The hum of aircraft engines could be heard in the sky, the sky over the strait was cloudless, the view was very good, and the anti-aircraft lookout posts of the British fleet soon spotted the incoming German fleet in the lens of the telescope.

"Bearing 030, more than fifty of them, it's a single-engine aircraft!" The lookout post reported loudly. The two rangefinders of the air defense command post had already locked on the position of the German aircraft group, and the rangefinders began to measure the altitude and distance of the enemy aircraft, and then reported the measured data to the various anti-aircraft gun positions by telephone.

As the flagship of the home fleet, the Kent is equipped with a verification version of the ship-borne air-to-air search radar being developed, which can only simply detect the direction and distance of the attacking enemy aircraft, and cannot detect the accurate altitude of the aircraft.

The air defense system on board the Kent was a headache for Tovey, and as a treaty-type heavy cruiser with a careful tonnage use, the British naval designers simply did not leave her much room for modification. The heavy cruiser lacked enough deck space to house more anti-aircraft platforms.

With the advancement of aircraft technology, the threat from the air is no longer a joke. In the past 35 years, the British Royal Navy has begun to upgrade the anti-aircraft fire of the ships under its command. The problem of treaty-type cruisers like the Kent class is so common that it makes naval experts scratch their heads.

The final solution for the Kent heavy cruisers was to remove the torpedo launchers of the heavy cruisers and install the third and fourth anti-aircraft guns where the launch tubes would have been placed. However, the Kent is the only warship in this class that has not dismantled its torpedo system. Therefore, the anti-aircraft firepower of ships of the same class is the weakest, and they can only rely on one eight-pack ping-pong gun on each side of the bottom of the bridge to be responsible for air defense.

This rugged and formidable eight-pack 40-mm anti-aircraft gun proved its worth in battles with the Luftwaffe as the main anti-aircraft naval gun of the British Royal Navy. With the blood of countless naval officers, it has been proved that it is completely a bluffing goods.

The thing appeared to have eight barrels and seemed to be able to fire one after the other, causing sustained anti-aircraft fire. But that's not the case at all.

Because the barrel of this artillery is too short, so that it has a very deceptive muzzle velocity and an extremely strange trajectory, why would a barrel of only one and a half meters long be chosen for an anti-aircraft gun, there are many speculations and explanations within the navy, and the more reliable one is that those misers of the Naval Ordnance Bureau advocate thrift and thrift. The two million two-pounder shells left over from the First World War in the Royal Navy's arsenal could not be wasted.

Therefore, this advanced anti-aircraft weapon, which was originally quite automated, was equipped with a short ridiculous barrel, and the result of the reduced muzzle velocity was too close range and curved ballistics. The projectile dispersion area is large, and it is not possible to track a target accurately and continuously. As a result, the original design of eight barrels to alternately fire to maintain the continuity of firepower was canceled, and in order to ensure that the target was hit, the density of fire delivered in a single launch could only be increased. Make up for the lack of accuracy with quantity. Eight ping-pong guns turned into eight barrels and fired shells at the same time. Each barrel has a rate of fire of two rounds per second, and can only produce a scattered barrage of bullets, not the kind of bullet wall that was originally conceived at the time.

Moreover, the size and weight of this artillery are too large, relying on the motor for rotation and pitching, and the gun carriage is sluggish, making it difficult to keep up with the movement trajectory of the current new aircraft. Since the fire control radar that can improve the efficiency of the ping-pong cannon has not yet been successfully developed at this time, all the aiming commands still have to rely on manpower, and it can be said that this kind of artillery is still acceptable except for the power of ammunition. Other indicators are no longer able to cope with the existing pattern of air strikes.

The Kent anti-aircraft gunner flipped the handle and pointed the ping-pong cannon to the side of the gun, and the single-barreled 20mm Erley air cannon and 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns distributed at the top of the main gun turret and the firing nests on both sides of the hangar were all fully loaded and ready to fire. The officers and men of the British Royal Navy watched nervously at the slowly approaching German planes. Wait for the first wave of dive attacks to come.

The high-level dual-purpose guns on the outer destroyers and light cruisers had already begun to fire one after another, exploding a black and gray fog in the air in the distance, and strings of bullet fog hung in the air in a staggered manner, slowly drifting away with the air currents in the air.

Tovey was very disappointed with the performance of the anti-aircraft fire on the perimeter, although the direction of the shelling was very accurate, but the distance and altitude were very outrageous, and several rounds of heavy firing in a row, let alone shooting down enemy planes, did not even touch the edge of the group.

The German planes maintained a neat formation and slowly approached the British fleet steadily. At this time, the four battleships in the core area, including the Kent, also began to shoot into the air with secondary guns, and the 102-mm high-explosive grenade exploded in the air with huge clouds of smoke, shooting hundreds of fragmented shrapnel at high speed around it.

The German fleet did not waver in the slightest, still maintaining its original course, flying towards the head of the British fleet.

"They seem to be climbing?" Tovey was very puzzled by this, the German plane swarm flew extremely high, the preliminary estimate was about 3,000 to 4,000 meters, if you don't use a telescope, you can only see a group of ants The big black spots, especially now the sky is full of black and gray anti-aircraft barrage, and if you don't identify it carefully, you can't even find a shadow.

The German aircraft group was already in the air, and they easily flew through the outer air defense circle, and the seemingly ferocious anti-aircraft fire of the British Air Force perfectly annotated what is called external strength and bravado at this time, and Tovey felt his stomach distended, and his whole body was weak.

"They're going to swoop! They're going to swoop! A non-commissioned officer on the verge of a mental breakdown shouted. At this time, there was a panic on the bridge of the Kent navigation, except for a few anti-aircraft machine guns, all the weapons on the battleship were hit to the highest elevation angle, but in the face of the target almost perpendicular to the overhead, the gunners said that they could not do anything, and could only wait for the Grim Reaper to attack.

"These planes are not Stuka again! You can't dive at all! The left rudder of the whole ship is 60 degrees! Start doing evasive maneuvers! Order the formation to disperse and pay attention to the course of each friendly ship. Tovey pushed away the steel helmet the captain had handed him, and he held on to the fence of the sailing bridge. Orders were loudly given to the panicked officers and soldiers.

"The Germans are right above our heads! They passed over the Cumberland! The vice-captain reported loudly with a telescope.

"They didn't dive, perhaps trying to attack the Queen Elizabeth. The anti-aircraft guns of all ships were ordered to concentrate their fire and cover the Queen Elizabeth with all their might. Tovey put down his binoculars. I wiped the tears from the sun with the back of my hand.

"They've flown over the Queen...... Where are they going? The vice-captain looked at Tovey with a puzzled expression.

"Unbelievable, they just flew away?" Tovey was also a little confused.

The German fleet flew straight over the British fleet in a neat formation as if they had not seen the British fleet at all, and they did not care about the shelling of the British fleet at all, and Admiral Tovey felt a kind of humiliation that he had never felt before, and the attitude of the German fleet as if it were no one was like a slap in the face of the British Royal Navy.

"Order the ships to stop firing! Regrouping. Pay attention to the order of the formation and form an anti-aircraft formation. Tovey twisted his swollen neck and walked over to his commander's seat and sat down on his back. A barrage of orders was given to the staff of the fleet.

"It is not impossible for the radar to continue to search the perimeter and be careful that the German fleet turns back again. The ships were ordered to check the ammunition balance and report the losses. Get me a cup of coffee. Tovey frowned. Turn your chair and look carefully at the charts on the chart table.

"Anyway, the whereabouts of the fleet have been exposed, maybe soon countless German planes will pounce on us, the fleet has entered the first level of combat readiness, we need air cover now, why is there no news from London yet!" Tovey asked loudly at the staff adjutant.

"The last contact was fifteen minutes ago, and the command again ordered everything to go according to plan. The air cover force has already departed, and we will soon be able to join them. ”

"Sir! Radar Room Report. There is a large group of planes in front of us that is passing through the course and heading towards the coast of England! The deputy captain stepped forward to report.

"Huh? This group of damned Germans, how many planes. Tovey took a cup of coffee from the orderly.

"The radar operator reported a lot of numbers, he couldn't count so many spikes."

"Incompetent Royal Air Force, Dowding should be sent to the Tower of London to be beheaded! Even if you can't defeat the enemy, you should at least fight to the end and make the enemy pay the corresponding price. A soldier should do his best to defend the country and its people, even if necessary, even if it is at the cost of his life. During this time, the Cabinet allocated a lot of resources and manpower to the Royal Air Force, but Dowding gave us such an answer. The German planes did whatever they wanted over Britain, but he would only let his planes circle around the city of London and watch the German planes burn the English countryside towns to ashes. I really doubt our air cover...... Not good. ”

Tovey's hand shaking violently as the coffee from the rim of the cup trickled down his wrist and onto his crisp trousers.

"Hell!" Tovey jerked to his feet and placed the cup on the chart table, and the orderly hurriedly handed over the white rag hanging from his arm.

"Immediately send a telegram to London to report what we have discovered, the Luftwaffe has dispatched a large group of aircraft, probably against our air cover forces, and let them issue a warning immediately, otherwise it will be too late!" Tovey said loudly to the staff officer as he wiped his pants with a rag.

"Yes, sir." The staff officer saluted Tovey, quickly turned around and ran off the bridge of the navigation ship.

"Hopefully I'm wrong, now we're probably having trouble with our air cover, and while I wasn't hopeful about those guys from the start, with them we can have a lot less trouble. We are in danger now, everyone must be vigilant, and I want each and every one of you to keep your eyes open and scour every inch of the sky and sea, because we will be attacked at any moment. Tovey tossed the rag back to the orderly, then walked to the front of the bridge and picked up the binoculars.

"Order the avant-garde destroyers to advance another five thousand meters, the Leander and Ajax fill the gaps, and the Berwick and Campbell take note of the observation of the right flank......"

"The destroyer spotted the enemy ship! At two o'clock, five nautical miles, seven small ships! Sailing along the coast of France. ”

"Determine the type of enemy ship." Tovey picked up his binoculars and looked towards the report's location, faintly seeing a small glowing white dot on the horizon. It should be the waves splashed in the bow of the ship.

"Why did you find out so close?" Tovey asked angrily.

"The other party is too small, and the hull seems to have been camouflaged to a certain extent, making it difficult to spot from a distance."

"It's German torpedo boats. They may want to go around our backs, whether they order the destroyers to go and drive them away. The Chief of Staff of the Fleet suggested from the sidelines.

"Okay, order Napier and Nerisa of the 23rd Destroyer Detachment to drive them away, huh...... Let the Glasgow follow and cover the two destroyers, the sailors on both ships were recruits, and the captains were also novices. Some support may be needed. They were ordered to pursue for a maximum of ten minutes, and then immediately return to the formation. ”

Tovey had a deep affection for the German torpedo boats, and he used to be the captain of a destroyer whom he valued the most. Just two months earlier, the destroyer under his command had been attacked by two German torpedo boats at night, and had sunk into the North Sea with 170 men, with only five men surviving. Two of them were also taken prisoner by German torpedo boats.

German torpedo boats were structurally solid. Powerful and ferocious, it often launched surprise attacks on the British fleet patrolling at night in the strait, and if it were not for the small number of the overall and the inexperience of the crew, the results would not have been as small as they are now.

If Tovey had air support in his hands, then planes were the best weapon against them. But Tovey only had a bunch of warships in his hands, so he had to drive the torpedo boats far away.

Tovey had tangled several times with Italian torpedo boats in the Mediterranean. These speedboats will follow the fleet from a distance, taking into account the fleet's position, course, speed, size and number. Every move is reported to headquarters, and at every opportunity, it will come up to harass and attack, which is really annoying.

It would have been better to sink them if possible, but the German torpedo boats were able to reach speeds of more than 40 knots and were nimble in steering, so they could run as long as they wanted.

Standing on the edge of the bridge, Tovey watched as the two destroyers and a light cruiser quickly turned and broke away from the formation, and then charged in the direction of the German torpedo boats.

"In three hours, we will be in the target area, and even if the Germans find us now, their fleet will not have time to evacuate, and they may send a fleet to intercept it...... Send a message to London that we need the latest information from the observation post along the coast of Dover to see if the other party's fleet is still in port. Whether the warships of the German Navy have already sorted. It's been fourteen hours since we've been out and there's not a single piece of useful information.

Now that our fleet is exposed, I have absolutely no idea what awaits us ahead. Tell London that if we are not given the latest information, I will interrupt this mission and lead the fleet back to the sea, and all responsibility will be borne by me. I'm feeling bad right now. We are now charging at the enemy blindfolded, and the Germans have seen us clearly, and the Admiralty is not able to support even the simplest piece of information. I can't just sacrifice the last remaining strength of the Royal Navy's home fleet like this, and I'm responsible for my men. Tovey said indignantly to his chief of staff.

At this moment, a loud roar suddenly remembered in the distance. "The Nerissa has exploded!" The bridge lookout shouted loudly.

Tovey and a group of naval officers hurriedly rushed to the side of the bridge, each holding up a telescope and looking into the distance, only to see a huge column of smoke dissipating on the sea in the distance, and vaguely saw the stern of the Nerissa slowly rising, the propeller and rudder had been exposed to the water, the main engine should still be running, and the propeller blades were slashing in vain in the air.

Tovey saw that the Napier in front of the Nerisa was slowing down and turning, and seemed to be preparing to turn around and rescue the friendly ship. And the Glasgow, which was behind Nerisa, had deflected its bow to avoid the destroyer, which had lost control.

"Was it shelling or torpedoing?" Tovey asked the lookout.

"I don't know, there was no warning at all, the ship suddenly exploded like this, I guess it might have been a torpedo, and the water column splashed so high that it exceeded the mast of the Glasgow." The lookout was frightened by the tragic scene, and his voice trembled and reported to the commander.

Tovey wanted to continue asking for details, but suddenly there was another loud bang in the distance, this time it was the Napier. In an instant, like a volcanic eruption, a huge column of water rose from the surface of the sea, enveloping the front half of the poor destroyer, revealing only a small sharp bow, and the erupting column of water wrapped around the bow of the destroyer, slowly lifting her from the sea, and everyone could see the red hull below the waterline. In the next second, hundreds of tons of seawater fell with gravity, smashing the poor destroyer back into the sea, and the entire bow of the ship was pressed into the water.

Then, in full view of everyone, in front of the commander of the Royal Navy's Home Fleet, with a terrifying screeching noise, the Napier broke off from the bridge in two, and the second half of the ship began to roll rapidly, and after a few seconds, it was completely flipped over, revealing the red bottom, and the front half of the hull with two main guns floating diagonally on the water.

"My God, Jesus Christ, it is a mine! The Germans laid minefields there! Those torpedo boats are a goddamn bait, oh my God. The captain of the Kent let out a loud wail.

"Send the Nestor over to rescue the people who have fallen into the water, tell them not to come close, and release the lifeboats. Order the Glasgow to stop immediately......" Before the words fell, the roar of mines sounded again on the sea, this time, two in succession. (To be continued, please search, the novel is better and updated faster!)

ps: First of all, I apologize to you, I revised some words, before due to family affairs, heavy pressure, did not proofread carefully, now it is a little in the morning, I made some revisions, I hope you are satisfied, this salute.