Chapter 42 Four hours

At 7:30 am on the 18th, the first battle between the Chinese and American troops in the East Indian Ocean began.

At that time, the two sides of the war were four F-44c fighters from the US Air Force and four J-32 fighters from the Chinese Navy. The battle was triggered by an anti-submarine patrol aircraft that suddenly turned toward Australia about 500 kilometers south of the Sunda Strait, near Christmas Island.

According to the combat records of the Chinese Navy, the anti-submarine patrol aircraft deployed in Pontianak, Indonesia should take off at the early morning...half, so it should arrive near Christmas Island before dawn and search southwest. Because ground crews discovered a fault with serious safety hazards before takeoff, the aircraft did not take off until five in the morning, and as a result, it arrived near Christmas Island at 7:30. At this time, other anti-submarine patrol aircraft had turned southwest, and the rear command center appropriately adjusted the route of the anti-submarine patrol aircraft to make up for the lack of one. As a result, the anti-submarine patrol aircraft was ordered to search southeast.

If that is not the case, the US fighter jets that have been surveillance in the distance will not come to intercept them at all.

It is precisely because they have been surveillance from a distance that the large US early warning aircraft did not promptly detect the escort fighter aircraft accompanied by the anti-submarine patrol aircraft activities.

You know, at that time, the Navy arranged escort fighter jets for all anti-submarine patrol aircraft.

Because the navy's carrier-based aviation forces did not suffer much losses when they started the war, the Chinese Navy did not lack fighter jets by this time.

This battle became a fuse.

Within the next few hours, the Chinese Navy and the U.S. Air Force successively invested combat forces into the region, and later even the Chinese Air Force was involved.

It seems that the more intense the US military resists here, the greater the possibility of the Third Fleet in this direction.

Of course, not everyone thinks so.

After receiving the battle reports sent one after another, Mu Haoyang first became suspicious, and even Gong Jifei believed that the possibility of the Third Fleet in the offshore waters of northwest Australia was very slim. The reason was very simple. The Third Fleet had more than 20 large warships, which were not suitable for offshore activities at all.

After comparing the submarine deployment information provided by Zhou Yusheng, Mu Haoyang even more affirmed this judgment.

At that time, the Chinese Navy invested more than 30 submarines in the Indian Ocean, most of which were fully electric submarines, and only a few attack nuclear submarines. Because all electric submarines were not suitable for ocean activities far away from the base, most of them were sent to offshore activities in the East Indian Ocean. Among them, six were deployed in the Strait of Malacca, Sunda Strait and Lombok Strait, and more than twenty were near Australia, and were mainly concentrated in the offshore waters of northwest Australia. Only four of them sailed far outside the Perth Port in the southwest.

With such a large submarine deployment density, the Third Fleet should have been discovered long ago.

The problem is that the Navy Command has not received any information sent back by any submarine.

In addition, there is another factor worth considering, that is, will the third fleet go to pick up when the Fourth Fleet is rushing eastward?

Taking these two factors into consideration, Mu Haoyang has enough reason to believe that the Third Fleet is not offshore Australia.

Of course, he did not stop the Navy and the Air Force from investing more troops to the southeast of Christmas Island, because the fleet was in radio silence and he could not issue orders. In addition, the battle in the southeast of Christmas Island did not have a negative impact on the Navy's large-scale search operations, because in the battle here, anti-submarine patrol aircraft were not required, and fighters were all dispatched, and the Air Force fighters were mainly used.

From another perspective, the battle in the southeast direction of Christmas Island is also very beneficial to Mu Haoyang.

The reason is simple: the battle in this direction can create an illusion for the enemy, making the enemy think that the Chinese team will attack Australia. Even if the US commander is not so stupid, he will think that the Chinese fleet commander made a misjudgment, believing that the Third Fleet is in the coastal waters of northwest Australia. In this way, the US military will definitely increase its investment here, making the Chinese fleet commander firmly believe. The result is that the fighter jets that the US military can use to cover the Third Fleet will be greatly reduced, thus making the Third Fleet more vulnerable.

For Mu Haoyang, the next thing he had to do was find the third fleet and then give him a fatal blow.

Of course, he had to let the fleet pass through the Sunda Strait and enter the Indian Ocean.

In the afternoon, the battle in the southeast direction of Christmas Island became even more intense. However, by this time, the Air Force was already the protagonist of China.

After the two sides successively invested air control forces, air combat and the encounters of small groups of fighter jets evolved into a large air decisive battle between large groups of aircraft. It seemed that Christmas Island was the core battlefield of the entire Indian Ocean, and both sides of the warring sides were willing to devote all their efforts to this.

It was not the US military that actively expanded the scale of the war, but the Chinese Air Force.

According to the combat records of the Chinese Air Force, the order was issued by Zhou Yusheng from the General Staff, with the purpose of protecting the task force through the Sunda Strait.

Although the task force had not been exposed at that time, the large-scale reconnaissance operations launched by the Navy in the early morning and the air combat in the morning had already shown that the task force was sailing towards the Sunda Strait, so the US military had enough reason to send reconnaissance aircraft to the Sunda Strait. In order to avoid the task force's whereabouts, it had to invest heavily in the southeast of Christmas Island, forcing the US military to use more fighter jets to fight for air supremacy.

In order to increase the strike force, the Air Force also dispatched bombers in the afternoon to attack several airports in northwest Australia.

Of course, it is not only Chinese generals who are paying attention to this "war of attrition" in the air.

At noon, General Jordan, the chairman of the US Joint Joint Conference and Chief of Staff of the Navy, sent a telegram to Brigadier General Nixon, asking him to pay close attention to the Sunda Strait and reminded him that the Chinese fleet is likely to be rushing to the Sunda Strait, and it is expected that it will pass through the Sunda Strait as early as the evening of the 18th and the night of the 18th. However, on crucial issues, General Jordan still did not make a decision on Nixon, but asked him to decide based on the actual situation whether to intercept the Chinese fleet in the Sunda Strait or wait until the Fourth Fleet arrives before fighting the Chinese fleet.

Obviously, this is equivalent to posing a problem for Nixon.

At that time, the Third Fleet was 2,300 kilometers south of the Sunda Strait, and its specific location was about 800 kilometers west of the northwest corner of Australia, about 1,900 kilometers from Christmas Island, and 1,700 kilometers from the airspace between the Sino-US Air Force and very far from the battlefield.

When receiving Jordan's telegram, Nixon could only shorten the distance from the Sunda Strait to within two thousand kilometers after dark on the 18th, which was the longest distance to strike the Chinese fleet. Of course, if the carrier-based fighter jets that completed the mission returned to Australia instead of returning to the fleet, the Third Fleet could launch an attack on the Chinese fleet passing through the Sunda Strait at its current position. However, Nixon knew very well that the Chinese fleet might also extend the strike distance when necessary, so he did not dare to take risks.

Now, the problem arises.

If the Chinese fleet goes south at full speed, it will pass through the Sunda Strait in the evening of the 18th, and the attack aircraft group of the Third Fleet can only reach the Sunda Strait after 9 o'clock on the night of the 18th. That is to say, two hours before the arrival of the US attack aircraft, the Chinese fleet has entered the Indian Ocean.

These two hours are crucial.

Even if the Chinese fleet did not discover the third fleet before this, it would immediately increase the fleet's air defense power after entering the Indian Ocean, because it was very easy to be attacked at this time. From the perspective of aviation combat arrangements, the Chinese fleet would strengthen its air defense power before entering the Sunda Strait. After passing through the Sunda Strait, the air defense fighter jets would return to refuel, and two hours would be enough for the Chinese fleet to dispatch enough air defense fighters again.

In other words, the attacks of the US military will not receive decisive results.

Don’t forget that the Third Fleet only has three aircraft carriers, while the Chinese Fleet has four aircraft carriers, and its actual combat effectiveness is twice that of the Third Fleet.

If the attack fails, you will definitely be hit by a fatal counterattack.

At this time, it can also be seen that there was indeed serious problem with Admiral Jordan's deployment. At that time, he did not mention a crucial message, namely whether the US Air Force would assist the Third Fleet in blocking the Sunda Strait. If this is mentioned, the situation would definitely be completely different.

According to the information disclosed after the war, it was not General Jordan who made the mistake, but the Pentagon's communications consultant.

When sending the telegram, the communications consultant actually ignored this crucial message.

You should know that if the telegram clearly mentioned that the US Air Force will dispatch bombers deployed in Australia to assist the Third Fleet in combat, Nixon will not hesitate and will definitely immediately let the fleet head north at full speed. In this way, after the task force passes through the Sunda Strait, the US bombers will undertake the first wave of attack mission and receive cover from fighter jets, consuming the task force's air defense firepower, and the Third Fleet will be responsible for the second wave of attack and expanding the results of the battle. More importantly, the attack aircraft group can return to the Third Fleet.

As a result, it was not until four o'clock in the afternoon that Nixon received the second telegram and learned that the Air Force would be responsible for the main offensive mission.

At this time, it was only three hours before dark.

Within these three hours, the Third Fleet sailed up to 100 nautical miles north, shortening the distance from the Sunda Strait to about 2,100 kilometers. With the performance of US carrier-based fighters, it is impossible to return to the Third Fleet after completing the attack mission. Because the bombers and escort fighters mobilized by the US Air Force have flooded the airports in northwest Australia, it is impossible to arrange for tankers to support carrier-based fighters. The result is that if the Third Fleet participates in the attack, the carrier-based fighters must fly to Australia.

It is impossible for Nixon to know the consequences of this fight.

You should know that if the Chinese fleet is not defeated, then the third fleet is likely to be counterattacked without air defense.

At that time, Nixon was very hesitant, but still ordered the fleet to head north at full speed.

Two hours later, a crucial intelligence made Nixon make a desperate decision: a US submarine lurking north of the Sunda Strait discovered the Chinese fleet that was preparing to pass the barrier, and despite its own danger, it sent a message before the Chinese fleet passed.

Chapter 42 Four hours
Chapter completed!