You were tasked with guarding the Sihang Warehouse, and you brought out a Tiger tank?

Watching the aircraft fly towards the southeast sea, gradually turning into small black dots.

Lin Feng did not leave the track.

He turned around, looked at the empty track behind him, and a smirk appeared on his face.

The first wave was just an appetizer.

Lin Feng opened the system interface again, his finger hovering over the redemption button for the [JU-87 B-2 "Stuka" dive bomber].

Once the first wave disrupts the Japanese formation, the second wave of Stukas will fall from the sky and smash all the decks of those iron turtles.

-----

Yellow Sea waters.

On the towering mast of the armored cruiser Izumo, the general's flag, representing the commander-in-chief of the Third Fleet, fluttered in the sea breeze.

Inside the bridge, Vice Admiral Kojiro Oikawa stood in front of the nautical chart table, unconsciously touching his beard.

Just now, the staff officer reported some extremely bad news to him.

"The escorting Type 96 carrier combat squadron sent an urgent telegram."

They were attacked by two unidentified Chinese twin-engine heavy fighters.

Three fighter jets were destroyed, and two others were damaged.

The enemy planes were extremely fast; they struck and escaped, and the enemy couldn't catch them at all.

What terrified Koshiro Oikawa even more was...

The radio listening room aboard the Izumo had just intercepted an extremely strong unidentified radio signal originating in the airspace near the fleet.

Although Oikawa Koshiro was more like a bureaucrat than a general, he was not stupid.

He knew perfectly well that it was definitely a Chinese reconnaissance plane reporting the exact coordinates of their fleet to the base in Qingcheng Port.

"Baka!"

Koshiro Oikawa slammed his fist on the chart table, cursing through gritted teeth:

"Lin Feng's air force could launch an air raid at any time."

He forced himself to remain calm, turned to Captain Takeda, and loudly gave the order:

"Order the entire fleet to immediately turn due east."

Increase the speed to twenty knots.

At this critical moment, the aging Izumo slowed down the entire fleet.

"All ships maintain a tight anti-aircraft formation, all anti-aircraft gunners in position, keep a close watch on the sky."

Koshiro Oikawa paused, then added:

"Immediately send an urgent telegram to the Army Aviation Bases in Lushun and Shanghai."

They were urged to immediately take off with the next escort fighters and arrive over the fleet as quickly as possible to relieve them of their cover.

"Yes, sir." The staff officer immediately turned around to relay the order.

Soon, the captains of each ship replied via radio that they had received the order.

The massive Japanese fleet left huge white trails on the sea as it began to accelerate towards the deep sea, far away from Qingcheng Port.

Koshiro Oikawa raised his binoculars and glanced at the Type 96 carrier-based fighters that were still circling in the sky, but whose fuel was probably almost depleted.

A sliver of hope still lingered in his heart.

"We are still more than 250 nautical miles from Qingcheng Port."

Koshiro Oikawa secretly plotted in his mind:

There are about four hours until sunset.

No matter how powerful Lin Feng is, how many large bombers with a range of over 500 kilometers and capable of carrying heavy bombs can he have?

He may not be able to launch a large-scale, devastating attack on us from this distance.

Koshiro Oikawa closed his eyes and silently prayed to Amaterasu Omikami:

As long as we can hold out until the next wave of escort aircraft arrives...

If we can just endure these four hours, we can make it to sunset.

When night fell, the Chinese planes became blind.

Then I will order a full-speed advance towards Qingcheng Port.

Simply fire a few shots on the shore to destroy the dock, and that will be considered completing the scorched earth mission assigned by headquarters.

It'll be easier to explain when I get back...

However, Koshiro Oikawa's prayers were destined to be in vain.

More than an hour later.

The Type 96 carrier-based fighter jets in the sky, which were responsible for escorting the aircraft, had to turn back to the Lushun base in the north, flapping their wings in frustration because they had run out of fuel.

Meanwhile, the next batch of escort aircraft was still flying slowly in the sky hundreds of kilometers away.

A deadly, twenty-minute-long air defense vacuum appeared over the Japanese fleet.

Just then.

A scream suddenly rang out from the lookout post on the highest mast of the Izumo.

The sound was like a male duck being choked, filled with endless fear.

"Enemy aircraft—!"

The lookout pointed to the western sky and shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Dozens of large twin-engine bombers at the nine o'clock position!"

They are rapidly approaching my fleet!

Upon hearing the scream, Oikawa Koshiro abruptly raised his binoculars and looked in the direction of the scream.

next second.

The Japanese lieutenant general, who was known for his composure, turned deathly pale in an instant.

Through the telescope's field of vision, beneath the grayish-white clouds, countless black dots, like a swarm of locusts released by the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, were swarming towards them.

-----

At this moment, the rain clouds overhead the Japanese fleet had completely dissipated.

The sun shone brightly on the azure sea, and the visibility was astonishing.

For the attacking side, this was perfect weather for bombing.

But for the defending side, it was pure torture.

Inside the cockpit of the bomber's lead aircraft, the pilot gripped the control wheel with both hands, his palms sweaty.

Through the huge, all-glass greenhouse-like cockpit at the nose of the plane, he could clearly see the Japanese warships that had formed an anti-aircraft formation on the sea below.

The three largest ones are definitely heavy cruisers, the kind that weigh over 10,000 tons.

"Attention all aircraft, this is Fearless-01."

He pressed the microphone in his throat, and his voice remained clear amidst the roar of the engine:

"Target located. All squads disperse according to the pre-arranged plan, lower altitude, and prepare to enter the torpedo attack path."

"Fearless-02 received."

"Fearless-03 received."

……

While aerial torpedoes are powerful, they are extremely troublesome to launch.

It must be dropped very close to the sea surface, usually from a height of fifty to one hundred meters.

If dropped directly from a great height, a lump of iron weighing several hundred kilograms would break in two on the hard surface of the water, or plunge headfirst into the muddy seabed.

This means that in the minute or two before dropping the bombs, the torpedo bombers must fly horizontally like sitting ducks, braving the enemy warships' anti-aircraft fire.

This requires pilots to have nerves of steel.

"Lower your altitude and follow me."

The pilot slammed the steering wheel forward.

The massive HE-111 bomber nose-down began its rapid dive towards the sea.

The pressure changes inside the cabin made his ears ring.

The altimeter needle spun wildly counter-clockwise: 3,000 meters, 2,500 meters, 2,000 meters...

When they descended to an altitude of 1,500 meters, the Japanese anti-aircraft fire finally erupted as if a hornet's nest had been stirred up.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

"Da da da da—!"

On the sea, the three Japanese cruisers and the surrounding destroyers instantly spewed out countless tongues of fire.

127mm anti-aircraft shells exploded in the air, creating plumes of black smoke.

The tracer rounds from the 25mm cannon and 13.2mm machine gun lashed out like red whips in the air.

The sea surface was blasted into countless white columns of water by a dense barrage of bullets, making it look like it was boiling from a distance.

But the lead pilot gritted his teeth, kept his grip on the control stick, and stared intently at the largest heavy cruiser below.

He could clearly see that the deck of the distant warship was covered with the blinding flashes left by the cannons firing.

Black plumes of smoke from exploding anti-aircraft shells would occasionally appear in the surrounding sky.

It looked massive and extremely frightening.

However, at this time, the Japanese warships' air defense system was extremely poor.