Bismarck

Zeppelin looked at the time, it was ten past nine.

"You're here pretty quickly... Are we retrieving or deploying the plane now?" Bangtai asked Zeppelin.

"Yeah, but it doesn't matter. They are heading in the same direction as us. At a distance of 120 kilometers, it will take them at least minutes to catch up with us. By that time, all the planes will have been collected. It's just..."

"Just what?"

"It would be terrible if the flight deck was hit..."

Zeppelin knew its own weaknesses. Although it had 100 mm of waterline armor and a protruding torpedo compartment, its flight deck was only 20 mm. Even if there was a 40-60 mm dome armor underneath, it was still not enough in the face of heavy bombs.

Once the flight deck is hit, it does not need to be destroyed, just a few holes need to be made, and all the planes will be trapped.

"What kind of crazy design specifications did that bastard Redel give me in the first place..." She couldn't help but get angry in her heart.

However, Zeppelin could not really blame Reger for this matter... After all, it was the first time for the Germans to build an aircraft carrier and they had no experience at all.

But there is a solution. Zeppelin's "processor" turned around and said to Bangtai: "Captain, I suggest using radar to guide patrol fighters to intercept the British aircraft group. At the same time, the third wave of fighters are now lifted from the rear side elevator (the original 150 gun position after the initial modification) to the rear parking area and stand by!"

"Is this... okay? What if they have follow-up fleets?"

"I think there will be no problem. We can intercept them outside the anti-aircraft artillery air defense circle, which will just form two interception zones in front and behind the anti-aircraft artillery air defense circle. Moreover, if we are just outside the anti-aircraft artillery defense zone, we will not be far away from the fleet. If there is an enemy situation, we will have time to launch reinforcement fighter jets from the deck or let them come back to land." Zeppelin explained.

Flensburg on the other side also nodded - although he was the commander of the Air Force carrier-based aircraft unit, he was completely convinced of Zeppelin's ability. Even if I were to suggest these plans myself... I'm afraid my imagination is not as good as hers.

"In that case...that's fine! You go and report to the commander." Bangtai nodded.

Although he said he was going to report to the commander, Zeppelin had actually already told Bismarck what he wanted to say, and then Bismarck reported it to Lütjens.

In the fleet command post, Bismarck, who had received the enemy situation report from Zeppelin, had to interrupt the captain's thoughts: "Report! British aircraft group spotted in the rear!" Then he shook the commander of a large fleet who was still in a daze twice to wake him up.

"Captain, a group of British aircraft have been spotted from behind. It will take about half an hour for them to reach our fleet!"

"So soon?" Lütjens was stunned for a moment and asked, "Where?"

"At seven o'clock, they are chasing us."

"I'm afraid the British are going to fight to the death. Order all ships to prepare for air defense. The Zeppelin will definitely be the focus of attack. All ships should form a wheel formation, with Zeppelin and Tirpitz as the center!" Lütjens said after a moment of thought.

"Yes!" Bismarck nodded, and then added, "Zeppelin requested that patrol fighters go forward to intercept."

"...Oh, okay...wait, what did you say? Go forward to intercept?" Lütjens, who had not yet fully recovered from his shock, was stunned. "With just a few planes, can we intercept them?"

"That's right. Zeppelin said to use radar to guide the fighters to the outside of the fleet's anti-aircraft firepower range and attack as the first line of defense. In this way, even if the situation is unfavorable, they can retreat into the anti-aircraft firepower circle... forming a double interception."

"She also asked for all the third wave of fighters to be deployed to the battlefield to try to stop the British aircraft group at once and not let a single one break through the air defense circle." Bismarck said.

"Zeppelin said that all the planes should be launched without leaving any behind?" Lütjens frowned. Generally speaking, generals would subconsciously avoid such a desperate strategy because such a decision would always make people think of some bad endings.

"Yes."

"why?"

"Captain, if a British plane breaks through the air defense circle, as long as the Zeppelin's deck is hit by a heavy bomb, all the planes that have not taken off will have no chance to take off again..."

"Then take off!" Lütjens gave the order without hesitation.

Not long after, when the hook of the last fighter plane was hooked on the arresting cable and stopped, the ground crew pushed it aside and began the take-off procedure.

The deck was cleared and the third wave of fighters was towed to the middle. As a reserve team, they did not participate in the sneak attack and were already very disappointed and unhappy. Later, when they saw their comrades who had gone to the battle coming back covered in wounds - or half of them did not come back, their unhappiness turned into tremendous anger - anger towards the British.

"revenge!"

"revenge!"

The pilots clenched their fists, just like Flensburg when he saw the casualty report, their fists trembling slightly due to the increase of adrenaline.

They pursed their lips and jumped into the cabin, and took off resolutely under the command of the operator.

The last fighter jet took off, circled, and joined the rest in the sky.

"Now, everyone, follow my command, aim for 7 o'clock and reverse direction! Let's go!"

Under the guidance of Zeppelin's radar, a squadron of BF109Ts that were circling over the fleet for cover flew to the rear and soon engaged in a fight with the attacking aircraft from the rear.

The British assembled more than thirty Manchesters and Wellingtons, forming two massive retaliatory aircraft groups, which followed the retreating trajectory of the German naval formation one after another.

"Thirty? I thought there would be only a few more." Zeppelin sneered at the sky. When it came to fighting, she always got unnaturally excited. Her cold expression made Bismarck feel creepy...

Zeppelin was not very worried about the thirty bombers because the distance was more than 250 kilometers and the British fighter units could only stay on the shore and worry.

Although there are only twelve BF109Ts on patrol, if they can't even deal with the bombers, they are really too incompetent. In addition, there is a second air defense circle. It can be predicted that the thirty planes will basically not pose a threat to the fleet due to the interference of fighter jets - as long as their own decks are not hit by the ones that slip through the net.

To be on the safe side, Zeppelin did not send his fighter jets too far forward, only within a range of twenty kilometers.

Soon, the enemies met and became extremely jealous of each other, and they immediately opened fire.

ps: There are more in the evening, and I must write 4,000 words every day, hahaha, please give me a monthly ticket

Chapter 204: Battle of England (VII)

Even though the British planes tried their best and their self-defense machine guns madly fired at the fighter planes that came to intercept them, the different uses of the two aircraft doomed their encounter.

The air battle, which lasted less than twenty minutes, was over soon, leaving behind a cloud of smoke. Under the double interception of fighter planes and fleet anti-aircraft firepower, less than twenty bombers that managed to fly back fled in embarrassment with zero success.

Only two of the German carrier-based aircraft were shot down, one pilot was rescued and the other was killed. Although the other ten aircraft were also damaged to varying degrees, after landing, the ground crew estimated that only three could be simply repaired and put into use again, and the remaining seven needed repairs.

Although the losses in a single battle were not large, for the aircraft carrier formation that had just experienced a major battle, every plane was now very important, and losing one was heartbreaking.

"That is to say, the only aircraft we can use now are 37 BF109Ts and 32 JU87Cs?" After hearing the statistical data reported by Flensburg, Lütjens and Bonte looked at each other worriedly.

"Yes, there are another 15 BF109Ts and 8 JU87Cs that need time to repair. Judging from their injuries, they are not expected to be repaired today at least..." Flensburg spread his hands helplessly. Although he had told the mechanics to hurry up, there was no other way; it would take so long.

"Although these aircraft are still enough to ensure fleet patrols and at least one wave of 8 reconnaissance aircraft and one wave of 24 strike aircraft, after that, the number of dive bombers remaining on the Zeppelin will not be able to guarantee the strike capability." Zeppelin, who was standing aside, added.

In order to increase the operational efficiency of the aircraft carrier, Zeppelin and Flensburg adopted a shift-based approach.

The Luftwaffe fighters have 12 aircraft in each squadron, and several squadrons are now on duty in rotation. The dive bombers originally had 9 aircraft in each squadron, but now the dive bomber formation is sometimes adjusted according to the mission - for example, the morning reconnaissance is carried out by 8 pairs of aircraft. There are currently three squadrons and five spare aircraft that can temporarily serve as command aircraft. It is enough to carry out an attack mission, but if it suffers more losses, it will really affect the combat effectiveness.

"...Forget it, let's just leave it at that for today. After all, we will still be here for a while. Let's do this, at noon we will cooperate with the Air Force to do the navigation work. In the afternoon we will withdraw to the central North Sea and wait. In the evening I have a plan to let Tirpitz and Hipper go to the British coast for a forward strike, and Zeppelin will provide cover with destroyers." Lütjens thought about it for a while and expressed his idea.

"What if the British send a destroyer fleet to intercept at night? Although our destroyers have improved in training, they are not yet good enough for night battles..." Bonte said worriedly. "And night battles can easily get into a melee. If they get into a melee, Tirpitz and Hipper will be in danger even if they are battleships..."

"So let Tirpitz and Hipper go in the night battle. If they go too much, they will not be able to perform. In addition, if the destroyers and Zeppelin stay in the rear, some fuel can be saved. After all, we only have 55% of the fuel now, and the cruising speed of 16 knots can run for a week, but if the speed of the formation is increased to more than 25 knots, it can only run for a maximum of two days..."

Seeing the doubtful and worried looks of his subordinates, Lütjens smiled and said, "Don't worry, as long as Hipper follows Tirpitz, it will be fine. Everyone knows Tirpitz's night combat ability."

In fact, the night combat and search capabilities of the two Bismarck-class battleships are also one of the unsolved mysteries of the German Navy (the other is their power system). However, no one dislikes such things. When the Bismarck entered the dock for maintenance, the power system was checked, but nothing was found. In addition, the radar officer and gunner of Bismarck kept their mouths shut about it... Although in the artillery of the Battle of Dunkirk, it can be said that the beautiful female secretary of Admiral Lütjens was actually an expert in artillery, but other rumors have never stopped.

If it were in the past, before Bontai knew their identities, he would definitely oppose this order, but now - he could understand where Lütjens' self-confidence came from.

"Then let's send the message to them like this." Lütjens made the decision.

"Yes!"

Soon, the telegram of order was delivered to Tirpitz.

Holding the "night attack" order sent by the Zeppelin in his hand, and looking at his own flagship leaning in the corner and lazing around as usual, Lindmann couldn't help but feel a sudden toothache for no reason.

Bismarck used to be very excited at night, but why is it different for this young lady...

What’s a pain in the ass is not that Ti Zi, who is afraid of trouble, cannot complete the task, but that if Ti Zi completes the task too well, he will have to find an excuse to cover it up, at least not to expose Ti Zi’s identity... But, could the effect of the KanColle’s personal action be worse?

"What the hell is this..." Lindman looked so sad that he wanted to cry but had no tears.

The whole day passed uneventfully afterwards.

At 11 a.m., as part of the operational plan, the Zeppelin, which had retreated to the open sea, informed the German Air Force in Norway of its position as a navigation signal and asked the German Air Force to help search the northern waters for signs of the British fleet.

At 12:30 noon, a group of bombers from Norway passed by the German naval formation. The Zeppelin was responsible for serving as a relay navigation point for these bombers, helping them correct their course errors.

At about 2 p.m., good news came from Norway that the Shane sisters, who had been held captive by Hood and Renown the night before, had successfully broken through. As it was a night battle, the aircraft of the British aircraft carrier could not be dispatched, and the two German battlecruisers relied on continuous maneuvers and took advantage of the night to escape from the search range of the British pursuit fleet.

"…But the Norwegian side said that the two ships were seriously damaged. They plan to arrange for them to be temporarily repaired in the Norwegian port and then find a way to escort them back to the country for overhaul." Bismarck, holding the telegram, reported to Lütjens.

"Yes, I understand." As the commander of the Grand Fleet, Lütjens had jurisdiction over all German large warships. "I'll probably have to arrange this after this battle... Let's also send a telegram to the Navy to report this matter."

"Also, I'd like to give a suggestion to the Navy Department. The guns of Scharn and Gneis really need to be replaced! 283mm is useless against anyone!" Lütjens sighed unhappily, and after thinking for a while, he said to Bismarck, "But if Scharn and his men succeed in breaking through, Hood and his men will most likely rush towards us with the British Home Fleet. So after sending this telegram, inform the fleet and go into radio silence. We've asked the Air Force to help search the northern waters at noon, but the Air Force has limited manpower in Norway, so we'll have to search ourselves this afternoon. Ask the Zeppelin to send out a formation of reconnaissance planes to focus on searching the north! If there are no problems, we'll prepare for another night raid tonight!"

"Yes!!"

ps: silently asking for rewards~

Chapter 205: Battle of England (VIII)

It was already late at night, but Churchill, surrounded by various war reports and situations, still couldn't fall asleep, and he was in a bad mood - as for why he was in a bad mood, you have to ask the hateful Germans across the street. According to the recollections of the Prime Minister's secretary, the atmosphere in the conference room that day was terribly depressing. The depressed Prime Minister kept smoking in it, causing the whole room to be filled with the smell of his favorite cigars, even to the extent that thick smoke billowed out as soon as the door was opened. Later, the secretary found that Prime Minister Churchill's eyes were always bloodshot, and it was not known whether it was caused by the smoke or the hatred of the Germans...

August 1940, 8 was a cruel day.

This was true for the German naval formations, and even more so for the British.

Although the broadcasts to the public claimed that the great air battle on August 8 was a real "hunter hunting rabbit", the British Air Force's statistics claimed that 15 German planes were shot down, another were suspected to be shot down, and the loss of only planes was indeed a glorious victory.

However, the real situation learned from the commander of the British fighter force, Marshal Hugh Dowding, was that although the "actual loss" was only 34 planes - the exact loss was the fighter planes shot down in the air battle - many more planes were beaten and scarred in the brutal air battle and almost lost the value of repair...

In order to boost morale, a large number of aircraft that made emergency landings or were seriously damaged were not counted as losses. Even those aircraft that were not seriously damaged would take several days to repair.

In addition, the published loss data did not include the aircraft destroyed by bombs at the airport - at London Croydon Airport alone, more than 40 aircraft were destroyed on the runway and in the hangar.

Dowding, with a bitter face, told Churchill the actual situation that after one day of air fighting, the number of aircraft that the Royal Air Force could take off for combat was reduced by more than 120 - and the aircraft production in Britain at that time was only more than 400 fighter jets a month - and these were already the highest priority aircraft.

"...and I have to keep the reserve forces. The 280 fighters of the Northern Fighter Group must be retained! In addition, today the carrier-based aircraft of the German Navy Zeppelin and the bombers of the German Fifth Air Force in Norway bombed Newcastle, Middlesbrough and Driffield, and we suffered heavy losses..." Dowding lowered his head as he spoke. Today's losses were indeed a bit large - this was the loss of the entire British Empire!

"The navy reported today that two battleships and an aircraft carrier they were building in several shipyards in Newcastle were bombed. Was it this wave of planes?" After all, he was the Secretary of the Navy, and Britain was a maritime power, so Churchill was concerned about the navy's situation first.

Dowding secretly glanced at Churchill's face. His eyes were cold and his expression was so gloomy that it seemed as if thunder and rain were about to start in the next second.

Dowding lowered his head even more, and apologized hurriedly: "Yes, I am ashamed..."

It was indeed the responsibility of their air force to deal with the German air raids. Although he later learned that the air defense positions around the shipyard had been ordered to be defended, it was an indisputable fact that the German air force had blown up several warships that were still in the shipyard. There was nothing that could be refuted...

It was indeed a mistake made by their air force.

"Forget it, it's not your fault. The German attack was indeed too crazy, and it was a surprise attack. It's understandable that you didn't react immediately. But I still want to make it clear that you should not just focus on the results of the air battle over the British mainland and ignore the heavy losses you have suffered!"

Churchill looked at the man in front of him with a gloomy face for a while, and finally held back his temper. Although he wanted to smash the cup at his side into the man's face, he wanted to yell: Do you know how much combat power the navy has lost because of your mistake! Do you know how important two battleships and an aircraft carrier are! Do you know how tight the British finances are already!

Never mind, it’s useless anyway, he took a deep breath and then gradually calmed down - perhaps Britain had suffered too many air strikes that day, and he had become numb to the losses.

Churchill's fat body turned over, his eyes like an eagle. The Prime Minister, with his legs crossed, stared straight at the marshal with cold sweat all over his back, and said, "Do you understand what I said?"

"...Yes!" Dowding quickly saluted and stood at attention to show that he attached great importance to the authenticity of the results of the air battle. He did not want to be brought to a military court by the Prime Minister later.

Churchill nodded slightly, letting him off the hook, and Dowding breathed a sigh of relief.

"Also...how long can the Germans continue this offensive? How many days can they last? I need a genuine answer!" The Prime Minister put down the war report and asked with a frown.

"...As for this, their loss rate is now greater than ours. And according to the information we have, the Germans' replenishment speed is much slower than ours!" Dowding was still confident when it came to this.

Seeing Churchill leaning on the sofa with a puzzled look on his face, Dowding quickly bent down to explain: "According to various data, including intelligence from MI109 and MI, the monthly production of Germany's BF fighters is about to - this is their only combat-capable fighter! Although our Spitfire production is a little lower, we still have Hurricane fighters to use! In air combat, bombers without fighter escort are basically sitting ducks. If their fighter replenishment speed is lower than ours, we can hold out to the end if the consumption is long-term!"

Seeing his Prime Minister's expression eased a little, Dowding hurriedly continued to report to the Prime Minister: "Now we have just suffered too much loss temporarily and have not fully recovered, but if we recover, we can win. Therefore, the Northern Fighter Cluster does not need to be moved yet. It can serve as the general reserve and train new pilots. In addition, I have also sent people to negotiate with several aircraft manufacturers to discuss the specific details of the opening of the new aircraft factory. The negotiations are going smoothly, but we do not have enough funds at the moment..."

"Funds? The government doesn't have any money right now." Churchill took a long puff of his cigarette. "Now we have to see how to get the United States to help us... I will find a way to do this. Your mission is to ensure that the sky of my British Empire will not fall into the hands of the Germans!"

"Yes!"

ps: Ask for a monthly ticket, I will send another one later

Chapter 206: Battle of England (End)

By the time they finally finished dealing with all the related official duties and the day's air raid losses, it was already 3:30 in the morning. Except for the Prime Minister's residence which was still brightly lit, the streets were quiet and peaceful. The British people were still immersed in the joy of the great victory news announced by the Prime Minister.

Churchill signed the last document, put down the coffee cup, staggered to the bedside, took out a few pills from the bedside table and drank them with boiled water. He took off his coat, wrapped himself in a blanket, and fell asleep, and then he could hear the thunderous snoring. However, just an hour later, the sudden and urgent knock on the door instantly drowned out his snoring.

"What's going on?!" Looking at the secretary who rushed in hurriedly, Churchill put down the light cord, grabbed his coat and asked unhappily.

"Reporting to the Prime Minister, we just received news that Newcastle was bombarded by German warships! The three major shipyards that were attacked in the air this morning suffered heavy losses. Several major shipyard workshops were almost completely destroyed, and the docks were also severely damaged..."

Before the secretary finished speaking, Churchill, who heard the news, jumped up suddenly, rushed forward and grabbed the secretary by the collar: "Don't tell me anything else, I just want to know the status of our three ships, the Lion, the Anson, and the Victory? Tell me now!!"

“Ahem…” The secretary, who was almost out of breath after being caught, finally recovered from Qiu’s fat pig-like hand. However, the situation was so bad that he still didn’t dare to face the Prime Minister’s eyes: “…This… Newcastle is still calculating the losses, but…”

After gritting his teeth, the secretary decided to continue with the report.

"...After the air raid in the morning, Anson and Victory concentrated on the shipyard for repairs, so the losses should not be too great, but...but, after nightfall, the Germans focused their bombardment on the shipyard...and the shipyard was almost completely bombed...so...I guess...probably, maybe...it's more dangerous than good..."

"…What about the Royal Navy? What does the Navy do?! Why haven't they responded yet?!"

Churchill, with a fierce look in his eyes, roared viciously at his secretary.

"Um... I'm not sure. No communication method, including the Sea Lord, can contact him. Only the Scapa Flow base said that Admiral Tovey has taken the main fleet out to sea and is now maintaining radio silence..."