Iron Cross

Facts have proved that when the enemy really launches a desperate attack, it often reaps unexpected results. Johnson's strategy was not very clever. He knew that the performance of Swordfish or Albacore was far inferior to that of Bf-219, so he did not expect to rely on performance to break through the enemy's defense line. The targeted strategy he adopted was to disperse, using his advantage of being more numerous than the German army to disband the dense formation into a swarm of flying bees.

This move hit the soft spot of the escort fighters of the bombardment fleet - their number was almost half of the enemy's. When they caught a British plane and fired fiercely, it meant that another torpedo plane broke through the heavy blockade. Johnson's target was Tirpitz. Although the Swordfishes that were confronted by Bf-219 were eliminated within 5 minutes, and other Swordfishes that broke through were shot down by the anti-aircraft firepower on the warship, there were still 4 planes approaching the bombardment formation not far away, and successively dropped 4 torpedoes to attack Tirpitz. Captain Top's heart was in his throat. He shouted and ordered the warship to evade, but after trying his best, he still couldn't avoid it all. A torpedo rushed straight to the midship.

"Prepare for impact..." Captain Top shouted and closed his eyes in despair.

With a loud "bang", the torpedo hit the Tirpitz hard and exploded. All the crew members on the ship felt a shock, and Captain Top almost cried. But a few minutes later, the ecstatic expression returned to his face again-the torpedo hit the underwater anti-torpedo protrusion in the midship position, and the thick armor belt blocked the power of the aerial torpedo. I don't know if the torpedo in the midship is a tradition of the Bismarck class: the Bismarck was hit by an aerial torpedo on the starboard side, and now it was the turn of the Tirpitz to be hit on the port side, but the result was the same, only minor damage! The water intake was very small, and the speed could still be maintained at the original level.

"God bless, Tirpitz is safe..." Major General Bei was still in shock, "otherwise I would really jump into the sea."

The good luck of Johnson's formation ended here. At 10:44, as the last Swordfish was destroyed in the sea by Bf-219, the entire British flight formation was sunk - this was the first wave of British aircraft that were completely destroyed today, and the German escort fighters were not lost.

Half an hour passed, an hour passed, and no enemy planes appeared in the sky. When the second batch of support aircraft arrived after completing the supply, the entire artillery formation finally relaxed completely, and a relaxed atmosphere finally reappeared in the command tower.

"Admiral Richthofen sent a message that he will send a torpedo boat to pick up the pilots who fell into the water and bring them back to the mother ship. I hope we can arrange it as soon as possible."

"Let our destroyers make a trip. They are more stable and safer than torpedo boats, which is conducive to the pilots to have a good rest." Major General Bei urged, "Today is all thanks to them. There may be a tough battle in the afternoon. The pilots must have a good rest."

At this moment, the tense atmosphere on the aircraft carrier formation also tended to ease. When the battle was the most intense in the morning, including Marshal, Richthofen and other senior officials, they were all worried about the bombardment formation, and then they were afraid that the aircraft carrier formation would also be exposed to enemy aircraft. They were always trembling and treading on thin ice. Fortunately, the Tirpitz attracted the attention of the British like a magnet, so that the aircraft carrier formation spent a day without danger.

In view of the importance of aircraft and the losses in the morning, the senior generals unanimously decided to immediately replenish aircraft. All the reserve aircraft on the Zeppelin have been taken out for use. Now the Europa is in full swing. The engineers have cut the steel plates on the special parts of the deck, and then used a crane to lift the parts of the Bf-219 from the bottom warehouse. They will assemble them as soon as possible and hand them over to the pilots who were shot down but escaped by chance.

At the end of the day, everyone saw the value of aircraft carriers and aircraft. Even the naval veterans who insisted on the "big ship and big gun" view had to admit: if there were no dozens of Bf-219s to provide cover, facing the overwhelming air raids of the British army today, the bombardment formation or the Tirpitz would definitely not end well, and might repeat the mistakes of the Bismarck. Therefore, there is no objection to the arrangement that the aircraft carrier instead of the Tirpitz is the core of the fleet, and even the status of the pseudo-aircraft carrier Europa has risen accordingly. Everyone agreed that it was necessary to restore the strength of the air force as soon as possible. Retrieving the pilot who fell into the water was an important part, and assembling the scattered parts of the Bf-219 was a key part.

While the German fleet was preparing for war, a storm was brewing in the Admiralty in London.

With a "bang", Churchill slammed his fist heavily on the table, "So, in the battle this morning, you not only did not find the enemy's aircraft carrier, but you even failed to sink the Tirpitz - is this what you want to say?"

"Although I am reluctant to admit it, the result is like this. We only injured him." Pound admitted helplessly.

"Why is that? Fraser told me that a total of 160 planes were dispatched, and all the planes in Iceland and the Faroe Islands were used up by him." Churchill was a little angry, "The enemy destroyed the main force of Fleet W in just one day and one night, why are we so far inferior to them?"

"The Germans were covered by high-performance fighters. Pilots generally reported that this type of aircraft has good maneuverability and firepower. The key is that the time to stay in the air is particularly long, easily breaking through 4 hours, which can fully cope with our war of attrition."

"Very strong? How strong? Stronger than the Spitfire?"

"It's basically the same as the Spitfire. Its low-altitude performance is slightly better, but its flight time is more than twice that of the Spitfire..." Tovey shrugged and spread his hands, "You know, the Spitfire is famous for its short legs. The problem is exactly the same as that of the Bf-109. Now the Germans have replaced the Bf-219 on a large scale. Apparently they have also seen this problem. "

"We have to come up with a competing aircraft as soon as possible. How about the latest Firefly?"

"No!" Tovey shook his head, "The range and stay in the air are roughly the same, and the firepower is about the same, but the maneuverability and speed are still slightly inferior."

“What good airplanes do Americans have?”

"The only thing they can use at the moment is the F4F, which is our European Swallow. It is completely at a disadvantage against the Bf-219." Tovey considered his words, "Now it is not just the escort fighter problem, the key is the low performance of the attack aircraft - - Biplanes are completely obsolete. In fact, when the Germans sent warships through the Strait of Dover a year ago, the 825th Naval Aviation Squadron was wiped out because of the inferior performance of the Swordfish. At that time, we decided not to use the Swordfish. The decision was made to carry out torpedo attacks again, but I don’t know why it is still the case today.”

Tovey vaguely meant to accuse Fraser of blind command, but Pound knew very well that it was Churchill's decision to "send all available aircraft", so he could not allow this contradiction to continue, which would not only be detrimental to the Navy unity, it is also easy to damage the relationship between the Prime Minister and the Navy. He immediately tried to smooth things over: "The situation this time is special. Due to the insufficient number of aircraft in Iceland and the Faroe Islands, we had to resort to this strategy. From now on, it will be clear that the Swordfish will only undertake anti-submarine functions."

Churchill asked: "Where's the Big Mackerel? I remember that this kind of aircraft is newer."

"Basically, it's almost the same. If the swordfish scores 30 points, the mackerel scores about 40 points. It still fails."

"What are you going to do now?"

"The first is to equip the Barracuda attack aircraft on a large scale - it can perform both torpedo attack and dive bombing functions, and its speed is about the same as the Skua, much faster than the Swordfish or the Big Mackerel; the second is to equip all American aircraft, For example, the Avenger attack aircraft. "Tovey has obviously put a lot of effort into researching the aircraft. "The Barracuda was just equipped with the Royal Navy last month, and the quantity and production capacity are seriously insufficient; secondly, we need to ask for more assistance from the United States, but at present The shipping lines are facing blockade or cutoff, I'm afraid..."

Churchill waved his hand: "The Navy prepares a demand list, and I will communicate with President Roosevelt - so many escort carriers have been lost this time, and American assistance is urgently needed. As for the Barracuda, raise his production priority - guarantee Atlantic shipping is at the forefront of everything.”

Pound and Tovey nodded silently.

"Where will the German fleet go now? Are you planning to continue the attack this afternoon?"

"It was discovered at the last moment that it was heading northwest. It is predicted that the enemy fleet will probably break into the Atlantic through the Denmark Strait. As for the attack..." Tovey said with a wry smile, "The losses in the morning were too great and the distance was too far. Unless we can get a powerful Support, otherwise it will be difficult to continue the attack - at least we can't let the swordfish or big mackerel go to die. "

Churchill was silent for a long time. According to his original idea, he would continue to attack no matter how unfavorable the situation was, because every German plane dropped would be one less, and no matter how disastrous the exchange ratio was, he could not stop his determination to continue the attack. But he couldn't ignore the opinions of most of the navy's top brass. If too many pilots were killed this time, the backbone of the naval aviation would be broken. Even if they won this time, they couldn't see the future. He sighed and struggled to squeeze out a sentence. Words: "If they really go through the Denmark Strait, will we have time to stop them?"

"I'm afraid it's difficult. Only E fleet is available now, and E fleet is not strong enough, so..."

"When will the Independence and Pennsylvania arrive?"

"Independence will take at least two days, and the latter will take four days."

Churchill thought for a long time and finally made up his mind: "Keep a close eye on the German fleet and continue to organize air strikes in the afternoon. Every time the German planes fight, there will be one less aircraft. We have a steady stream of aircraft to supplement. I will transfer aircraft from the mainland to the navy." ... Let the Royal Air Force attack, even heavy bombers can be used. "

Pound and Tovey looked at each other, speechless for a long time, and could only nod mechanically.

"Report, Jan Mayen Island has just been attacked by German troops..." A shocking news was passed to the command headquarters.

"Where did they go?" Everyone was shocked.