It's over, for the British Royal Navy, it seems to be all over. The first rays of dawn appeared on the horizon in the distance, and the darkness instantly retreated, and the sea glowed with golden light.

At this time, the Prestige was burning with a fire and a violent explosion, although it still insisted on not sinking on the sea, but it was obviously impossible to expect this battleship to pursue. The situation on the Hood's side was not much better, the battleship was torpedoed in the tail of the Hood, and one propeller and two tail rudders were destroyed, so the speed could not catch up with the German fleet.

The cruiser and destroyer could still continue the pursuit, but it was difficult to say whether they would be able to take advantage of the two German armored ships, let alone the more urgent situation that they needed to deal with.

Because along with the arrival of the light, there were also nearly a hundred aircraft that took off from the road-based units of the German naval aviation. These planes were densely packed in the clouds and lined up, looking like locusts appeared in the sky.

The battle in which the British Navy had the upper hand was instantly deformed, and the pursuing party became the prey of the hunt at dawn, and the British Navy immediately fell into an unprecedented crisis.

The poor I-class destroyer had been beaten into a sieve, and the whole destroyer had survived under the fire of the cruisers and battlecruisers for less than two minutes, and before it could even put down the lifeboat, it sank into the water. It also became the first British ship to be sunk in this pursuit.

The disaster had only just begun at this moment, and in order to hunt down the German naval fleet, the warships that rushed to the front line this time were all relatively powerful warships fighting against the sea, most of them had not been modernized, and some cruisers did not even have decent anti-aircraft guns. Including the Hood and the Prestige, the British pursuit fleet was arguably the weakest in air defense.

So when the German fighters began to dive and attack, Vice Admiral Holland could only order the formation to be broken up and all the warships to flee separately. This is tantamount to giving up the prestige of the fire and the lack of resistance, and it is equivalent to sentencing the Hood, which has reduced its speed to half of its original speed, to death.

German dive bombers began to attack in the sky, one plane after another swooped down, and one aerial bomb after another was dropped on the British battleships, and soon the Hood paid a huge price for its design flaws.

Because the battlecruiser Hood pursued excessive speed, it was not as thick as the battleship in terms of armor, and in order to prevent torpedoes and resist the close-range fire of other warships, the side armor was deliberately thickened, so the weight of the entire battleship was somewhat excessive when it was built.

As a result, the horizontal armor of the entire battleship was weakened, and the designers and builders hoped that the battleship could use its ultra-high speed to avoid long-range artillery battles. And this level of armor protection has always plagued the Hood as a huge weakness of the Hood, which is also the main reason why the Hood was instantly sunk in a long-range artillery battle after encountering the Bismarck in another time and space.

Now the Hood was forced to use its slightly thin horizontal armor to resist the aerial bombs dropped by the Stuka dive bombers, which was undoubtedly a very tragic thing. Because of its slow speed and large size, the Hood was immediately the main target of German aircraft, and soon it was hit by an aerial bomb in the bow area.

The bomb did not hit any lethal equipment and ammunition depots, which was a blessing in the Hood's misfortune, as the bomb destroyed some of the Hood's compartments and broke the anchor chain in the bow.

January 27, 1938, the 21st day after the official start of the war between Germany and Britain and France, became the disaster day for the British Navy, and on this morning, the British Navy began to lose its own warships.

At 5:07 a.m., the Prestige sent its last telegram, and Lieutenant General Holland was silent when he saw it. It was written with a very brief sentence: 2 torpedoes hit again, I was sinking, the order to abandon the ship was already given.

At 5:11, the British cruiser HMS Edinburgh sent a telegram announcing that it was sinking. The British lost the third battleship of the day. The cruiser was in the Hood's field of vision, and Vice Admiral Holland watched with his own eyes as the destroyer caught fire and then sank to the bottom of the sea.

At 5:37, Vice Admiral Holland's Hood was hit by the 7th aerial bomb, the entire hull had begun to tilt tightly, and the flagship commander's flag of the British naval fleet was hit by shrapnel and fell into the sea.

"Colonel Cole, send a telegram to London. Lieutenant General Holland looked at the chart table, which was already very unstable to a certain extent, and said with a sigh: "The telegram reads as follows: Dear Prime Minister Churchill, the battle of the English Channel ended in a crushing defeat for our army. The whole army fought bravely, and the reason for the defeat was Huo Lan alone. May God still shine on the British Empire. ”

"General!" Captain Cole, the captain of the Hood, was wounded by shrapnel just now, and now there are still blood stains on his face, he stared at Holland unwillingly, and asked in frustration: "Our army still has the blocking fleet led by the Royal Ark, and now we haven't lost!

At this moment, another telegram was sent to the command room, and Horan took the telegram and looked at it, his face even paler. Because of what this telegram said, he felt even more that his sins were unforgivable.

The cruisers Linsen and Alola had just raised the white flag and surrendered to the German Navy. After witnessing the scattering of his huge fleet, and after watching the huge battleships around him be beaten into scrap metal by German fighters and sink to the bottom of the sea, not everyone still firmly believes in the victory of our army, at least the commanders of these two cruisers of the same class are more willing to save the lives of the sailors and soldiers on their warships in a humiliating way.

From this point of view, this time, the huge British Navy's pursuit fleet really didn't manage to escape much. Holland felt a sweet sensation in his throat, as if he was about to vomit hot liquid. He shook his body, but finally held on and did not fall.

At the same moment, the German Navy's High Seas Fleet turned its ship, and on the bridge of the aircraft carrier Reich, Lütjens was staring at the planes taking off on the deck with a cup of hot coffee. One FW-190 after another sped across the runway, leaping to the end of the runway and soaring into the sky.

His fleet was supposed to be completely annihilated by the British Navy, but this moment turned his head against the sky. Now not far away the British fleet is collapsing, and even two British battleships have already raised the white flag. Not far away, the armored battleship Lützov was breaking away from formation and heading to receive the two surrendered British cruisers.

The battlecruiser USS Hood, which had been desperately chasing him an hour before, was now dying, and it was only a matter of time before it sank. The other Prestige, on the other hand, is now left with only an oil stain on the surface of the sea and thousands of crew members floating in the water waiting to be rescued. He didn't need to do anything more, this epic naval battle was already a sure victory for the German Navy's high seas fleet.

"Report!" an aviation liaison officer walked up behind Lütjans, and after standing up and saluting, the voice of the report changed tone, and just a few minutes before their successful comeback caused the officers to let out a frantic cheer: "The roadbed naval aviation unit is returning home because of fuel and ammunition problems. They radioed before they returned, and the rest would be left to us!"

"The troops were ordered to delay the take-off of torpedo planes and dive bombers. "Start sending reconnaissance planes around." ”

He thought for a moment and then added: "Order Günter Lal to lead the formation of air defense fighters to take off and ensure the safety of our troops! The helicopters also took off immediately to guard and search the surrounding sea." ”

"Yes, General!" the Air Liaison Officer saluted: "Long live Führer Accardo?"

"Long live the Führer!" Lütjens had just won the most important battle of his life, and he was in a particularly good mood, and replied with a smile: "It has been proved that the German High Seas Fleet is invincible!"

"Invincible! Victory! Invincible! Hurrah!" On the bridge, some officers and sailors cheered loudly, and the entire wide headquarters of the bridge was suddenly filled with a sense of joy of victory.

However, just as there was cheering on the aircraft carrier Reich, on the German Z-class destroyer directly in front of the fleet, the radar crew suddenly frowned.

"Sir!" he immediately shouted to the officers not far away, after confirming that he had not miscalculated.

"What's the matter?" the officer asked, walking up to him.

"Directly ahead, 110 kilometers away, a group of unidentified aircraft, about ...... 10, no, at least 15!" the radarman affirmed.

"Oh my God!" the officer looked at the radar screen, and then immediately shouted to the captain standing in the bridge command room: "British planes are coming! Captain! British planes! At least 15!"

After only a dozen seconds, the emergency anti-aircraft combat alarm was sounded on the destroyer, and all the guns were pointed at the sky. And on its mast, the signal lights kept flashing, and it seemed to be using its own means to inform the other warships of an important news: the British plane was coming.

A few minutes later, Lütjans gave the order for the air defense of the fleet with a solemn face: "All warships! Immediately start air alert! Anti-aircraft guns are ready to be stocked! As soon as the planes take off, will the fighter units of Günter and Lal take off now? Continue to take off! Until they take off enough fighters to ensure the air defense safety of the fleet! Quickly!"