On the boundless sea, several slender figures swiftly glided across the surface. The two maidens' feet moved as if the sea were solid ground. As their agile figures swept across the water, they stirred up ripples.
Aircraft took off from the ship's armor plates on the maidens' bodies. Like birds, they soared into the sky, then fanned out, forming a battle formation, and rushed in another direction.
The two figures, one on the left and one on the right, alternated in providing cover, directing their aircraft to charge in the same direction. They seemed to have an excellent rapport, clearly indicating that such cooperation was not a one-time occurrence.
"Radar has confirmed the enemy's position. The opponent did not deliberately interfere with radar monitoring. It seems they want to have a head-on battle with us, which is truly exciting." In the communication channel, Hornet's voice echoed in Essex's ear.
"Don't be careless; the opponent's strength is formidable. First, initiate conventional combat methods. Don't be overly aggressive. The primary combat objective is to gain air superiority and suppress the enemy's aircraft. The opponent is an armored carrier; theoretically, while armor strength is increased, the number of aircraft will be fewer than ours. We need to leverage this advantage, try to achieve suppression through numbers, and gain the upper hand in battle," Essex's calm voice resounded in the channel.
The two were already old partners, with excellent tacit understanding. In just a few words, they finalized the battle plan, covering each other as they charged in the same direction.
After all, in naval combat, the most crucial aspect is reconnaissance. Reconnaissance, as the name suggests, is about discovering enemy intelligence.
Especially for carriers, the earlier they detect the enemy's 蹤跡, the sooner they can launch air strikes against the enemy. At the same time, it can avoid entering the battleship's range, preventing a powerful battleship from achieving a one-shot kill.
After all, truth lies only within the range of cannons. In other words, as long as I am outside your range, I am the true truth.
Resolving battles outside the enemy's line of sight has always been the most mainstream combat plan for carriers. However, currently, both sides are carriers engaged in combat, and there are no vanguard anti-aircraft ships for defense. Moreover, this is a drill, specifically designed to test the strength of both sides, so concealing identity is not very useful. Therefore, radar reconnaissance actually has little meaning.
However, not even deploying radar jamming clearly indicated that Glorious had given up on active offense and chosen a defensive strategy.
"Hmm, a fighter squadron, so it's a probing attack first? But it won't be that easy to gain air superiority so quickly in front of me." Glorious smiled slightly, looking at the information fed back by the radar.
Among the many carrier Ship Girls in the port, her output might not be as powerful as Enterprise, Saratoga, and others, who possess the ability to instantly sweep the battlefield, clear the sea, and decide the outcome with a single airstrike.
But when it came to protecting teammates and gaining air superiority, she still believed she was no weaker than anyone else.
In fact, the Commander had even specially prepared a set of anti-aircraft specialized equipment for her to deal with certain special sea areas, although she didn't wear it for long before switching back to the standard configuration.
Her combat level was far higher than that of Hornet and Essex. If they were to cover each other, cross-defend, rely on their own anti-aircraft firepower support, and continuously use carrier-based fighters for attrition warfare, even if her strength was greater than theirs, it would indeed not be easy to quickly gain air superiority within their defensive range.
It wouldn't be easy, but it would just take a little more effort, just a little... and now.
Hornet and Essex both had a configuration of one fighter, one bomber, and one torpedo plane, with no particular preference in equipment. She, on the other hand, had a configuration of two fighters and one torpedo plane, strengthening her air superiority capabilities while weakening her output. So, under normal circumstances, although her number of aircraft was smaller, her anti-air capability was not weak at all.
Hornet belonged to the Yorktown-class, which was not superior to the Glorious-class in terms of basic data. The Essex-class was a newer model of carrier.
Glorious recalled the situation with Essex in her port. Although Essex joined the port much later than her, in terms of ship data alone, the Essex-class surpassed the Glorious-class.
At least Essex was stronger than herself, but now the comparison was about air superiority. As long as air superiority was firmly controlled, whether bombers and torpedo planes could even take off would be a question.
However, this Essex's level was clearly very low. The Commander often said, if strength isn't enough, make up for it with level; if level isn't enough, make up for it with equipment. She now had superior strength, level, and equipment compared to the opponent, so what would the opponent use to defeat her!
Glorious smiled slightly, standing still. Her ribbon-like ship rigging fluttered behind her, encircling her waist. As her thoughts raced, several Tomcat fighters appeared on the flight deck, soaring into the sky with a golden flash, meeting the densely packed enemy planes swarming towards them.
Watching the Tomcat fighters rush into the sky, Glorious couldn't help but recall the F6F Hellcat fighters she had used before.
Compared to the Hellcat fighters, which were common in the port and almost everyone had one, the Tomcat was clearly more powerful and rare. Not many people in the entire port could use Tomcat fighters. For most carriers, the most used fighters were Hellcat, Seafire, and similar aircraft.
However, she preferred the Hellcat fighter.
After all, when the port was still very weak, probably when the Commander had just joined the port not long ago, she remembered the Commander excitedly telling her that he had found the strongest fighter configuration for her, saying he wanted to give her the best fighter. After that, it was day after day of repeated operations in the combat sea area named 5-2, just to salvage her Hellcat equipment blueprints.
As far as she remembered, even now, the Commander had never specifically salvaged a particular piece of equipment for any Ship girl. Even when he later salvaged the golden rudder blueprints, it wasn't specifically for anyone.
So, although the Hellcat later became standard equipment for everyone, and she had long since switched to more powerful new equipment, if she had to choose what she liked, she still preferred that old set of equipment.
However, after she switched out her equipment, the Hellcat had already been given to someone else. And there had been many major equipment changes during that time. It was no longer clear whose hands that fighter was in now.
Pulling back her scattered thoughts, the Tomcat fighters had already encountered the enemy fighters in the sky. With just the first contact, her aircraft squadron tore open gaps in the enemy's formation.
In fact, even the most perfect formation has its flaws, which is why cooperation with companions is needed in combat. When facing stronger enemies, the flaws they expose become even more fatal.
Controlling the Tomcat, she slightly slowed down her attack. For now, she didn't need to defeat them all at once; she just needed to defend against their attacks.
The Tomcat soared freely in the sky like a true tiger descending from the mountain. Even though its numbers were fewer than the enemy's, its superior speed easily allowed it to break through the enemy's anti-aircraft blockade and get behind the enemy's aircraft.
It spewed out fierce bursts of fire, easily destroying the locked-on aircraft while evading all attacks.
The Tomcat flew wildly. Hornet and Essex directed their aircraft, trying to encircle and kill the invincible, rampaging Tomcat in the sky, but it skillfully broke out of the encirclement, and in a counterattack, many more aircraft were shot down.
They wanted to send out bombers and torpedo planes to directly attack Glorious, but they saw a small squadron of Tomcats always staying outside the main battlefield, clearly guarding against other aircraft entering the fray.
This made them even more hesitant to summon bombers and torpedo planes, as with the anti-air combat capabilities of bombers and torpedo planes, being targeted by enemy fighters would likely result in total annihilation.
"It's not just about flying skills. The enemy's fighter speed and firepower are astonishingly strong. Our attacks can barely hit her at all, and her firepower can easily destroy our aircraft."
Although both of them had anticipated that the battle might be difficult, they hadn't expected such a development. The opponent had easily gained air superiority using only a very small fighter squadron.
At this point, although the aerial combat was still ongoing, both of them could continuously send in fighters to support the battle in the air. However, if the results continued to develop in this way, defeat was clearly only a matter of time. There was no need for the battle to continue.