At the same time, he has been shot down 32 times and has a record of 2,530 combat sorties (an average of more than one sortie a day for 6 years, no vacation, no rest!). ）。 He was the only German officer to be awarded the Knight of the Order of Diamond Gold and Gold with Two Swords and Gold Oak Leaves!

The 4th Air Division had more than 120 JU87 Stuka dive bombers, and Rommel was convinced that it would be difficult for the British Gibraltar fleet to escape from the narrow Strait of Gibraltar.

The Mediterranean Sea was still too small for JU87, which had a combat radius of 1680 km, and the British Mediterranean Fleet could not maneuver at all and could only go head-to-head with the German 4th Air Division.

I don't know where Churchill got his confidence, there are only two aircraft carriers, without the support of road-based aircraft, a total of only 70 obsolete carrier-based fighters, and more than 50 old torpedo planes.

With this point of air power, how could it be the opponent of the German Fourth Air Division, Churchill was too superstitious about the cannon of the giant ship, and in this battle, Rommel wanted to tell the world that the era of the cannon of the giant ship was over.

……

The rising sun erupts from the sea, dyeing the rippling waters with golden brilliance, and the sea is like opening a blushing smile to welcome the rising sun, making people have a beautiful reverie

Under the sun's rays, the sea surface is sparkling and shimmering with a colorful halo. Squadron Leader Clive of the German 4th Air Division, led twelve JU87 dive bombers to follow behind the huge swarm and fly towards Gibraltar, more than a hundred kilometers away.

The entire fleet consisted of more than 300 planes, which took off from various airports around Malaga, and more than 300 planes formed over the Mediterranean Sea under the command of ground towers.

The entire group was in a line formation, and Clive's dive-bombing formation was in the middle and rear of the group, with BF109 fighters in front of them and on the left and right flanks.

Division Commander Andrew had already made it clear at the flight meeting that this air attack on JU87 was an offensive fist, and the BF109 fighters only provided cover for them to eliminate the enemy aircraft that came to attack JU87.

That is, when attacking the British Gibraltar fleet, Clive did not have to worry about the enemy's aircraft, and only needed to focus on attacking the British warships and aircraft carriers.

To be honest, Clive was still full of confidence in this mission, after all, more than 300 aircraft of the 4th Air Division were against more than 100 outdated and old carrier-based aircraft of the British.

If none of this can be won, then the honor of the Luftwaffe will cease to exist. Some time ago, the air battle in Great Britain made Clive and the others suffer enough, this time everyone is holding a bad breath, this time we must teach the damned Brits.

The British's radar has a detection range of about 100 kilometers, and Clive knows that it is impossible to sneak attack this air raid, and the result is a head-on decisive battle.

The roar of the "buzzing" planes was transmitted over the sea, and although the entire group of planes flew at an altitude of 5,000 meters, the sea still rippled because of the vibration of this sound wave, and some seabirds on the sea surface were frightened and flew in all directions.

It was more than 100 kilometers from Malaga to Gibraltar, and the radar set up by the British army on the top of the Gibraltar hill soon detected the German air raid group.

The British Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet is headed by the prestigious Admiral Sir Cunningham as Commander-in-Chief.

Cunningham had a reputation in the Navy as a "calm and strong sailor," a shrewd judge of the situation.

In order to maintain control of the Strait of Gibraltar, Churchill transferred the entire Mediterranean fleet to the port of Gibraltar.

The entire fleet consisted of 4 battleships (all of which participated in the Battle of Jutland, although each had 8 381-mm guns, but they were older), aircraft carriers "Eagle" and "Ark Royal", 7 light cruisers, 20 destroyers, 10 submarines, and 8 other ships.

If Rommel had not annihilated the Mediterranean Fleet before the war, his 7th Panzer Army would not have dared to approach the fortress of Gibraltar at all.

The British battleships were equipped with 381 mm guns with a range of at least 30 kilometers, and the power of this naval gun was extremely huge, and it exploded within 10 meters of the No. 4 tank, and the No. 4 tank directly turned into parts.

Because this kind of large-caliber naval artillery can blow up a large crater with a diameter of 20 meters and a depth of 5 or 6 meters, a tank of 20 tons can only be tofu scum under this kind of naval gun.

If it explodes within 20 meters, all the crew members of the tank will be shattered and killed.

The reason why Churchill thought that the fortress of Gibraltar could hold on was that Britain had the support of a strong Mediterranean Fleet, and the Mediterranean Fleet was the confidence of the British army to hold the fortress of Gibraltar.

Admiral Cunningham came from Alexandria to the fortress of Gibraltar this time to personally command, and he wanted to teach this devil's army a terrible lesson.

The aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal is Cunningham's command flagship, and Cunningham can also set up its headquarters in the Gibraltar fortress if it is for security reasons.

Cunningham is not the kind of commander who is afraid of death, if he does this, he will be despised by all the naval officers, the commander does not dare to stay on the warship, there can still be regarded as a naval commander, just go to the army.

"Report to the commander, the radar station reports that due north a large number of incoming aircraft groups have been spotted, with an altitude of five thousand and a speed of 600."

Cunningham was also a seasoned veteran, and he knew for a long time that Rommel would never be stupid enough to drive his armored troops to the fortress of Gibraltar first, and Cunningham estimated that Rommel would be the first to launch an air battle.

So Cunningham has done a lot of preparations, such as quickly driving the fleet out of the port of Gibraltar, and then putting up a mobile aviation formation, this kind of fleet aviation exercise, Cunningham has practiced three or four times.

Cunningham was not without self-knowledge, the German Fourth Air Division had more than 300 planes, and his fleet consisted of more than 100 old and outdated carrier-based aircraft.

"Order the entire fleet to leave the port as originally planned, and at the same time release all carrier-based fighters, remembering that carrier-based combat cannot leave the air defense network of the fleet."

Cunningham was also a ruthless man, and he put all of his only seventy or so carrier-based fighters in the fleet's anti-aircraft fire network.

The advantage of this is that the German fighters, if they want to annihilate these carrier-based aircraft, they must crash into the fleet's aviation fire network.

The German BF109 was very advanced, but once they entered the fleet's anti-aircraft fire network, they would be attacked by multiple crossfires on the sea surface, as well as sneak attacks by those carrier-based fighters.

Cunningham also has disadvantages of doing this, that is, it is easy to cause accidental injuries, and the aviation firepower of the surface fleet will beat down his own planes if he is not careful, but Cunningham has no regard for possible accidental injuries in order to eliminate more German planes.

……