The engine roared in the air, like countless summer cicadas screaming in the dense forest, and as far as the eye could see, the air from 600 meters to 6,000 meters high was densely packed with nearly 600 warplanes. The forces of the U.S. Navy painted white with five stars collided with a group of German planes marked with the Iron Cross, and the largest air battle to date began. Orange-purple-orange points of light twinkled like stars, and everywhere there was a battle scene of machine guns and heavy machine guns firing fiercely at the enemy; On average, in less than half a minute, a fighter plane would crash straight down from the sky with a roar, and the smoke dragged it and stirred up a towering column of water on the sea.

"All planes must maintain formation and must not break away from the formation alone!" Amid the deafening sound of flying blades and gunfire, Lieutenant Colonel Millau, who commanded the attack group, shouted into the radio with all his might. Next to his plane, more than 200 Ju-87 and Do-22 attack planes were forming a dense and neat queue, fearlessly meeting the group of American fighters that came to intercept it. Everyone, whether the driver or the machine gunner, was preoccupied with their surroundings, and as soon as the American fighters came into their effective range, the German pilots would immediately maneuver their weapons and fire fiercely.

Five months ago, although the German air force had won a stunning victory against the British, it still revealed some problems that needed to be solved urgently: the two attack planes that played the main attack role had the defects of weak self-defense firepower and insufficient armor protection, and were easily shot down by enemy fighters. Under Qingying's push, the German aviation department quickly made improvements to the two models: the cockpit and engines were replaced with thicker steel armor, and the firepower for self-defense was increased to three 13mm machine guns. Thanks to the optimised aerodynamic layout and the replacement of the engine with a higher power. These two improved attack aircraft are still capable of maintaining the top speed of their predecessors. Today. Half of the attack aircraft carried by German aircraft carriers have been replaced by these modified models. They were flying on the periphery of the formation at the moment, desperately resisting the attack of the American fighters with their strengthened firepower and armor.

Due to the excellent cover of the German escort fighters on their own clothes, a large number of US fighters were forced to threaten their own safety and were unable to launch any more attacks on the German attack planes. In the end, the U.S. fighter planes that were able to keep besieging this group of high-risk explosives-laden aircraft were less than a quarter of their entire lineup. As a result, the pressure on German attack aircraft was significantly reduced. Despite the unprecedented ferocity of interceptions by American fighters and the continuous fall of German attack planes, the formation of these Iron Cross Warhawks never loosened in the slightest, and they just flew in a straight line without retreating in the direction of the opposing fleet. If these American fighters are hunting ligres. Then the German attack aircraft are the rhinos that march forward in formation; Although the latter is far from being an enemy opponent in combat, its strong strength, sharp horns, and tough skin are still quite tricky for hunters when closely covered!

After more than 20 minutes of fierce fighting, the group of German attack planes flying in formation finally reached the sky above the target fleet. As a result of the fiercest fighting methods, the German attack aircraft suffered considerable losses in a head-on confrontation with American fighters, with 29 Ju-87s and Do-22s shot down by the opposing side. However, the American fighter jets that forcibly intercepted were also met with German collective fire, and 21 F6Fs became the mark of the German machine gunners' downfall. Although this is not a significant number compared to its entire lineup, the vast majority of American fighters are forced to fight the faster German Ta-152, and the US air interception force that can directly pose a threat to German attack aircraft has been greatly weakened. Clouds of black smoke began to explode around the German planes. This is a masterpiece of the 127-mm L38 high-level dual-purpose gun on a US warship. The German pilots who disbanded the queue vented all their anger from the previous battle on the American ships below that were evading at high speed; Except for a small number of crews who are still struggling with the opposing fighters. Most of the German attack planes chose their target and immediately launched a thunderous and lightning attack.

"Whew!" More than a dozen huge fireballs exploded in the air, like flowers blooming, and clouds fluttering. The 1.1-ton HS-293 missile emitted a dazzling tail flame, dragging a long red light across the blue sky like a comet. With an effective range of more than 8 km, the Ju-87s, equipped with these sophisticated weapons, became the forerunners of the German aircraft group's attack. The American sailors watched in amazement as these flying meteors burst towards them with a thunderous momentum, and they even achieved an unbelievable direction correction in the process of flying at high speed! Before they could think about it, they had already flown in front of their own aircraft carrier, and in a flash of light, the earth-shattering explosion suddenly resounded throughout the sea and air!

"Boom!" The sky was like thousands of scorching thunderbolts exploding at the same time. The air waves were surging, the light was soaring into the sky, and the terrifying power of the 800kg high explosives seemed to tear apart every obstacle in front of them. Although due to the technical limitations of the HS-293 itself and the errors caused by the pilot's remote control, it is impossible for this guided bomb to achieve a miss-free hit; But with its ultra-long range and nearly sixty percent hit rate without interference, it is enough to make every investment in it worth it. Of the first 12 bombs dropped by the German 138th Bomber Squadron on the US aircraft carriers, seven of them successfully hit the target, and the "Good Guy Richard," "Brave," and "Chishaji," which belonged to the Essex class, were shot one after another. As far as the explosion could reach, the steel-armored hull was torn apart and washed away like a plain tissue paper; The blazing flames rose hundreds of meters high, scorching like torches on the blue sea.

As a brand-new aircraft carrier that the United States started construction after the end of the treaty, the combat power of the Essex-class has undoubtedly improved by leaps and bounds compared with its predecessors; Beneath the glossy exterior of its large deck hangar, however, lies a rather heavy flaw, which is that its flight deck and open hangar are barely defensive. Once the bomb hits the hangar, its mission as a maritime aviation platform will also be lost in this battle: a high-explosive bomb with a huge charge can easily blow up a huge hole with a diameter of more than ten meters or even twenty meters on the unprotected flight deck, and the deck around it will also become full of holes under the attack of shrapnel. The originally coherent flight deck will also lose its original role because of this destruction, not only the planes in the hangar can hardly be released, but the fighters that have already risen into the air will also be unable to take off and land, and the pilots can only land on other aircraft carriers or parachute to protect themselves.

In fact, the unprotected flight deck is not too much of a design flaw. After all, except for Qing Ying, who is a traverser, no one can realize the huge advantage of armored aircraft carriers in the field of anti-strike, and ordinary aircraft carriers can also achieve a lead in the field of stability and speed compared with armored aircraft carriers of the same tonnage. As long as the air defense is tight, then the design of an ordinary aircraft carrier will be fully acceptable. However, the American aircraft carriers chose the German Navy, a formidable enemy, as their opponent, which doomed their concept to irreparable tragedy. Due to the presence of guided bombs, which allowed German bombers to attack completely outside the effective range of the small-caliber anti-aircraft guns of American ships, the anti-aircraft fire of the Americans was almost useless. And when these powerful bombs hit the US aircraft carrier, they only need to hit the center of the position to scrap all the naval and air combat power of this aircraft carrier!

Smoke billowed and fire was in full swing. The Brave could not escape the fate of being destroyed by three bullets, and a bomb hit the center of its deck, causing a roar of flames; Although the condition of the deck was obscured by the billowing smoke, it was impossible to see for a moment, but its tragic situation can already be seen in the fire that enveloped the entire middle of the hull. The side of the Chishach's hangar was hit, and the violent explosion also blew a huge hole in the upper deck. Only the good guy Richard was lucky, and the two bombs that hit did not fall near the central hangar, but the fire ignited by the explosion still made the American soldiers anxious!

When the long-range guided bombs were attacked, German bombers and torpedo planes loaded with conventional bombs appeared. They flew high and low, swooping through the country, most of them heading for American aircraft carriers. U.S. anti-aircraft gunners fired heavily at these targets in the hope of knocking these high-risk enemy planes to the surface; However, they also encountered problems in fire control, consuming a large number of shells while gaining little, and it was always difficult to effectively block the enemy. If it takes an average of 2,000 rounds of 40 mm shells or 6,000 rounds of 20 mm shells to shoot down an enemy plane, then it takes 5 minutes for a quadruple Bofors to fire non-stop to beat an airplane, and even more 10 minutes for a twin 20 mm gun!

Although a battleship will be equipped with a large number of anti-aircraft guns, since the premise of continuous firing at the theoretical rate of fire is also not satisfied in actual combat, its actual anti-aircraft effectiveness will undoubtedly be greatly reduced compared to pure mathematical expectations. At the same time that some unlucky people were shot down, more than 130 German attack planes also began to carry out joint assaults on American aircraft carriers; The scream of the Ju-87 when it dived and the splash of water when the Do-22 dropped the torpedo made the American officers and men on the aircraft carrier feel terrified and like they were in a nightmare! (To be continued......)

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