The waves were crashing against the warship, and it was already dusk, and the setting sun was shining on the Black Sea, and the sea was sparkling and sparkling.

Gorshkov stood on the bridge of the Red Caucasus, and he still remembered the battle just now.

In fact, it was not a victory, and when they rushed forward with indomitable energy, there was a heavy exchange of fire with the Italian warship, after which the Italian warship got out of the way after being shelled.

So, one by one, their warships passed through the ranks of Italian warships with their postures held high, and the shelling almost ceased as the two sides staggered by.

On the side of the Soviet warships, mainly because their naval guns were too slow to fire, after a salvo, it took half a day to complete the reloading, and by this time, the Italian navy had already run away.

After the two sides staggered, the ships of the Black Sea Fleet had no intention of going back and continuing to engage them, and the target of the Black Sea Fleet was the German fleet, not the Italian ships.

Therefore, they continued to sail at high speed, and the battleships all soared to a high speed of nearly 30 knots, and the Italian battleships were also chasing them behind, but the farther and farther, the Italian battleships, when they were designed, sailed in the Mediterranean, and did not take into account the long voyage at all, the area of the Mediterranean Sea is not very large, and they did not need high speeds, so the maximum speed of the Italian battleships was only more than 20 knots, and they could not catch up with them at all.

In this way, there was the Italian Navy in the back, and the battleships of the Black Sea Fleet, without the slightest fear, continued to sail forward, and the seaplanes released in advance had even observed the position of the fleet of the German Navy.

"In a hundred nautical miles, we will be able to meet the German fleet." Tikhonov said: "By the time we see the German fleet with our eyes, it will definitely be dark in our favor." ”

At the beginning, with an angry momentum, they were not afraid of the disparity in the balance of power between the two sides, and chased them directly, but along the way, Gorshkov already had a plan in his head.

They couldn't beat the German fleet, the Germans' naval guns were accurate and ruthless, they could take out the British navy in naval battles, and their strength was quite strong, and their own side was not only poor, but also their own naval guns were not large enough.

Then, if you want to achieve results, you can only fight bayonets at sea!

Relying on the spirit of not being afraid of sacrifice, they have to move all the way to the other side, at a distance of one or two kilometers, or even a few hundred meters, bombarding with naval artillery, or even hitting with the bow of their own ship, so that they can sink the other side!

During the day, they had no chance, and now, when they met the German fleet, it was just getting dark, so that it would be difficult for both sides to aim, and they would have a chance to get close!

His idea was very good, but unfortunately, the news that came next shattered his dream.

"The German fleet has taken off a large number of carrier-based aircraft, about thirty or so, and is approaching our fleet, pay attention to air defense!" Just after these calls came over the radio, the pilot's tone became urgent, and it is conceivable that the pilot was maneuvering with a large overload to avoid being hit by the other party.

Unfortunately, it didn't work, and a few seconds later, the roar of an aerial cannon came over the radio, and then it was no longer possible.

At such a distance, the two sides will soon be able to see it visually, and now, the carrier-based aircraft of the Germans have attacked them in large numbers!

"Order our anti-aircraft gunners to protect our battleships!" Gorshkov shouted, and just after he gave the order, the voice of the lookout post came: "Attention, German bombers!" ”

For an airplane that can fly to four or five hundred knots, this distance of 100 nautical miles is simply too close, and after taking off, it is almost time to descend after almost just climbing to a high altitude and cruising for a few minutes.

Lieutenant Steinkamp flew to the front, and when he saw the fleet of the Soviets from above the clouds, he immediately found his target: the largest warship, the Red Caucasus!

That's their goal, this sortie, to destroy the biggest cruiser of the Soviets!

Pushing its own joystick, the HS129 began to dive down from the clouds.

On the Red Caucasus, anti-aircraft gunners were on standby.

The Soviets were good learners, and when the Germans used their air superiority to take out the British warships in Scapa Bay, the shock of the Soviet Navy was unparalleled.

They looked around and found that their warships could not stop such a bombardment at all, so they were also making rapid improvements.

Therefore, from its service to the present, the Red Caucasus has been equipped with a variety of anti-aircraft weapons.

It was originally fitted with a 1914/1915 76-mm anti-aircraft gun, later with an Italian 100-mm "Minizny" anti-aircraft gun, and a 1935 34-K 76-mm anti-aircraft gun.

At this time, in the middle of the hull, on the emplacements of the Italian 100-mm "Minizny" anti-aircraft guns, fire had already begun to open fire on the sky.

This artillery is the main force of high-altitude air defense, and is an Italian version of the K10 and K11 guns imported from the Austro-Hungarian Skoda Arsenal.

With a maximum range of 19,570 meters and a maximum altitude of 10,000 meters, it can kill or expel opposing aircraft from a long distance.

"Boom, boom!" The twin barrels alternately emitted two puffs of black smoke, and two high-explosive shells flew out of the barrels and flew towards the target in the sky.

With the firing fired, the gun sat behind and looked quite imposing.

At the same time, it is firing intermittently without interruption.

"Boom, boom!"

The turret fine-tuned the angles, and before the first shot of the shell reached the target, the second round of firing began, and at this critical juncture, the Soviet anti-aircraft gunners burst out to the maximum potential, using the performance of this anti-aircraft gun to the extreme.

12 shells can be fired in one minute, one in five seconds, and each time fired, the double barrel fired two shells. And such anti-aircraft guns, on the Red Caucasus, arranged four of them!

If you look at it from the air, the Red Caucasus at this time is like a hedgehog, covered in thorns, and constantly firing shells, as if to kill any enemy plane that dares to dive down.

It's just that, in the eyes of Lieutenant Steinkamp, this is nothing short of a bluff.

For an excellent attack aircraft pilot, they are not afraid of large-caliber anti-aircraft guns, although the firing height is high, but the rate of fire of such anti-aircraft guns is slow, and the distance is long, the advance amount must be large, and the maneuver of the aircraft to evade is easy to avoid.

Unless it is a killing weapon such as a proximity fuse, its hit rate is quite low, compared to the small-caliber rapid-fire gun, the threat is greater, such as the current pilots, are not willing to dive against the Bofors anti-aircraft gun, they must cooperate tactically to eliminate it.

Keep diving!

In the intertwined network of fire of the anti-aircraft guns of the Red Caucasus and other battleships, the HS129 was unstoppable.