The smoke columns in the sky are clearly visible during this clear day. Each warship is desperately pouring heavy oil into the boiler to maximize the power of the power system and thus make the fleet sail faster.

The huge and heavy hull plows the waves, and the high bow points to the northwest. The entire fleet has scattered in combat formations and is divided into front fleets, flanking fleets, core fleets, guard fleets, and feinted fleets. This is a standard British Royal Navy combat formation. Any officer who graduated from a regular British naval college can form such a formation. Although this formation is the simplest, it is the most reliable. No matter which direction the enemy fleet attacks, the British fleet can handle it freely. Of course, there is a prerequisite, that is,: the British fleet is not far from the enemy fleet in terms of technical equipment.

Standing next to the bridge navigation clock of the aircraft carrier "Glory", Admiral Cunningham's face was not visible, and even his eyes rarely blinked, as if standing there was a statue, not a fleet commander.

If you have to find an adjective to describe General Cunningham’s mood at this moment, perhaps “indecision” is the most appropriate.

Indeed, the British Admiral called the Admiral to "make a decision for himself", the British Prime Minister called the Admiral to "must win back the dignity of the British Navy", while the Admiral Cunningham himself preferred the opinion of the combat staff officer, that is, "take cautious initiatives while preserving his strength."

In the face of these different opinions, Admiral Cunningham hesitated for a long time. Although the fleet still passed through Cape Had's waters according to his orders and began to adjust its course and sail westward, the Admiral still did not make up his mind whether to engage in a naval battle between aircraft carrier special mixed formations here? If this naval battle broke out, it might be destined to be recorded in history. The reason is very simple, because this is a frontal contest between real aircraft carrier combat formations. Compared with the last Andaman Naval Battle, this time, the British aircraft carrier formation was not unprepared. Admiral Cunningham and his staff had already known the general direction of the Chinese aircraft carrier formation. And more importantly, the carrier-based radar of the USS Glory had already appeared a large group of aircraft carrying obvious hostile aircrafts that were rushing towards the Asian fleet.

Since the defeat of the Battle of Malaya, the British government and the Navy have learned from their mistakes and taken a series of effective measures to boost the morale of the navy. One of the most effective measures is to quickly put some new military technologies hidden deep in the boudoir into actual combat, such as sonar technology and radar technology, and have also achieved some good results. Some Chinese submarines active in the Red Sea were spotted and sunk by the sonar of British destroyers. In contrast, the long-range warning radar installed on the aircraft carrier "Guanghui" can better show the powerful power of modern military technology. Although this radar uses meter waves and cannot accurately detect the distance of the target, it can at least let the navy know that there are enemy planes approaching in the sky.

But radar alone is not enough. Admiral Cunningham is very clear about what the fleet needs most now. What the fleet needs most now is combat aircraft with better performance, including fighter jets and torpedo attack aircraft, dive bombers. The ending of the Andaman Navy has already told the British Navy a truth with bloody facts. In the face of the advancement of military technology, even if it is just a little gap, the consequences it brings are enough to make the defeated side unforgettable. China's naval aviation not only has enough morale, but also has better combat aircraft, and the latter is the most critical. However, the British naval aviation lacks such advanced equipment, and the gap between fighter jets is slightly smaller, and the technical gap between torpedo attack aircraft and dive bombers must be calculated in "ten years".

The terrible facts are almost impossible to face this fact. As a naval general who has been paying attention to the arms race in the Far East, he had carefully studied the combat aircraft deployed by the Chinese Navy on Banga Island. At that time, he believed that the technical gap between the Chinese Navy and the British Navy was not big. The torpedo attack aircraft used by the Chinese Navy was also biplane, but the fuselage was all metal. Apart from that, there was nothing to pay attention to. However, later, Admiral Cunningham suddenly discovered that the Chinese Navy had completely eliminated the biplane at some point and replaced it with the latest monoplane. Even the torpedo attack aircraft was replaced with monoplane, which suddenly drove the British Navy far away.

There is no doubt that the reason why the Chinese Navy has long used old combat aircraft may be to confuse potential enemies and make the enemy relax their vigilance. After the enemy ignores the technical reserves of the Chinese Navy, the huge technological gap between the two sides of the war will be followed. This gap will definitely not be compensated in a short period of time. It takes time and requires military technology innovation. Now, both of these two are lacking, especially the former. Now the only thing the British Navy has is a group of pilots willing to serve the battlefield for the country. They can only fly an entire generation of old aircraft to fight against China's most advanced combat aircraft. This can no longer be called a battle. For British pilots, this is almost equivalent to a moth to a flame.

In fact, the British Asian fleet currently commanded by Admiral Cunningham only has two aircraft carriers, one is the "Glory" and the other is the "Eagle". The tonnage of these two aircraft carriers is very limited. What's more serious is that except for a small number of fighter jets, the remaining combat aircraft are basically old-fashioned "Swordfish" torpedo attack aircraft. This biplane structure, dubbed "net cable bag", is very "primitive". It is the same as the aircraft during the European war 20 years ago. The upper and lower wings of the "Swordfish" are fixed by struts and wires. This is also the origin of its nickname "net cable bag", which directly leads to the great resistance of the aircraft during flight. Even if the aircraft does not carry any ammunition, the degree is already very low. If it is mounted on a torpedo, it is simply a victim of the Chinese "Falcon" eagle claw.

Before leaving the Mediterranean, Cunningham shot a telegram asking the Admiralty to hand over the latest "Big Blue and White Fish" torpedo attack aircraft to his fleet, but until he led the fleet out of the Gulf of Aden, those "Big Blue and White Fish" were gone. Now, even though he knew that his fleet was about to engage in a fierce naval and air battle with the Chinese fleet, Admiral Cunningham did not have a single attack aircraft that could be taken out, but it seemed that this could not be blamed on the Admiralty. After all, these two aircraft carriers have been repairing in Colombo. When the Chinese 6th Army troops had already begun to sweep the Indian sub-Major 6, it was impossible for them to quickly replace new equipment. Even the radar of the "Glory" was transported to Colombo by a destroyer. The Chinese's comprehensive flowering tactics obviously made the British affairs department busy.

Without a suitable attack aircraft, the aircraft carrier is like a decoration and is also a target of activity at sea. Should we really "use battleships to win back the confidence of the British navy" as the British Prime Minister shouted in the telegram? Admiral Cunningham did not think this joke was funny at all. He just felt sad. The dignified "Empire of the Sun Not Setting" was so busy that he could not even take out a decent combat aircraft. If the British government had understood this cruel fact, would it still declare war on China?

No matter what General Cunningham thinks and hesitates now, the fact is that even if he wants to retreat now, it is too late. According to radar soldiers' estimates, in another fifteen to twenty minutes, the Chinese Navy Air Force's combat aircraft will fly over the head of the Asian fleet.

"All fighter jets take off. The torpedo attack aircraft is loaded with torpedoes and take off immediately. Fly in the southeast direction first, go deep into 6 places, and then fly north to find opportunities to attack enemy aircraft carriers. All submarines in the fleet sail north immediately, form submarine hunting troops, and search and attack on their own. No matter what the fleet is doing, the submarine troops decide their next action. Then take a telegram and ask Muscat's shore-based aviation RAF troops to provide strong battlefield support."

Cunningham Xun issued an order to the adjutant, and in this case, he could only count on the British Air Force's shore-based aviation force. After all, the British Royal Air Force has deployed more than a dozen combat brigades in the Middle East, and its strength cannot be underestimated.

A shrill battle alarm sounded on the aircraft carrier "Glory". All the British sailors and officers were busy. Anti-aircraft guns raised their guns and the main guns of the battleships removed the gun plugs. "Hurricane" and "Sea Fire" fighters left the flight deck and rushed into the sky. However, the few people felt particularly desolate. Even the most ordinary British sailors on the deck were crossing their chests to pray for the naval aviation soldiers. As for General Cunningham himself, he simply closed his eyes.

"Please send a telegram to the Admiralty Department and tell them that our fleet has entered a state of combat and is about to fight against the Chinese fleet's assault aircraft. However, I am not sure about victory. I can only do my duty and try my best to protect the strength of the fleet. If the war fails, I request to retreat as soon as possible."

After dictating the content of the telegram, Admiral Cunningham finally opened his eyes and looked into the sky. Just two minutes after he opened his eyes, a shrill air defense alarm sounded. Obviously, the radar of the USS Glory aircraft carrier miscalculated the distance before the Chinese aircraft. In fact, the arrival of the Chinese aircraft was at least five minutes ahead of the radar soldiers' predictions.

"Air defense!Air defense!"

The commander on the anti-aircraft gun position shouted at the top of his lungs. The sailors with shoulder-mounted air rangefinders immediately pointed the camera at the sky in the northwest and began to measure the altitude and distance of the Chinese Navy's invading aircraft, and quickly calculated the coordinates and provided them to the gun captain in the gun position. The gunmen quickly adjusted the pitch and azimuth angle of the gun body according to the command of the gun captain, so that the gun mouth should be aimed at the most dense airspace of Chinese aircraft as much as possible.

"Free fire! Free fire!"

The officers quickly conveyed the command of the fleet commander, and then the entire fleet's air-to-air firepower began to launch bullets, and shells of all sizes flew into the sky, and exploded in the sky after a few seconds. The sky, where the motives of the aircraft could only be heard, suddenly became boiling, and the blue sky appeared in the blue sky with dense smoke, black and yellow, exploded one by one in the sky. Standing on the deck, it looked like flowers of death, which was shocking.

One minute after the anti-aircraft gun fired, the first incoming bomber was hit by shells, but did not crash immediately. Instead, he dragged the black smoke from the left wing to continue to rush towards the British fleet, a twin-engine medium bomber. At this moment, there were at least eighteen such bombers in the sky, and the same number of "Falcon" fighters were providing escort for it.
Chapter completed!