"The Americans sank 2 fleet aircraft carriers and 1 light aircraft carrier on their side?" When Cunningham received a briefing from the U.S. military, he asked incredulously. In his opinion, it was clear that the British fleet had withstood the most fierce attack by the Germans, and the scale of the German planes that bombed the American fleet was not large, so why did the American army lose more than the British army? He didn't understand.

Later, after analyzing the battlefield, Cunningham finally figured out that there were indeed more Allied planes involved in attacking the British fleet, and these planes also achieved more hits, but unfortunately, because the targets selected were not very good, and the power of the bombs was limited, the results achieved by the Germans were not ideal. The Fury-class aircraft carrier, built with the help of Huaxia, is worthy of being the pinnacle of the first generation of aircraft carriers, and although the huge hull converted from a battlecruiser wastes tonnage, the body is really strong! The USS Fury aircraft carrier withstood the attack of at least 5 500KG bombs with its thick deck, and then thanks to better underwater protection, the Fury with two torpedoes can still maneuver at a speed of more than 25 knots, and even retains a certain aircraft take-off and landing capability, if it is replaced by other 30,000-ton aircraft carriers, such damage is at least a heavy blow if it does not die, and it is a question whether it can go back! The performance of the Fury can be said to have earned enough face for the British Royal Navy! It is worthy of being the product of the British blood!

Although the scale of the twin-engine bombers attacking the US fleet is small, although the number of hits is not too large even if they rely on guided weapons, these attacks are deadly! TWO 500KG BOMBS AND ONE 1000KG BOMB ARE OBVIOUSLY MORE LETHAL THAN THE LATTER, AND THEY ARE BLESSED WITH GUIDANCE TECHNOLOGY. The 1-ton bombs dropped by twin-engine planes have greater kinetic energy and more terrifying penetration. It can be said that to the extent that the opponent's defense is nothing! (Of course, the USS Essex itself is softer and a big reason.) As a result, the already relatively soft American aircraft carrier formation collided with the Allied twin-engine attack aircraft formation, which was strong enough to attack to a certain extent. Then the final result, naturally, is that the Americans lost even more than the British!

"It stands to reason that the Allies will not release a second wave of attacks, at least in the next 5 hours, I am afraid that they will not be able to, their first wave of attacks has concentrated at least a thousand or so aircraft, which is beyond the ability of normal attacks, and the Germans are also overdrawing their engine capacity, and now the American aircraft group should have launched an attack, although I don't know what kind of results they can achieve, but at least they can make the Germans scramble!" Cunningham analyzes the offense, defense, and strength of the two sides.

After this battle. The combined fleet of the Entente countries lost 5 aircraft carriers, including 3 fleet carriers and 2 light aircraft carriers, and the losses of battleships, although heavy, were not unacceptable. The loss of aircraft is not very large at the moment, almost 600 aircraft of all kinds have been lost, and in addition to more than 400 destroyed in air battles, more than 100 have been lost along with the sinking of aircraft carriers. In this way, the Entente's carrier-based aircraft force of about 2,300 aircraft lost a little more than a quarter. But this is only a defensive loss, and it is really hard to say how many of the 500 aircraft of the offensive will come back! You know, the Germans attacked with all their might, throwing away 600 planes with the advantage of penetration speed!

Just after the Allied air forces raged above the Entente fleet. The Entente forward fleet had also finally spotted the large Allied fleet from visual distance. The 4 detachments were laid out in a huge diamond shape on the vast sea, the largest of which was the fleet under the personal command of Count Spee. "Go according to the plan, now only God can bless you!" Principal Johnson, who was in charge of directing the attack, sighed, and then gave the order to attack. To be honest, he wasn't optimistic about Halsey's plans, but at the same time he had to admit it. Halsey's plan is the only one that has the potential to achieve results, and nothing else!

Americans are also good at learning. There are quite a few jammers in this wave of aircraft, but considering the tragic load of single-engine aircraft. The electronic warfare aircraft in the fleet are simply not enough to cover the penetration of the entire fleet, after all, the Germans already have filtering and lobe technology in their radars. And the power itself is strong enough. Small-scale interference has a limited effect. So Halsey's plan was this: before encountering the enemy's air defense forces, the bomber formation and a small number of fighters and the main group of aircraft broke away, and then flew around in squadrons under the cover of electronic warfare aircraft, breaking into the opponent's defense system from a low altitude. The number of destroyers of the Germans is small, and the so-called perimeter guard posts are mainly aimed at the direction of the frontal attack, if these guard posts can be avoided, then relying on the attack of multiple batches of small formations, there is still a chance to successfully penetrate the defense, of course, how many planes can successfully penetrate the defense, how much damage can be done, this is uncertain!

The Germans reacted quickly, the slowness of the American fleet gave the German fleet too much time to prepare, and by the time the Germans spotted their opponents on the radar, there were already 350 FW190 fighters hovering over the fleet, and over time this number quickly increased to 500! And the Entente fleet responsible for breaking through from the front is only about 280 aircraft! "The number of Entente aircraft is a little small!" As soon as the two sides met, the German pilots realized that something was wrong, and they judged from common sense that if the Entente only used these planes, it would be a fool's dream to break through the defenses of the Allied fleet! However, the group of aircraft in charge of interception still rushed forward, and before the battle, they did not forget to send a telegram to the fleet explaining the situation!

"There's definitely something wrong with that! They certainly hide part of their power. Vice Admiral Hall, who was in charge of the transfer of naval aviation, reported to Count Spee at the first opportunity. The Germans and the British had different problems, they faced an enemy who was not too strong, but too weak! So much so that Lieutenant General Hall didn't believe his eyes a little! "We need to send some planes to patrol around the fleet, and we can't deal with 300 or so American planes." Lieutenant General Hall suggested. And for his advice. Count Spee expressed his support. And when the Germans began to mobilize some aircraft to return to the defense, the radar on one of the destroyers burned through the electronic interference of the Americans, and the enemy aircraft were found less than 70 kilometers away from the Count Spee detachment! They penetrate from a height of 300 meters. With the cooperation of electronic interference, the remote warning was successfully avoided!

"These cunning fellows!" While the Germans concentrated a great deal of energy on the Allied aircraft group, which entered from an altitude of 5,000 meters, the aircraft group that broke through from a low altitude was an unexpected success. They penetrated the outer defenses of the opposing side with the Germans being poorly prepared. This excites quite a few American pilots. Unfortunately, the low cruising speed has greatly reduced this advantage. It will take at least 20 minutes for their fleet to fly over the opposing fleet to attack. (After all, dive bombers need to climb to drop bombs, and they don't fly straight to their targets.) And this gave the Germans a chance to remedy!

"If we have a cruising speed of 450, not even 400 kilometers per hour, then the winner of this battle will be us!" A torpedo pilot who participated in the original battle once recalled. And this pilot was the only survivor of the torpedo squadron in which he was a member! In this battle, many squadrons were completely wiped out, which shows the tragic situation of the battle, if you talk about the number of losses, the Americans' attack aircraft group has more battle losses than the Allies!

The Germans still had spare strength when they found that there were not many incoming targets, and at this time. Dozens of FW190 fighters rushed to the target before they even had time to form a formation after emergency takeoff, and they fought each other at a low altitude of several hundred meters, because the altitude was too low, and the pilots must always pay attention to their altitude and maneuver range, otherwise they were likely to fall into the sea because of excessive maneuvering. The same is true of the Americans, whose heavy load leads to a deterioration in maneuverability, and is accompanied by the need for some dive bombers to climb properly, which makes them lose their speed even faster. Thus, these planes became the first results of the Germans. The new FW190T6 fighter jets increased their anti-aircraft firepower, and the armor-piercing and high-explosive incendiary shells fired by the four MG151-20 cannons were lethal to any single-shot aircraft, only the first head-on attack. More than 20 FW190 fighters responsible for intercepting destroyed a dozen American attack aircraft!

The accompanying Hellcat fighter bravely met it, and in the low-altitude horizontal combat, the Hellcat finally found a little advantage. In order to intercept as many opponents as possible, the FW190 fighter cannot use the energy tactics that he is good at. And was forced to circle with the other party, and the result of the circle was either broken into pieces by the fat cats around the back or accidentally stalled and fell into the sea! However, this advantage is only temporary. As more and more German aircraft were in position, the scarce Hellcat fighters were caught in a group of fights, unable to protect the attack group, or even themselves. When the Hellcat fighters were smashed to pieces by shells fired from all directions, the sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of the attack aircraft group was finally about to fall!

However, at this time, the American fleet finally crossed the last mile, and the pilots could already clearly see the huge figure in the distance, and even countless artillery pieces were aiming at them! THE ATTACK AIRCRAFT LOCATED IN THE FRONT ROW HAVE ALREADY ENTERED THE THEORETICAL RANGE OF THE 128MM ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUN! Even some of the destroyers on the periphery have already begun shooting. Along with the assault, the Allied firepower became more and more intensive.

"We were like an erupting volcano, and the blazing shells rained down like raindrops, and the flash of the guns and the muzzle smoke even covered the entire battleship. In this feast of blood and fire, many comrades-in-arms fell in the firelight, the smoke and shrunnel from the shells shrouded the entire attack formation, and the skin of the plane made a tooth-sore twisting sound from time to time, almost everyone was under tremendous pressure, for fear that their plane would be hit in the next second! But fortunately, as we entered the range of the anti-aircraft fire of the opposing fleet, the German fighters began to retreat. This made us feel a little less stressed. An American torpedo squadron leader later recalled.

The attack aircraft groups of the Americans began to disperse, and they, like the Germans, rushed in search of aircraft carriers in the fleet, and these big guys were protected by battleships. "Remember, attacking those battleships that don't look very strong, we won't break into a lot of attack planes, don't waste ammunition on those big guys! It's hard for us to sink it! "Before the start of the war, Halsey even specially called the commanders of the various attack aircraft groups, and emphasized this when giving the combat order!

The armored aircraft carrier's unusual anti-bomb ability and the large hull are indeed a difficult master for the American fleet with only 1000 pounds of bombs and torpedoes, and the 500KG bomb is difficult to destroy the core compartment, and although the torpedo is effective, but unfortunately the torpedo machine itself is synonymous with slow speed and clumsiness, and they are easier to be destroyed, especially when the other party is equipped with FW190 carrier-based aircraft, even Halsey has to admit that in the absence of a powerful carrier-based aircraft, The way in which the Allied fleet was attacked with torpedo machines was too "cruel"! This is almost sending the American pilot to the muzzle of the other side! And it is! Nearly 9 percent of the pilots in the entire torpedo attack aircraft formation never returned!

Attack detachments and even squadrons were destroyed by flying anti-aircraft shells before they could drop bombs or torpedoes, and the crossfire from several warships was woven into an impenetrable web of fire over the entire Allied fleet! Coupled with the threat of aerial fighters, the Americans found that they seemed to have entered a dead end, although the dispersed attack increased the difficulty of the opponent's interception, but at the same time, their penetration strength decreased, and the spread fingers were never a fist to use! Because the Germans were able to remedy it in time, the Americans threw themselves into the net like a swarm of moths throwing fire, and they wanted to penetrate these defenses, but the hedgehog gathered more than 6 aircraft carriers, and there were more than 50 escort warships around it, so that these fragmented aircraft could not break through at all, until, a TBF attack plane with a torpedo hit an aviation cruiser!

These aviation cruisers were also deployed in relatively outward positions at this time, and there were too many targets in Count Spee's fleet to protect, so these "second-class citizens" needed to take on the responsibility of guarding. This TBF attack aircraft did not crash into it on its own, but because it lost control after half of its wing was destroyed. And this it hit very well, right at the waterline, and avoided the main armor belt! Accompanied by a violent explosion, a huge fireball rose from the side of the battleship, and the high-temperature and high-pressure steam and flames generated by the explosion tore apart the battleship's underwater protection system, and even more unlucky, this blow directly detonated the aviation gasoline depot located below the waterline! The Germans lost their first capital ship, and more importantly, with the sinking of this battleship, a gap appeared in the originally dense air defense network, a small group of attack aircraft finally broke through the inner circle, and a medium aircraft carrier appeared in front of the attackers!

Thanks to the book friend zhouoyu1976 and the 1st Tank Guards Brigade for their tips~~~. (To be continued......)