As Bastian gave the order for the air defense of the fleet, the remaining 13 German heavy cruisers raised their anti-aircraft gun barrels one after another, pointing in the direction of the British carrier-based aircraft.

Merkel skillfully manipulated a twin 40mm anti-aircraft gun, aimed the barrel in the direction of the British carrier-based aircraft group, and then said to Hans next to him: "Hey, man, after training for so long, this time I finally have to get a real gun, to be honest, I'm a little nervous." ”

"I'm a little bit too." Hans, skillfully loading 40mm shells into the anti-aircraft magazine, replied to Merkel, "But this time we have to be glad that we finally left the damned battleship Helgolan, otherwise we might have died here this time with the 37mm anti-aircraft guns on the Helgoland." ”

"Whew, yes." Merkel breathed a long sigh of relief, tried to calm her mood, and said, "It feels funny to think that we used to sweat like rain on 37mm anti-aircraft guns, haha, the rate of fire of anti-aircraft guns depends entirely on how fast your hand speed is!" ”

"Thanks to Rheinmetall, they designed this 40mm automatic cannon." Hans thought for a moment when he used to carry a bag full of shells and struggled to reload them, and smiled, "Even though the 37mm gun we used to use was also designed by them. ”

While the two were chatting one by one, the British carrier-based aircraft group entered the outer air defense circle of the German fleet.

The British carrier-based aircraft group consisted of "Pipe-nosed Swallow" fighters and old "Swordfish" torpedo attack aircraft, although the design of these two aircraft was not a failure, but they were both outdated, especially the "Swordfish" torpedo attack aircraft, which was still biplane.

And they are faced with an air defense network composed of German Flak25A 128mm anti-aircraft guns (responsible for long-range air defense) + FLAK18 88mm anti-aircraft guns (responsible for medium-range air defense) + 40mm rapid-fire anti-aircraft guns (responsible for process air defense) + 20mm "Erlikon" (responsible for process air defense).

This set of air defense network concept is advanced, strong performance, flawless, and at the same time takes into account the three layers of medium, far and near, especially the shell fuze used in the FLAK25A 128mm anti-aircraft gun is the latest VT proximity fuze developed by Germany, when the shell approaches the aircraft type will automatically detonate, greatly improving the killing ability.

Therefore, when the British old aircraft group just stepped into the range of the German air defense circle, it was devastated, and more than 20 planes were shot down at once, and this number is still rising.

But the British Navy deserves to be called the British Navy, and the quality of its personnel is extremely high.

After being stunned at first, they immediately readjusted the aircraft formation, with the fighters acting as meat shields on the periphery, protecting the output core torpedo attack aircraft in the middle, and creating opportunities for the torpedo attack aircraft with their own sacrifices.

When the pilots of the torpedo attack group saw that their comrades-in-arms in the fighter group did not hesitate to sacrifice themselves as meat shields in order to create conditions for themselves, they also let go out one after another, no longer caring about casualties, stepped on the accelerator to the end, and accelerated towards the German warships in the face of the flying shells.

Finally, after a huge sacrifice, the British carrier-based aircraft group finally approached their respective targets and began to reduce their altitude speed in preparation for the release of torpedoes.

As soon as the German air defense soldiers saw that the British plane had come over, they immediately became anxious, and their adrenaline soared one by one, and they were much more accurate with their heads.

"Woohoo!" Merkel manipulated the twin 40mm anti-aircraft guns in her hand to shoot down a "Swordfish" that was about to drop torpedoes, and the shells in the anti-aircraft magazine were just finished.

"Hans, cannonballs!" Merkel shouted.

"Right now!" Hans agreed, quickly removed the two empty magazines that had been inserted in the anti-aircraft guns, then turned around and picked up a 20-round magazine and loaded it onto one gun, and then turned around and picked up the other magazine to load the other gun.

"Alright man!" Hans patted Merkel on the shoulder and signaled that he had finished reloading.

Merkel nodded, skillfully pulled the bolt with both hands, skillfully put a "Swordfish" into the aiming ring, and began to shoot.

As the German anti-aircraft gunners became more and more proficient, the originally dense British carrier-based aircraft group began to thin out, but they also managed to approach the German warships.

Eventually, the two "Swordfish" torpedo attack planes, relying on the shield of five "Guanbiyan" carrier-based fighters, successfully approached a Lune-class heavy cruiser and reduced their speed and altitude to the point where they could safely drop torpedoes.

"Plop! Thump! After two falling sounds, two 533mm aerial torpedoes successfully broke away from the torpedo attack aircraft and activated the propellers, shooting at a speed of 65 knots towards the Lune-class heavy cruiser not far away.

"Warning! Warn! There are torpedoes on the left! There are torpedoes on the left! The sailor in charge of observing the sea spotted two white torpedo trails, sounded the alarm, and shouted loudly.

"Left full rudder! Left full rudder! Slow down the left full rudder! The captain ran to the left-hand porthole, stared nervously at the two white wakes that were getting closer, and commanded in a loud voice.

"Understood! Slow down the left full rudder! "The helmsman carried out the captain's orders efficiently, maneuvering the huge warship's nimble inward cut to dodge the torpedoes.

It's a pity that these two torpedoes were dropped by the plane, and they were already very close to the warship, so although the captain gave the correct order in time, the helmsman also carried out the captain's order at the first time, so they could not completely dodge, but were hit.

"Bang!" With a loud bang, a huge splash rose on the port side of the warship, and the entire warship in advance paused slightly because of the huge thrust caused by the torpedo explosion, and the officers and men in each battle position also fell to the ground due to the violent explosion and shaking.

However, they soon struggled to their feet with the help of their surroundings and began to check for damage.

The captain also got up from the ground with one hand on the table and the other on his head, which was bleeding from falling and hitting the corner of the table.

"The situation...... Report...... Report ...... Damage! The captain was stunned by the impact, so he shouted a little slurred.

The adjutant listened to the captain's order, quickly picked up the ship's phone, and dialed the damage management team to confirm the situation.

Dozens of seconds later, the adjutant finished understanding the situation and hung up the phone, ran to the side of the captain with a bloody face and a terrifying image, and reported: "The left side of the bow was directly hit by a torpedo, tearing a large hole 6 meters long and 1.5 meters wide, and the sea water has filled the four compartments in the bow!" ”

"Loss...... Tube, is it useful to lose management? The captain asked nervously.

"The damage management team is already there, Captain." The adjutant said with an ugly face, "But even if we control the damage, we will lose most of our combat effectiveness due to the left tilt of the hull into the water, captain, let's withdraw!" ”