Fighter planes roared and rolled, spraying deadly bullets at the enemy, and from time to time planes dragged smoke down rapidly, and occasionally a white umbrella flower could bloom in the air. Pen~Fun~Pavilion www.biquge.info The British fleet on the sea retreated at high speed throughout the whole process, but more than 200 large and small anti-aircraft guns remained silent - those small-caliber anti-aircraft guns could not reach the enemy at a long distance, and the large-caliber anti-aircraft guns fired grenade shotguns were very easy to cause accidental damage. The 16,000 British naval officers and sailors could only pray silently, asking God to bless the Royal Air Force to defeat the enemy and successfully defend the sea and air.

"The Germans retreated!" A cheer spread across the Hood's bridge. Tovey looked intently, and sure enough, he saw that the fighters that were entangled and tearing in the distance had separated. A group of these planes is climbing altitude, quickly withdrawing from the battlefield to the east. Although their silhouettes are too far away to be seen, there is no doubt about the faction they belong to!

Tovey quietly breathed a sigh of relief, and his whole body felt paralyzed for the rest of his life. The combat effectiveness of the German carrier-based aircraft group far exceeded his expectations, and even if his own air force intercepted it with all its might, it could only withstand their strong attack. Now that Tovey had completely cut off the goal of recovering Norway, he only wanted to win back in this final game: without inflicting heavy damage on the German Navy's carrier-based aviation, Tovey could not see any hope that Britain would win the war.

"Admiral Forbes's main fleet was attacked by carrier-based aircraft only about 2 hours and 20 minutes after encountering the German battleship. This shows that the initial position of the German aircraft carrier will not be too close to Bergen, and it should be in the range of 280 to 350 kilometers...... "Tovey mentally combed through the battlefield intelligence he had over and over again, and extracted useful information from it. At this time, whether the Air Force bombers can catch the traces of the German aircraft carrier depends on their own prediction of the opponent's position, and if there is a big deviation, their last chance to counterattack the German aircraft carrier is gone.

What gave Tovey hope was that the Norwegian Sea was not a vast ocean, and as long as the Germans were in hot pursuit, the position of its aircraft carrier could be largely deduced.

"Sending a report to Aberdeen Air Force Base that the German aircraft carrier is very likely to appear in the Sea Zone 227." Tovey pondered in his mind for a long time, and finally spoke to the adjutant. After a while, he stopped the adjutant who was about to turn away, and spoke again: "At the same time, ask for help from the air force, and ask for more fighters to cover us and resist the second wave of German attacks!" ”

In fact, there was no need for Tovey to rush to the Aberdeen base, and the British Air Force generals in charge of the Scottish theater of operations had already sent a second wave of covering aircraft to the former. Before the campaign began, the British Air Force had been told to fully support the naval fleet, and since Forbes's main fleet was nearly completely wiped out outside the Hurricane's combat radius, all land-based aircraft were now only defended by the aircraft carrier fleet. Tovey waited less than 20 minutes when another swarm of hurricanes appeared in the sea and sky due west. As a result of more time for preparation, the number of hurricanes has increased from the previous one, reaching nearly 42 aircraft in a brigade.

However, before Tovey could be happy for more than five minutes, a dense group of German aircraft appeared in the sky dome to the north-east. There were twice as many of them as before, and the ferocious slaughter made Tovey's hands and feet chill when he held the binoculars, and his forehead was covered with fine cold sweat. Tovey found that he still underestimated the attack power of the German aircraft carriers, and the other party had opened a generational gap with himself in the field of carrier power. Now, even with the cover of the Air Force, the British aircraft carrier fleet can no longer retreat from the blows of the Germans!

Tovey's anxiety soon became a reality. In the face of the 36 fighters and 48 bombers released by the two German Zeppelin-class aircraft carriers, the British Hurricanes were simply unable to intercept them all—in fact, they could not even cope with the escort fighters in the German fleet, whose superiority in individual aircraft performance and air tactics made it difficult for the Hurricane to achieve the desired results even if it was more than enough. Taking advantage of the friendly entanglement of the British fighters, the German bombers swooped down on the British fleet from high altitudes to the sea, and the three tall, simple flat-topped aircraft carriers became the number one target that the German pilots wanted to get rid of.

"Boom!" With a loud thunder and a red flame rolling into the sky, the slow-moving Eagle aircraft carrier was the first to be hit by a 500kg bomb, and the tail flight deck exploded into countless fragments in the flames. In vain, the British gunners fired desperately into the air with small-caliber anti-aircraft guns, but the chains of metal bullets they fired were almost completely off topic, and did nothing but provide psychological comfort to ordinary sailors.

At this time, the British warships had neither quantity nor fire control, and the rate of fire was average, so it was all up to God to effectively shoot down German bombers. In less than 10 minutes, the Eagle with a displacement of 21,600 tons was bombarded by six bombs, and the entire hangar and deck were shrouded in flames and poisonous smoke, and the sea water in the bottom compartment began to rush and sweep.

Inside the bridge of the Hood, Tovey watched his own aircraft carriers in flames, but soon he was not worried about the flat-topped ships, as his flagship was also targeted by as many as 12 German bombers. Along with a few spectacular water columns like white dragons going to sea, the bow of the Hood also took a heavy bomb. The aerial torpedoes dropped by the German planes on the left and right made Tovey's heart rise to his throat, and he swore that if he could get out of this difficulty, he would dedicate all his body and mind to the merciful God when he returned home.

Perhaps Tovey's prayers worked, and the Hood was finally spared the same calamity as its battleship sisters. Of the four bombs dropped by the German planes, only one hit and one missed, and there was no major damage to the ship's equipment. With a rapid speed of more than 31 knots, the 8 torpedoes were avoided by the experienced Captain Cole for 6 rounds, and 1 of the remaining 2 rounds did not explode. After the emergency rescue of the damage management team, the Hood, which was mined in the amidships, was out of danger after entering 2,500 tons of water, and because the power system remained intact, the ship could still easily run at a speed of 29 knots.

"Damn Germans, you have to pay for your actions today!" Watching the German plane calmly raise its altitude and leave quickly, Tovey's eyes erupted into flames, and he said through a voice that almost popped out of his teeth. He could already be sure that the German aircraft carrier was coming after him, and its position was in the vicinity of the sea area that he had estimated. If the Air Force is able to act on its own volition, the German aircraft carriers will soon taste the iron fist of Britain's long-built counterattack; Even if the British Navy loses another batch of warships today, it will have to pull enough cushions!