Iron Cross

"The enemy is neither in the north nor in the west. Could it be that he has retreated to the east?" Tovey scratched his hair in distress, puzzled.

"They are probably hiding, but they can't run away!" Pang De was also a little annoyed. "Let the reconnaissance plane replenish fuel. I heard that the weather will improve after 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Then let them conduct a comprehensive search. The wind Just send more Catalinas up there - they have a long range."

It has to be said that the British's behavior of sending only one additional reconnaissance plane to the north for the second time was too much: the extremely slow Walrus took nearly 2 hours on the road alone, which was enough time for Machar's aircraft carrier The formation drove more than 100 kilometers north. Coupled with the factors of bad weather and low visibility, the search difficulty increased exponentially: it is not easy to catch the target in the vast sea. It is normal to not be able to find the target. Requires very good luck.

The staff of the Admiralty did not regret that the target was not found in the second reconnaissance, because the reconnaissance report reported that the German fleet was more than 500 kilometers away from the islands (actually only slightly more than 450 kilometers), and even if it was discovered, it would be illegal to attack. Weakhearted. A generally accepted view is that if the German fleet wants to successfully break into the Atlantic Ocean, there is a high probability that it will choose to make the crossing tonight. There is still time before the bayonets see red.

"Sir, the fleet is approaching the 66th parallel of north latitude. Are you considering changing its course?" Rear Admiral Sean, chief of staff of the fleet, reminded at about 2 o'clock in the afternoon.

Machar subconsciously looked at the chart. After changing course, the fleet unknowingly sailed more than 100 kilometers north. At this moment, it is about 600 kilometers away from Iceland and Mainland, and 500 kilometers away from the nearest Faroe Islands. "Sail southwest instead, otherwise we won't be able to cross the waterways between Iceland and the Faroe Islands tonight..."

Shawn smiled bitterly: According to the plan, the fleet was to move toward the southwest near the 64th parallel. Now, in order to avoid possible follow-up by the British, it has gone two more latitudes. He gently reminded: "Going southwest may not be possible. Unless we plan to always move at the fastest speed, crossing the waters of Iceland and the Faroe Islands will happen to be tomorrow morning - it will be very easy to be discovered."

It is obviously a bad idea to always sail at the fastest speed, which will put unnecessary pressure on the fleet - the Scharnhorst and Prinz Eugen have a history of engine problems, although this operation The former shipyard vowed that all warships were in the best condition, but Machar, who had suffered a lot, could not easily believe this guarantee. He thought for a while and finally decided: "Then we will sail westward first and see after nightfall." The situation will determine whether to cross the Iceland-Faroe Islands waterway or take the Denmark Strait.”

At 14:07, the route of the huge German North Sea Fleet was changed to 270 degrees, and the speed was reduced to 21 knots. The artillery formation commanded by Major General Bei was about 30 nautical miles southwest of the aircraft carrier formation and continued to advance at a speed of 18 knots.

"The rain has stopped and the wind has dropped. Look, the sun has come out!" After more than ten minutes of sailing due west, a staff officer watching on the bridge suddenly screamed.

"Sir, according to the current weather conditions, the requirements for carrier-based aircraft dispatch are met..." The aviation staff officer informed Richthofen of the news almost at the same time.

"How long can it last?"

"I'm not sure, maybe 3 hours, maybe 6 hours. I guess it won't be a problem until the sun goes down."

Machar and Richthofen exchanged glances, and both agreed to immediately launch a search. The Japanese advisory group headed by Ozawa also held the same opinion and boldly suggested: "Send out all reconnaissance aircraft for a reconnaissance, focusing on 120 degrees to For the sector between 300 degrees, it is recommended to arrange two aircraft every 10 degrees to conduct the second phase of searching for the enemy.”

Machar agreed with such a radical strategy: If nothing can be searched this time, then basically there will be no encounter with the enemy today.

At 14:28, the 18 Ar-272s searching for the enemy in the first stage were ejected from each ship one after another. At the same time, Richthofen ordered two aircraft carriers to take off Bf-219 fighter jets to escort the fleet. Within 20 minutes, Zeppelin took off 16 fighter jets to escort the aircraft carrier formation, and Europa took off 12 fighter jets to escort the artillery formation. At around 15:00, the 18 He-218s responsible for the second stage of the enemy search mission took off one after another after mounting 500 kilograms of aerial bombs.

At 15:33, one hour after the first batch of reconnaissance planes took off, just when everyone thought that the search would end with "no target found" again, the communications staff in the command tower suddenly screamed: "Plane No. 3" Report that the enemy fleet has been spotted."

"What?" Everyone was stunned, and then they immediately rushed to the chart to check the situation. Unit 3 was responsible for the sector between 270-280 degrees. A more detailed report soon came. The communications staff almost He read aloud with a trembling voice: "An enemy ship formation was found, consisting of 2 battleships, the level cannot be determined, 4 light aircraft carriers, 2 treaty heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers, 8 small warships, speed 16 knots, heading southeast , about 400 kilometers away from our fleet.”

4 light aircraft carriers? Everyone was startled, and then they immediately realized that it was probably an enemy escort carrier, but if four ships acted together, the number would be scary enough.

"Is the news reliable?"

"It shouldn't be wrong..."

Marshal looked at Richthofen eagerly - although he was the highest commander, the latter's rank was higher than his, and he also controlled the air force.

Richthofen only thought about it for 10 seconds and made up his mind: "Prepare to attack!"

This decision was actually very risky. It would take at least 2 hours to fly and attack a target 400 kilometers away. After 2 hours, it would be dark. It would be very difficult to land. It is very likely that the plane would be destroyed and people would die or he would have to make an emergency landing on the sea. But he didn't want to watch those British fleets escape, and the other side had 4 escort aircraft carriers. If he didn't strike first, he was afraid that he would face a catastrophe after the enemy reacted.

Out of respect for the Japanese advisory group, he turned around and asked Ozawa: "General Ozawa, what do you think..."

"I think we can attack, as for the time..." Ozawa pondered for a moment, he knew what Richthofen was worried about, "After the planes take off, the fleet will immediately move westward at the highest speed, and can move at least 100 kilometers in 2 hours, which can shorten their return distance and increase safety - as long as they cooperate properly, the risk is very small."

One after another, Ju-98 attack aircraft began to rise, and the ground crew quickly refueled and mounted torpedoes for them, faster than usual training. The Zeppelin can carry a total of 58 aircraft, usually in accordance with the organization of 24 Bf-21218 and 16 Ju-98. After all 18 He-218s are hung with bombs to undertake the task of searching for the enemy, the Ju-98s will also be dispatched. They were escorted by 16 Bf-219s that were separated from the fleet's air cover. For safety reasons, the cautious Richthofen simply let all the remaining Bf-219s take off to join the escort, anyway, their remaining fuel was enough to support them until dark.

After the attack group set off, another He-218 that was responsible for the second stage of the search mission also sent a telegram, reporting similar intelligence to the No. 3 aircraft, and then reported that the British aircraft carrier was taking off fighters and attack aircraft, reminding the fleet to prepare for air defense.

The fleet discovered this time was the entire main force of the W fleet. The fleet was almost sailing in a southeasterly direction at a speed of 16 knots from about 67 degrees north latitude. At this time, the distance from the German fleet was reduced to only more than 400 kilometers. The entire fleet was composed of two battleships, the Mississippi and the Idaho (both New Mexico-class, supporting the US Atlantic Fleet), four escort carriers, the Archer, the Avenger, the Deceiver, and the Predator, and major warships, such as the Newcastle (Southampton-class) and the Kenya (Fiji-class).

Rear Admiral Lewis, the fleet commander, looked very unhappy. After the weather conditions improved, he also sent out reconnaissance planes, but nothing was gained - the reconnaissance plane in the east was still halfway. What he could not accept the most was the helplessness of the carrier-based fighters against the German planes: after seeing the German seaplanes coming for reconnaissance, the European Yan fighters that took off from the escort carriers immediately drove them away, but the Germans were well prepared and ran away in a flash, and their escape speed was surprisingly not slow. He thought the whole thing was over, but 30 minutes later, another German plane came and swaggered around the fleet for reconnaissance. The communications staff reported that a large number of telegram signals had been intercepted. Five European swallows surrounded the German plane and prepared to shoot down the daring plane. Unexpectedly, the other side was so fast that it broke free from the encirclement in an instant and fled to the location of an escort aircraft carrier deep in the fleet.

Just when everyone thought that the German plane was fleeing in a panic, the most incredible scene appeared: the enemy plane, which flew faster than the European swallow, actually began to dive down. Before the anti-aircraft firepower could reach it, a black bomb fell from the sky. A few seconds later, the 500-kilogram aerial bomb penetrated the deck and exploded violently. The Shooter escort aircraft carrier, which was converted from a merchant ship and had a displacement of 10,000 tons, and the nine Swordfish attack aircraft that had not yet taken off began to sink in despair half a minute later.

The He-218, which successfully completed the attack, flew away in a flash, and its escape speed was even faster than before. "This is the He-218 dive bomber!" Finally someone remembered this new dive bomber with an extremely high speed - this was also the plane that dropped leaflets in Britain.

The entire W Fleet finally felt the crisis that was about to come.