Chapter 252

More fw-190 fighters on the carrier empire are ready to take off one by one to protect the far away Stuka dive bombers.

To tell you the truth, although the weapons and equipment of the German naval air force are a whole generation more advanced than those of its British counterparts, strictly speaking, they do not have "suitable" weapons and equipment. As a dive bomber used by the army, Stuka has already shown that it is not a qualified sea attack aircraft, and for fw-190, it is not a very qualified torpedo attack aircraft.

Compared with the famous Japanese generalist zero style, fw-190 is too bulky, so this kind of aircraft has poor maneuverability at low speed, and torpedo delivery just needs the low speed performance of the aircraft. However, the zeros sacrifice other capabilities in exchange for the "comprehensive" advantage, while the fw-190 is a fighter to make do with the attack aircraft.

"Mount the torpedoes to the remaining fw-190! Take off immediately as the second attack echelon Lutjans, looking at the Stuka bombers and the fw-190 fighters with torpedoes flying into the distance, ordered back. It was all he could afford, so he decided to put all his eggs in one basket and show the British all his strength.

At the same time, the flagship of the first fleet of the Royal Navy was nervously preparing for its attack. This fleet was dispatched to encircle lutjans after the British main fleet went north to intercept the first sub fleet of the German high seas fleet under the command of Reidel.

However, compared with the German fleet under the command of lutjans, the British fleet is a little bit old: the oldest destroyer in the German naval fleet under the command of lutjans was built in 1927; The youngest of the Royal Navy's first South fleet is its flagship aircraft carrier, the eagle, which was built in 1923.

However, the German obviously underestimated the scale of the British Navy's operation, so the British fleet is not without its own advantages. Where the German reconnaissance plane did not see, there is a Queen Elizabeth class battleship in the British fleet - maybe if lutjans knew the news first, he would not dare to take the lead to attack.

The reality is that the German Navy does not know the real scale of the fleet of the Royal Navy, so lutjans resolutely sent his own carrier based aircraft, hoping to eat the British "small fleet" in front of him at one go.

On the carrier eagle, the flagship of the first fleet of the Royal Navy going south, the Gladiator fighter is taking off in an emergency because the British shipborne reconnaissance plane also found the German reconnaissance plane following it not long ago.

The British reconnaissance plane, which found that it had been followed, immediately sent the news back to the British fleet, so the British fleet began to take action. They have more than the German Navy, which can sometimes change the whole war situation.

Compared with the Germans, Britain has been the world's maritime overlord for a full 100 years. In these 100 years, there have been many vicissitudes, but the glory of the Empire on the sea has never been affected. Countless challengers fell in front of the cannons of the British Royal Navy: the Spanish Armada, the French Napoleon Navy, the German high seas fleet

This deep-rooted pride, courage and confidence, fermented by the stubborn arrogance of the British people, has given the Royal Navy a precious asset that none of its rivals has ever had - the belief of victory.

Of course, it is the real tangible asset that supports this belief: the size of the Royal Navy. At present, the British Royal Navy has 17 battleships with a total tonnage of more than 400000 tons, while its rival, the German naval battleship, has zero tons. At the same time, Britain has five aircraft carriers, one more than the German Navy.

In addition, the British still have an advantage in experience and training. The Royal Navy has 100 years of experience in maritime operations, so it can be said that they are familiar with maritime operations. Moreover, the training level of the officers and men of the Royal Navy is very high, and 90% of the naval commanders have participated in World War I. Compared with the German Navy, it seems too naive. In the nearly 20 years after 1919, the German Navy has not had large-scale sea training for most of the time, and they basically began to understand their warships and tactics in the last two years.

Frankly speaking, the strength of the two sides at this time can be said to be almost equal: the German Navy has an advantage in the age and tactical arrangement of warships, and they have more powerful carrier based aircraft; The British have more training and courage than their rivals, and their fleet is bigger.

The British Gladiator carrier fighter is a biplane aircraft, which is obviously out of date compared with the guys in the hands of the German naval aviation. However, British commanders still believe that the fighter is enough to cover the fleet.

There is no way to deal with this. The more advanced intrepid fighters are given priority to the air force, while the hurricane fighters are still in the test flight stage to deal with the new fighters of the German air force. Therefore, the British navy has not yet come up with a way to deal with the German aircraft.

One fighter after another took off from the carrier eagle, flying over the battleship Malaya, and further away, a British Navy cruiser was preparing for air combat.

"Take off swordfish The commander of the British fleet put down his telescope and gave a loud order: "follow the returning German reconnaissance aircraft South and attack the German fleet! Let the flight commander in charge pay attention and attack the German aircraft carrier first. "“ Attack the British carrier first Above the blue sky, the commander of the German Stuka bomber formation checked the chart and used the phone to command: "No.7, you and No.8 and No.9 are responsible for attacking the aircraft carrier, and No.5 and No.6 are responsible for dealing with the escort warship."“ Number seven, I understand“ Number nine, get it“ 8. " In his earphone, came a series of answers“ I understand on the 5th! "“ Number six, get it Soon there was an answer. The commander of the Stuka formation lifted the canopy of his cockpit and allowed the cold wind to pour into the cabin. He tightened his tight leather jacket, stuck his head out of the cabin, and peered through the thin clouds at the cold water below. Soon, another German aircraft formation appeared over them. This is the fast fw-190 torpedo aircraft formation. Two formations flying together, a fw-190 lowered its altitude, swayed its wings above Stuka, which was a greeting“ We'll attack first later! You're hiding above the clouds, ready to attack. " The commander of the fw-190 torpedo formation said over the radio, "we use our fast speed to cut into the low altitude first, and after we drop the torpedoes, we can be used as escort fighters."“ No problem. I'll raise the height in about two minutes. Once the fighter escorted by the other party is attracted to low altitude by you, we will immediately join the fight. " The commander of the Stuka formation looked up at his friends and replied with a smile“ well! I'll arrange for four fw-190s with small bombs to follow you. If there are enemy planes approaching, they will cover you. " The commander of the torpedo attack plane thought for a moment and said, "the rest of the torpedoes speed up. Let's go first." Soon, the faster fw-190 fighter formation overtook Stuka, and these planes began to fly far away. Over Stuka's formation, four fw-190 fighters maintained their flight altitude and speed. It was obvious that they were the escort fighters left behind. After a while, the commander of the Stuka bomber formation heard all kinds of fighting sounds in his headphones, including calling for cover, confirming the number of enemy ships, and just screaming and shouting“ Number one! Number one! I found the destroyers of the British fleet! They should be right in front of us. " This is the first German aircraft found the British fleet cry of surprise. Then the pilot warned the other fighter to join the fight: "No.6! Look down, fighter! climb! Climb now Then another nervous news was confirmed by the call in the earphone, that is, there are battleships in the British fleet: "Hey! Look! British carrier! Wait, my God! The warship beside the British aircraft carrier is a battleship! It's a battleship! There are battleships in the British fleet Another voice with a unique voice exclaimed: "how can it be? It's really a battleship“ One, request an attack! Ask for an attack It's a call to confirm the attack“ Keep the formation! Keep the formation! Let's climb! Wait for the Stuka formation to attack! Climb The commander's orders appeared in the noisy headphones“ Captain! The anti-aircraft guns are fighting back! The anti-aircraft guns of the other side are fighting back! " Another voice was shouting. Stuka's pilots, while driving the plane forward, silently listened to the cries of their comrades in arms in the earphones. Unconsciously, Stuka's formation commander found that his palms were full of sweat“ Attention, all pilots! Attention, all pilots! Fasten your seat belt. " The commander gave a loud order. As he ordered, he buttoned up his cockpit and yanked the bolt of the machine gun in front of him: "prepare the rear defense machine gun." All of a sudden, an anti-aircraft artillery shell explodes near the cloud, and the tracer bullets hit the sky one by one. Under the cloud, a full-scale British cruiser is maneuvering to avoid the German torpedo attack. The commander of the Stuka formation raised the corner of his mouth and gave a loud order to attack the phone: "attention all! Choose your target and dive! Two! You take number three to the battleship“ Number two, get it With the roar of the engine, one by one Stuka rushed down the clouds, divided into small groups, and frantically rushed to the targets they had already assigned.