"The target appears!" A Royal Navy observer shouted: "Fighters, they are all fighters!" ”

The words of the observer caused a wave of heart palpitations in the commander of this British vanguard fleet, that is, Sir Forbes.

In the distance, a vast black dot was approaching his vanguard fleet. Even without a telescope, Sir Forbes could see with the naked eye that these were clearly black spots on fighter planes.

Fighter planes have always been an extremely important force in human warfare. In land warfare, the seizure of air supremacy is equivalent to the seizure of the initiative in the campaign.

And in naval warfare, the side with aircraft carriers has a transcendent advantage over the non-aircraft carrier fleet.

In fact, the world's first aircraft carrier in the true sense of the word was the "Athletic" built by the British Navy in 1918, the first aircraft carrier to truly adopt an island structure. The first to put forward the mode of marine combat with fighter planes as the main body were also British military scholars.

In the view of those who hold this view, as long as the problem of the range of warplanes can be solved, the overwhelming number of warplanes, the lower cost of warships compared to warships, and the fewer casualties when destroyed, they will be enough to dominate the seas.

And the emergence of aircraft carriers, such mobile airfields at sea, provides them with the best way to solve the problem of range.

It is conceivable that although the firepower of giant warships is strong, the warships in the ocean are not cheap fortifications and tanks on the ground after all. The loss of a warship, in addition to the loss of funds and resources for the manufacture of a warship, is an even greater loss in the hundreds of crew members at every turn.

A simple tank, a small aircraft, as long as the production line is established, on average, it only takes a few hours at the earliest. And even if it is destroyed, the loss of personnel is only in the single digits.

And a battleship, from manufacturing to commissioning, to sea trials, to the formation of combat effectiveness. The time required is counted in years. Once you lose, it's really hard to bear!

However, the fact that aircraft carrier tactics were the first to be proposed does not mean that the British were the first to master them. Ironically, it was the Royal Navy's fine tradition of giant ship tactics that ensured the accuracy of British naval shelling, but also made them stop experimenting with aircraft carrier tactics.

Since we already have a strong artillery combat strength that we can rely on, why risk using aircraft carrier tactics that are still immature and only exist in theory. 、

This kind of thinking made the British Empire, which first possessed aircraft carriers, shallow at this tactic, and kept its aircraft carriers alone, leaving battleships and cruisers as the main force of operations.

The British were not wrong with this tactic, because the aircraft carrier needed to be escorted by enough warships, and it was easy to be destroyed by the enemy when placed on the front line. After all, the defense capabilities of the aircraft carrier itself are too weak, and once destroyed, the fighters will lose their combat capability. And the high cost of the aircraft carrier makes this loss seem unworthy.

The British generals did not ignore the 2 German aircraft carriers known in intelligence. It's just that they make a judgment from their own perspective and experience, believing that the Germans, like them, will not be stupid enough to use aircraft carriers to fight vanguards, and that the German vanguard fleet will also be the main force of surface warships.

It wasn't until Sir Forbes saw the terrifying Piranha-like German warplanes in the sky ahead that it dawned on him that not everyone had the same tactics as them, at least, the Germans had now adopted a new one.

At this time, it is superfluous to use any words to trust Sir Bruce's mood.

It is not difficult to guess the outcome in ten minutes, just by looking at the group of German planes that are getting closer and closer, and at the cloud beams in the sky that have been pierced by the warplanes.

"God!" Sir Forbes stared at this scene deadly, clenched his fists and gritted his teeth: "Send a telegram to Admiral Cunningham, and say that our First Squadron is finished." If he doesn't want to lose 6 battleships in one go, as well as all the destroyers and cruisers of the First Fleet, then immediately let our aircraft carriers take off carrier-based aircraft to rescue! ”

Obviously, Sir Forbes already knew that with the ship-based anti-aircraft firepower of the First Squadron in his hands, it was estimated that he would have to be beaten by the German carrier-based aircraft, which had 200 planes in front of him. He no longer expected to be able to repel the German fighters that were as dangerous as piranhas with the battleship's own anti-aircraft guns.

One after another, German fighters, at the fastest speed, changed from a small black dot in the distance to a pair of vigorous and dexterous petrels. In the line of anti-aircraft fire fired by the British battleships, tumbling and skimming.

Although the British battleships commanded by Forbes have always maintained an inverted V-shaped formation, and have already arranged anti-aircraft fire crosshairs. The bow anti-aircraft guns of each battleship were aimed in the direction from which the German fighters were whistling.

However, this kind of thing is really not so easy. At least, these British sailors, who practiced naval artillery all year round, were good at artillery and aimed at sea targets. But for jerking off, they are very rusty.

They did not know that the bandit German High Seas Fleet would re-emerge in such a short period of time, they did not know to what extent their opponents had risen, and they did not know that they had actually mastered the tactics of aircraft carriers across the era. In front of the oncoming torrent of air, these behemoths on the sea would seem so thin and fragile.

No one was able to remind them.

From the beginning of the construction of the battleship, the British designers ignored the fact that the opponent had an aircraft carrier, so they did not deliberately strengthen the anti-aircraft fire and the top armor of the battleship.

Not to mention the designers, even Sir Forbes, the commander of the First Fleet, and even Admiral Cunningham of the Home Fleet, could not have predicted such a rapid and huge development of the German Navy.

At least now, Sir Forbes, who witnessed this scene with his own eyes, stood there dumbfounded, watching with horror the tsunami-like waves of the air pounce in front of the First Detachment of the Royal Navy's Home Fleet, which had just been leisurely and conceited.

Reinhardt's First Mixed Fleet of the High Seas Fleet did not adopt any surprising tactics.

They don't need any tricks, it's just an ordinary battle. It's just that the German Navy uses conventional aircraft carrier tactics, while the British Navy uses conventional warship tactics.

With a simple aircraft carrier tactic, Lütjans explained to the British commanders that the seas of Europe today are no longer dominated by Britain.

All the British servicemen who are still intoxicated by the myth of the invincibility of the Imperial Navy on which the sun never sets, must accept a reality, their sweet dreams, it's time to wake up!

More than 200 fighters flying in formation on a blue sea are so spectacular.

They are from the German Navy, they are the naval forces of Germany!