Before Li Haichen and the others were happy, a violent buzzing sound suddenly came from the clouds above the fleet, as if a large group of aircraft were formed.

Li Haichen received a telegram from the Military Command of the Tang Empire that a frontal battle between the navy and air force would be held in a certain waters near the land of the Tang Empire, and a naval and air force military exercise code-named "Sharp Swords" unsheathed.

The previous submarine sneak attack was just a small prelude.

Li Haichen understood that it should be a bomber formation of the Royal Air Force of the Tang Empire.

Li Haichen didn't know how many bombers were participating in the exercise, but he could tell from the sound that there were at least 200. For the purpose of the suddenness of the exercise, Li Haichen did not tell anyone except to tell Instructor Stephen, so as to test the actual combat response ability of the officers and soldiers of the entire fleet.

"Fight Alert!"

"Yes! Battle Alert!"

With a command, the Lyander light cruiser immediately sounded the air defense alarm, and then the sirens on the other five warships also sounded.

In a moment, the alarm sounded over the sky within a radius of 100 kilometers.

"Hurry up!"

"Hurry up!"

Officers at all levels held stopwatches in their hands and shouted loudly at the sailors. They had only one standard for counter-rebellion, which was to let all sailors enter their respective combat positions in the shortest time.

In terms of sea combat and anti-submarine warfare, the more than 2,000 officers and soldiers of the First Fleet of the Royal Navy of the Tang Empire performed very well. However, because the Royal Navy did not attach importance to ship-to-air combat, there was only a less than a half hour of ship-to-air shooting course in the Manchester Maritime Training Center's tutorial. In the joint exercises with the Royal Navy fleets, there were also no air defense exercise subjects, which resulted in insufficient awareness and training preparation in air defense.

Three minutes and forty-three seconds!

When the last anti-aircraft rapid-fire gun gun gun was ready, Li Haichen stuck the timer and couldn't help but frown.

This air defense preparation time seems to be nearly half a minute faster than the preparation time for sea combat and anti-submarine combat, but Li Haichen knew very well that this time was enough for the enemy's planes to get close to the fleet and launch an attack.

Sure enough, the first echelon of the "enemy" bomber group had already rushed down from the clouds.

"Fight against the air!"

"Open fire!"

With a command, the anti-aircraft artillery and anti-aircraft machine guns of each ship opened fire violently.

Although one-third of the charge rubber bullet is used, it still has considerable kinetic energy and lethality within a certain height, which is inevitable, so the "injury and casualties" that appear during the exercise are also within the allowable range.

Through the telescope, Li Haichen observed that the ballistics of his air defense firepower deviated from the enemy aircraft group very far away, and basically chasing the tail of the opponent's plane to fire.

This is because the air combat simulation aircraft they usually practice are very slow. Without any improved anti-aircraft high-fire machine guns, they also use the speed of the ships and infantry. When facing a real aircraft that is ten times faster, they cannot estimate the accurate advance amount at the first time, so they naturally cannot hit the opponent.

The first attack echelon of the incoming aircraft group is 50 seal torpedo reconnaissance aircraft with torpedoes. This torpedo reconnaissance aircraft was introduced from the UK and was tailored for the British aircraft carrier by the British Beremu Company. As the name suggests, it is to follow the aircraft carrier to sea and serve as a reconnaissance aircraft. If necessary, it can be installed to attack the ship. Since the role of aircraft carriers in the British Navy only provides maritime reconnaissance for the main force of the British Royal Navy fleet, this kind of reconnaissance torpedo aircraft appears.

Since Zhang Meng really couldn't find a bomber that was easier for newcomers to get started than seal torpedo reconnaissance aircraft, and the new torpedo attack aircraft designed by his Raptor Airlines is still under test, so he can only use the seal torpedo reconnaissance aircraft for training and use.

Fortunately, this low-speed two-seat propeller aircraft is easy to operate, so it is easy for novice pilots of the Royal Air Force of the Tang Empire to learn how to drive, which has quickly formed combat effectiveness.

Under the leadership of the captain Lieutenant Colonel Lei Zhen, fifty seal torpedo reconnaissance aircraft quickly descended to sea level and flew towards the target fleet at a speed of 260 kilometers per hour.

Since the pilots of the Royal Air Force of the Tang Empire had never experienced real aviation school study, they all started from a blank piece of paper. Fortunately, they were all propeller-type medium and low-speed aircraft from the 1920s, and the technical requirements were not very high. In addition, Raptor Airlines sent a group of professional pilots as air training officers, and these air training officers were aerobatic pilots who tested new aircraft. Therefore, under their training, the pilots of the Royal Air Force of the Tang Empire grew up quickly, and even adapted to the fastest and stood out to become the backbone force represented by Lei Zhen.

However, even though they have developed a flying stunt skills under the guidance of the aerobatic instructor, at the war level, those aerobatic instructors are just test pilots and do not understand strategies and tactics. They can only rely on classic air combat subjects during World War I to teach lessons step by step.

Due to the lack of classic examples of bomber group attacking fleets during World War I, Lei Zhen could only be influenced by the combat thinking of the US Navy aviation team and launched an attack using the traditional way of concentrating all torpedo attacking fleets.

When the mechanical altimeter showed that it was thirty meters away from sea level, at the command of the Thunder Zhen, fifty torpedo attack aircraft opened the padlocks under the belly of the aircraft and threw the 533 mm torpedoes weighing 800 kilograms.

The torpedo plunged into the sea, and inertia caused it to plunge into the sea more than ten meters below the sea before it rose to the sea with the help of buoyancy, and shot at the battleship at a speed of 80 knots with the help of a gas engine.

"Discover the torpedo!"

“On port!”

"Multiple torpedoes are approaching!"

"The left full rudder avoids at full speed!"

"Implement sea-firing intercepting torpedoes!"

...

The commanders of each ship issued orders in an orderly manner. For light cruisers with combat speeds of up to 30 knots, there is no problem avoiding three or four torpedo attacks. However, the opponent's one-time airdrop of up to 50 torpedoes, and each warship faces an average of nearly 6 torpedo attacks.

More than ten seconds later, three warships, Anfion, Aliheusa and Falta, were hit by torpedoes.
Chapter completed!