Cunningham did not know much about the aviation tactics of the Tang Imperial Navy, and after Yang Qinkai's group left, he actually slowed down the fleet, tried to rescue the people who fell into the water, and arranged for warships to be responsible for rescuing the "King George V" and "Brilliant". If he had known more about the aviation tactics of the Tang Imperial Navy, especially Tan Renhao's operational principles, he would definitely not have done so at this time. If Spruance were to be put in Cunningham's current position, then Spruance would have to continue to run for his life, and he would not waste time on those battered ships at all.

Just when Cunningham came to the bridge of the commander of the "Lion", the air defense siren sounded again, he was first surprised, and then reacted, the second batch of bombers of the first task force of the Tang Empire arrived, and for the enemy's strike speed, Cunningham was not only surprised but also surprised, the interval between the two waves of bombers was less than twenty minutes, and this far exceeded the combat efficiency of the British Navy aircraft carriers!

When the radar on the British battleship detected the Qiu Gengbo group and sounded the air defense alarm, the British expeditionary fleet could no longer say what formation it was, and most of the cruisers and destroyers that were supposed to be guarding the vicinity of the battleship rushed to rescue the officers and men who had fallen overboard, or to assist in the rescue of the two battleships. In addition, the formation of the four capital ships is also messy, and the distance has also expanded a lot. The direct consequence of this is that the number of battleships that can cover the battleships is very small, and as soon as the fleet distance is widened, then the battleships cannot cooperate with each other and take care of each other, and they are more vulnerable to bomber strikes. Although the battleships are already moving closer to each other, but relative to the speed of the fighters. The speed of the battleship can be described as "moving", and it is almost impossible to restore the air defense formation in a few minutes! …． n

The time when the group reached the skies over the British Expeditionary Fleet was 3:15. When he saw the more than 20 large and small warships scattered on the sea, he felt the same as when Yang Qinkai arrived. Did the British simply not know how to deal with the bombing, or did the British send not the most elite fleet, but only a second-rate fleet, and did not know how to maintain a dense air defense formation in the face of an air threat. is so divided, it's obvious that you're waiting for death!

Surprise is surprise, compared to Yang Qinkai, Qiu Gengbo will not be polite at all. His conducting style is not the same as that of Yang Qinkai. If you want to describe it, then Yang Qinkai is like a senior chef in a big hotel, who will carefully cook every dish. And Qiu Gengbo is just an ordinary cook in a street shop, and he will find several dunzi to cook a few dishes together at the same time. This metaphor may not be very apt, but it does reflect the difference in the two men's conducting styles. In fact, this is precisely why Qiu Gengbo is often asked to carry out the first round of bombing missions, and Yang Qinkai is responsible for directing the second round of bombing missions. At the time of striking the enemy fleet. The tactics of swarming in a swarm that Qiu Gengbo is good at can tear through the enemy's air defense network more quickly, while Yang Qinkai's "point killing" is more suitable for supplementary bombing in the back. It's just that this time the two sides have switched places.

Qiu Gengbo's group of planes did attack together. Before reaching the skies over the British expeditionary fleet. Qiu Gengbo had already received news from Yang Qinkai that there were still four capital ships in the British expeditionary fleet that had not been bombed, and this must be ensured to be destroyed. So, before reaching the skies over the British expeditionary fleet. Qiu Gengbo arranged a detailed task for his own command of the ground group, and the group was divided into four groups, led by himself, other squadron leaders, or the best squad leader, to attack the four capital ships separately, and after having excess ammunition, he decided whether to attack other warships, or to carry out supplementary bombardment of the unsunken capital ships.

Qiu Gengbo's plane flew in front, and the British expeditionary fleet had already sailed south some distance before he arrived, and the closest to him was the battleship "Lion" that Cunningham had just gone up, and Qiu Gengbo directly "selected" this battleship, and the other squadron leaders and squad leaders naturally did not dare to "grab food" with their captains.

Cunningham certainly didn't expect him to walk into his own grave before he boarded the Lion.

Truth be told, his choice was really problematic. At that time, the Lion was the most unique and conspicuous battleship in the British Expeditionary Fleet. Not only is it the largest displacement, but it also has the longest hull and the most unique shape. It was the only battleship in the British Expeditionary Fleet at the time to be equipped with three triple main gun turrets. If Cunningham had had time to think about it, he would have chosen the "Anson" or the "Duke of York" as the flagship, so that at least it would not be attacked by the most elite bombers led by Cho Gengbo, and the two battleships were of the same appearance, so it must be difficult to determine who was the flagship.

In fact, Qiu Gengbo did not know that Cunningham was on the "Lion", and Cunningham's flag had not yet been raised at that time. Even if Cunningham's flag had been raised, with the situation at that time, it was unlikely that Qiu Gengbo would see it in a hurry, and it would be impossible to recognize it if he saw it. To put it bluntly, it can only be said that Cunningham's luck is bad, he is destined to only go so far, if anyone doubts Qiu Gengbo's ability, it must be a big mistake. In the last battle, Qiu Gengbo survived, and after being rescued, he was only slightly injured, and as a result, he stayed in the hospital for less than a month, and returned to the fleet alive, and in this month, he also soaked in a beautiful nurse in the hospital, which can be said to be a blessing in disguise. Before returning to the fleet, he began to prepare for marriage. And now, Colonel Qiu Gengbo, who has a good harvest in love and career, is of course willing to prepare the biggest gift for his wedding, a battleship of nearly 50,000 tons must be regarded as the largest gift in the world, but the problem is that he can only leave this gift at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean and cannot bring it back!

The bombing was not covered by escort warships, and its own air defense capability was not strong, and there were no other capital ships around the "Lion", so it was almost no difficulty for Qiu Gengbo.

In order to improve the accuracy of the bombing, Qiu Gengbo did not organize a four-plane formation to drop bombs, but adopted a two-plane formation. He was the first to dive towards the "Lion".

Moreover, he chose to aim in the middle of the battleship, and if he was lucky, the aviation armor-piercing shell could fall into the boiler room or engine room below after penetrating several decks and explode. Completely blow up the ship's ground power system, and as long as the ship's speed slows down.

Or if it stops, it's completely finished.

It can be said that Cunningham's luck was indeed extremely bad, and Qiu Gengbo aimed at the middle of the battleship, between the two chimneys. But just before Qiu Gengbo dropped the bomb, the bomber suddenly shook, and the nose of the plane was slightly raised, but the bomb fell a little in the direction of the bow of the battleship, and the bomb did not fall between the chimneys, but directly on the top of the commander's bridge! The bomb was not fatal to the battleship, but it was certainly the deadliest wound to Cunningham and the entire British expeditionary fleet. Before the staff officer had time to push Cunningham down on the deck. The bomb exploded on the navigation bridge above the commander's bridge, killing more than a dozen officers and men on the battlefield, including the captain, and not even their bones could be found. The situation in the bridge of the commander below was not much better, including the death of more than twenty officers of Cunningham's fleet headquarters in the interior, and only two staff officers standing near the hatch were thrown out by the blast wave and fell into the sea. Survived the results!

At the time, Qiu Gengbo did not know that he had dropped the bomb to reimburse an admiral of the British Navy, and that he was the most talented fleet commander in the British Navy. It wasn't until after the war that Qiu Gengbo knew it was the most valuable bomb he had dropped during the entire war. And at that time, Qiu Gengbo was still a little remorseful, if this bomb hit the middle of the battleship, then the battleship would probably be finished!

The second batch of two "water birds" completed the task that Qiu Gengbo did not complete, a 500-kilogram aviation armor-piercing projectile accurately hit the part between the two chimneys of the battleship, and after penetrating several decks, the boiler compartment exploded, the power system of the battleship was completely destroyed, and the speed of the battleship slowed down. Then, a third group of two "waterbirds" quickly entered, and this time both bombs accurately hit the battleship.

When the fourth batch of "water birds" arrived over the "Lion", six "Sea Eagles" formed a trapezoidal formation on the sea surface and quickly killed them, while at this time the battleship was slowing down and the steering speed was much slower, which was the best opportunity for torpedo attack. The pilots on six torpedo bombers did not miss this best opportunity and dropped torpedoes at a distance of 650 to 850 meters from the battleship, respectively.

And the battleship, which has lost its power system and continues to sail forward by inertia, has no ability to evade torpedo attacks. At least four of the six torpedoes hit the port side of the "Lion", and the second of them was so close to the hit point of the third torpedo that Qiu Gengbo almost judged that only one torpedo hit, and the second explosion was caused by the detonation of the ammunition compartment inside the battleship.

Less than 10 seconds after the torpedo hit the battleship, the fourth batch of "waterfowl" successfully dropped bombs, which was almost easier than hitting a moving target during normal training, and a stopped behemoth with a length of nearly 300 meters and a width of more than 30 meters was simply the most ideal bombing target. Both bombs all hit the middle of the battleship accurately, one of them exploded outside the battleship, the other inside the hull, and it was supposed to explode near the ammunition compartment of the anti-aircraft gun, as evidenced by the subsequent explosion.

This was the end of the Lion's struggle. Eight "water birds" dropped 6 bombs, and six "Sea eagles" dropped torpedoes hit 4. This hit rate can be regarded as a new record, and it is also the highest hit rate of a single bombing set by the best pilots led by Qiu Gengbo during the entire war.

At the time of the ravages of the "Lion", the other three battleships did not have a good time.

The "Anson" was besieged by eight "water birds" and six "sea eagles", and as a result, four bombs and six torpedoes were hit, and the time of the bombs was only about five minutes later than that of the "Lion". Although the battleship did not immediately show signs of sinking at the time, shortly after the bombardment ended, the battleship exploded, presumably one of the main ammunition compartments was not completely flooded, and as a result, the ammunition inside was detonated.

The Duke of York was the third to be bombed, and the battleship was hit by the first bomb eight minutes after the Lion was hit by the first bomb dropped by Qiu Gengbo. Of all the bombs and torpedoes dropped by the 12 "Water Birds" and 4 "Sea Eagles" besieging the battleship, a total of 5 bombs and 8 torpedoes hit, but one of the torpedoes did not explode, so it was judged that one torpedo hit at that time. The battleship held out until the arrival of the third group of bombers, but the result did not change at all, and after losing speed, it was almost impossible to escape from the bombers.

The fastest was the "Prestige" class battlecruiser, at that time, this battleship was at the front, so it was also the last to be bombed. Fifteen minutes after the "Lion" was shot, the ship was besieged by 16 "water birds" and 12 "sea eagles", and the number of bombers attacking the battleship was the largest, and the results were also the most dismal.

After being hit by seven bombs and four torpedoes, the ship remained on the surface for fifteen minutes, and sank slowly in an explosion before the group left.

At that time, there was still a group of bombers that did not drop bombs and torpedoes, and the escort fighters led by Colonel Yao Boyan were not threatened from the air, and these fighters were all against other warships in the British expeditionary fleet. However, apart from the relatively accurate bombing of the "water birds" and "sea eagles," the bombs dropped by the fighters were not accurate at all, which once again shows that the bombing skills of the fighter pilots should indeed be improved.

By 3:35 a.m., twenty minutes after the group had reached the skies over the British Expeditionary Fleet, all the fighters dropped their bombs, and the second round of bombing lasted only twenty minutes. Like Yang Qinkai, Qiu Gengbo did not delay time, the British expeditionary fleet was not completely finished, he still had to rush back to replenish the bombs, if Yang Qinkai's group still could not finally solve the problem, then he had to bomb again before dark!