The battle between the aircraft carrier and the battleship may not seem suspenseful to ordinary people, but victory requires the pilots of the carrier-based aircraft to exchange their courage, technology, wisdom, perseverance and even their lives.

Even if we all die in battle, Germany will still exist!

Sliding, accelerating, and taking off at the end of the deck was a normal take-off procedure for Ensign Schnoefer piloting a Junkers J Hill 44 carrier-based dive bomber, but thinking about the commander's words before departure, and then looking at the eagle-like flock of German fighters flying on the surrounding sea, the pride of different medals in his chest.

According to Prince Heinrich's deployment, today's four squadrons of fighters took the lead, Schnoefel looked left and right, at this time the four formations of the fighter group had been basically completed, and it seemed that they would soon fly towards the target. The Henkel DD fighters had a simple and sleek appearance, with four 7.92mm machine guns hidden in the flat wings, a slightly chunky nose mounted on a high-horsepower engine and a 20mm cannon, which was a weapon that would be very lethal to any kind of US carrier-based aircraft. Since the enemy fleet was 300 nautical miles away, these more than 100 fighters did not carry auxiliary fuel tanks, but were ready to give full play to their maneuverability.

"The formation assembles in District 9! The formation assembles in Area 9! ”

When the squadron leader's voice came over the intercom, Schnaufer realized that his companions had also come up. Although most of them had the first choice of becoming fighter pilots, when they found that the feeling of a dive bomber whizzing down was even more enjoyable than the galloping of a fighter jet, they gradually fell in love with the kind of stupid seagull that looked like a flying machine.

The squadron leader repeated his orders over and over again until all 25 Ju-DDs had gathered around him, and at that moment, Mihenkel DD flew in from the direction of the carrier "Ernst".

"Hello, here is the 11th Fighter Squadron that took off from the flagship, Ernst, and Lieutenant Mark Heitmer salutes you on behalf of the entire squad! Today your escort mission will be in charge of ours. Have a great trip! ”

The sound coming from the headphones was not very good, but Schnaufer had to admit that it was an enviable thing to be the commander of a fighter squad on the flagship "Ernst", and that 40,000-ton heavy aircraft carrier was not only the flagship of the entire aircraft carrier formation, but also the newest German capital aircraft carrier. It is said to be the finest warship in the entire German Navy in every way, and even the pilot's quarters are much larger than the others. In contrast, Schnofel's "Tirpitz", although well-named, was the first standard aircraft carrier to enter service in 1918. It was designed with a focus on defense and survivability, but the crew's living facilities were nothing to speak of.

Subsequently, the squadron leader responded politely: "Lieutenant Mark, on behalf of all the pilots of the 1st Rush Bomber Squadron of the 'Tirpitz', I welcome you!" Hope we have a good time working together! ”

"If you don't mind, we're going to fly over you!" Second Lieutenant Mark said with some humor that in order to gain the advantage of altitude in the event of an enemy, the fighters in such mixed formations are often at the top.

"Please!" Schnafel's squadron leader was obviously much more serious, and Schnauffel thought it was nice to have a stern but very responsible boss.

"Lads, now fly due south at cruising speed. In half an hour we'll be able to beat the Yankees' battleships! Don't take it lightly. That's one of America's two most powerful fleets! ”

Schnauffel froze down, and then tried his best to recall in his brain the photos and line drawings of the main battleships of the United States that he had carefully studied before, and don't look at those big guys like a hill. However, it takes a little effort to identify it from the air, so the officers did not require the pilots to memorize these materials, and it was a big deal that the squadron commander could choose a ship that everyone would catch and beat, but if the pilots could accurately tell which level of the American warship they had sunk or damaged when they returned home, it would be very useful for the fleet commander to strategize.

For Schnaufell, there was another meaning in remembering this, as he had promised his mother that if he sank one of the battleships in battle, he would send her a picture of the battleship, so that she could be proud of having a good son.

Delaware, Wyoming, New York, Nevada, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Tennessee, Colorado, South Dakota, ......

"The fighter took off urgently! Fighter jets take off urgently! ”

With the terrible sound of air raid sirens. There was a rush on the decks of the American aircraft carriers "Langley" and "Yorktown". Since two German reconnaissance planes appeared over the fleet half an hour ago, General Robert Koontz ordered the carrier-based planes in his fleet to extend the alert range as much as possible, and at this time the Panama Canal was under air raids by German bomber groups, and the large number of mines at the mouth of the sea had cut off his rear route, so Koontz could only pray that the two German reconnaissance planes were just passing by accidentally, and the information that the German main fleet was still in the waters near Cuba was also correct.

Unfortunately, the rapid appearance of a large number of German fighters made the Americans' mood extremely heavy, and they finally understood at this time that the reason why the Germans did not carry out air strikes when they were passing through the canal. In order to catch them all and not hit hard!

Koontz's hand holding the telescope couldn't help but tremble slightly, the scene of hundreds of fighters flying in formation no longer seemed spectacular to him, but the German appetite made him gasp. Looking at the two aircraft carriers on the sea, the two air battles off the port of Los Angeles and off Mexico reduced the number of their carrier-based aircraft to 39, and without replenishment, these 17 fighters and 22 torpedo bombers had to face the swarming German fighters.

When the last carrier-based aircraft took to the air one after another, Robert Koontz's flagship "South Dakota" signaled:

The whole fleet has entered the state of anti-air raid operations! Three columns of marching columns were dispersed, and each ship was ready to evade at top speed!

At this time, the land-based fighters of the Panama Canal Zone could not rise to the air under the deterrence of a large number of German long-range fighters, and the recess of Koontz bravely and pathetically flew towards the German fighters who were several times their size.

Seeing the fierce battle scene in the air from afar, Schnaufer's communicator came the squadron leader's extremely indifferent command:

"Attention, get ready for dive bombing, and follow the long plane! Follow the action of the long plane! ”

Schnaufer looked up. With only a few clouds in the blue sky, this is a great time for dive bombers to kill and set fire!

Before the seven squadrons of dive bombers flew over the US fleet, the last efforts of the US carrier-based planes to protect air supremacy were quickly crushed by an irresistible force. Schnaefel only saw the last American plane dragging white smoke towards the sea, and Heinkel DD, who had no target, hovered in the air with some unsatisfied satisfaction.

Schnaufer suddenly had the feeling that seizing air supremacy from a powerful group of German fighters was as easy as snatching lollipops from the hands of a child, but everyone knew that the hardest battle was coming, and he seemed to be able to imagine the high guns on the American battleships. Despite the fact that its cockpit was protected by a thin layer of armor, the fragmentation power of the 127-mm anti-aircraft gun was amazing, and the American capital ships and cruisers were heavily equipped with this kind of high-level dual-purpose guns.

Before the German dive bomber group had entered the attack position, the American fleet below opened fire without a head, and the sound of banging was like five guns set off for celebration, Schnaufell's window looked down, and clusters of black salutes bloomed in the air, but they did not seem to threaten him.

"That's it! That's it! American C-class aircraft carriers! The voice in the headphones was still so calm, Schnaufer was used to the calm tone and mentality of his boss, and it was only fitting for someone of this character to be the commander of a dive bomber formation. Belong to fighter pilots like Lieutenant Mark.

"Two o'clock in front right! The aircraft carrier in front! The 3rd and 4th teams reduce their altitude to attract the opponent's firepower. The 1st and 2nd teams are ready to rush down with me, and the 5th team is in the air as a reserve! ”

Hearing the squadron leader's order, Schnaufer was really unhappy. Because he belongs to the 5th team that served as a reserve, he only has to watch the game first. When he looked down through the window again, the Yankees' anti-aircraft firepower was still concentrated at an altitude of 2,000 to 4,000 meters, and the sea was turning to two aircraft carriers, one in front and one in the back, the one in front was slightly larger, and the one in the back seemed to be only a light aircraft carrier. Not only the size, but also the silhouettes of the two ships are very different, which are obviously two aircraft carriers designed by the US Navy in the stage of imitation and exploration, and the only thing the two ships have in common is that the deck is empty.

The 10 Ju-DDs, which were responsible for attracting the enemy's anti-aircraft fire, quietly disappeared in front of Schnofel, about a minute later. The Americans' anti-aircraft fire was shifted from directly above to other directions, and it was undoubtedly a fatal mistake for these inexperienced Americans to concentrate their fire on the low-flying Junkers dive bombers, because the power of these large birds could only be realized through precision bombing from high altitudes.

Seeing that the time came, the squadron leader and the 10 Ju-DDs responsible for the attack also disappeared from Schnofel, and only Schnaufer's squad and the accompanying fighter squad were left in the sky. As far as the eye could see, the sky was filled with silver-gray German warhawks, and the various dive bomber formations seemed to be trying to find their targets.

"Report the preparation of each machine!" The voice of the squadron leader was heard over the communicator.

"Big Bird 2 is ready!" This is the squadron leader's wingman's.

"Big Bird 3 is ready!" Another wingman.

"Big Bird 10 is ready!"

"Let's go!" Simple, clear and very cold words, naturally, the squadron leader said it.

At this time, Schnaufeller saw the squadron leader and their war eagles rushing to the surface of the sea like waterfowl that had found food. Although the 70-degree dive angle is not the top one, it is relatively ideal compared to the technical level of this era, and the old birds with 3,000 hours of flight time can throw the 150-kilogram semi-armor-piercing under the belly of the aircraft to a place no more than 20 meters away from the target, plus the two 50-kilogram bombs under the wings, a good pilot and his Ju-DD can attack a target as large as a battleship with a hit rate of nearly 75%, of course, provided that they are not shot down by enemy aircraft during the dive bombing.

When the gunners on the American aircraft carrier and several escort ships around it found that the situation was wrong and hurriedly turned their firepower back to the top, the roaring German dive bombers had been reduced to an altitude of nearly 1,000 meters, and before the Americans' artillery fire hit them, the squadron leader took the lead in dropping 3 bombs, and in just a few seconds, the remaining 9 dive bombers also dropped their bombs in unison, and these pitch-black and round bombs fell from the sky almost silently, At the moment when it smashed on the deck of the aircraft carrier, everyone on the ship held their breath, and half a second later, a loud bang came from below the deck, and then, the explosion of the bomb sounded like a string of 5 guns that ignited the twisted line, and the sound was so dense that the sound of the anti-aircraft artillery was completely muffled, although more than half of the bombs fell around the aircraft carrier, but the semi-armor-piercing bomb that hit it gave it a good opening of the belly, and the billowing smoke and flames desperately poured out from the breach on the deck. As the 4th aircraft carrier of the US Navy, the USS Yorktown became the first trophy of German dive bombers in this naval battle.

Seeing this scene, Schnaufer, who was "preparing" in the air, also breathed a sigh of relief. A few minutes later, the smaller "Langley" was also sunk by another group of German dive bombers, so to speak, the negligence of the American aircraft carriers in defense and the mistakes of the sailors fulfilled the German naval aviation, but when attacking the battleship, the German pilots ran into a lot of trouble.

"Oh God!"

I don't know whose voice it was on the communicator, and Schnauffel happened to see the shocking scene - a group of dive bombers bravely rushed towards a brand-new American battleship, which from the appearance of the characteristics should be a South Dakota-class battleship. In the face of the air attack of the German aircraft group, more than 20 5-inch or 127-mm anti-aircraft guns on the battleship were firing fiercely. Suddenly, a dive-diving Ju-DD was hit by artillery fire, and the aerial bomb that had not had time to be dropped turned into a fireball with the plane, followed by two more hit by shrapnel......

"Team 1 and 2 cover, teams 3, 4, and 5 go up together, let's take him out!" The voice coming from the communicator was unusually resolute.