Iron Cross

The interception formation of 24 Bf-219s was not so easy to break through. When they broke through the first blockade, 4 F4Fs had been lost. The remaining 16 were even more vulnerable to German aircraft that had better performance and technology than them. Although they were suppressed, the Wildcat pilots fought very tenaciously and tried their best to create an attack window for the attack aircraft behind them.

At 12:19, 12 SBDs and 9 TBFs bypassed the second batch of intercepted German fighters and began to pounce on the aircraft carrier in the center of the fleet. At this time, the last three Ju-98s had not taken off. Ozawa calmly ordered: "The last one." A group of fighter jets will come forward to intercept, and we must ensure that the lightning strike aircraft completes its takeoff..."

The anti-aircraft firepower on the warship was also adjusted to the maximum, but it still could not stop the desperate American pilots. The SBD screamed down with bombs, and with a "boom", the Europa aircraft carrier was hit by a 500-meter bomb in the middle of the deck. The pound-heavy bomb penetrated several decks and fell to the power compartment before exploding. This aircraft carrier with little defense capabilities could not withstand such an attack and immediately opened a large gap.

Attracted by the results of their companions, one after another SBDs pounced to attack. In less than 2 minutes, Europa ate 4 bombs, 3 of which were 500 pounds and 1 was 1,000 pounds. This 50,000-ton merchant aircraft carrier The internal structure was blown to pieces and the power cabin was also damaged. The speed of the entire ship suddenly dropped to only 12 knots.

Seizing this opportunity, the TBFs began to drop torpedoes. The Hipper next to them tried to block the torpedoes. As a result, one of the torpedoes missed, and the Europa took one instead. A hole as large as 4 meters below the waterline was blasted, and seawater surged in. Come on - this kind of civilian ship without the strict watertight warehouse and damage control design of the warship simply cannot withstand such a degree of battle damage. The order to abandon the ship was issued immediately. In less than 5 minutes, everyone could only witness the slow sinking of this comprehensive aircraft carrier that had made many meritorious achievements since its completion.

"Damn it!" Machar had no time to lament the fate of the Europa. The SBDs pounced on the Zeppelin again. One bomb was hit near the bow elevator and on the stern deck that were damaged last time. Although these two dropped bombs, The following aircraft were quickly sunk by the Bf-219, but the damage they caused was irreparable. The rear part of the ship was in a mess, but the damage at the front was not serious - the Zeppelin was still considered an armored aircraft carrier after all, and this bomb was still Can be prevented.

The US carrier-based aircraft in the sky fell one after another. The 51 US military aircraft were now less than 30, but there were still fish that slipped through the net and swooped in, and the targets were all aimed at the Zeppelin without exception. The heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer blocked two torpedoes for the Zeppelin, and it was floating on the water dying. The crazy US TBF pilot recently jumped to about 500 meters and dropped the torpedoes. Although the plane was shot down quickly, it was still alive. When Admiral Scheer was crippled and other warships had not succeeded in taking over in time, Zeppelin lost crucial cover and was hit by a torpedo on her starboard side.

Everyone in the bridge felt that the warship under their feet was hit hard, and then there was a violent explosion, a large amount of sea water poured in, and the warship began to tilt to the right to a degree visible to the naked eye. Seeing that the two aircraft carriers met with misfortune one after another, the fighter pilots above the fleet had red eyes and tried their best to block the approach of other aircraft. However, the good luck of the US carrier-based aircraft ended here. In the end, all the remaining unbombed aircraft were shot down.

At 12:43, the U.S. attack aircraft group retreated north. The original formation of 68 aircraft now only has 14 aircraft left. The loss rate is as high as 80%, and several of them are injured. The German aircraft suffered little loss. Except for the 12 Bf-219s intercepted in the first wave, which were all sunk, only 6 fighter jets were lost in the rear. In addition, the last Ju-98 attack aircraft was blown up by the Americans because it was too late to take off. On the deck - fortunately the torpedo was not detonated, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous.

"How is the situation?" Mashal, who was in a state of anxiety, asked the captain.

"The situation is not good. Although the water intrusion has stopped, there is also a problem in the engine room. Now the maximum speed can only reach 21 knots."

"Attention to the attack formation, quickly follow the enemy aircraft and attack." Ozawa had no time to lament the loss and quickly issued an attack order. "The 16 fighter jets with the most fuel will escort the formation."

"Give them some color!" After learning about the fleet's losses, Machar gasped. In less than half an hour, the Europa sank, and the Admiral Scheer and the Zeppelin were severely damaged. What's more troublesome than the serious damage is that the Zeppelin is now having problems taking off and landing aircraft.

"Let the Zeppelin regain its balance by injecting water." Ozawa sighed. "Now it is too tilted to take off and land. Let's see if we can repair the main part of the deck, at least to save these returning aircraft."

Everyone was crying, watching as more than 1,500 tons of seawater slowly poured into the port side. The Zeppelin slowly regained its balance. The deck was full of twisted and deformed steel products, but the only comfort was that the position of the main armor belt was preserved. , the Zeppelin could barely provide a safe landing place, but only one elevator was available, and the speed was reduced to less than 18 knots.

"Seize the time to repair it." Machar sighed, "No matter what the results of the aircraft are, we can no longer go to South America to break diplomatic relations - a fleet without air power cover is too dangerous."

"Notify the bombardment formation and prepare for a night battle." Ozawa thought for a while, "If the plane can find and severely damage the enemy, we still have a chance to kill them."

"Retreat to Spain first."

Just as the German army was in a gloomy fog, everyone on the Indomitable was happy. Chris reported: "Sir, there is news from the front that we sank an aircraft carrier, which seems to be the Europa, the Zeppelin was severely damaged, and a heavy cruiser was severely damaged."

Spruance was not too happy, but asked worriedly: "A formation of nearly 70 aircraft can only attack so many aircraft. What results?"

"This... The enemy fighter interception is very powerful." Brown comforted him, "After the fleet returns, we can launch a second attack. The enemy's two aircraft carriers are almost ready, and the second wave of attack should not encounter fighter interception."

"Ask how many planes are left... See if there are enough to launch a second wave of attack."

A few minutes later, Chris came over with a gloomy face: "Sir, Lieutenant Colonel Green was killed, and there are only about a dozen planes left in the fleet."

"What?" Everyone was shocked and speechless: 68 planes went out, and only a dozen came back?

"We can't launch a second attack wave. Prepare to retreat westward." Spruance looked at his watch. "It's still five hours before dark. Any accident will cost us our lives."

"Should we use battleships to bombard?"

"No, we can only make ends meet. My biggest task now is to bring these two aircraft carriers back safely. After replenishing the planes and pilots, we can come back to take advantage of the Germans."

But half an hour later, the top leaders of the US fleet knew that this was a luxury, because the radar detected a large fleet of aircraft coming - these were obviously not their own aircraft, and more fatally, those pilots who had escaped from the battlefield were exhausted, and no one noticed that a large formation of 16 Bf-21218 dive bombers and 15 Ju-98 torpedo attack aircraft were following them unknowingly.

"Make preparations for air defense." Spruance sighed, "Tell all ships to cover the aircraft carrier as much as possible..."

At 1:45 p.m., the furious German pilots caught the American fleet. On the one hand, they passed the exact news to the fleet, and on the other hand, they immediately rushed down to launch a fierce attack.

"What? The North Sea Fleet was attacked and is now counterattacking?" When receiving the exact telegram, Lieutenant Colonel Schiller commanded a wave of joint attack aircraft to vent their anger on the Nevada, which had retreated first last night. This was discovered by the reconnaissance aircraft with great effort. A few minutes later, under the "care" of special mines, the battleship Nevada and two destroyers were all sent to the bottom of the sea.

"Attack immediately according to the location reported by the fleet." Schiller was glad that he was more careful. After learning that only one battleship and two destroyers were found, he left 33 joint attack aircraft on the island on standby, otherwise Marshal's mission would not be completed at all.

The defense capabilities of the two armored aircraft carriers, the Formidable and the Indomitable, were indeed not to be underestimated. Although the He-218 dropped bombs one after another on them, they only blew up the decks and hangars of the two warships, which was far from complete destruction. Now the decks were of no use to the Americans. The F4Fs that provided air cover had all been shot down. The dozen or so planes that had worked so hard to get back not only led the enemy to the front of the fleet, but they themselves were inevitably shot down in the end - all the carrier-based aircraft of the US aircraft carrier formation were shot down.

The Ju-98 torpedoes did work. The Chicago heavy cruiser was hit by two torpedoes and sank with difficulty. After the gap in his cover was exposed, the USS Formidable was finally hit by an aerial torpedo. Two aerial torpedoes were hit on the port side, and the hull was flooded. The captain still stubbornly rescued the armored aircraft carrier and was reluctant to abandon the ship. The battleship Anson, who was blocking the gun for the Indomitable, was also hit by two torpedoes. The whole tilted to the right by 14 degrees, and the speed dropped to only 17 knots.

At 2:15 p.m., the German aircraft group retreated. They sank a heavy cruiser and severely damaged two aircraft carriers and a battleship at the cost of losing four Bf-21218s and four Ju-98s.

Although the fleet suffered heavy losses, the two aircraft carriers were still there after all. Spruance commanded the fleet to stagger and retreat westward.