862 The Fifteenth Sunset of the Old Empire They came back after the bombing

"Sir! Here they are! ”

April 22, 1939, 10:50 a.m. Major Cameron, who served as radar chief on the British aircraft carrier Tejas Tej, stared at the green radar screen with bloodshot eyes and his mouth wide open. Because he saw more than 80 constantly flashing dark green points of light from above, which were flying rapidly towards the sea where the aircraft carrier Guanghui was located from more than 100 kilometers away! He knew that those were the Chinese carrier-based aircraft with terrible bombs...... USS Radiance, it's a dead deal!

"Pull the alarm, anti-aircraft artillery fire ready! Carrier-based aircraft are all in the air! Admiral Cunningham straightened his uniform, straightened his waist and walked to the platform outside the command center, raised a high-powered telescope in his hand and began to look for the shadow of enemy aircraft in the air. He wanted to take a closer look at what the Chinese plane that sank the Brilliant looked like!

Although it was known that there would be many bad lucks, the light cruiser Newcastle, which was escorting the aircraft carrier Brilliance, quickly erected all its anti-aircraft guns and was ready for battle. The five W-class destroyers on the periphery, as well as the aircraft carrier Brilliant at the core of the fleet, also aimed their anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns at the sky.

Since the huge role of aircraft in naval warfare has long been known, most of the ships of the British Royal Navy completed anti-aircraft modifications before the outbreak of this world war. The Southampton-class light cruiser USS Newcastle now has eight 4-inch/45-diameter high-profile guns, 10 2-pounder/40x-diameter "Bang Bang Cannons", and 10 0.5"/62x anti-aircraft machine guns. The W-class destroyers are armed with two 2-pounder/40x-diameter "bang-bang guns" and eight 0.5-inch/62x-diameter anti-aircraft machine guns. The USS Tejas has 10 4.5-inch/45x-diameter high-level guns and 20 2-pounder/40x-diameter "bang-bang guns." The entire British aircraft carrier group has more than 100 anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns of various types, which can block a fire net in front of incoming enemy aircraft.

The strong air defense capability of the entire formation finally gave some comfort to the British sailors who gritted their teeth and prepared for a hard battle. Moreover, the attack method of the Chinese carrier-based air fleet, which has no torpedo bombers and no suicide aircraft, is relatively simple, and only high-altitude dive bombs are dropped, and for anti-aircraft fire, it will not be dispersed. At this moment, hundreds of artillery machine guns opened fire at the same time, and more than 10,000 shells and bullets of various calibers occurred every minute, forming a steel barrier in an instant.

At the same time, 10 brave Tubenose Swallow carrier-based fighters also went crazy, quickly rising and then diving towards the menacing Chinese carrier-based air group.

The 10 frantically swooping swallows and the rain of bullets that rained down like a torrential rain did startle Gao Zhihang and his brothers of the 6th Carrier-based Aviation Regiment, but after a very brief period of tension, the hearts of more than 100 aviation elites (A-4 is a two-seater) from all over China were aroused.

Isn't it just 10 clumsy tube-nosed swallows? Isn't it just a hundred or so anti-aircraft guns? To rely on such a defense to block the invincible Chinese naval aviation is simply wishful thinking!

Gao Zhihang sneered a few times in his heart, and then turned on the radio.

"Brethren, here comes our prey!"

This mocking shout suddenly attracted a round of laughter, and the little tension just now was swept away. Gao Zhihang continued to order:

"Attention all bombers! First squadron, take out that light cruiser! ”

"Second squadron, go deal with those destroyers."

"The third squadron, the fourth squadron, blew up the Brilliant for me!"

"First Fighter Squadron, follow me, let's take care of those 10 pipe-nosed swallows!"

"Rush!"

As soon as he shouted, Gao Zhihang pushed the oil rod to the end, and the 1600 horsepower BMW-801 engine began to roar violently, and the FW-190C piloted by Gao Zhihang pulled up in the air, turned a somersault, and rushed straight to the past against a swooping down pipe-nosed swallow. Just in an instant, the guns of both sides did not have time to fire, the two planes intersected, and the FW-190C, which flew over the opponent, made another difficult turnover, aimed the nose at the pipe-nosed swallow that was about to be pulled up and began to dive.

The pilot of this pipe-nosed swallow is also considered an elite, and when Gao Zhihang just dived down, he found that something was wrong, and immediately pressed down the nose of the plane and began to dive. Typically, a fighter with a slower speed, but a larger empty weight and a stronger fuselage can use a dive to get rid of an opponent who is faster and has a better grappling force, but has a lighter air weight and a less robust fuselage. Now the driver of this tube nose swallow is using this method. But the problem is that this F, M cannon and 2 7.62mm aviation machine guns sprayed tongues of fire at the same time. This kind of firepower is almost the most powerful among the fighters of this era, and the Guanbi Yan, who tried to escape by diving, was suddenly shrouded in the net of fire. Its fuselage, tail and wing parts were hit almost simultaneously, shards of aluminum alloy flew all over the sky, and the plane was also dragged into the sea with a long black smoke!

"Oh God! How so! Admiral Cunningham, who witnessed the aerial brawl on the USS Tejlis, felt black in front of his eyes and almost fell to the ground. He is very clear about the performance of the Guanbi Yan carrier-based fighter, although it is not as good as the Hurricane, but it is not impossible to fight. At least let a hurricane fight a pipe-nosed swallow, and it is not a matter of seconds to tell the winner! Even the Spitfire, which had just been secretly developed, couldn't have taken down a tube-nosed swallow in just a few seconds.

And equipping the German and Chinese Air Force FW-190 can easily do it! This can only show that the combat performance of this German aircraft is still above the Spitfire. So...... The ongoing war in Europe may be more than auspicious!

"Boom ......."

A high-pitched, piercing chirp suddenly rang in Cunningham's ears, the call of a whistle on an A-4B Thunderhawk dive bomber. Starting with the light dive bombers of the A-2 series, the Chinese installed a whistle capable of making a piercing whistle on the aircraft, and when the plane dived, this piercing whistle became a special "sonic wave" weapon, although it did not have direct lethality, but it could spread a terrifying atmosphere throughout the battlefield!

But the well-trained sailors of the Royal Navy would not be intimidated by such strange calls. All the gunners' eyes widened and they aimed their muzzles/muzzles at the swooping bomber that swooped down. Because they all know that the time has come to decide the victory or defeat and life and death! The A4B that swooped down with a strange scream could carry a 500-kilogram armor-piercing bomb on it, and all the warships on this battlefield couldn't withstand its blow!

Countless tongues of fire rose from the seven British ** ships on the water, and the bows of all the warships were violently deflected in an attempt to perform an S-shaped evasive maneuver at sea, which is a standard action for warships when encountering bombers. Because there is no way to change direction, whether it is a bomber that dives down or a bomb that falls from the magazine of a horizontal bomber. However, dive bombers also have their own way of coping. The A-4B Thunderhawks in the air are now in a three-plane formation, starting to dive from three different directions at the same time, blocking the evasion direction of the warships below and dispersing the fire of the anti-aircraft guns.

"Bomb! Get out of the way!! ”

Three black dots were seen shooting out from under the bellies of the three dive bombers almost simultaneously, smashing down towards the flight deck of the USS Tejli. Admiral Cunningham used all his strength to not know who was shouting, and it was estimated that Rear Admiral Williams, who was personally operating the ship on the island, would not be able to hear it at this time. But the dutiful captain was doing his best at the moment, turning the steering wheel and dodging the falling bombs.

However, the number of A-4B dive bombers attacking the Radiance was as high as 26! There are 26 deadly 500kg bombs that will be dropped on the Radiant, and if one hits, the Radiance will not escape the fate of heavy damage!

And the first to bring bad luck to the USS Guanghui was a 22-year-old pilot from Tianjin, China, Major Wang Guangfu, squadron leader of the 4th Bomber Squadron of the USS Taiwan.

In this time and space, Wang Guangfu, who was born in a famous family in Tianjin, including the Air Force Non-commissioned Officer School, is certainly not to save the country. Because by the time he graduated from high school, the motherland had already been saved and had become imperialism! Major Wang applied for the military academy entirely because of the militaristic education he received in the school.

Major Wang, who was bent on opening up territory for the country, was the second group to fly planes to dive and drop bombs, and all the bombs dropped by the three planes before him were miraculously avoided by the Radiance. However, the Radiance, which had just completed a U-bend maneuver, had no way to make another maneuver immediately after, so it could only watch the three A-4Bs dive down. Wang Guangfu piloted the plane and swooped down on the aircraft carrier that was trying to level the hull, when suddenly the bombardier's voice came from his headphones: "Ready!" Put! Immediately after that, the whole plane was light, and the 500-kilogram armor-piercing bomb had been dropped, and Wang Guangfu pulled the control stick, and the nose of the plane was gently raised, and it rushed straight away in the air.

"Hit! Medium! Hit! The explosion below had not yet appeared, but the cheers of the bombardiers had already sounded. Because he kept looking down and did not see the water column raised, which means that the bomb hit the aircraft carrier!

Before the cheers of the bombardiers fell, the aircraft carrier below exploded like a balloon that had been burst, and a huge orange-red fireball rose in the center of the hull, debris, smoke, flames, and even the stump and broken arm of the human body were thrown into the air, and when the smoke dissipated, Wang Guangfu saw from the air that the entire aircraft carrier seemed to have been disemboweled, and in the center of the aviation deck, a large hole in flames was impressive!

"Damage management! Report the loss! Report the loss! ”

Admiral Cunningham was also watching the scene, and he was tossed to the ground by the wave of air from the explosion just now, before he struggled to get up and saw the terrible hole in the aviation deck below.

"Sir! The aircraft carrier was hit by a bomb, and the flight deck was ......" A staff officer put down the phone and began to report the damage, and just halfway through the sentence, there were two earth-shattering explosions in succession, and the hull of the aircraft carrier jumped twice as if it had been kicked twice by something.

"Stern! It was two bombs in the stern! "I don't know who's shouting there.

"Sir! The damage tube reported that the power compartment was pierced by a bomb and the bomb exploded in the power compartment! The whole ship has lost power! ”

"Hurry up and fix it! Organize forces to repair the !! Captain Williams let out a desperate roar. An aircraft carrier powered by things, there is no other way out than to be abandoned in naval battles, as for repairing the power compartment...... It's just a dead horse as a live horse doctor, and it was blown up by a 500-kilogram bombshell!

Cunningham, supported by a staff officer, stumbled into the command center, and before he could ask about the losses, Phillips, the chief of staff of the fleet, proposed to replace the flagship. Cunningham naturally knew what this meant.

"Is there no way?" As soon as these words came out of Cunningham's mouth, there was another earth-shattering bang! It was the fourth 500-kilogram bombshell to hit the bow of an aircraft carrier.

"Admiral, please transfer the flagship to the destroyer Voyager!" Chief of Staff Phillips suggested with tears in his eyes.

"What! Be...... Destroyer? Cunningham was stunned when he heard this, and hurriedly turned his head to look for the shadow of the Newcastle light cruiser on the sea, but this "large light cruiser" with a standard displacement of 9,320 tons has completely lost its trace!

"Admiral, we have lost the Newcastle light cruiser, just now when the Radiance was bombed, it also hit two 500-kilogram bombs, one of which may have hit the ammunition depot, the hull exploded into two sections, and sank in a few minutes." Phillips whimpered, "It's over! We're finished, the British Empire is finished......"

"Not yet! My lieutenant general! Cunningham punched Phillips in the shoulder and shouted, "Give me a lift!" The battle has just begun! Our bombers are on the way, and the Chinese will be punished. ”

"Now, let the destroyer USS Voyager come over. In addition, order the remaining destroyers to do everything possible to rescue the drowning, the British Empire needs all of them! ”

……

"Swordfish, damn swordfish! Can't you go a little faster? Our aircraft carrier is almost sinking! ”

Over a certain area of the Indian Ocean, 192 British planes were flying slowly northwest in a standard bombing formation. As the commander-in-chief of this carrier-based aircraft group, Colonel Anderson was dying. Because he already knew through the radio the news that the Radiance had been severely damaged and completely lost its combat ability and motivation!

The flagship of the Indian Grand Fleet is finished! However, the air attack unit under his command was still flying slowly at a speed of about 170 kilometers per hour. At such a flight speed, I am afraid that after those Chinese planes return to the aircraft carrier after dropping bombs, they have not yet found an opponent! I don't know what this broken plane is here for?

"Where have we been? How far is it going? Anderson asked Seafer, the navigator behind him, impatiently, the same question he had asked at least four times along the way.

"Sir, our current position is east longitude xx; Latitude xx north. There are still 65 nautical miles from the target area. Siever's answer was very careful, and he even reported the latitude and longitude. But Anderson only heard 65 nautical miles. 65 nautical miles is equivalent to about 120 kilometers...... That is, it will take almost 1 hour to fly before it is possible to reach the target area! It's just the target area, and it's hard to say whether the target can be found, although there is a "Walrus" seaplane with radar in this group. However, if the Chinese fleet must dodge, it can still be easily done. After all, the other side has a maximum speed of up to 34.5 knots and can sail nearly 70 nautical miles in 2 hours, which is already out of the search range of the airborne radar.

"Boston 1, call Boston 1, I'm Haiyan 5." At that moment, Anderson's headphones rang the call of the "Walrus" seaplane.

"This is Boston 1, come on, this is Boston 1." Anderson replied.

"Boston 1, we found a group of enemy aircraft, in the direction of 8 o'clock, the number is about 80, the speed is about 390 km / h, the direction is northwest."

"What? It's really happening! Anderson exclaimed.

"Colonel, I'm afraid that's the case, we're going to have an encounter with the Chinese plane returning from the bombing." The pilot of the seaplane replied with a wry smile.

"Wait a minute, you said their speed is 390 km/h?" Anderson raised his eyebrows, as if he had thought of something.

"Yes, Colonel, they're fast."

"In other words, there are no Min-25 seaplanes among them, and they haven't spotted us yet!" Although the British side does not know the specific technical parameters of the Min-25, the approximate speed can still be guessed. A seaplane equipped with radar will never be able to fly at such a high speed of 390 km/h.

"Colonel, I want to ...... They didn't find us. "The captain of the walrus seaplane also found something strange at this time, the 80 or so Chinese planes did not change course, but flew straight to the northwest, it seems that the Chinese aircraft carrier is there!

"What are their heights?" Anderson asked again.

"The height is about 3,000 meters."

"Okay." Anderson looked up at the thick clouds in the sky, a smug smile on his lips. "All attention, at an altitude of 5,000 meters, let's go above the clouds!"