Volume 1: The Empire Awakens Chapter 57: The Dragon Rises from the Sea (Part 1)
The sun rose over the sea in the east, and the officers and soldiers on the aircraft carrier seemed to appear suddenly. The personnel on the flight deck and in the hangar became busy.
One combat aircraft after another was transported to the flight deck by elevators, and ground crews began to make final inspections and load ammunition onto the fighter planes.
The pilots have gathered in the aviation operations room, waiting to receive the combat briefing, and then they will board their fighter planes to "destroy" the First Fleet.
Tan Renhao handed the attack plan to Colonel Ji Xiaobin two hours ago, and the colonel had already assigned the relevant plan to the commander of the Fifth Air Wing.
At this stage, problems arose with the independent mechanism between the Fifth Air Wing and the Fifth Fleet.
If the Fifth Air Wing was directly under the Fifth Fleet, then Tan Renhao could directly send the combat plan to the combat troops as an assistant to the combat staff without having to go through Colonel Ji Xiaobin.
Perhaps this problem is not too obvious in an orderly exercise, but it is definitely a big problem in actual combat.
Watching a group of pilots walk onto the flight deck and then board the fighter planes with the assistance of ground crew, Tan Renhao felt a little nervous.
The first group to take off will be the "Sparrowhawks" that are on escort duty. If the First Fleet does not receive cover from shore-based fighters, these fighters will be equipped with bombs to carry out bombing missions.
Then the Kingfisher dive bombers took off, and finally the heaviest Osprey took off.
"Are you nervous?"
Ji Xiaobin walked to the porthole. The aviation operations center was on the fourth floor of the island, and he could clearly see the flight deck on the left.
Tan Renhao smiled awkwardly, and he felt a layer of sweat on the palms of his hands.
"In fact, we have already done everything. If we firmly believe that the path we have chosen is correct, then the results will prove it."
Ji Xiaobin patted Tan Renhao on the shoulder and said, "Besides, you are the one among who knows the most about aviation combat theory. If you don't have confidence, then we have even less confidence."
"Colonel, it's not that I don't have confidence."
Tan Renhao took a deep breath and said, "I'm just a little nervous. How many anti-aircraft fighters does the First Fleet have this time?"
Ji Xiaobin shrugged and said, "I don't know, but the First Aviation Company has five fighter squadrons, with at least 120 fighters. However, it's impossible for all of them to participate in the exercise, and they are equipped with Gulls, so they can't be a match for the Sparrowhawk."
Tan Renhao nodded.
"This is the best. As long as we gain air superiority, the First Fleet will have no choice but to wait for death!"
Both men laughed. Although this was the Fifth Fleet's first actual combat exercise, they had conducted war game simulations countless times.
The results of each war game simulation are exactly the same. As long as air superiority can be seized, those warships on the sea that only have anti-aircraft guns will never be a match for the bombers .
At this time, a communications staff officer ran over.
"Colonel, the order has been received, we can begin."
Ji Xiaobin looked at the marine clock and it was exactly 7:30. He nodded to the communications staff officer and then gave the signal to start the exercise.
The three aircraft carriers quickly turned. The wind was blowing from the southeast at this time, and sailing against the wind allowed the aircraft to carry more fuel for takeoff.
There are no catapults on the three aircraft carriers, but there are reserved spaces for installing catapults.
As long as the catapult is successfully developed, the three aircraft carriers can be improved at any time.
Anyone who knows about aircraft carriers knows that the catapult is the most important equipment on an aircraft carrier. Without a catapult, it can only carry light combat aircraft, and the ammunition and fuel carried by the aircraft will be limited.
If there is a suitable catapult, it will not only be possible to carry heavy fighters, but also allow combat aircraft to carry more ammunition and fuel. This is the best way to improve the combat capability of aircraft carriers.
The first to take off were 72 "Sparrowhawk" fighters. After they took off, they were immediately divided into two groups.
48 fighters flew first to the sea area where the First Fleet was operating, while the other 24 stayed behind to escort the bombers that took off later.
Then, 72 Kingfishers also left the flight deck of the aircraft carrier and rose into the air.
The 72 dive bombers first completed the formation over , waiting for the last Osprey torpedo bombers to take off.
This exercise was not to fully test the actual combat capability of the aircraft carrier fleet, but only to test the strike capability of the aircraft carrier fleet, so Tan Renhao took advantage of the loophole.
He deployed all the fighter planes, and more than 200 fighter planes were divided into two attack groups to attack the First Fleet in turns.
The fuel carried by these fighter planes is enough for them to fly for several hours, so there is no problem of "fighting for the deck" on the return flight.
If it were an actual naval battle, doing this would probably be tantamount to suicide.
Forty-five minutes later, all the combat aircraft on the three aircraft carriers had taken off.
The aircraft carrier quickly changed its course and returned to the fleet.
Without combat aircraft, an aircraft carrier would basically lose its combat effectiveness. The 130mm dual-purpose anti-aircraft and anti-flag guns it is equipped with would probably not even be able to deal with a light cruiser, let alone a battleship with strong skin and thick flesh.
Tan Renhao looked at his watch and found that the entire take-off time was about the same as he expected.
If they were divided into two batches, the take-off time for each batch would take at least 25 minutes. In order to deal with unexpected situations, 30 minutes of take-off time must be prepared. Now we have saved more than ten minutes, which is very good.
"Let's go to the Intelligence Center!"
Ji Xiaobin called Tan Renhao. There was nothing interesting to see now. At first, the roar of the planes taking off made Ji Xiaobin's ears hurt.
The intelligence center is on the floor below the aviation operations center. Previously, this was the headquarters on the aircraft carrier and was temporarily converted into the intelligence center.
All messages sent back by the attack aircraft group will be summarized here, and then the important messages will be sent to the flagship.
More than a dozen communications and intelligence staff are busy.
In order to command the attack aircraft group in front, more than ten communication channels were prepared. Each squadron leader of the Fifth Air Wing could contact here directly to report the combat process and the final results.
Tan Renhao felt a little nervous, but this time he controlled his emotions.
The First Fleet was more than 200 kilometers away, and it took about 40 minutes for the fleet to reach the airspace above the First Fleet.
Therefore, during these forty minutes, unless an aircraft needs to return due to a malfunction or crashes into the sea, no news will be sent back.
