Seven aircraft carriers, more than 250 carrier-based aircraft, even with the aviation technology of 1933, this is a rather terrifying naval combat force, fortunately, the Allied fleet led by Natsuki did not know that the opponent they encountered had such a strong crushing pressure, coupled with a complete victory over the enemy's advance fleet, officers at all levels and even ordinary sailors were in high morale, so all ships performed well in the enemy's first wave of air raids. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 At the end of the INFO air raid, only two cruisers and two destroyers were slightly damaged, and the entire fleet remained in good condition.

However, before the officers and men of the Central Powers could catch their breath, the ship's radar detected the second wave of enemy planes, and the ships then sounded the air defense alarm, leaving the crews about 30 minutes to prepare. During this time, sailors carried ammunition and repaired armaments, and officers patrolled the ships or waited on the bridge for the flagship's orders.

When the air defense siren sounded, the signal flag of "All Plans No. 1 to Resist the Enemy" was still hanging on the signal line of the "Hesse", and the fleet commander did not seem to have any intention of changing the strategy of meeting the battle.

Before you know it, 20 minutes have passed quietly, and groups of black dots have begun to appear in the distant sky, and at this time, the lookout and radar operator are doing the same thing, which is to count the number of enemy fighters. Obviously, this wave of enemy planes is increasing unabated from the previous wave, which means that there will be a bitter battle with unpredictable prospects. At the moment of the strong enemy, the atmosphere of each ship has gradually become solemn, and all the personnel have returned to their respective positions, and most of the seaplanes that had been ejected to reconnoiter the enemy's situation have been withdrawn, and as the enemy planes continue to approach, the battle is about to break out.

"Frontal feint, flanked on both flanks?"

In the radar room of the "Hesse", two German officers and an Irish officer stood behind the radar operator to inspect the circular screen, trying to find out the enemy's attack routine through the distribution and movement of various light points, but today's planes are different from warships, some of them are all-metal structures, and some are iron-boned wood or fabric skin, so the radar can only detect the number of enemy aircraft, even if the distance is very close, it is difficult to judge its type, and the type of aircraft that form the formation often determines the combat mission and attack mode of the flight formation. Without these important speculations, their assertions can only be personal speculation.

After careful counting, the radar operator reported the number: "69!" ”

One of the German officers immediately grabbed the phone and reported it to the bridge, and during his call, the radar operator reported two new readings, 18 on the left flank and 22 on the right flank, which the German officer did not hesitate to report.

Another German officer muttered to himself: "The enemy seems to want to attack head-on!" ”

The Irish Navy captain next to him whispered: "Nine times out of ten from the front, it's a dive bomber!" ”

The officers in the radar room were still doing technical analysis, and in the lookout platform on the upper part of the bridge, the lookouts had already accurately judged the enemy situation through binoculars - two squadron-sized Walter SB2U "Guardian" dive bombers were flying directly ahead, and they flew at an altitude of more than 2,500 meters, which is the basic altitude required for dive bombing.

The two destroyers, who were in the vanguard, opened fire first, and a dense cloud of flashes and smoke suddenly appeared in the sky, and the cruisers immediately joined the battle, and the rumbling of guns on the sea was tense for a while. In a few minutes, four fighters fell one after another with black smoke, and the remaining American and British fighters were still methodically engaged in the attack.

"Pay attention to the starboard direction, enemy aircraft are approaching at high speed...... Wait, those seem to be fighters, are they going to sink our battleships with machine guns? ”

On the armored watchtower at the upper part of the battle bridge of the "Hesse", the commander of the air defense, Major Alfred Lauber, muttered to himself from time to time, like a man with self-talk, and only after a decision had been made would he convey his battle orders to the anti-aircraft gun positions via a microphone or telephone line - the battleship had a total of 68 anti-aircraft positions, including twin secondary guns, twin high-level dual-purpose guns, twin and quadruple machine guns, and twin large-caliber machine guns. Together with a variety of optical rangefinders and electronic detectors, it constitutes the most powerful sea surface air defense system at present. It is not difficult to make this huge system work, but the difficult thing is to efficiently equip anti-aircraft fire to block incoming enemy planes to the greatest extent.

In this regard, Major Lauber is a good hand.

Directly in front of the fleet, more than two dozen "Guardians" began to dive in the Osprey style in the face of heavy artillery fire. Compared to the famous German-made Ju-17, they are not inferior in maneuverability and stability, and even equipped with an autopilot to reduce pilot fatigue during long flights, but the protection of this fighter is not as good as that of the German dive bombers - there is no bulletproof glass, no armored cockpit, and the fuel line is very prone to fire. In the first half of the battle for the Azores, the loss rate of more than 200 "Guardians" participating in the battle reached 72%, second only to the "Swordfish" torpedo bombers equipped by the British army. Although the US Navy is aware of the seriousness of the problem, and the new carrier-based bomber is still in the experimental stage, what can be done at the moment is to repair the weak underbelly of the "Guardian" as much as possible, but it seems that the effect is not very good at present.

The enemy aircraft group swooped down violently, and several cruisers in the "Hesse" and its surroundings entered a state of bursting, and the proximity fuses used by these Allied warships were electrostatic induction, although they were not as powerful as the later radio proximity fuses, but compared with the traditional ammunition using time-delay fuzes, there was a qualitative improvement, and the two German heavy cruisers also had high main guns, firing grenade shotnales into the air at the limit rate of fire. Under the interception of this terrifying fire net, several "Guardians" were hit before they could drop bombs, and because they were in the process of diving, the pilots did not even have a chance to escape, and one of them even exploded into powder in the air......

Seeing that the anti-aircraft fire network in front of them was like an impenetrable wall, some pilots chose to give up halfway, they hurriedly dropped their bombs and pulled up the plane, while others were able to overcome their fears and persevere to the end. The bombs falling from the sky stirred up huge waves on the sea, and the attacked Allied surface ships danced in a zigzag dance, but unlike avoiding torpedo attacks, they were not dodging one or several bombs in a targeted manner, but reducing the chance of being shot by maneuvering at sea - although the German and Irish battleships attached great importance to horizontal protection in the design stage, and the German-class battleships were more protective standards for the key area to resist the attack of 500 kg aviation armor-piercing shells, from the existing combat experience, They are still easily damaged by heavy enemy air strikes, and then affected by the loss of power, and even sunk by enemy aircraft or enemy warships.

'Oh no! Marshal Scheer's shot! ”

Following this exclamation, thick smoke billowed from the stern of the German heavy cruiser located in front of the starboard side of the "Hesse", and blazing tongues of fire continued to emerge from the smoke.

This is the most common scene in naval warfare, and it is also the most brutal scene in naval warfare.

Natsuki, who has never tasted defeat in naval battles, is not arrogant, he has witnessed the sinking of many of his own ships, and he has also brushed shoulders with death on the battlefield several times, these experiences allow him to always maintain a more objective and calm attitude in battle. At this time, he glanced in that direction and whispered, "If you can get a decisive victory, such a sacrifice is completely worth it." ”

The "Admiral Schell" is a modified version of the Irish standard military courtesy-class heavy cruiser built by the German Navy, named after the famous Admiral Reinhardt-Scher, who was a naval decorate in the previous Great War and held the rank of Secretary of State for the Imperial Admiralty. The 10,000-ton battleship appeared to have been hit by a 1,000-pound, or 454-kilogram aerial bomb, which is the killer feature of American-made dive bombers. As feared, it gradually slowed down, and then broke away from the battle formation and fell lone behind. If the enemy's carrier-based aircraft group had changed its combat strategy and concentrated its firepower to attack it, the "Admiral Schell" would certainly have been killed, but the eyes of the American and British pilots were fixed on the three German battleships on the sea, especially the extraordinarily large "Hesse," which was the culprit that led to the destruction of Hart's fleet and was the most likely factor to change the tide of the war here, and it was undoubtedly the most significant to inflict heavy damage or even sink it.

As a result, the "Hesse" became a magnet on the battlefield, bombs fell on it, and torpedoes galloped towards it. Perhaps a single direct hit could completely change the battle situation, so one after another American and British fighters went one after another, trying to break through the maritime air defense circle of this Allied fleet from all directions, some were shot down on the way, and some were only one step away from success.

"Torpedo! Worst! Watch your feet, hold on to ......" Before the sharp-eyed German officer could finish speaking, a violent tremor came from under his feet. Fortunately, with his reminder, people were mentally prepared, even if they didn't have time to grab the fixed objects around them, they wouldn't fall too badly in this violent shock.

No sooner had the impact of the explosion passed than someone loudly reported: "Mine on the port side!" ”

Natsuki just stumbled a little, but did not fall, and after making sure that the battleship was mineed, he muttered in his heart: "Damn, don't break the rudder!" ”

Although the time and space in which it was located were different, Natsuki never forgot the lessons of the "Bismarck", fortunately, when the German-class battleships were designed and built, the strategic environment in which Germany was located had undergone fundamental changes, and the strategic significance of the Kiel Canal was no longer what it used to be, and the new generation of capital ships could get rid of the width and depth limitations of the Kiel Canal, and 7. 1 aspect ratio and 10. The draught of 3 meters makes it a suitable balance between speed, maneuverability, stability and seaworthiness. The thriving German shipbuilding industry promoted the progress of the design and construction level of warships, and the German class adopted an overall protection design that was better than comprehensive protection or key protection, and the main armor belt on the side was spliced together with the main anti-mine armor, which greatly enhanced the ability to resist torpedo attacks. For these reasons, the likelihood of the "Hesse" being scrapped by a torpedo is actually significantly reduced.

(End of chapter)