After the war, many people questioned France's abandonment of six aircraft carrier battle groups, believing that his decision almost ruined the US Navy. Some people even believed that in the next three hours, France was fully capable of gathering back fighter jets to attack the reconnaissance formation heading south.

But these people forgot one thing, that is, at this time, there was at least one aircraft carrier in the Chinese fleet that was not hit, namely the fleet flagship "Taishan". In addition, the "Songshan" also had a landing runway and three catapults that could be used, and the speed could be maintained at about 40 knots. More importantly, after the air defense operation was over, Mu Haoyang had about 160 fighter jets in his hand. Even if there were only "one and a half" aircraft carriers, he could only dispatch at most 100 fighters, which was enough to provide air defense cover for the reconnaissance formations heading south.

In other words, if France stayed, even if more than 200 fighter jets were organizing the return flight, the situation would not be optimistic. If we dragged it for a few more hours, the reconnaissance formation sailing eastward could arrive, and the US fleet would suffer a catastrophe.[]

At that time, what will be lost will not be the six aircraft carrier battle groups, but nine aircraft carrier battle groups, all the assets of the US Navy.

In addition, all those who question French ignored one thing, that is, the battle location was chosen by Mu Haoyang, and the US fleet had to consider threats from under the sea.

After the battle, French was not punished, but was found to have made the right decision.

The main reason is that he rescued three aircraft carrier battle groups in the late stage of the battle. The most important deployment is to draw twelve anti-submarine destroyers from other aircraft carrier battle groups, and enhance the anti-submarine power of the three aircraft carrier battle groups that retreat at full speed, otherwise the ending would definitely be very tragic.

You should know that the maximum speed of the "Stingray" class fully electric submarine is thirty-five knots, while the US fleet only has thirty-three knots.

Just after five o'clock, the threat of the submarine became a reality.

The first one to be attacked was the USS Kennedy aircraft carrier, with all six heavy torpedoes being shot at the aircraft carrier. Although the aircraft carrier successfully avoided the torpedo, the threat already existed.

At that time, the one who attacked the Kennedy was the Sawtooth Carp, which fired a torpedo fifty kilometers away.

Obviously, this distance is indeed a little too far. Although the maximum range of the 650 mm heavy electric torpedo exceeds one hundred kilometers, when chasing a warship sailing at a speed of 33 knots, the maximum range is only above fifty kilometers, while the 533 mm heavy electric torpedo is less than fifty kilometers. In other words, when threatening the "Kennedy", these torpedoes have almost reached their maximum range.

At this time, French did not order the fleet to slow down.

There is no doubt that this is a very correct decision.

Although the fleet should slow down when conducting anti-submarine operations, because only by reducing the speed can the anti-submarine warships detect approaching submarines. If the speed is maintained at a higher speed, the noise of the anti-submarine warship itself can cover up the noise of the submarine and the submarine will not be discovered. However, under the circumstances at that time, France obviously should not slow down the fleet, because the reconnaissance formation in the north is approaching rapidly.

At that time, French did another thing: ordering the twelve anti-submarine destroyers coming to organize an anti-submarine network about thirty kilometers behind the fleet.

In other words, let the twelve anti-submarine destroyers cover the fleet to retreat.

Subsequently, these twelve anti-submarine destroyers and anti-submarine patrol aircraft dispatched by aircraft carriers played a crucial role, but the threat to the US fleet was not eliminated.

The biggest threat still comes from the reconnaissance formation that is chasing.

French made two preparations for this. One was to organize the return fighter planes to attack the reconnaissance formation when necessary. The other was to turn again at an appropriate time.

Obviously, the latter is more important.

The reason is very simple. If the Chinese submarines can attack the Kennedy, it means that the US fleet has changed from sailing south to sailing east. It won’t take long before the Chinese fleet commander will receive reports from submarines and make timely adjustments to make the reconnaissance formation turn. In other words, if the US fleet does not turn again, it will definitely be caught up by the reconnaissance formation and will be doomed.

Of course, the key is when to turn.

It cannot be too early, otherwise it will be discovered by the pursuing submarine. It cannot be too late, otherwise it will be bombarded.

According to French's arrangement, the fleet must be turned only after the destroyer has established an anti-submarine network in the rear and confirmed that the Chinese submarine did not continue to pursue.

Fortunately, the twelve anti-submarine destroyers rushed over at half past six.

The anti-submarine warfare began immediately, and the situation also surprised French. There were more than ten, perhaps twenty Chinese submarines behind the US fleet, and the speed of these submarines reached 35 knots and were chasing them at full speed. Fortunately, the anti-submarine destroyers were in place in time and immediately launched an attack. In order to enhance the anti-submarine power, French dispatched a fixed-wing anti-submarine patrol aircraft as soon as possible.

The result was that before seven o'clock, at least five submarines were sunk by the US military.

At this time, the battle in the north also started again.

After catching up with six US aircraft carriers with a speed of less than 20 knots, the reconnaissance formation heading south opened fire again under the guidance of the tilted rotary wing aircraft.

This time, ordinary shells were used.

Previous battles have proved that the power of extended-range shells is indeed a big problem.

In the Second Naval Battle of Digo Garcia, large-caliber electromagnetic cannon shells were able to smash through several decks of aircraft carriers. In this battle, extended-range shells could only break through the flight deck of aircraft carriers. Most of the shells exploded in the hangars, and only a few shells were lucky enough to break through the hangar deck. In other words, the power systems of the six US aircraft carriers were not seriously damaged, and they had to slow down just to control the fire.

Obviously, the extended range shells that have reduced the mass of the projectile are indeed a little overwhelmed when dealing with large warships.

As the distance shortens, the power of the large-caliber electromagnetic gun is once again confirmed.

During the fifteen-minute artillery attack, the four large integrated warships of the reconnaissance formation threw more than 10,000 shells in total, which killed six US aircraft carriers and six anti-submarine destroyers, and also sank three about to sink cruisers, ending the artillery battle.

This battle also exhausted the combat effectiveness of the reconnaissance formation heading south.

At the end of the artillery battle, the four large-caliber electromagnetic cannon shells remained less than 2,000, and in order to guide the artillery bombardment, nearly twenty inclined rotary wing aircraft were lost.

At that time, France's fleet was more than 100 kilometers away, while the US fleet's air defense area was 350 kilometers.

In other words, the inclined rotary wing aircraft that went to guide the shelling would enter the air defense area of ​​the US fleet and would inevitably be intercepted by US fighter jets.

Interestingly, Mu Haoyang did not dispatch fighter planes to cover the reconnaissance formation at this time.

According to the information disclosed after the war, Mu Haoyang was considering whether to launch an air strike at that time, so the application of carrier-based fighters is relatively conservative. Mu Haoyang has another option, allowing carrier-based fighters to perform "armed reconnaissance" missions, responsible for monitoring and tracking the US fleet, and then allowing reconnaissance formations to attack the US fleet. No matter which option is, Mu Haoyang did not have time to dispatch carrier-based fighters by seven o'clock.

At 7:45, French ordered the fleet to turn.

At this time, he already knew that the six lagging aircraft carriers were attacked and had lost hope of survival, and anti-submarine operations in the rear had begun.

Considering that the reconnaissance formation was approaching at high speed, France had no choice.

The US fleet did not go south directly, but sailed southeastward with a direction of about 130 degrees, and its destination was Kaping Amarangi Atoll. According to French's idea, after breaking away from contact, he sailed eastward, headed from the south of the equator to the Gilbert Islands, and then returned to Pearl Harbor.

This decision played a crucial role.

At that time, Mu Haoyang believed that the US fleet would either go south or east, so in terms of tactical arrangements, the reconnaissance formation in the south continued to move south, while the reconnaissance formation in the east sailed southeast. Although theoretically, as long as there is enough time, the reconnaissance formation in the east can catch up with the US fleet, in fact, the distance between the two fleets is more than 1,700 kilometers. As long as the US fleet turns again within twenty hours, it can avoid the reconnaissance formation approaching from the northwest. At that time, even if Mu Haoyang finds that the US fleet has turned in advance, it will not have time to conduct a comprehensive search on the vast sea. Of course, Mu Haoyang may make a wrong judgment that the US fleet will not return to Pearl Harbor, but will go to Australia, and it is possible to conduct a search in the wrong direction.

But none of these things happened.

French had to consider the threat from under the sea, and Mu Haoyang also had the same concerns, and the Chinese fleet was under submarine threats.

Don't forget that there are at least eighteen attacking nuclear submarines in the US fleet.

According to the information disclosed after the war, at that time, only eight attacking nuclear submarines retreated with France, six of which were in the front for anti-submarine alert, and two were fighting the pursuit of Chinese submarines in the rear. The other ten submarines were all moving on the battlefield, and at least eight submarines were approaching the main formation.

What's even more terrible is that there are only eight anti-submarine warships in the main formation, and two of them were bombed.

In other words, only six anti-submarine warships can still fight. In addition, Mu Haoyang sent all submarines, that is, they did not receive direct cover from the submarines.

At that time, the "Huashan" and "Hengshan" had been severely damaged, and their speed was reduced to less than 20 knots.

Although the damage of the Songshan was not too serious, its speed was reduced to forty knots. Only the Taishan maintained its complete combat effectiveness and could sail for forty knots.

As a result, Mu Haoyang ordered a turnaround after seven o'clock, after attacking the US military's lagging warships, he ordered a turnaround and avoiding it. The "Taishan" and "Songshan" returned north at a speed of 40 knots, using speed to deal with US submarines. The other two aircraft carriers returned north at a speed of 18 knots under the cover of six anti-submarine warships, and received full cover from the carrier-based anti-submarine patrol aircraft.
Chapter completed!