So, where exactly was the 41st Special Mixed Fleet hiding?
At the time Hal sent the telegram, it was already 11:30 AM, and the Attack Aircraft Group from the 16th Special Mixed Fleet had completed their bombing mission and was flying east.
As expected, they were due to arrive over the 17th Special Mixed Fleet between 12:15 PM and 12:30 PM.
They had only twenty-some SBDs and twenty-some TBDs left, with the escorting F4F fighters still entangled with Xiaotian fighters, some of which had been dispatched on search missions.
After recovering these ship-borne aircraft, the 17th Special Mixed Fleet would still be able to mount two waves of attacks in the afternoon.
The key, though, was to find the 41st Special Mixed Fleet!
It was not until 11:45 AM that Major Dutte finally sent a message that two Long-range Cruisers had been sunk, and he was stealthily trailing two Xiaotian Navy fighters.
What did this mean?
They were following the Xiaotian fighters to the 41st Special Mixed Fleet!
