Chapter 1365: 1282 The Same Night

In the dark night, a Voyager carrier-based electronic warfare aircraft was circling over the combat zone. Two pilots were examining the aircraft’s status in the parallel cockpit, looking at various screens glowing with green light.

Behind them, two other pilots were operating the electronic jamming equipment on the plane, interfering with the electronic communication equipment frequencies of Qin Country and Dorne Empire.

The opposition’s command scheduling has been completely disrupted. On the vast, pitch-black ocean, the two fleets can hardly communicate effectively.

The signal lights flashing non-stop, the commander of the United Fleet, John Cleves, sat in front of the chart table, his eyes glazed over, unable to utter a single word.

His counterattack planes did not return, not a single Stuka Attack Aircraft came back. Along with it, 7 Pirate Fighters also went missing.

35 aircraft, no news at all, until it darkened did everyone in the United Fleet realize that these planes might never return.

Because it was gradually getting dark, the entire fleet was unable to launch more aircraft. It couldn’t be helped; piston fighters don’t have all-weather combat capabilities.

More urgently, because it was too late, there was no possibility of launching search planes to find those allied aircraft.

In other words, there was no way to dispatch rescue, those 35 planes boldly attacking the enemy fleet might as well be declared “completely lost.”

“If these planes were returning, they could reach the frequency where the radio barely communicated… but they didn’t.” The commander of the naval aviation forces explained technical issues to the chief of staff.

At that time, the Tang Army’s interference weakened quite a bit. If the returning planes flew within approximately 50 kilometers around the fleet, communication could potentially be restored, identifying their own fleet.

Unfortunately, these planes did not appear within the 50-kilometer radius of their fleet. No one knows where these planes went or what kind of situation they encountered.

“We haven’t captured any radio signals.” The officer shook his head, continuing to add: “Worried about the enemy pinpointing our exact location, we couldn’t actively send fleet positions like in exercises to those carrier-based aircraft.”

“I understand… you’ve tried your best.” The chief of staff reassured him. Indeed, throughout the day, the pilots of the United Fleet tried their utmost.

They began taking off continuously since the morning, then held on for one or two hours in the sky, followed by landing in chaos, all while dealing with the dangerous state of low fuel.

More frustrating was that Tang Country’s fleet remained unfound, making counterattacks impossible, with several attack batches only able to search above the fleet, torturously.

After finally discovering the possible location of the Tang Country fleet, the dispatched carrier-based aircraft vanished like mud cows into the sea.

They were shot down by allied forces, and with their carriers sunk, two were damaged, making it impossible to land and causing some to crash. The attacking planes didn’t come back…

In this situation, the morale of the Navy aviation troops of the entire United Fleet was very low, everyone had been busy all day, yet they hadn’t even seen the enemy’s shadow.

In reality, Tang Army’s fighter jets directly found these unfortunate Stukas and Pirates and shot them all down.

The aircraft of both sides weren’t on the same level at all. Phantom Fighters, even if they were trash, were genuine second-generation jet fighters, certainly superior to Pirates, which were propeller planes.

10 Phantom Fighters encircled 7 Pirate Fighters and 28 Stukas, it really seemed like using a bull knife to kill chickens.

Unable to contact their fleet, these Qin and Dorne Navy fighters were unable to report what they saw back to the fleet.

Their intelligence was extremely important: the opponent had jet carrier-based aircraft! But such news John Cleves had no chance to know; at this moment, there was only a harsh electric interference sound in the United Fleet’s communication channel.

All the carrier-based aircraft of the United Fleet were naturally unable to return. Without illumination, the United Fleet couldn’t continue dispatching planes for retaliation.

The night was insurmountable for World War II-era carriers and carrier-based aircraft. They had some ways to barely take off and land, but carrier-based aircraft couldn’t engage in combat at night.

Therefore, apart from retreating, the entire fleet had no better options: John Cleves knew that night didn’t mean combat incapability for the Tang Army.

At least the opposition could launch anti-ship missiles. If the distance was sufficient, these anti-ship missiles would be extremely deadly.

Precisely because of this, after confirming there was no hope of recovering his carrier-based aircraft, John Cleves ordered his fleet to rapidly flee west along the coastline.

Unable to help it, after eliminating the two major directions where Tang Army might exist by using the coastline, the United Fleet nearly locked its escape direction.

If they fled towards the ocean, there would only be the southwest as a direction. And this direction clearly was one that “gradually approached” the Tang Army. If Tang Army hadn’t discovered the United Fleet’s tracks, it was fine. If they did, countless anti-ship missiles would strike come the second half of the night.

This was an unacceptable situation for the United Fleet, so John Cleves ultimately could only order his fleet to move at full speed west along the coastline.

To accommodate the outdated battleships in the fleet, the fleet’s speed was about 20 knots. Meanwhile, the Tang Army’s speed remained above 27 knots.

Moreover, the Tang Army’s planes weren’t rated by travel speed; they arrived faster! As the sky darkened, when the Tang Empire’s special forces began operations from the north, the Tang Army’s carrier-based aircraft launched another round of attacks.

Dozens of planes roared, approaching the United Fleet, using radar to lock onto the biggest targets. Being close enough, the attack precision was assured.

The daytime attack couldn’t let Harpoon missiles lock onto the fleet’s core big targets; now it could! As long as the distance was sufficient, the radar reflection signal difference became increasingly apparent.

One Harpoon Anti-Ship Missile after another flew out from under the wings of the Intruder carrier-based attack aircraft, the tail flame streaked through the sky like meteors.

“This time, they’re definitely in trouble.” Watching the missiles guided by the aircraft’s radar fly towards the warships with the largest reflection areas, a Tang Army pilot showed a cruel smile.