Just like the "Stuka" in the old time and space, the Ju-17 and its carrier-based model Ju-17T have distinct advantages and disadvantages: in the dive state, they are as fast as lightning, which catches the opponent off guard, and in the level flight state, they are as slow as geese, and they are a favorite snack of enemy fighter pilots, and even ordinary anti-aircraft artillery can pose a greater threat to them. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 After Major Scherram flew the Ju-17T out of the clouds, in order to observe the battlefield situation and command his fighters, he stopped the dive at an altitude of 800 meters and changed to a large radius of 45 degrees of spiral descent at an angle of 45 degrees. By the time he had completed the operational dispatch, the plane's flight altitude had been reduced to 570 meters, and its flight speed had been reduced to 440 kilometers per hour, which was no longer suitable for a 75-degree cliff dive, and the German naval ace had two options: either pull up the plane and dive into a beautiful high platform, or launch a direct attack and drop the bomb at a dive angle of less than 60 degrees.

Whatever Major Schcheram chosen, he was enveloped by anti-aircraft fire from American and British ships, and the air waves from the explosion made the dive bomber look like a boat in the middle of a big wave, and it looked like it was in danger of being swallowed up by the waves at any moment. Without hesitation, Schcheram pushed the joystick forward, while controlling the rudder via the footstep, taking advantage of the Ju-17T's excellent low-speed stability to make a small radius of spiral descent, and the strong centrifugal force pressed him tightly to the right side of the seat, the altimeter reading accelerated and decreased, and the speedometer reading slowly dropped to 400 km/h. At an altitude of about 200 meters above sea level, Scheram used a series of precise control maneuvers to create a spiral, and after a short period of level flight, he began to pull upwards diagonally - the Ju-17T, which was moving at a constant speed, was undoubtedly an excellent target for the battleship's anti-aircraft artillery, so that after only a dozen seconds, the Z-42 suddenly changed its flight attitude and dropped from its current altitude to fly close to the sea, so that the enemy naval guns trying to strangle it were basically at a flat firing angle. At this moment, the rest of the fighters of the 87th Dive Bomber Squadron of the German Navy emerged from the thick clouds, and what awaited them was neither the ferocious American and British fighters nor the violent anti-aircraft fire, but a good opportunity to calmly identify the enemy ships and adjust the spearhead according to the situation.

From the perspective of the battlefield, the British Admiral-class battle cruiser is a very recognizable target, its slender ship shape is like a long dagger with a fuller outline, and the configuration of the three triple main turrets is a striking feature that is different from the active capital ships of the United States, Germany, Italy, Austria and other countries.

Due to the influence of the clouds, the dive trajectory of the Ju-17T was not as neat as usual, as a result, two of them dived down directly in front of the target battleship, two of them attacked from its starboard front, and four of them cut in from behind its starboard side. The two Ju-17Ts that launched the air attack from that direction were adjusted at an altitude of 1,000 meters, and dropped to an altitude of 400 meters in a straight line dive, but unfortunately, the two heavy armor-piercing bombs fell into the sea by grazing the side of the ship, and only one of the four light high-explosive bombs hit directly, and the bombed "Anson" immediately rose up with wolf smoke, but how much damage can a 50-kilogram aerial bomb cause to a capital ship with a full load displacement of nearly 50,000 tons?

In the remaining two directions, none of the six dive bombers were shot down, and they were adversely affected by heavy anti-aircraft fire and mid-course redirection, and their bomb hits were unsatisfactory and failed to effectively extend the results of the battle.

Seeing that the attack of the 87th dive bomber was about to end in vain, Major Schcheram once again displayed his superb flying skills, taking advantage of the brief gap in the enemy's attention, he climbed to an altitude of 800 meters, and then entered a 60-degree angle dive -- for a dive bomber, the smaller the angle of dive bombing, the greater the amount of advance required for aiming, and the more difficult it was to maintain bombing accuracy, and this was not a big problem for ace pilots who had a training hit rate of up to 65 percent and had repeatedly won combat flights. The major cut in from the direction of the headwind, using the black smoke rising from the "Georgia" and "Anson" as a cover, penetrated the interception of enemy anti-aircraft fire, and dropped the bomb at an altitude of 200 meters in a purely manual way, and the aviation armor-piercing projectile mounted under the belly of the aircraft hit the rear deck of the British battle patrol impartially!

After the fighter plane was pulled up, Sergeant Perls shouted, "The bomb hit the target, sir, it looks like we dealt it a heavy blow!" The location of the explosion was between the stern and the rear main gun, basically above the engine room. ”

Before getting out of the danger zone, Major Scherram focused on driving and was not distracted by anything else. It wasn't until the fighters successfully burrowed into the clouds that he tried to contact his subordinate fighters by radio, but the backup communication frequencies were also interfered with, which meant that they had to return to each other according to the agreed route. If something unexpected happens on the way, you have to play your own and deal with it yourself.

Convinced that he and the entire squadron were in a state of temporary loss of communication, the major gave up his attempt, and said to his partner: "Unfortunately, our dive altitude was too low, and the speed of the bomb was only 420 kilometers per hour, which did not inject enough impact into the bomb, and it may only penetrate the upper deck of the enemy ship, and may not be able to blow through the armor box that protects the power system." ”

"That's a shame." "What a great opportunity!" Perls replied. ”

The major, apparently not dwelling on his regrets, then asked his partner: "Did you see any fighters or torpedo bombers on our side just now?" ”

Pers thought for a moment: "Probably not." ”

"So maybe only our squadron found and attacked the enemy fleet?"

"I think it's very likely." "But maybe the others are just searching for the enemy, because the weather is far from ideal." ”

Major Schcheram shook his head to himself, the enemy fleet's anti-aircraft artillery fire was so fierce that as long as it was within a radius of tens of kilometers, it was easy to find the target by following the sound of artillery fire, unless it was intercepted by enemy fighters on the way.

At the same time, Natsuki, who is in command of the operation on the island of São Miguel, is also thinking about the same problem. The 4th Special Fleet of the US and British Navy's current position is exactly between the islands of Texel and Flores, and it takes only half an hour for land-based fighters to take off from the airfields of the two places to fly over the fleet. Compared with carrier-based aircraft, land-based fighters are basically not limited by take-off and landing distances, and can be equipped with more powerful engines and more powerful air combat weapons, which means that carrier-based fighters of the same level are difficult to take advantage of land-based fighters. Sending land-based bombers from San Miguel Island to attack Texel and carrier-based aircraft from the Second Task Force to bomb Flores, this two-fisted attack can certainly contain the enemy's land-based air forces and reduce the attack resistance of the First Task Force, but it is difficult to predict what the actual effect will be, especially for the air attack on Flores Island, the two Confederate-class aircraft carriers carry a total of 120 fighters, and if the surprise attack is successful, the US and British fighters stationed on the island can take care of the 4th Special Fleet flawlessly in a short time. If the enemy is prepared or even sees through the opponent's surprise strategy, the punch will not only be soft, but will also be countered by the enemy.

Soon after, good news came from the bombing of Texel Island: The first attack echelon, composed of 626 fighters, successfully broke through the enemy's air defense circle and carried out a fierce bombing of three large air bases and more than 10 field airfields in the eastern, southern, and central parts of Texel Island, and the preliminary results were that 43 enemy planes were shot down and damaged in the air, more than 200 enemy planes were damaged on the ground, a large number of aviation facilities were damaged, and a heavy blow was dealt a heavy blow to the US-British land-based air forces stationed on Texel Island -- in connection with the repeated bombing operations in the previous half month, It is estimated that the aviation combat power of the US and British forces on the island of Texel has fallen by at least a third from its peak level.

Another piece of good news is that the 2nd Strike Echelon, consisting of 579 fighters, is forming over São Miguel Island, a huge flight cluster that includes 9 Fokker G-51 fighter squadrons, 4 Me-50 interceptor squadrons, 17 Ju-30 tactical bomber squadrons, and 6 Ju-28 heavy bomber squadrons, capable of ruthlessly destroying the U.S. and British air defense systems on Texel Island like a huge grinding plate.

After a period of waiting, Natsuki finally waited for the battle report of the two task forces, and the battle situation ahead was like a wonderful show with twists and turns, although the first wave of carrier-based aircraft sent by the second task force was only discovered after arriving close to Flores Island, but at that time, more than 30 American and British fighter planes were gathering over the airport, and the air raid caused some damage to the two main airfields on the island, but the tactical significance was very limited. The second wave of carrier-based aircraft was blocked by the US and British aircraft groups at a distance of 20 minutes from Flores Island, and the result was a complete defeat. As a result of this, the first task force squadron attacked two waves and then suppressed them, and failed to take advantage of the situation to lay down the victory after a good start, and the battle loss rate of the second wave of air attack aircraft was close to 40 percent, and the result achieved was only to damage the British battle cruisers, because the fleet commander, Vice Admiral Bastian, believed that it was no longer appropriate to send a third wave of carrier-based aircraft at this time, and this became a combat operation of considerable scale and considerable losses, but it did not sink even a single American and British ship.

Despite not being able to reproduce the "miracle" of a week ago, Natsuki is still satisfied with the results he has gained. The two capital ships of the enemy's special fleet were both damaged, and even if they arrived on Flores Island, they would no longer be able to participate in combat operations against the Allied attack ship formations, which would inevitably lead the US and British navies to further withdraw troops from the main fleet, thus falling into the embarrassing situation of being passive and passive step by step. Therefore, he telegraphed the 1st and 2nd task forces to withdraw from the battle and retreat to the designated position, and then left the staff team in Penta Delgada, and lightly boarded the Irish light cruiser "Ossen", and went to the southern anchorage of São Miguel Island to meet the "Mackensen" formation waiting there, and this fast formation consisting of one battle cruiser, three heavy cruisers, five light cruisers, and 14 destroyers immediately set sail westward, sailing at a speed of 24 knots against the waves, and rushed to the sea area where the battle was intended.

(End of chapter)