At 11:15, the US Pacific Fleet sent its first batch of reconnaissance aircraft.

It can be said that French's judgment was very accurate and his reaction was very fast. At that time, the Chinese Pacific Fleet was about 1,700 kilometers north of the US Pacific Fleet, and the "reconnaissance formation" heading south was about 1,000 kilometers away from the US Pacific Fleet.

The problem is that French cannot be sure of this judgment.[]

The result is that when the US Pacific Fleet arranged reconnaissance aircraft, it locked the search range to within 60 degrees northwest to 60 degrees northeast, that is, the search range reached 120 degrees. The nine aircraft carriers dispatched a total of 108 reconnaissance aircraft to ensure that when the maximum reconnaissance radius of 2,000 kilometers, the interval between the two adjacent reconnaissance aircraft is within 50 kilometers.

In this way, the reconnaissance aircraft can search the entire sea area without starting the radar and using passive detection equipment.

Before midnight at morning, French received the first reconnaissance report, to be precise, the first batch of reports, because eight reconnaissance aircraft sent back reports almost at the same time, claiming that they had discovered the Chinese fleet and were attacked by air defense warships. One of the reconnaissance aircraft also clearly reported that it used radar to detect several large warships, at least four of which were large comprehensive warships specializing in the aircraft carrier's personal bodyguard.

The problem is that none of these reports mention aircraft carriers.

After hesitating for a moment, French issued an attack order.

Although no aircraft carriers were found, there was already intelligence that the second batch of large-scale air defense warships of the Chinese Navy "Heilongjiang" class have been put into service, and there are sixteen large comprehensive warships in the Chinese fleet, and covering four aircraft carriers cannot require so many large comprehensive warships. French concluded from this that the Chinese fleet would definitely allow some warships to come forward to cover.

At that time, it was not surprising that French came to such a conclusion.

Since the Chinese fleet took the initiative to move south, it shows that Mu Haoyang has guessed that the US fleet entered Micronesia, there is enough reason to let some large comprehensive warships go south. Doing so can serve as air defense barriers for aircraft carrier battle groups, and secondly, it can effectively expand the anti-submarine area. You must know that among the warships that came out, there are four anti-submarine warships, and these warships are definitely guiding submarines that fight with the command system. Otherwise, the Chinese fleet would not be able to kill six US attack nuclear submarines in a row within one day.

Obviously, French didn't know that Mu Haoyang used for 48 fully electric submarines to carry out anti-submarine missions.

The problem is that the US fleet was not ready for attack at that time.

According to the strike plan formulated by France, the nine aircraft carriers will each dispatch forty-eight fighter jets, of which twenty-four fighter jets are responsible for escorting the Chinese fleet, and twenty-four fighter jets are responsible for attacking the Chinese fleet. In this way, one hundred and eight fighter jets can be left to perform fleet air defense missions. After the reconnaissance planes return, the US fleet can launch a second round of attacks of similar scale and use the return fighter jets in the first batch of attack aircraft groups to perform fleet air defense missions. In other words, France has always retained a sufficiently powerful air defense force.

This is understandable, because according to French judgment, the distance between the two fleets is about one thousand kilometers.

Even if the reconnaissance aircraft of the Chinese fleet have not yet flew over, the US fleet is likely to be exposed, so it must leave enough air defense.

Of course, the reality before him was not optimistic.

In the Second Battle of Digo Garcia, the Chinese fleet had proved with actions that the large-caliber electromagnetic guns on large integrated warships could carry out fatal strikes on enemy ships within 800 kilometers. At this time, the formation that was sailing south was less than 1,000 kilometers away from the US fleet. More importantly, when the formation was discovered by reconnaissance aircraft, it had a speed of only more than ten knots. If it went south at a speed of forty-five knots, it would be able to shell the US fleet in about two hours. In the US fleet, no warship could use artillery fire to fight back against enemy ships within 800 kilometers.

In other words, France must first attack this formation.

The problem is that if the escort formation that comes out before the attack will not be able to attack the main formation of the Chinese fleet in time, and it may even allow the Chinese fleet to attack first.

Faced with this problem, French decided to take a gamble.

At 045, French adjusted the air strike arrangements, allowing each aircraft carrier to release all the remaining twelve fighter jets, and use these fighters to concentrate on attacking the escort formations that were out of the forward. Because there are no aircraft carriers in the escort formation, as long as the main formation of the Chinese fleet is attacked in time, the Chinese fleet can prevent the Chinese fleet from providing air defense cover for the forward escort formations, and there is no need to arrange separate escort fighters for the attack aircraft group.

Of course, the premise is to first attack the main formation of the Chinese fleet.

In this way, French had to take off the escort fighters first, and let these fighters bypass the escort formation and fly northward through reconnaissance and search.

At 15:00, the first batch of fighter jets took off.

By this time, French was still full of hope for victory, because the Chinese reconnaissance plane had not arrived yet, that is, the US fleet had not yet been exposed.

As long as an attack is launched in time, the counterattack ability of the Chinese fleet can be disintegrated.

With sixty fighter jets deployed each, the US fleet can release all fighter jets in just twenty minutes.

It must be admitted that the quality of US military officers and soldiers is very good, at least in terms of aviation dispatch ability, it is enough to match the Chinese fleet, and the fighting spirit of officers and soldiers is also very high.

At 1:45, French threw out his trump card.

French sent carrier-based fighters without reservation and did not consider retreat at all. According to the situation at that time, French did nothing wrong with doing this. You must know that when the two fleets were close enough, no fleet could leave the battlefield before completely defeating their opponents. In this way, only by concentrating their forces to launch an attack can there be a hope of decisive victory, and any hesitation will have a negative impact. This is especially true for the US fleet, because the US warships have weak air defense capabilities and their ability to withstand air strikes is obviously not as good as the Chinese fleet.

In a sense, French's desperate attack almost changed the outcome of the decisive battle.

The reason is that at around 0:00, when the first "reconnaissance formation" was discovered by the US reconnaissance plane, Mu Haoyang did not believe that the US fleet was close at hand, and the report provided by the large integrated warships that came forward also proved his point of view, that is, the US reconnaissance planes that were intercepted turned back after sending telegrams. Therefore, Mu Haoyang believed that the US fleet was still about 2,000 kilometers away, and the reconnaissance planes discovered the "reconnaissance formation" in the limit radius. Only until 0:30, the second "reconnaissance formation" was discovered by the US reconnaissance plane. Mu Haoyang suddenly understood and realized that the US fleet was nearby, and the distance would not exceed 1,700 kilometers.

It was not until this time that Mu Haoyang decided to dispatch reconnaissance planes.
Chapter completed!