The British Navy has been in the spirit of Nelson for nearly a hundred years, and they are brave and challenged, daring to face an enemy much stronger than them, and confidence needs to be built over a long period of time, and it needs the irrigation of countless victories...... This is the true essence of a hundred years of sea power, and this is also the true meaning of the famous saying that it takes a hundred years to build a strong navy.

The German Navy cannot be expected to quickly put itself in a position of self-control, because they do not yet have the foundation to dominate the world. On the contrary, from the rise of the German Navy to the present day, there are more unpleasant memories: Jutland victory and defeat, the desperation of Operation Rainbow, the oppression of the Treaty of Versailles...... If you can still rise into a strong maritime army that dares to fight in just ten years, then it will really be a hell of a thing.

What Dudley Pound didn't know was that the man who gave the German Navy firm determination was not the commanders on the battlefield, Raeder and Lütjans, but the one standing behind them, Arcardo Rudolf, who was far away in the Führer's mansion in Berlin.

Although he could not calculate that Accardo knew so much about the war potential of the United States, forcing the German Navy to fight a naval battle with an unpredictable victory. However, this did not affect his determination to defeat the German navy in a war now. Even on the sea not far in front of him, one Allied fighter plane after another was strangled and crashed by the German ace pilots.

"The gap in fighter jets, although there is still one, is not big. Dudley Pound looked at the fighters trembling together on both sides, and said to the adjutant beside him: "If the number of aircraft carriers can reach the same level as the German army, then this naval battle will not even drag on until night, and the winner will be decided......"

This is not the first time that Britain and the United States have competed with Germany, so the two sides can even be regarded as old acquaintances who know their roots well. American intelligence has long known that the radar system of the German Navy is so advanced that it can even distinguish the number of enemy aircraft from a very long distance. So this time, Dudley Pound's fleet did not prepare a single attack aircraft, in order to make up for the gap in the number of fighters to the greatest extent.

Everyone knew that it was a thankless foolish act for dozens of bombers to attack the German aircraft carrier fleet, and it was better to have that consciousness than to honestly prepare the fighters and fight defensive operations to consume the German aircraft. Therefore, the delay in sending attack aircraft formations was not due to any new trick played by Dudley Pound, but because the Allies had no intention of going to die.

A German Stuka bomber was destroyed in the sky after dropping a bomb, and it was a large-caliber anti-aircraft artillery shell that probably hit the plane, so the plane exploded directly in the sky and became scattered fragments. Because more and more German planes dropped torpedoes, the formation of the Allied fleet also became a little messy with the "S" maneuver back and forth.

"The second assault formation of the Germans...... The third attack formation has appeared on the radar...... "As the commander-in-chief of the Allied fleet, Dudley Pound felt that his fleet might be put to the test.

When the fleets cover each other, the air defense is actually relatively tight and not easy to break through, but if the formation is disrupted and the ships begin to fight separately, it is inevitable that there will be flaws and the enemy will take advantage.

"The first fighters to take off may have to land due to lack of fuel...... At this time, if the third group of German attack aircraft arrived, we would probably have to suffer more losses. The adjutant also knew that a new wave of German attack formations was coming, and persuaded with some concern: "It's better to let the fleet ...... north."

"Send a telegram to the convoy telling them that our side is moving north, and let them follow to the north so as not to interfere with our realignment......" Dudley Pound pondered for two seconds before immediately giving the order. He knew that this time was not a matter of persevering or resisting, but how to destroy more enemies on the premise of preserving himself.

Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately ordered: "Send a telegram to the USS Franklin, let them keep up with us, adjust their course, 15 degrees north-east!" Send a signal to all the ships, adjust their speed, and restore the formation position!"

"Yes!" the adjutant immediately ran to convey the order, and soon, the non-commissioned officer at the helm of the bridge of the Ark Royal aircraft carrier confirmed the order to change the course in a loud voice: "Course adjustment! Turn the rudder 15 degrees to the left!"

"The Queen Elizabeth is calling!" an officer said nervously, running up and standing behind Dudley Pound.

"Read!" Dudley Pound looked back at the somewhat cramped officer, and his heart was filled with unease, he knew that the message was not good news, but he still had to listen to it. So he ordered his men to read it to him, and then turned his gaze back to the battlefield.

"An aerial bomb hit me on the starboard side, losing two anti-aircraft gun positions, requesting cover from other warships. After reading the loss, the officer looked up at the back of his superior, and then read: "There is a fire on the starboard side, it is being extinguished, the hull is not flooded, and the loss is bearable." ”

"......" Dudley Pound frowned, he also counted on the success of 4 battleships in the night, and now if one was lost, the Allied fleet would continue to approach the German fleet, and it would be dangerous. After all, he knew that Germany still had a battleship, the Marshal Raeder, and with only one battleship, the Ramirez battleship, it was really not necessarily an opponent for the German cutting-edge battleships.

Of course, due to the lack of aircraft reconnaissance, the admiral of the British Royal Navy, the commander-in-chief of the Allied Atlantic Fleet, did not know that the German fleet had not only one battleship Marshal Raeder, but also two "Soviet battleships". If he had known that there were three battleships in the German fleet, he might have reconsidered whether the tactics of fighting at night with battleships were feasible.

"Continue to change course...... Forced to worry about the safety of his fleet, Dudley Pound finally decided to correct the course of his fleet. The tactics of the charge, which had been in a hurry to approach the German fleet, now seemed to be in need of consideration. German carrier-based aircraft were constantly circling around the Allied fleet, and it would not be long before the Germans would be able to understand the approximate strength of the Allied fleet. If the German commander had found out that the British Navy, which was in a hurry to approach, had only one battleship, perhaps he would have really put the Admiral Raeder on top for positional warfare - and that would have been a real hilarious.

So he didn't care that frequent turning would make his fleet's formation more chaotic, and reluctantly repeated his order: "Let the fleet turn another 15 degrees to the north! Keep a relative distance from the German Navy! Send a telegram to the Queen Elizabeth, asking them to move to the flank of the fleet and repair it as soon as possible!"

At this time, it was not only one battleship Queen Elizabeth that was damaged by the second wave of attack echelons of German carrier-based aircraft. The other two cruisers were also blazing, and one was so badly wounded that it even slowed down. On the other side, an American escort cruiser was sunk, and the sea was full of Allied sailors floating waiting for rescue.

"Send a telegram to the three anti-submarine destroyers behind the palace, and ask them to rescue the friendly troops who have fallen overboard!" After that, leave the war zone and return to the ship immediately......" Hearing the loss of his fleet, Dudley Pound sighed. He looked in the direction of his fleet due north, where the convoy bound for Iceland was located.

"I hope they can really buy Britain half a year, otherwise our losses today will be in vain. The voice of emotion was not loud, and when it came out of Dudley Pound's mouth, it drowned in the air: "Night, come quickly." ”

Just as he was muttering and praying for the night to come soon, the staff officer sent an encouraging piece of good news: "Your Excellency, General! Our third batch of fighters has successfully taken off! At least we are sure that we will be able to hold up the next batch of German air offensives!"

After hearing the news, Dudley Pound excitedly clenched both palms into fists, the most vulnerable time for the first time had passed, and his fleet could continue to hold on under the cover of the aircraft: "Very good! Let the battleships continue to prepare for air combat, the third wave of the German offensive should be coming soon!"

Just as the bridge was rejoicing at the take-off of the third batch of fighters from the American aircraft carrier USS Franklin, the radar screen of a large cruiser equipped with radar on the outermost part of the British fleet once again showed a large amount of fluctuations.

Ten minutes ago, there was also such a fluctuation on the radar, which was the radar wave speed reflected by the third wave of attack aircraft of the German Navy carrier-based aircraft after rushing into the radar search range of this battleship. But this time, the same wave appeared again, and judging by the intensity, it was not the third wave of attack aircraft that was already approaching.

The radar soldier stared at the screen, his eyes widened in disbelief, he turned his head to look at the officer behind him, and with an uncertain tone, he asked, "Long...... Sir, I didn't, did I read that right? Is this, is this our radar...... Something went wrong. ”

"If it weren't for the fact that our radar was broken...... That's the arrival of the 4th wave of attack aircraft of the Germans!" the officer in charge of the radar swallowed a mouthful of saliva and muttered subconsciously. Then the officer reacted and rushed to his bridge as fast as he could: "The radar has detected a new German plane! The fourth wave of German planes is behind the third wave of German planes!"

Brothers, Long Ling stayed up all night to make up for everyone! I know that everyone is anxious to read these chapters, and Long Ling is also fighting! I owe more and don't dare to ask for anything, but I ask you not to doubt Long Ling's character, thank you for your support!