Iron Cross

On the deck of the Unicorn, Cunningham, sitting in a wheelchair, silently watched the fleet gather and leave, feeling uneasy.

"Sir, the Army Air Force and the Canadian Air Force have launched four consecutive attacks, and the Germans have used the exchange method to knock out at least 60 enemy fighters. Our army has lost more than 250 aircraft. When the sixth wave of heavy bombers was dispatched, the enemy had given up the fight and only held on to the low altitude, which shows that their fighter force has been weakened to a very weak level..." Spruance whispered, "You don't have to worry about it."

"How can I not worry?" Cunningham smiled bitterly, "Washington originally said that 400 aircraft would be assembled together to attack, but in the end it became a refueling tactic that was gradually deployed on the battlefield, and finally the Germans defeated them one by one... and almost no substantial damage was caused to the opponent's fleet, which shows that the Germans are much stronger than us in combat. I don't know if the carrier-based aircraft can beat the Germans."

Spruance didn't know how to respond to this sentence: it was difficult to accept emotionally, but rationally he had to admit that this was a fact. Although there are a large number of British naval pilots among this batch of carrier-based aircraft pilots, who are much more elite than the Army and Canadian pilots, no one knows whether a good exchange can be achieved. Fortunately, since Cunningham has mobilized more than 240 aircraft to attack together, the fleet has also made full preparations, and Spruance believes that the chances of victory are relatively high.

"Even if the enemy still has strength, it can't withstand such a large force advantage. I heard that their attack aircraft are still cooperating with the army to carry out ground attack missions. Ten minutes ago, the Canadians said that the other party had just retreated. I guess it was the reconnaissance plane that reported the news." Speaking of reconnaissance aircraft, Cunningham was annoyed again, "I don't know when we can also provide us with similar excellent reconnaissance aircraft. Fighter pilots generally report that they can't catch up with enemy aircraft and let the other party slip away if they are not careful."

Spruance shook his head helplessly: "Advanced water reconnaissance has just begun to have some clues, and advanced ship-based reconnaissance aircraft will probably have to wait. Now we have nothing but fighters. Apart from being almost on par with the enemy, the torpedo attack aircraft and dive bombers were not as good as the opponent, especially the newly launched SB2C was not as good as the original SBD, which was really unreasonable!

Turner had already lost his temper once about the SB2C, and Admiral King was also furious. Now the Navy ordered Curtiss to make immediate improvements on the one hand, and asked Douglas to further optimize and improve the SBD on the other hand. There was also a voice in the Navy that hoped to transform the F4U into a fighter-bomber - Spruance personally was not optimistic about this, and thought it would be better to transform the F4U into a fighter that could be put on the ship to replace the F6F.

Suffering from the lack of high-performance dive bombers available, the Navy authorities tried desperately and even asked Chance-Water to clone a land-based version of the He-218 obtained from the Soviet Union, but replaced the DB601 engine with a Merlin engine, and made some adjustments to the fuselage according to the results of the wind tunnel test. It turned out that the performance was quite good, far better than the SBD or SB2C, but it was very difficult to take off and land on the deck, which was comparable to the difficulty of the F4U. Moreover, the liquid-cooled engine also made the ground crew of the aircraft carrier unit frown. This whimsical copycat plan could only be abandoned in disappointment. Since the US Army Air Force had no tradition of equipping dive bombers, this verification model was forgotten.

As for Cunningham, there was even less to say: after a large number of designers and engineers were arranged to the United States, Britain has basically lost the ability to develop a new generation of high-end weapons. Whether it is heavy tanks, new aircraft or jet engines, the subsequent design can only rely on the United States. The Royal Air Force has repeatedly modified the Spitfire, and the Army has been tossing the Firefly tank over and over again - the chassis and body are still Sherman.

He nodded slightly and said, "The enemy probably discovered our position, but it doesn't matter. They need to replenish their fuel and ammunition before they can attack. We at least have the advantage of taking the initiative. Let the fleet move westward."

"Westward?" Spruance was surprised. "I thought you would turn around and distance yourself from the enemy fleet."

"Turning around can indeed distance you, but it also means that our planes can't come back and can only crash on Newfoundland Island. The loss is too great..." Cunningham sighed, "I have a feeling that today is not the final moment to decide the outcome. We and the enemy may be forced to do so tomorrow. Fight another battle. "

"Quick! Quick!" Just as the US attack aircraft group rushed over with murderous intent, on Newfoundland Island and on the aircraft carrier deck, ground crews were working hard everywhere. Aircraft recovery, refueling, standby pilots, spare aircraft assembly, etc. were as smooth as flowing water. The officers leading the attack gathered together to discuss and formulate an attack plan with the aviation staff. The pilots who were replaced took the time to rest. Some of them were so tired that they fell asleep in the hangar after swallowing lunch in a hurry. The harsh noise could not wake them at all.

Looking at the tense and busy work on the deck, Marshal seemed restless. He couldn't help but want to stand out and take a look. He was worried that he would put unnecessary pressure on his subordinates and tried to restrain himself as much as possible. The fleet ran to the air defense circle of Newfoundland Island at full speed, and at the same time called on Lieutenant General Bei's bombardment fleet to join them and strive to build a strong air defense circle. As the firepower advantages of aircraft and naval guns were withdrawn one after another, the German Marines, who had been fighting high, began to shrink - they were still confident in holding the existing defense line, and were very happy when they heard that the Führer would airlift a complete battalion to support them.

At 1:58, all land-based fighters completed refueling, and several Do-412s that took the lead also hung auxiliary fuel tanks, ready for the upcoming brutal battle.

2:04, the original anti-aircraft fighters began to land for replenishment.

2:09, Newfoundland sent a message that 16 joint attack aircraft were ready first, all equipped with special torpedoes to attack; 2 minutes later, 22 Ju-98s also completed their preparations and also equipped with aerial torpedoes to attack. They formed the first attack wave torpedo team and prepared to meet over the southeast of the fleet;

2:17, the first batch of 32 He-218s completed their preparations, took off one after another, and flew towards the designated assembly point. Although they took off late, they basically arrived with the torpedo team because of their fast speed. In view of the fact that the attack distance this time was as high as 600 kilometers, in order to prevent the He-218s from not having enough range, two 50-liter small fuel tanks could be added to increase the range;

2:24, the first attack wave was assembled 70 kilometers southeast of the fleet. According to the intelligence provided by Ar-352, it attacked southward under the cover of 28 Bf-219s. Although the four types of aircraft took off one after another at different speeds and the assembly point was far away from the center of the aircraft carrier formation, the first attack wave still completed the assembly accurately. The excellent quality of the pilots was clearly visible in the process, which was in sharp contrast to the scattered assembly of the US military.

At 2:47, 12 of the latest Ju-198s with torpedoes were dispatched along with another 27 Ju-98s. 48 He-218s took off in the next 10 minutes, and 42 German fighters provided them with escort. They formed a team at 3:08 and took on the second attack wave mission.

At this point, the two waves of German attack aircraft, totaling 223, all set off and rushed towards the position of Cunningham's fleet.

At 3:15, the German attack aircraft group was still 480 kilometers away from Cunningham's fleet, while the US attack aircraft group was less than 200 kilometers away from the German fleet.

At 3:19, the outer heavy cruiser providing long-range alert sent back a message: enemy aircraft group was found, with a number of about 100 aircraft, an altitude of 5,800 meters, a speed of 195 knots, a heading of 305 degrees, and a distance of 155 kilometers...

10 minutes later, the destroyer providing inner circle alert sent back a message: the number of enemy aircraft group was more than 90 aircraft, an altitude of 5,300 meters, a speed of 185 knots, a heading of 310 degrees, and a distance of 120 kilometers.

"Why are they flying so slowly?" Krank was puzzled, "It took only 10 minutes to travel more than 30 kilometers. What are the Americans waiting for?"

"They probably need to reorganize the team and take in the stragglers. The formation should be in chaos now..." Ozawa asked Koch with a smile, "If we take the initiative, how sure are you that we can defeat the opponent within 15 minutes if the opponent has 90 planes?"

"70% sure, if I can get 50 fighters."

"Very good! Order the fighter team to attack the enemy at the fastest speed and defeat them in one fell swoop... I will give you 60 planes, and the fleet only needs 12 planes to cover."

Koch gritted his teeth and shouted into the transmitter: "Attention, all formations, immediately intercept the enemy planes at the fastest speed... Charge!"

"Yes! Brothers, follow me!" The first person to answer was Hartmann. Koch was speechless. Hartmann, who had shot down 7 planes today, was completely crazy. It was originally his turn to rest in this round, but he insisted on going into battle, with a convincing reason: "At worst, I can be shot down and parachute out... I won't die! Today I want to challenge Marseille's single-day shooting record!"

Koch couldn't persuade him, so he had to agree to the other party, but he was more cautious. Considering Hartmann's lack of physical strength, he did not let him rush thousands of miles to escort the attack group but let him act as an anti-aircraft fighter. As a result, this guy took the lead and rushed to the front again.

Ozawa's judgment reflected his experienced observation skills. There were not many veterans in the British and American fleets who could maintain a complete formation after a long-distance flight of 600 kilometers. The British naval aviation was more elite than the American naval aviation. Therefore, 70% of the more than 90 aircraft were piloted by British pilots, and the rest were American pilots. The other nearly 150 aircraft were lost for various reasons and are still on the way to regroup. Commander Colonel Tony looked around and wisely slowed down his pace and prepared to gather more troops to prevent a refueling tactic. However, he did not expect that the opponent did not play by the rules. He rushed over at a distance of more than 100 kilometers.