In the night's encounter, the Germans lost one destroyer (Z5) and seven S-boats, the Scharnhorst suffered a medium wound (tail turret damage), and several ships, including the Prinz Eugen and the Tirpitts, suffered minor damage, but the results were undoubtedly remarkable. Relying on the overwhelming attack of the G9 oxygen torpedoes and the fierce pursuit of the artillery formation, a total of 2 New Mexico-class battleships, the USS Newcastle light cruiser and 3 destroyers were sunk during the night.

However, the price paid by the German side was not as small as it appeared on the surface, at least not in the eyes of the fleet leadership. After the night of this encounter, the order to turn north and retreat was given, which meant that the plan to break into the Iceland-Faroe waterway at night had once again been thwarted, and the North Sea Fleet's attempt to enter the Atlantic and carry out the tsunami plan had to be postponed again, and Machar did not know how to explain it to Berlin.

After urgent deliberations with the staff and the advisory group on the map, he finally decided to change his strategy again, preparing to break through the Danish Strait into the Atlantic, he did not believe that the British still had so many warships blocking the front.

In addition to the delay, because the artillery formation held out until the enemy ship was sunk before finally retreating, it was two hours behind the aircraft carrier formation, and there were still four hours before dawn, and the shelling formation itself was slower than the aircraft carrier formation, so even if it retreated at full speed, it could only travel a little more than 100 nautical miles, and at this time it was only less than 300 kilometers away from Iceland - this is a very dangerous area, and it is very likely to encounter a concentrated attack by enemy aviation.

After the large-scale use of torpedoes by the S boats, it became a big difficulty to resupply them again, although there were some torpedoes in stock on the Europa, but the number was less than 30, and even with the supply of the cows, at best it could only get more than 40 torpedoes, and it was basically a luxury to replenish all the S boats with torpedoes.

In the end, on the one hand, he sent a telegram to Berlin to report the situation, and on the other hand, he ordered all the shelling fleets to go north and get out of the air defense circle as soon as possible.

At 6:15, the sky began to lighten, and the carrier-based aircraft on the Zeppelin and Europa were ready to take off, especially the Bf-219s, who had a difficult task today and needed to escort the fleet until they left the Icelandic air defense circle.

At 6:45, after a night of fierce fighting, Rear Admiral Eric Bey, who had only rested for less than three hours, had eaten breakfast, drank another cup of strong coffee, and boarded the bridge of the Tirpits.

The news of the helpless and near-annihilation of the W-Fleet last night deeply stung the top brass of Churchill, Pound, Tovey, and others, who decided to use their aviation forces to launch a devastating attack on the enemy in the middle of the night. Admiral Fraser, who was sitting in Iceland, stayed up all night, organizing and dispatching attack aircraft groups overnight, and was ready for an attack early.

At 6:35, the Faroe Islands sent their first reconnaissance aircraft; Two minutes later, another group of reconnaissance aircraft was sent from the Icelandic direction.

At 7:07, the first batch of 24 Bf-219s with covering tasks arrived over the shelling formation, and the restless heart of Major General Bei, who was commanding below, calmed down slightly. At the moment, the artillery formation is about 300 kilometers from Iceland, and the aircraft carrier group is 380 kilometers from Iceland. The fleet was moving away from Iceland at a speed of 45 kilometers per hour, and he secretly prayed in his heart that the enemy would find himself a little later, a little later.

At half past seven o'clock, the aircraft carrier group had basically left the Icelandic air defense circle, and the shelling group had left Iceland for 320 kilometers, and the fleet was still not discovered by the British reconnaissance planes...... Rear Admiral Bey's mood relaxed, and he actually had a rare witty remark with Colonel Topp, the captain of the Tirpitts

As soon as the words fell, a terrible siren sounded on the bridge: "Enemy plane found, suspected reconnaissance plane ......"

"Bastard!" Major General Bei was so angry that he cursed, and hurriedly ordered, "Shoot it down quickly......

It was too late, and at 7:34, just 1 minute before the Bf-219 shot down the daring Coronado water reconnaissance plane, he had already sent a telegram in the direction of Iceland: "3 enemy capital ships, including the Tirpits, heading due north, at a speed of 26 knots......"

"Gentlemen, the good times are over, get ready for the flies of the British." Major General Bei ended the call with a helpless humor, returned to the command tower in silence, and by the way also informed Machar of the information, hoping to support some more escort fighters for him later.

Everyone's spirits were high, and the next period was going to be the hardest time - I don't know how many planes the British would send.

"Sir, I've found them, but they're a bit far away." In the command of the Royal Icelandic Naval Aviation, a voice of surprise and joy broke the silence and quickly informed Fraser of the information.

"Where?"

"It's about 200 nautical miles northeast of Iceland and more than 300 nautical miles from the Faroe Islands...... No enemy aircraft carriers were found, but there were Tirpitts and 2 other capital ships. ”

"Finally catch them, let the Iceland and Faroe Islands attack aircraft all depart, the Faroe Islands planes do not care about the range, just land in Iceland after the attack is completed." Fraser thought for a moment and then said, "Send more fighters with a long range, and the number of German carrier-based fighters may not be less." ”

In order to deal with the German fleet, the red-eyed Royal Navy can be said to have rushed out, and all the attack planes and bombers that could reach it were taken out.

Faroe Islands: At 7:41, 24 Swordfish \ Mackerel attack aircraft attacked under the escort of 12 hurricanes; 3 minutes later, 16 Barracuda attack aircraft attacked under the escort of 8 Euro Swallows; Seventeen minutes later, the last wave of attack aircraft, 16 Mosquito bombers carrying two 500-pound aerial bombs, set off for the attack under the escort of eight Spitfires mounted with auxiliary fuel tanks.

Iceland: At 7:39, 24 Swordfish\Great Mackerel attack aircraft attacked under the escort of 12 hurricanes; Six minutes later, 16 Skua dive bombers attacked under the escort of 8 Euroswallows; Eighteen minutes later, 12 Blenheim medium bombers came out of sortie escorted by 6 of the latest Firefly fighters. (To be continued.) )