.Chapter 44 Accelerate pursuit

The attack on the troop transport ship was very smooth. Twenty anti-submarine patrol aircraft used more than 100 anti-ship missiles to bury six troop transport ships and two frigates in just a few minutes.

However, Yang Yufang also missed the opportunity to discover the joint fleet first.

To be precise, it was the discovery of four cruisers that departed from the Joint Fleet.

At that time, there were only 24 anti-submarine patrol aircraft on Iwo Huang Island. These anti-submarine patrol aircraft were divided into two squadrons, performing patrol missions in the first and second half of the night. In order to attack the transport ships, Yang Yu's side reduced the anti-submarine patrol aircraft deployed in the first half of the night by two thirds. In this way, the search range of the patrol aircraft was greatly reduced. In the early morning of the seventh day, the farthest anti-submarine patrol aircraft was less than 1,000 kilometers away from Iwo Huang Island. If the patrol aircraft went south 1,500 kilometers according to the arrangements a few nights ago, it was very likely that the joint fleet would be discovered.

Of course, this may not necessarily have any good results.

At around midnight on the seventh, the First Fleet was about 500 kilometers west of Iwo Huang Island, and the straight-line distance from the Joint Fleet exceeded 1,800 kilometers. If an attack was launched forcibly, half of the fighters had to be arranged to undertake partner refueling tasks. There would be no more than 60 fighters that could be used to attack the Joint Fleet, including fighters that perform escort missions. Of course, at this distance, the Joint Fleet could not attack the First Fleet. The problem is that as long as the battle started, Dongxiang Zuwang found that the First Fleet was not within its attack area, he would quickly turn to avoid contact with the First Fleet and avoid being besieged after the Second Fleet arrived.

In other words, even if Yang Yufang discovered the joint fleet, it would be difficult to wipe out the joint fleet completely.

You know, at this time, the Second Fleet was still west of Guam, more than 2,500 kilometers away from the Combined Fleet, and it was impossible to attack the Combined Fleet at all. If the attack aircraft group had to bypass the Mariana Islands, even if a partner tanker was dispatched, the attack aircraft group could not reach the air above the Combined Fleet.

After the anti-submarine patrol aircraft attacked the troop transport ship, Yang Yufang first strengthened the fleet's air defense.

By the early morning of the seventh day...a half past the first fleet had twenty-four air defense fighters dispatched, and sixteen were on standby on the flight deck.

According to Yang Yufang's judgment, if the joint fleet heads north at full speed, it will be within 1,500 kilometers at this time.

In other words, as long as it is discovered by Japanese reconnaissance planes, the First Fleet will be attacked before dawn.

While strengthening air defense, Yang Yufang also strengthened his reconnaissance power.

Before 2:30 in the morning, he dispatched 32 reconnaissance aircraft, focusing on searching the south of Iwo Yu Island, but the search range was only 1,500 kilometers.

It is not the 1,500 kilometers with Iwo Huang Island as the center, but the 1,500 kilometers with the First Fleet as the center.

Obviously, it is impossible for the reconnaissance aircraft sent by Yang Yufang to find the joint fleet before dawn, because before dawn, the distance between the cruisers in front of the joint fleet and the first fleet was more than 1,500 kilometers, and the main fleet with four aircraft carriers as the core was even further away.

As a result, after several hours of intense search, the First Fleet gained nothing.

Before dawn, Yang Yufang had to believe that the joint fleet had either discovered danger or had not been able to find the first fleet in the predetermined sea area and had turned south.

After making this judgment, Yang Yufang immediately took action according to the previous deployment, namely sailing southeastward.

Of course, Yang Yufang did not forget the most important thing: through the Marines on Iwo Huang Island, he sent the news that the joint fleet was not discovered to Mu Haoyang.

Before dawn, Mu Haoyang received the news and learned that he had killed the Japanese troops.

The problem is that Mu Haoyang's judgment on the battle situation is different from that of Yang Yufang.

"No matter what, there will be no danger during the day." Ma Mingtao also realized that Yang Yu's side had a major mistake in judging the battle situation. "Even if we encounter it with the Joint Fleet, our advantages are obvious."

"What I worry about is not the daytime battle, but the nighttime battle."

After Mu Haoyang said this, Ma Mingtao shut up.

"Obviously, the possibility of the joint fleet moving south is not very high. Dongxiang Zuwang went through all his troubles and would never give up the opportunity to annihilate the first fleet." Mu Haoyang stared at the chart for a while and said, "More importantly, Dongxiang Zuwang is likely not aware that we are rushing to the battlefield, or think that we are west of Iwo Huang Island. Therefore, the joint fleet will continue to head north and send reconnaissance planes after dark."

"The problem is that Dongxiang Zuwang must know that we are rushing to Iwo Huang Island."

Mu Haoyang glanced at Zhou Yusheng and asked him to continue talking.

"In other words, the chances of the joint fleet annihilation of the First Fleet will be gradually reduced, so Dongxiang Zuwang has enough reason to speed up the speed. According to the information obtained before, the joint fleet should arrive on the night of the sixth day, and Lao Yang did not discover the joint fleet before dawn on the seventh day."

"you mean……"

"Obviously, the speed of the Joint Fleet was not as fast as we expected. Whatever the reason, it at least shows that Dongxiang Zuwang was not in a hurry to fight the First Fleet. Perhaps, the Joint Fleet did not go to Iwoyu Island, but sailed west somewhere in the Mariana Islands, ready to deal with us first."

Mu Haoyang's brows jumped a few times, and his expression became nervous.

"Of course, this is just my guess."

"There is indeed such a possibility." Ma Mingtao breathed a sigh of relief and said, "The First Fleet has a very wide range of activities and has been covered by anti-submarine patrol aircraft, so there are not many opportunities to attack the First Fleet. In comparison, it is a foregone conclusion that we will support the First Fleet. If we meet directly with the First Fleet, our route can be expected, and Dongxiang Zuwang will also target us."

"To avoid fighting the First Fleet, the Joint Fleet will surely lie in ambush west of the Mariana Islands."

"That is, the joint fleet is north of us, and it will not exceed 1,500 kilometers."

Mu Haoyang waved his hand and said, "It is indeed possible, but it does not make sense in logic. The prerequisite for this judgment is that Dongxiang Zuwang believes that we will meet with the First Fleet, and to make him believe that there must be a prerequisite, that is, the joint fleet has been exposed and we temporarily give up the combat operations to attack the Okinawa Islands. In this way, will Dongxiang Zuwang still actively fight us? Strategically, as long as we give up the attack on the Okinawa Islands, the joint fleet will complete its mission and there is no reason to rush to fight us. However, this situation will not last long, because

If we eliminate the Japanese Navy's counterattack against Iwoo Island, we will attack the Okinawa Island as planned. Even without the cover of the naval fleet, the Air Force will assist the Marines to board Okinawa Island. On the other hand, if the Joint Fleet turns north, it means that Togo Soo-Wan still believes that the Joint Fleet has not been exposed, and there is reason to believe that we are still near the Okinawa Islands and are not in a hurry to meet with the First Fleet, and there is no reason to ambush us. To put it bluntly, if your judgment is correct, the Joint Fleet will not be able to appear west of the Mariana Islands, but south of Iwoo Island."

After saying this in one breath, Mu Haoyang breathed a sigh of relief and calmed down.

Of course, Ma Mingtao and Zhou Yusheng were not at all calm.

The reason is very simple. If the joint fleet is on the south side of Iwo Huang Island and is preparing to ambush the First Fleet, then Yang Yufang led the fleet south at this time, which would be equivalent to actively fighting with the joint fleet.

"The question is, why didn't the Joint Fleet arrive on time?"

"There must be a reason, but it's not to kill us." Mu Haoyang paused for a moment and said, "There will be a result tonight. We must not miss this good show, let alone let Lao Yang face Dongxiang Zuwang. Let the frigate cover the fast combat support ship, and other warships sail at full speed. In addition, let Yan Yingbo formulate a strike plan against the joint fleet with the standards of ultra-long-distance attack."

"Leave the frigate?"

"Anyway, Japanese submarines will definitely not be able to keep up with the fleet of high-speed navigation, and we have submarines that are escorted, so there is no need to worry too much about the submarine threat."

Zhou Yusheng gritted his teeth and said nothing more.

"I'll go to bed and call me in the evening."

Seeing Mu Haoyang turn and leave, Ma Mingtao and Zhou Yusheng shook their heads. Many times, they had to admire Mu Haoyang's calmness. If it were someone else, they would probably be restless, not to mention going to bed at this time, for example, Ma Mingtao and Zhou Yusheng would be very nervous.

Because he had already penetrated the ocean and had to keep radio silent, Yang Yufang did not know the whereabouts of the Second Fleet.

After dawn, the First Fleet also lost its remote search capability.

Under the threat of particle storms, all fleets were unable to dispatch reconnaissance aircraft during the day, and even anti-submarine patrol aircraft had to park at the airport.

In other words, the fleet is basically blind during the day.

Of course, this is not only a problem with the Chinese fleet, but also a problem with the Japanese fleet.

When the communication equipment cannot function properly, the fleet has to keep radio silent during the day, and each combat force can only act according to the scheduled plan.

The result was that during the seventh day, the First Fleet and the Joint Fleet approached each other, but did not find each other.

Of course, this does not mean that the ships of both sides did not encounter any encounters.

According to the combat records of the Chinese Navy, on the morning of the same day, a "Weihe"-class attack nuclear submarine operating on the south of Iwoyu Island discovered four Japanese cruisers and then detected the joint fleet. Unfortunately, the joint fleet was too fast and the submarine could not catch up. What's more, due to the particle storm, the telegram sent by the submarine was not received by the fleet when it floated on the Shanghai surface at around 2 pm.

Of course, this "Weihe" class submarine has been following the butt of the Combined Fleet.

Fortunately, the Joint Fleet did not find the Chinese submarine that followed.

At 5:50 p.m. on the seventh, three of the four cruisers that had left the front arrived at about 300 kilometers south of Iwoyu Island according to the order of Dongxiang Zuwang. Because unnecessary supplies were thrown out during the voyage, such as nearly 400 tons of aviation fuel, the average speed of these three cruisers exceeded 35 knots and arrived ten minutes early. The other cruiser slowed down at around 10 a.m. due to a power system failure, and then met with the following joint fleet and did not participate in the attack on Iwoyu Island.
Chapter completed!