"A large number of planes were found in 258 directions heading for our fleet, numbering 130 to 160 aircraft, at a distance of 90 miles!"

At 7:55 a.m. on May 29, the British heavy cruiser "Norfolk" was the first to use anti-aircraft radar to discover this huge group of aircraft flying from the deep ocean, and immediately reported to the flagship in the rear. Now the aircraft that appeared from this direction could only be the good deeds of the Germans who had been entangled with them all night. Only a few minutes later, the radar on the Tiger also discovered this anomaly, and the British Vice Admiral Holland, who had not slept all night, was immediately shocked in his heart, and the sleepiness that had been trapped in his brain was instantly expelled by him. Less than an hour and a half after he dispatched his reconnaissance plane, the opponent's fleet was already imminent, and he had already fallen into a great disadvantage in the field of reconnaissance. What shocked him even more was the number of planes that came from the other side. The terrifying lineup of more than 130 planes has far exceeded his psychological expectations: you must know that the three aircraft carriers of Furious, Brave, and Glorious who are now carrying out reconnaissance missions with the battle patrol have only brought a total of 132 aircraft, and if they are released in a single round, they can release 72 fighters at one time is already the limit!

"The order was given, the fleet was switched to an anti-aircraft formation, and the speed was increased to 28 knots; All fighters immediately take off and go to the direction of the enemy aircraft to intercept them! Horan gave the order in a loud voice, a little jerky. Although aircraft carriers have been in the British Navy for 15 years, they have never been favored by the top generals. In their eyes, these guys, stuffed with bombs and jet fuel, are like fragile cans of tomatoes that can be uncontrollable with a little shake or two. It is simply not the core arm of naval warfare. If it weren't for the rapid development of aviation technology in the 20s. If it makes it possible for carrier-based aircraft to mount bombs and torpedoes to attack enemy ships. The British Navy would not even spend much money on a regular capital ship to develop such a money-losing cargo.

To this day, the British Navy's operational philosophy is still stuck in the category of "naval and air force," which first harasses and weakens the enemy with carrier-based aircraft, and finally the main fleet delivers a decisive blow to the enemy, and uses aircraft carriers as an ineffective auxiliary force. Holland, who is currently in charge of the reconnaissance fleet, is a typical representative of the fleet faction. Looking at the adjutant who turned around and ran out of the navigation room, Holland had a hint of eagerness in his heart: the Germans had sent so many planes to attack him, and he had just happened to give these mosquitoes and flies a head-on attack.

With the issuance of Holland's order, the British fleet also began to move quickly; Destroyers and cruisers accelerated and gathered battle cruisers and aircraft carriers in the middle. Although the British Navy has never regarded aircraft carriers as core ships. But with twice the tonnage of the treaty heavy cruisers, Holland could only reluctantly let them enjoy the treatment of capital ships. At the same time, a series of Sea Hurricane fighters began to rise from three aircraft carriers, including Fury: they were the shipboard version of the Hurricane fighter in service with the Air Force, which had just entered mass production in 1936. It has a maximum take-off weight of nearly 4 tons, a maximum speed of 505 km/h, a range of 965 km at cruising speeds, and four 20-mm cannons as its main armament. Since Holland had also planned to send out a large-scale reconnaissance force in the calm of the day, these fully prepared fighters were able to be quickly released: after ten minutes, 36 fighters began to fly into the distance as a vanguard force, while the other 12 fighters that took off later tried their best to climb altitude. In order to be able to meet enemy planes in an ideal position over their own fleet.

Since the speed of the flight of the fighter is far from being comparable to that of the ship. The contact between the two fleets was unusually rapid; At 8:20 a.m., Ta-152 and Hai Hurricane engaged at an altitude of 6,000 meters. As soon as he saw it, the German fighter pilot Buckholon was shocked by the surging fire of the British fighters: the opposing planes sprayed the fire of four machine guns at the same time, while his own plane only had one 20-mm cannon and two 13-mm heavy machine guns, and the firepower was absolutely inferior. In order to avoid the fire of an enemy plane, he hurriedly manipulated the fuselage to roll over at a large angle, and at the same time flew forward and downward at full speed. However, what surprised him was that the opposing fighter did not keep up with the speed of his plane at 640km/h, and with just a simple maneuver, he threw the enemy plane that intended to attack him out of range!

"It seems that the British aircraft are only powerful in firepower, and there is a big gap between them and ours in speed and climb!" Buck Holon was overjoyed when he found this, and his confidence was boosted. With the cooperation of the long plane, the fledgling Buckholon quickly calmed down and began to seek an opportunity to attack in the tense and complex air battlefield. With a clear advantage in speed, Bacholon escaped the surprise attack of a sea hurricane from diagonally below, and quickly escaped through the maneuver in the horizontal direction; With the cooperation of the long plane, Buckholon finally saw the opportunity to capture a target, and opened heavy fire on it in the continuous tail line. Unless there is a friendly aircraft to cover the siege, it will be difficult for the slow Sea Hurricane to escape the pursuit of the Ta-152; With a flash of bright white sparks, the sea hurricane in front of Buckholon's scope suddenly dragged the smoke downward, and the white parachute that suddenly bloomed in the air was the best proof of his success in the fall.

The battle of Bakholon was a microcosm of the German fighter group. After the first few rounds of confrontation, the German pilots all felt the advantages and shortcomings of the opposing aircraft, as long as they calmly handled the air combat situation, then there was no doubt that the advantage was on their side! Luftwaffe Lieutenant Colonel Schneider, who was in charge of commanding the fighter formation, immediately divided three squadrons to entangle with the enemy planes, while the remaining two squadrons continued to fly forward with the attack aircraft group; Attacking the British fleet was his more important task than shooting down these British fighters in front of him. In contrast, the British fighter commander lacked the awareness to intercept the enemy's attack planes, and in the roar of the engines, only the swift figure of the German fighters was left in front of him, and the vulnerable attack planes carrying a large number of dangerous explosives were completely forgotten.

The clouds fluttered, the morning was shining, and soon the German fleet was flying to the edge of the British fleet. More than 40 ships of various types are dotted on the sea, forming a rather strict circular formation; The 12 Hurricanes hovering nearby bravely rushed towards the incoming fleet, intending to share the pressure on their own fleet. This is already the limit of the number of fighters that can be released by British aircraft carriers. However, there were still 24 fighters in the German fleet, plus almost ten times the number of bombers and torpedo planes. After these British planes crashed head-on into the German group, they were soon like rivers entering the sea, and they could no longer make any movement. The ability of a German heavy aircraft carrier with a flight deck of more than 260 meters to fly fighters is not at all comparable to these three British aircraft carriers with a flight deck of more than 190 meters!

Amid the sonorous fire of the anti-aircraft guns on the British battleship, Schneider, who commanded the command group, also gave the order for the attack assignment via the radio intercom. Three British aircraft carriers were listed as the highest priority targets, and 24 dive bombers and 24 torpedo planes began to whizz towards them; Two British battle cruisers were also given special attention, with the remaining 24 dive bombers and 12 torpedo planes carrying out air strikes. Although this distribution did not involve a blow to the cruisers in the British fleet, Schneider was not at all worried that these cruisers would slip through his fingers; After the first wave of attack aircraft is released, there will be a second and third wave of aircraft from the aircraft carrier one after another, and you only need to deal with the opponent's core warships in this attack. For German aircraft carriers with more than 110 aircraft, the first attack was just the beginning.

The wind howled, the blades hissed, and the German attack planes, which had formed a tight line, immediately disbanded the queue and flew towards their respective targets. The Do-22 torpedo machine moved high and low, evaded left and right, and quickly approached the British battleship in low-altitude waters; Ju-87 remained at an altitude of 6 kilometers until it was close to the target, and then it swooped down as if it were falling. Since reconnaissance revealed that the three aircraft carriers in the British fleet were all old ships built during the treaty, the flight deck had not been extended to the bow; In response to such ships, the German bombers only used conventional bombs as a striking force, leaving the precious HS-293 guided bombs for more important targets.

In the face of the swarms of enemy planes, the various types of anti-aircraft guns in the British fleet suddenly opened fire desperately; A large number of small-caliber bullets whizzed past the vicinity of the German plane, as if swarms of fireflies streaked across the blue sky. However, these anti-aircraft artillery fire could not stop the attack of German carrier-based aircraft at all. Due to the sluggishness of the British Navy in the field of aviation, the air defense capability of their warships is also at a low level; When faced with nearly 100 enemy planes encircled on all sides, their weak firepower immediately took care of one or the other, allowing a large number of German attack planes to occupy the ideal attack position. The Ju-87's trademark screech resounded through the sea and sky as it dived, dropping 1000kg aerial bombs at standard tactical altitudes; Although the movement of the Do-22's low-altitude flight was not as conspicuous as the former, the torpedoes mounted under its belly made the pupils of more than 1,000 officers and men on the British battleship shrink instantly!

"Boom!" A heavy aerial bomb roared into the sea 20 meters away from the port side of the Fury, and the surrounding waves seemed to boil. The waves surged, the waves swept into the sky, and the huge shock wave slammed into the underwater hull of the Fury under the conduction of the sea, and a large piece of the hull shattered and broke when it landed. Before the British sailors could come to their senses, two more Ju-87s swooped down from the air; At a distance of less than 500 meters, the round bomb under the belly of the aircraft was already vividly visible...... (To be continued......)

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