. If we want to bypass the Andaman-Nicobar Islands, we have to go to the Sunda Strait." Mu Haoyang paused for a moment and said, "Although we can pass in half an hour at the speed of the fleet, we cannot deploy carrier-based fighters in this half hour, and we cannot withstand the air strikes of the Indian-Japanese Combined Fleet."

"There is also the threat of submarines." Zhou Yusheng added.

Mu Haoyang nodded and said, "So I think the Indian-Japanese joint fleet will operate in a dispersed manner. One is active near the Andaman-Nicobar Islands, and it is very likely to be east of the archipelago, and the other will go southwest of Sumatra, hovering about 700 kilometers south of the Sunda Strait. At both ends of the Sunda Strait, there are Indian or Japanese submarines. As long as we enter the strait, both fleets will launch attacks at the same time, and the submarines will take the opportunity to attack. Even if we have some precautions, the chance of safely passing through the Sunda Strait is very slim."

"What should I do?" Ma Mingtao spoke at this time.

"Traveling the Strait of Malacca and fighting with the Indian-Japanese Joint Fleet will at least avoid the half-fleet south of Sumatra."

Mu Haoyang smiled and shook his head, saying, "Doing this is no different from dying. As long as you have the opportunity to wipe out us, Japan and India will definitely not abide by the rules of engagement."

"That……"

“We have only one option, to do it before entering the Indian Ocean.”

Several main commanders were stunned for a moment and looked at Mu Haoyang with a little unclear understanding.

"Obviously, the tactics of this kind are very difficult." Mu Haoyang breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Whether it is a fleet attacking the Andaman Sea or a fleet southwest of Sumatra, we can only dispatch fighter jets in the northern waters of the Java Sea. Because the fleet cannot enter Indonesian airspace and can only fly over open waters, the combat radius of the fleet will exceed 1,500 kilometers."

"You can use the partner refueling tactics."

Mu Haoyang glanced at Yang Yufang and said, "This is a solution, but at least one-third of the fighter jets must not be able to participate in combat operations. The two aircraft carriers dispatched up to eighty fighters in one attack wave, while only more than fifty ones actually participated in combat. Apart from the escort fighter jets, less than forty fighters performed attack missions, which simply did not meet the minimum standard for saturated attacks."

Yang Yufang did not refute, he knew about aviation combat well.

"Where are we mobilizing fighter jets from China?" Zhang Yuting asked.

"This is also a solution. After two air refuelings, the combat radius of heavy fighters such as j-11c and j-20 are more than 4,500 kilometers, which is enough to complete the attack mission. The question is, how many tankers need to be used to support a large enough air strike? Based on the dispatch of sixty attack aircraft and twenty fighters, two air refuelings within eight hours, at least twenty large tankers need to be used. Because the second refueling must be arranged after the attack, the refueling airspace is near the fleet, so air refueling is also required to be provided for these ten tankers, which requires a total of thirty large tankers, while the Air Force and HNA have only twenty large tankers."

"Let the carrier-based fighter take on some combat missions."

"It can be arranged like this. Just use the shore-based aviation force, and our combat intentions will be exposed. The shore-based fighter jets will not arrive at the fastest time. In these four hours, the Indian-Japanese Combined Fleet can sail nearly a hundred nautical miles and have enough time to organize air defense operations."

Yang Yufang nodded, indicating that he understood Mu Haoyang's meaning.

"Of course, there is no way to solve it, but there must be a choice and a gift. We can only focus on a certain fleet, open the door to enter the Indian Ocean first, and then consider how to fight next."

"What's the solution?" Zhou Yusheng asked.
Chapter completed!