The fact that the captain spoke to Chen Ming about this matter likely means that the pilots on the Cow Herder are already too exhausted to support a full squadron launch.
And those remaining pilots on the ship must have gone out several times, more fatigued than he was in the relatively safe rear.
At this rate, the military won't need to defeat the fleet; the fleet will fall apart due to its internal over-exhaustion.
Although all the fighters are equipped with emergency escape pods, the actual losses shouldn't be to this extent.
But it's really hard to say how many pilots can actually return.
Chen Ming was very reluctant to hear what the captain had to say, but this is an unavoidable flaw of carriers and fighters under normal circumstances.
Unless, like Speed Particle Technology's Torrent Level, equipped with AI-controlled Terminator Fighter squadrons.
