At an altitude of more than 3,000 meters above sea level, 24 Ju-17s from the "Swabian", "Joachim I" and "Emanuele III" were grouped together into a spectacular goose-shaped echelon. Because www.biquge.info they are dealing with enemy aircraft carriers, these Thunder Hammers are loaded with a 250-kilogram high-explosive armor-piercing projectile and two 50-kilogram high-explosive shells, instead of the most common 500-kilogram armor-piercing projectiles.

Major Carllight from the "Swabian" served as the field commander of this group of dive bombers, and he took the position of "goose head" in the Ju-31 with the number SW-17. During the flight, the major turned on the high-frequency encrypted radio intercom and mobilized the bomber pilots accompanying him before the battle: "Ladies and gentlemen, we expect to arrive at the bombing area in 15 minutes, and the battle in the air is likely to start before this, please keep in formation, rely on teamwork to deal with the threat that may come at any time, and once you reach the sky over the enemy fleet, you will attack according to the predetermined plan." Finally, may good luck be with us! ”

Soon after Major Carlwright's remarks, the fighter squadron leading and alerting at the forefront spotted the oncoming enemy fighters in the clouds, and immediately alerted them to all of them. Considering that the enemy fleet has a strong air defense capability, as many as 32 He-25 and Me-50Ts escorted the first wave of attack aircraft, accounting for nearly half of the sortie fighters. Seeing that the enemy fighters intercepted in front were about the size of a squadron, the German Navy ace pilot, Major Lomedes from the "Swabia", led 15 He-25s to meet them, and the remaining 8 He-25s and 8 Me-50Ts continued to be on alert at altitudes of 4,000 to 4,500 meters.

At first, Major Lomedes, like his outpost pilots, thought that the enemy fighters coming to meet him were a mixture of the British-made "Seahawk" and the American-made "Hound Dog", the latter being a biplane fighter at the same level as the IR-29/30, and that it would be easier to deal with head-to-head, and the former was on par with the He-25 in overall performance, so it was a little more difficult to deal with, but this was not a problem for the confident German naval aces. However, after the first round of fighting, he suddenly realized that these "Sea Hawks" were different from the previous battles, they were faster, more firepower, and the layout of the front half of the fuselage seemed to be different.

How did Lomedes know that these "Eagle Falcons" were new US fighters that had just arrived on the Atlantic front a few weeks ago, and they were based on the British-made "Sea Hawk" and used Pratt & Whitney "Wasp" engines with greater thrust and were equipped with two-stage turbochargers, and the top speed of the unarmed experimental model was 18 percent higher than that of the "Sea Hawk." The Americans just thought that the armament of the "Sea Hawk" prototype was not strong enough, so they equipped their new fighters with the firepower standard of the German-made Fokker G-51. In this way, the final finalized "Eagle Falcon" in addition to the maneuverability is slightly inferior, all performance surpasses the "Sea Hawk", in the face of the German Navy's main carrier-based aircraft He-25 has obvious technical advantages, and can even compete with the land-based model of the Fokker G-51 head-on, but it is precisely because of these complex changes that the Grumman company, which undertook the project, had to spend a lot of time to revise the aerodynamic design of the aircraft and conduct corresponding tests, until the eve of the outbreak of war, the "Eagle Falcon" passed the evaluation of the US Navy Department and was put into installation. At the outbreak of the Battle of the Azores, the first production versions of the Falcon were still being assembled, and it was not until the end of the Battle of Flores that the first Falcon arrived on the Atlantic front. Because the equipment time is still short, the US and British pilots have not yet been able to fully grasp the characteristics of this new weapon, and they still need to find out air tactics that are compatible with it in actual combat. If it weren't for that, Major Lomedes and his elite pilots would have suffered a lot here.

Despite encountering a new opponent he was unfamiliar with, Major Lomedes managed to get the encounter at his own pace. While reminding his subordinates to be cautious over the radio, he led his wingmen to attack one of the US monoplane fighters. There were no fancy air combat maneuvers, no repeated tentative adjustments, and with first-class flying skills and rich combat experience, he accurately captured the best time to open fire, and used two strings of machine shells to make the enemy plane fold its wings in the air.

Having successfully shot down his target, Lomedes immediately radioed to his fighter pilots: "Avoid their fronts, avoid long pursuits, and fire from their rear as much as possible." ”

Out of trust in the commander, the Allied pilots did not have to think about why, but simply did what Major Lomedes told them to do. This is a lot of work and consumes a lot of extra fuel, but it can shoot down or drive away enemy planes one by one at the lowest possible cost, opening up a safe passage for your own bomber group.

The last voyage passed in a flash, and under the wings, the blue sea was dotted with the shadows of ships dragging white water marks, only to see them spitting glittering flames, clumps of gunpowder smoke diffused around them, and the sky was full of exploding explosions. The U.S. and British fighters that took off later could no longer take into account the danger of being hit by their own artillery fire, and rushed to kill them in twos and threes, but they were intercepted by He-25s sprayed with the Iron Cross logo or Me-50Ts with the clover logo.

"Enemy aircraft carrier group spotted in the sea right ahead!" The sound coming from the headset made every Allied bomber pilot who participated in the battle instantly excited, and following the direction of this person's guidance, people saw the aircraft carriers with a different shape from ordinary ships. After many naval battles, both warring sides have realized the power and value of naval aviation, and the biggest change this has brought to maritime tactics is to allow people to choose to attack enemy aircraft carriers first under the same conditions!

All the tactical patterns had been mastered in the daily training, and the specific tactics had been deployed before departure, and all Major Carllight had to do was to give the order to attack - the dive bombers from the three German carriers were divided into three different squadrons, each squadron was responsible for attacking one carrier, and the squadron took turns dropping bombs in a predetermined order, and only when it was confirmed that the target had been fatally hit could the pilots move the target to the next carrier.

The squadron of dive bombers from the Swabian was under the direct command of Major Carllight, and its target was the carrier at the front of the formation, which was a British Tejas class aircraft carrier that was claimed to be the best in terms of protection. The Battle of the Azores has continued to this day, with a total of five levels of aircraft carriers on both sides put into the battlefield, four of the Radiance class were sunk and one was damaged, and two were still fighting on the front line.

The situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly, and Major Calwright and his pilots were not sure that they were attacking the Tejas Class, and in fact, if the escort fighters failed to control the situation, they might not even have a choice but to bomb whichever ship they caught. Now, without hesitation, they lock onto the target and find the right point of attack in the airspace of 3,000 meters, and then they work in groups of two planes to carry out "high platform diving" in the face of enemy ship's anti-aircraft fire.

Major Callight has always led the way, and this time was no exception. As the plane entered a dive state, the speedometer reading increased rapidly, and he stared straight ahead without distraction, holding the joystick tightly with both hands to prevent the plane from deviating from course due to the blast of the blast, his ears ignoring all the noise around him, and only paying attention to the words of the bombardier.

"Stay ...... Keep...... Keep...... Low...... Low...... Keep...... Keep ......"

When the flight altitude of the Ju-17 dropped to 400 meters, the sound of the bombardier stopped abruptly, followed by a shudder of the fuselage, and the reaction force from the joystick suddenly changed. There was no need for a bombardier to warn him, but Major Callett understood and quickly pulled up the plane, and the huge centrifugal force pressed the two of them to their seats. When the fighter climbs from the lowest point, it is at a height that almost touches the mast of the battleship!

A violent explosion came from the sea, followed by the cry of the bombardier: "One hit the deck!" A port side is close to missing! A stern is missing! It's a pity, it was a flick that hit! ”

The so-called "light bomb" is a 50-kilogram bomb hanging under the wings, this kind of bomb is like an itch to a battleship-level target, but it is different when thrown on the deck of an aircraft carrier, the power of the explosion is enough to blow a big hole, and before the crew repairs it, the carrier-based aircraft is basically unable to take off and land normally.

After a few moments, the bombardier shouted again: "Ha, it's Willy and Carl, they hit the enemy ship!" It's such a big ball of fire, it seems to be a heavy bullet, and the Iron Cross they coveted will definitely not run! ”

Although a 250-kilogram high-explosive armor-piercing projectile is not enough to sentence a Radiant-class aircraft carrier to death, two consecutive hits have basically abolished its combat effectiveness, this fantastic opening made Major Carllight a little unbelievable, just waiting for the landline to return to the kilometer altitude, he adjusted the course, and watched the sea, the enemy aircraft carrier formation has two ships rising black smoke, there are still Ju-17 diving down in sight, there are also bombs that have finished dropping and climbing up, and there are several fighters shuttling at low altitude. In the midst of the fierce battle, the enemy's originally orderly anti-aircraft fire had become chaotic, and the rain of bullets with tracer shells followed the tracks of the Allied fighters back and forth, intersecting in mid-air from time to time, anti-aircraft shells roaring wildly, and constantly some fighters were damaged and shot down, but to achieve such results, some losses were completely bearable.

Through several air maneuvers, Callight piloted his fighter back to an altitude of 3,000 meters, which was enough for him and his crew to escape the battlefield safely, unless attacked by enemy fighters.

At this moment, the emotional bombardier called out again: "Look at the lower left, Major!" What a beautiful fireworks! ”

Calwright took a look at it, the leader and second carrier of the enemy aircraft carrier formation dragged the black smoke forward, and it was the ship located at the rear of the formation that had just exploded, and the rapidly expanding smoke and dust obscured its original appearance, and it was impossible to see whether it was an aircraft carrier or an escort warship, and several long and thin white lines were faintly visible on the nearby sea, which seemed to be traces left by torpedoes.

"Is it an aircraft carrier?" The major asked his bombardier.

The bombardier did not answer directly, but speculated: "Intelligence says that there are seven aircraft carriers of the enemy, and now only six can be counted, and it should be the seventh one that has a big explosion!" ”

"It would be great if that was the case!" Major Callight's mentality gradually became excited, "If we can use this opportunity to annihilate the enemy's aircraft carrier formation, we can regain the initiative step by step and finally drive the enemy out of the Azores!" ”

The bombardier replied loudly: "Many people have said that we will withdraw to Europe in the near future and completely cede the Azores to the enemy, but now it seems that we have survived the darkest days and returned to the road to victory...... Ooh! Another hit, another hit! Is today destined to be a day of victory for the Allies? ”

Major Callight peered out again, as an enemy aircraft carrier had just been painted, which had not been bombed before. From the time he gave the order to attack, the air raid lasted only a few minutes, not counting the unknown ship that had a big explosion, the Allied aircraft group had damaged three enemy aircraft carriers, and the offensive was invincible.

(End of chapter)