Chapter 591: William: Fly Up

"Captain, Japanese Army carrier aircraft detected! They're flying toward us ten nautical miles ahead!" The observer's voice rang over the radio.

William's eyes hardened as he ordered, "Fighter squadron, fly up to meet them immediately, intercept the Japanese Army fighters! Bomber group, keep formation, keep pressing forward; no matter what obstacles arise, you must reach the Japanese Aircraft Carrier's sky and complete the bombing mission!"

"Received, Captain!" Chen Ping immediately led the fighter squadron toward the Japanese Army carrier aircraft.

"Brothers, follow me, shoot down all the Little Devil's planes, and cover the Captain to complete the mission!"

"This is the moment we've been waiting for!"

"Die, Little Devil!" The fighter crew shouted in unison.

F4U "Pirate" fighters closed rapidly on the Japanese Zero fighters, and the aerial duel was about to erupt.

At this moment, Jiang Qing's Second Fleet had already reached behind the Japanese Fifth Fleet; carrier aircraft and torpedo bombers had also been launched, heading toward the Japanese fleet.

In Singapore, Song Yunfei also received William's signal and ordered the air force fighters to advance at full speed to provide support.

On the sea surface, Nanko's two carrier fleets formed a pincer attack.

In the sky, both sides' fighters were about to clash, and William's bomber squadron was breaking through the resistance, racing toward the Japanese Aircraft Carrier.

Li Tian Jiannan finally received an urgent report from his subordinate: "Lieutenant General! Trouble! We've spotted Nanko's second carrier fleet behind our forces; their carrier aircraft are already flying toward us!"

Li Tian Jiannan's complexion changed abruptly, his whole body shivered, and the confidence in his eyes was instantly replaced by shock: "What? A second carrier fleet? That's impossible!"

He finally realized that he had been trapped by Nanko from the start, and a sea battle destined for a crushing defeat had already begun.

What comforted him, however, was that his side possessed two aircraft carriers, while the enemy had only one.

Just as Li Tian Jiannan panicked, the fighters in the sky were already tangled together, their roar, machine‑gun fire, and explosions interweaving, echoing over Liao nei qundao.

Lieutenant Commander Gao Qiao Jianta, Japanese Army carrier aircraft commander, piloting a Zero, weaved through the fighter swarm and barked orders over the radio.

"All units, attention! Concentrate fire to intercept Nanko's fighters; must hold the Defensive Line, and never let their bombers get close to the Aircraft Carrier!"

Gao Qiao Jianta was the ace commander of the Japanese Army carrier aircraft unit, experienced and adept at aerial dogfighting.

Having earned numerous battle honors on the Pacific Theater before, his gaze now fierce, he piloted his Zero and surged toward the F4U fighter flown by Chen Ping.

Gao Qiao Jianta's eyes paused, because the carrier aircraft before him differed from any American carrier planes he had seen before—what model was this fighter?

But upon seeing the blue‑white flag painted on the carrier aircraft, Gao Qiao Jianta realized it was a Nanko aircraft, and wondered why Nanko possessed such advanced fighters.

"Chinese aircraft, shoot them all down!" Gao Qiao Jianta roared, slamming the machine‑gun trigger, and a hail of bullets streamed toward Chen Ping's fighter.

Chen Ping reacted instantly, maneuvering his fighter to roll aside; the bullets whooshed past his wing, and his airframe shuddered violently. "That was close!"

Chen Ping muttered a curse under his breath, then reversed his aircraft and countered the Zero piloted by Gao Qiao Jianta: "Little Devil, let's see who dies first!"

The F4U's machine gun roared instantly, bullets pouring down like a rainstorm toward Gao Qiao Jianta's aircraft.

Gao Qiao Jianta deftly piloted his plane, evading Chen Ping's attack while launching another strike; the two fighters tangled in the sky, climbing, diving, rolling, their wings cutting the air and leaving streaks of after‑image.

Other Japanese Zero fighters and Nanko F4U fighters also tangled together, filling the sky with aircraft silhouettes.

Flames flickered, and from time to time a fighter was hit, billowing black smoke as it slowly sank into the sea; the pilots' screams were drowned by the roar of engines.

"Squadron Leader, Commander Chen Ping is tangled with the Japanese carrier aircraft commander; we're under heavy pressure here, three fighters have been shot down!" the observer's voice rang in William's cockpit.

William furrowed his brow, his gaze sweeping over the Front fighter melee, and said gravely, "Tell Chen Ping to keep tangled with the Japanese carrier aircraft; ignore us, we will keep pressing forward and must complete the bombing mission!"

"Received, Captain!" the communications man immediately relayed the order to Chen Ping.

At this moment, Chen Ping was still locked in a fierce grapple with Gao Qiao Jianta; hearing William's command, he gritted his teeth and said, "Captain, don't worry, I'll definitely keep him tangled! Brothers, fight to the death to cover the bomber squadron!"

Finishing his words, he once again piloted his fighter, launching a fierce attack on Gao Qiao Jianta, deliberately exposing a flaw to lure him into pursuit, thereby tying down the main force of the Japanese carrier aircraft.

Gao Qiao Jianta fell for the ruse, assuming Chen Ping was about to be shot down, and accelerated his chase, completely unaware that William's bomber squadron had seized the chance to break through the Japanese fighter interception line, rapidly closing on the Japanese Aircraft Carrier.

"Baka! Chinese bombers are trying to flee!" Gao Qiao Jianta's peripheral vision caught the distant bomber squadron, his heart startled; he tried to turn his aircraft to intercept, but Chen Ping held him tightly, making escape impossible.

"Bastard! Get him off!" Gao Qiao Jianta roared into the radio, ordering other carrier aircraft to intercept, but at that moment most Japanese fighters were tangled with Nanko's fighters, leaving no forces to spare.

William led the bomber squadron, seizing the gap in the fighter melee, and surged at full speed toward the Japanese Aircraft Carrier formation; the distance shrank—fifteen nautical miles, ten nautical miles, five nautical miles... the massive silhouette of the Japanese Aircraft Carrier now loomed clearly before him.

"All bomber crews, prepare yourselves, lower altitude, and avoid the Japanese destroyers' Anti‑Aircraft Shells!" William ordered over the radio, while piloting his own SBD torpedo bomber, gradually descending and using cloud cover to weave deftly.

The Japanese fleet's outer destroyers quickly spotted the approaching Nanko bomber squadron, immediately activated their Anti‑Aircraft Shells and raked the sky with frantic fire.

"Rat‑tat‑tat— rat‑tat‑tat—" the dense Anti‑Aircraft Shell bursts exploded in the sky, forming curtains of fire that surged toward William's bomber squadron.

"Careful! Avoid the barrage!"

William shouted, maneuvering his aircraft to roll quickly; an Anti‑Aircraft Shell detonated close to the fuselage, the shockwave shaking the plane violently, and the cockpit instruments emitted a shrill alarm.

The crew members beside him also maneuvered their aircraft, deftly evading the Anti‑Aircraft Shells; one bomber failed to dodge, was struck, its fuselage instantly ignited, black smoke billowing as it fell toward the sea, the crew's shouts fading away.

William's heart tightened, yet he did not retreat at all; his gaze grew ever more resolute, his hands gripping the control stick, and drawing on his extensive combat experience, he weaved deftly through the barrage, evading one Anti‑Aircraft Shell after another, and flew toward the core of the Japanese Aircraft Carrier formation.