What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 400 Underwater and Aerial Miniatures Attack (May 3600 Monthly Tickets)

16:30 PM local time

Just as the last EA-6B completed its arrested landing, the sky darkened at a visible speed. The crew members on the warship only had time to look up and feel the moisture in the air before large raindrops began to fall.

Storms at sea are different from those on land. The amount of water vapor evaporating from the ocean is almost endless, and you never know how long a heavy rain will last.

On the bridge of the Enterprise, Calvin's arm was soaked with sweat after he stretched his hand out for just a few seconds.

Let alone landing, even taking off and climbing into the clouds is a huge problem here.

Even if Hartman were reborn, he couldn't defy the heavens, could he?
Fern, aboard the Kearsarge, had just made contact with Marcel via satellite line. Marcel told him that the eye of the storm was in Guyana, and that radio and broadcast communications on land had failed, with only wired telephone connections available.

The port is not only prone to torrential rain but also to strong winds, making it easy for items on ships to be blown into the sea.

Although the Enterprise was on the edge of the area, the sky was still filled with lightning and thunder. It was not even five o'clock yet, but it was already as dark as seven or eight o'clock, and the visibility was very low.

The wind and rain created considerable waves on the sea, but the USS Kearsarge, USS Enterprise, and USS New Jersey remained as stable as ever.

"Please pick up Edwin for me."

Fern and the USS New Jersey established communication:

"Edwin, if there are still attacks coming from land, we must do everything we can to ensure the safety of the Enterprise. I hope J can provide cover to the southwest."

"This is not a problem."

Edwin agreed without hesitation, which was precisely the reason for the existence of the USS New Jersey.

In fact, after the Battle of Antigua, the USS New Jersey, which made the greatest contribution and was the only one to fight to the end, has become a rising star, and Edwin's reputation has also been greatly enhanced.

Knowing that it would be deployed again, the USS New Jersey underwent some minor adjustments during its repairs at the shipyard:
Armor protection was added around the missile launchers in the midsection and tail section, and the antennas were deliberately extended to prevent them from being detonated again and causing the electronic system to malfunction.

The damaged 127 secondary gun positions on both sides have been replaced with more Phalanx CIWS. Now, the J-15 has a total of 8 CIWS on both sides, making its close-range anti-aircraft firepower extremely strong.

Moreover, close-in weapon systems (CIWS) are not very powerful when they explode; even if a gnat were to crash into a battleship, it would be of little effect.

The rain intensified, and the latest weather forecast indicated that the heavy rain would last for about 6 hours, continuing into the middle of the night.

……

Tang Wen opened the hatch of U69, and the rain poured down as if God were pouring water from a bucket.

The rainforest, which is usually very humid, is now experiencing an unusually heavy rainfall. When we switched to the submarine, we could see the swamps turning into lakes, and many trees were submerged up to their roots.

The water surface seemed to be boiling, constantly splashing, which made the air feel a little fresher after a long time.

Unlike Fern, Tang Wen's weather forecasts, which rely on precise calculations by a local supercomputer, are rather vague, leaving him to rely on guesswork and improvisation.

He knew from the newspaper that a rainstorm in Baxi could last for several days at most, and today's rain was only considered "not heavy".

"Commander, we have lost track of the Enterprise squadron, but they should have stopped, probably within this range."

Within a 30-kilometer radius, strong winds and thunderstorms accompanied heavy rainfall, and the sea was experiencing large waves.

As Lütjens spoke, a bright area lit up in Tang Wen's mind.

With the help of the weather, the third U69 can even slowly approach at periscope depth, and it is now certain that the main fleet has stopped.

Carefully examine the positions of the three submarines:
The first vessel is in the rainforest of Appalma, the second vessel is in the waters north and south of Sulley, the Enterprise formation is 100 kilometers to its northeast, and the third vessel is further north.

If the aircraft launched from the No. 1 ship then rendezvous with the aircraft launched from the No. 2 ship, the distance to the Enterprise would be 1400 kilometers. The improved Gnat 2.0 has a maximum range of 2000 kilometers, with some circling range.

The second aircraft is about 150 kilometers away from the Enterprise formation, and can launch about four waves of gnats to wait. The first aircraft can launch two waves, and can launch a maximum of six waves of 90 aircraft per hour. "It's less, less than a hundred aircraft."

Tang Wen was not satisfied with this number. A mere 90 aircraft, which is only 18 manned aircraft and 72 unmanned wingmen, is far too few.

Lütjens: "Then let boat number 3 move to boat number 2 now, but that will take at least 6 hours."

But this way, 10 waves of 150 aircraft can be assembled at once.

"It's still not enough."

Tang Wen shook his head again.

"Then let's calculate everything using the limits."

The ship girls started giving their opinions:

"The No. 1 boat will take off in three batches, cruising at an economical speed of 600 kilometers per hour. The No. 2 and No. 3 boats will take two hours to gather 16 batches of aircraft before rendezvousing, for a total of 19 batches and 285 aircraft. Considering the final supersonic attack, the fuel supply is just right."

"That's it."

Feeling the relentless rain outside, Tang Wen silently hoped that it would rain heavily all night.

“现在是17时10分，22时1号艇开始放飞机群，23时2号和3号艇开始放飞，现在3号艇立即与2号艇汇合！”

……

By 20 p.m., the first wave of rain had subsided considerably, now only amounting to ordinary heavy rain.

Tang Wen clenched his fists nervously, waiting. Fortunately, the dark clouds in the sky were still so thick that it was hard to breathe, and the entire rainforest was shrouded in darkness.

During the lull in the rain, the submarine received broadcasts from nearby areas informing them of widespread flooding and mudslides, surging river levels, and the destruction of numerous communications.

At 21:45 PM, the rainstorm returned, and this time it was even more intense and violent.

[Commander: All submarines sortie!]

An improved gnawing machine appeared at the end of the catapult of the No. 1 boat, and was launched directly out with its jet engine running at full power without any preheating.

The dense, waterfall-like flow of water had no effect on it; the massive amount of rainwater poured into the air intakes on both sides and disappeared as if swallowed by a black hole.

One minute later, the second plane was ejected.

One plane after another took off in the pitch-black darkness and torrential rain, then began to circle, skimming the treetops.

Half a circle, one circle, one and a half circles, two circles... After 45 minutes, the snake formed by three batches of 45 aircraft began to straighten out.

But just in case, to better evade radar, Tang Wen began to maneuver the aircraft into layers:
Fifteen aircraft were arranged in a line, end to end. Then, three lines were combined in a triangle shape, with the distance between each other in all directions kept within 3 meters, forming a long snake that was 170 meters long, 15 meters wide, and 10 meters high. It flew close to the trees at a height of more than ten meters in the dark.

Even if the ground-based radar failed at this time, it would be difficult for the E2 to detect anything from the sky.

Having explored the map during their previous flights, these 45 gnats planned routes with minimal human presence and tried to fly over forests to absorb noise.

Shortly after they set off, boat number 2 surfaced.

The turbulent sea caused the hundreds-of-tons submarine to rock back and forth, threatening to submerge it at any moment.

However, under such terrible sea conditions, a gnat burst out of the void and crashed directly into the oncoming waves, circling the sea around the submarine without ignoring the waves.

(End of this chapter)