Chapter 1283: 1284 Crazy Commander
At night, it is the attacker’s best cover! At any time, blocking sight can block most of the opponent's detection methods.
The naked eye is the best detection method, and it can most effectively detect opponents. It is a pity that the combined fleet cannot find its opponent at all now.
"We have no way to fight back! The carrier-based aircraft cannot take off at all!" the chief of staff said to his immediate boss, John Cleeves, with a sad look on his face.
"But we must find a way to fight back! This is our last chance." John Cleeves looked at his chief of staff. His face was not very good, as pale as a vampire suffering from lack of blood.
He had been so autistic that he could not speak. It was not until the chef brought him a cup of hot tea mixed with milk that he regained some of his consciousness.
“If we just run away all night and don’t make it to dawn, we’ll be doomed! Completely doomed!” John Cleeves regained some sense, so his analysis of the problem became somewhat clearer.
The combined fleet has now lost close to half its strength, or in other words, its core combat strength has been lost close to half. In this case, they really can't hold on until dawn tomorrow.
Continuing to run away like this is basically the same as waiting to die. Now only counterattack, a firm counterattack is the only way out.
"But! Sir John Cleeves, we have no means of counterattack! Even if we take off carrier-based aircraft, we can't fight." The chief of staff said with some embarrassment.
The Qin representative who was responsible for liaising with the Qin fleet was always there. His job was to supervise Dorne's commander so that the other party could not do stupid things with Qin's fleet at the critical moment.
From the beginning of this naval battle to the present, the combined fleet has indeed had no means of counterattack. The representative of the Qin army couldn't say anything, so he could only stand still.
Later, the Qin fleet rescued people after a break, which was also requested by the fleet itself and had nothing to do with the commander of Dorne.
"Forced takeoff! We have trained to take off planes at night! Take off dozens of planes! Keep fighting back!" John Cleeves was almost crazy. He clenched his fists and said through gritted teeth.
“Radio navigation cannot provide any help to the fleet! This is not to fight back, this is to die.” Dorn’s chief of staff urgently reminded his superiors.
"We must go even if we die! If they don't go, we will be completely finished! The aircraft carrier was sunk and exploded! Aren't they going to die too?" John Cleeves asked his deputy in a loud voice.
The atmosphere suddenly became awkward, both sides stared at each other, and the remaining officers did not dare to interrupt casually, so they could only accept the moment of silence.
Outside the porthole, one of Dorne's aircraft carriers was exploding violently. Although the other aircraft carrier was in flames, it was not particularly serious.
This aircraft carrier is an Essex class purchased from the Tang Empire, so the damage control equipment is relatively complete and the performance is good enough to suppress the flames.
Other battleships were not so lucky: one of Qin's aircraft carriers had exploded and sunk, and another battleship was also capsizing. The entire Qin fleet suffered heavy losses, Dorne's fleet was also scarred, and everyone's morale had collapsed. Everyone knew that this was a unilateral killing and hunting by the Tang army, and it was not a reciprocal battle at all.
In fact, many captains of battleships have begun to shout in their own bridges to flee for their lives. Anyway, destroyers and cruisers have small targets and are of little value. It seems that they can really escape if they disperse and escape.
But the problem is that if you really run away, it means that you have given up any possibility of counterattack. If the commander issues such an order, it means that his fighting spirit has collapsed.
At this moment, Qin still has two aircraft carriers that are fine for the time being, and Dorne also has two aircraft carriers that can still fight.
From a purely numerical perspective, more than half of the aircraft carriers of the Combined Fleet have been lost. However, because two of Dorne's aircraft carriers were actually wounded, they were only unable to fight and were not completely destroyed.
This is equivalent to saying that in fact, the combined fleet still has 6 aircraft carriers, but two of them cannot continue to fight.
"The problem is, we still don't know where the Tang Army's fleet is. These carrier-based aircraft that barely took off have no way of finding the enemy." The chief of staff continued to explain patiently.
The commander of the carrier-based aircraft next to him also added in embarrassment: "Commander, it is possible to forcefully take off the aircraft, but these aircraft cannot fight in the dark."
There is no way. Neither the Corsair nor the Stuka has night combat capabilities. They can take off in formation in the dark, but these aircraft have no way to launch attacks.
Stukas with torpedoes had to launch torpedoes close to the water. They had no way to accurately identify the water surface in the dark night, nor could they confirm the enemy's route and estimate the torpedo projection angle.
Similarly, dive bombers cannot find ships sailing on the sea at all, unless the Tang Army's warships turn on all lights and instruct the pilots of the combined fleet to drop bombs on themselves...
This is not the most disastrous. What is even more disastrous is how on earth did these Stukas and pirates find their fleet when they returned? Without radio navigation and precise coordinates, how could they find the aircraft carrier and land safely?
The whole mission is to commit suicide, a life-threatening suicide. How could anyone be willing to perform such a task? If you can successfully attack the enemy's fleet, it still makes sense, but if you can't find the enemy and then fall to your death on the sea... isn't this stupid?
“If the carrier-based aircraft really fails, then let the battleship fleet turn!” John Cleeves no longer cares about so much. The only thing he can confirm is what his fleet must do.
"There is no way we can hold out until dawn! Counterattack with battleships! Let the fleet turn around! The enemy's battleships must not be as many as ours! We must sacrifice all the aircraft carriers. As long as the battleships can close to the artillery distance, we can still bring the enemy together. "Sink to the bottom of the sea!" John Cleeves said crazily.
He is crazy... This is the true thought that many officers immediately had in their minds on the bridge of the Dornish Empire's aircraft carrier Long Live.
If the commander of this combined fleet hadn't been crazy, he wouldn't have been able to come up with such a crazy idea. Now they all think that they are running too slowly. What the **** is going on when they turn around and fight back?
Moreover...battleships charging at night...isn't this something that the main fleet of the Mirage has done? Do you know where the main fleet of Mirage is now? Do you think the Tang Empire’s anti-ship missiles are just for show?