Chapter 554: Nanyang (6)

With Zheng Xin's order, 10 minutes later, all the carrier-based planes of the "Han Shin" aircraft carrier had taken off, and all the destroyers and frigates were tightly surrounding the aircraft carrier and the cruiser, and the battle was about to break out.

"Warning, warning, this is the warning range of the South China Sea Fleet of the Republic of China, you have already invaded my warning range, please leave immediately, otherwise we have the right to shoot you down."

The 12 F6F "Hellcat" fighters that took off first to meet the enemy issued a warning in the face of the six "British" Spitfires that were approaching.

The Spitfire was the best piston fighter in Europe at this time, and its excellent performance had been best tested in the Battle of Britain, and in the entire Battle of Britain, Britain was able to exchange the cost of 1,115 fighters for the fall of more than 2,000 Luftwaffe fighters, in addition to relying on their radar and geographical environment, the excellent performance of the "Spitfire" fighter was also indispensable.

Captain Giggs, the leader of the 10th British Malaysia Airlines Squadron, flew at the front of the formation in a Spitfire, followed by five companions.

Captain Giggs only smiled contemptuously after hearing the warning from the fighters ahead, he swung his joystick and rushed up towards the clouds, Captain Giggs's purpose was obvious, he wanted to take advantage of the height and then dive down. This trick was a lesson learned from the blood and fire of Captain Giggs, who had participated in the "Battle of Britain", and in today's air combat, speed, height, and firepower are still the keys to victory in air combat.

As soon as the confident Captain Giggs led his team to an altitude of 6,000 meters, he saw the opposing carrier-based aircraft roaring towards him. There was nothing to say about this one, and both sides unanimously opened the safety bolt on the joystick, and tongues of fire erupted from the wings of their respective fighters.

"Dadada"

Captain Giggs moved quickly, he rolled over beautifully, and eight 7.7 mm machine guns immediately spewed out eight tongues of fire, cutting off the tail of a Chinese fighter in front of him.

Looking at the Chinese fighter in front of him, who was forced to slide down with thick smoke, Captain Giggs didn't have time to be happy, he only found a flash of fire in the corner of his eye, it turned out that he was only happy to fight just now, and was targeted by one of the opponent's fighters, so he also stepped into the footsteps of the fighter just now, and fell down with thick smoke.

Strictly speaking, this was the first air battle between the young Chinese naval aviation and the old maritime powers of Europe, and before the engagement, both sides seriously underestimated the performance of each other's fighters and the combat effectiveness of their pilots. Since the British repelled the Germans in the "Battle of Britain", both their combat effectiveness and air combat experience have improved rapidly, while the actual combat experience of the young pilots of the South China Sea Fleet comes more from the experience of fighting the Japanese naval aviation.

Therefore, the British were fighting the Chinese Air Force by beating the Germans, while the pilots of the Chinese Naval Air Force were fighting the British by beating the Japanese, and the two sides were a little confused at once. The battle was fierce at first, but the numerically superior Chinese naval aviation soon manifested itself. After forming a two-on-one superiority in the sky, the six 12.7 mm high-speed machine guns equipped with the "Hellcat" continued to pour out tongues of fire, and the six "Spitfire" fighters led by Captain Giggs soon turned into bright balls of fire and thick black smoke.

"Report to the Red Arrow squadron that they have shot down all six British fighters that came to attack, one of our fighters was shot down and one was damaged." In the war room of the "Han Signal" aircraft carrier, Zheng Xin soon received a battle report, and the staff officers in the war room were smiling with joy as she opened the victory.

"Well fought, leave a squad of "Hellcats" to protect the aircraft carrier, and all the rest of the dive bombers and torpedo planes all launched an attack on the local fleet. Now that the fight has begun, Zheng Xin does not plan to keep his hands, he wants to give the British a lesson that he will never forget.

On the battleship "Prince of Wales," the news of the death of all the "Spitfire" fighters of the first attack wave also reached the ears of Rear Admiral Bertja, "Rear Admiral Bertga, all of our "Spitfire" fighters of the first wave have been killed, and now the enemy planes are flying towards us at full speed. Now the second wave of 12 shore-based fighters of our side is flying towards the enemy fleet. ”

"Report, dozens of Huaxia planes were found flying towards us in front, and they came into contact with our fleet in about three minutes." As the reports came one by one, the atmosphere in the war room became more and more stagnant.

"All ships are under full anti-aircraft fire, and it is imperative to turn all offensive lanes of the locked fleet to retreat towards the port."

With the order of Rear Admiral Bai Tejia, more than 20 large and small ships of the British army fired dazzling fires in a volley, countless shells exploded in mid-air, and the black smoke turned into deadly fireworks in the sky.

The commander of the attack aircraft group, which rushed over the British fleet, immediately ordered twelve "Hellcat" fighters and "senseless" dive bombers to open a channel and torpedo planes to attack.

Following the commander's order, more than a dozen "Hellcat" fighters immediately climbed in altitude and quickly pounced down, followed by more than a dozen "dreadnought" dive bombers.

"Quick, increase the firepower, be sure to stop the enemy's fighters" Major General Bai Tejia came to Cambridge at this time, raised his binoculars to look at the fighters constantly hovering in the sky, he knew that as long as his firepower weakened, the other party would pounce down like a hungry wolf. Therefore, under the orders of Rear Admiral Bertja, all the anti-aircraft guns of 40 mm, 60 mm, 75 mm and 120 mm calibers in the fleet were desperately tilting their ammunition into the air.

However, there is an old Chinese saying that a hundred secrets are sparse, and no matter how tight the firepower network is, there are also negligences, and under the constant testing of the "hellcats" and dreadnought dive bombers, a British destroyer was hit by a 500-kilogram bomber by the "dreadnought" bomber, which exploded and caught fire inside the warship, and sank to the bottom of the sea in less than five minutes.

"Increase the output of firepower, and must not let enemy planes get close to the battleship" After seeing the silence of one of his destroyers, Rear Admiral Bertja turned red, and under his command, the battleship "Prince of Wales" was like a fire-breathing hedgehog constantly pouring tongues of fire into the air.

"Boom" The pilot of a "Hellcat" fighter plane that tried to get close to the "Prince of Wales" reacted a little slowly, and was surrounded in mid-air by a string of 55-millimeter anti-aircraft guns, and shrapnel flew everywhere to send the fighter plane to the bottom of the sea.

However, the gunners of the battleship "Prince of Wales" did not notice that two "Avenger" torpedo planes were quietly flying in the rear right tail of their right, and they quietly slipped to the stern of the battleship "Prince of Wales" and fired torpedoes while the firepower on the battleship "Prince of Wales" was attracted by the fighters in the sky. Two heavy torpedoes of 533 mm caliber immediately rushed towards the target with a white spray.

By the time the lookout on the battleship "Prince of Wales" observed the torpedo trail, it was too late, and in the midst of two earth-shattering explosions, the battleship "Prince of Wales" seemed to have been punched by two giants and jumped up three or four meters on the surface of the sea, and even the propeller in the tail was exposed to the surface of the water for a moment.

The sudden explosion and violent shaking catapulted the caught off guard to the guardrail, and when Rear Admiral Bai Tejia struggled to get up, he found that thick black smoke had risen from the tail of the ship.

After Rear Admiral Bai Tejia got up, he immediately rushed to the war room and grabbed the microphone, "All damage management personnel pay attention, immediately go all out to rescue the warship and block the hole." ”

Britain is worthy of being an old maritime power, both in terms of quality and reaction are first-class, the two torpedoes just now hit the tail of the battleship "Prince of Wales" one after the other, causing two large holes more than one meter wide each, and the swarming sea water poured into the hull at a rate of two tons per second. The experienced damage management commander immediately opened the sealing chamber and sealed the tail section, while the rest of the team immediately rescued the fire on the ship.

Although the "Prince of Wales" was well repaired, but due to the heavy damage, the speed immediately dropped from sixteen knots to eight knots, and the reduced speed of the "Prince of Wales" battleship soon fell behind the fleet, but it was like a lonely wolf still showing its hideous claws and sharp teeth in all directions.

The dive bombers and torpedo planes hovering high in the air soon noticed the strangeness of the "Prince of Wales," and one after another immediately pounced on the planes like vultures that smelled blood.

A high-explosive bomb was the first to fall on it.

"Boom" With a violent explosion sounded less than 20 meters next to the "Prince of Wales", a column of water rushed higher than the pole of the battleship, and Rear Admiral Bai Tejia knew that it must be a super-heavy high-explosive bomb.

"Left Full Rudder"

The battleship "Prince of Wales" struggled to turn left and right, dodging bombs that were constantly falling at high speed and torpedoes that occasionally rushed from the side.

"Report to the chief, the No. 3 boiler is flooding, and the boiler chief requests that the No. 3 boiler be shut down immediately" A report sent everyone's hearts in the war room to the cold seabed. Boiler No. 3 is the only one still in operation, and if boiler No. 3 were to stop running, the battleship "Prince of Wales" would lose all power. For a battleship in the midst of a fierce battle, what does it mean to lose power is an answer that even elementary school students know.

All eyes in the war room were on their fleet commander and captain, Rear Admiral Bertja, commander of the Royal Navy's Third Fleet