"General, the German carrier-based aircraft are expected to catch up with us in another ten minutes!" Colonel Sanwa Yoshitomi reported nervously aboard the aircraft carrier Sōryū.
Lieutenant General Kakuta Kakuji nodded. "Order the escort fighters to prepare for battle! All anti-aircraft positions, prepare to fight. This time, we'll have to risk our lives. Otherwise, everyone will die here."
"Yes, General!" Colonel Sanwa Yoshitomi replied.
Above the Second Carrier Squadron of the Combined Fleet, twelve Zero fighters still provided escort. These were the last Zero fighters in the entire Aircraft Carrier Formation. Upon receiving the order, the Zero fighters immediately pounced on the German Navy's carrier-based aircraft. They knew full well that the German carrier-based aircraft group contained many powerful fighters. Charging in was no different from throwing their lives away. But they had no other choice. With the fleet standing at the threshold between life and death, they could only fight to the death.
At sea, the Island Nation Navy's Second Carrier Division also shifted into air-defense formation. The four aircraft carriers were guarded at the center by heavy cruisers, Light Cruisers, and a large number of destroyers. Besides its four aircraft carriers, the 2nd Carrier Squadron had two Furutaka-class heavy cruisers, two Aoba-class heavy cruisers, four Sendai-class Light Cruisers, and sixteen destroyers. Such an escort force was considered quite formidable. Yet neither Lieutenant General Kakuta Kakuji nor Colonel Sanwa Yoshitomi had much confidence in stopping the German Navy's carrier-based aircraft attack.
By then, the German Navy's carrier-based aircraft group had closed to within fifty kilometers of the Island Nation Combined Fleet's 2nd Carrier Squadron. Forty-eight carrier-based BF-109 fighters escorted ninety-six Dive Bombers and forty-eight Torpedo Bombers. This time, they were determined to seize the Island Nation Navy's aircraft carriers.
The Indian Ocean Fleet's Aircraft Carrier Formation had suffered grievous