"I forgot about it when I was excited......," Richthofen patted his head and hurriedly beckoned to the back, "Colonel Sedlitz, please fulfill your role." ”

Seydlitz glanced at Ozawa gratefully, he had wanted to protest a long time ago, but it was too hard to speak, and someone happened to relieve him. Watching him methodically command the entire fleet to take off, Richthofen nodded, worthy of being an excellent wing captain he recruited from the Air Force, and he was also handy in playing the role of aviation commander.

Just now when Sedlitz gave the order, Captain Aoki thought that these standard gestures introduced by the Germans were completely necessary, the aircraft carrier itself was noisy and emotionally tense, and under the influence of the sea breeze, it was difficult to hear it if it was shouted, and it was impossible to carry a loudspeaker with him. If there is a tacit understanding between the ground crew and the pilot, it is good to say, a look will understand what the other party is going to do next, no tacit understanding is simply to catch blind, although the German set of standards looks a little weird, at the beginning of the study is also a little cumbersome, but as long as the conditioned reflex is formed, the pilot can quickly determine the actual situation and perform follow-up actions, considering that the gesture is common to the whole navy, a carrier-based aircraft pilot can learn it when training in an aviation school. In other words, even if he is not familiar with any of the ground crews on his first day on a warship, as long as he understands the gestures, he will be able to complete the flight mission correctly - this is very necessary in combat, because when multiple aircraft carriers land, they are likely to land on other aircraft carriers.

Major General Krake also received a telegram from Sevastopol, which was roughly swept at a glance. But the payment made him ponder for a long time:

"At present, the fleet is sailing due southeast, and has released all its combat aircraft groups, and it is expected to meet the enemy in 50 minutes. Enemy aircraft may be about to attack your fleet, so be prepared for air defense. "The inscription is the USS Zeppelin aircraft carrier formation.

"How did I not know that the aircraft carrier Zeppelin had flown to the Black Sea? Shouldn't he have accepted construction in the shipyard? Kranke thought about it for a long time, and finally understood that it was a simulated aircraft carrier base in Richthofen, and he couldn't help laughing.

"Call back: This fleet is heading due east, requesting follow-up information." Although the Soviet planes had not yet discovered themselves, the threat from the air was unmistakable, and Kranke was mentally prepared for it. However, he was not worried, even without the air cover provided by Richthofen, Army Group South had already put in place air cover for itself before the battle, and the Romanians promised to send all the fighters they could send out to provide cover for the fleet.

If only by the standard of the pitiful 42 carrier-based aircraft of the Zeppelin aircraft carrier. There was undoubtedly a surplus of aircraft at the Black Sea base, and Richthofen was obviously not pedantic, except for leaving the necessary cover, he had all the pilots practice the standard maneuvers according to the standard of aircraft carrier take-off before taking off for combat. Now there are close to 240 planes in the sky and rushing towards the Black Sea Fleet. It was divided into 2 large formations with significant distinctions. Besides. Army Group South also took off, and a large number of Stuka bombers, under the cover of Bf-109 or Fw-190, pounced on the surface of the Black Sea Fleet.

Okunomiya praised: "Sir, the speed of assembling and launching a wave today is 37 seconds faster than yesterday, which shows that your country's naval aviation is growing rapidly. ”

Richthofen nodded, expressing his pleasure, but then the other party took a turn, and his face instantly hung up.

The other party pointed to the ground crew who were sitting in groups around and discussing the battle: "Now is not the time for small talk, they should be ready to receive the landing plane in accordance with the operating specifications, and prepare to provide ammunition and fuel for the landing pilot." Prepare for refreshments or water for the pilots, and some for air defense, fire prevention, and other contingencies - in case the pilot is injured, first-aid medication and bandages are prepared...... Only these are well prepared. in order to deliver the second and third strikes in a timely manner. ”

Richthofen's loud voice immediately roared, and with Seydlitz's urgent order, the ground crew were busy like clockwork tops.

"Attention, the Russian ......group has been spotted ahead," shouted Captain Schmidt, who was at the front of the HNA formation, as the guide aircraft, over the intercom, "the second squadron threw away the auxiliary fuel tanks and attacked with me." ”

"Roger." The BF-109s immediately moved much lighter as soon as they shook off the drop tank, and they followed the guide and pounced ferociously.

This is a group of Il-4 bombers accompanied by the La-5, obviously both sides are not ready to encounter here, but still sparks as soon as they meet, Schmidt and the HNA fighters behind him are all experienced veteran pilots, and most of them have fought on the Eastern Front and know how to deal with such aircraft. The two sides chased in the air, and this group of Russian planes numbered only 36, all of which belonged to the Black Sea Fleet, while Schmidt's second combat squadron had 24 aircraft. Considering that there were 20 slow-moving bombers out of 36 Russian aircraft, Schmidt had an advantage in both quantity and quality.

He didn't pay much attention to the entanglement of the pull 5, took advantage of the maneuverability to dive down, firmly encased a Red Army bomber in the aperture, pulled the trigger continuously, and accurately hit the engine part of the enemy plane with the 20mm machine gun, Schmidt saw it clearly, the enemy plane soon emitted green smoke, and then began to catch fire, and then lost its balance and spun up, falling down like a leaf. His companion was more fortunate than him, and ran into an Il-4 bomber carrying a torpedo, and due to the constraints of the torpedo, the clumsy bomber could not dodge it at all, and did not expect to give up the torpedo in time, so he could only watch and die until he was smashed into a spark in the air.

After a fierce battle, the two sides finally disengaged, and the La-5 formation was greatly weakened, 13 of the 24 Il-4 bombers were shot down, and the 12 La-5 that served as escorts were also shot down 5, but the Russians were clearly unwavering and continued to pounce in the direction of the Krank's fleet. Only 1 plane was shot down on Schmidt's side, and looking at his parachuted companion, he could only pray in his heart that he would be able to withstand the cold of the Black Sea and not be frozen into a lump of ice before the fleet scooped him up.

"Arrived at the ......" formation suddenly let out a warm cheer, the Red Army's Black Sea Fleet below was clearly visible, lined up in a column is slowly advancing, he can see clearly, after the aircraft group appeared in the sky, the fleet on the sea immediately increased its speed, the overall speed increased to more than 21 knots, and then black smoke suddenly rose in the air, that is the Russians desperately using anti-aircraft guns to block and shoot, but the strange thing is that the Black Sea Fleet did not cover the aircraft group.

"Are enemy planes hiding in mid-air waiting for the best time?"

Schmidt thought as he tried to observe his surroundings, and the Ju-87C group behind him had swooped down one after another.

......With a high-pitched, eerie cry, the Stukas swooped down on their chosen target, with the largest number of bombers falling over the battleship Paris Commune.

The Ju-87Cs began to drop bombs, and columns of water appeared on the surface of the sea, no doubt bombs that had been blown up, but there were also bombs that exploded accurately on the deck. With a bang, Schmidt saw it clearly, a Russian destroyer was hit by a 500-kilogram bomb, and in less than 1 minute it began to enter the water and sink. The bombardment had been going on for several minutes, and before he could see the Russian fighters pounce on him, he realized that the Russian fleet was not hiding the fighters, but was not covered at all.

Vice Admiral Okjabolsky at the Paris Commune was furious, and according to the pre-agreement, the Caucasian Front should provide aircraft cover when the naval attack group went to attack the enemy fleet, and before departure, it was well said that not even a single plane could be seen in the real engagement. He didn't know that he couldn't completely blame the Caucasian Front for this, the cluster they sent out had already set off, but they were entangled by the Bf-109 and Fw-190 planes sent from Army Group South on the way, and they couldn't get out at all, the Germans were all fighters, with fierce firepower and fast speed, and the Caucasian Front also had to take care of bombers and attack aircraft, and the covering planes such as the La-5 and Yak-7 did not dare to run too far at all, and could only be beaten by the Germans. They also received an urgent response from the fleet, but it would take time to get over.

That's enough time for HNA

When the dive bombers had finished their attack and left contentedly with their bombs, Schmidt led the fighters down, and they had to quickly suppress the fire on the deck to cover the torpedo-carrying Ju-87Cs, his plane swept across the deck, hitting two anti-aircraft guns on the spot, and then leaving the deck with neat rows of bullet holes

"Torpedo!" The sailors aboard the Paris Commune suddenly screamed, and they spotted a torpedo speeding from the port side.

"There's a torpedo again!" The starboard side was also found.

The captain could only do his best to maneuver the hull and try to use the bow to aim at the direction of the torpedo, but it was a pity that the Paris Commune was a 30-year-old ship after all, and its maneuver ability was too poor, and even if it was judged correctly, it still did not avoid the past, and the torpedoes on the left and right sides of the ship slammed into the hull firmly, and with two "boom booms" sounds, each exploded a large hole about 2 meters square, and the sea water poured in like crazy.

Everyone felt that the warship was sinking significantly, and this speed could no longer be suppressed by damage or leakage.

"Abandon the ship and return with the whole fleet." In agony, Oktya Borsky gave the final order.

In the face of the returning Black Sea Fleet, the German Navy obviously refused to give up the opportunity to beat the water dogs, sank one destroyer and one destroyer one after another, and returned to the enemy in a disorganized escape center. (To be continued.) )