ps: Yesterday I went to the elder's house for the Dragon Boat Festival, there was no update, I'm sorry, I'm going to make it up now.

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This group of German planes, which collided head-on with the American group, was the second attack wave of the Faroe Islands summoned by Favinier. A total of 242 aircraft, including 122 fighters, 60 dive bombers, 60 torpedo attack aircraft.

The two sides naturally did it directly. The 187 American fighters were directly confronted by the 122 German fighters. As for the attack aircraft groups of both sides, they did not intervene in this melee and continued to fly towards the intended enemy fleet.

When the fighters of the two sides were fighting, they did not forget to inform their superiors, asking them to quickly send a second wave of fighters to intercept the opponent's attack group.

So, from the 7 aircraft carriers of the American fleet and the German airfields in the Faroe Islands, soon another group of fighters took off to intercept them.

Don't look at the fact that Germany is a land-based airfield, but the number of aircraft they deploy here is not as good as the number of aircraft carried by the American aircraft carrier group. After all, Germany had not been able to acquire the Faroe Islands for a long time, and the size of the airport was not too large, and they had only deployed more than 550 aircraft of various kinds with great difficulty. And the American aircraft carrier group carries more than 730 aircraft. In the previous first round of the air and sea battle, both sides lost a lot of aircraft, Germany lost 130 aircraft, while the United States lost 187, and now Germany has 420 left, while the United States has 545 left.

Coupled with the group of aircraft that had been released at this time, there were not many fighters left on both sides. However, now we have to deal with attack aircraft and bombers, and the pressure is not great.

It didn't take long for the German attack aircraft group to encounter 88 American fighters, and the American attack aircraft group was intercepted by 56 German fighters. Bombers are not opponents of fighters in the first place, let alone bombers loaded with bombs and torpedoes. For fighters, such an opponent should not be too easy to fight, it is simply a good thing to brush up the record and pick up the head.

The 120 planes of the German attack group were intercepted by US fighters before they reached the attack area, and the American fighters, who had just suffered a great loss at the hands of the German fighters, had finally regained their self-confidence from this group of clumsy attack planes and bombers. Not long after, the German attack aircraft group was beaten to a bruised nose and swollen face, and after dropping 75 planes, they were swept back in ashes.

The American attack aircraft group was much more tenacious, and although they also suffered heavy losses, 14 dive bombers and 7 torpedo planes broke through the interception of German fighters. Of course, in addition to the fact that the American planes are relatively thick-skinned, it is also related to the insufficient number of German fighters that came to intercept them.

The carrier-based attack aircraft that the US naval aviation is now mainly equipped with are the SB-1 dive bomber and the TB-1 torpedo plane, both of which are new types of aircraft developed on the basis of the imported Chinese aircraft, and both are biplanes. The SB-1 could carry 800-pound bombs with a maximum speed of 240 km. The TB-1 could carry a 450-mm torpedo or a 1500-pound bomb, but its maximum speed was only a pitiful 175 km.

Although the performance is average, they all have one thing in common, that is, the skin is thick and the meat is thick. For example, their TB-1 torpedo machine, the reason why the speed is so impressive is because of the addition of a lot of armor. It can be said that the characteristic of "thick skin and thick flesh" of US aircraft has begun to take shape since this time.

Although the American attack aircraft group managed to reach the skies over the German fleet and launched an attack, the results were very dismal.

14 dive bombers hit only one bomb, while 7 torpedo planes did not hit a single one. You know, the Germans are not stupid, since they took the lead in using a large number of aircraft in the Battle of Jutland and achieved great results, there are such examples, how can they not pay attention to air defense, not to mention the early warning of their own aircraft.

As soon as the 21 American planes arrived, they were met head-on by German anti-aircraft fire, and eight dive bombers and four torpedo planes were pulled down before the bombs were dropped. Moreover, most of the pilots in the United States were rookie novices, and only one of the remaining six dive bombers dropped bombs hit, and unfortunately the unfortunate former dreadnought of Lorraine won the bid. The bomb landed between two chimneys, but the U.S. bomb had a problem with its fuse, and it exploded directly on the deck before it could penetrate the deck, and it did not cause much damage except for blowing up several lifeboats and an anti-aircraft gun.

Three torpedo planes succeeded in dropping torpedoes, but the American torpedoes were relatively backward thermodynamic torpedoes, with very obvious tracks and slow speeds, only 37 knots, which were easy to evade. Moreover, when the mine was dropped, it was interfered with by anti-aircraft fire, and the aiming was affected. These three torpedoes were not even circumvented by German ships, so it was not known where they went.

After completing the attack, the American plane was sunk three more planes, and on the way back, it was targeted by several patrolling German fighters, and in the end only three scarred dive bombers escaped.

It can be said that this air raid by both the United States and Germany ended in failure. After these air battles, the planes of both sides suffered heavy losses. Now there are 283 aircraft left at the Faroe Islands base of the German army, including 203 fighters. And the American aircraft carrier group has 296 aircraft left, including 222 fighters.

At this time, both sides have realized that the other side also has sufficient air combat power, and it is also prepared. In this case, if you continue to attack the opposing fleet, you will be sent to death in vain. In particular, the pilots of the US Navy were destroyed in the first sortie and paid such a big price, but it was of little use. This frustrating result severely hit the morale and confidence of these aerial cowboys.

Moreover, at present, the number of bombers and torpedo planes on both sides is not sufficient, and it is really difficult to guarantee the effect of another attack. Therefore, both sides have adopted conservative tactics since then, except to take off fighters to cover their own fleets.

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At 14:15, 42 kilometers west of the Faroe Islands.

On board the USS California, the flagship of the US Army, Vice Admiral Sims received a report from the intelligence staff officer: "Mr. Lieutenant General, the reconnaissance aircraft reported that the main German fleet was discovered. In total, there were eighteen dreadnoughts, six front dreadnoughts, 31 light cruisers, and about 100 destroyers and large torpedo boats. At the moment of defense of our fleet at 11 points, at a distance of 40 km, with a course of 233 and a speed of 14 knots......"

Almost at the same time, Field Marshal Schell, commander of the German Ocean Fleet, also received intelligence from the American fleet. At this time, both sides had a large number of planes on alert in the air, and there was no "battlefield fog", and both obtained the accurate location and other information of the other side.

The commanders of both sides gave almost the same order, "The whole fleet turns to meet the enemy!"

At this time, excluding ships that were sunk or withdrawn from battle in the air raids ahead, the current lineup of the U.S. fleet was 21 dreadnoughts, 2 regular aircraft carriers, 5 temporary aircraft carriers, 4 armored cruisers, 28 light cruisers, and 99 destroyers. In such a decisive battle with capital ships, aircraft carriers were useless, so Vice Admiral Sims ordered all seven aircraft carriers to retreat to the postponed transport fleet, and sent three light cruisers and eight destroyers to escort them.

At 14:43, the main fleets of the two sides were 21 kilometers apart, because the battleships of the United States and Germany were all in the "iron turtle" style, and if they wanted to keep in line, the maximum speed could only rise to 17 to 18 knots, because the slowest "turtles" on both sides were at this speed. The two teams of turtles naturally couldn't grab each other's T-heads when they fought, so the two sides honestly lined up in the opposite direction and began to bombard each other.

Both sides used the latest and most powerful battleships as the vanguard, and the rear were arranged in order of combat effectiveness.

The U.S. military was led by the USS Washington, followed by the other three ships of the California class, the flagship USS California in third place, then ten New York-class "standard battleships", followed by two Wyoming-class, Florida-class, Delaware-class and the USS South Carolina, and finally four Memphis-class armored cruisers (formerly Tennessee-class, which was changed from state to city after the nomenclature was adjusted).

The German battle column was the Baden in the first place, the flagship Bavaria in second place, followed by the other three ships of the Bavaria class, then 4 Kings, 5 Emperors, 2 Helgoland, and 2 Nassau. At the bottom of the list are the six former dreadnoughts, three of the Deutschland-class, one of the Braunschweig-class (Lorraine), and two of the Wiecelsbach-class (Mecklenburg and Zaringen).

The United States had a total of 25 capital ships, while the Germans had 24. Although the United States used the top number of Memphis-class armored cruisers, the Yankees' class of armored cruisers was very powerful. On the standard hull of 14,500 tons, this class of ships is equipped with two twin 254mm 40 times diameter main turrets and 16 152mm secondary guns, which can fully have the strength to fight the dreadnoughts of the major powers alone. The German Wiecchersbach-class pre-dreadnought main gun was only 240 mm.

The commanders on both sides were more cautious, so they didn't follow the example of the Japanese Togo to play "enemy front turning". This action is very dangerous, it can be said to be a taboo in naval warfare, if it weren't for the fact that Mao Zi's character was really at the bottom at that time, coupled with the confusion of command, the Japanese Combined Fleet would have knelt a long time ago. At this time, the commanders of the American and German fleets obviously did not expect the other side to make two mistakes, so they all honestly fought according to the main attack method.

The battle lines of both sides sailed almost parallel to each other, approaching at a speed of 14 knots.

At 14:45, at a distance of 21 km, the American Washington fired first at the Baden. As the distance closed, more and more warships from both sides joined the firefight. When they arrived, the two sides completely turned into broadside firing on opposite sides.

Because it was a relative voyage, the firing window was very small, and it was shifted as soon as it was aimed, so neither side hit this round of attacks. This situation is unacceptable to both sides.

So at 15:10, the German fleet, which had rushed overhead, began to turn to the left, trying to outflank the rear of the American lineup, and it was much safer to turn behind enemy lines. Of course, the Americans were not stupid, and they also began to turn right, so the two sides became sailing in the same direction.

At 15:15, 19 kilometers apart, the German Baden opened fire first, again targeting its old rival Washington. Subsequently, after the capital ships of the two sides completed their respective turns, they also joined the ranks of the confrontation.