"No matter him, let the reconnaissance forces be more attentive and the original plan remains unchanged!" Sims's face changed slightly, but soon he made a decision.

"Okay, follow your orders." Majifen said. At this time, what the Americans could not imagine was that on the edge of the fleet's warning area, a ghost-like figure was walking along the low altitude. The ghost had noticed the fleet of destroyers and discovered the first armored cruiser team behind the destroyers who were responsible for reconnaissance and avant-garde missions!

"Captain, there seems to be something in front of you." At this time, a Felix Stowe F5 seaplane was cruising around the US fleet. It belongs to the Japanese Navy's Fifth Seaplane Squadron, but it is a unit of crewed by ordinary British people. Each aircraft has four people, captain, radio personnel, navigators and pilots. Generally, the captain and radio personnel are all held by the British.

At this time, the seaplane numbered Bat 3 was conducting a "spider-web search" in the nearby waters with three other seaplanes of the same type. This is not to say that the Japanese knew the whereabouts of the US fleet through some situations, but because American submarines often entered the Sulawesi Sea through here and then dispersed to the Japanese-controlled sea areas. Therefore, both the British and Japanese sides have strengthened their search for this sea area, because considering that it is far away from the base and it is inconvenient to deploy large warships, the seaplanes in this sea area undertake a considerable part of the anti-submarine mission. However, this time, the British did not catch the submarine hidden in the deep sea, but encountered a "big shark"!

"It's a destroyer! There is at least one team. Look, they are patrolling, and I promise this is definitely not a Japanese. If the Japanese appear in this sea area, they will send us telegrams." Gates, who operated the radio equipment, put down his work, picked up the telescope and began to observe the fleet in the distance. He could already determine the other party's identity, an American destroyer team!

"There seems to be smoke in the distance?" At this time, Taro Kojima, who served as a navigator, pointed to a place farther than the destroyer. There were a few faint smoke pillars, which were light in the colors even in good weather today. And under the smoke pillar, there seemed to be some slender figures looming between the sea and the sky.

"Are you sure the Joint Fleet has not had any activity recently?" Cunningham looked at the strange fleet that appeared in the distance with a complicated expression. If he wanted to see more clearly, he should get closer or climb.

But unfortunately, he didn't dare because he knew that even if he used camouflage paint, he would still be discovered if he flew too high. Then he would be more unlucky. If he was more lucky, he might be killed by a plane sent by a warship equipped with a seaplane or fighter. This situation often happened in the North Sea at the end of the war. There were many seaplanes in the British and Germans who lost this way.

"Can you tell the size of the other party's fleet?" Gates said, putting down the telescope in his hand.

"I can't see that it's obvious that a single American destroyer shouldn't come here. This is already the hinterland of the Japanese-controlled area. What can their team of destroyers do when they come here? Bombing ground facilities? The power of 5-inch artillery is too small, so it's better to use a submarine. Moreover, it's so far away from the westernmost supply station of the United States. It's completely abnormal for destroyers to appear here." Cunningham said.

Cunningham, who has been in the British destroyer squad and often performs reconnaissance missions, has a very good judgment on the enemy situation. In just a few minutes, he judged that the destroyer squad in front of him should be just a vanguard, or even a vanguard among the avant-gardes, responsible for the outermost vigilance. If it is a large fleet, the outermost vigilance fleet may be more than 20 nautical miles away from the main force of the fleet! That is to say, it is nearly 40 kilometers! He does not have the ability to ensure that he can cross a distance of 40 kilometers to see the full picture of this fleet! And it is even more impossible to send the telegram directly, because it is seeking death! Perhaps, right in the air, I don’t know that the enemy plane hidden there is looking down at the sea, ready to give the voyeurist a fatal blow!

"Captain, we don't have much fuel anymore, so we must make a decision early." The pilot looked at the pointer of the fuel tank and said. The specially modified Felix Stowe F5 seaplane can fly for 6 hours with its own internal fuel alone, and after adding the secondary fuel tank, it can support 9 hours. Now, it's almost evening. According to the normal mission schedule, it's time to embark on the road to return. But now, because of an accident, they have to make a choice, continue to reconnaissance or return quickly.

"We crossed the destroyer detachment and then saw what the ship behind the destroyer was." Cunningham thought for a while and said.

"Are we reporting to the headquarters now?" Gates asked.

"No, unless we are discovered, we cannot send a report first, and this time we expose ourselves." Cunningham thought for a while and said. In fact, the significance of reporting is relatively limited. First of all, from the perspective of time, it is almost evening. Once it enters the night, the other side's fleet will definitely not be able to track it. After one night, who knows where the fleet has gone? Today's message is not very meaningful. Secondly, sending a report may expose itself. So Cunningham just wants to determine the size of the fleet. As for what this fleet does? To be honest, Cunningham doesn't know. Maybe he wants to attack an island while the night is dark, maybe he just comes around, or maybe there is a supply ship behind it to provide supplies to American submarines entering the Sulawesi Sea. Who knows.

"We approached from the rear of the stern of the local fleet. The observation positions of the new American warships were in front of the chimney. The observation points behind were low and were easily disturbed by smoke. We were safer." Cunningham ordered, and then the seaplane adjusted its route and sneaked through the warning area of ​​the destroyer fleet and flew towards the depth.

"Get closer, we can't tell the type of the other party's warship." Cunningham held the telescope with one hand and observed the shadow of the ship in the distance, and ordered that the weather was dark now, and the distance between the two sides was still relatively far. The worst thing was that the other party's warship also used camouflage camouflage, and could not determine the true height of the dry string and the length of the warship. However, according to Cunningham's experience, the length of this ship was at least about 120 meters, and the displacement should be tens of thousands of tons.
Chapter completed!