The night sky was deep, black clouds were surging, and the fierce sea breeze set off surging waves several meters high, and they crashed into the white foam on the side of the steel battleship. If you can look down on the entire North Atlantic theater from God's point of view at this time, you will find that several German and American fleets are maneuvering rapidly at night. In this ideal period when there are no aircraft sorties, the commanders of both sides have plenty of time to make corresponding post-event adjustments to the battles that break out during the day, and how to retreat and how to attack have become important means of influencing the game between the two sides on the war chessboard.

For the German fleet, they were also faced with a very important mission in the night: not only did they have to reconnoiter the position of the American fleet, but they also had to do their best to prevent the enemy from stepping into the transport routes that would enter the rear, so as not to inflict a devastating blow on the fleet laden with supplies. In fact, all the naval battles that broke out between Germany and Britain and the United States in this war were all caused by the core factor of preventing the other side from using the sea; Although the convoy is a bait to lure the snake out of the hole, it is also a key existence that must not be missed!

Fortunately, the convoys shifted significantly southward shortly after their departure and are now more than 400 nautical miles away from the war zone; Even if the American fleet pursues them at full speed at night, it will be difficult to bring them into the range of strikes overnight. After all, these merchant ships were maneuvering at a speed of about 10 knots, and ten hours of darkness was enough for them to run a long distance; And the Americans have no way of knowing their specific course, and the chase is half the effort. More importantly, one of the American fleets had already suffered considerable damage in daytime battles, and sailing at full speed had become a luxury for them.

For the sake of this situation. The retreat of the American fleet at night seemed to be the ideal option for them: in the previous two naval battles. They all retreated after feeling invincible. Thus avoiding greater losses. This time, however, the commanders of the German fleet were quite sure that the other side would not stop there. Because the forces of the German Army and Air Force have penetrated deep into Mexico, the southern territory of the United States is already in danger, and the battles on the island of Haiti and Cuba have proved that the difference between schoolchildren and adult athletes in front of their German counterparts is fundamentally different! Considering the tragedy of the U.S. Navy's new types of ships in service in the coming year, the last chance to have the smallest gap between them and the Allied Navy, when all the damaged ships were repaired six months ago. After all, once the Germans attacked north from Mexico, even the most optimistic people in the White House did not think that the US Army would last more than half a year: the British and French armies, which had been preparing for war for two decades. It was still destroyed within a month, how could the U.S. Army, which had been fighting for more than half a century, defend the security of the homeland?

After a long maneuver and waiting, the dawn of May 7, 1938, finally lit up the shadows of the warships of both sides again. Thanks to the efforts of the observers, the aircraft carrier fleets of both sides avoided the area covered by clouds and rain, and immediately dispatched carrier-based aircraft to conduct reconnaissance. When the radar screen showed that several unidentified targets had appeared 120 kilometers away, Admiral Karls, who was sitting on the aircraft carrier Hindenburg, was pleasantly surprised: the US fleet did not flee at night, but chose to stay in this sea area, which undoubtedly gave itself a great opportunity to destroy the other side here. After nearly a day, the other two friendly fleets were even more dispersed. How can they be called by their own telegrams, and the other party will be included in the scope of attack today!

A short time later, news of the discovery of the enemy fleet came from the radio room. What excites Kars is that there are four large aircraft carriers in the opposing fleet, which is the same fleet that he wanted to attack yesterday afternoon, but chose to stop because of the distance and course. Now, the distance between the opponent and itself is less than 350 kilometers, and a group of attack aircraft taking off from their own aircraft carrier can launch a fierce attack on it in an hour and a half! Kars, who felt that the opportunity was not to be missed, immediately ordered the attack wave to take off, and for a time the deck of the aircraft carrier in the fleet was full of busy ground crews loading bombs and torpedoes for the fighters. Considering the possibility of a large-scale attack on itself by the opponent with basically complete aviation combat strength, Kars did not let the aircraft carrier prepare too many attack aircraft; A large wave of fighters was raised to the deck in order of priority over attack aircraft, ready to take to the air to meet the enemy.

As time passed, Kars gradually felt that something was wrong, the opponent's attack wave never appeared on his radar screen, and only a small group of fighters occasionally challenged his own air umbrella, and was quickly repelled by the fighters deployed on the periphery. Obviously, these fighters are here to spy on the location of their fleet. After all, the US military reconnaissance planes are still one step ahead of themselves in today's game, and 70 minutes is enough time for the opponent's aircraft group to take off from the aircraft carrier, form a formation, and fly to a distance that can be detected by its own radar. At this time, a large number of fighters were waiting for the flagship's sortie order on each aircraft carrier, but the radar display screen was blank, and they obviously could not let it waste fuel in vain when the enemy situation was unknown!

"Could it be that the US reconnaissance planes flying over the fleet took off from another fleet, and the US fleet discovered by our troops was not ready to attack when it received the signal?" After waiting for another 10 minutes, Kars, who still hadn't noticed anything unusual, couldn't help but speculate secretly. If you think about it, it is entirely possible that this situation will arise, because the two fleets are completely different command systems, and their own circumstances will also be very different. If the commander adopts a more conservative strategy, the aircraft carrier fleet will mainly prepare for the preparation of fighter planes after the target is discovered: because no one can be sure that they will definitely take the lead on the battlefield, if the other side discovers itself first, and if they are not of good character and cannot find the other side, then it is very important to release a large number of fighters used to intercept enemy aircraft.

In the German Navy's use of aircraft carriers, this conservative strategy was largely unpopular with commanders. This is mainly due to the following three reasons: because the flight deck of its own aircraft carriers is long enough, the hangar capacity is large enough, and the number of aircraft carriers is also more than that of the opponent, so the German Navy's aircraft carrier formation can release much more fighters than the opponent. In this way, not only can they basically ensure that they can take the lead in reconnaissance in the early stage, but even if they are lucky enough to seize the reconnaissance opportunity by the opponent, they can also release fighters that are enough to compete with the opponent's attack group in a timely manner. In addition, the strong and solid armor of the German aircraft carrier also made every commander feel extremely reassured: not to mention smashing the core cabin, even breaking the 100 or 125 mm thick flight deck armor and destroying the aircraft carrier's fighter take-off and landing capabilities required a lot of effort to do so. Coupled with the powerful air defense capability given to the fleet by a large number of anti-aircraft guns, the German aircraft carrier has the capital to withstand the baptism of the whistling locusts in the sky of the other side. It's not painful to carry a round of attacks by yourself, and the other party obviously won't have such a calm posture!

For this reason, German aircraft carriers have chosen more aggressive tactics in battle. With a huge advantage in offense, defense and numbers, this risk is completely acceptable. And the situation with the US aircraft carrier fleet is very different. Although the Essex class has excellent mine protection, it is not at all comparable to the German armored aircraft carriers in terms of bomb protection, and in terms of the number of carrier-based aircraft and the aircraft carrier itself, it is also far behind its opponents. Under these circumstances, it is quite possible that the U.S. fleet has chosen a strategy of putting the attack aircraft, which is more time-consuming to prepare, to the back burner. If the target is a convoy, fighter jets with small bombs are also capable of attacking missions, which is not contrary to the current strategy of the US Navy to break diplomatic relations.

"Order, each aircraft carrier prepares for the second round of attack waves, we need to inflict heavy damage on this fully armed American fleet before friendly forces arrive, so that they can all stay in this ocean under the subsequent attack!" Kars pondered for a moment, then spoke loudly. Although this order is suspected of being a wave of death, after all, this fleet has just experienced four naval and air battles in two areas yesterday, and the number of carrier-based aircraft is no longer enough to hold up a tight air umbrella in the event of two waves of attacks, but Kars made this decision after careful consideration. Since the position of the fleet has been exposed, the Americans, who are in danger of being attacked, will not necessarily spend much time preparing their attack aircraft, and the risks they face will not be so severe. As for the other US aircraft carrier fleet, they have already been abolished by themselves in yesterday's battle, and even if they can send a small amount of force, it is completely within their ability to cope with the remaining fighters and surface anti-aircraft fire.

Ten minutes later, the second wave of attack aircraft began to take off from the German aircraft carriers one after another. Kars's prediction seems to have come true, and there is still no U.S. military aircraft on the radar screen. It seems that the other side, under its own threat, has temporarily given up the intention of attacking, and is making every effort to prepare fighter jets to prevent this wave of attacks. Just as he set his eyes on the turning hands of his pocket watch and began to look forward to the outcome of the battle in the distance, the phone connecting to the radar room suddenly rang. Kars had a premonition of uneasiness in his heart, grabbed the earpiece to his ear, and before he could speak, an unspeakably frightened voice sounded in his ears: "Report, a large number of enemy planes have been found in the 307 direction 160 kilometers away from the fleet, and the number is more than 180, and they are flying quickly towards us!" (To be continued......)

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