Chapter 1017： carrier aircraft attack

The three triple-mounted 380mm main guns of the battleship "Bavaria" are firing violently. Each salvo can smash a total of more than ten tons of high-explosive bombs onto San Miguel Island.

After the shell exploded, a tall column of smoke rose into the air. There was a burst of flying sand and rocks on the island. I don't know how many officers and soldiers of the US Marine Corps died in the fierce shelling of the German Navy.

Several other capital ships are also firing. At this moment, San Miguel Island is like hell. There are large and small bomb craters everywhere, and stumps and broken arms are flying everywhere. It can be seen that under the heavy shelling of the German Navy, the officers and soldiers of the US Marine Corps on the island paid a high price.

"Pay close attention to the search around, once the Americans are found, immediately notify the aircraft carrier fleet!" Lieutenant General Burdick, commander of the German Navy's Atlantic Fleet, ordered.

Although, the eight capital ships of the Atlantic Fleet are all powerful capital ships that have made great achievements for the German Navy. However, Lieutenant General Burdick didn't want his fleet to suffer heavy losses. The capital ships of the US fleet are not good at it. In particular, the four "Colorado-class" battleships among them are equipped with 406mm main guns of 45 times the caliber, which are very powerful. Even the heavily armored "Bavaria-class" battleships may not be able to withstand it.

Besides, the US fleet still has a numerical advantage. Therefore, Lieutenant General Burdick would rather wait until the aircraft carrier fleet dispatched carrier-based aircraft to severely damage the US fleet before launching an attack. In that case, the loss of beating the dog in the water will definitely be much smaller than confronting the Americans head-on.

"Yes, General." The staff officer gave the order.

Although, as a bait, Lieutenant General Burdick felt somewhat aggrieved. But as long as he can defeat the US fleet, he doesn't feel anything. After all, it's time to think about the bigger picture.

Half an hour later, a German destroyer patrolling the periphery of the fleet discovered the US fleet approaching rapidly from the south, and immediately reported the situation to the flagship.

"General, the Americans are here. Their capital ships are all here, and they obviously want to eat us up!" Lieutenant General Schmidt, chief of staff of the Atlantic Fleet of the German Navy, looked excited.

"Okay! That's great. This time, I want to see if the Americans eat us or we eat them. Order the fleet, gather formation, and retreat north. Send a telegram to the aircraft carrier fleet and let their The carrier-based aircraft takes off immediately, and don't let the Americans escape." Lieutenant General Burdick ordered.

"Yes, General." Lieutenant General Schmidt immediately went to arrange everything.

The Atlantic Fleet of the German Navy began to gather its formation and evacuate from the coast of San Miguel Island. The officers and soldiers of the US Marine Corps on the island cheered when they saw this scene. They had suffered under the heavy shelling of the German navy before. Now that their own fleet has finally arrived, they drove away the German fleet at once, making them feel proud.

"General, the Germans are starting to retreat. We have to speed up. Otherwise, they will run away." On the battleship 'Colorado', the flagship of the US fleet, the chief of staff of the fleet, Lieutenant General Henry Wilson anxious.

However, Admiral Henry Mayo has a serious face. The German fleet actually retreated as soon as they saw them, which is completely inconsistent with the usual German style. This also made Admiral Henry Mayo feel more and more that there must be some conspiracy involved.

However, the fighter plane is fleeting. For Admiral Henry Mayo, the most important thing now is to defeat the German Navy's Atlantic Fleet in front of him. Only in this way can they gain an advantage in the next war.

"Command the fleet, advance at full speed!" Admiral Henry Mayo ordered.

The U.S. fleet immediately turned on its horsepower and chased after the German Navy's Atlantic Fleet. One of the important reasons why Admiral Henry Mayo dared to issue such an order was that previous investigations had determined that there was no other German fleet within 100 kilometers of the German Navy's Atlantic Fleet. Therefore, Admiral Henry Mayo confidently believed that even if there was any conspiracy involved, they could leave calmly.

It's just that what he didn't expect was that the real main force of the German navy to deal with them was not the home fleet or the Atlantic fleet, but the aircraft carrier fleet. The six aircraft carriers, or the carrier-based aircraft on the six aircraft carriers, are the real main force. The aviation armor-piercing bombs and aviation torpedoes mounted on those carrier-based aircraft will send all the huge warships of the US Navy like hills to the bottom of the sea.

"General, the Americans are catching up." Lieutenant General Schmidt said excitedly.

"Very well, this is what they are looking for! Command the fleet, don't run too fast, just hang them like this. Continue to keep in touch with the aircraft carrier fleet and inform them of the exact position of the US fleet." Lieutenant General Burdick said.

Obviously, as long as the Americans keep up this time, they will be unable to fly.

The aircraft carrier fleet of the German Navy, two "Pioneer-class" aircraft carriers and four "William the Great-class" aircraft carriers have already parked carrier-based aircraft on the decks. However, the two "Pioneer-class" aircraft carriers can only carry 48 carrier-based aircraft, and the four "Wilhelm the Great-class" aircraft carriers can only carry 64 carrier-based aircraft. Compared with those large aircraft carriers that can easily carry more than 90 or even hundreds of aircraft, their combat effectiveness seems to be a little worse. However, for the US fleet dominated by battleships, the carrier-based aircraft carried by these aircraft carriers can already pose a fatal threat to it.

"General, the Atlantic Fleet has called, and the Americans have already taken the bait." On the island of the "Wilhelm der Kaiser" aircraft carrier, a staff officer reported excitedly to Admiral Holzendorf.

"Very well, order the carrier-based aircraft to take off according to the plan!" Admiral Holzendorf ordered.

Immediately, the carrier-based aircraft that had been prepared for a long time began to take off.

According to the plan, the six aircraft carriers will first take off half of the carrier-based aircraft as the first attack batch. Then, take off the remaining carrier-based aircraft as the second attack batch. If you want to take off all at once, it will take too much time, and at the same time, it will also increase the difficulty of recovering the carrier-based aircraft.

Fighters took off first, followed by bombers, and finally by torpedo planes. The first wave of attack batches included 48 fighters, 66 bombers and 66 torpedo planes, forming a huge fleet.