The arrangement of the Indian Navy Command made Simba believe that winning would probably have nothing to do with him. Dias, who had already returned, would grab most of the credit, but if he defeated, he would definitely bear the responsibility. Simba did not care whether the credit was related to him, because he gave up his American nationality and returned to India alone despite his family's opposition. He just wanted to do something for his motherland, rather than gain honor.

The problem is that this feeling made Simba extremely cautious.

The result was that Simba refused to fight the task force head-on, but instead tried every means to introduce the task force into the ambush circle arranged by him. [bsp;   For this, Simba planned an air strike operation on the evening of the 10th.

It was not the Indian Navy's carrier-based fighters that bombed Southern Andaman Island, but the Indian Air Force's fighters. However, these fighters were dressed in naval costumes and used naval ammunition. Even the pilots put on naval flight suits and used naval communication channels.

In short, the nature of these fighters cannot be judged unless the falling fighter jets are dissected.

Of course, this is not without flaws.

f-35m is a derivative model of f-35c, which is closer to f-35c in aerodynamic layout. In addition, when it is improved, it emphasizes air combat capabilities, so the wing area is larger. The Indian Air Force's f-35id was improved on the basis of f-35i, and f-35i is the export type of f-35a. The main purpose is to strike ground, so the wing area is much smaller than f-35m.

In this way, if the F-35id was shot down while bombing South Andaman Island and was not seriously damaged, such as the wings were well preserved, the Chinese army could determine that this was a multi-purpose fighter of the Indian Air Force, not a carrier-based fighter of the Indian Navy.

Of course, this is not a big problem.

After the fighter crashes, it will definitely fall into pieces. Moreover, the wings of the F-35 series fighter are shaped in one go. They must be replaced after damage and cannot be repaired at all. Therefore, after the crash, it is difficult to piece together the entire pair of wings with scattered parts.

In other words, even if the Chinese army can find the wreckage of the f-35id, it is impossible for them to make accurate judgments immediately.

In Simba's view, if the project is restored, it will definitely not be possible in a few days, and what he needs is only a few days.

According to Simba's judgment, after the South Andaman Island was bombed again, Mu Haoyang would definitely think that the Indian fleet was near the archipelago, and bombing South Andaman Island was to prepare for the task force, that is, to eliminate worries before the decisive battle with the task force. In this way, Mu Haoyang would think that the Indian fleet was also seeking a decisive battle and would go directly to the battlefield without going anywhere else.

The result is that the task force will definitely go to the waters south of the Andaman-Nicobar Islands.

More importantly, the task force will focus on searching the western waters, that is, the direction of the arrival of the Indian fleet, and strive to discover the Indian fleet first.

Simba had enough reason to believe that Mu Haoyang would do this.

The most critical point is that the main fighter of the task force is j-32, and the combat radius of this type of fighter can reach 2,000 kilometers when performing reconnaissance tasks, while the combat radius of f-35m can only reach 1,500 kilometers when performing reconnaissance tasks.

Relying on the advantage of 500 kilometers, Mu Haoyang was confident enough to discover the other party first.

Obviously, Mu Haoyang has no need to avoid his opponent.

This is also the opportunity Simba is waiting for.

You should know that the Indian fleet has turned south at noon and has not sailed eastward, so it will not enter the task force's key search waters. If you can seize the opportunity, such as using the favorable conditions of inefficient reconnaissance at night, the Indian fleet can approach the task force from the southeast direction and then launch an attack in the early morning. The task force sent by the task force during the day will not be able to discover the Indian fleet after an hour. As long as the first round of attacks arrives in time, the task force will not have enough time to organize the attack.

Of course, the key is whether you can get close to the task force in secludedly.

To this end, Simba needed enough and accurate tactical intelligence, especially about task force intelligence.

According to his deployment, from the night of ten days, all anti-submarine patrol aircraft deployed in southern India will be dispatched to closely search the waters south of the Andaman-Nicobar Islands to find a task force, even the reconnaissance aircraft sent by the task force, to provide intelligence support to the Indian fleet.

In addition, the Indian Air Force's reconnaissance aircraft will be dispatched during the day to increase the search efforts.

At that time, Simba could rely on only anti-submarine patrol aircraft and Indian Air Force reconnaissance aircraft. Because the Indian Navy's submarines could not keep up and could not play a role. If carrier-based fighter jets were arranged to perform reconnaissance missions, it would be possible to expose the whereabouts of the fleet.

According to Simba's arrangement, it was not until the night of the 11th that the carrier-based fighter jets were dispatched to search for the task force.

By this time, the task force had entered the Indian Ocean for more than 30 hours. If he had been sailing west at a speed of 30 knots, he had almost reached the southern waters of the Andaman-Nicobar Islands. If he was lucky, the anti-submarine patrol function could discover the task force on the afternoon of the 11th. More importantly, by then, the Indian fleet had sailed more than 500 nautical miles southward and hundreds of nautical miles northeast after turning, with a distance of about 2,000 kilometers from the task force, and within ten hours at night, the distance could be shortened by more than 500 kilometers. In other words, as long as the task force could be found on the night of the 11th, an attack could be launched in the early morning of the 12th.

Of course, this must have a prerequisite, that is, the task force went to the place Simba expected.

If the task force did not go to the southern waters of Andaman-Nicobar Islands, Simba's deployment would have no meaning and combat operations must be rescheduled.

Of course, this is the twelfth day.

After dinner, Simba did not leave the command center. When he was serving in the US Navy, he developed the habit of going to bed late and getting up early. Like many professional soldiers, Simba was particularly excited and energetic when he went to the battlefield. It was enough to sleep four hours a day.

At about 11:30, the communications consultant sent an urgent telegram, to be precise, intelligence.

Five radio monitoring stations deployed at the southern end of the Indian Peninsula also intercepted a telegram from a Chinese warship, confirming it as a rapid combat support ship of the East Indian Ocean Fleet.

Simba is not unfamiliar with this warship, because two days ago, it was this fast combat support ship that allowed the Indian Navy to determine the whereabouts of the two Chinese Indian Ocean fleets and helped the air force complete a sudden strike smoothly. The warship then turned south.

Because China declared war on India in time, the Chinese Air Force invested a large number of troops to fight for air supremacy, so in the past few dozen hours, the Indian Air Force did not deal with the warship.

Without aircraft carriers, the rapid combat support ships have no place to use.

However, why did this fast combat support ship send a telegram at this time?

You should know that even if the task force has entered the Indian Ocean, it does not mean that it has seized the sea control power, nor does it mean that the rapid combat support ship can be unscrupulous. Even if it has left the range of fighter jets, this fast combat support ship without defense is easily attacked. Not to mention, an anti-submarine patrol aircraft full of anti-ship missiles can sink it effortlessly.

There must be a reason for this.

Just when Simba was puzzled, the communications consultant sent another telegram.

After analysis by Indian intelligence agencies and comparison with the telegrams intercepted before, it was confirmed that the rapid support ship was reporting its whereabouts to the East Indian Ocean Fleet, and it was very likely to receive an order from the East Indian Ocean Fleet Command to provide supplies to the task force.

Now, Simba felt even more strange.

Although the frigates in the task force are conventionally powered and need to be replenished, when the war broke out, the task force conducted adaptive training in the South China Sea and must have replenished fuel before heading south. More importantly, there are at least four fast combat support ships in the task force, and the current navigation distance is not more than two thousand nautical miles. Even if the speed is still above 30 knots, the first fuel supply will be required until the night of the 11th. The fuel carried by the four fast combat support ships is enough to supply more than ten frigates twice.

That is to say, there is no need to use the fast combat support ships of the East Indian Ocean Fleet.

Unless, the fast combat support ships in the task force do not enter the Indian Ocean.

The question is, is this possible?

You should know that during Teng Yaohui's tenure-level independent combat capabilities during his tenure as Chief of Staff, he attached great importance to the navy's ocean-going independent combat capabilities and equipped each aircraft carrier battle group with two supply ships. One of them was a comprehensive supply ship with strong carrying capacity but slower speed, and the other was a combat support ship with weak carrying capacity but faster speed. The latter had a navigation speed of about 30 knots and could accompany the fleet's activities.

More importantly, the two Indian Ocean fleets of the Chinese Navy were basically wiped out, and warships left in the Indian Ocean could be hit at any time. The task force had no reason to leave the rapid combat support ships behind and pin their hopes of replenishing fuel on the East Indian Ocean fleet.

Obviously, Mu Haoyang could not be so reckless.

Simba's first judgment was: this was a trap set by Mu Haoyang, luring the Indian fleet to attack.

The question is, is it that simple?

While Simba was considering this issue, the Indian Navy had taken action to dispatch four anti-submarine patrol aircraft, two of which carried anti-ship missiles.

Relying on triangular positioning method, you can roughly determine the location of the fast combat support ship.

Then, two anti-submarine patrol aircraft carrying out search missions can be found and then two other anti-submarine patrol aircraft can be guided to launch an attack.

At around 3 a.m. on the 12th, the anti-submarine patrol aircraft discovered a fast combat support ship sailing northeast.

Five minutes later, the two anti-submarine patrol aircraft each launched four anti-ship missiles.

The attack was quite smooth. The rapid-fire gun on the Quick Combat Support ship only shot down one anti-ship missile, and used an electronic jamming system to deceive another anti-ship missile, and was then hit by six anti-ship missiles. Because it was full of fuel and ammunition, the Quick Combat Support ship exploded and sank five minutes later.
Chapter completed!