What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 580 Acceleration (1000 monthly votes in July)

The loss of seven destroyers in the blink of an eye caused Tang Wen to frown slightly.

The loss of those destroyers didn't affect the overall situation, but it was enough to show that the Allied forces were preparing a well-organized attack—dawn was breaking, and the main Allied force was coming.

He didn't care how long it took for the fleet to be destroyed during the last Christmas offensive, but this time he has to drag it out a bit, at least until tonight when he can force Wilson to negotiate again.

Tang Wen also kept calculating the costs for the Allied Forces:
Even without considering the loss of fighter jets, in terms of ammunition alone, at least 1200 air-to-air missiles were used in the previous battles.

按照AIM120A/B和AIM9M用量2:1计算，其中AIM120帝国采购价在88万美元左右，AIM9M采购价38万没有作用，已经花掉了8.5亿美元弹药费！

If the other side is preparing to launch an offensive, they would need to prepare at least 1000 air-to-air missiles and around 300 Harpoons, right?

Tang Wen roughly estimated that, not counting the loss of fighter jets, the cost of weapons, ammunition, personnel mobilization, and fuel alone has approached $20 billion so far!
When cannons roar, gold flows like water. Besides, would the Empire really offer Britain a price based on its internal procurement rates?

Moreover, the current situation is special; it's normal for prices to fluctuate by 50% and climb to $30 billion.

He knew that the British would have to pay most of the cost, and he didn't believe that Blair, a stingy man from a labor background, would willingly spend the money!

If they can hold out against today's wave of attacks, Prism Building might still have the equipment and manpower to continue fighting, but Blair will definitely have to beg them to stop. If they keep fighting, they won't be able to pay back the debts even into the 22nd century.

At this moment, the 120 warships that had joined together were only 440 kilometers from the shore and were about to reach the V1 firing range.

However, there are not many targets to strike along the northern shore, but Lossiemouth Air Force Base would be within range when the distance to the shore is reduced to 250 kilometers.

At the current speed, it will take another four and a half hours, and we can finish at 3 p.m., just before dark.

Tang Wen immediately made a decision to have the Zeppelin launch 80 stealth Swifts (air combat-ready) and 80 stealth Swifts (ground attack-ready) to form a full high-speed formation and strike first against the Rossmouth base!
Meanwhile, the fast fleet also launched 240 Gnats to draw anti-aircraft fire as they approached the shore.

Because of the greater fuel consumption and more powerful engines, these 160 fighter jets can maintain high subsonic speeds throughout the entire flight and make a final sprint at the end of the flight to carry out their strikes!
On the deck of the Zeppelin, groups of eight stealth Swifts immediately refreshed and popped up at a rate of one round every 90 seconds, which was immediately detected by the E2s that were taking pictures around the fleet.

When 64 fighter jets took off and continued to circle within 5 minutes, the E2 radar officer, who came from an aircraft carrier background, immediately realized that the other side was about to gather a large number of fighter jets and launch them together!

This time, because the Zeppelin was sailing with the convoy, it was unable to conceal the number of targets when launching its fighters.

Upon learning the news, Aldgrove Air Base immediately sounded the highest alert. Wayne decided to deploy 36 fighter jets first, and then decide whether to add more.

At 11:00 AM sharp, the E2 radar officer almost trembled as he shouted the numbers to the rear:
400 aircraft.

……

"400 aircraft?! 160 of them were launched by the Zeppelin alone?!"

Johnson, who had also arrived at the front lines, received the telegram and nearly dropped his eyeballs when he saw the numbers.

Experts have studied the photographs and identified one aircraft carrier as the USS Zeppelin.

Back then, Prism Building suspected that the amazing hangar space folding technology was making a comeback, and now it seems to be true!
The USS Zeppelin was originally designed to carry 42 aircraft, and even with the most extreme measures, it could only carry 50. Launching 160 aircraft was simply outrageous. Moreover, everyone was certain it had a reserve of carrier-based aircraft and wouldn't launch them all at this time!

The generals at Prism Tower had experienced similar situations before and could accept it, but a group of European allies were simply shocked beyond belief:
Although the Third Fleet's fighter jets are really not that great, this hangar, which is comparable to a black hole, is simply heaven-defying technology!

The naval officer with the hair on his head who was observing in the command center almost immediately stood up, his face flushed, and looked at the telegram:

The 2-ton Zeppelin can carry hundreds of fighter jets. If they obtained this technology and applied it to the Gaole, it wouldn't be unreasonable to say that the aircraft capacity could reach 100.
Doesn't this mean that a medium-sized aircraft carrier can suddenly become a supercarrier, even more powerful than the Nimitz?
The rest of the allied forces also realized what was happening:

For the past year, they hadn't quite understood why Prism Building was so determined to fight the Third Reich, especially this time they were willing to go to war at any cost. Turns out they had something big inside!

Johnson knew what they were thinking. The details of the battle between the four Iowa ships and the Second Fleet had been kept highly confidential, with only some parts being released. Wasn't that just an attempt to keep it all to themselves?

The Black Hole Hangar technology is a perfect match for the Imperial Navy, almost doubling its combat power upon acquisition.

After witnessing it with my own eyes again, my desire to obtain this technology became extremely strong.

However, he pretended not to know the intricacies of the situation and gave Huai'en a wink, who immediately announced loudly:
"As you can see, the Third Fleet has too many planes. We must organize an attack on its fleet itself as soon as possible, otherwise a large number of junk planes will greatly waste our strength."

我提议70架制空战机拦截那400架敌机，再调集48架反舰机群和80架战斗机优先对其舰队发起进攻，23架轰炸机起飞在西部空域待命等待进攻机会，预计于13时到14时左右摧毁第三舰队主力！
The remaining 18 fighter jets, along with the 12 F-16s that just returned, are on standby in the south as a reserve force!

"That's 400 enemy planes. Are 70 planes enough to intercept them?"

Pierre immediately cried out, saying that 400 against 70 seemed too risky to him.

"That's enough. Don't forget we've brought a large amount of ground-based air defense equipment from our homeland!"

However, Wayne was very confident, as they were all too familiar with the Lost Empire's saturation attacks.

This time, the Empire brought over a whole bunch of retired and outdated equipment from its homeland, including missiles, machine guns, and even towed anti-aircraft guns.

这些集中在50年代到60年代以千为单位生产的遗物连拆了都嫌费劲，但用来应对50到60年代水平的蚊蚋、超级262却刚刚好，简直是棋逢对手！
What's even more amazing is that Dai Ying paid for all the junk she brought!
After suffering a major defeat in the Second Air War, Britain, having exhausted all other options, finally called for military aid. The Prism Building immediately approved a $50 billion quota, but naturally, it couldn't all be given to advanced equipment. It would be a disservice to Britain not to take the opportunity to clear out its inventory!
The Empire is very happy to sell junk, and even uses expensive strategic airlift aircraft to transport it free of charge. So far, 300 sets of antique air defense equipment have been delivered to Sugonan, and it is expected that 1000 sets will be transported by air and about 4000 sets by sea.

Add to that the 2000 unused shoulder-fired Stinger missiles, and together they swindled a staggering $10 billion!
The British air defense forces almost tearfully salvaged these dilapidated, dusty, and rusted aircraft, then spread them throughout the north and south of Sugo, forming an air defense line stretching for hundreds of kilometers along with the expensive Patriot missiles.

The appearance of 400 fighter jets solidified the coalition's goal of striking the main fleet, and the first F-15 took off at 11:10.

大约11时40分，从多个机场汇集的128架战机刻意从北艾尔兰集结，另外从洛西茅斯和其他民用机场起飞的70架战机则前去拦截那惊人的400架战机。

The most pressured aircraft in this unprecedented battle are the early warning aircraft!

With the addition of bombers, electronic warfare aircraft, and other auxiliary aircraft taking off from the south, there were more than 600 targets in the sky at the same time. Each scan by the mechanical radar took half a day to process!

(End of this chapter)