Spy Wars: Get the Predator equipment at the beginning

Chapter 1079 A Coincidental Encounter

As Zhang Yunhe expected, the Japanese in Kaohsiung Port received a telegram last night after the fleet was bombed. However, most of the Japanese fighter planes were not equipped with radar, and the pilots had not been trained for night take-off and landing flights, nor did they have any experience in this area. Therefore, they dared not send out reconnaissance planes and fighter formations to take off at night to search for the fleet.

But the Japanese knew one thing: the fleet had captured an ocean-going cargo convoy, perhaps from Okushima, or perhaps a port-to-port convoy in disguise, carrying a large amount of food and supplies.

As the war progressed, the situation on the Pacific battlefield had become a stalemate and a protracted war. The Japanese side was running out of resources, and even their homeland was extremely short of food and supplies. Therefore, the Japanese also needed the food and supplies on the fleet, and they did not want to give up and wanted to obtain them.

Shortly after dawn, the Japanese forces in Kaohsiung Port dispatched two reconnaissance planes to conduct reconnaissance in the southern waters.

Based on the approximate location of the fleet as indicated by the telegram they received the previous night, they deduced the likely current location of the cargo convoy, and the reconnaissance pilots flew toward the calculated area.

Two Japanese reconnaissance planes flew south for more than an hour and reached the calculated sea area. After searching in the air for more than ten minutes, they actually found the ocean convoy sailing northwest.

When a convoy appeared on the sea ahead, the Japanese reconnaissance pilot knew he had found his target. Pilot Haruichi Sawachi immediately turned to his co-pilot and said, "Found it! Do you see it? On the sea ahead!"

The co-pilot in the back seat tilted his head to observe and said, "That's right, it should be the ocean-going fleet that the fleet reported last night. Notify Unit 2!"

The pilot immediately picked up the microphone, opened the communication channel, and said, "Number 2, Number 2, this is Number 1, please respond!"

"Buzz, this is Number 2, please speak!" came the voice of another reconnaissance pilot from the communicator.

"Target located, position is..."

"Keep an eye on them, I'm on my way!"

Just five minutes later, another Japanese reconnaissance plane arrived and also spotted the ocean-going fleet on the sea below.

"I see it. Contact the port base and see how they handle it!" the pilot of reconnaissance plane number 2 said into the communicator.

“Okay, I’ll contact the port base!” said the pilot of reconnaissance plane number 1, and he immediately changed the channel.

"Base, this is Number 1. Please respond!"

"Buzz... Base received, please speak!" came the voice from the communicator.

Just then, communications suddenly went down. The Japanese commander at the port base hurriedly grabbed the communicator and shouted, "Hello? Hello? Number 1, Number 1, this is the base. Please respond if you receive this message. Please respond if you receive this message!"

"Zizi-"

The Japanese commander at the base immediately switched channels and called reconnaissance plane number 2: "Number 2, number 2, this is the base, please respond, please respond!"

"Hoo hoo, received. This is number 2. We are under attack by enemy aircraft. Number 1 has been destroyed by enemy aircraft. I am now surrounded and the situation is very critical," came the anxious voice of pilot number 2 from the communicator.

Everyone in the port base's command center could tell from that tone how dangerous the situation was.

The Japanese commander immediately shouted, "Report your position immediately! Report your position! Find a way to break out! Break out immediately! I will send a fighter squadron to pick you up right away!"

"My current location is...buzzing—buzzing—" The call was abruptly cut off.

The Japanese commander was frantic: "Hello, hello, Number 2, Number 2, where are you? Have you found the convoy? Please reply, please reply!"

There was no longer any sound from Pilot Number 2 in the intercom; only the crackling of electrical current could be heard.

The command center inside the port base was completely silent; everyone realized that reconnaissance missions 1 and 2 had both encountered problems.

The Japanese commander gritted his teeth, his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white. His face was expressionless, but his eyes blazed with fury. "They must have encountered enemy aircraft over the sea area we calculated. This means that the ocean-going fleet is right there!"

"Pass on my order: immediately launch a squadron of Zero fighters and seize air superiority! Order the 7th Fleet to immediately change course and head to that area. Tell them their sole mission is to bring back that ocean-going fleet fully loaded with food and supplies; we urgently need those supplies!"

"Hai!" A combat staff officer stood at attention, bowed his head, and then picked up a pen to write down the order.

After he finished writing it, he handed it to the Japanese commander. The commander read it, signed his name, and handed the signed order to his staff officer, saying, "Execute it immediately!"

"Hai!"

At this point, the battle over the sea ended. Two Japanese reconnaissance planes were shot down one after the other. The pilot of one plane was killed on the spot, and the reconnaissance plane crashed into the sea after being left unmanned. The other plane was shot down in the air, and a large amount of debris fell and floated on the sea after the explosion.

This was quite a coincidence. The two Japanese reconnaissance planes had just located the convoy when they encountered a group of 10 fighter planes that were on their way to provide air escort for the convoy.

Moreover, these six men raised their altitude to the maximum during flight, rising above the clouds, which provided them with perfect cover. The two Japanese reconnaissance planes, wanting to observe at close range, lowered their altitude and failed to detect the fighter group flying over from above the clouds.

When the escorting fighter group spotted the two Japanese reconnaissance planes, they immediately began to encircle and attack them. Although the reconnaissance planes were more agile than the fighters, the two Japanese reconnaissance planes did not have enough time to escape under the sudden attack.

"Captain, the Japanese reconnaissance plane has likely already sent back the convoy's coordinates. Our fighter escort alone is simply not enough. If they send a large number of fighters and a naval fleet, it will be very difficult for us to safely escort the convoy home!" a pilot said in the communication channel.

The captain thought for a moment and said, "Regardless of whether the Japanese reconnaissance planes have sent their positions back, the convoy's location has already been exposed. With those two Japanese reconnaissance planes in trouble, the people at the Japanese port base can already guess the convoy's current location. So the only solution is to get the convoy to change course!"

After he finished speaking, he immediately changed the communication channel to contact the air force base and explained the situation.

Because the cargo ships in the fleet did not have real-time communication equipment that could be used for radio communication, the fighter squadron leader had to relay the situation through an air force base.

Upon receiving the report, the air force base immediately sent a telegram to the ocean-going fleet.

The fleet soon received a telegram from the air force base. Upon receiving the telegram, the fleet immediately adjusted its course. Originally, it was scheduled to sail north, but now it began to sail west. Although this might not be able to drag them out of the reconnaissance range of the Japanese reconnaissance planes, it could at least delay the time it would take for them to find them.