When the German aircraft carrier fleet and the British Royal Aircraft Carrier Fleet first engaged in the first round of fierce battles in the English Channel, Cunningham also dispatched 13 aircraft carriers, 7 battleships, 6 heavy cruisers, 9 light cruisers, and 60 destroyers to the English Channel immediately for support operations.

And these 18 aircraft carriers are 2 Yorktown-class fleet aircraft carriers, 6 Essex-class aircraft carriers, and 10 Independence-class light aircraft carriers.

The seven battleships were of the South Dakota-class, Washington-class, and Iowa-class battleships.

The 6 heavy cruisers are of the Pensakra class, Northampton class, New Orleans class, Waikita class.

The 9 light cruisers are of the Cleveland class, the Atlanta class.

The 60 destroyers are of the Fletcher class, Mahan class, Benson class, Gridley class, Bagley class.

This powerful and well-capitalized aircraft carrier fleet was drawn from the US military and temporarily formed together with the British Navy.

It is divided into a total of 4 groups, each of which is also assigned at least one Essex-class aircraft carrier, and even the first group is assigned 3 Essex-class aircraft carriers as fleet carriers.

As for the fleet carriers that were missing the Essex-class aircraft carriers, they were allocated to the Yorktown-class aircraft carriers as fleet carriers to compensate.

Moreover, the destroyers, battleships and aircraft carriers of these Anglo-American joint aircraft carrier fleets are equipped with the latest radars; It can be used to detect enemy aircraft, fleets, as well as submarines.

Moreover, it can also carry out day and night guidance, so that the fighter units and fleets on their side can know the enemy's position and attack in advance, so as to carry out more effective and accurate counterattacks.

And now the radar used by the British and American aircraft carrier fleets is the SG radar, which can detect surface targets almost 30 kilometers away.

Of course, in addition to the SG radar, there are also SK radars, SC-3 radars, and MK4 radars, that is, FD fire control radars, which can detect surface targets at a distance of more than 30 kilometers, and the detection band used is medium wave.

And the air defense naval guns of this British and American aircraft carrier have 127 mm guns, 40 mm Bofors guns, 127 mm combined guns, 40 mm quadruple guns, etc.

In the event of an enemy air attack, it will immediately form a wheeled battle formation to conduct air defense and naval battles with the enemy fleet.

And now the German aircraft carrier fleet in the English Channel is composed of 5 Midway aircraft carriers, 4 battleships HMS Tirbitz, 4 battleships HMS Bismarck, 5 light cruisers, 22 destroyers, 12 minesweepers, 35 I-400 series submarines.

The strength of the British Royal Navy, which fought against the German aircraft carrier fleet, was 4 aircraft carriers, 5 battleships, 16 destroyers, 3 heavy cruisers, 6 light cruisers, and 20 submarines.

In terms of strength, it is a little stronger than the German army for the time being, but if the aircraft carrier reinforcements sent by Cunningham join the battle, then the German aircraft carrier fleet will be in a fierce battle.

Although Brigadier General Friedrich Michel had also led another German aircraft carrier fleet to carry out a sneak attack and artillery bombardment in the Strait of Dover, the strength of this aircraft carrier fleet was not very strong.

Because the establishment of this aircraft carrier was 3 Midway carriers, 2 battleships HMS Tirbitz, and 2 battleships Bismarck, 3 light cruisers, 12 destroyers, 10 minesweepers, and submarines were not equipped.

Therefore, from the above data, it can be seen that once the comprehensive strength of the two armies is combined and a naval battle is carried out, I am afraid that the two sides will be a white-hot and tragic battle, and the outcome is still unknown.

Even if the Germans were to win with new weapons and equipment, they would probably have to pay a heavy price.

Because most of the officers and men of the German aircraft carrier fleet are newly trained recruits and do not have much actual combat experience.

The commander of the Anglo-American aircraft carrier fleet that was ordered to come to the aid was Louis. Mountbatten, commander-in-chief of the Allied forces in the Southeast Asian theater, but now he is being coordinated by Churchill from the anti-Japanese battlefield in Southeast Asia with Stilwell, Slim, and Wingate; He was sent back to the Mediterranean to assist Andrew Brown Cunningham in the naval battle against Germany in the Mediterranean.

For this reason, Andrew Brown Cunningham sent him to this powerful aircraft carrier fleet as a temporary commander to command the operation.

Originally, when Eisenhower was arguing with Churchill and Andrew Brown Cunningham about how many aircraft carrier fleets to send to attack the English Channel for support operations, the two sides quarreled because of sending too many aircraft carrier fleets, which made the relationship a little uncomfortable.

But in the end, it was under President Roosevelt's main idea of resisting Japan in Europe first and then in the Pacific that Admiral Eisenhower and Admiral Marshall were forced to reluctantly agree to Churchill and Andrew Brown Cunningham to dispatch a large number of aircraft carrier fleets and carrier-based aircraft groups to attack the English Channel.

And let Louis Mountbatten, the most mixed British figure in modern times, serve as the commander of this well-capitalized aircraft carrier fleet.

Although the other side is proficient in coordinating interpersonal relationships, the strategic vision of naval warfare is not as rich in actual combat as that of American admirals such as Raymond Arms Spruance, William Frederick Halsey Jr., and Chester William Nimitz.

So when Churchill and Andrew Brown Cunningham took command of this huge aircraft carrier group; Eisenhower and his old superior, Admiral Marcher Schel, angrily threw their teacups and scolded each other, including President Roosevelt, who was also angrily and privately insulted by both of them.

But then Eisenhower and Admiral Marshall had a headache about how they could continue the Italian counterattack they were preparing for after missing a third of their carrier fleet.

"Damn! Originally, we were at a disadvantage, and now that there are so many aircraft carrier fleets out at once, how can we transport those officers and soldiers to launch an amphibious landing operation against Italy? ”

When Eisenhower lost his temper at his headquarters, he sulked and complained angrily.

"How about we maybe take a look at more airborne troops?"

Admiral Marshall proposed.

"This method is not very effective, the risk is very high, first, our transport will encounter the interception of the German aviation units, second, our range problem, third, the supply of weapons and ammunition, and fourth, even if all our airborne troops are successfully airborne, but do not get the follow-up support of our amphibious landing army, then they will just go deep into the tiger's mouth and wait for the fate of the German army to gradually slaughter!"

In response, Eisenhower immediately shook his head in disagreement.

"Then we will not be able to make the best use of the aircraft carrier fleet at hand, or we can only wait for the return of the aircraft carrier fleet that attacked the English Channel before making new military deployments and counterattacking Italian operations."

Admiral Marshall said.

"We can't wait, because now is the best time for us to attack Italy and open up a second battlefield in Europe, because the attention of the German aircraft carrier fleet is already focused on the English Channel and the British mainland!"

"So there will definitely be a slight negligence in our combat operations!"

"So now is the best time for us to do a lightning sneak attack!"

Eisenhower disagreed.

"Hmmm! Let's hold another operational meeting to see if there are any better operational suggestions from others, or how we can reduce the risk of casualties in a sneak attack on the Italian mainland! ”

Admiral Marshall nodded silently in agreement.

Eisenhower gazed at Admiral Marshall with grateful eyes, nodded lightly and said thank you.

Then he quickly reconvened all the high-ranking British and American officers for an urgent operational meeting.