Now, the pride of the German Navy is the Deutschland-class armored cruiser, a 10,000-ton warship powered by a diesel engine, the most advanced warship before the new battleship entered service!

After the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, the three warships set off from the German mainland port and went to the Atlantic. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

And now, having received a new order, two of the three warships, the Deutschland and the Admiral Schell, have crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and entered the Mediterranean.

In the Atlantic, storms often occur, but in the Mediterranean, it is relatively calm, and this calm climate makes some German sailors from the Atlantic a little uncomfortable.

On the Deutschland, the captain of the ship, Colonel Lukins, looked at the endless sea in the distance and sighed with emotion.

The Mediterranean Sea is also a very important place for Germany, where the south is Africa, the north is Europe, and many raw materials from Africa are transported through here!

The German Navy must have sea power here!

"Report to the captain, we're running out of fuel." Deputy Captain Lindemann said to him.

In later generations, both men were famous names, they were the captain and co-captain of the Bismarck, and now, the Bismarck is still under construction, and the two have partnered on the Deutschland.

The Deutsche runs on diesel fuel and has a high endurance, but, coming out of the port, they have been wandering at sea for more than two months, and fuel, fresh water, and food on the warship are beginning to run short.

"Rendezvous with our supply ships and send them a signal." Lukins said: "We went to meet in Ibiza. ”

After saying that, Lukins added: "No need to encrypt telegrams. ”

Not encrypted? The deputy captain was stunned for a moment, and when he saw Lukins's face, with a certain smile, he immediately understood.

After the German Navy entered the Mediterranean Sea in a mighty way, it wandered for more than ten days and saw nothing! They didn't get a fight, which was too boring for them!

Now, since there are no fighters, they can only take the initiative to create fighters themselves, and Lukins has never lacked the sense of war.

Use unencrypted radio communications to deliberately expose your whereabouts, so that the air force and navy of the Spanish Republican Army will definitely come!

Just a few days ago, the Italian auxiliary cruiser Baleta was bombed by the Republican SB-2, resulting in the tragic consequences of six deaths and a large number of injuries, including the captain.

The combat effectiveness of the Noodle Army is too weak, not only can it be defeated on the ground, but even at sea, it is such a weak chicken!

When he heard the news, Lukins had already made up his mind to attract the Spanish Republican Army to come over and beat them hard!

Now, after all, Spain did not directly declare war on Italy and Germany, and the last time they bombed an Italian warship, they hastened to claim that it was a mistake.

When the warships of the two countries approached the waters near Spain and blockaded them, they had already aroused the extreme dissatisfaction of the Spanish Republican Army, and they were absolutely deliberately injured by mistake.

And now, since Lukins has made up his mind, of course, he wants to fight a good fight!

"Yes." Lindemann accepted the order and immediately went to give the order.

The 10,000-ton Deutschland, with the pale blue smoke of diesel engines burning from its thick exhaust pipes, sailed towards Ibiza.

The warship was heading east, and by this time, the sun had reached the west, stretching the shadow of the Deutschland very long.

Little by little, it was already six o'clock in the afternoon, and the Deutschland had managed to reach Isavi, while the supply ship was still on its way.

"Catapult carrier-based aircraft." Just before entering the docks, Lukins gave the order.

Catapult!

In later generations, the steam catapult was a test of a country's industrial capacity, and only the United States could build a qualified catapult, but now, to catapult a seaplane, only an ordinary hydraulic catapult is needed.

In the past, the Deutsche carried the He-60 seaplanes of the Henschel Company, but now it has been replaced by newer monoplane Ar-196 seaplanes.

This is a carrier-based maritime reconnaissance aircraft designed and produced by the German Arado aircraft factory, and in the competition, other companies are still using the old biplane layout, so this aircraft finally wins.

The AR 196 has a conventional lower wing layout. The wing is an all-metal structure, and the fuselage is welded with steel pipes, which is the biggest difference from land planes is that it is equipped with two pontoons.

When the seaplane takes off, it is carried out by catapult, but when it lands, it can only land on the water and then recover it by a crane, so the pontoons are necessary, and at the same time, there is a 300-liter fuel tank in each pontoon, which is fed through the oil pipeline on the front support.

The AR 196 was very maneuverable both in the air and on the water, and after it was finalized, it became the standard equipment of the German Navy, and all battleships and heavy cruisers carried this seaplane, and on the Deutschland, there were two.

Now, having received the order, the pilot Ludwig, who had long been ready, sat in his cockpit, and behind him was his old partner, Lucas, an observer and backseat machine gunner.

"Request to take off." Ludwig shouted on the radio, and at this time, the BMW 123K radial 9-cylinder engine in front of him had already made a huge roar, the throttle was fully open, and the engine reached an astonishing 960 horsepower!

This seaplane, which was very popular with the German Navy, was due to the high thrust-to-weight ratio brought by its excellent engine!

The streamlined shape of the AR 196 reduces air resistance, allowing this aircraft to reach a speed of 310 km/h at an altitude of 4,000 meters, which is beyond the reach of carrier-based water reconnaissance aircraft of the same class.

For example, the Royal Navy's Sea Fox can only reach 200 km/h, and the US Navy's OS2U Kingfisher can only reach 265 km/h.

Not only does it have an advantage over seaplanes, but even most biplane fighters are not as good as it.

In addition, his practical ceiling reached 7,000 meters, which is comparable to some bombers and fighters in the latter part of World War II.

Catapult! With Ludwig's request, a huge push back sensation came, and the hydraulic catapult catapulted the plane from the side of the Deutschland in just a few seconds!

Feeling the lightness of his body, Ludwig gently pulled the lever and climbed.