Chapter 582: Air Raid on the Sea (Part II)
"The radar is on, and 1102 is ready to start jamming." The pilot of the Black Feather Reconnaissance Aircraft No. 1101 gave an order to his teammates when he turned on his synthetic aperture radar. Taking off two expensive Black Feather reconnaissance planes at a time is by no means a matter of the Air Force's ability to show off its money, but it has its own considerations. Reconnaissance planes flying at high altitudes are easily detected by the warring sides, and in order not to cause diplomatic trouble, it is necessary to shield the other side's radar systems, and the second reconnaissance plane is here to interfere.
"The other party's radar band is being searched and is being prepared for high-frequency shielding." The driver of 1102 immediately turned on the machine and searched for the frequency of the other party's radar.
At this moment, the port of Sturdam is in pre-dawn darkness, and all the vigilance, including the radar officer, are in a state of drowsiness. Because of the smooth attack of the Yaman Empire, the naval hierarchy believed that the port of Steddam had become a large rear, and there were no Axis aircraft to threaten here, so there was no light control here at all, and the whole port was like a huge torch, providing a significant target for the Axis aircraft group in the distance.
Unable to make out the radars at ultra-low altitude due to their unrecognizable presence in the night, they were detected by the Yaman Empire's radar system sixty kilometers away from the port area.
"There are enemy planes." The radar soldier had just taken a nap, and when he opened his eyes, he immediately saw a large echo on the radar screen. The radar soldier was frightened and immediately called the defense command in the port by phone.
The officer on duty was dozing off on the table, and he was quite impatient when he was woken up: "How is it possible, this is the big rear, immediately verify the situation and see if our own air force is exercising, don't make a fuss every time." With that, he hung up the phone in a huff.
"This group of idiots always can't tell the difference between the enemy and their own people." The officer muttered and fell back on the table and continued to doze off.
After repeated confirmation, the radar soldier called the officer again, but the phone was hung up again. In desperation, the radar crew had no choice but to call the commander of the Navy, Field Marshal Raeder.
"What? Enemy aircraft spotted eight minutes ago? Raeder, who was still a little dazed, woke up in fright, and he immediately hung up the phone to the headquarters: "I'm Raeder." He shouted and woke up the sleepy-eyed officer.
"Bastard, whoever told you not to report, you're going to be court-martial for you. Now immediately sound the air raid siren, give me a hurry. Raeder was almost shouting to the officer on duty.
The officer was so frightened that his head was covered with cold sweat, and he trembled: "Yes, I will immediately raise the alarm." ”
The terrible air raid sirens sounded over the port of Sturdam, and the startled soldiers ran towards various posts before they had time to change into their uniforms, but due to the previous delay, it was too late for them to act.
The anti-aircraft artillery had not yet entered their positions, and the Axis fleet was already in the air. The dreadnought bombers swooped down at a wide angle, dropping bombs on various targets in the harbor. This time, Halsey sent all the planes out without reservation, and 390 dreadnought dive bombers, each carrying two 500-kilogram high-explosive bombs, fearlessly launched dive attacks again and again, accurately dropping bombs on key areas such as oil depots, ammunition depots, barracks, and shipyards.
The antiaircraft artillery units responsible for defense were unable to organize an effective defense at all, and although there were a lot of anti-aircraft guns on the various warships, they were also a little helpless in the face of such a huge fleet of aircraft.
Dive bombers were responsible for attacking the harbor, and the greatest threat to warships were 312 Avenger torpedo bombers carrying heavy torpedoes. With the continuous explosions and fires in the harbor, the Avenger torpedo planes clinged to the water and rushed towards the warships moored in the harbor.
With a few loud bangs, three columns of water rose on the starboard side of the aircraft carrier "Zeppelin" almost at the same time, and with a large amount of seawater pouring in from the breach, this large aircraft carrier with a displacement of more than 40,000 tons began to tilt to the right side of the aircraft carrier, and soon fell upside down on the water.
It was only then that the sailors on the warship discovered that there were even more terrible killers on the sea. The anti-aircraft guns on those warships turned and fired at the torpedo groups on the sea, but they turned their guns to reduce the density of anti-aircraft fire, which invisibly helped the other side a lot, and with the wanton bombing of Axis aircraft, one by one the main battleships were sunk by torpedoes.
At this time, the port was already in a sea of fire, and the dreadnought dive bombers with bombs also aimed at the warships, and soon the bombs were accurately dropped on the decks of those large warships, especially the huge aircraft carriers and battleships.
The few surviving Yamaman fighter jets still wanted to take to the skies, but they were quickly blown up on the runway, and the few fighters that took off were wiped out by the more than 200 F4U Corsair fighters patrolling the air.
An hour later, the sky had begun to turn slightly white, and the Axis planes had dropped all their bombs and were returning home. At this time, the port of Sturdam has been reduced to a ruin of sparks and smoke, and the once busy harbor is littered with the wreckage of warships and the masts of warships that have come out of the water, and the scene is like the end of the world.
The two fleets attacking the port of Kiel and Wilhelmshaven were as perfect victorious as the Halsey fleet that attacked the port of Steddam, but the other two fleets were in a state of flux, as the group attacking the port of Den Helder had not been detected in advance, and their fleet ran into an air-proof balloon that the commander of the defense had improvised to hang.
In the darkness of the night, it was impossible to see these obstacles, and as a result, dozens of planes were cut in half by the steel cables from which the balloons were hung, and most of the pilots were killed, but after this small setback, the group increased its flight altitude, and although the bombing effect was reduced, there were not enough planes to hold it, and finally the port of Helde was bombed.
The group attacking the port of The Hague was the most unlucky, because the commander in charge of this detachment was Vice Admiral Dönitz. After the start of the war, Vice Admiral Dönitz was very aware of the importance of sea supremacy, and for this reason he repeatedly applied for the high seas fleet to go to sea to attack the Axis navies, conduct naval engagements, and serve as cover for submarine operations.
Vice Admiral Dönitz's suggestion would have been very correct, but the Yaman military was afraid of the powerful Axis fleet, and preferred to let the fleet dock in the harbor and rely on land-based aircraft to survive, becoming an existing fleet, only to maintain a deterrent to the Axis powers.
After the military top brass rejected his order to attack, Lieutenant General Dönitz was not discouraged by this. He stepped up the training of the fleet, raised the alert level of the military port, installed a number of radars near the harbor, conducted round-the-clock searches, and did not dare to slack off at all, and also dispatched a number of submarines and fishing boats to hundreds of kilometers away to conduct vigilance.
When the attacking Axis fleet approached the port of The Hague 400 kilometers, it was spotted by a vigilance fishing boat. The small fishing boat, which the Axis fleet did not care about, immediately sent an early warning telegram by radio, and after several fishing boats relayed it, this information was quickly placed on Vice Admiral Dönitz's desk.
Dönitz was woken up in his sleep, and when he saw this information, he immediately ordered the emergency alarm to be sounded, and all the sailors immediately boarded the ship, and Dönitz personally led the fleet out of the military port and towards the sea.
Vice Admiral Dönitz went to sea with the fleet, and his deputy, Rear Admiral Bastian, did not dare to slack off, and he immediately ordered that all radars be turned on, fighter planes were put on duty, and all anti-aircraft artillery units were put on alert.
The commander of the Third Fleet of the Axis fleet, Brinston, was unaware of this, and he still followed the plan and released the carrier-based aircraft force from a distance of 300 kilometers. Thousands of planes of all types were divided into three tiers heading towards The Hague Harbour.
The F4U Corsair fighters, which were at the top of the air, increased their horsepower and rushed to the port of The Hague first, but due to a small accident on the way, the sortie time of the third detachment was already nearly ten minutes later than expected. Considering that the Yaman Navy in the port of The Hague may have been given an early warning, they did not fly at an ultra-low altitude to avoid the detection of the Yaman radar, but rushed to the port as fast as possible to minimize the reaction time of the other side.
When the Boston carrier-based aircraft unit approached 120 kilometers, the ground-based radar of the Yaman military had already discovered the target, and all the Yaman fighters that were giving early warning immediately rushed over, and the fighters on standby at the airport also immediately rose into the air one after another.
The first batch of 300 Lightning fighters rushed towards the Boston group at the highest speed. By this time, the sky was gradually whitening, and the pilots' vision was beginning to become clearer, and the two sides spotted each other at a distance of ten kilometers.
Seeing the appearance of enemy fighters, fighters from both sides began to seize height. From the perspective of the Air Force, a distance of 10 kilometers only takes a minute, and when the distance between the two sides is close to within two kilometers, the rockets under the wings of the fighters are ignited one after another, and the rockets with tail flames are fired at the fighters of both sides.
The hit rate of the rocket is not high, and even if it is launched intensively, under the dexterous dodging of the pilot, the hit rate is surprisingly small. With such a short distance, the planes of both sides staggered almost instantly, and the more agile F4U Corsair fighter first turned its nose and bit its tail to chase after it.
Not to be outdone, the Lightning fighters immediately dived down at full speed, relying on better stall control to make continuous escape maneuvers, and the fighters of both sides were quickly strangled together.
The fighters in the high altitude came and went, fighting very fiercely, and the dive bombers and torpedo planes at low altitude broke through quickly, taking advantage of the melee between the two sides, trying to slip through, but they did not know the way, and the radar system of the Yaman Army was always watching them.