More FW-190 fighters aboard the USS Reich were ready, and they took off one after the other, tasked with protecting the distant Stuka dive bombers.

To tell the truth, although the weapons and equipment of the German naval aviation were a whole generation more advanced than those of their British opponents, strictly speaking, they did not have "suitable" weapons and equipment in their hands. As a dive bomber for the army, it has already been stated that it is not a qualified maritime attack aircraft, and for fighters like the FW-190, it is not a very qualified torpedo attack aircraft.

Compared to the famous Japanese all-rounder Zero, the FW-190 is too bulky, so this aircraft does not handle well at low speeds, and torpedo dropping requires the low speed performance of the aircraft. However, the Zero aircraft sacrificed other performance in exchange for the advantage of "comprehensiveness", while the FW-190 was a makeshift fighter for attack aircraft.

"Load the remaining FW-190s with torpedoes! Immediately take off as a second attack echelon!" Lütjans looked at the Stuka bombers flying into the distance and the FW-190 fighters with torpedoes on them, and turned back and ordered. It was all he could get his hands on, so he decided to take a gamble and show the British all his power.

At the same moment, the flagship of the Royal Navy's 1st Squadron was nervously preparing for its own attack. This fleet was hastily sent to surround the fleet of Lütjans after the British main fleet went north to intercept the 1st Squadron of the German High Seas Fleet commanded by Raeder.

However, the British fleet was a little older than the German fleet commanded by Lütjens: the oldest destroyer in the German naval fleet commanded by Lütjens was built in 1927, and the youngest of the first squadron of the Royal Navy fleet southbound was its flagship, the aircraft carrier Eagle, built in 1923.

However, the Germans obviously underestimated the scale of the British Navy's operation, so the British fleet was not without its own advantages, and in places that the German reconnaissance planes did not see, the British fleet also had a Queen Elizabeth-class battleship in the British fleet - perhaps if Lütjans had known the news first, he would not have dared to attack first.

The reality is that the German Navy did not know the true size of the British Royal Navy fleet, so Lütjens sent his own carrier-based aircraft without hesitation, hoping to eat the British "small fleet" in front of him in one go.

On the aircraft carrier Eagle of the British Royal Navy's southbound 1st Squadron, the Gladiator fighter was taking off urgently, because the British carrier-based reconnaissance plane had recently spotted the German reconnaissance plane that had been following it.

The British reconnaissance plane, which found itself being followed, immediately transmitted the news back to the British fleet, and the British fleet began to move. They had more things than the German Navy, and these things could sometimes change the tide of battle.

Compared with the Germans, Britain has been the maritime hegemon of this world for a full hundred years, and in these hundred years, the sea glory of the empire has never been affected. Countless challengers fell to the guns of the British Royal Navy: the Spanish Armada, the French Napoleonic Navy, the German High Seas Fleet......

This deep-rooted pride and courage, fermented by the stubbornness and arrogance of the British, gave the Royal Navy a precious treasure that none of its opponents had - the belief in victory.

Of course, what underpins this belief in victory is a real tangible asset: the sheer size of the Royal Navy. The British Royal Navy currently has 17 battleships with a total tonnage of more than 400,000 tons, while its rival, the German Navy, has zero battleship tonnage. At the same time, Britain has 5 aircraft carriers, which is also 1 more than the German Navy.

In addition, the British also maintain an advantage in experience and training, the British Royal Navy has 100 years of experience in naval warfare, and its understanding of naval warfare can be said to be very familiar. Moreover, the level of training of officers and men of the British Royal Navy is very high, and 90 percent of naval commanders have participated in World War I. The German Navy was too naïve in comparison, for most of the nearly 20 years after 1919, the German Navy had not trained at sea on a large scale, and they had basically begun to understand their warships and tactics in the last two years.

Frankly, the strength of the two sides at this time was almost equal: the German navy had the advantage in the age and tactical arrangement of warships, and they had more powerful carrier-based aircraft, and the British outperformed their opponents in training and courage, and their fleets were larger.

The British Gladiator carrier-based fighter was a biplane, which, apparently, was really outdated compared to the guys in the hands of the German naval aviation. However, the British commander still believed that such a fighter would be sufficient to carry out the task of covering the fleet.

There is no way to do this, the more advanced Dreadnought fighters are given priority to the Air Force, and the Hurricane fighters to deal with the new fighters of the Luftwaffe are still in the test flight stage, so the British Navy has not been able to come up with a way to deal with German aircraft for the time being.

Gladiator fighter jets took off from the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle and flew over the battleship Malaya, while farther afield, a British Navy cruiser was preparing for an air battle.

"Take off the Swordfish attack plane!" The commander of the British fleet put down the telescope in his hand and ordered loudly: "Follow the returning German reconnaissance plane to the south and attack the German fleet!" Let the flight commander who leads the team pay attention and give priority to attacking the German aircraft carriers. ”

"Priority attack on British aircraft carriers!" In the blue sky, the commander of the German Stuka bomber formation ordered with a walkie while checking the charts: "No. 7, you and No. 8 and No. 9 are responsible for attacking the aircraft carrier, and No. 5 and No. 6 are responsible for dealing with escort warships." ”

"Number 7 understands!" "Number 9 understands!" "Number 8 understands. In his headphones, a series of answers came from his ears.

"No. 5 understands!" "No. 6 understands!" Soon another voice answered.

The commander of the Stuka formation pulled open his cockpit canopy and allowed the icy wind to pour into the cabin. He tightened his leather jacket and poked his head out of the cabin, peering through the thin clouds at the icy waters below.

Soon, in the sky above them, another formation of German aircraft appeared, which was a formation of FW-190 torpedo planes that departed relatively quickly. The two formations flew together, and one of the FW-190s dropped in altitude and flicked its wings on the Stuka as a greeting.

"We'll attack first! You hide above the clouds and prepare for a sneak attack. The commander of the FW-190 torpedo formation said on the radio: "We cut into the low altitude with a fast speed, and after dropping the torpedo, we can use it as an escort fighter." ”

"No problem, I'll be up in about two minutes. As soon as the opposing escort's fighters are drawn to a low altitude by you, we will immediately join the fight. The commander of the Stuka formation looked up at his allies and replied with a smile.

"Okay! I'll arrange for four FW-190s with small bombs to follow you. If an enemy plane approaches, they will cover you. The commander of the torpedo attack aircraft thought for a moment and said: "The rest of the torpedo planes are accelerated, we will go first." ”

Soon the faster FW-190 fighter formation overtook the Stuka, and the planes began to fly into the distance, while above the Stuka's formation, four FW-190 fighters maintained their flight altitude and speed, apparently they were the escort fighters who had been left behind.

After a while, the commander's headset of the Stuka bomber formation heard all kinds of fighting sounds, some calling for cover, some confirming the number of enemy ships, and some just screaming and shouting.

"No. 1! No. 1! I have spotted the destroyers of the British fleet! they should be right in front of us. This was the first exclamation of German planes when they spotted the British fleet.

This was followed by a warning from the pilot to remind the opposing fighter to join the battle: "No. 6! Watch out below, the opposing fighter plane! Climb! Climb immediately!"

Then another nervous news was confirmed, and that was that there were battleships in the British fleet: "Hey, look! British aircraft carriers! Wait, oh my God! The battleships next to the British aircraft carriers are battleships! It's battleships! There are battleships in the British fleet!"

Another voice with a distinctive voice exclaimed, "How is that possible?

"No. 1, please attack! Request attack!" was the shout confirming the attack.

"Keep in formation! Keep in formation! Let's climb! Wait for the Stuka formation behind to attack together!Climb!" the commander's command appeared in the noisy headphones.

"Captain! The anti-aircraft guns are returning fire! The anti-aircraft guns are returning fire!" another voice shouted.

While piloting the plane to move on, the pilots of Stuka silently listened to the hysterical shouts of their comrades in the headphones, and before they knew it, the commander of the Stuka formation found that his palms were already covered with sweat.

"Attention all navigators! Attention all navigators! Fasten your seatbelts. The commander commanded loudly, and he buckled his flight cockpit as he ordered, and then jerked the bolt of the machine gun in front of him: "Prepare ammunition for the rear defense machine gun." ”

Suddenly, an anti-aircraft artillery shell was seen exploding near the clouds, and tracer shells were fired into the sky, and beneath the clouds, a fully fired British cruiser was maneuvering to avoid German torpedo attacks.

The commander of the Stuka formation raised the corners of his mouth and loudly gave the order to attack into the intercom: "All attention! Choose your target and start diving! No. 2! You take No. 3 to find that battleship!"

"Number 2 understands!" With the roar of the engines, one by one, Stuka rushed down the clouds, broke into small groups, and frantically rushed towards the targets they had already assigned.