【Broadcast】Pay attention to "Reading at the starting point", get the first-hand news of 515 red envelopes, and students who have not grabbed red envelopes after the Chinese New Year can show their skills this time.

At noon on September 14, the British Navy headquarters gave the order for the Home Fleet to attack. By this time, the anchorage of the British fleet had been transferred from Scapa Bay to Ullapool, west of Scotland, to avoid further attacks by German carrier-based aircraft. The British officers and men of the British Navy were full of anger and hatred for the crushing defeat of September 3, and they were always eager to take revenge. At this time, they received a telegram from London, and the fighting spirit in their hearts immediately boiled like a volcano; After a short period of replenishment, they were well prepared, and soon sailed into the vast sea with the ship.

Due to the strict quarantine of the fleet's new anchorage, Heydrich's spy agents were unable to steal the corresponding information. However, information about the convoy continued to reach the German naval headquarters in Wilhelmshaven. After all, there are so many coastal towns in Britain that it is impossible to implement strict militarization in so many places. In every one of the bars, cafes, and other shops for sailors, it is possible that the ears and eyes of German spies are hidden. The British civilian sailors had no military vigilance, and when they were drunk, they poured out all kinds of news.

In the United States, Brazil and other places of origin for the return of British merchant ships, there can be no secrecy. As long as the German spy department has a branch in the local area, the departure information of the British fleet will be the first to drift across the ocean and appear in the headquarters of the German Navy. The British merchant ships that set sail from Italy had just left on the front foot, and the Italians on the back foot revealed the news to the German allies. Based on these messages, Wilhelmshaven then sent corresponding telegrams to its own ships hunting in the Atlantic, and among the people who received these telegrams, Fang Yan and his ocean-going fleet naturally included.

After a week's turnaround, the German ocean-going fleet sailed 2,100 nautical miles. Finally, through the Danish Channel, we headed south, from the cold ice sea with the roar of wind and snow into the warm sunny ocean. During this period, the violent storms and waves in the high-latitude sea areas certainly limited the combat power of the German fleet aviation, but also held up an invisible umbrella for them, so that they could avoid the attack of the British fleet along the way. The German officers and soldiers who had won the victory at Scapa Bay were still in high spirits; They were gearing up and waiting for another wrestling with the British.

According to the battle plan formulated by the German Navy, the ocean-going fleet broke into the North Atlantic with two main missions: one was to cooperate with pocket patrols and submarines to destroy Britain's sea transportation lines, and the other was to use its own air superiority. Inflict further blows on the British fleet that came to hunt for them. After all, the British could not remain indifferent to the rampant behavior of the German raiders, and they would inevitably come to round up with their fleets: if the supply of merchant ships to Britain could not be guaranteed, then the British would naturally be trapped on the island because of the lack of supplies!

However, although these two combat missions both pointed to the common result of defeating Britain, there was a considerable degree of disparity in the way in which they were implemented. In the case of attacking the British sea lines, it was better for the German fleet to hunt single-ship, because this would allow the reconnaissance to be as wide as possible, and thus to catch more prey in the vast seas. And if it was a battle against the British fleet, it would be necessary to concentrate the fleet to ensure the certainty of victory. Don't say anything else. The self-defense capabilities of the five German aircraft carriers were the biggest weakness, and if they were separated from the frigates, even a small group of British destroyers could kill them.

After some careful consideration, Fang Yan finally suggested to his boss Bo Mei that the fleet should not be dispersed. Because in the case of the inevitable sorties of the British fleet. Annihilating them was more important than sinking British merchant ships. If the British fleet suffered another heavy loss, it would not only greatly reduce the pressure on the German raid ships and submarines, but also politically destroy the British and the Commonwealth's confidence in fighting. In this way, Germany could win the war as soon as possible.

And even when it came to killing merchant ships, the German fleet, which was concentrated in its operations, had a corresponding advantage. Due to the intensive use of aircraft carriers. This enabled the German fleet to easily send a sufficient number of reconnaissance aircraft to search for hundreds of kilometers of surrounding sea areas. As long as you draw a circle with a radius of 400 kilometers on the chart, you can see that its enveloping area is quite large. If the German fleet sailed far enough south. Then the number of British merchant ships they found would be more than the amount of ammunition they carried!

Due to the presence of northeast trade winds and warm ocean currents, the wave turbulence in the North Atlantic is generally higher than in any area except the Arctic Ocean. However, this does not in any way mean that aircraft carriers are rarely able to exert their power. Historically, the key forces for the Allies to drive the German wolves out of these waters were not destroyers and anti-submarine frigates, but the light "jeep aircraft carriers" with a displacement of no more than 10,000 tons.

Due to the threat of anti-submarine reconnaissance aircraft taking off from aircraft carriers, German submarines were forced to go underwater for most of the day, not even daring to stick out the snorkels, which greatly reduced the efficiency of hunting. And in the other side of the pursuit of Bismarck, it was also the torpedo planes that took off from the aircraft carrier Ark Royal that played a decisive role. From 1928 onwards, the German Navy began to collect information on the climate of the North Atlantic, driven by an ocean-going offensive strategy, and the results showed that at least half of the daylight weather was suitable for carrier-based aircraft sorties, except for winter at high latitudes.

"We've sailed south of 53 degrees north latitude, so the weather should improve tomorrow, right?" Looking at the dark and deep sky overhead, Fang Yan couldn't help but whisper to himself. During the period when it was heading south from the Danish Channel, its fleet had only one day of carrier-based aircraft due to weather conditions, and the duration was only six hours after noon. Because of this, this fleet with a good lineup has not yet received a single British merchant ship, Rao is Fang Yan is not too much to pursue his own achievements, but how can he be willing to be silent?

The night was long, and the wind was whining. The German fleet, advancing at a speed of 15 knots, sailed more than 150 nautical miles in the darkness of the night. A brilliant golden morning light appeared at the junction of the sea and sky in the east, and it looked particularly magnificent against the background of the surrounding deep blue. Fang Yan, who slowly woke up from the single marching bed, the first thing he did was to turn on the bedside lamp and observe the shaking of the pendant. To his surprise, the swing of the pendant has been greatly reduced compared to yesterday: this undoubtedly means that the roll of the aircraft carrier has also been significantly improved, and the carrier-based aircraft can be released smoothly!

Happy, Fang Yan didn't care about the officers' canteen to enjoy a hearty breakfast, and after putting on his military uniform, he immediately ran towards the navigation bridge. Fleet Commander Bo Mei was sitting in his seat with bloodshot eyes, a cup of strong coffee in front of him for a refreshing drink; Seeing Fang Yan appear at the door of the command room, Bo Mei smiled slightly and said, "I knew you would show up early." The waves on the sea began to weaken at 4 a.m., and I have ordered the aircraft carriers to prepare their planes and wait until the sky is completely bright, and then release their groups to search the surrounding waters. ”

"It couldn't be better." Fang Yan said with a smile on his face. Bo Mei took a sip of the bitter alcohol in the cup and said, "You go to breakfast first." There's probably a fight going on, and I don't want you to work on an empty stomach. ”

At 5:40 a.m., the first Go-388 bomber took off from the Zeppelin. It uncharacteristically did not carry anything under its belly, but flew up 4 kilometers into the sky with two crew members. Apparently, the plane was on a reconnaissance mission. In many cases, a bomber is better suited to the role of a scout than a fighter: because the bomber has a crew of 2 members, it can greatly reduce the amount of human error committed during the reconnaissance process.

If the pilot at high altitudes counts the wrong number of targets, or misidentifies the rank of an enemy ship, the telegraph operator sitting in the rear can still pass the pass. If a single-seat fighter is on a reconnaissance mission, no one can correct the pilot's mistakes. And the wrong information will most likely lead the fleet commander to make an inappropriate choice, and the consequences will be unbearable!

In addition, bombers also have an advantage over fighters in range. This allows it to search for a wider range than a fighter jet, increasing the likelihood of finding a target. Although it has a speed disadvantage over fighters, it can also have considerable speed without bombs, making it difficult for enemy fighters to keep it behind. Considering the huge gap between the naval aviation of Britain and Germany, Fang Yan decisively proposed to release a wave of bombers to carry out reconnaissance.

Within minutes, all 16 bombers were released by all five German aircraft carriers. For the German aircraft carrier group, which still has 240 bombers, this strength does not diminish the intensity of the attack wave they will launch next. Subsequently, 16 fighter planes were also released, which were used to guard the skies around the German fleet so that they could intercept incoming enemy aircraft at the first opportunity.

"Jonas, what should we do next?" Seeing that the last few fighters that took off began to gradually climb in height, Bo Mei asked Fang Yan with some uncertainty. Since it is impossible to determine what its own reconnaissance planes will find later, the type and number of aircraft that the aircraft carrier will prepare are very particular: if it is an enemy fleet, it will need a large number of bombers to carry out the attack with bombshells or torpedoes; In the case of an enemy convoy, a fighter with 250kg of conventional bombs is enough to deal a fatal blow to the enemy.

And most likely, the reconnaissance aircraft did not find anything. Since bombs and fuel have always been easy to transport and difficult to recover, the preparation of aircraft carriers cannot blindly move towards high specifications: otherwise, when dozens of fighters are ready to go, there will be no target to attack in the end, and the recovery of these aircraft is enough to make the ground crew have the urge to kill!

Ps. chasing more children's shoes, are there any free appreciation tickets and starting coins~ The countdown to the 515 red envelope list is over, I'll pull a ticket, ask for an increase and appreciation vote, and finally rush a handful! (To be continued.) )