Gunther? Vice Admiral Lukins led the capital ships of the 3rd Battle Group around the waters west of Bergen all night, and during the night they were twice attacked by British submarines, so he simply ordered the fleet to sail west into the Norwegian Sea, and only then began to turn back at daybreak. 【頂【点【小】【Say,www.

Nearly 90 JU88 twin-engine dive bombers of the 21st and 26th regiments of the Army Air Corps have been stationed at Sola Airport near Bergen, where the defense capability has been greatly enhanced. The 3rd Battle Group began its voyage south in the morning, preparing for the landing mission with the already completed landing mission by Hubert? The 4th battle group, led by Vice Admiral Sumond, made a rendezvous.

Their combat mission was to secure the transport line from the North Sea to Jutland.

Just after ten o'clock, Admiral Lukins received a telegram from the Admiralty stating that a Navy reconnaissance plane had spotted a British fleet sailing eastward in the sea about 60 nautical miles west of Bergen.

At this time, the situation in Norway was basically decided, and after a day of fighting yesterday, the landing fleets had successfully captured the major Norwegian ports and cities such as Oslo, Ttensberg, Arendal, Kristiansand, Stavanger, Bergen, Trondheim, and Narvik according to the predetermined plan. The Army is currently moving north along the railway line, pursuing and searching for the fleeing Norwegian army, as well as the fleeing members of the Norwegian royal family and government.

After a series of landing operations, the German surface fleet began to assemble in the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea, waiting for an opportunity to engage the British fleet in a decisive battle, as well as to protect the convoy.

Upon receiving information about the discovery of the British fleet, Admiral Lukins immediately ordered the dispatch of carrier-based aircraft from the aircraft carrier "York" to attack the British fleet.

Standing on the bridge outside the command tower of the flagship "Prince William", Vice Admiral Lukins paid attention to the situation above the aircraft carrier "York", which was located on the side. The deck of this heavy aircraft carrier with a displacement of 41,000 tons is already stacked with fighters ready to take off, and some carrier-based aircraft with folded wings are being sent to the deck through the three elevators on the side of Guò.

The whole fleet began to accompany the aircraft carriers to do a windward turn, on the aircraft carriers. The propellers of the plane began to turn, and the engine was heating up. After about 5 or 6 minutes, the first Messersmitt BF109T fighter began to take off, and after that, about every minute, a fighter plane took to the air.

The York-class aircraft carriers were converted from battleships and were initially equipped with only 64 aircraft. However, in 1935, it was remodernized according to practical experience, and the original 150 mm naval guns on the side of the hangar were removed, and the aircraft deck was converted outward, which not only increased the area of the aircraft deck, but also increased the ease of the hangar almost exponentially.

Currently, the "York" is equipped with 106 aircraft, including two squadrons of fighters, a squadron of combat reconnaissance aircraft, two squadrons of dive bombers and a squadron of torpedo aircraft. By order of Lukins. The "York" first took off eight fighters carrying out aerial search, reconnaissance, and alert missions in the waters near the fleet, followed by fighters of one squadron each, Ju-87S carrier-based dive bombers, and Fi-167 twin-engine biplane carrier-based torpedo bombers.

At this time, the British fleet led by Commodore Brown, led by the "Rodney", had sailed to a position about 40 nautical miles from Bergen, and standing on the bridge of the flagship, the stout British admiral, who was about fifty years old, really felt a little apprehensive in his heart. In terms of strength, his fleet would not have an advantage against any German battlefleet, and more importantly, Brown was fully aware of the great threat that aircraft would pose to warships.

Since the situation in Bergen is not very clear. So he ordered the fleet to slow down and send the destroyers "Gurkha" and "Sikh" to Wagan Bay to inquire about the situation. He led the main force of the fleet to follow far behind. Brigadier Brown's cautious order almost saved his own life.

"Enemy aircraft spotted at 82 degrees on the starboard side!" At about half past ten o'clock, the lookout on the "Rodney" sounded the alarm, the planes were clearly flying from the direction of Bergen, it was easier to judge the enemy, and more and more planes appeared in the sky. A terrible air raid siren sounded on the ship, and the crew rushed to their respective combat positions. In the officer's loud command, control all the anti-aircraft weapons on board.

The first to arrive on the battlefield were 16 Stuka Ju-88 dive bombers of the 21st Army Regiment.

After dispersing in the distance, four German fighters roared and launched the first attack from high altitude, fearlessly diving down in the face of the enemy's dense anti-aircraft fire. When they were only 4 to 500 hundred meters above the warship, they dropped two 250-kilogram aerial bombs mounted under the belly.

The German Army Aviation was apparently not trained to attack a high-speed maneuvering battleship, and in a rumbling explosion, huge columns of water splashed around the British battleship. None of the first wave of German attacks hit the target, and all missed. However, the flying shrapnel still caused some casualties to the personnel on the warship.

A German plane was caught on fire, and a thick cloud of black smoke fell down on the sea in the distance.

There was no respite for the sailors on board, and German aircraft struck one after another. Because the first wave of attacks attracted anti-aircraft fire on the warships, the second wave of German attacks almost did not encounter any interception, this time the German fighters dropped bombs much more accurately, "Devonshire" and "Southampton" were hit one after another, and in the third wave of attacks, "Rodney" was also hit by a bomb, but it did not penetrate the armor, and the damage to the battleship was not large.

In the ensuing wave of attacks, the "Glasgow" was also directly hit by a bomb, and a fire broke out in the rear of the bridge.

On board the "Rodney", Commodore Brown made a quick decision and ordered the fleet to start turning and retreat at full speed.

This order saved the fleet from another attack.

The carrier-based aircraft formation that took off from the "York" took aim at the destroyer formations "Gurkhas" and "Sikhs" that Lang had sent to explore the way, and after a wanton and indiscriminate bombardment, the two British destroyers soon exploded and sank. This was the first time since the beginning of the war that a carrier-based aircraft unit had sunk a warship sailing on the sea.

Communication between the German Army and Navy was not smooth, and the second wave of attack aircraft from Bergen flew to the point where the carrier-based aircraft unit had already completed the attack. Since no target was found, the planes carrying out the second wave of attacks indiscriminately dropped bombs into the sea and began to return.

After more than three hours of running at full strength, Brigadier General Brown was finally able to be sure that he had escaped the pursuit of the German planes.

Given that the Germans had already seized air supremacy in southern Norway, Admiral Forbes ordered the cancellation of the actions of all warships in the waters of southern Norway. (To be continued......) R527