In the face of the 37 Bf-219s that came over with great momentum, the European swallows were simply unable to parry, one plane after another was sent to the bottom of the sea, and only 4 TBFs were lucky enough to fire torpedoes, but none of them hit. At the end of the battle 10 minutes later, all 28 carrier-based aircraft were annihilated by the enraged Bf-219s, and the Germans themselves lost 3 more.

There was chaos on the deck of the Zeppelin, and a large number of damage management team members were rescuing the warship, some were extinguishing the fire, some were judging the warship's injuries, and some were rescuing the casualties...... Mashal and other high-ranking members of the fleet were all engaged in tense rescue commands, and Richthofen forced himself to calm down and continued to issue orders: "The fighters with more fuel stay in the air to continue cover, and the ones with less fuel go to the Europa to land and replenish." ”

The Zeppelin had fully proven itself to be the core of the entire fleet in the tsunami plan, and its injuries attracted everyone's attention, plus it was the flagship, and the fleet top brass watched all its every move.

"How's it going?" After issuing the order, Richthofen asked anxiously.

"A large crater was blown in the middle of the deck runway, about 7 meters in diameter, and the only thing to be thankful for was that the British bomb was not powerful enough to penetrate the main armor belt below and penetrate the hangar, otherwise the damage would have been greater. In addition, the location of the bomb happened to be near the bow elevator, and the explosion caused part of the structure to distort, and the elevator has been stuck and cannot be used at present. Lieutenant Colonel William, the head of damage management and second officer of the Zeppelin, reported to everyone.

"What now?" Machar was anxious, "There are still 2 teams of attack planes outside, how will they land when they come back." ”

"We are trying to make emergency repairs, first cutting the entire section of the damaged runway and temporarily covering and filling it with spare steel plates, but the elevator cannot be repaired, and it must go back to the shipyard for repairs, and the hangar operation will be restricted."

"How long does it take to repair the runway?"

"Two hours if it's fast, three hours if it's slow -- but no more air raids."

"You go and do it immediately, be careful, and restore the take-off and landing ability as soon as possible."

"Sir, doesn't it matter if the bow lift is damaged?" Machar asked Richthofen nervously.

"Theoretically, the failure of the first lift to be used will cause major problems including hangars and aircraft transfers, but as long as normal take-off and landing can be resumed, the problem is not particularly big." Richthofen sighed, "With so many planes lost today, even if the remaining spare planes are assembled, they will not be able to fill the hangar, so the efficiency of the sortie will not be reduced in theory, and we will wait until we go back for a full repair." What about other warships? ”

"The losses are very large, the Prince Eugen and the Z15 sank, and they are rescuing the people who fell into the water, the Scharnhorst was hit by a torpedo, plus the original injury, it can only be driven up to 24 knots, and I am afraid that after going back, I will have to lie in the shipyard for half a year......" Mashal shook his head and sighed, "In order to break through the enemy's interception, the price paid today is really not small." ”

"But after all, they broke through, and the British suffered more losses...... "Richthofen looked hideous, "look at the two battleships to the south, I must sink him and avenge the Prinz Eugen." ”

At 11 o'clock sharp, the fleet was more than 400 nautical miles from Iceland, and Machar ordered the fleet to turn southwest and prepare to break through to the Atlantic Ocean as soon as possible. At this moment, good news came from the south, under the joint attack of Ju-98 and He-218, two old battleships Lamiri (Sovereign-class) and Arkansas (Wyoming-class, supported by the U.S. Atlantic Fleet) in the E Fleet that had lost air power cover were sunk one after another, and two destroyers (Positive and Antelope, both A-class destroyers) were sunk, and the group lost two He-218, two Ju-98 and one water battle respectively, and the rest of the aircraft were returning to the mothership.

Upon hearing the news, the atmosphere in the Zeppelin Commander Tower came alive again, and the excitement of the crowd was written on their faces - which meant that there was no longer any force ahead that could stop them.

The losses of both sides of the war this time were not small. Including Icelandic land-based aircraft and carrier-based aircraft of the E fleet, the overall losses of the British were close to 100 aircraft, with a loss rate of more than 75%. The German army lost 11 Bf-219 in the air defense operation, plus the loss of the remaining 10 aircraft in the two attack waves, the overall battle loss has reached 21, the loss rate is as high as a quarter, the missing and dead pilots reached 13 people (groups), and an additional destroyer and 1 heavy cruiser (Prinz Eugen), the Scharnhorst and Zeppelin were heavily damaged, fortunately the Europa is still intact and can barely provide a landing place, otherwise these planes in the sky will all become a pile of scrap aluminum after running out of fuel.

"You wounded the Zeppelin?" Although shocked by the small number of planes returning home, Fraser was still very excited after hearing the conclusive reports of the surviving pilots.

"Yes, I saw with my own eyes that there was a big crater on his deck, and it was constantly smoking...... Sir, we also took out at least 2 heavy cruisers, 3 destroyers, and maybe the Scharnhorst, which ate 2 torpedoes...... Also, it seems that the Tirpitts also received several bombs. "It's actually easy to misjudge on the battlefield, and the observation of this handsome warrior pilot is actually quite reliable.

"What about the other aircraft carrier?" Fraser asked hopefully.

"This ...... I didn't see it clearly, but I was busy dodging a Bf-219 at the time, and I must have been injured - the aircraft carrier was the key target of attack aircraft. ”

However, the excitement did not last long, and within five minutes the aviation staff officer told him that the second attack wave and the search and reconnaissance plane had not found the target, and had to be forced to return because of fuel. Frazier's face suddenly turned blue - the second attack wave was a Royal Air Force support unit of more than 100 planes that had arrived in Iceland at about 9 o'clock this morning, and then released one after another after urgently replenishing fuel bombs, including even P-47s that were specially escorted for American B-17 heavy bombers, and which were still a few at this time.

He had high hopes for it, but now he can only go to the soup. What's worse is that half an hour ago, he also learned the unfortunate news: except for 2 destroyers in the E fleet who escaped, the rest of the warships were all wiped out, and Rear Admiral Hamilton, who was with him the day before yesterday, chose to sink with the ship and died a heroic martyr!

"Report to the Prime Minister, just say ......" Fraser pondered for a moment and slowly dictated to the Chief of Staff, "The Icelandic Air Force carried out an air attack on the enemy fleet this morning, and achieved major results, striking 2 heavy cruisers, 3 destroyers, severely damaging the battle cruiser Scharnhorst, the aircraft carrier Zeppelin, the Zhongchuang Tirpitz and an unknown aircraft carrier, shooting down nearly 30 enemy planes, and our army lost nearly 70 aircraft...... At present, the enemy fleet is far away from the strike range of Iceland's land-based air forces, its whereabouts are unknown, and it is suspected of breaking through into the Atlantic Ocean. ”

"Something about the E fleet?"

"That's what Admiral Tovey reported, it has nothing to do with us, the fleet is under his direct command." Fraser thought to himself: Lao Tzu was stupid to report the destruction of the E fleet!

Churchill in the Prime Minister's residence had two war reports in his hand: one was sent by Fraser, reporting the heavy damage to the German fleet; One was sent by Tovey, reporting the destruction of Fleet E and the martyrdom of Rear Admiral Hamilton due to the disparity in strength.

His face was pale, he was also a figure who had been the Minister of the Navy, of course he knew that his subordinates were tired, and the subtext in the war report could be understood at a glance: heavy damage or destruction, there was only one result to interpret, and the German fleet slipped into the Atlantic after paying some price.

"Our shipping line is finished!" He roared, his voice like it was going to tear the entire roof over, "Now the Tirpitts can rush into the Atlantic and kill." ”

"Prime Minister, we still have the Independence and the Pennsylvania, and they will be there soon."

"Immediately?" Churchill glared at Pound, gasped and asked loudly, "In less than a week, the Royal Navy lost 4 battleships and 8 escort carriers, and now you tell me that 1 battleship and 1 light aircraft carrier can save the whole situation, when everyone else is stupid?" ”

"This ......," Pound was speechless.

"Someone has to be held accountable for this, and I need to give President Roosevelt an account." He stared at Pound and said word by word, "The Americans gave us three battleships, all of them sank in a week, and so many American Navy officers and men died; The Americans borrowed our aircraft carriers and battleships George V so far, unscathed, what do you make them think? Especially Admiral Kim, it's hard to explain ......"

Pound understood the meaning of Churchill's words: whether it is to give an explanation to the Americans or to calm the internal anger, it is difficult to continue to maintain the position of commander of Tovey's home fleet, and now the one who has the results and achievements is Admiral Frazier, plus he is the deputy commander-in-chief of the home fleet, and it is inevitable to change generals.

The phone rang, and it was the adjutant who called: "Prime Minister, Admiral Tovey resigned because he felt that he had unshirkable command responsibility for this defensive campaign, and said that he would be willing to cooperate with the Independent Inquiry Committee if you need to pursue other issues, and now that he is outside, do you need to see him?" ”

The two looked at each other and were speechless for a long time, and it took a while for Churchill to squeeze out a sentence: "Please let him in!" No! Field Marshal Pound and I went to meet him. ”

Pound thought as he walked: Tovey has an attitude and things will be much easier to follow, the Prime Minister is not expected to be too embarrassing, he is like this to Admiral Alexander, and Admiral Tovey will be the same. Only Cunningham, who is stubborn and insists that he has not made a big mistake, needs to be calm and reflective.

"Führer, I must report to you......" Raeder's face flushed in the Admiralty in Berlin, "the fleet has overcome the interception of the British Navy and successfully broken through to the Atlantic!" In the past week, the Navy has sunk nearly 300,000 tons of British warships and more than 200 aircraft, including 4 battleships, 8 escort aircraft carriers, and 8 cruisers, with little damage of its own. (To be continued.) )