Chapter 1356: 1273 Joint Fleet Counterattack

“Launch the fourth batch of Stukas immediately! Launch the fighters at the same time! Let the third batch of carrier-based aircraft wait a bit longer!” Seizing the opportunity, John Cleves paused the recovery of carrier aircraft, preparing to dispatch his attack aircraft group to regain the upper hand.

This was an instinct of a veteran, and indeed his idea was correct. A fleet of this size had been inexplicably taking hits, and if they didn’t quickly counterattack to reverse the passive situation, destruction was only a matter of time.

Only by seizing the opportunity to bite back could they possibly secure a chance of survival: as long as the opponent became wary, their pursuit speed would slow, allowing them to shake off the opponent and avert danger.

Additionally, if the opponent was allowed to maintain their offensive rhythm, that would mean letting them attack at will. A carrier fleet’s strike depends on rhythm, essentially the rhythm of launching carrier-based aircraft. If the opponent maintained an unbroken rhythm, the attacks would naturally be overwhelming and continuous.

But if a single counterattack disrupted the opponent’s rhythm, they would have to adjust the rhythm of launching and recovering their carrier-based aircraft, which would delay time and prevent sustained attacks, thereby ensuring the safety of their own fleet.

Now the third batch of Stuka attack aircraft had just launched, with plenty of fuel left. Attacking the enemy’s fleet might not be enough, but hovering over the fleet for a while and waiting a bit before recovery was certainly manageable.

Another reason was that John Cleves worried about recovering the third batch of Stuka carrier-based aircraft as he only had seven aircraft carriers left, with Stukas from two other carriers squeezed into these seven. Recovering all the aircraft in the sky might not have enough space.

So, he fantasized about a “catch-the-ball game,” sending a part of the aircraft out on a mission first, freeing up space to receive returning aircraft, refuel them completely, then allowing them to take off again, and landing those returning from missions in a continuous cycle to solve the space issue.

It’s just that executing this plan wouldn’t go as smoothly as it sounded, due to communication issues and pilot capability issues… It’s estimated that many aircraft accidents would occur.

“Commander… at this time launching the fourth batch of Stukas… isn’t it…” The Chief of Staff wanted to remind John Cleves that they had not yet confirmed the enemy’s location.

“After the fourth batch of Stukas takes off, form a formation immediately and search in the southeast direction! The enemy fleet must be in that direction! Find them! Sink them!” John Cleves clenched his fist and struck the map table.

So, was the Great Tang Empire Navy fleet actually in the southeast direction? Indeed, it was, and they were charging toward the combined fleet at a very high speed.

The distance between the two sides had now closed to over 500 kilometers… indeed, over 500 kilometers! This meant that John Cleves had indeed judged the position of the Great Tang Empire Navy’s fleet correctly, but he hadn’t guessed that the location of their fleet was still outside his strike range at that moment!

The Stuka’s range when carrying bombs was only about 500 kilometers, and this range was very limited. The naval version of the Stuka, due to its folding wings and more complex structure adding much weight, had a smaller fuel tank, with a range of only about 400 kilometers.

With the complex situation and some fuel reserved for waiting to land on the carrier after return, the combined fleet’s effective strike radius was actually about 350 kilometers.

Therefore, when 28 Stuka dive bombers carrying torpedoes charged toward the Great Tang Empire Navy under the cover of 7 Pirate Fighters, they were destined to achieve nothing.

But all this was unknown to John Cleves, who instinctively believed that the enemy’s carrier aircraft range was only about 300 kilometers at most.

Moreover, he judged that the opponent had changed their attack direction to confuse him, further reducing their range.

Therefore, he believed the opponent’s fleet should be about 200 kilometers southeast of his position, thinking this distance was an absolute opportunity to counterattack.

As long as the fourth batch of Stukas disrupted the opponent’s deployment, his situation would improve. Perhaps, the opponent’s interference with his radio and radar signals would also disappear, and then it would be his turn for a full-scale counterattack!

…

As Rudeler piloted the Thunderbolt Attack Aircraft across the battlefield, the ground beneath was already scorched. For the past few days, he had been circling various areas like a vulture. Whenever he found any target, his Thunderbolt would dive down and furiously strafe the ground with cannons. The highways were piled with various wreckages, stretching toward the horizon.

These vehicles belonged to the Qin Army’s central cluster, including imported Type 4 tanks and domestically developed Qin Type 3 and Type 4 tanks.

There were even a dozen valuable Scud missile launchers sold to Qin Country by the Tang Empire, worth their weight in gold.

Now, they were all destroyed, with tanks next to the missile launchers, armored vehicles next to tanks, and civilian cars, trucks, even ox carts and horse-drawn carts, along with various artillery pieces.

Ever since knowing that Dongqing couldn’t be held, Ying An tried to withdraw troops to the west. Initially, it was the main troops, later followed by logistic and supply transport units.

But none of these troops escaped the destruction of the Tang Empire Air Force. They were destroyed on the roads, stretching for hundreds of kilometers, wrecks piled up everywhere.

Now, the roads had basically been paralyzed by the Tang Empire Air Force, and except for some infantry, no vehicles could pass through here.

Because the destruction was so thorough, even the subsequent Tang Army units complained, as it wasn’t easy to advance quickly on such roads.

Qin Country’s troops were in full retreat, Wang Luo’s corps within Xiajian’s encirclement had collapsed, and the situation near Dongqing was dire.

If Ying An got surrounded in Dongqing, then the Heishui Oilfield north of Dongqing would undoubtedly be lost. The Tang Army would easily secure the Heishui Oilfield supplies, accelerating their advance.

To delay the Tang Army, Ying An had already ordered the destruction of the Heishui Oilfield and all airfields near Dongqing. But everyone knew this would only delay them briefly, as the Great Tang Empire’s Engineer Corps would soon repair these facilities, leaving Qin Country little time.