Since World War I, with the rapid development of aviation technology, the propeller aircraft technology using piston engines has actually developed to a very high level before the war, with the promotion of war factors, the flight speed of the latest fighters in various countries has exceeded 600 kilometers per hour, and with the increase in the weight of the aircraft, its combat radius and aviation weapons and equipment have also been developed rapidly.

The competition for mankind at sea has also entered the aviation age, but due to the obstruction of traditional forces, in fact, various countries have encountered various difficulties in the development of aircraft carriers.

However, the Austro-Hungarian Navy was an exception, and thanks to the full support of the Emperor, the Austro-Lunar Navy began the construction and design tests of aircraft carriers very early, and was the first naval power in the world to establish aircraft carriers as the main force of the fleet. Relatively speaking, the Austro-Hungarian Navy was in the leading position at this time in terms of aircraft carrier construction technology and design ideas.

Aircraft carriers should have a larger flight deck, larger hangar capacity and stronger underwater protection, and the combat capability of the aircraft carrier is directly proportional to the number of aircraft it is equipped with, and the Austro-Hungarian Navy built the world's first class of "Romanian" heavy aviation with a displacement of more than 40,000 tons.

At this time, a huge aircraft carrier battle group consisting mainly of the "Macedonia", "Bosnia", "Istria Grand Duke", "Queen Irene" and three medium-sized aircraft carriers of the Chinese Navy is along the edge of the Western Europa Sea basin. The mobile phone reads the mesh belt and gallops all the way north at a speed of 20 knots.

Somewhat similar to the situation before the Battle of Jutland in the last World War, the British convoy and the German raiding fleet under Admiral Luggins were playing the role of Betty and Hipper, while John? Admirals Tovey and Yankel played the roles of Jellico and Scher. Unlike the last decisive battle at sea, John? Tovey's whereabouts are exposed, while Yankel is hidden.

And Hans, whom the British have been watching? Admiral Frankel and Wilhelm? The main forces of the German, Austrian, and Italian fleets under the command of Admiral Marshall have not yet been able to sail out of the Bay of Biscay, and it is very likely that they will not be able to catch up with this well-planned naval Armageddon as scheduled. Thereby cutting off the retreat of the British fleet.

"I have just received a telegram from the German 2nd Tactical Formation, which is still pestering the British convoy, and the two sides have now entered the 26th sea zone."

Vilmots? After taking a nap, Yankel calmly got up and entered the chart room under the bridge of the "Grand Duke Friedrich".

"Well, where is the British Home Fleet now?"

"In the 31st sea zone. They are about 700 nautical miles from the battlefield, General! ”

"It seems that the British are in a hurry, and Tovey is not slow, with an average speed of more than 20 knots!" Yankel said, "Can the Queen Elizabeth class stand it like this?" ”

"They should have changed the power system, otherwise the Queen class would not have been able to maintain such a high speed for a long time."

"Well, then, they might be able to rendezvous with the convoy tomorrow morning. It was more than 3 hours earlier than we expected! "We may need to fight within the protection of British aircraft," Yankel said.

"Yes, General!" The navigator used a triangular ruler to chart the chart, and there was probably only two or three hours to attack, and our aircraft carriers needed to stay outside the combat radius of British aircraft. ”

Yankel stared at the chart for a moment, "We need to increase the speed to 25, so that we can buy two to three more hours of attack time, and we can launch two more waves of attacks!" The other course turns to the Northern Channel of Ireland."

Soon. With the issuance of the new order, the entire task force again increased its speed to 25 knots. Maintaining such a speed is not a problem at all for an improved version of the "Island" class with a design speed of 35 knots, but for large surface ships, the reliability and durability of the power system will be greatly tested. This requires high metallurgical technology, excellent design and sophisticated manufacturing processes, which is where the country's industrial technology level is truly displayed.

Four large supply ships of 22,000 tons, but driven by diesel engines and with a speed of only 23 knots, could no longer keep up with the speed of the fleet and could only be protected by 4 destroyers. Slowly rush to the battlefield in the back. According to the current direction and speed of the two sides, the Austro-Hungarian task force could intercept the main force of the British fleet and launch an air strike before it sailed into the North Channel of Ireland. The only less certain factor is whether the British Home Fleet will suddenly abandon the convoy and suddenly return to sail.

It's getting dark, and it's one of the shortest days in the Northern Hemisphere. Gunther? Admiral Lukins commanded an assault fleet of two battleships and two heavy cruisers to meet the British convoy at intervals, sometimes engaging in exchanges of fire. Sometimes disengaged, but has been stubbornly entangled with opponents. Both German battleships also suffered several shells, but none of them were penetrated, and the British and American ships did not have a good time, and the 410-mm shells threatened and caused much more damage to them than they did to the German ships.

Fortunately, these old battleships, which were slow but thick-skinned, were still able to withstand the attack of the new battleships.

So far, the development of the war has been expected by the Admiralty in Berlin, and a long-planned and well-planned naval and air battle is about to be staged as scheduled.

"The intuition of the battlefield tells me that there seems to be a lot of anomalies hidden in it." In the rather elegantly decorated operations conference room of the British fleet flagship "Queen Elizabeth", the commander of the Home Fleet, John ? Admiral Tovey sat down at the chart table and said as if to himself, "According to General Hawkins' report, the Germans should have aircraft carriers there, and the photographs taken by our reconnaissance planes in the Norwegian waters also confirm that there were three aircraft carriers in that German fleet, but they never attacked the convoy, why is that?" ”

"Maybe the weather prevented them from taking off, General!" Commodore Ruyt, Chief of Staff of the Fleet, said.

"It's unlikely, according to General Hawkins' report, that area of the sea, although the weather is not very good, is barely able to take off carrier-based aircraft. I think the biggest possibility is that the Germans have set a trap waiting for us to get through. "56-year-old Admiral and Commander of the British Home Fleet, John Brown. Admiral Tovey had a clear understanding of the disparity in strength between the Royal Navy and Germany and Austria, and on several occasions rejected Churchill's request to let the Home Fleet take the initiative, and has been cautiously placing the Home Fleet within the protection radius of the Air Force, preserving the strength of the Home Fleet to the greatest extent.

"But the German fleet we are facing is not strong enough to confront us, and their main fleet in the Bay of Biscay will not be able to reach the battlefield and intercept our retreat before we return to England." "According to reliable intelligence, three more Deutschland-class battleships, which are currently undergoing routine overhauls and refitals at German shipyards, are unlikely to be at sea," Ruyter said. ”

"That's the crux of the matter, where is the Austrian fleet cruising in the middle of the Atlantic?" Admiral Tovey asked, after a moment's thought.

"Two days ago, it was 1,700 nautical miles from the target sea area, and it was impossible for them to come here." Ruyt said that there was a slight mistake on the part of the British Admiralty, that the Admiralty did not receive the telegram from the British submarine at the first time, and only received the report of the submarine repeating the telegram three hours later, but the receiver only recorded the time when the telegram was received, which was five hours different from the actual discovery of the Austro-Hungarian fleet.

But it still alarmed Tovey. (To be continued......) R1292