"Yes, sir!" Yamamoto Isoroku and the others replied, bowing their heads.

……………………

April 17, 1942.

A massive fleet slowly passed through the Taiwan Strait, the seawater constantly crashing against the hulls, creating a series of loud noises.

As the Japanese cabinet had predicted, the National League fleet did not attack the second island chain, but instead bypassed Taiwan and headed towards the Japanese mainland.

Upon receiving this news, Isoroku Yamamoto personally directed the deployment of the Combined Fleet, forming a solid blockade line in the southern waters of the main island.

In the early morning of April 19, the main warships of the Combined Fleet, including the aircraft carriers Hosho, Kaga, and Akagi, secretly launched hundreds of torpedo bombers and dive bombers to launch a fierce bombing attack on the Minmeng Fleet.

Meanwhile, within a radius of hundreds of nautical miles, the National League for Democracy fleet deployed hundreds of reconnaissance aircraft and numerous submarines to monitor the sea surface at all times.

Having anticipated the enemy's fierce attack, the National League fleet made ample preparations in advance.

The Japanese warplanes and bombers had just reached the edge of the National League fleet when they were met with intense anti-aircraft fire.

Left with no other option, they were forced to launch an attack on the nearest target.

"Boom boom boom boom..." A series of muffled explosions suddenly rang out in the sky as heavy bombs landed around the National League fleet, creating towering waves.

"Brothers! Fight!"

"Drive all the Japanese warplanes away!"

"For our motherland! For the future of humanity! Kill those Japanese devils!"

"Kill them!"

With a series of roars, the officers and soldiers of the National League for Democracy fleet pulled the triggers, and the anti-aircraft fire instantly became even more intense.

"Bang—bang—bang..."

"Da da da... da da da..."

"Boom... boom..."

With a series of deafening explosions, bursts of bright red light rose from the sea, followed by plumes of thick smoke and a pungent smell of sulfur.

The sky was like a shooting star, with Japanese warplanes riddled with holes and falling into the vast sea.

However, the Japanese army did not retreat because of the defeat. On the contrary, they became more courageous and relentlessly launched a fierce attack on the National League fleet despite heavy losses.

"Whoosh~whoosh~whoosh...whoosh whoosh whoosh..."

Long trails of fire traced beautiful paths through the air before slamming into the frigates and cruisers of the National League fleet that were patrolling around.

After several tens of minutes of fierce fighting, the National League forces were bombed into one battleship, three cruisers, seven destroyers, and more than a dozen transport ships.

The Japanese lost more than 500 aircraft of various types, and the aircraft carriers Hosho and Kaga were sunk by bombs from a squadron of Me-262 jet fighters, suffering heavy losses.

Yamamoto Isoroku was furious, but he knew that things had come to this point and he could only accept the outcome.

Faced with fighter jets that were far more advanced than their own, the Combined Fleet was helpless and could only retreat strategically, waiting for the National League for Democracy's invasion, and then using the natural barrier of the island to completely destroy them.